...
After God knows how long, Yan Yiren finally awoke.
And the pain, as if also awakened, also returned.
Her neck was numb, and her head was throbbing as if the blood would burst from her eyes. As she stretched her arm, she felt a lump on the back of her head.
It's swollen!
Her surroundings were shrouded in darkness, not even a trace of light. Wincing with pain, she slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, "Where am I...?" she mumbled softly.
She touched the ground. It felt a little hard. Was it a carpet?
She recalled having been at the cemetery earlier. Before she passed out, she remembered hearing footsteps behind her...
Could she have been kidnapped?!
At the thought of that possibility, Yan Yiren kept her guard up, eyeing her surroundings alertly. She felt incapacitated.
Fumbling around with one hand, she tried to find her phone. However, not only was she unable to find it, but she also realized that her wallet and keys were missing.
This group of people had scoured through her belongings and taken them away to prevent her from calling the police.
Who were these kidnappers?
Yan Shudan and her mother?
No, no. That was highly unlikely.
After all, they knew she was Ji Hanjiang's girlfriend. They wouldn't try to do something so bold because Ji Hanjiang would be the first to come after them. And they knew what he was capable of.
Other than that mother-daughter duo, who else could it be?
"Psh... It hurts." Both her hands cupped her head as her face contorted in pain.
Pow.
All of a sudden, a soft sound pierced the air as the room lit up.
Yan Yiren's hands dropped to her side. Her heart was in her mouth as she took in her surroundings hurriedly.
She was in a bedroom, luxuriously styled like an aristocrat's room in the Middle Ages, with high ceilings and a chandelier.
The elevated bed, draped with heavy curtains, looked ominous...
The night breeze blew in from the open stained-glass window, making the gray curtains flutter softly.
A massive oil painting hung off the walls. In the painting was an Arab woman donning a black robe and a scarf that covered her face, revealing only her piercing eyes.
Those eyes, that deep piercing gaze of hers, was unsettling. It was as if she knew everything.
Yan Yiren felt goosebumps all over. Withdrawing her gaze from the painting, she ran toward the window, grabbing tightly onto the window grills. It was dark outside. She stared into the emptiness.
Not a single star was shining in the night sky.
Totally silent. Everything was silent.
There was nothing in sight, only darkness.
"Who's there?" Yan Yiren mumbled softly, unable to hide her shaky voice. "Who's the one playing the fool?"
This won't do; I have to get out of here right now!
With that thought in mind, Yan Yiren took a deep breath, trying hard to calm herself down. She looked straight at the door and decided to make a run for it.
Once she swung open the door, the outside was just as she had expected. It was dark. Everything was dark...
The darkness was not only spooky but unsettling.
A yellowish lamp lit up in the corridor. It looked like a creepy hand, controlling everything that was happening.
Yan Yiren hesitated, telling herself...cam down...there's no such thing as ghosts.
But there were but tricks played by evildoers.
Turning the door handle, she took a few steps forward. At the end of the corridor was a bedroom. Through the empty hallway, the lamps lit up one by one, following closely behind her.
The foul smell of dust and decay wafted through the air.
The more she moved forward, the thicker the stench became.
"Ugh!" Yan Yiren clasped tightly onto her shirt, feeling her stomach flip as she gagged.
Pada——
"Who's there?!" Yan Yiren looked in the direction of the sound and spotted a pair of red high heels on the carpet.
"Who the hell are you? Come out!"
The fear inside her had almost reached its peak. She clasped her hands, psyching herself up as she slowly approached that pair of high heels.
They were lying outside the room, right in front of the half-opened bedroom door. She pushed open the door softly; that's when she heard a long squeaking noise followed by another low creaking sound.