Creak—
Alain pushed open the door, and what greeted him was a gust of damp, chilly air, like a pair of cold hands brushing across his cheek.
"Hiss... why did the temperature suddenly drop?" Mila thought of a specific noun: a morgue.
"Enough, this is the real world; they shouldn't have set up that kind of thing." Alain paused for two seconds when he said the words "real world."
He looked at the boundless darkness revealed after opening the door.
Even the light from outside the basement couldn't compete with this darkness; it seemed to become a black hole absorbing the light source, devouring the illumination behind them.
Drip, drop, drip, drop...
Without the iron door's obstruction, the icy sound of dripping water inside the basement became clearly audible, striking his skull like falling daggers, one after another.
He narrowed his eyes, attempting to follow the sound... to check exactly where the water was dripping from.
The cramped darkness was boundless, and no matter how he looked, he couldn't find a single clue.
He reached out, trying to grope around in the endless dark for a light switch.
The cold temperature of the wall seeped through his fingernails, and soon he touched a plastic button that wasn't quite as icy.
Click.
He pressed the button that he suspected was the light switch, and subsequently, the sound of an electric current spread from somewhere near the ceiling.
Buzz—
In an instant, bright white light soaked their retinas, causing a sharp pain in Alain's eyes.
"It was so dark before, and now suddenly it's blindingly bright..." He shielded his vision. Once his sight recovered, Alain looked in Mila's direction, wanting to confirm if the young girl's eyes were hurt.
He found her eyes wide open, her gaze blank and her lips slightly parted unconsciously, as if she had discovered the copy of Senren Banka she just bought had been swapped out for Okinawa Slave Island*.
Alain frowned and followed Mila's gaze. In the next moment, he adopted a look similar to hers.
The basement didn't cover much area; at most, it was ten or twenty square meters.
A bright incandescent light hung high on the ceiling, sprinkling down brilliance that left everything in the room with nowhere to hide.
Aside from the wall where Alain had opened the door, the other walls—front, left, and right—were summarized by pure black curtains. Presumably, this was the reason for the basement's darkness.
Furthermore, in the exact center of the basement was a chair. A chair without anyone sitting in it.
Tap, tap, tap...
The control for the bathroom light in the corner of the basement seemed to be the same button Alain had just pressed, and the sound of flowing water was obviously coming from there.
"Why... are there curtains hanging on the walls?" Mila just felt she couldn't understand it.
Alain didn't say much and went to check the basement's bathroom first.
The dripping sound came from a faucet in the sink that hadn't been tightened. A crystal-clear water droplet condensed at the tap, gathering more and more mass until it finally fell, overwhelmed, landing in the basin and knocking out a ripple.
Alain's gaze focused on the floor; it was clean enough to sleep on directly, absolutely unlike the bloodstained state of the "Confinement Room."
He and Mila returned to the center of the basement, unable to explain the confusion in their hearts.
"Why on earth is this?" The young girl looked around at the surrounding black curtains. Except for the black drapes, this basement was as peaceful as an ordinary room.
There was absolutely no reason to cover it up.
Alain said, "Perhaps the answer lies beneath these black curtains."
He reached out, uncovered a corner of the three curtains, and then pulled with all his might—
With a whoosh, the curtain fell, landing on the ground in a crooked, wrinkle-filled arc.
"Eep?!" Mila screamed in fright upon seeing the scene behind the curtain.
Alain also instantly felt his whole body go cold.
The wall concealed by that curtain was left with nowhere to hide under the incandescent light the moment Alain revealed it.
The wall was covered in photos of various sizes and specifications. All of them... were of Alain.
From the back view of Alain walking along the campus's tree-lined path, to Alain seriously playing Teamfight Tactics in class, or smiling while eating lunch with Yang Wanhua... everything was there.
Just on a single wall, copious and without any measured gaps, it was all photos—obviously having undergone precise calculation.
"Th-these are all you..." Mila came to his side, unable to hide the surprise in her voice.
Alain could only nod barely, his lips turning slightly pale.
He didn't remember the origin of these photos at all. Therefore... they were all sneak shots.
Connecting this to Yang Wanhua's personality... it made sense.
Could it be that this basement was Yang Wanhua's "Shame Hut"? Was that why it was locked so tightly?
But... that wasn't right either. Based on Alain's understanding of Yang Wanhua, she was the type to express her love openly and boldly.
For her, this small room had absolutely no need to be hidden.
The Yang Wanhua in Alain's understanding would have framed these photos in the bedroom, at the bedside, or even in the living room.
The basement must have other uses...
Alain's gaze focused on the second black curtain. He walked straight over and grasped a corner of the drape.
Swish—
The black curtain flowed with the air and landed on the ground, allowing Mila behind him to see the state of the wall completely.
"Kya!"
The young girl covered her eyes, her face flushing a lovely red with shame and indignation. "W-why are there those kinds of photos here!"
Alain saw the situation on the second wall and couldn't help but blush. "How should I know?"
The content of the second wall was also photos. It was just that in terms of content, compared to the first wall, it appeared far too explosive.
From the back view of Alain taking a shower, to him watching "learning materials" in front of the computer, as well as Alain sleeping soundly in a large bed—everything was there.
Alain took a deep breath, feeling a slight urge to tear down this wall with his bare hands.
By the way... he was now completely convinced of his inner thought: this basement was purely a room for shameful items.
His gaze scanned across it, suppressing the sense of shame in his heart, trying to see if he could find any information...
Soon, he actually found a clue.
His footsteps stopped at a solo photo of Alain. The content of the photo was a scene of Alain sleeping soundly in bed.
But the surrounding scenery was particularly strange, yet familiar.
"This is..." He took down the picture frame and observed it carefully in his hands.
A word jumped out in his mind: Rental Apartment.
It wasn't the current large flat, nor the house he cohabited with Yang Wanhua, but the rental apartment where he lived with Misha.
The shooting location of the photo was that rental apartment. But... Alain thought, at that point in time, he had already broken up with Yang Wanhua, hadn't he?
Then, could it be...
Alain swallowed his saliva. "Has she... been secretly monitoring me all this time?"
____
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