Feng Jiang emerged from the bathroom. A full moon hung in the sky.

It was high overhead, like a gigantic eyeball casting its gaze upon the earth. The edges of every flower were outlined in red by the moonlight, as though they were borrowing their heads from a sea of blood.

She quietly watched that sea of blood, as if trying to fish out the remains of a flower, yet there was nothing in her eyes.

Only when the man on the bed stirred from his deep sleep did she finally leave the window without a trace of reluctance.

The tips of the man's ears were crimson, his face pale as a ghost. His hair was damp with sweat against his forehead, and his usual elegant composure was gone. His unfocused eyes gradually regained clarity.

Feng Jiang braced one hand against the bed and used the other to hold his face, turning his gaze toward her. With a concerned expression, she asked, “Did I hurt you just now?”

It took Yu Zhi a moment to recover his ability to speak.

“It's all right. I'm fine.”

That was not the correct answer.

Feng Jiang withdrew her hand and sat on the sofa directly opposite the bed, waiting for him to fully awaken.

Moonlight flowed like water, illuminating without mercy the lingering traces of desire spread across the bed.

After a long while, the body that had been manipulated finally regained its own will. He reached down to remove the shackles and restraints, then stumbled weakly from the bed.

He crawled on his knees to the woman's feet and gave the correct answer:

“I feel wonderful.”

“Are you really all right?”

Her gentle gaze fell upon him once more, embracing every mistake with a kind of vast, selfless tolerance.

“I really like it.”

Yu Zhi rested his head against the woman's leg and closed his eyes in contentment.

“Is that so?”

A warm palm settled upon his head, as though telling him that she had always been there.

“It has always been this way.”

He answered without hesitation, his conviction unwavering.

The strings of domination and control should have been handed over to Mother, yet he had willingly placed them in someone else's hands. Not only did he feel no guilt, he became even more devout.

In this descent into losing himself, everything he did was precisely to keep himself from falling completely.

Feng Jiang's gaze softened. She chuckled.

“You people... Can't you live without a woman? Or are all of you surnamed Yu just a bunch of madmen desperate for a mother's love? Big madman, little madman. How pitiful. A bunch of unloved monsters.”

“Welcome to the House of Monsters, Feng Jiang.”

“You said that once before, too. The first time we met.”

“Seven years have passed. Do you regret it?”

“Don't worry.”

Feng Jiang's smile remained unchanged.

“The one who'll regret it isn't me.”

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Someone was knocking at the door.

Feng Jiang smiled toward the door, as though she could already see the person who would come to regret it.

The knocking continued relentlessly. Its monotonous rhythm became eerie precisely because it refused to stop. In the extraordinary silence of the night, it was enough to make one's skin crawl.

Yu Zhi opened his eyes and calmly asked, “Aren't you going to open the door?”

Feng Jiang replied, “What comes next doesn't require opening the door. It requires learning a lesson.”

“Is that so?”

“It has always been this way.”

The door did not open.

Ci’an turned to look at the female ghost.

The ghost's gaze seemed tempered in fire. She gloated maliciously.

“Look, little brat. Your mother doesn't want you anymore.”

Yet her expression said the exact opposite, as though she were the one who had been abandoned.

Ci’an stopped knocking.

“She doesn't want us anymore.”

The female ghost flew into a rage. She shoved Ci’an aside and looked as though she intended to storm inside. But the moment she pressed down on the door handle, her entire body suddenly became completely immobile.

The door wasn't locked.

Ci’an had clearly realized this too.

“Are you ready?” she asked.

The question forced Yu Xin to contemplate what she would have to face after doing this—or, more precisely, what the scene would look like.

And that hardly required any thought at all.

Ci’an watched as the female ghost lowered her hand. Both her gloating and her fury disappeared from her face. She became expressionless, as though she had finally shed her disguise.

She did not answer Ci’an's question.

She didn't even acknowledge her.

Instead, she turned and walked away, her figure merging into the black corridor. She seemed to float rather than walk, looking exactly like a ghost in the truest sense of the word.

Ci’an raised her hand toward the door handle.

At some point, the maid on night duty had appeared silently behind her.

“Miss Ci’an, were you having a nightmare?”

Ci’an grasped the handle and was about to press it down when a hand settled on her shoulder.

The maid smiled gently.

“Miss Ci’an, please don't be afraid. I'll escort you back.”

The two remained locked in place for a moment.

Silently, Ci’an released the handle and walked back with her head lowered.

Perhaps feeling sorry for her, the maid kindly reassured her:

“Don't be afraid, Miss Ci’an. I've been following behind you the entire time. From the moment you left your room until you woke up, you were perfectly safe.”

Ci’an stared at the floor.

“Are you telling me that I was sleepwalking just now?”

“People briefly remember what happens in their dreams, and then completely forget it. That's perfectly normal, Miss Ci’an.”

“Do you know how a person can keep from being swallowed by their dreams?”

“By staying awake forever. Then the dreams can't swallow you.”

Ci’an neither confirmed nor denied it.

The maid, receiving no answer, asked humbly:

“Am I wrong, Miss Ci’an?”

“You're right. For you.”

“And what is your answer?”

“I choose to live in my dreams forever.”

Ci’an stopped walking and looked directly at her.

“So, for me, it doesn't matter even if I have nightmares.”

The maid met her gaze and couldn't help smiling.

She opened Ci’an's bedroom door and bowed slightly.

“Then, Miss Ci’an, I wish you a good night.”

The maid's smiling face disappeared into the narrowing gap as the door closed.

Ci’an stared at that face.

And finally, she remembered exactly where she had seen her before.