My eyes finally came into focus and I was stunned by what I saw.
My hands were tied behind my back and it was why my muscles felt so stiff. Not far ahead of me was a man who was hanging from the ceiling. There were 5 people surrounding him, hitting him with whips and sticks. His clothes were already stained with blood.
I saw Jing Ni standing before the man who was tied up. She too had her hands tied behind her like me. She shielded the blows for the man.
The strung up man growled hoarsely, “Jing Ni! Leave me be! Save yourself!”
Jing Ni cried, “No, I won’t leave.” There was another whiplash and Jing Ni screamed as she collapsed to the ground.
“S… stop!” I struggled to stand up. My voice was so weak that they didn’t hear me. The five continued to toy with their captives.
“Get back up, are you giving up so soon, girl? Come and block the beating for your man!”
“Kid, you’re quite lucky! There’s a girl who is willing to get beaten up for you!”
“Little girl, let me hear you scream some more. Your moans are making magic happen in big brother’s pants!”
Jing Ni curled up on the ground. She was too weak to do anything anymore.
I gritted my teeth and silently slipped off the bracelet from my wrist. Jing Ni, hang in there!
I pressed on the clasp of the bracelet and a small blade popped out. It pierced into my left palm. I resisted the pain. As the man leaned down to pinch Jing Ni’s face, fury burned through me. Ignoring the pain, I used every ounce of energy I had to cut through the rope. I felt a release from my hands. The rope snapped.
I grabbed an iron rod near me and my eyes were burning red.
The man was trying to force his kisses on Jing Ni, Jing Ni struggled as best as she could. The other men continued to torture the hanging man.
I raised the rod and swung it hard on the head of the man who was harassing Jing Ni. When the man slumped noiselessly to the ground, my anger dissipated somewhat.
I hurried towards Jing Ni and whispered, “Ni Ni, I’m here! Don’t be scared!” I used the small blade to cut through her binding and shove her behind me. “Find a weapon to protect yourself with.”
The four men turned around because they must have heard me. When they saw their friend lying on the ground, they were shocked but they didn’t panic. Instead, they looked at me and started to laugh.
The leading man pulled on the whip he was holding. “This girl is a fighter, I like that.”
Only then I realized the hanging man was Lee Yang.
“Boss, this one is even prettier than the other one!” The other man said. The four of them sized me up and I studied them in return.
Judging from the wounds on Lee Yang’s body, I was unconscious for hours already.
Brother Hu’s team would have noticed when Jing Ni and I didn’t return home so long after school. They might not be good fighters but they were mentally sharp.
However, I had no idea why Lee Yang was there.
I wasn’t surprised that this happened. But I did feel guilty for dragging Lee Yang and Jing Ni into this. This was why my little uncle and Jing Tian were so mad at me that day, I had exposed myself on the darknet.
At the time, I had no idea how many enemies my parents had. While I found their families, I found their enemies as well. The four who ambushed the Nan Family old home were merely the scouts.
However, it had been so peaceful since then that my little uncle had put his guard down.
The leading man was clearly intrigued by me. He grinned and commented, “Young lady, you’re quite gutsy! I like that!”
I smiled. “Sorry but I don’t like you.”
The man was stunned. “Ha ha. Quite a mouth you have there!”
The other men laughed. “Boss, you always love a challenge!”
“Boss, this missy is perfect. She has both the looks and the snappy personality. Not bad!”
When they were done laughing, I asked, “You were supposed to kidnap me, weren’t you?”
The four immediately silenced. They probably didn’t expect me to be so calm.
“Let the two of them go, they’re innocent.” I said.
They cackled. “Miss, do you think we’re dumb? Once they leave, they’ll immediately call the cops! You’re so innocently cute.”
I laughed. “So you people are afraid of the police too?”
They responded with another cackle.
I raised my voice over them, “But I feel like you should be more afraid of her than the police.”
The men stopped to look at each other.