In a corner of Mr. Zhao's manor, next to the servants' quarters, there is a five-story house with unique decoration.
Its structure is in the shape of a "U" character, with a green lawn outside and a spacious patio in the center. Many people live here.
Although it is not as grand as the main building, it is one of the few luxurious places in the entire settlement.
People in the mansion call it "the annex".
The people who live here are all distinguished guests of the master's mansion. If they are not confidants or relatives of confidants, or servants who serve them, they will never get close to here.
It is precisely for this reason that even though this annex is located in a secluded corner far away from the main building, there are still a large number of servants serving at their beck and call.
Yang Xiaoyang has been here since she was born.
The people here are very kind to her, especially after her grandfather, grandmother and mother died of illness, this kindness has risen to the level of enthusiasm - even diligence.
The master, in particular, treated her like his own daughter. In addition to his meticulous care, he also allowed her to study and play with the young lady and wear the same beautiful dress.
Even more than that, he gave her a "privilege" that other children did not have - allowing her to leave the mansion freely.
As long as she was in the manor, she could go anywhere she wanted.
If it were other children, even if they just walked to the garden outside the mansion, they would be taken back by the servants who saw them.
Of course, as the price of freedom, there was always one or two uncles who never spoke, following her wherever she went.
Even when she went to the toilet, they would guard at the door.
Her good friend Yinyin, the master's youngest daughter, even got angry with her father for this, hoping to drive away the annoying "stalker".
However, the master, who was always very kind to his youngest daughter, never let go of this matter, and even got angry and locked his daughter in a small dark room.
Xiaoyang had never seen the master get so angry before, and hurriedly persuaded Yinyin that she didn't really care about being followed.
Because she found that during the days when her good friend was locked up in the small dark room, there were two more pairs of eyes following her, and the discomfort of being stared at became stronger.
The master might be suspicious.
Suspecting that she had instigated his daughter to help her escape from here.
In short, she lived very cautiously during those days, and deliberately acted clumsy for this. She had poor self-care ability and could not survive without someone to take care of her. She stuck to the aunt who took care of her every day, and pretended for a long time before she dispelled the master's vigilance.
Although she was only six years old, she was much more mature than her peers because she had lived alone since she was a child.
Even though no one had ever told her those complicated things, she could see some of the intentions that were carefully hidden in the eyes of others.
The reason why those uncles followed her was not for her safety, but they were just worried that she would run away from the manor.
The master's love for her was not because she was pitiful or cute, nor was it for the reasons he claimed, but just because of her father.
And the relationship between the master and his father was not like that between her and Yinyin, who were close friends. It was just pure mutual use between adults.
Adults always like to think of a cover-up for what they are doing to cover up their ugly motives.
She didn't know much about what merchants did, but she occasionally heard that her father helped the master sell some farm things outside and made a lot of money.
Dad put her, her mother, and grandparents here in exchange for the master's peace of mind and continuous help, and the master used her - the only relative left of her father in the world, to tie him here.
It was for this reason that the master asked Yinyin's teacher to teach her to read and write.
This was not to let her learn any knowledge, or to let Yinyin have a playmate of similar age and knowledge, but just to let her write letters to her father.
Perhaps the letters her father wrote to her were just to reassure the master? After all, if she was so important to him, why didn't he even want to come back to see her.
He hadn't been back for a long time, and even when her mother left, he was out. Sometimes she couldn't help but wonder if he actually had a family outside, and the reason why he still maintained this father-daughter relationship was just to gain the master's trust, not out of concern for herself.
This is not impossible.
It is said that before her father, there was also a merchant who helped the master, but suddenly lost contact one day. I don't know if he died or disappeared unilaterally.
Anyway, she never saw the family of the merchant who stayed in the villa in the manor again.
Maybe one day in the future, she will be like that family.
However, she does not hate her father.
Even after thinking through these things, she became more open-minded.
There is nothing good in the wasteland anyway, so why not stay here?
At least life here is good, at least it is good now, and she has her best friend. As for the future, she will worry about it later, anyway, she can't do anything now.
If you want to talk about the most important person in life, it is undoubtedly Yinyin.
That little girl is the real lady in this manor, two years older than her, and unlike everyone here, that lady really treats her as her good friend. Not only does she care about her from the bottom of her heart, she is angry about the unfair treatment she has received, and even stands up for her... Although the naive sister always messes things up with good intentions, and occasionally gets herself implicated, Xiaoyang doesn't blame her.
Every time after finishing their homework, they will play happily together.
Sometimes they catch crickets, sometimes they play house with dolls, and they will also play hide-and-seek with other children in the villa.
Hide and seek is their favorite game, because they can disappear from the adults' sight for a short time, and once the lamb disappears, everyone will be very anxious.
Those people's anxious look is really fascinating.
That is why sometimes their goal of hide and seek will change from finding each other to helping the lamb hide, and then watching the servants turn the manor upside down.
But the lamb knows very well that this joke can only be played occasionally, and can't be done too much. When she feels that everyone is about to get anxious and get serious, she will deliberately reveal her feet to let the servants find her.
For this reason, Yinyin often complained about her clumsiness.
However, the lady didn't know that it was all her intention.
Because if it wasn't like this, it would be difficult to end the matter...
"Damn... I was just a little bit away from making that guy cry!"
Sitting on the edge of the fountain in the garden in front of the villa, Yinyin, swinging her calves, sighed in frustration, supporting her knees with her elbows, and resting her cheeks heavily on her palms.
As usual, they made a fuss in the manor for an entire afternoon, making the servants here very anxious.
However, unlike usual, her father did not show up today, not even showing his face, but only told the old housekeeper to send the lamb back to the villa.
The old housekeeper did not stay in the villa for long.
It seemed that there were distinguished guests in the manor, and he did not even say anything to scold them, and left in a hurry, so that Yinyin could not help feeling a little bored.
So her father was not in a hurry at all this time, right?
Wouldn't that mean they had worked in vain for the entire afternoon?
"It's such a good hiding place, a place they could never have thought of even if they racked their brains... Xiaoyang too, if only he could be a little smarter!"
Listening to the young lady's complaints, Xiaoyang, who was sitting next to her, smiled innocently and said weakly.
"I'm sorry, sister Yinyin... Xiaoyang is so stupid."
"Don't apologize! Those rude followers should apologize! Really, don't these guys have anything else to do? It's not good to follow a lady every day..."
Looking at Xiaoyang seriously, Yinyin continued seriously.
"And oh, we originally played hide-and-seek just to let you stay free for a while. If it makes you more sad, wouldn't it be putting the cart before the horse?"
"Yinyin..." Xiaoyang looked at her with emotion, her eyes full of mist.
She didn't tell her best friend.
She didn't really want freedom, and she didn't think there was anything wrong with being followed. She was born here and she was used to it.
She didn't think that if she ran away from here or hid, her current situation would change.
Maybe even if she ran away, the father who she rarely saw would send her back, just like he sent her mother, grandparents and others in.
But...
It feels so good to be cared for.
"Don't look at me like that. It makes me feel embarrassed."
Looked at by those big watery eyes, Yin Yin immediately moved her eyes away in embarrassment, scratching her cheeks that were itchy from the sunset with her index finger.
At this moment, her eyes suddenly fell on the nearby annex, and her eyes suddenly lit up.
She remembered a rumor she had heard a long time ago -
The former annex was actually the main building of the manor. Her family originally lived there, but later they moved out after building a new house, and the original main building became the annex.
In the deepest part of the basement of the annex, there is a door leading to the underground world. The door existed in the era of her grandfather's grandfather.
She didn't know what was there.
But she knew that no one could have imagined it!
"That's right!"
Grabbing Xiao Yang's hands, Yin Yin looked at her excitedly.
"I remembered a wonderful place! There is absolutely no way anyone can find it there! Come with me!"
Looking at her confident expression, the lamb felt a little uneasy, and they had already played a joke with the adults in the manor today. It would not be funny to play the same joke twice a day.
Pulled by Yinyin to jump off the fountain, the lamb looked at her anxiously and said.
"Wait a minute, Yinyin... why don't we go tomorrow? There must be someone following us now. If we go now, won't that wonderful location be exposed?"
"Don't worry, it won't," Yinyin leaned close to her ear with a mysterious look, lowered her voice and said, "That place is in the annex... In the annex, won't someone follow you?"
The lamb hesitated and nodded slowly.
If it's in the annex...
The master shouldn't be angry.
Seeing that this timid and fearful best friend finally mustered up the courage, Yinyin couldn't help but curl up a happy smile at the corner of her mouth.
"Follow me!"
After saying that, she pulled Xiaoyang and hurriedly ran towards the annex.
Following the lady nervously, Xiaoyang watched her lead her to the north building of the annex, through a dark stairwell, and to the basement of the annex.
小阳听说过这个地方,这里是附属建筑的仓库,不过因为上下搬东西不太方便,而且这附属建筑里也没什么可以存放的东西,所以已经很久没人用了.
通常,如果有什么东西需要暂时收起来,大家就会直接把它扔到天井的空地上.
她在这里住了这么久,这是她第一次下来.
地下室里一片漆黑,没有电灯,唯一的光源就是茵茵拿下来的手电筒,融入黑暗中的阴冷,让小阳小腿一阵颤抖.
站在她旁边的茵茵也同样如此.
她手里拿着手电筒,一动不动地站在那里,显然她没想到这别墅的地下室竟然这么宽敞.
这个地方就像迷宫一样!
"我们去哪儿?"小阳有些胆怯的看着茵茵,希望后者能够放弃,放弃探索这个地下室的念头.
可是,她还是低估了这个好闺蜜给她自由的决心.
原本还在犹豫的茵茵,刚对上那双犹豫又胆怯的目光,她眼中的犹豫瞬间消失殆尽.
她答应过她,会给她自由,哪怕只有一秒钟,也希望她能自由地活着,不用再忍受那双双窥探的眼睛.
没有比这里更合适的地方了,虽然有些阴暗,但换个角度来看,这或许并不是最好的伪装.
在这个不请自来的迷宫里,哪怕不是捉迷藏,她也可以在里面躲一会儿,哪怕只是度过短暂的不被偷窥的时光.
当然,她不开心的时候也可以来这里.
茵茵不禁笑了.
如果她这样想的话,这个地方就像是他们的秘密城堡一样.
也许她的祈祷得到了回应,她在黑暗中听到了微弱的声音.
那声音似乎在呼唤着什么...
它到底说了什么?
她立即用手电筒照了过去.
"这边走!"
见茵茵突然向前走去,小羊羔赶紧跟了上去.
"茵茵...我们回去吧."
"等一下!就在前面,我们很快就到!"
寻着声音的来源,茵茵饶有兴致地走上前去.
她渐渐忘记了自己是来为好朋友寻找绝佳的藏身之处的,还是来听听那个声音在说什么的.
或许两者都有.
Xiaoyang looked at her back anxiously, always feeling that things seemed to be gradually deviating from the original track, but he couldn't tell what went wrong.
Yinyin seemed to be very familiar with this place.
Has she been here before?
She obviously hasn't come down here before.
Sure enough, I should go back early...
It's okay if it's just me, but if they disappear at the same time, the master will be mad.
The two walked in the dark basement for a while and came to a room full of debris.
Behind a pile of abandoned wooden boxes, there was indeed a rusty iron door.
If you don't look carefully, you can't even find it.
At least when she saw it for the first time, she thought it was a waste leaning against the wall.
"This is..."
Yinyin stared at the door with a sharp look.
"I don't know, but it should be here."
Xiaoyang finally couldn't help asking the doubts in his heart.
"Sister Yinyin...how did you find this place?"
Yinyin looked at the lamb strangely.
"Didn't you hear it?"
The lamb was stunned.
"...heard it?"
Aren't there only two of them here?
Is there a third person...
Her face gradually turned pale.
"Yeah!" Yinyin nodded vigorously and said excitedly, "Just when I was silently praying in my heart that I could find that door, I heard that voice! Although I couldn't hear clearly what it said, I could feel that it said a lot of things, and it should be inviting us to come over!"
"I heard it..."
So what did you hear?
The lamb looked at Yinyin blankly, and was about to ask, but she had already walked up excitedly, grabbed the rusty door handle with both hands, and pulled it back with all her strength.
"...Lamb! Help me!"
Looking at the motionless iron door, the lamb said with a smile.
"Wait a minute, Sister Yinyin, we don't have the key, if we just pull it hard..."
"What are you talking about! This door doesn't have a keyhole at all, it should be able to be opened directly... Ah! I feel it move! Come and help me--"
Before she finished her words, her movements suddenly stopped, and her eyes lost their spirit.
Before Xiaoyang came to his senses, he saw her loosen her hand holding the door handle and fell to the ground.
"Yinyin--!"
Electric shock?
Or... poison gas?
Xiaoyang's face turned pale, but he didn't turn around and run away. He gritted his teeth and rushed over, holding Yinyin, who was lying on the ground, with both hands, and dragged her away from the door.
However, even after leaving the door, Yinyin showed no signs of waking up. If she wasn't still breathing, she would have looked like she was dead.
"What happened?"
Looking at the motionless iron door, Xiaoyang's eyes were full of fear. He didn't dare to stay here for a moment. He dragged the unconscious Yinyin back to the entrance of the basement, and then rushed to the stairs to ask for help.
It was pitch black outside.
It felt like not a long time had passed, but it was dark outside.
Xiaoyang, standing at the door of the north building, looked around and found that it was empty, without a single person.
So strange...
Although they were in the annex, they had disappeared for almost half an hour, and no one came to find them, as if they had completely forgotten about them.
All kinds of abnormal situations made her eyes a little uneasy, but out of worry about Yinyin, she still plucked up the courage to shout out.
"Miss fainted! Is there anyone here... Come quickly——"
Before she finished her words, a dull and rude roar interrupted her voice.
"Ugh..."
A woman with drooped head and shoulders was standing in the corridor near the stairwell with her neck tilted, and a pair of empty eyes were looking straight at her.
That look was indescribably weird.
There was a chill deep in her eyes.
Seeing the woman limping towards this side, Xiaoyang swallowed his saliva and took a step back in fear.
"Don't... don't come over."
She didn't know why she wanted to run away, but her legs moved instinctively, dragging her stiff body towards the stairwell desperately.
Her intuition told her that if she was caught, she would be finished.
The moment she rushed into the stairwell, the woman quickened her staggering steps and rushed towards her with a low roar.
Not daring to look back, Xiaoyang rushed to the basement and used all his strength to slam the door of the basement, and at the same time grabbed the steel bar that fell on the ground and inserted it into the door handle.
Almost at the same time, a loud bang came from outside the door, followed by a violent shaking of the door panel, and something hit it.
"Ah——!"
The lamb screamed and took two steps back, looking at the shaky door panel, her eyes full of fear.
She didn't know what was wrong with that woman.
She didn't know what happened outside.
Everyone was obviously a good person, and they always treated her kindly, why did they suddenly become like that? !
The sound of hitting the door suddenly stopped.
The person outside seemed to have given up.
The lamb squatting in the dark held her breath, staring at the closed door panel, not daring to make a sound.
She was sure that the person had not left.
The heavy breath was even against the door!
She could even conclude that the person was waiting for her outside the door, and when she opened the door a little to see what was happening outside, he would immediately rush in and tear her to pieces.
But why?
What happened to everyone? !
Sitting in the dark, shivering, I don't know how long it took. Just when the lamb felt that her eyelids were about to start fighting, there was a faint sound in the darkness behind her.
At first, she was frightened by the noise, until she heard her own name.
"Lamb..."
The voice was like a candlelight in the darkness.
Hearing the weak call, the lamb immediately rushed over, knelt beside Yinyin, his eyes filled with tears, and held her soft and weak hand.
"Yinyin!"
"I'm sorry..."
"It's okay, I hope you wake up!"
"No, no..."
Yinyin shook her head with a painful expression, hugged her head with both hands, and muttered to herself, "It's all my fault. I shouldn't have been so smart to go there... It's angry, it must be because of me..."
"... Angry?" The lamb's eyes were full of confusion.
Her intuition told her that what Yinyin was saying at the moment was related to what was happening outside.
Could it be...
That voice? !
However, Yinyin had no intention of explaining, but just held her head and muttered to herself, repeating that sentence.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
"Yinyin! Calm down--"
The lamb grabbed her shoulders and was about to comfort her to calm down, but Yinyin, who was holding her head and complaining to herself, suddenly grabbed her hand.
"Xiaoyang... help me..."
The lamb looked at her seriously.
"What do you need me to do? I will definitely help you!"
A relieved smile appeared on Yinyin's painful face.
"Tie me up..."
"Tie, tie me up?!"
"Hmm!" Yinyin's face squeezed out a trace of pain, and beads of sweat appeared on her forehead. She urged anxiously, "Hurry up!"
Seeing her trying her best to endure something, the lamb suddenly thought of the woman outside, and then her hands and feet felt cold.
Could it be that she also...
"...It's too late."
It seemed that her endurance had reached its limit. Yinyin's face was full of despair, and her shaky consciousness became vague along with her gradually empty eyes.
"It's okay..."
For some reason, the lamb suddenly felt less scared.
She held Yinyin's hand tightly and said softly.
"I will accompany you..."
The sheep in the sheepfold will be eaten one day, no matter how good the relationship between it and the shepherd's family is. If you want to know why, it is because this is something that was decided the moment it was born.
She never thought about what the future would be like, because she always knew her ending.
Instead of worrying about things that have already been decided, it is better to live every happy day seriously, at least not to waste the happiness and happiness at the moment.
She has a good relationship with the shepherd's family, and especially likes the little daughter of this family. She can feel that in this manor, only Yinyin is kind to her from the heart without asking for anything in return.
Anyway, they will be eaten in the end.
If it is Yinyin, it is not bad...
Just then, a few short gunshots suddenly came from outside the door, followed by low roars and random running, and the dull sound of metal chopping bones.
"Fuck - is it over yet!"
Faintly, the lamb heard someone talking, but she couldn't understand what the person was saying.
There was a short collision, and something spilled on the door.
The man pulled out something and kept chattering.
"Damn it, this dogecoin mission only gives 100,000, it's such a loss! No, I don't seem to have any money yet... Shit!"
As the voice fell, there was a "bang", and the shaky door panel was kicked open and fell to the ground with a bang.
The little sheep stared at the door in a daze.
I saw a black armor standing there.
The helmet covered the man's entire face, and his expression could not be seen.
He held an automatic rifle in his right arm and a short knife in his left hand. His whole body was covered with blood, and it seemed that there were still some pieces of meat hanging on it, looking extremely hideous.
"Your name?"
She understood this sentence.
Although she didn't know the person in front of her, she still answered tremblingly.
"Little... Sheep."
The man breathed a sigh of relief and threw a confusing sentence at her.
"Mission completed..."
"Remember to give a good review."