The Mystery of the Inner Demon

Chapter 233 Obedience Test
Lu Man's mind went blank, and the documents she was holding scattered all over the floor with a "whoosh".

Sitting behind the chair, Xi He flipped his hand, and the glass bead rose and fell in his hand. The light coming in through the French windows refracted through it, making it sparkle and jump in the air. He grabbed it and held it tightly in his hand.

The chair turned around, and that extremely handsome, angelic face appeared before Lu Man.

Lu Man will never forget this face. Countless times, it was this innocent and touching face that made her soften her heart when disciplining the child.

Now, having shed the childishness of memory, it is like a fully evolved form, even more flawless.

"What did you do to President Qi?" Lu Man's voice trembled, and she could barely stand by gripping the armrest of the sofa.

Xi He grinned, revealing white fangs like a wolf: "Sister Lu Man, it's been so long I've forgotten how much I used to love seeing you so frightened and vulnerable."

“You…” Lu Man felt only humiliation. “He’s your father, you know that.”

"Oh, you mean the one who imprisoned me in Nanling?" Xi He's lips curled into a smile, but his eyes were already chillingly cold. "I gave up on being a dutiful son a long time ago. Otherwise, I would already be buried in Nanling, forgotten, along with that deposed crown prince who committed suicide, wouldn't I?"

“Your father always wanted to save you, Xi He. He’s old now, let him go.”

“Oh, you really care about him, more than me, more than Qi Fei.” Xi He narrowed his eyes slightly when he mentioned Qi Fei. “Very good.”

He stood up and circled Lu Man like a wild beast, raising his hand to reach for her waist: "If you really want to save Qi Dongjun, then don't move."

Lu Man's tears fell in a stream. Knowing that every word Xi He said was true, she dared not move an inch.

“You know what I like,” Xi He said, his hand tracing the curves of Lu Man’s body, slowly moving downwards. Suddenly, he reached into her coat pocket, pulled out her phone, and tossed it behind her head. With a piercing shredding sound, his devilish whisper rang out again, “I like obedience tests. Sister Lu Man, obey me, just like you did back then.” He then searched her body for her car keys and threw them into the shredder. The machine’s gears greedily devoured the keys but got stuck in the middle, emitting a sharp alarm.

Lu Man's face had turned pale, and she swallowed nervously: "I was forced. All these years I have done my best to take care of President Qi in order to atone for my sins."

"You're still deceiving yourself. Is it really that hard to admit you want Qidong County? You know very well what the consequences would be if I ran away."

"Kill me, and let this all end! Spare President Qi; he did nothing wrong!"

“Kill you? That wouldn’t be fun at all.” Xi He said, grabbing her hand. Just then, a clap of thunder sounded outside. With a chillingly gentle tone, Xi He pulled her outside: “Remember that game we used to play?”

Upon hearing the word "game," Lu Man seemed struck by lightning, her eyes widening in terror as she frantically shook her head, crying out, "No, no!"

However, her helpless pleas only excited Xi He more: "Shh...be good, or I'll get angry. You know, I've been waiting for this rainy day for a long time. We used to play like this all the time back in the solitary confinement in Nanling, right?" As he spoke, he hummed a nursery rhyme that only the two of them could understand.

For some reason, Lu Man gave up struggling. It was as if all her previous attempts to escape had been in vain. Her initial fear had turned into despair, and she let Xi He drag her into the garden.

“I’ve buried marbles here. You can start digging now. I’ll let you go when you find them.” “Otherwise, you’ll kill President Qi. I know! That’s how those people died back then.” Lu Man shivered in the rain. Xi He used this method to transfer the guilt of killing onto her.

"Good to know. Then hurry up. How much time do I have this time? How about this, one hour. For every minute you find it earlier, I'll give Qi Dongjun one more day to live. How about that?" Xi He was having a good time. He even moved a chair to sit on the porch and enjoyed watching Lu Man's disheveled appearance.

This driving anxiety suddenly overwhelmed Lu Man, and even after many years, she still couldn't resist it.

She frantically searched for marbles in the rain-soaked mud.

She knew that Xi He would never bury the marbles too deep, just like when teasing a cat or dog, always leaving some clues so that she would think she could find them soon, but she couldn't find them no matter how hard she tried.

Aside from Xi Ziyun's death, only Lu Man knew that the nurses and security guards who died unexpectedly in Nanling were all the work of Xi He.

"You never told Qi Dongjun that you, unlike others, were able to persevere in taking care of me because you passed my test, right? He still thinks you tamed me, poor old man." Xi He's voice came through the noisy rain behind Lu Man. "Guess what he would think if he saw you like this, obeying my commands like a dog?!"

Lu Man dared not argue, but bit her lip in humiliation, struggling to find where the marbles were hidden through her vision blurred by rain and tears.

Her fingers stung from the weeds and pebbles, but she didn't care.

She obeyed because Xi He had shown her countless times through his actions that he would do what he said.

If she can't find the marbles within an hour, Qi Dongjun will really die.

……

The painful memory caused Lu Man to convulse violently. A snap of her fingers woke Zhong Kui from her hypnosis.

Lu Man was unaware that she had recounted the entire process to Zhong Kui.

"Ten minutes ahead of schedule, you found the marbles ten minutes early." Zhong Kui's voice came, and as Lu Man's vision gradually cleared, that beautiful, porcelain-doll-like face replaced the horrific memories that were hard to recall.

Lu Man clutched her hair with her swollen, red fingers, tears welling up in her eyes as she was consumed by deep self-reproach: "I'm so useless!"

“If that’s what you think, then that’s exactly what Xi He wants,” Zhong Kui said. “Ten days is enough.” She stood up, walked to the side, poured a glass of water, and handed it to Lu Man.

Lu Man held the water glass, and because she was trembling, tiny ripples appeared on the surface of the water.

"When I ran out, he said that if he wanted President Qi to live, he had to bring a marble to Qi Fei..." Lu Man finished speaking, then suddenly realized something, looked around, and asked Zhong Kui, "Where did Qi Fei go?"