Acquaintance

Xia Lun calmly watched the crowd passing by him. The damp, musty smell mixed with the scent of rust hung in the air, and the dim yellow light cast flickering shadows on the mottled stone walls, like countless struggling specters.

The others walked past Xia Lun, their gazes holding little gratitude, only a measure of numbness, as if they had long forgotten how to express joy. Occasionally, a few curious looks lingered briefly on him, as if trying to guess the identity of this stranger and wonder why he had shattered the established order of this cage.

It was as if what Xia Lun had just said was merely a command, no different from the guards' usual order to let them go up to the plaza above for some air.

And in Xia Lun's eyes, apart from warmth, there was little joy either.

Rescuing them from this prison... had only given them a false freedom in the flesh; their souls remained bound by invisible chains.

These boys and girls had been locked away here for who knows how many years... Those who had only arrived a few years ago might still be fine, but for those like Lidi who had been imprisoned for a long time... the education and awareness they had missed over the years were not easily made up for.

Even if they went out into the outside world, they wouldn't be able to integrate for a long time yet—they had grown accustomed to life here.

But this twisted "life" had to end.

The rest of the people soon cleared out.

Lidi left her father's embrace and came back before Hemi.

"Hemi, let's go." Lidi showed a brilliant smile, a radiance long overdue for someone her age.

Lidi extended her hand to her companion of day and night. "We're saved."

Hemi was stunned for a moment, then grabbed Lidi's hand as well.

"You're amazing, Hemi." Lidi's eyes sparkled.

"Huh?"

"How did you know my father would come to save me? It was just like you said."

"Ah..." Hemi scratched her head. She couldn't very well say she had made it up on the spot to comfort Lidi.

In those dark, sunless days, hope itself was the most extravagant lie.

Hemi never imagined it would actually come true.

"Once we're out, what are your plans?" Lidi asked right away.

"This..." Hemi's gaze dimmed.

Lidi could go home after leaving; her father had been searching for her all along... whereas Hemi's parents had already sold her off.

"Come to our place!" Lidi caught the loss in her eyes and immediately gripped her hand tightly. "I don't want to be apart from you."

Hemi's eyes grew slightly warm. She nodded firmly and let Lidi pull her along, following the others toward the exit, toward that unfamiliar but boundless world of possibility.

La Di led those imprisoned boys and girls, slowly leaving the place.

The third floor returned to silence, leaving only Xia Lun and Aina. A faint trace of blood and rust still lingered in the air.

"Who would have thought we'd run into an acquaintance here." Aina curled a smirk at the corner of her lips, her voice unusually clear in the empty prison.

Then she slowly came to the cell next to Lidi and Hemi's.

"Never thought you'd end up hiding here," Aina said, stopping before the iron door and looking down at the curled figure inside.

Elesha slowly raised her head and looked at Aina outside the door.

Compared to when they first met, she had changed too much: she had grown noticeably thinner, perhaps due to the bloodletting, and her skin had taken on a sickly pallor. Her once-luxurious gowns had long been replaced by coarse robes, and her former elegant, composed bearing was gone entirely, leaving only the haggardness and fragility of crushed dignity. Compared to before, she looked like nothing more than a beaten dog.

Still, her natural foundation was quite good—even in this state, she retained some of her former beauty, which only made her look delicate and pitiful.

This former heir of the Norman family, who had once swept aside neighboring houses and commanded the wind and clouds, had now been reduced to a half-vampire's prisoner, kept like livestock for her blood.

Last time they went to the Norman estate, they hadn't managed to encounter her—she had escaped. Who would have thought they'd run into her here?

She must have come to Dawn City in search of clues about the hero, no doubt.

But Aise was dead, and Elesha had lost the so-called hero's revelation along the way. Bereft of wisdom, she had also lost all her means and strength, reverting to that powerless young lady of a great house.

Aina naturally held no fondness for this woman who coveted her own husband, and her face showed undisguised contempt and schadenfreude.

"Aina..."

But when Elesha's gaze passed over Aina and landed on the familiar figure behind her, a terrifying light suddenly blazed in her eyes, like a drowning person seizing the last drifting log.

"Hero... you're still alive?" Elesha struggled to rise, but her weak body made her stumble. She lunged toward Xia Lun, only to be blocked by a magical barrier Aina raised in front of her.

"What do you think you're doing?" Aina's eyes flashed cold. "If you keep being ungrateful, I'll grind you into meat paste."

"Hero, have you come to save me?" Elesha seemed not to hear Aina at all. She pressed herself against the invisible barrier, her twisted fingers clawing at the air in vain, like a fervent devotee, seemingly desperate only to get closer to Xia Lun. "I knew it... I knew you weren't dead..."

"What a disgusting creature." Aina frowned, looking at Elesha's shameless display.

"I was fine all along," Xia Lun sighed. "The being you once worshipped—that wasn't me. You were deceived by Aise."

"No, I know, hero—surely that was the power you gave me... You're using this excuse to keep that damned Demon King from finding out, to deceive her, aren't you? Don't worry, I understand..."

Elesha pressed herself against the invisible magical barrier, letting out a sick, trembling laugh, her shoulders shaking with excitement.

"Don't worry, hero. I will grow stronger and rescue you from her side... Just give me a little time..."

Xia Lun frowned.

"Face reality, Miss Elesha. I never gave you any power. I have no connection to you, and I don't need you to save me... Aina is my wife." Xia Lun pulled Aina tightly against his side. "I love her deeply."

"I know... hero, you do need to put on an act in front of her," Elesha said, her voice unhinged. "We can't let the cunning Demon King catch on... You've suffered so much, hero..."

Xia Lun: ...

Xia Lun stared at her in silence, the last trace of pity in his eyes gradually replaced by gravity.