The Return of the Seventh Young Lady-Chapter 42 - 41

Chapter 41

Amidst the chaos unfolding in Qingyun City, no one knew of an abandoned wooden house hidden in a ravine not far from the city.

Inside this dilapidated dwelling, split into two rooms, the outer room hosted a group of about six or seven rugged men in discussion, their faces exuding a fierce and intimidating aura.

In the inner room, only the faint glow from two lanterns illuminated the corner, revealing several young girls huddled together in fear.

These girls, ranging from five to fifteen years old, sat with their heads bowed, enveloped in silence, adding to the oppressive quiet of the space.

Mu Luofei, the first to regain consciousness, slowly opened her eyes, blinking rapidly to adjust to the dim light. Her body felt unusually weak as she gathered all her strength to sit up against the wall, laboring with the effort.

Where...was this place?

She scanned the room intently for a long while, straining her eyes in the dim light.

Eventually, she noticed other girls, hugging their knees and bowing their heads in the corners of the room. Disgusted by the foul stench permeating the air, Mu Luofei furrowed her brows and raised her sleeve to cover her nose.

It reeked!

What was this place?

Why was it so dreadful and repulsive!

As her gaze wandered to another corner, not far from where she was seated, she spotted a familiar frail figure lying unconscious.

It was...Shunag’er!

Mu Luofei, though feeble, slowly stood up, using the wall for support. She managed only a few steps before gasping for air, her body protesting every movement.

“Haa, Haa.”

Heaving for breath, Mu Luofei realized her condition was far from normal, yet her priority was to reach her sister.

Inhaling deeply, she pushed forward. Though merely six steps away, to the weakened Mu Luofei, it felt like an arduous twenty-step journey.

She collapsed next to the frail form on the floor, reaching out to shake her sister awake. "Shuang’er! Wake up! Shuang’er! Wake now!"

Mu Qin Shuang, still groggy, slowly opened her eyes, confusion apparent as she recognized the person beside her.

"Sister..."

She attempted to sit up, facing the same ordeal as Mu Luofei, her body weaker than ever before, forcing her to exert more effort than usual.

"Haa, haa. What happened, Sister?" Mu Qin Shuang leaned against the wall, her voice shaky as she inquired.

Her eyes scanned the frightened figures around them, the dim lantern light casting ominous shadows, heightening the room’s eerie ambiance.

Mu Qin Shuang swallowed hard, her fear intensifying.

"I’m not sure, but I fear it’s nothing good," Mu Luofei replied coolly, trying to piece together the events.

After leaving Shi Miao Temple, everything seemed normal until their carriage abruptly stopped at a crossroads. The coachman merely mentioned an oncoming carriage collision.

Then...

Her eyes widened as she realized—after that moment, they were drugged!

After regaining consciousness, they found themselves abducted to this location. It was clear that the kidnapping plan had gone awry.

Oh, no!

It was they who were abducted instead!

Her face paled instantly, hands trembling uncontrollably beneath their sleeves from shock.

Bang!

The door burst opened, startling all the girls inside profoundly, including Mu Luofei and Mu Qin Shuang, who jumped in unison.

"Hehe, let’s see what good fortune we’ve brought back this time,"

A burly man with a menacing scar across his face from his left eye to the right corner of his mouth said with a wicked smile.

He scanned the room and roughly grabbed the hair of a fifteen-year-old girl, forcing her to look up.

"Ow!"

The girl cried out in pain, hastily clutching her hair to mitigate the hurt on her scalp.

Tears welled in her eyes, making her look pitiful, but to the brute, it only enhanced her beauty.

"Tsk tsk. Look at this, we’ve got some fine merchandise this time. If we sell her to a brothel, she’ll fetch a pretty price," he observed her face closely, evaluating her as mere property.

"Waah, please spare me! Let me go..." the girl pleaded, hands clasped in entreaty, terror overwhelming her.

Being sold to a brothel was as good as a death sentence! 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Hah! Save your cries for the guests!" the man sneered, releasing her hair.

He then moved on to evaluate the next girls as if they were cheap goods on display.

Another fourteen-year-old girl, sensing the imminent danger, bowed her head instantly, hoping to avoid his gaze out of fear of sharing the previous girl’s fate.

However, fate seemed unkind, and the scar-faced man approached, yanking her head back.

"Ah!"

She yelped, startled, then pain flooded her scalp. Her body trembled with fear, eyes wide with panic.

"This one’s decent too. Even if she won’t fetch a high price at the brothel, she could still be sold as a high-priced slave," his chilling tone sounded like a heavy hammer to the girl’s heart.

She was to be sold into slavery!

No!

She couldn’t accept being sold into slavery!

"Sob. Please...please, have mercy...sob...don’t sell me as a slave." she crawled to embrace the man’s legs, begging through her tears.

"Behave yourself!"

He commanded harshly, kicking the frail girl clinging to his leg, causing her to fall backward, her skirt flipping up to reveal her slender legs.

The scar-faced man leered at her exposed limbs, a vile lust igniting in his eyes from the provocative view.

Confused and hurt from the kick, the girl quickly sensed the malicious intent in his gaze. She scrambled to sit up, hastily pulling her skirt down to cover herself.

"Hehe, since you’re going to be a slave anyway, why not become our plaything first?" he suggested with a lecherous lick of his lips, pulling her by the hair to make her stand and follow him outside.

"Aaah! No, please! Don’t! Help me! Waah..."

The girl’s continuous screams echoed, her eyes pleading for help from the others in the room. However, they all looked away, avoiding her gaze, as if afraid of being implicated in her fate.

As the door slammed shut, her cries from outside lasted only a moment before being overtaken by the obscene sounds of a group of brutish men.

Those sounds were like true monsters, instilling utmost dread in the remaining girls. They trembled uncontrollably, much like terrified fledglings.

Mu Qin Shuang couldn’t help shaking beside her sister, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Sister..."

"It’s okay, we’ll be fine, we have to be..."

Mu Luofei tried to reassure her, though her own fist was clenched so tightly that her nails dug into her palm.

Her swan-like eyes were wide with unprecedented fear and panic.

This place was no different from hell itself!

Those demons deserved death!

They had to be alright...Their parents would surely send someone to rescue them!

The ongoing clamor from outside lasted over an hour before quieting down, but their waking nightmare persisted as the door was violently flung open again.

Bang!

All the girls jumped from shock. This time there was not only a scar-faced man, but followed him were a group of five or six intimidating, bearded men.

"Where’s the ’special’ care goods our employer insisted we look after?" The scar-faced man inquired curiously.

Finding the two sisters, one of the rugged men pointed out at the corner, "Those two there. We were told to give them ’special’ treatment since they seem to be from a significant noble family."

“Hehe, since we received a huge sum of money, we must take good care of it,” the scar-faced man laughed maliciously.

Mu Luofei saw that the group of men were walking towards her, she immediately felt a bad premonition!

“Get out of the way!”

A man shouted at other girls sitting in the area. They immediately crawled away in another direction until only the two siblings were left surrounded.

“Wh...What are you doing?” Mu Luofei hugged her sister tightly and asked in a trembling voice.

“Tsk tsk, such a little beauty. If she grows up, her beauty could destroy the city. It’s such a pity to be such an ill-fated beauty!” The bearded man said with a laugh, and the other men joined in.

When the laughter subsided, another bearded man separated the sisters, Mu Qin Shuang struggling and yelling,

"Let me go! Let go!”

“My father is an official! If you harm us, you will not die well!"

Mu Qin Shuang’s threats seemed to momentarily stun the group of rugged men. Initially, kidnapping children was risky enough, but now they had abducted an official’s daughters. Wasn’t this an even greater risk?

"What should we do, big brother?"

"Yeah, what if this kid’s father really is an official? Aren’t we in trouble then?"

"Hey, don’t mind the child’s words. Our employer is a high-ranking official. Besides, we’ve already taken the money. If we release these two girls now, we’ll be the ones in trouble!"

After a brief argument, they unanimously decided to disregard the little girl’s threats.

Seeing her sister’s threats were ineffective, Mu Luofei hurriedly made an offer, "You want money, right? My family has money! Name your price!"

"Hehe! Little girl, let me tell you something. Even though we are bandits, we have our own code. We can’t just flip-flop on our decisions!" The scar-faced man mocked.

Mu Luofei’s face turned even paler, her mind a whirlwind of confusion and fear.

Father!

Mother!

Please come save us!

"What nonsense rules! Bandits will always be bandits! You’re all vile! If you dare to touch us, you won’t die well!"

Mu Qin Shuang, overwhelmed by fear, lashed out recklessly at the men.

Mu Luofei turned to her sister in disbelief. Even in such dire circumstances, her naive sister couldn’t grasp the severity of their situation.

"Shuang’er, be quiet now!"

She scolded, hoping to quell her sister’s outburst. Yet, seeing the cruel faces of the bandits only amplified her own dread.

"I won’t be quiet! I’ll speak! Father loves me the most! Mother loves me the most! If you dare touch me, I’ll tell Father and you’ll all pay!" Mu Qin Shuang glared defiantly at the bandits and continued threatening.

Having a privileged upbringing and being spoiled by her father, making her forget that not everyone in the world feared her father!

Human hearts were too deep for the spoiled and well-protected young miss to understand...

“Hehe, good scolding. Good!” the scar-faced man smirked. His eyes flashed murderously.

There was no need for the employer to emphasize the special treatment. Just by listening to the scolding, he was already willing to take ‘special’ care of them.

"Let’s see who ends up dying badly first!"

Smack!

“Shuang’er!”

Mu Luofei screamed in horror as he struck her sister’s face mercilessly.

Mu Qin Shuang’s body was flung to the wall forcefully, her right cheek swelled, blood oozed from her mouth.

Dizzy from the blow, it took her a while to refocus. Then, along with a pool of blood, she spat something hard out.

When she realized, it was one of her teeth!

She was slapped till she lost her tooth!

"Aaaah! You vile scum! You lowlifes! How dare you hit me! You made me lose a tooth! I’ll have Father flay you alive! I’ll have him behead you! Aah!"

Mu Qin Shuang immediately lost her senses upon seeing her tooth. Her hysterical screams echoed as she threw her shoe at the man, her distress turning into rage.

The bandits easily dodged the flying shoe before grabbing the little girl to confront her face-to-face.

"You want your father to flay me, huh?"

The scar-faced man asked in a high-pitched voice while taking a small knife out from his waist, then held it to her face, "Then I’ll flay you first!"

"No!"

Mu Luofei screamed in shock, but her desperate plea seemed futile as he pressed the blade against her sister’s cheek, dragging it down to leave a long gash from temple to chin.

"Aaaaah..."

Amidst Mu Qin Shuang’s howls of agony, no other sensation but pain pervaded her awareness as it emanated from the gash on her face. Despite her desperate struggle, she was no match for the brute force of the man before her.

The scar-faced man observed the blood oozing from the wound on the little girl’s face with satisfaction, then flung her frail body to the ground with force.

Thud!

Mu Qin Shuang curled up in pain, reaching her small hand to touch the injury on her face, but the sharp sting intensified upon contact.

Her panic amplified as she observed the blood on her palm. Her eyes widened in unprecedented fear, as if death itself was encroaching.

"Sob...Waaah..." Mu Qin Shuang bawled loudly, her sobs nearly tearing her apart. The deep cut on her face was immensely painful.

This ordeal was too excruciating for a ten-year-old to endure. Soon, the pain and shock caused her to lose consciousness.

Mu Luofei watched the scene unfold with utter dread, terrified she might share her sister’s fate!

She couldn’t afford to be disfigured!

Losing her beauty meant losing any chance to surpass Mu Qingxuan!

She refused to allow that to happen!

The scar-faced man leisurely wiped his bloody knife on his clothes before turning back with a sinister smile to Mu Luofei.

"Now, it’s your turn, big sister..."

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