For a moment, the atmosphere in the dark room was deathly silent.
Ruan Qing'an was stunned. She should have thought of this earlier. Lin Chen didn't just spring from a rock. With a scumbag father like Lin Qisheng, yet not having seen Madam Lin, there was something fishy about him.
At first, she thought Lin Chen was born to Lin Qisheng by some woman who slept with him, which would explain why Lin Qisheng could be so ruthless towards Lin Chen. But it turns out... he was the child of her white moonlight.
The air seemed to thin out, and I felt a suffocating sensation of oxygen deprivation in my lungs, making my mind feel dizzy and foggy.
When blood ties are connected, it feels as if the heart is aching.
Lin Chen stared intently at the skeleton, remaining silent.
But just then—
"Stop looking, Lin Chen."
A soft, slender hand suddenly reached out and covered his eyes, plunging his vision into darkness. The girl seemed to be standing on tiptoe, barely managing to get close to the tall young man. Even covering his eyes required her to cling to his shoulder with difficulty.
But Ruan Qing'an's hand remained firmly in her way, her warm breath falling on him as she said earnestly, "Come out with me."
"No need, I can—"
“I’m not worried about you. I know you didn’t react or seem unaffected. But if the door to the dark room is left open, the smell will escape and the secret will be revealed.”
She paused, then said softly, "So, come out."
The voice was so gentle, like a lake filled with the night sky, reflecting the moon, silently embracing everything under the cover of darkness—the confusion spreading in my heart seemed to have found an outlet at this moment, yet she accepted it all.
He could easily shake off the hand blocking his way, but Lin Chen didn't, as if he had lost all his strength.
Seeing that the young man had calmed down, Ruan Qing'an whispered, "Keep your eyes closed, don't open them. I'll take you out right away."
"……Um."
Lin Chen's voice was slightly hoarse as he responded in a low voice.
Ruan Qing'an then released her hand. After confirming that Lin Chen hadn't secretly opened his eyes, she immediately turned around and cleaned up the traces of their entry—although the dust and other marks on it indicated that Lin Qisheng might not have been here for a long time, she still had to be cautious.
After doing all this, Ruan Qingan looked at Lin Chen.
The tall young man stood obediently in place, his eyes closed, his aggressive eyebrows lowered at this moment, looking like a quiet and confused large wild beast, waiting for her.
She took a half step forward and grasped Lin Chen's hand.
"Come with me."
"..."
The large beast, having been calmed, did not react much; it simply followed its cat and gripped the hand in the darkness.
Skeletons, death, the smell that permeates the air...
He wasn't unfamiliar with death; the arms trade involved far too many lives. He had also taken action on the high seas, which weren't exactly far away. But this time was different.
His vision was completely dark, and he didn't know if he had left the dark room. The only tactile sensation he could feel was that soft hand leading him step by step out.
An almost peculiar trust spread through my heart.
'I'll give you the trust of closing my eyes and plugging my ears.'
His chaotic thoughts were conveyed through this inexplicable trust, and he subconsciously clenched his fist.
A moment later, Ruan Qing'an, while holding Lin Chen's hand, struggled to close the door, re-locked it, and then led him out of the passage before pressing the mechanism on the bedside table.
With a soft sound, the dark passage closed.
"You can open your eyes now, Lin Chen."
Ruan Qing'an then let go of her hand, but the young man blinked, and blinding light rushed in. He closed his eyes again, feeling uncomfortable, and subconsciously grabbed her wrist.
He lowered his head, using her hand to shield his eyes, like a large, ferocious beast rubbing its head against its master's palm.
After a few moments, Lin Chen's eyes finally adjusted to the light.
The young man was never willing to expose his weaknesses to others, and even now he was suppressing his emotions. Ruan Qingan couldn't help but sigh: "Let's go, let's leave here first. That old bastard Lin Qisheng probably won't hide anything else in the bedroom."
...
After going around in circles, the two returned to Lin Chen's bedroom.
As for Ruan Qing'an's bedroom, its level of privacy is far less than that of Lin Chen's, since she is in a state of semi-surveillance and imprisonment, which is not as oppressive as Lin Chen, the living Yama.
No servants dared to provoke Lin Chen.
After returning to the bedroom, Ruan Qing'an closed the door, while Lin Chen sat down on a chair next to him, leaning back and raising his arm to cover his eyes, obscuring half of his face so that his expression could not be seen.
"Are you alright, Lin Chen?"
"...You're looking for information about those stand-ins, aren't you?"
Lin Chen tilted his head back and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "I can tell you, as a reward for... you helping me find my mother."
Is it a reward?
Perhaps, perhaps...
He just wanted a reason to confide in her, an excuse to keep her around. Her overly gentle comfort was like an addictive poppy, soothing his turbulent emotions.
A rustling sound arose, and the petite girl sat down.
He seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, but Lin Chen completely controlled this subtle reaction, not revealing it at all, before saying, "That old bastard Lin Qisheng has already found quite a few women."
“He has said it to me about every single one of them, and that he wants to be my future stepmother. But you are the only one for whom I specifically asked him to call me back so that I could meet you.”
Lin Chen paused: "Some of the previous stand-ins were greedy for wealth and tried to curry favor with Lin Qisheng, but they all ended up the same way."
"What will be the outcome?"
"Dead."
Lin Chen said coldly, "Some of those who resisted died while they were with Lin Qisheng, while some who were compliant didn't live past the eve of their wedding. In short, his madness is the norm."
Upon hearing this, Ruan Qing'an's eyelashes trembled slightly: "It seems that even if I can keep Lin Qisheng in check, I won't live much longer."
"I roughly know why he died on the eve of his wedding."
Lin Chen changed the subject: "I've never actually met my mother. Lin Qisheng always told me that my mother and he were very loving, but the underworld business was dangerous. Once, my mother protected him and died in the end."
"Lin Qisheng said that she died before the wedding. They were attacked by their rivals that time, and he survived only because my mother protected him. He told me that their love was stronger than gold."
Ruan Qing'an paused, then said, "Stop talking nonsense."
Is their love stronger than gold?
Xia An'an was so angry when she heard this that she climbed up and punched him.
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