Chapter 81

Rebecca had truly lost her composure. Not only did she ramble on and on about her own affairs, but she even proactively leaned her head gently against Chu Susu’s right shoulder.

Chu Susu helped her to the bedside, pondering in her heart whether she should stay and take care of Rebecca.

She always felt that the two of them getting along like this was a bit too intimate, crossing the line between subordinate and superior.

But today, Rebecca was unusually heartbroken. After hearing what she had said, Chu Susu couldn’t fully regard her as just a boss anymore.

Right now, she and Rebecca were more like an injured wife and mother with a listener, rather than a cold workplace relationship.

In the end, she still chose to grab the blanket from the side and cover Rebecca with it.

Chu Susu lingered at the room door for a moment, confirming that she had closed her eyes and fallen peacefully asleep, before preparing to leave.

Earlier, Rebecca had been pouring wine for the two of them cup after cup, and she herself had drunk quite a bit too. It was just that her alcohol tolerance was usually good, and she hadn’t drunk so urgently, so the aftereffects weren’t that strong yet.

The moment she stepped out of the room, Chu Susu felt a brief dizziness, but she didn’t think much of it, assuming the buzz had finally hit her.

Suddenly, she heard a faint murmur from behind, calling her name.

“Susu.”

“Could you… stay.”

Rebecca still didn’t open her eyes. It was unclear if it was sleep-talk or some lingering consciousness making her say it, but only because the room was utterly quiet could it reach Chu Susu’s ears.

Like a child, she suddenly turned over and kicked off the blanket that had just been tucked in.

Jiang City had been rainy these past few days, the temperature was already low, and the hotel’s AC was blowing cold air. If she slept like this for the whole night, she might catch a cold tomorrow.

Rebecca hadn’t gone to the venue earlier precisely because she was afraid of catching a cold and passing it to her daughter. If she got sick, she would definitely blame herself terribly.

As soon as Chu Susu thought of Feng Zhilan’s cute and innocent face, she felt reluctant and walked back over, planning to tuck her in again.

She herself was also feeling a bit groggy and planned to finish this and return to her own room to sleep. But just as her hand touched the blanket, it was grabbed by Rebecca.

Rebecca’s mouth began muttering her daughter’s name nonstop. She must have mistaken Chu Susu for Feng Zhilan, gripping tightly without letting go while speaking short phrases related to her daughter.

For example, telling her to be good, or some regrets hidden in her heart that she hadn’t voiced—

“Mommy’s sorry to you.”

Her fingers gripped with extreme force, almost embedding into Chu Susu’s skin. It was unknown what she had dreamed of, but she seemed terrified of her leaving.

In this situation, Chu Susu naturally couldn’t just walk away. She could only patiently wait, waiting for when Rebecca’s strength would fade and she would let go.

After a while, Rebecca finally quieted down. Her breathing gradually became steady and peaceful, a smile appearing on her face. She must have entered a sweeter dream.

Chu Susu quietly left her room.

The empty red wine bottle was still on the living room table. As she passed by, she picked it up for a look and discovered its alcohol content was much higher than she had thought.

No wonder even she was starting to feel her consciousness blurring.

She quickly and simply washed up before lying back on her bed, planning to sleep quickly. After all, in this state, she couldn’t do anything else.

But just as she was about to fall asleep, she suddenly felt something pat her body—not too light, not too heavy.

It was a slap with some force, but restrained enough not to hurt.

It landed on her butt.

“Mm!”

Chu Susu let out a startled cry and hurriedly turned over, almost thinking she was hallucinating.

But her eyes saw nothing but emptiness; she was the only one in the room.

What was going on?

Was it an illusion? She touched the spot that had been hit. But the faint pain had already dissipated, and she couldn’t confirm if the sensation had been real.

Chu Susu pursed her lips, feeling her thoughts gradually eroded by the alcohol, no time to ponder the matter.

So, within seconds, she lay back down, deciding to ignore it.

But almost instantly, it happened again.

This time, Chu Susu was certain it was real.

Each hit was on the exact same spot, with the same force. The pain accumulated deeper and deeper—not unbearable, but impossible to resist.

It was as if someone had wrapped an arm around her shoulders with the other hand, immobilizing her, forcing her to passively endure it.

It felt like there was an invisible hand in the air, swinging down high, then slowly lifting, repeating the same motion.

In an instant, tears welled up in Chu Susu’s eyes.

She had been raised by her sister. Chu Qingyang was strict but had never laid a finger on her, so this was Chu Susu’s first time experiencing this.

This part of the body had one of the thickest layers of fat, so even if repeated many times, it wouldn’t cause any real harm.

She wasn’t afraid of pain; she just felt humiliated and embarrassed.

There was even a trace of exhilaration she hadn’t noticed herself mixed in. As if this wasn’t the first time, but so many times she was already accustomed to it.

All sorts of emotions intertwined, leaving Chu Susu helpless and confused, unable to think rationally. She couldn’t get up, couldn’t call for help, didn’t know what to do.

In her panic, she called out a certain name.

“Han Xuan.”

But she immediately realized the fact that the other was far away in the Imperial Capital, not in Jiang City.

—But a few days ago, she had descended from the sky, freeing her from the venue’s puppet.

If she wanted to, she could completely appear here.

Thinking of this, Chu Susu felt like she had found a lifeline, like a drowning person at sea clutching a plank to float.

“Han Xuan, Han Xuan.”

She kept calling, hoping she would come to her rescue.

But the dark room remained empty.

The hits even grew heavier.

Tears finally spilled from Chu Susu’s eyes, sliding down slowly. “Han Xuan… mm!”

This one came fast and hard, right at the limit of what she could bear. Any more, and she wouldn’t have held out.

Even so, after so many repeated punishments, it felt scorching, as if burned clean by a fire.

“Why call Han Xuan?”

In her daze, she heard someone ask this.

Chu Susu didn’t want to answer; she was sobbing silently, unable to make a sound.

“Speak.” The voice said again, suppressing some emotion, urging her cruelly to reply.

Chu Susu felt the tone somewhat familiar, but because it was too soft a whisper, she couldn’t identify who it was.

She instinctively whimpered, “Because no matter what happens, Han Xuan always comes to save me…”

“What makes you think so?”

“…I don’t know.”

“Then wait until you do.”

The next second, something happened that seemed to dispel all the alcohol in her body, making Chu Susu widen her eyes in an instant. Her body leaned forward, hoping to ease it a bit, but to no avail.

The punishment came even heavier and more intense.

“Han Xuan, Han Xuan.”

Chu Susu no longer knew what to say, just letting those syllables spill from her mouth, her voice broken and fragmented, her originally clear tone thick with nasally sobs.

Tears gushed down, supposed to soak into the bedsheet, but they didn’t spread as expected.

Instead, they dripped onto someone’s wrist bone, the back of a hand, fingertips.

And someone gently caught them, drinking them down, tasting that faint saltiness with the tip of the tongue.

“Han Xuan.”

Chu Susu, her vision blurred with tears, lifted her head. With some unknown burst of strength, she reached forward and touched a sleeve.

She gripped it tightly, unwilling to let go.

“Han Xuan.” Chu Susu’s tone was full of certainty. She was now kneeling prostrate on the bed, as if hanging her entire weight on the end clutching the sleeve. “Help me.”

“Save me.”

In the darkness, a certain figure gradually materialized, no longer hiding, and gripped her hand back.

“Help you with what?”

Chu Susu breathed rapidly. “I don’t know.”

She didn’t know what she wanted to ask or do, only that her whole body felt unbearably hot. The only thing she knew was to keep repeating “Help me” and “Save me.”

The room’s AC was on very low, yet she felt suffocatingly hot, her sleepwear sticking to her neck and back, drenched in sweat.

Chu Susu reached to pull it off, but was stopped by someone unknown.

She was pressed back down by the shoulders, forced to lie prone again. This time, no matter how she cried or begged, it was no use.

The other didn’t stop for anything—a ceaseless, measureless punishment, all inflicted upon her.

What happened afterward, Chu Susu didn’t remember. In fact, this segment of memory blurred after she woke up, as if it had never happened at all.

She slowly got up, feeling a slight discomfort in her waist. Probably because the hotel bed was too soft and she hadn’t slept well.

After a hangover, a headache was inevitable, but Chu Susu still felt something was off.

She drank way more than this when she went out with Li Le’er and the others, and nothing like this ever happened. Moreover, this is red wine meant for savoring slowly—even if the alcohol content is high, it can’t compare to the stuff in the party house.

However, as if suddenly remembering something, Chu Susu abruptly sensed it. Disregarding her body’s discomfort, she forced herself out of bed and went to the bed curtain in the room.

She pressed the nearby button firmly, and the curtains opened right away.

Behind it was a small, utterly inconspicuous gadget about the size of a palm. Its color closely matched the bed curtain, hiding it so thoroughly that it was undetectable to the naked eye.

Ever since seeing that finger cot at home before setting off, some doubts had arisen in Chu Susu’s heart.

The appearance of Han Xuan, Han Yao, the Hunter, and others made her realize that the affairs of this world cannot be considered with common sense, so she treated all anomalous phenomena with utmost caution.

She bought this small camera when she was going out to dinner with Rebecca and passed by the mall.

Although she didn’t know what it could record, but…

She’d record it, so she would know nothing happened while she was asleep, and she’d feel more secure.