SES Chapter 180 Part 1

Chapter 180

She didn’t know how long the vehicle had been driving. Mu Dai couldn’t move, couldn’t open her eyes, and couldn’t clearly feel the bumps of the road—only that her body seemed to be floating in the clouds, dipping and drifting.

In her fading consciousness, one sentence kept hovering.

—“Enough to keep her asleep for twenty-four hours.”

Anxiously, she thought, I don’t want to sleep for twenty-four hours.

She couldn’t quite explain why. She just felt that if she could wake up earlier, maybe she’d still have a chance to turn things around.

She struggled. Before her eyes was a hazy whiteness, like the fog from that day.

Creak, creak—the sound of a wheelchair rolling closer. She looked up and saw Meihua Jiuniang, both hands on the wheelchair, a brocade blanket draped over her legs.

Mu Dai tried hard to lift her head. “Shifu, Luo Ren will come save me. He definitely will.”

Meihua Jiuniang said gently, “Mu Dai, don’t rely on Luo Ren. There are some dead ends where no one can be relied upon.”

Her expression was calm and compassionate. That familiar face gradually blurred, slowly dissolving into the mist.

Mu Dai lowered her head in frustration. After a brief calm, the faint rustle of footsteps reached her ears.

She looked up and saw another version of herself—wearing a T-shirt with a cartoon kitten on it, eyes full of concern and caution. Hugging her knees, she slowly crouched down beside her.

Mu Dai’s eyes grew wet. She reached out and grabbed the hem of her shirt, whispering, “Come on, help me. Help me wake up.”

That Mu Dai looked at her, apologetically moved her hand away, and said, “Mu Dai, this time is different from what happened with Lianshu. The drug is too strong. I can’t help you.”

Mu Dai tried to grab her again. She shook her head once, then again, and left.

Then everything went quiet.

Mu Dai told herself: It’s okay. I can do this. I don’t need to wake up and run. I don’t need my limbs to move normally. I just need my ears to hear and my eyes to see—just opening my eyelids is enough.

She tried for a long time. Once, her eyelids suddenly opened unconsciously for an instant, then closed again. It wasn’t meaningless—her eyes were like a camera, capturing that brief frame: a corner of the cargo area, stacked vegetable crates, leaves sticking out and swaying with the motion of the vehicle.

After that, she could finally hear sounds.

It was noisy—traffic, horns, clamor, shouting. She was sure they were on a main road, but where? Leopard could take her anywhere.

After a while, the vehicle stopped. The noise continued, as if waiting at a light. Pedestrians crossed the street. A group of people seemed to be animatedly discussing something. A girl’s voice rose high with excitement: “How about cured pork ribs tonight? And let’s get an order of chickpea jelly…”

Mu Dai’s heart stirred. This is Lijiang.

Cured pork ribs and chickpea jelly were both “local specialties.” Mu Dai herself didn’t think they were that delicious, but tourists always seemed eager to try them.

They had to be back. Luo Ren had already returned. Leopard wanted revenge—either take her far away, or bring her right in front of him.

She clenched her teeth and kept listening.

The tinkling sound of bells—Dongba wind chimes. Lots of people are walking around. She vaguely heard talk about taking photos. Was this the entrance to the Old Town? The busiest “I was here” photo spot. The vehicle slowed noticeably. Yes—inside a scenic area, it would have to go slowly…

Mu Dai suddenly felt this place was familiar. Maybe where the vehicle was passing wasn’t far from Jusan Suiyuan at all.

But then, suddenly, the vehicle turned toward somewhere quiet, leaving the bustle far behind. Faintly, she heard a “he… do… lo” sound.

A rooster?

The vehicle finally stopped. Someone opened the rear door. As they hoisted her onto a shoulder, a voice said, “This stuff really works—she’s sleeping like a corpse.”

Mu Dai gathered all her strength and, very quickly, opened her eyes once more, then closed them.

She didn’t know exactly what she saw—just blocks of color, shapes, and impressions, to be held in her mind and slowly pieced together.

They really were back in Lijiang. Familiar houses, steps, and doorways—but there were countless places like this in Lijiang, scattered through winding alleys.

Was there anything distinctive, something that immediately caught the eye?

She remembered—bamboo shoots spilling over the tops of the walls. This courtyard must have a lot of bamboo. That was a distinctive feature; some homeowners liked to arrange their courtyards into something uniquely beautiful.

Were there many bamboo courtyards in Lijiang? Mu Dai thought carefully—she couldn’t recall many. Maybe they were rare.

Passing through the courtyard, she smelled the fresh scent of bamboo leaves. One slanted leaf even brushed lightly against her face.

But the light soon disappeared. The person carrying her went down a staircase. Thud, thud, thud—the footsteps grew louder the farther down they went.

A door creaked open. Then she was thrown heavily onto the ground. The floor was icy cold. Her face pressed against it, motionless.

She didn’t know how much time had passed. Then, from above—outside—came the mellow sound of a piano.

Along with it, a soft, sweet voice, half-singing, murmured, “Hey diddle, diddle…”

The drug had worn off.

Mu Dai pushed herself up from the ground. The light was glaring, and instinctively she knew it was deep night. Having lived here for so long, she was sensitive to the feel of night and day in different seasons.

This was a basement with no ventilation windows. Half the room was welded into a cage with iron bars, and she was locked inside that half.

Leopard sat in the other half, in a chair—same outfit as before, the eyepatch over one eye, a thick hand-rolled cigar between her fingers, smoke heavy and rich.

People said that a filthy heart bred a monstrous face, but Leopard was nothing like that. Even blind in one eye, she was still beautiful. The world was unfair sometimes—God was outrageously generous to certain people.

Leopard stared at her through the bars, unmoving. It was hard to tell how long she had been watching.