Chapter 4: No Escape from the Golden Cage
The click of the door was the loudest sound Lin Feng had ever heard. It wasn't the heavy, mechanical thud of a prison cell, but the soft, electronic chirp of a high-end security system being engaged.
He sat frozen on the edge of the bed, his feet hovering just inches above the plush Persian rug. His plan had been simple: wait for the nurse's shift change, slip out of the service elevator, and vanish into the neon-lit streets of the city. As a veteran of 999 lives, escaping a hospital should have been as easy as breathing.
Instead, the door hadn't just locked—it had vanished. A seamless panel of white oak slid across the exit, blending perfectly with the wall.
"Going somewhere, Feng'er?"
The voice was like silk wrapped around a razor blade. Su Qingxue was standing by the window, silhouetted against the darkening skyline of the Starfall District. She held a remote device in her hand, her thumb stroking the surface with terrifying rhythm.
"I'm a grown man, Qingxue," Lin Feng snapped, trying to summon the aura of the arrogant Young Master that had served him so well in past lives. "I want a cigarette, and I want a real meal. I am the heir to the Lin family, not your house pet. Open the door before I call my lawyers."
Su Qingxue didn't move. She didn't even look angry. She turned slowly, her violet eyes shimmering with that strange, System-enhanced light. "Your lawyers? You mean the ones I put on a permanent retainer this morning? Or perhaps your family? The same family that tried to sell you to the Shadow Web for a few points in stock?"
She stepped closer, the heels of her designer pumps clicking like a countdown on the marble floor.
"Ye Chen!" Lin Feng shouted, desperate. "Ye Chen, get in here! Your 'Brother' is being kidnapped!"
A shadow appeared behind the frosted glass of the internal balcony. The God of War, the man who could take down an army with a combat knife, didn't break down the door to save him. Instead, he spoke through the intercom, his voice thick with a mix of shame and fanaticism.
"Forgive me, Brother Lin," Ye Chen rumbled. "President Su is right. The world outside is crawling with those who wish to harm the 'Saint of the City.' Until I have personally eliminated every single threat to your life, I cannot allow you to leave this sanctuary. It is for your own protection."
Lin Feng felt a cold sweat break across his neck. *Sanctuary? This is a gilded cage!*
[**DING! MISSION OVERVIEW: ATTEMPTED ESCAPE DETECTED.**]
[**PENALTY: HEROINE OBSESSION INCREASED BY 20%.**]
[**SYSTEM ADVICE: STOP STRUGGLING. THE CAGE IS LINED WITH SILK FOR A REASON.**]
"You see, Feng'er?" Su Qingxue reached out, her cool fingers grazing his jawline. She forced him to look up at her. "Even the strongest man in the world agrees with me. You are too precious to be left to your own devices. You have a habit of 'sacrificing' yourself, don't you? You did it in the 442nd life... and the 712th... and on that rooftop yesterday."
Lin Feng tried to pull away, but his body felt strangely heavy. "I told you, that was a misunderstanding! I wasn't saving you, I was—"
"I don't care about your excuses anymore," she interrupted, her voice dropping to a whisper. "In those 999 lives, you were the one in control. You played the villain, you broke my heart, and you left me behind to reset the world. You treated me like a scripted character in your little game."
She leaned down, her lips inches from his ear.
"But the System gave me a gift, Lin Feng. It gave me the **'Golden Cage'** sub-routine. As long as you are within ten meters of me, your 'Villain System' is suppressed. You can't commit crimes. You can't hurt yourself. You can only be... mine."
Lin Feng's eyes widened. He tried to summon his System interface, but the blue screen was flickering, turning a sickly shade of violet.
[**WARNING: HOST IS ENTERING A 'NEUTRALIZED ZONE'.**]
[**VILLAIN FUNCTIONS: DISABLED.**]
[**NEW STATUS: 'PROTECTED SPOUSE' (PENDING).**]
"You're insane," Lin Feng breathed.
"I am what you made me," Su Qingxue replied, a genuine, terrifyingly beautiful smile breaking across her face.
She pressed a button on her remote. Suddenly, the walls of the room shifted. Hidden compartments opened, revealing a state-of-the-art kitchen, a library filled with his favorite books from Earth, and a wardrobe full of clothes that weren't hospital gowns.
"I've spent billions to turn this entire floor into a fortress," she said, walking toward the dining table where the Michelin-starred congee sat. "You have everything here. High-speed internet, the finest food, and the best protection. You can even run the Lin Group from that laptop. But you will not step foot outside this suite without my hand in yours."
Lin Feng stood up, his legs shaking. "And what if I refuse? What if I just sit here and rot?"
Su Qingxue paused, her hand on the back of a chair. She looked back at him, her gaze suddenly sharp. "Then Ye Chen will find more 'trash' to bring you. Perhaps your cousins? Or your business rivals? He's very eager to please his 'Big Brother.' Every time you try to leave me, another one of your enemies will... disappear. Do you want that blood on your hands, 'Saint' Lin?"
The psychological weight hit Lin Feng like a physical blow. She wasn't just trapping his body; she was trapping his morality. If he tried to be a villain, she would turn him into a hero. If he tried to run, she would destroy others to "protect" him.
He was trapped in a loop of kindness so extreme it was lethal.
"Why?" Lin Feng asked, his voice cracking. "After 999 lives of me being a scumbag to you... why do you want this?"
Su Qingxue walked back to him, taking his hands in hers. Her touch was no longer cold; it was burning.
"Because in every one of those lives, right before you died, you looked at me with a tiny shred of regret," she whispered. "You thought I didn't see it. But I did. You hated being the villain as much as I hated being the victim. So, I'm helping you, Feng'er. I'm giving you the retirement you wanted. You just have to accept that I'm the one who provides it."
[**DING! HEROINE SYSTEM UPDATE:**]
[**MISSION PROGRESS: 50% OF SOUL BINDING COMPLETE.**]
[**REMARK: THE BIRD HAS STOPPED FLAPPING ITS WINGS.**]
Lin Feng looked at the "invisible" door, then at the God of War standing guard, and finally at the woman who had lived a thousand years just to cage him.
He had survived 999 worlds of monsters, gods, and demons. But he had never encountered anything as dangerous as a Heroine who truly loved him.
"Fine," Lin Feng whispered, sinking back onto the bed. "You win for today."
Su Qingxue's eyes lit up with a triumph more terrifying than any battle. "Not just for today, my love. For eternity."
As she sat beside him and began to feed him the soup, Lin Feng looked at his own System screen, which was now completely submerged in violet light.
[**NEW MAIN QUEST: ESCAPE THE OBSESSION.**]
[**DIFFICULTY: IMPOSSIBLE.**]
[**TIME LIMIT: FOREVER.**]
Lin Feng took a sip of the soup. It was delicious. It tasted like the end of the world.
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