Crimson Instinct

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Zhang Ning huffed breathlessly as she reached the children's playroom. Her secret door that connected to the entrance and exit, also connected that led to a playroom where she kept some of her torture tools.

The whole way, she was trying to call Zhang Chao but to no avail. None of her calls went through. By the time she tried for almost the thirtieth time, she finally realized that something was seriously wrong.

Not that the guard didn't inform her about the situation, but she refused to believe it. She couldn't imagine her father being taken hostage or kidnapped.

"Tch, tch, tch."

Zhang Ning froze. The familiar voice crawled goosebumps on her skin.

"Come on, elder sister~ I thought you were better than this."

The light shone upon her, and Zhang Xiulan was sitting on a chair, tapping her foot on the floor. She was amused as she watched Zhang Ning's condition.

"Long time no see, sis~~"

Zhang Ning gritted her teeth and her dark gaze glinted with utter hatred.

"Xiulan…I knew it was you! I knew you came for revenge!" she spoke through gritted teeth.

"Come on. We meet after so long, and you won't even hug me? I am your sister!" Zhang Xiulan pouted.

"Shut up!"

How did she know that I am here?

"How do I know that you are here?" Zhang Xiulan chuckled. "I can read your mind like an open book."

Zhang Ning clenched her fists.

"Shouldn't sisters be able to understand each other? And who knows you better than me? Of course, I knew you would come here."

She looked around the playroom. "This was your favorite place even back in our younger days. After Mom died, you took me away from my room and imprisoned me in the playroom at Zhang mansion where the doctors would do their 'special treatment' on me. And then, you would come after they left and 'played' with me too, isn't it?"

Zhang Ning lost her patience. "What did you do to Dad? Tell me! Where have you kept him? Why isn't he picking my calls?"

Zhang Xiulan dramatically widened her eyes. "What are you saying? Why are you asking me? What have I got to do anything with Dad?"

"You are lying! You hate him! You did something to him!"

"But I didn't. Just like you never did anything to Mom. Just like you never hated Mom and never killed her," she tilted her head and smiled. "Isn't that what you always claimed?"

Zhang Ning clutched her dress hard. Then she sneered. "Mom wanted me to get treated. Was she even worth calling as a mother? She treated her own daughter as if she was crazy. She wanted everyone to know that I was mad and a psycho! Which mother does that to her child!? So, I killed her. Haha! She deserved it! She deserved to die after she treated me as an outcast!"

*SLAP SLAP SLAP*

Zhang Xiulan clutched her hair and slapped her three times harshly on both cheeks.

"Ahhh…"

Her head tilted to the side, and her cheeks were burning red, stinging in pain.

"Xiulan! How dare you!"

Zhang Xiulan slapped her hard again.

"This is how I dare. No matter how much I slapped you, it's not enough. You never understood that Mom loved both of us. We both were her daughters. Why would she be partial? She wanted your treatment because you desperately NEEDED it. And see? This is the result of not getting that. You grew up to become even worse than your child self, and mindlessly started killing people for fun. This is what Mom didn't want you to become. A cold-blooded, sadistic killer."

"You asked what kind of a mother does that to a child? I say what kind of a mother would see her child turn into a monster? And if she did, if she turned a blind eye to everything, then she is truly not deserving to be called as a mother."

"Shut up! I am not crazy! I am not mad! This is me! This is Zhang Ning! I like blood. I like to see others in pain! What is wrong with that? Dad always understood me, but you...you did something to him!"

Zhang Xiulan sneered. "Oh please. Don't behave as if you really loved Dad. You didn't love him. He was just as crazy as you, so you found solace that he stood with you. If he had tried the same things as Mom did to change you, then you wouldn't have hesitated to kill him either. He was alive only because he supported you. Otherwise, he was of no use to you because you don't understand feelings like love. You are incapable of loving anybody."

Zhang Ning froze. Her words cut straight into her heart and impaled her like a sword ripping through it.

Even though Zhang Chao always stood by her side, she never felt any love for him. She never held any love for her family, Zhang Qiuyue, Xiulan, or even Zhang Chao. 

It was just…

"Heh. You finally realized the truth? It was just convenient for you that a man in a powerful position like his happened to share your psycho nature, and so you got his support as a by-product. So, don't act as if you are all heartbroken and devastated by Dad's death. You could care less."

Zhang Ning widened her eyes.

"D-death…?"

Zhang Xiulan gasped and covered her mouth. "Oopsie! Me and my loud mouth! I spilled everything," she sighed.

"Dad is dead…?" She whispered in a daze.

Zhang Ning blankly looked at the floor, her eyes failing to blink. Her brain couldn't process this information.

Zhang Xiulan leaned in and gripped her jaw until Ning felt as if a boulder was crushing it. "Such an irony, right? You killed Mom, whom I loved so much, and I killed Zhang Chao, on whom you relied for support. You cut off the source of my happiness years ago, and I cut off the source of your strength years later. I was left all alone after her death, and now you are here, all alone and helpless after Zhang Chao is no more."

She smiled. "And do you want to know who helped me in achieving my goal?"

A bad feeling arose in Zhang Ning's heart. She felt she knew the answer but didn't want to hear it.

Zhang Xiulan chuckled. "It's none other than the man you seemed to have fallen 'in love' with. Bai Li."