Chapter 122: The Lock Gives Way

She half-opened one eye. The blue light from the screen washed over her face. She squinted at the caller ID. It was her sister.

Her mind went blank for a second. She instinctively moved to answer.

But before her finger hit the button, the screen went dark. The call had ended.

Luo Xiaoning watched the call drop and didn’t bother calling back. She hugged Su Yutao and fell asleep again.

Outside, Luo Qianning lowered her phone.

She heard it. The ringback tone, leaking through the crack in the door, clear as day.

This was the place.

Luo Xiaoning always answered her calls instantly, because she didn’t dare not to.

This time there was no instant answer. The phone rang and rang, and nobody picked up. Something was definitely wrong.

She pocketed the phone, took a step back, and slammed straight into the door lock.

The old wooden door, who knows how many decades old, burst open and banged against the wall. Flakes of plaster shook loose from the wall.

Luo Qianning walked into the living room.

The first thing she saw was the mess. The coffee table was overturned, the remote control snapped in half, a vase shattered across the floor.

There were puddles of water, drops of blood, shards of porcelain. The dining table was crooked, and lying on the floor was a frying pan with a charred, blackened bottom.

Her brow furrowed. Then she spotted the two people huddled on the sofa.

Luo Qianning’s gaze paused on Su Yutao’s face.

White hair, purple eyes, pale little face, covered in bruises. It was that little thing Lin Xue protected like a treasure.

‘What is she doing here?’

Luo Qianning’s heart suddenly lurched, as if something had clicked into place.

‘This is Lin Xue’s home?’

‘Is that madwoman here?’

A chill ran down Luo Qianning’s back. She instinctively glanced toward the bedroom. The door was closed, no sound inside.

Lin Xue wasn’t home.

Or she was sleeping.

Either way, she didn’t want to take the gamble.

If Lin Xue was home and saw her breaking in… she didn’t dare think about it.

She pulled her gaze away, no longer looking at Su Yutao, her heart beating a little faster.

‘I need to get Luo Xiaoning out of here fast. Don’t wake the little thing. Don’t alert Lin Xue. Act as if nothing happened.’

She stepped forward, bent down, and reached for Luo Xiaoning’s arm, intending to lift her off the sofa and go.

Luo Xiaoning’s brain was still catching up from all the noise. Half-awake, she squinted and saw a tall figure in front of her, reaching out to grab her.

She instinctively shrank back. Then she saw the face. Her sister.

Her head buzzed, and she was completely awake.

She saw her sister’s gaze land on Su Yutao. It wasn’t curiosity. It was the look of someone who’d recognized her and was already scheming.

Luo Xiaoning’s heart skipped a beat. She instinctively threw her arms around Su Yutao and pulled the little blind girl into her embrace, like she was shielding a treasure.

Luo Qianning’s hand froze in midair.

She watched Luo Xiaoning hugging Su Yutao, her brow knitting tighter. Her voice was low, with an unmistakable tone of command. “Let go. Come with me.”

Luo Xiaoning shook her head, hugging Su Yutao even tighter.

Luo Qianning’s brow furrowed deeper, her voice dropping further. “Don’t make me say it twice.”

Su Yutao was woken up by the commotion.

In a daze, she felt herself held tightly by Luo Xiaoning. Someone nearby was talking, not loud, but every word carried a chill that ran down her spine.

Her brain was still loading. She didn’t know what was happening. She just instinctively held Qiansui tighter and burrowed deeper into Luo Xiaoning’s arms.

She thought she heard a voice saying “let go” and “come with me,” and Luo Xiaoning saying “no.”

Luo Qianning didn’t want to drag this out any longer.

She glanced at Su Yutao. The little thing was awake now, white hair messy, purple eyes half-lidded, her face still clouded with sleep.

‘Did she recognize me?’

Whether she did or not, it was time to leave.

She wanted nothing to do with that madwoman’s little creature.

She raised her hand and smacked Luo Xiaoning’s butt.

“Slap.” Not too hard, not too soft. Luo Xiaoning let out an “ow” and instinctively pulled her hands away to rub her bottom. A conditioned reflex from a lifetime of her sister’s beatings.

The instant she released her grip, Luo Qianning grabbed the back of Luo Xiaoning’s collar, lifted her off the sofa, and turned toward the door.

Dangling from her sister’s hand, feet off the ground, Luo Xiaoning kicked and flailed toward the door, but couldn’t break free.

Su Yutao felt the warm thing that had been holding her disappear. Luo Xiaoning was being carried off.

She froze. Instinctively, she tried to find that warm heat source.

She reached out, fumbling blindly in the air, and caught Luo Xiaoning’s wrist. She didn’t let go.

Yanked backward, Luo Xiaoning stumbled, and the momentum of Luo Qianning’s stride dragged Su Yutao off the sofa onto the floor.

Her knees slammed against the floorboards. She gasped in pain, but she still didn’t let go. Her fingers stayed clamped around Luo Xiaoning’s wrist, knuckles gone white.

Luo Qianning stopped. She looked down at Su Yutao.

The little white-haired thing lay on the floor, hair falling across half her face, one hand clutching Luo Xiaoning’s wrist in a death grip, the other arm still wrapped around the worn-out penguin.

She was trembling all over, but her hold on Luo Xiaoning’s wrist didn’t slacken.

Luo Qianning’s brow knitted even tighter. Irritation surged in her chest.

She didn’t want to touch this little thing. It was Lin Xue’s. Touching it meant trouble.

But now the girl was holding on, refusing to let go. And if Lin Xue woke up… She didn’t want to think about it.

She gave Luo Xiaoning a hard yank. Su Yutao’s fingers slipped off Luo Xiaoning’s wrist. She stayed sprawled on the floor, hand still outstretched, reaching for something, making hoarse “huh, huh” sounds.

Luo Xiaoning panicked. She watched Su Yutao lying on the ground, reaching toward her, like a kitten tossed out of its nest.

Her eyes reddened instantly, her voice frantic and shaking. “Sis! Listen to me! I can’t leave! I have to stay here!”

Luo Qianning looked down at her, her gaze turning cold. She thought her sister had lost her mind.

‘What’s so good about here? This is Lin Xue’s home. That madwoman’s home. She’d run as far as she could from it, and her own sister was crawling in?’

Her voice was low, with a tone that said, “Do you have a screw loose?”

“Are you crazy? This isn’t some nice place. Come home with me.”

Luo Xiaoning wanted to explain, then paused.

Because she knew that if she told the truth about what she was doing here, her sister would beat her to death on the spot.

Her mind raced, and her mouth was already spinning a story. “I… I found a job here. As a babysitter, watching a kid. I mean, taking care of that little thing.”

“The owner’s surname is Lin. She went out and left me to look after the place.”

“I signed a contract. I can’t just leave…”

The more Luo Xiaoning talked, the more guilty she felt, and her voice shrank smaller and smaller. But she didn’t dare stop. If she stopped, she’d be caught.

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