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Bonus chapter! Thank you to Ele3 for the donation! ^^
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The person in front of her wasn’t attempting to hold her hand, but rather inspect her wound.
Shen Baiyue slightly pursed her lips without saying a word.
Ruan Qing carefully examined Shen Baiyue’s elbow, finding no signs of a broken bone. However, the abrasion was somewhat severe, with traces of blood on her elbow.
Ruan Qing gently pressed the area around the wound, as if making sure there were no hidden injuries. In reality, Ruan Qing just wanted to confirm the person’s gender.
Initially, he hadn’t realized, but the combination of the pulse and the underwear incident made him feel something was amiss. He started to doubt the person’s gender.
Male skeletons tend to be larger, and their skin might be slightly rougher. However, Shen Baiyue had a very small frame, and her skin was delicate, not quite fitting the profile of a male. Moreover, she was Yang Chenfeng’s fiancée, making it highly unlikely for her to be male.
Perhaps he was just being overly suspicious.
Shen Baiyue felt a bit awkward with Ruan Qing’s gentle actions, and her other hand tightened on her skirt, showing discomfort.
She looked up at the person in front of her and spoke softly, “It’s okay, Brother Yu Qing, it’s not that painful.”
After a moment of contemplation, Ruan Qing wiped away the blood from Shen Baiyue’s elbow with a tissue and then applied the ointment she had given him. The entire process was exceptionally gentle, ensuring Shen Baiyue felt no pain.
Incredibly gentle.
So gentle that it made it hard to control one’s thoughts and emotions.
And impossible to control one’s heartbeat.
Shen Baiyue, watching the person earnestly tending to her wound with his head down, once again tensed up, gripping her skirt tightly.
The intensity of her grip seemed as if she might tear the skirt apart the next second.
Yet, the flexibility and quality of the skirt resisted, only wrinkling slightly.
But Shen Baiyue’s skirt was the type with pleats, and even if it wrinkled, it was not noticeable.
After applying the ointment, there was the option to bandage it, but it seemed they lacked the necessary materials.
“It’s done. Avoid getting it wet for now.”
After taking the medicine, Ruan Qing didn’t pay further attention to Shen Baiyue. Instead, he used the flashlight on his phone to illuminate the surroundings.
The basement seemed to be a room for storing miscellaneous items, with a stronger personal touch than the rest of the villa. It felt as if someone had been living here.
However, the items were in disarray, haphazardly piled up, giving the impression that things were casually thrown there.
Ruan Qing speculated that personal belongings from the villa were probably stored in this basement, which explained why the upper floors seemed uninhabited.
After surveying the room, Ruan Qing didn’t investigate further. Instead, he turned around to look at the closed entrance of the stairs behind him.
The entrance was completely sealed, blocking any light from entering. It felt as if that place itself was a wall.
Something seemed off.
Ruan Qing ascended the stairs and forcefully pushed against the closed area.
No response.
It felt like pushing against a solid wall.
The entrance was located at the stairwell, a place frequently used by people, indicating it should withstand significant weight. Trying to push it open seemed impossible.
This appeared to be a mechanism.
Ruan Qing immediately looked around, hoping to find a mechanism that could open the sealed entrance. Shen Baiyue also joined in the search.
However, after nearly ten minutes of searching, they couldn’t find a way to open the entrance.
Ruan Qing’s mood sank slightly, fearing that the mechanism to open it might be on the outside. In that case, no matter how hard they tried from the inside, it would be futile. Continuing would only be a waste of time.
Moreover, there wasn’t much time left until ten o’clock.
Ten o’clock at night was undoubtedly a special time, and Yang Chenjin wouldn’t remind him about it specifically.
If he didn’t return to his room by ten, something ominous might happen.
So, the most crucial thing now was to rush back to his room before ten at night.
Ruan Qing had to abandon this entrance and explore if there were other exits.
The basement room had more than one exit; there were other doors.
That door should be the real exit.
Ruan Qing carefully approached the door, attempting to turn the handle.
With a “click,” the door smoothly opened.
Instead of directly opening the door, Ruan Qing looked outside through the crack.
Outside was not as dark as the room; there were lights above the corridor, illuminating the entire passage.
Moreover, it wasn’t just one passage but a complex network of corridors.
Each path led to countless others, and the end couldn’t be seen at a glance, making it a vast maze.
Without knowing the right direction, one could easily get lost.
If Ruan Qing had explored the entire villa above, he might have been able to determine where each passage led.
But he had only wandered around the main villa and hadn’t visited the other buildings.
Now, he had to explore elsewhere and see if there were any hidden passages on the ground.
After making sure there was no one or nothing dangerous outside, Ruan Qing cautiously led Shen Baiyue out.
The underground area was completely different from above the villa. Although the villas above were connected, doors separated them and were not accessible.
But below, there was no hindrance at all. The passages branched out in all directions, with no visible end.
There was even no sign of any person’s presence.
Only rooms were along the passages, mostly unlocked.
Inside were just miscellaneous items, leftovers from clearing the villa above.
Time passed quickly, reaching around ten in the evening.
Ruan Qing and Shen Baiyue still hadn’t found an entrance leading back above the villa.
They were even unable to determine where they had walked.
After some contemplation, Ruan Qing took Shen Baiyue and started walking aimlessly.
Although he hadn’t left any marks, he remembered how many times he had turned and how far he had walked each time.
He needed a direction now.
Even if they couldn’t find the way to the first floor of the villa, they at least had to find the direction of the main Yang family villa.
Ruan Qing knew the direction of the main villa. Just by walking in the direction where Shen Baiyue fell, he could at least have a rough idea of where to go.
However, starting from around ten o’clock, Ruan Qing began to feel an inexplicable sense of dread.
As if some danger lurked not far from them.
Ruan Qing’s heart tightened, and he quickened his pace, pulling Shen Baiyue along.
The two of them walked faster and reached the end of the passage. However, they both froze.
At the end of the passage, there were two or three red figures.
The figures were humanoid, but the resemblance ended there.
Their entire bodies were red, as if covered in bloodstains.
