My Dearest General: It Has Always Been You

Shi Nian curled up and clutched her furiously beating chest, wheezing. 

Calm down…. Calm down, Shi Nian. You can\'t collapse. Not right now.

How was Qiang Fei? The last time she saw her…was she alright? What about Jiang Jinyan? Did his disappearance have something to do with this? There were so many questions in her mind yet no one could give her the answers.

Just like what happened that day, she was alone again.

Shi Nian shook her head to eliminate all negative thoughts and stood up gingerly. What was important right now wasn\'t to brood, but to think of how to escape from this situation. 

She grimaced and touched the back of her head. The sudden burning sting made her jolt in shock. Traces of half dried blood stained her fingers. 

It seemed like the serial killer had dealt a pretty heavy blow there. Shi Nian gritted her teeth. Instead of fear, the feeling that dominated her right now was anger.

Why…if he wanted to mess with her, why should he drag her mother and Jiang Jinyan in this?

Everyone always thought that she was gentle, docile and harmless. Yet she also had a bottom line that shouldn\'t be crossed. Just like the case with Ruo Tingran, should anyone touch her most important people, she would fight them even to death.

Shi Nian straightened up and circled around the room. It was very cramped and filthy and she couldn\'t even take three steps without bumping into the wall. The familiar feeling evoked nausea up her stomach. The longer she stayed in that room, flashes of images started to surface even more; the corner where she huddled up and hugged herself to sleep, the bed that was wet with tears she shed for countless nights, the blood that seeped through the door…

She grabbed the handle of the door and as expected, it was locked. In addition, there was a manual clasp lock added to it, presumably he had learned from the previous lesson when Shi Nian escaped for the first time.

Pressing her ears to the door, she tried to eavesdrop yet detected no sign of movement outside. 

What time was it? How many hours had it been since she lost consciousness? Had Xu Binchen gege rescued Jinyan? 

Shi Nian paced back and forth anxiously. So restless that she didn\'t see where she was going and bumped her pinky toe against the leg of the bed. Sucking in cold air, she crouched down and held her feet, tears sprung up her eyes from the pain.

…Damn it, it hurts so much!!!

The metal leg slid askew in a grating screech, the sound echoed around the desolate space. Shi Nian held her breath and waited, one second…two second…five second…no one was coming. Finally, she slowly let go of the breath she was holding and sat on the ground, rubbing her slightly swollen toe.

Her eyes inadvertently fell upon the bottom of the bed and an image suddenly emerged in her mind. Stunned, she crawled closer and inspected the floor. By logic, if a bed had been put in the same place for a long time, its leg would create a long lasting mark. However, the brownish stain on the tiles told her that the bed was moved frequently for a period of time.

…It was her. She was the one who moved it.

Shi Nian dragged the bed following the mark and found a stack of junk; metal wire, rusty bolt, sharp shards of glasses hidden deep underneath.

The sight compelled a flicker of hope within her eyes. Shi Nian was so elated that she almost cried. How could she not remember this bunch of things she had hoarded under her bed like a treasure?! Did she not escape last time because of them too?

Never did she expect that it hadn\'t been found out yet, recalling how meticulous that psychotic bastard was. Well, not that it mattered. Contrary to it, Shi Nian was very grateful. 

She pulled the stack out and started to fiddle with it, the corner of her lips curling up into a thrilling smile.

Twenty minutes later, the door handle rattled softly and…click, it was opened. The manual lock slowly lifted up by a thin sharp glass and came unclasped. Shi Nian opened the door just a crack enough to peek out and was met with an identical door on the opposite. 

Bathump! Bathump! Bathump! Her heartbeat echoed within her ears and she wiped her clammy palms on her uniform skirt, gulping inaudibly. 

Sneaking out, Shi Nian found herself in a familiar dark hallway with rooms on each side. In the back of her mind, she could see herself from a year ago doing the exact same thing; contemplating which way to go and gambled on the possibility of escaping, a piece of glass shard clenched on her palm and she held it like a protective charm.

The memories from that day and today overlapped and Shi Nian traced her previous self\'s steps as she slowly stumbled down the hallway toward the exit.

BAM!

The sudden sound of door slamming almost caused her soul to fly away. Chills ran down her spine as she hastened her pace. 

He\'s here! He\'s coming, she has to hurry and get out of here as soon as possible!

With a burst of adrenaline, Shi Nian made a turn in the space that looked like a maze. Everywhere she looked was endless hallways and firmly shut doors which seemed to keep unimaginable secrets in them, one that she didn\'t dare to probe. 

"SHI! NIAN!" The man\'s furious hollered reverberated through the air. He had found out that her room was empty. "How dare you!"

At the same time, her alert ears caught a clang of metal from one of the doors. Behind her was the serial killer\'s oncoming rapid footsteps. In desperation, she sought shelter from the source of the voice she heard earlier and scrambled to open the door—which was luckily unlocked—and closed the door behind her. 

"Haa…haa…" She hugged her trembling body, her breaths came out shaky and hasty. Her eyes hadn\'t adjusted to the dark yet but somehow, she could sense another presence deep inside. "Is…Is someone there?" She whispered fearfully. "Are you another one of his victims?"

Clang! The clinking metal was heard once again. The sound was awfully similar to…chains. Followed soon after was a voice she had never expected to hear in this place; one that she could recognize even amidst the crowds, that she had yearned for days and nights.

"...Shi Nian?" Jiang Jinyan\'s voice was terribly hoarse and gruff. "Is that you?"

Shi Nian covered her mouth, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably. Her body moved before her brain could process it, sprinting toward the man\'s voice. In the next moment, her arm was caught and her body tilted forward, falling into a warm embrace she couldn\'t be more familiar with.

In an instant, all of her fear, anxiety and restlessness faded away. The chill around her body dispersed and melted into warm tears that soaked into his shirt.

"It\'s you…"  He gasped in her scent, lips pressing onto her cheek. "It\'s really you…"

Shi Nian hugged him tightly, too worked-up to even say a word. Reaching out to touch his face, she sought his eyes, eager to drink in every inch of the sight in front of her. 

"It\'s okay. I am fine." He said as if understanding what she wanted to say. "Don\'t cry. I really wish to hug you right now but I can\'t…" 

Shi Nian blinked twice, befuddled. It wasn\'t until she looked closer did she realize that his hands had been chained to the wall. She hastily wiped her tears away. It wasn\'t the time to be overwhelmed. She had to focus on the matter in hand! 

"How…" Her voice shook as she grabbed the chain. "How could you be here? Binchen gege said that he\'s on his way to save you…"

Jiang Jinyan bumped his forehead against her, his dark eyes gleamed in the dark. "Listen to me. There\'s not enough time for explanation. You have to get out of here as soon as possible."

"H—How can I leave you alone?!" 

BAM! Another resounding slam was heard. "Shi Nian~" The serial killer sang in tune. "Where are you? You really like to play hide and seek with me, don\'t you?"

"Go!" Jiang Jinyan gritted his teeth and pushed her away. Turning to the other side of the room, he growled in a low voice. "You know the way out, don\'t you?!"

"Even if I know, what\'s the use? I can\'t move right now."

Shi Nian turned around in shock and instinctively protected Jiang Jinyan behind her. Never did she expect that there would be another person with them here! Her body instinctively trembled as she met with those pair of impassive, emotionless eyes. 

Si Zhening was also here!

Similar to Jiang Jinyan, he also had chains locking his hands up. However, he seemed to be in a slightly worse condition as he could only slump against the wall, bruises and wounds all over his skin that wasn\'t covered by clothes. It was unknown how bad it was beneath. 

Jiang Jinyan tried to hold her back, the chains clanking with his movement. "Shi Nian, he—"

"I know." Shi Nian said quietly. She stared at Si Zhening with a complicated gaze. "You\'re the one who helped me escape…right?"

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A/N: Well, I think you might have an inkling to who the serial killer is. I must say that I have planned for this happening since the first chapter he appeared and I have my own reasons ^^ everyone has a backstory and ofc the serial killer will too! Please wait for it!

I will try to mass release on Christmas Eve as a gift for you all~