Translator: Myuu Editor: Myuu
One of the most deepest impressions Yan Liqiang developed in his previous life was from a visit to Zazhi Cave prison.
Prior to the visit, he didn’t really know that much about Jiang Zhuyun’s strength or the cruelty of the prisons set up by Kuomintang’s military agents. He had only heard about them at most and that wasn’t enough for him to form any impressions of it. However, after he visited Zazhi Cave and saw the various torture devices in there like the tiger bench, chili pepper water, and branding iron, Yan Liqiang truly felt a deep veneration for those revolutionaries who could still remain unyieldingly loyal under such circumstances.
The impact of messages conveyed through visuals and immersive experiences were incomparable to other methods, regardless of depth or magnitude.
Even if someone told Lu Beixin that Wang Haofei was a bastard a million times every day while grounded at the Lu Residence, she still wouldn’t get just how much of a bastard Wang Haofei was. Instead, she would think that person was falsely accusing a good person and was just another person who wished to keep them apart.
Since that was the case, he figured he should just bring Lu Beixin here to see the place where Wang Haofei often enjoyed himself until he forgot to go home for herself. It would be far more effective than telling her the bad things about Wang Haofei a million times.
There were prisons and torture chambers in this underground facility. In the torture chamber, most of the torture devices were specially prepared for women. There were bloodstained devices particularly used for dealing with those disobedient women.
The other rooms were various entertainment rooms. There was a bathroom with an underground hot spring and all sorts of lavish and gorgeous bedrooms — they were simply dazzling sights to behold.
Normally, it was impossible to get girls like Lu Beixin to visit this kind of place. But now, with Yan Liqiang holding her, she had to look even if she didn’t want to.
“N-No… Haofei would never come to this kind of place! You must be lying to me! You are lying! I definitely won’t believe you or be tricked! No one can deceive me…!” While listening to Yan Liqiang describe what could have happened to her in here as they toured around the underground facility, Lu Beixin kept repeating this like a mantra as though she wanted to numb herself while shaking her head with a pale face.
“Hahaha, no one can deceive you? Who do you think you are? The one who deceived you before was Wang Haofei and he got you all wrapped around his little finger. And now, the one who tricked you into coming here is me. I think there isn’t even the slightest difficulty in deceiving a foolish woman like you. Now that you have fallen completely into my hands, you no longer have control over your life or death. Lady Lu, you are only deluding yourself by saying those sort of words at this kind of time!” Yan Liqiang laughed loudly.
Yan Liqiang’s words definitely dealt a hard blow to Lu Beixin’s self-esteem, and this was his plan exactly — to tell Lu Beixin that it was very easy to trick her. If he could trick her, then Wang Haofei could too.
“I didn’t expect you to be someone like this!” Lu Beixin glared at Yan Liqiang with her clenched teeth.
“There are many unexpected things for you. Don’t think you are very smart. To me, the silliest person is you. Just because everyone in the Lu Clan spoiled and pampered you, you think you are so special and you left the Lu Residence. To be frank, a woman like you is nothing but a piece of meat thrown into a pack of wolves. Without the Lu Clan behind you, you won’t even survive a month in a place like Pingxi City. The end that awaits you is either being kidnapped or trafficked by someone!”
“Hmph! I’m not going to believe anything you tell me tonight! You could be making up some stories about this place and the users of it…!”
“The owner of this place is Ye Xiao. He died a few days ago and this place has now been sealed off. During your grounding period, too many things happened in Pingxi City. You’re just not being informed about them…”
When Yan Liqiang mentioned Ye Xiao’s death, he noticed a slight change in Lu Beixin’s countenance. She seemed to be startled by this news. “You can choose to not believe in my words, but please use your brain to think — did you meet Ye Xiao first before you knew Wang Haofei? Did Ye Xiao pursue you before but got rejected by you? Did Wang Haofei appear before you and become acquainted with you after you rejected Ye Xiao? When you were studying at the martial arts academy and got acquainted with Wang Haofei, you must have known or asked around about him, so you definitely knew that Wang Haofei hung out with Ye Xiao. When you asked Wang Haofei about it, did Wang Haofei tell you he was only normal friends with Ye Xiao? And did he tell you that since Ye Xiao was the young lord of the Prefectural Governor and that his own clan back in Huanglong County was influential, it was inevitable for him to be involved with people like Ye Xiao? And if you disliked Ye Xiao, then did he say that he will definitely keep a distance between himself and Ye Xiao to appease you?”
The more Yan Liqiang spoke, the paler Lu Beixin’s face grew. By the end of it, the way Lu Beixin looked at Yan Liqiang was as though she had seen a ghost. That was because everything she experienced, even down to the explanations Wang Haofei had given to her, were pretty close to what Yan Liqiang had said.
“No need to give me that look. It isn’t too difficult to deceive a naïve girl like you. Just a few honeyed words are enough to make your head spin. Do you know why Wang Haofei could break it off with the Prefectural Governor’s young lord? Is it really because you are beautiful? Do you know how many women as beautiful as you in Pingxi City are working in brothels? It only costs three taels of silver to bed them. The best ones cost less than ten taels of silver. Are you telling me Wang Haofei has never seen taken them to bed before and was only infatuated with you?”
Yan Liqiang sneered coldly; his words were heart-piercing and bone-shattering. “Wang Haofei only told you that he was going to break it off with Ye Xiao so that you would let your guard down. He never liked you. In his eyes, you were nothing more than just a tool, a toy. The only reason he approached you was because he wanted to give you to Ye Xiao as his plaything and pleasure slave. You are nothing but a stepping stone to obtain greater favors from the Prefectural Governor for him and the Wang Clan. Ye Xiao desired to possess you because he had yet to establish his foundations. He was cultivating a type of nefarious technique which required women as supplements. Since you are beautiful with some martial foundations and is a virgin on top of that, you contain the most ideal materials for his cultivation!”
“Impossible! That’s impossible! How do you know all this?”
“How do I know? Who in Pingxi City doesn’t know about the scandal involving the Prefectural Governor’s young lord, Ye Xiao? Nearly the entire Gan Province knows about it! To tell you the truth, the Wang Clan in Huanglong County has been raided by the people sent by the Prefectural Governor today. Do you know what crimes Ye Xiao’s father has charged on the Wang Clan? The abduction of girls, harming civilians, and beguiling the Prefectural Governor’s young lord, Ye Xiao, in an unorthodox way!”
“What about Haofei?!” Lu Beixin’s face was completely drained of color.
“Your Haofei was long dead. About two months ago, he was mysteriously murdered by King Cobra at a pavilion on the isle in the Plum Gardens. His close relation to Ye Xiao has given the Prefectural Governor an opportunity to press things against the Wang Clan…”
“LIAR! YOU’RE LYING…!”
“I can lie to you, but the many innocent girls who lost their lives here won’t lie to you. If you wish to know the ultimate fates of most of the girls that were abducted and brought here, I can bring you there to have look…”
Yan Liqiang brought Lu Beixin upstairs from underground. They came to a bleak, gloomy, and cold yard in the rear courtyard and he pointed at a well there. “A few days ago, more than ten female skeletons were dredged up from that well. If your father hadn’t grounded you at the Lu Residence, one of those skeletons at the bottom of this well could have been yours, Lady Lu. This is the final destination Wang Haofei was going to send you to…”
