In the deepest darkness, in the hurricane

There is a light so bright,

Shining, shining

Breaking through my soul…

Hu Lei opened her eyes with a shocking suddenness when she heard the ringtone. Her head throbbed in pain as she sat up. She looked around the room with confusion in her eyes. 'What am I doing on the cold floor?' she wondered silently.

However, she did not have time to mull over the matter slowly. After crawling up, she quickly rushed to get her phone from the couch where she had left it the previous night.

"Ah-Feng, I am here." She shouted immediately after picking up.

Unfortunately, her voice sounded hoarse and a little nasal rather than cheerful.

"Are you alright?" A soothing deep voice spoke gently.

Hu Lei felt her nose become a little sour and her eyes moistened immediately. She knew it was stupid, but she could not help feeling overwhelmed every time he spoke to her in concern. Who had ever truly cared about her except for him?

Sometimes, she wondered if he was real or if he was only a figment of her imagination. Perhaps her sick mind had conjured him up to help her deal with everything that had happened to her.

"Xiao Lei, are you ok? Say something." He spoke again in a louder voice.

Hu Lei sniffled unable to hold back her tears.

"I am alright. I am glad you called." She responded.

"What happened?" He asked, refusing to believe that she was alright. After all, she was not a person who cried too easily.

Hu lei felt her heart lurch in her chest. She held the phone in her two hands and clutched it closer to her ear. She missed him so much. And she was so scared. Even if she had decided to put the matter from her mind for the moment, she could not ignore the fact that she had woken up on the floor. She did not remember leaving the bed.

"I just had a nightmare." She chose to say this instead.

"Can you tell me about it?" He knew Hu Lei did not like talking about her bad dreams. It was strange that she had brought it up.

"Mmmh… it was not like the others. I think it is a childhood memory. I heard Lu Liang talking about how I was not normal. She suspected that my father experimented on me before I was born." She said with a dry but heart-breaking laugh.

It was comical in a tragic way. If those suspicions were true, she would be the most unfortunate person ever. She was only twenty five, and she had been kidnapped and trapped for a total of four years. If this had started even before she came to be, perhaps her life was meant to be that of a lab rat.

"It seems that the Murong family has been around for too long." The cold man on the other end of the line said.

He could not do anything about Hu Ming, but he definitely could deal with Lu Liang.

"Don't be dramatic." Hu Lei said with a small cute giggle.

"She is responsible for giving you a nightmare. It would not take any effort to deal with the entire clan." His tone showed dissatisfaction.

Hu Lei sniffed and chuckled again at his thoughts. How could he destroy a clan because she had a nightmare? Wasn't this the same as accusing someone of cheating because of a dream? However, her heart felt incredibly warm.

"You have become the evil emperor again." She smiled, no longer feeling overwhelmed.

"You know instead of planning to annihilate the Murong clan, you should be thinking about taking me out for fun." She said in a grumbling voice.

"What do you want to do?" There was a little smile in his voice.

"I don't know. Somewhere with drama, food and entertainment is fine. I am so bored." She said in a deliberately whiney voice.

Zhong Feng laughed a little at her antics. Though he did not feel reassured about her wellbeing, he could not do anything at the moment.

"You want more drama after being the hot topic for more than a week?" His voice had a certain sense of helplessness towards her.

"I don't want to be the drama. I want to watch it. People are so interesting. It's a shame I don't know any." She responded with a despondent sigh.

"Then, I shall take you out to play after I return." He could never refuse her

The two people talked some more with Hu Lei reassuring Zhong Feng that she was alright. After nagging her about her health repeatedly, she finally disconnected the call. 'I am not a child.' She huffed in annoyance while looking at the phone. However, her eyes twinkled lightly.

Her gaze turned from her phone to her former sleeping position with a frown. She felt apprehension at the situation. How could she not remember leaving the bed? More importantly, why did she end up on the floor? If she had the capacity to walk, she could have at least slept on the couch. Did she faint again?

Unfortunately, she could not get a clue, even after trying her usual mental exercises. For now, she could do nothing. However, her mind felt unsettled. If this happened again, the matter might not be as simple as falling on a floor.

She turned back to her phone and quickly sent a message.