Doomsday Wonderland Vol. 13: Sleepwalking in Dreamland

1640: The Best Investment

Modern hotel beds usually have no space underneath.

Xie Feng felt overwhelmed. The relentless trembling, dizziness, and sense that her body was falling apart were too much to bear. She wanted to surrender, to let the strange sensations consume her entirely.

But deep down, she knew that giving in would mean being caught on the floor, right beside the bed, by Qiu Chantian—turning herself into undeniable evidence of Dong Luorong's guilt.

She had no idea what was happening to her, only that she had to fight off the crushing sensations with the last shreds of her willpower, as faint as smoke, to keep them from taking control.

Dong Luorong had booked a standard double room for her. From the entrance, you could see the two twin beds at the back of the room. The only bit of luck was that, when she'd made the call earlier, she had been sitting on the bed farthest from the door. If she fell off the bed, whoever entered the room would have to walk in and circle around toward the window to spot her lying on the floor.

Xie Feng forced her eyes open, but her vision was shattered, as if someone had smashed it into fragments and shaken them up in a bag. A piece of the floor-length curtain melded with the distorted outline of an armchair, everything swaying and blurring into the room's background. 'What illness could make me feel like this?'

"Get in," Qiu Chantian barked from the hallway again. "Want another slap?"

Xie Feng bit down hard on the inside of her cheek, stopping her teeth from chattering audibly. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth, but she didn't care. All her focus was on dragging herself toward the curtain.

If she'd been thinking clearly, she would've known that moving the curtain could easily attract attention. But in her current state, the idea of hiding behind it took every ounce of effort to conjure, leaving no room for further thought.

Soft footsteps entered the room, followed by the door slamming shut with a resounding bang.

Xie Feng's head was nearly touching the curtain. She tried pushing herself off the ground several times—or at least she thought she did, the way someone might dream they've gotten out of bed. Everything around her felt like it was coming apart in rippling waves, making it impossible to stand.

Soon, even the sounds she heard no longer felt real.

"Explain yourself. Why didn't you let Huang see her?" Qiu Chantian's voice sounded distant, as if carried from far away. "What were you trying to pull?"

"The day I rescued her, she was sitting right there in the back seat. I didn't cover her face," Dong Luorong replied, her tone cool and emotionless, like she was reciting a report. "If Huang can't remember what she looks like, that's not my fault. I booked the extra room because I thought Huang might need somewhere to rest occasionally. How was I supposed to know he'd turn on me?"

Aside from the day Xie Feng had passed out in the back seat, the driver had never seen her again. Even when he brought medicine, he had only handed it to Dong Luorong. It was perfectly reasonable that a sick girl would stay in bed and not let a strange man inside—it hadn't raised any suspicion at the time.

"You think I'm an idiot?" Qiu Chantian sneered. "I was doing just fine in Tear City until you started mingling with shady people. And now, I've been kidnapped. You think that's something I can just shrug off? How do you think my superiors are going to see this? Let me tell you—if anything happens to me, you'll pay for it tenfold with your life. You think you're special? Start searching!"

'Searching? For what? My stuff?' The thought rose briefly, then drifted away.

In her distorted state, Xie Feng sensed someone approaching the window.