In the basement.

Zhou Huai's gaze dimmed once again.

The thread of hope that had just ignited was abruptly severed.

In the basement, the dim, yellow incandescent light hummed with electric current, its glow flickering, stretching the deep shadow on Moria's face into an even more distorted shape.

Zhou Huai's consciousness fell into a prolonged silence within Moria's body.

His mind was a chaotic mess.

Luo Ming's words were like a key that opened a long-sealed door.

Behind the door, however, was an even deeper, more despairing darkness.

He needed time to process and verify.

Luo Ming looked at the silver-haired man who had fallen silent before him.

He spoke tentatively.

“I've said everything I needed to say.”

“Now, are you going to kill me, or let me go?”

Zhou Huai's consciousness slowly returned.

He controlled Moria, and those silver eyes refocused, settling calmly on Luo Ming's blood-stained face.

“You are a smart man.”

Moria's voice sounded, devoid of any warmth.

“You should know, once I ask certain questions.”

“It means you can never leave.”

A muscle twitched in Luo Ming's face, then he revealed a bitter, 'I knew it' smile.

“I know.”

He leaned against the wall, breathing with difficulty.

“You might have some connection to that Zhou Huai, and want to avenge him.”

“But what does that matter? Your grudges with the Zhou Family have nothing to do with me.”

“I can keep your secret, and we can pretend nothing happened today.”

Moria slowly shook his head.

“You don't seem like someone who can keep a secret.”

Luo Ming's heart sank little by little.

“Therefore, I can only keep you here.”

Moria stood up, looking down at him from above.

“I won't kill you.”

“But you only have two choices now.”

“Either become one of my people.”

“Or stay here until you die.”

Hearing this, Luo Ming seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

As long as he wasn't dead, there was still a chance.

His eyes darted around, and he probed again, “You should be aware that I have a certain connection with the Dawnbreaker Guild.”

“Are you really not afraid of them coming to find trouble with you?”

The corner of Moria's mouth curved into a faint, almost imperceptible arc.

That smile held absolute confidence.

“Don't worry.”

“By then, you'll find that our Evernight is far more powerful than the Dawnbreaker Guild.”

He paused, then added.

“I'll have someone treat your injuries.”

“Stay here obediently, and don't think about sneaking out.”

As his words fell, Moria's figure no longer lingered, transforming into a flowing ink stain, silently merging into the shadows on the ground, and disappearing.

The iron door of the basement clanged shut from the outside, locked tight.

Only Luo Ming was left, leaning in the cold corner, looking at the two empty wine bottles with a complex expression, lost in thought.

...

At the same time.

Third-floor bedroom.

Zhou Huai's consciousness withdrew from Moria's body and returned to his own.

That sense of exhaustion originating from the depths of his Soul once again engulfed him like a tide.

But he didn't sleep.

He couldn't sleep.

He leaned against the headboard, eyes wide open, staring intently at the ceiling, replaying every word Luo Ming had said over and over in his mind.

“Butler Fu!”

He spoke, his voice extremely hoarse.

Butler Fu, [N O V E L I G H T] who was guarding the door, heard the call and immediately pushed the door open and entered, his face filled with concern.

“Young Master, do you have any instructions?”

Zhou Huai slowly turned his head, looking at the loyal old butler, his normally gentle eyes now sharp as knives.

“In that attack five years ago.”

He asked, word by word, the question that made his heart pound.

“Did I... die once?”

Upon hearing this, Butler Fu's body stiffened abruptly.

The color instantly drained from his wrinkled old face, and his eyes were filled with unconcealed shock and panic.

“Young... Young Master! What... what nonsense are you speaking!”

He waved his hands repeatedly, explaining urgently.

“How could you die? You were just too severely injured and unconscious for a long time!”

Zhou Huai watched him quietly.

He didn't speak.

Those eyes seemed to see through the deepest secrets of a person's heart.

Butler Fu felt uncomfortable under his gaze, subconsciously avoiding his eyes, his gaze darting around.

Zhou Huai took a deep breath, his tone much softer.

“Butler Fu.”

“You are the person I trust most in this world.”

“I hope you tell me the truth.”

Butler Fu's body completely stiffened.

He stood rooted to the spot, head bowed, his aged body trembling slightly.

Silence.

A deathly silence.

For a long, long time.

He finally slowly raised his head, his cloudy old eyes already brimming with tears.

“I'm sorry, Young Master.”

His voice choked.

“This old servant... this old servant shouldn't have kept it from you.”

He reached out a withered hand and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.

“Five years ago... you... you indeed...”

“Indeed died in that attack.”

“It was... it was this old servant who personally wiped your face and dressed you in your burial clothes.”

Butler Fu's voice trembled continuously with pain.

“Originally, you were to be buried the next day.”

“But... but unexpectedly, you, a good person, had good fortune, and that very night, you... you woke up on your own.”

“At that time, the entire Zhou Family was in an uproar.”

“Since then, the people in the Family have looked at you strangely.”

“This old servant... this old servant was also afraid you would overthink it, which is why I've kept it from you, not daring to tell the truth.”

After listening to Butler Fu's words.

Zhou Huai slumped back onto the bed.

His chest felt as if a huge rock was pressing down on it, making even breathing difficult.

It was true.

Everything Luo Ming said was true.

It turned out that the original owner of this body had already died five years ago.

He might not even have wasted away due to the bullying of Liu Yuru and her son.

Instead, it was because the power of the Soul within him was exhausted, with nothing to sustain it, that it completely dissipated.

Now, it was his turn.

This wandering spirit, who had appeared from who knows where.

Occupied this body that should have decayed.

But also inherited this fate destined to perish.

The Art of Confinement was like an hourglass.

The sand was slowly, gradually, flowing away.

When the day it ran out arrived.

Would he also vanish like the original owner?

“Young Master, are... are you alright?”

Butler Fu asked, looking at Zhou Huai's pale face with concern.

Zhou Huai slowly shook his head.

“I'm fine.”

He waved his hand, his voice full of weariness.

“Butler Fu, you should go out first.”

“I want to be alone for a while.”

Butler Fu opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but in the end, it turned into a helpless sigh, and he quietly retreated, gently closing the door.

The room returned to a deathly silence.

That night, Zhou Huai was sleepless.

He just leaned against the headboard, eyes open, sitting up all night.

He tried to search in his mind, on the internet, in every accessible knowledge base, for any information about the Art of Confinement.

He found nothing.

This sinister secret art had long exceeded the scope of worldly cognition.

A bold idea also popped into Zhou Huai's mind.

What if he completely transferred his consciousness to a Clone?

What would happen if he used the Clone instead of the main body?

This move was clearly impossible.

Because Zhou Huai quickly discovered that his consciousness could not rest within the Clone's body.

Even if he wanted to force himself to sleep, he couldn't.

He would only become more and more tired.

Only in his main body could he get the best rest.

This was clearly an unsolvable dilemma.

The sky gradually brightened.

A ray of dawn, passing through the window, fell on his face, but brought no warmth.

Zhou Huai was not a person who worried needlessly.

Nor was he a person who would sit idly by and wait for death.

Despair would only breed more frantic thoughts.

He slowly turned his head, his gaze piercing through the bedroom window, looking distantly towards the luxurious yet cold villa hidden in the morning mist.

The Zhou Family.

Since you won't let me live.

Since you personally pushed me into this abyss of eternal damnation.

Then, before I fall.

I will drag you all down with me, to be buried together!

A grim, cold smile slowly curved on Zhou Huai's face.

There was no longer any warmth in those black eyes.

Only endless madness and killing intent, enough to freeze the entire world.

“Since I can't live...”

He murmured softly, his voice low, yet every word was like a knife.

“Then the Zhou Family, don't even think about living!”