The small candlelight gradually moved toward the end of the corridor, but as it turned a corner, the long corridor of Fortress No. 7 suddenly fell into darkness.
At this moment, in the ice cellar, Zhen Ai huddled into a small point on the ground, shivering from the cold. Her damp clothes and hair gradually froze, and even her fingernails lost color. In the quiet ice cellar, the only sound was the chattering of her teeth; she felt like her chin was about to freeze off.
The cold was like tiny needles, slowly invading her limbs and bones, causing sharp pain. She was so cold that her nerves felt like they were being torn apart, and she suddenly recalled what she had said to Yan Su not long ago: "Don't follow me."
He definitely wouldn't come.
She had imagined countless ways to die, but she never expected to freeze to death in her family's ice cellar, where they stored unburned experimental materials.
---
Yan Su ran through the entire ancient castle with a flashlight, but still found nothing; there was no sign of Zhen Ai anywhere.
Standing at a high vantage point, he looked out, and all the lights in the annex were off. Only the lower half of the main castle was lit.
Could it be that they had missed her all along, and Zhen Ai had already gone back?
Yan Su turned to head back. He had a good memory, and soon he found his way back to the living room. This time, when he pushed the door open, his heart sank again.
Everyone was sitting in the living room chatting and drinking tea, except for Zhen Ai.
With everyone gathered together, it was already difficult to carry out a killing plan, but when they had dispersed earlier, the murderer hadn't continued their attack? Or had it already happened…?
Everyone was back; did that mean the murderer had successfully struck…? Zhen Ai might have already been harmed, just in some dark and cold corner of this grand castle.
A chill suddenly gripped his heart, and he didn't even know how he approached them, asking word by word, "Has anyone seen her?"
The chatter in the living room abruptly stopped.
Everyone turned to look at him, puzzled. His pale and vacant expression was frightening. Although they all knew who he meant by "her," no one spoke up.
One actor noticed the odd atmosphere and somewhat gleefully said, "Wasn't she always with you?"
Yan Su shot him a cold glare, startling the actor into silence.
The butler frowned, "We saw her just now."
The maid chimed in, "There was a sudden power outage, so she left first. We thought she had returned. When we got here and saw neither of you, we thought you two were together!"
Upon hearing "power outage," Yan Su felt a sinking dread: "Take me to the place where she disappeared right now!"
Suddenly, the butler recalled something and immediately stood up: "I thought I heard a strange sound over there; we need to hurry and find her!"
Yan Su rushed with the butler and the maid toward the west. As they ran, the butler tried hard to remember the sound they had heard earlier. At some point, he realized, "Oh no, that sound was the door to the ice cellar; it can only be opened from the outside."
Yan Su felt as if he had been chilled to the bone: "What's the temperature in the ice cellar?"
"Negative one degree Fahrenheit." That's about minus ten degrees Celsius.
Yan Su's mind went blank, his voice no longer sounding like his own: "How long ago was that?"
The butler replied, "I heard the sound just as I was heading toward the main castle, maybe one or two minutes ago!"
"We had only just returned when you came!" the maid interjected, running quickly. "It shouldn't have been long."
The three quickly arrived at the entrance of the ice cellar. The butler and the maid worked together to pull open the heavy door, and a rush of icy air hit them.
Yan Su looked down and saw Zhen Ai curled up, unmoving, sitting by the door, hugging herself tightly, her body covered in a thin layer of frost, like a snow doll.
Just one glance made his heart bleed. He rushed over and lifted her out; she remained in a curled-up position, completely unaware. Yan Su urgently asked the butler, "Which room has hot water?" The maid had already swiftly opened the adjacent door.
Zhen Ai lay against him, her complexion pale, utterly still, as if she were dead, or like a frozen sculpture that couldn't melt, exuding a chilling aura that seeped into Yan Su's heart, causing it to ache painfully.
He couldn't believe he had left her in such low temperatures for so long.
The maid quickly turned on the bathroom faucet and adjusted the temperature.
"Constant temperature at 35 degrees!" Yan Su placed Zhen Ai in the bathtub, removed her outer garments and skirt, and took the showerhead, pouring water over her from above. Her body was pale and cold; as soon as the warm water touched her, it quickly cooled down, sliding off her like a chill.
He noticed her eyes were tightly closed, with frost still clinging to her eyelashes; she had been crying…
He couldn't bear to think about how despairing and terrified she must have felt alone in the ice cellar. His heart ached like a knife wound, and without any sense, he frantically pulled off his overcoat and inner shirt, pressing her freezing body tightly against his bare chest.
Warm water flowed, yet the person in his arms remained icy.
At some point, the others had followed them in, and upon seeing the scene, they were all shocked into silence.
Seeing Yan Su's face turn white, the writer rushed to pull him away: "Her body temperature is too low; it's better for her to soak in the water. If you keep holding her like this, you'll freeze yourself…" The lawyer and the host also tried to pull Yan Su away.
"Get away!" Yan Su shouted angrily, shaking them off, and the sudden explosion of rage stunned everyone.
Yan Su was disheveled and wet, kneeling in the bathtub while holding the unconscious Zhen Ai, like a wounded beast trapped in a corner, with no way out. Although his face was pale and he bore unseen scars, he was stubborn, unyielding, radiating an aura of imminent danger, like a wolf protecting its companion.
Absolutely, unwavering.
His usually calm eyes revealed a fierce glint as he looked at everyone present, speaking each word through gritted teeth, "One of you must have seen her and harmed her."
His lips were pale, his handsome face menacing, with a strange beauty to it. "Why did you attack her? Did you think she discovered your secret? Ha! Because you harmed her, I now know who you are! Now you can sit back and wait; I will definitely make you pay for this!"
His low voice sent chills down everyone's spine, yet they couldn't tell whom his hollow gaze was directed at.
They exchanged glances, and Yan Su turned his gaze back to the maid: "Increase the temperature to 40 degrees."
She immediately complied.
The butler left the maid behind and took the others to fetch blankets and hot water bottles.
The water level slowly rose as Yan Su sat in the bathtub, holding Zhen Ai tightly.
Pressing his face against hers, she was still icy cold, which pained him.
Time passed, second by second. Her body gradually relaxed, becoming softer and cooler, nestled against him. Though she still felt chilly, there were clear signs of warmth returning.
"Raise the temperature to 43 degrees."
The maid followed suit.
The bone-chilling cold gradually dissipated, but the fear in his heart lingered. He trembled in fear until, at a certain moment…
The person in his arms moved slightly, still disoriented, murmuring his name:
"Dear…"
Yan Su's heart jolted; he couldn't describe the relief he felt, the tension in his mind snapped. But when he looked down at her, she had once again faintly closed her eyes.
He supported her head, submerging her completely in the warm water, and instructed, "Hot water!" The maid immediately handed him a glass.
He gently blew away the steam, took a sip of hot water, and brought it to her lips, feeding her bit by bit. The steaming liquid flowed into her body, warming her like a spring breeze melting snow, gradually spreading throughout her limbs.
Zhen Ai slowly opened her eyes again; although her consciousness was hazy, she knew she had returned to a warm place. She was soaking in the warm water, surrounded by his embrace; the penetrating cold that had invaded her was gradually dispelled, slowly replaced by a comforting warmth.
Before her was his face, so close yet pale and handsome. He kissed her, as he always did, with a clean scent and warm breath.
As Yan Su fed her the last half-glass of hot water, he felt her eyelashes flutter against his face, light and ticklish.
He suddenly raised his eyes and saw her irises as dark as water-washed obsidian, pure and focused on him. Her lips remained pale, but she smiled faintly: "Dear, don't worry about me."
He stared blankly at her for a second, overwhelmed with joy as if he had found a treasure, and once again pulled her tightly into his embrace, gritting his teeth and struggling to speak for what felt like ages. After an unknown number of seconds, he finally said:
"Constant temperature, 47 degrees."
The girl in his arms couldn't help but let out a soft laugh. Her breaths were shallow and slow, her voice intermittent and weak: "I won't be in trouble." She leaned her head on his shoulder and smiled slightly: You're so anxious; how could anything happen to me?
He supported the back of her head, making sure to keep her submerged in warm water. A strange emotion simmered in his chest as his voice became choked: "Ai, call my name again."
She was taken aback.
She couldn't see his face, but she thought she could hear the sound of him crying?
Her heart felt like it had been yanked hard by someone. She obediently complied, though her voice was still a bit weak:
"Dear!"
"Eh."
"Dear!"
"Eh."
"Dear!"
"Eh."
She leaned against his warm embrace, feeling as if the ice in her eyes had melted, a sour sensation filling her eyes.
He wouldn't not come to find her;
He would never give up on her;
With him around, how could she possibly have a miserable end?
The butler and others arrived with blankets and hot water bottles, and the nurse thoughtfully brought dry clothes for them.
But Yan Su was not very appreciative; he took the items with a stiff expression, not saying a word as he kept everyone locked outside the bathroom.
Although Zhen Ai had woken up, her body temperature was still very low, and her limbs felt weak. When Yan Su helped her take off her clothes and wipe her body, he initially thought this was a proper way to save her.
Because textbooks say that the next steps to relieve frostbite are to take off clothes, dry the body, and then sleep under warm blankets.
But as he watched the woman he loved slowly remove her clothes, revealing herself before him, Yan Su couldn't help but tremble as he undressed her. His face gradually flushed, and his gaze wandered, as if he couldn't find a place to rest in the spacious bathroom.
Zhen Ai sat in the water, awkwardly staring at the wall. It was still very dangerous here; she had to quickly recover her body temperature and get into the blanket filled with hot water bottles.
But it was obvious that she couldn't stay in wet clothes.
With her top and stockings off, she felt as if she were a lingerie-clad girl sitting in a bathtub. Her heart was racing, but her body temperature was still low, and her cheeks wouldn't turn red, which was truly embarrassing...
Neither of them spoke awkwardly. Yan Su stole a brief glance at her; the image of her slender and sexy figure was deeply etched in his mind, impossible to erase.
He cleared his throat uncomfortably: "Why don't you take off the remaining two small pieces yourself..." His wording seemed a bit strange, so he looked up at the ceiling and quickly touched his nose. "The remaining small wet clothes."
Zhen Ai nodded her head, keeping her gaze down: "Okay."
She painfully lifted her arms; the front-clasp bra was not difficult to take off. With a gentle tug, the small piece of clothing fell outside the bathtub. Yan Su looked down and saw the round white bra at his feet, feeling an indescribable emotion at that moment.
But when it came to taking off her panties, Zhen Ai encountered a problem. She couldn't sit up at all and lacked the strength to lift herself, her hands clumsily rubbing for a long time without managing to pull down the tiny piece of fabric.
He stood beside her and sensed her predicament. Suddenly, he bent down, using one hand to support her up from the back, while the other hand grasped the last small piece of fabric on her body. With a gentle tug, her white panties slid down to her knees.
She instinctively brought her legs together in the water, hurriedly using one hand to cover herself and the other to block her chest. But even for that brief second, he had seen all of her...
The beauty between her chest and her legs was forever recorded...
He grabbed a bath towel and laid it on the carpet before lifting her out of the water and placing her on the dry towel.
As she left the water, she suddenly shivered, and he realized she was cold. He quickly wrapped her in a large towel, rubbed her hair, and started drying her body, as if he were drying a wet little dog.
But she was not like a little dog. Her arms wrapped tightly around her chest, her delicate waist, smooth skin, and long legs made it hard for anyone to look away.
She kept her head down, her long hair cascading gently over her chest like a little white fish. She was pale, soft, weak, and slippery. Blood rushed to Yan Su's head; just moments ago, holding her felt cold all over, but now his body was burning. Especially his abdomen, which felt like it was being pricked by caterpillars, both itchy and hot.
He restrained himself as much as possible, drying her upper body, wrapping her with a towel, and wiping her waist, hips, and intimate area. His palm, separated by the towel, lightly and carefully grazed between her legs and along her cleft.
Zhen Ai trembled in surprise, burying her face against his chest and not daring to look up.
He silently chanted restraint a countless number of times, covering her waist with the towel and slowly drying her legs with another large towel.
When he looked down to wipe her feet, her skin was still cool, like jade picked from a winter stream, while his palm felt like the asphalt road under the scorching summer sun.
Subconsciously, he craved the icy coolness of her skin, while she longed for the fiery warmth of his palm, both of their heartbeats quickening in silence.
He held her foot in his large hand, carefully drying off the droplets between her toes.
She felt ticklish and instinctively pulled back, her little foot slipping away from his hand like a fish.
Yan Su slowly withdrew his hand, wrapped Zhen Ai in the towel, and carefully lifted her to the bed filled with hot water bottles. She slipped out of the towel, snuggling into the blankets and obediently remaining still.
He touched her pale cheek again and felt it was still a bit cool, so he replaced it with a dry towel and began to dry her hair.
Zhen Ai closed her eyes contentedly, feeling an extremely comfortable and pleasant tingling sensation. She truly liked the way he caressed her.
It wasn't until he had dried her hair halfway that he stood up to change clothes himself.
It felt warm all around, and as Zhen Ai began to drift off to sleep, the gentle touch on her head stopped.
He left?
She struggled to wake up and had some difficulty lifting her head to look at him, only to find him naked, wiping the water off his body with a towel.
From her perspective, he stood under the dim light, his figure handsome, resembling a Renaissance nude statue, with broad shoulders, a narrow waist, smooth lines, and a... very sexy backside.
He faced away from her, tilting his head slightly. The simple action of drying his hair accentuated the muscles across his body, firm yet not exaggerated, as if containing some kind of latent power.
Zhen Ai's heart felt hot, deeply aware that this proud work of art belonged to her, so she satisfiedly and bashfully averted her gaze. But unexpectedly, he slightly turned his body, and her eyes accidentally caught sight of something thick and flesh-colored at his waist, standing erect with a faint pink hue, proud and aggressive, like a beast lying in wait to hunt.