The Devil who devoured Snow White

(Flashback)

Tian Ruyi would always visit Bai Jingye's place ever since they became friends. She got along well with everyone in the family.

One day, while the kids were playing hide and seek, Tian Ruyi stumbled upon a room in the basement. What caught her attention was the beeping sound coming from inside. Like any normal child, she decided to take a peek. Just one peek.

Inside the room, she saw a queen-sized bed with a beautiful woman, sleeping in the middle. There was an IV line attached to her hand and the beeping sound came from the heart rate monitor.

The young Tian Ruyi decided to enter, just to have a closer look at the beautiful woman. Her black hair was long. Her lips were pale, like her skin. She was thin, so fragile looking.

"What are you doing here?"

Tian Ruyi quickly snapped her head towards the voice. Her heart was racing fast in fear of being scolded but as she turned, she accidentally knocked the glass vase behind, causing it to fall on the ground with a loud crash.

"I-I'm sorry!" She quickly exclaimed in panic. She looked over Bai Jingye then back to the woman in the bed to check if she woke up. 

"It's fine, be careful next time. Don't worry, she won't wake up." Little Bai Jingye said as he approached the bed. He reached out and even poked the woman's feet. "See?"

"Eh? Why not?"

"Because she's asleep."

"Why is she asleep?" Tian Ruyi inquired as she walked towards him, avoiding the shattered vase.

"Father said that auntie is in a deep sleep because she is sick." He turned to her. "We should clean up and leave. We are not allowed to be here."

"Why not?"

"Because grandpa will get angry." Bai Jingye walked towards the shattered glass and began picking the shards one by one but his wrist was suddenly grabbed by Tian Ruyi. He looked at her in confusion.

"If you pick them up one by one, you'll get hurt," she explained. "Can't we call someone to help us clean?"

"No one is – "

"What… happened here?!" Bai Keran's angry voice startled the children.

"G-Grandpa!" The two of them stood up at the same time.

The old man's sharp gaze landed on the broken vase. "Who broke that?"

Tian Ruyi's body trembled in fear as she cast her eyes down. She never saw Bai Keran this mad so she was hesitant to confess.

"I-I did!" Bai Jingye exclaimed. "I-I'm sorry, grandpa. It was just an acci – "

Slap!

Thud!

Tian Ruyi was surprised at what she heard. She lifted up her sight to see what happened and there she saw her friend on the ground. His palm was bleeding since his hand accidentally landed on a shard when he fell. His right cheek was red and was beginning to swell. He was biting his lower lip as he suppressed himself from making a sound as his tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Jingye!" She quickly went beside him.

"Bring him to that room," Bai Keran ordered rather icily. 

"N-No! Please grandpa! N-not there!" The young Bai Jingye begged as he cried out to his grandfather. He turned to the man standing behind the old man, it was Bai Jingye's father. "D-dad, please! No…"

His father hesitated for a second. He clenched his fists tightly and was reluctant to obey him.

"It's my fault!" Tian Ruyi finally confessed. "It's not his fault!"

Bai Keran only gave the young girl a sharp glance to make her mouth shut and have her body tremble in fear. He turned away and glared coldly at his son. "What are you waiting for?" 

In the end, the other man went to pick his son up from the ground. The young boy struggled but only failed.

"Please! It's not Jingye's fault!" She ran after the man as they climbed out of the basement. "Uncle!"

"If you don't want to make the matters worse, you should go home, Xiao Ruyi," Bai Kai, Bai Jingye's father advised. He was carrying his crying son in his arms. 

She stopped in her tracks, her eyes became teary as she watched them leave while blood was dripping on the floor. Even if she was told to leave, she could not do it, she wanted to be there for her best friend so after wiping her tears, she decided to secretly follow them.

Instead of taking Bai Jingye to a certain room that Bai Kai was told, he took his son to their family doctor to get his hand treated. After doing so, he was finally taken to another room. Tian Ruyi peeked from the door after they entered. Bai Jingye's legs were pinned on the floor and were forced to kneel on salts. The boy cried as his arms were tied up. There was no window in the room. When she saw that Bai Kai was about to leave, she quickly rushed to the corner of the hall to hide. After making sure that there were no adults around, she went back to the room and pushed the door open. It was dark this time and Bai Jingye's small figure was seen in the middle, thanks to the light that entered from the door.

"Xiao Ruyi! What are you doing here?" The boy's face was still wet, he was still crying from the pain of his hand and his knees.

"I've come to help you!"

"N-No!" he stammered. "You can't… if grandpa found out I escaped… he'll beat me too…"

"You can leave this place! Dad and I will take you!" Tears were flowing like a waterfall on her face. It pained her to see her precious friend treated this way. It broke her heart when she saw him tolerate the mistreatment thrown at him. She was once a beggar. She thought that wealthy people's lives were full of happiness so why was her friend being treated this way?

"I can't, Ruyi…" Bai Jingye's lips trembled. He was so tempted to run away with her but he knew best that it would only make things worst for them. "I… I'll be fine… so please go…"

(End of flashback)