Chapter 24

Lao Qi nodded, used the key to open the small black door, and bent down to go in. Xie Wendong looked in, but it was pitch black and nothing could be seen. Only the moans of women could be heard inside.
Xie Wendong looked at Ma Wu in confusion and asked, “What’s this…?” Ma Wu laughed heartily and said, “The brothers here are going crazy from boredom in this dump. If we don’t find some fun to relax them, I, as the big brother, won’t be able to sit still!”
Xie Wendong smiled along with him. He knew in his heart that the women inside were either stolen or deceived, and he felt some sympathy for their plight. But he couldn’t save them; he could only wish them poor luck.
After a while, Lao Qi pulled out a woman covered in mud from inside. The woman seemed to know what was about to happen to her and struggled desperately, but her hands were tightly held by Lao Qi. Ma Wu stepped forward and slapped her hard across the face. “Damn it, shut up for a while! It’s just your temper that’s bad!” He then wiped the mud off her face with his thick hand, nodded with a smile, and said to Xie Wendong, “Brother, this girl is yours. You’re in for a treat today—she’s definitely a virgin! Haha!”
Xie Wendong examined her carefully but couldn’t see very clearly. She seemed young, wearing a thin dress that made it hard to discern her true color. She had a delicate face and big, watery eyes filled with fear as she stared at him. Xie Wendong wanted to refuse Ma Wu’s offer, but seeing the girl’s eyes, he sighed inwardly. If she didn’t go with him, she might end up with Ma Wu, and such an innocent girl would be ruined for nothing. With that thought, Xie Wendong said nothing.
Ma Wu sneered at Xie Wendong and said, “Brother, enjoy yourself tonight. I’m really dizzy now, so I’m going to bed. If you need anything, just tell my subordinates.”
Xie Wendong replied, “Alright then. Brother Wu, you’ve drunk a lot today—get some rest early.”
Ma Wu waved his hand and walked away. Lao Qi then said to Xie Wendong, “Brother Dong! Let me show you to the room!” Xie Wendong nodded.
Lao Qi led Xie Wendong out of the small warehouse, and only then could Xie Wendong see the surroundings clearly. It was a vast expanse of grass, and in the distance, everything was pitch black and indistinct. Next to the small warehouse was a row of small, dilapidated houses. After coming out, Lao Qi called out loudly, “Lao Ma! Lao Ma!”
After a while, Lao Ma ran out of one of the houses closer to the warehouse. “Hey! Lao Qi, why the hell are you shouting?”

Lao Qi asked, “Damn! Has the house your big brother asked you to tidy up been finished? Dong Ge wants to rest!” Lao Ma replied, “Yeah! It’s done long ago.”
“Damn it, if it’s done, come out quickly!” Lao Qi turned to Xie Wendong, stretched out his hand, and said with a smile, “Dong Ge, come in. It’s a bit simple here, but please bear with it!”
“You don’t need to be too polite. I just need a place to stay!” Xie Wendong nodded and walked toward the bungalow. Inside, the room wasn’t large—less than 20 square meters—with simple decorations. Aside from a bed, a table, and a few stools, there was nothing else. Xie Wendong walked around the room, feeling it was gloomy and damp, and couldn’t help shivering.
Lao Qi pulled the girl in. She started struggling again at the door. Lao Qi kicked her hard and forced her in, then said to Xie Wendong, “Dong Ge, go rest. Hehe! If nothing else, I’ll be leaving first~!”
Xie Wendong looked at the girl, thought for a moment, and said, “She’s too dirty. Help me get a basin of water so she can wash up.”
Lao Qi slapped his head and laughed, “Look at my dumb head! How could I forget that? Dong Ge, wait a moment, I’ll bring the water right away.” With that, he called out to Lao Ma and ran outside.
Xie Wendong shook his head at Lao Qi’s retreating figure, then turned to the girl. She was huddled in a corner, her bright eyes fixed on him. Xie Wendong stepped closer to her, about to speak, when she suddenly stood up and ran toward the door. Startled, Xie Wendong saw her stop at the door again. Curious, he went outside to take a look and chuckled. Outside, twelve green-eyed creatures were staring at the fleeing girl, with six wolf dogs at the door, their stark white teeth exposed and saliva dripping from their mouths. The girl stood at the door for a while before slowly walking back. Seeing Xie Wendong’s smiling face, she blushed and cursed, “You’re really a despicable and shameless person!”
Xie Wendong was stunned by her outburst. He hadn’t expected her to be so bold, daring to speak rudely even in such a dangerous situation. He felt a bit impressed by her, but smiled and said, “I haven’t done any even more despicable things yet!” With that, he reached out to grab her clothes.
The girl screamed in fear and darted to the farthest corner from Xie Wendong. Seeing her panic, Xie Wendong wanted to tease her and rushed over. The girl wasn’t as fast as him, and soon he grabbed her clothes. She struggled desperately, hitting him with her hands and feet.

Xie Wendong had had enough. Just as he was about to release his hand, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his wrist. Looking down, he saw the girl’s head pressed against his hand. He didn’t need to see clearly to understand what had happened. “You damned…” Xie Wendong lifted the girl’s head and struggled hard to pull his hand back. Upon closer inspection, he saw two rows of blood-red tooth marks on his wrist.

Seeing Xie Wendong’s murderous gaze, the girl cowered even more in the corner. Xie Wendong sighed and cursed himself inwardly: This is what happens for being playful and causing trouble. It’s your fault for getting bitten! Frustrated, he sat down on the bed, blaming himself for being too childish.

Soon, Lao Qi and Lao Ma came in carrying a large basin of water and placed it on the floor. Lao Qi said with a smile, “Brother Dong, the water is ready. It’s quite gentle!”

Annoyed, Xie Wendong let out an exclamation and said, “Alright, there’s nothing left to do here. You two can go to bed too!”

Lao Qi glanced at Xie Wendong, then at the girl in the corner, and finally at the tooth marks on Xie Wendong’s wrist. Laughing, he said, “Got it, got it. We’ll leave now. Have fun, Brother Dong. Sometimes these girls are just too wild, hehe!” With that, he pulled Lao Ma out and closed the door tightly behind them.

After seeing them leave, Xie Wendong turned to the girl and said, “I see you haven’t taken a bath in days. There’s water here—go wash up. Don’t worry, I won’t peek!” The girl looked at the water in the basin, her eyes filled with longing, but she quickly lowered her head again.

Seeing this, Xie Wendong understood what she was afraid of. Lying on the bed, he said with a smile, “Go ahead and wash. I’m not interested in little girls. I won’t bite you or eat you!” He turned away, facing the wall, and stopped looking at her. But since there was no sound for a while, he sighed, closed his eyes, and stopped paying attention to her. The image of the girl curled up flashed through his mind, and he felt a bit sad. He blamed himself for teasing her earlier. He was already a scoundrel; if he played around with her again, he’d be an even worse one. He didn’t know what “scoundrel plus scoundrel” would equal. Lying on the bed, lost in thought, Xie Wendong was really tired. Having drunk some liquor, he soon fell into a drowsy half-sleep.

The girl crouched in the corner of the wall for a long time, feeling that Xie Wendong must have fallen asleep. She wondered strangely—this villain in front of her didn’t seem too bad; at least he hadn’t hurt her… At that thought, her face turned red. She stood up, slowly walked over to the bed, and gently pushed Xie Wendong, who was still asleep. He showed no reaction. Gaining a bit more courage, she pushed him a few more times, still with no response. Her worries eased. Looking around, she saw iron bars as thick as thumbs on the windows—escape through them was impossible. In the end, she tiptoed toward the door. She pushed it open slightly to peek outside; the wolf dog, which had been lying outside, suddenly stood up and barked at the gap, “Ugh! Ugh!”

The girl quickly closed the door, remembering she was trapped in a nightmare, facing life or death, while her family must be worried sick. Thinking of this, tears streamed down her face. After a while, she calmed down a bit. Looking at the water in the basin, she felt uncomfortable—she hadn’t taken a bath in weeks, and the stench of mud made her feel disgusted even to herself. Glancing at Xie Wendong on the bed, she made up her mind. Silently, she took off her clothes one by one, revealing her delicate figure. Naked, she sat in the large basin, using a wet towel to wipe the mud off her body.

As the mud was washed away, her fair skin gradually appeared, and her delicate breasts slightly rose. She was not very old, and her development was not yet complete. After washing herself clean, she dried herself quickly and put on her clothes. Turning to look at the person on the bed, seeing that he was still asleep, she felt much more relaxed. She moved a chair to the farthest spot from the bed and sat there, leaning against the wall, staring at Xie Wendong as he slept.

It was almost 1 a.m., and the girl’s energy was at its limit. She leaned against the wall and fell asleep. After some time, she woke up from the cold—the chill in the room made her shiver. Looking at Xie Wendong on the bed, he was still fast asleep under the blanket covering his head. Why did she have to suffer from the cold while he didn’t? Anger rose in her heart. She went to the bed and pushed Xie Wendong’s body inward, creating space for herself to lie down.

After a while, she pulled the blanket off Xie Wendong and covered herself with it. Closing her eyes, she fell asleep.

Xie Wendong was sleeping soundly when he felt the girl pushing him, but he ignored her. After a while, when she lay down beside him, he still paid no attention. Unexpectedly, she became more and more aggressive, even snatching the blanket away. Xie Wendong opened his eyes and pulled the blanket back. Soon, the girl woke up from the cold; seeing the blanket pulled back, she gritted her teeth in anger and grabbed it back…

Thus, the two of them engaged in a silent battle in bed for who knows how long, until both felt warm and fell asleep drowsily.

In the early morning, the sun rose slowly, and its bright rays streamed into the room. The uniquely fresh air of the countryside was invigorating.

Xie Wendong opened his eyes and felt heavy on his body. When he looked up, he smiled. The girl was leaning against him, one arm wrapped around his neck, and one delicate leg stretched over him. She was like an octopus holding him tightly. Blushing, Xie Wendong tried to pull away the hand around his neck but couldn’t; her fingers were firmly gripping the fabric of his shoulder. His movement disturbed her, and she held on even tighter.

Xie Wendong sighed and turned to look at her sleeping face. It was much cleaner now, revealing her true appearance. She was an exceptionally beautiful girl, no older than fifteen, with seemingly unfaded tear marks beneath her long eyelashes.

Xie Wendong felt a pang in his heart. She was just a child, at an age when she needed her parents’ care, yet she had fallen into the hands of Ma Wu and his gang and suffered greatly. Ma Wu and his men had no concept of humanity and even captured such a young girl. Ironically, he had to interact with them for a long time. “Sigh! Lust is the worst human trait—the ancients were indeed right!” Xie Wendong resolved in his heart to rescue this girl from that hellish place.

Xie Wendong lay quietly in bed, allowing the girl to hold him. She wasn’t sleeping peacefully, frowning now and then and mumbling in her sleep. Xie Wendong patted her shoulder gently and hummed a song softly, and gradually she calmed down.

“Bang, bang!” After a long while, there were knocks at the door. Then the door opened, and Ma Wu’s obese figure stepped in. Seeing Xie Wendong and the girl in bed, he laughed and said, “Brother, you must have had a great time last night! Losing your virginity is the best feeling, haha!”

Suppressing his disgust, Xie Wendong said with a smile, “Brother Wu is absolutely right. I need to get up now. Brother Wu, do you think…”

Ma Wu suddenly realized and said, “Oh my, look at my head! I’ll go out first. Brother, don’t rush—take your time! Haha!” As he spoke, Ma Wu walked out. Seeing Ma Wu’s back, Xie Wendong sneered, knowing Ma Wu had misinterpreted things. That was even better; sooner or later, he would make Ma Wu stop laughing—provided he could drain him first.

At the same time, Ma Wu’s voice woke the girl up. She saw herself wrapped around Xie Wendong, her face turning red as if it might bleed. She covered her head with the blanket. Seeing the girl’s innocent expression, Xie Wendong laughed heartily. Hearing his laughter, the girl pulled the blanket tighter over herself. She really resembled a frightened little rabbit, Xie Wendong thought suddenly. He patted the girl’s head under the blanket and said, “Get up. We’ve been sleeping like this all night. The sun is almost on our butts!”

After saying that, Xie Wendong got up from bed, put on his shoes, and stretched in the room. He hadn’t slept well last night. Xie Wendong walked out of the cottage and carefully observed the surroundings. It had been too dark last night to see clearly; now he realized it was a place similar to a factory. There were dilapidated low walls around it, and the yard was overgrown with weeds. The place where he met Ma Wu yesterday wasn’t a small warehouse but seemed more like a factory building. He admired Ma Wu, wondering how he had found such a desolate place.

Standing in front of the factory door, Ma Wu saw Xie Wendong come out and greeted him with a smile, saying meaningfully, “Brother, you got ‘dressed’ so fast! Haha!”

Xie Wendong smiled awkwardly and said, “Brother Ma, I have something to discuss with you. I’m not sure if you’ll agree.”

Ma Wu patted his chest and said, “Just tell me what it is, brother. If I can do it, I’ll definitely help you!”

Xie Wendong pretended to be embarrassed, lowering his head, then raising it again, lowering it once more, his lips moving, but still staying silent. Ma Wu had seen it all over the years and understood what Xie Wendong meant at a glance. After thinking for a moment, he asked, “Brother, do you want that girl?”

Xie Wendong inwardly laughed at Ma Wu’s cleverness, but his face turned red. He raised his head, opened his mouth, but still didn’t speak. He just nodded.

This put Ma Wu in a dilemma. It wasn’t that he cared about a woman; rather, he was afraid of handing the girl over to Xie Wendong. If she ran away and told the police about what happened here, he would be finished. Ma Wu was conflicted, his expression changing constantly. Xie Wendong noticed this and said softly, “Brother Wu, are you afraid that the girl will run away once she’s in my hands? Don’t worry about that. Nothing will escape my control once it’s in my hands. To be honest, I’m quite influential in City J, with hundreds of subordinates. If I wanted a girl… Humph! Besides, if she ran away, I’d be finished too. Brother Wu, do you think what I said makes sense?!”