When Hu Lei woke up, she felt as if she had been immersed in a pool of warmth. Her arms clutched tighter to the source of heat, and her face rubbed like a little kitten on the warm pillow beneath her. She felt refreshed and free, and she revelled because she no longer felt stuck.

"Comfortable?" her pillow asked in a deep voice.

Her mind became clear, and she opened her slightly painful eyes. Her golden orbs looked at man she was lying on oh-so-comfortably. His dark eyes were filled with amusement, warmth and something else darker. Hu Lei felt embarrassed about their immediate position, causing her little face to redden.

Zhong Feng was lying on his back, stretched out on the couch while she was sprawled on top of his body. She could not figure out how they had ended up like this. She remembered when she started crying, but it was a blur after that. Maybe she had just overpowered him and climbed on top of him in a haze. How embarrassing!

She tried to discretely edge herself downwards from his body, but two strong hands held her by the hips and stopped her from moving carelessly. Some fires should not be lit yet. Feeling, the hot touch on her sensitive body, she abandoned her escape plan and chose to take the coward way out. She closed her eyes and settled back on the hard chest below hers, pretending to fall asleep once again.

Zhong Feng's lips stretched into a smile when he saw her behaving so adorably. It felt like, once again, he had a fresh breath of air flowing through his lungs. He also closed his eyes and then lifted his hand, running it affectionately on the delicate spine of his girl.

Hu Lei felt incredibly comfortable with the petting. She had never had the opportunity to enjoy human touch because her aversion had been quite strong when she had been released after the first kidnapping. She could not even bear any physical contact, even handshakes, during that dark period.

The first time she had allowed a casual touch was in Demesne. That time, she had been apprehensive, worrying she would feel that unpleasant crawling of his skin when her one and only big boss patted her head. It had not. She had only felt indulged.

The light touch at that time was almost negligible in comparison to this moment, soaking in his warmth directly from his body while he continuously ran his large hands on her back. She felt pampered like a royal cat. She could get addicted to this feeling. She moved contentedly luxuriating in the moment as if she wanted to bury herself into his chest.

Zhong Feng could not help thinking that the cute cuddling actions from this girl would lead to a dark place. With much difficulty in his heart, he could only stop her snuggling and burrowing into him with a firm arm around her tight waist. She finally settled completely. After long moments of silence, she finally spoke.

"My father died a year ago or even longer." Her voice was small but sad.

"I know, baby." He was not good at comforting, but he could be there for her.

Hu Lei felt his intention and subconsciously rubbed her cheek lightly on his chest.

"You know, when I was first brought into that place, everything was fine. All I had to be was a good hostage. But then, their test subjects started dying too fast. They decided to use me because I was stronger and expendable." She paused.

Zhong Feng resumed his earlier petting. He did not know what else to do.

"Luckily, my father was around. If it was not for him, I would probably have been torn into pieces by those mad scientists." She spoke with self-deprecation.

The man below her did not feel like there was anything lucky about being experimented on by her father who was supposed to protect her. But he understood that in the circumstances, it was the best outcome.

"He might not have been the best father, but he was an exceptional doctor with incredible knowledge." She had sensed Zhong Feng's dissatisfaction. "He only made small changes to my body, enough to convince the lab that using stronger people was the solution."

She raised her head and looked at Zhong Feng.

"When he changed my eye colour, everyone thought it was a chance for people to have predator level eyesight. But the change is mostly cosmetic. My vision was already better than regular people, so the test results were good. The only functional improvement to my eyes is my night vision." She explained wryly.

"What else?" He asked.

"He also gave me a colder body constitution. I don't know how he did it. It's not anything amazing really. It's just that I always feel cold, but I can withstand cold environments better than anyone. He probably was planning for me to escape." That is the truth she chose to believe.

He had noticed that her skin always felt cool to the touch.

"Anything else?" her companion inquired, unwilling to cast doubts on her beliefs.

"I don't know. There could be any number of things." She sighed.

"Then what happened?" he prompted her.

"When the lab was convinced that stronger people could withstand changes better, they started bringing people who were convicted criminals." She paused. "At first, the tests went on well for them, but then, the pain started. For me, it was nothing much for me because I have trained since I was thirteen. Even being an experimental subject was nothing new."

She placed her head back on his chest, ignoring the chilling killing intent in his eyes. It made her feel comforted that he would be so angry on her behalf.

"But for these people, it must have been hell. If I am not wrong, they were probably tricked, believing that they would be released after some time or something. When they realised that they were not going to have a good ending, they started to rebel when they got a chance. One of those people slashed my father's throat using a scalpel." Silent tears flowed from her eyes, soaking his chest.

"I was locked up in one of those glass cages and could only watch. By the time the man was subdued, he was already dead." She added.

Zhong Feng hugged her tightly without saying a word.

"You know, he always said that he knew that he would not die peacefully." She laughed lightly between tears. "He always said that he was like a cultivator. When he chose the path of research instead of treatment, he was ready to die."

Hu Lei felt sad, but like her father, she had somehow known that he would end up like this.

"I have actually grieved him, and I am happy that he followed his path even though it was a dark one. But it is still so painful to lose my only family." She said despondently.

"What am I?" Zhong Feng asked in playful anger.

"We are not yet family." Hu Lei responded rashly.

When she realised that she had spoken without thinking, her face became like a ripe tomato. It was just an impulsive thought that had somehow found its way to her mouth. She refused to look up, pretending that she had said nothing.

On the other hand, Zhong Feng felt very satisfied with those words.

However, he decided not to push her for now.

"You know, you might have another suitable blood-related family member." He spoke casually.

Those few words caused Hu Lei to immediately sit up in a straddle on top of his body.