Chapter 658 - 656: Who Are You?

Su Li didn’t know the time. She only knew it was night, and she had no idea where she was locked up.

There was nothing to see and nothing to hear.

"Help! Is anyone out there?"

Su Li tried shouting again, but aside from her own voice, there was still no response.

It was as if she were on a silent film set, with nothing and no one but herself.

After shouting twice with no response, Su Li once again felt along the four walls, searching for a door.

’Logically, a room should have a door, no matter what.’ But Su Li had just felt her way around the entire perimeter and hadn’t found one. All she touched was wall.

Undeterred, Su Li returned to the window, shouted once more, and then began to feel her way around again.

This time, Su Li searched high and low, not missing any abnormality, but after making a full circle, she still hadn’t found a door.

Having felt her way back to the small window, Su Li had no other choice but to shout outside a couple more times. Still, there was no response.

And she didn’t know if it was her imagination, but she felt like it had gotten even quieter outside.

Su Li stood quietly for a moment, rubbing her still-aching head. After some thought, she finally gave up on calling for help and felt her way deeper into the room.

It was a little brighter near the small window, but the wind was too strong, and it was bitterly cold.

Su Li rubbed her stiff, frozen hands, then rubbed her face, and finally wrapped her scarf around her entire face.

After that, she put on her gloves, hugged her arms tightly, and began to walk in circles around the room.

She was exhausted and her head ached. She had no strength and just wanted to lie down, but Su Li knew she had to keep walking.

She had to keep moving, to keep walking, to preserve her body heat. Otherwise, she would freeze stiff in no time.

She walked in circles for a while until her frozen feet slowly started to warm up. Su Li sighed in relief, pressed a hand to her stomach, and gave a wry smile.

She was hungry and thirsty. No matter how she tried to ignore it, she couldn’t.

’I only ate lunch,’ she thought. ’I didn’t even have time for an afternoon snack. Now I wake up and it’s the middle of the night. I don’t know what time it is, but it’s normal to be hungry.’

Of course, she was also thirsty, especially after trying to shout for help just now.

Su Li couldn’t help but lick her lips, then forced herself to rally and continue walking.

Thankfully, because of her experience with stomach cancer in her past life, she had always been careful about her stomach’s health. Although she was hungry, it wasn’t painful yet.

Su Li walked circle after circle. Only when her body had warmed up did she wearily feel her way to the most sheltered corner to sit down and rest with her eyes closed.

Exhausted and hungry, Su Li drifted off as she sat there, only to be jolted awake by the cold again.

After being woken by the cold, Su Li had no choice but to get up and walk in circles again, resting only when she was warm.

She didn’t know how many times this cycle repeated that night. All she knew was that the wind howled outside without stopping, and it snowed all night long. In the latter half of the night, the snow grew even heavier.

Su Li was sleepy, tired, hungry, and thirsty. She was completely drained of strength, yet she still had to keep walking nonstop.

On her last circuit, as she was walking, Su Li felt like it had gotten a little brighter.

’Is it finally getting light out?’

Exhausted and weary, truly starving and freezing, Su Li mustered her energy to glance outside before curling up in the corner to rest again.

When she startled awake again, it was once more because of the cold.

But this time when she woke, she was no longer facing total darkness, but light.

Although the room was still dim, with only the light from the small window shining in, Su Li’s spirits soared.

She moved her stiff limbs, pushed herself to her feet, and hurriedly looked around.

It was just as she had suspected last night: this was a house that had been abandoned and unused for a long time.

The floor was covered in dust, the walls were coated in it too, and a few broken old things were scattered around.

A snakeskin-patterned bag, a small, broken wooden box, and some other odds and ends—probably things the owner didn’t want when they left.

Su Li took a quick look around, then immediately searched for the door.

But just like last night, she couldn’t find a door. There were only walls on all four sides.

This was a room with no door.

Su Li let out a couple of breaths. After scanning the floor, she suddenly snapped her head up to look at the ceiling.

This time, she saw it.

She saw something that looked like a door.

Su Li tilted her head and took a closer look.

Now that it was daylight and the lighting was better, Su Li realized this room was much shorter than a normal one. Looking up felt a bit oppressive.

And on the ceiling, near the edge, there was a square wooden board, about a meter long and a meter wide.

This piece looked a bit like the kind of wooden cover you’d find on a cellar entrance. It was right above her head, but it was already closed shut.

’This must be a storage room or a utility closet, for keeping odds and ends...’

Su Li looked at the wooden cover, then stood beneath it and looked down. She saw marks on the floor—imprints left from where a ladder had likely stood for a long time.

And now, of course, the ladder had vanished without a trace.

In other words, this place really didn’t have a single door.

Without a ladder, the wooden cover—the door—above her head was useless to her.

But with walls on all sides, Su Li could only fix her gaze on that wooden cover door.

’If only I could reach it.’ Su Li tried standing on her tiptoes to reach it, but couldn’t. She jumped a little and could almost touch it, but she couldn’t apply any force.

Su Li looked around and finally set her sights on the rotten wooden box. She picked it up and tentatively tried smashing it against the wooden door.

She managed to hit it, but the wooden cover was locked from the outside and wouldn’t break open.

Instead, the already-decaying wooden box was smashed to smithereens.

Su Li got a mouthful of dust and had exhausted her strength, but she still hadn’t managed to break it open.

Unable to magically grow taller or jump two meters in the air, Su Li’s only remaining exit was the small, rectangular window.

A child might have been able to get out through that window. But for an adult like her, even ignoring the height, it was impossible to squeeze through.

But in the end, Su Li could only turn her attention back to the small window.

’Last night it was dark, so it’s normal that no one answered. Now it’s daytime. Maybe someone will be able to hear me.’

With that thought, Su Li began to call for help again. But after ten minutes of shouting intermittently, it was still no use.

Su Li had used up all her strength and her throat was painfully dry. Finally, she gave up for the time being.

’It’s probably still early. I’ll wait a bit, then try again.’

Su Li went to the corner to conserve her strength. She leaned against the wall and dozed for a while, until a twitch of her ear suddenly startled her awake.

In this unnaturally silent world, she had finally heard a sound.

It sounded like something was slowly approaching. It wasn’t footsteps... it was a little like the sound of wheels rolling over snow, but not quite.

Su Li strained to listen. The sound grew closer and closer. She couldn’t tell what it was, which made her wary, but she was also thrilled.

Because she had finally heard a sound.

Besides the sound of whatever was getting closer, Su Li thought she could faintly hear the blare of a horn, or maybe some commotion. The sounds were very faint, probably from far away.

But no matter what, this meant she was probably still in the Imperial City.

Su Li’s spirits lifted. She gritted her teeth and shouted outside for help.

"Is anyone out there? I’ve been locked up! Help me!"

"Hey! Is anyone out there?"

Su Li shouted twice, but there was no answer from outside. However, the sound she’d heard before was getting closer and closer.

A moment later, it sounded like something had stopped just outside the window.

Joy surged in Su Li’s heart.

"Help! Help me! Can anyone out there hear me? Please, save me..."

Just as Su Li was speaking, a familiar, cold laugh suddenly reached her ears.