"Miss, I'll go with you," Hong Dou said firmly.
"Your injury..." Qi Zhenzhen instinctively didn't want Hong Dou to take risks again. It was strange, from the first moment she saw Hong Dou, she felt a sense of closeness, an inexplicable closeness. That's why she felt at ease with Hong Dou by Madam Yun's side.
And Hong Dou had indeed managed Madam Yun's affairs very well.
This time, if Hong Dou hadn't reacted quickly and responded promptly, Madam Yun's life would have been disrupted. If this matter were known to more people, even if Madam Yun returned unharmed, she would be subjected to the most malicious speculation. This malice, which wounded without drawing blood, was formidable.
Therefore, Qi Zhenzhen was very grateful to Hong Dou.
At the same time, she was a little puzzled. She hadn't been by Madam Yun's side for very long, so why was she so devoted to Madam Yun? Was it just because she was sent by Gu Sinian? Qi Zhenzhen intuitively felt it wasn't! She had Er Xi by her side. The two of them were very reserved when they first interacted, at least Er Xi was. Hong Dou was like Er Xi, but Madam Yun mentioned that she got along extremely well with Hong Dou. Hong Dou took care of every aspect of her life so well that Madam Yun said Hong Dou was like a worm in her belly, knowing everything.
Er Xi and the others had undergone continuous and rather brutal training. That training was about killing and self-preservation. Therefore, their personalities were often cold, and they even had difficulty communicating with people.
"Hong Dou, I have something to ask you alone."
Qian Yuanbao left first, and Bai Su and Chun Feng also withdrew.
"Miss, what do you want to ask?"
"Are you very worried about my mother?"
Hong Dou nodded without hesitation, "Madam treats me very well. Miss, you know, people like me have had a very hard life since childhood. As soon as I could remember, I was sold by my family. I escaped, met my master, and then chose rigorous training. Miss, you can't imagine how rigorous that training was. At first, a group of people would learn skills together, and everyone got along quite well. Gradually, the nightmare began. In the beginning, we were thrown into harsh environments, and some people survived while others lost their lives. They usually died not far from us. That is to say, most of the time, we would clearly see how people died and what state they were in after death."
Hong Dou's voice was a little low. After a pause, she continued, "You might ask me why I didn't save them. It wasn't that I didn't want to, but that I couldn't. So, the feeling of watching companions die before your eyes yet being powerless is truly painful. But that's not the worst part. The worst part is that the small portion of people who survived were thrown into even harsher environments. This time, there were not only more dangers."
"It's the mutual slaughter among companions, isn't it?" Qi Zhenzhen said slowly.
Hong Dou nodded slowly, "Yes. Companions whom you could trust in the past had to draw their swords against each other for the sake of survival, to fight for the last chance to live."
"When I came to Madam's side, Madam's kindness to me was like a beam of light that dispelled the darkness of my past experiences. I want to stay by Madam's side forever, to stay in the light, and not return to that kind of darkness," Hong Dou said word by word.
The belief that supported her through that darkness was her mother and younger brother. She firmly believed that she would meet them again one day. Fortunately, she persisted. Originally, she wanted to confess directly to Madam Yun, but she felt it was too unbelievable and would scare Madam Yun, who would then see her as a monster. So, after much thought, Hong Dou felt that remaining by Madam Yun's side as a maid was the most appropriate. Moreover, Qi Zhenzhen did a very good job; her mother liked her, and her younger brother trusted her.