Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 13: Sleepwalking in Dreamland [Complete]

1630: Confession

"Were you sitting at the door just to see when he'd leave?"

When Dong Luorong lazily sat down, her silk robe slipped down her legs, as light and delicate as smoke being blown away. She wasn't wearing any makeup, yet her lips remained a deep, almost cruel, blood-red. A thin line of silvery-white reflections glistened off the bony shapes of her knees, calves, and ankles, clear and smooth as if they were crafted of metal—except, they were so extremely thin, it seemed they could break with the slightest bend.

No matter what kind of person Qiu Chantian was, he definitely had impeccable taste in women, Xie Feng thought, though she wasn't sure what to feel about it.

The only light in the room came from a small lamp, casting a hazy, dream-like glow. Dong Luorong lowered her head, as if she sighed softly, but Xie Feng couldn't quite hear it.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Dong Luorong tilted her head and asked, "Are you mad at me?"

Xie Feng raised her hand and slowly untied the belt of her hotel robe, letting it fall to the ground. Under Dong Luorong's slightly surprised gaze, she turned away, biting her lip as she pulled off her shirt, clutching it in her hands.

The cold air in the room made her skin prickle with goosebumps the moment it touched her bare body. Her shoulders, chest, and back were all exposed to the light and shadow, yet strangely, Xie Feng didn't feel vulnerable. Maybe because taking control of the situation is a kind of power in itself.

"Can you see these scars?"

Dong Luorong made no sound.

"Right before the surrender, the public opposition was at its most intense. Tear City was still technically its own country, but it was already imperial soldiers patrolling the streets, hunting us down." Xie Feng's voice trembled. "Once, we got separated by a group of security officers, and in the chaos, I panicked and ran the wrong way and got chased by two or three of them. One of them kicked me hard in the lower back, his boot was so heavy. I fell face-first into the ground, and then they started hitting me with batons..."

She usually acted as if none of this had ever happened.

"I used to think batons were blunt weapons. That day, I learned a blunt weapon can still tear you apart, split your skin open, and make your head bleed just as easily if they hit hard enough." Xie Feng looked down at the floor. "Honestly, I don't remember most of it. I just recall an old lady nearby, screaming at them to stop hitting, stop hitting, she's just a little girl, she'll be beaten to death by you guys...

"It hurt so much while they were hitting me that I thought to myself, hurry up and grab me, just stop beating me. As long as they stop beating me, anything was fine. When they finally did stop, a man grabbed me under my arms to lift me up, and I almost started crying out of fear."

Dong Luorong rose from the couch, her clothes rustling softly as she moved. She walked up behind Xie Feng, and that distinct presence of hers wrapped around her like water. When Dong Luorong's cool fingers touched Xie Feng's skin, the chill made her shudder.

Despite how abrupt the gesture was, it didn't feel awkward coming from her. It was like a mother instinctively wanting to soothe the wounds of a child who had been hurt.

"And then? How did you escape?" she asked quietly.

"By that point, I was half-unconscious, couldn't even stand. They probably thought I'd passed out, so they let their guard down and only left one guy to watch me... There were a lot of people around, shouting that he'd hit me too hard and shouldn't have done it. The security officer got distracted and didn't notice the taxi that had just pulled up at the curb behind him." Xie Feng's voice was hoarse. "The driver and I locked eyes for a few seconds, and after a moment's hesitation, he opened the door. I crawled past the officer's feet, and I don't even know where I got the strength, but I jumped up and ran into the car... The driver didn't dare keep me in the cab for long though, he dropped me off a few streets away."