The Return of the Seventh Young Lady-Chapter 44 - 43

Chapter 43

The next morning, Mu Luofei woke up after having lost consciousness late at night. Having rested throughout the night, much of her strength had returned, although her body was still battered and in nearly unbearable pain.

Throughout the night, she had been thinking incessantly, searching for a way to escape this hellish place!

Initially, she hoped for rescue by her parents, but witnessing the increasing brutality of these devils, she realized a harsh truth.

If she didn’t strive to find an escape, merely waiting for a vague hope, she would never leave this hellish place alive!

Mu Luofei cautiously surveyed her surroundings. From what she had overheard other girls discussing, she feared these bandits planned to sell them to a brothel or as slaves, deeming them merchandise that couldn’t die!

Therefore, the only escape was to deceive those bandits into entering the room, seizing the chance to flee outside.

Mu Luofei turned to the thirteen-year-old girl who had been wiping blood from Mu Qin Shuang’s face and asked in a whisper,

"Do you know how many of them there are?"

"I’m...not sure, but it seemed like there were six," the girl replied hesitantly, afraid of provoking Mu Luofei’s anger as the night before.

Six of them?

If she could lure them into the room one by one, there might be a chance to escape!

"Do you want to escape from here?" Mu Luofei asked with a cold voice.

"Ye...Yes! Of course, I do!" The girl responded quickly, without a second thought. Who wouldn’t want to leave this hell!?

The quiet atmosphere allowed their conversation to be overheard by others in the room, who turned their gazes towards them, curious.

"I won’t wait here to die! I’ll escape!" Mu Luofei declared resolutely, her eyes sparkled with determination.

The other girls who heard this were stunned for a moment, “R...Run away? How can you escape? There are six of them?”

Mu Ruofei’s eyes flickered fiercely, staring at the other girl who had asked. “There are six of them. But there are more than ten of us here. What are you afraid of? If you don’t want to escape, then don’t stand in my way!”

"But...what if you fail? Do we all have to suffer the consequences?" Another girl interjected. Just by thinking that she would be beaten like the two sisters, her whole body was visibly shaken.

“Hah!”

Mu Luofei sneered, her expression fierce, "If I succeed...then you can stay here!"

The girl was taken aback, bowing her head in silence, too afraid to argue further, even though she was still paranoid about the possibility of being implicated.

Mu Luofei swept her eyes with chilling determination, and addressed the others, "I don’t care what you think, but I refuse to endure this any longer! If you won’t help me willingly, don’t obstruct me! If you do, before even the bandits can, I...will ensure you beg for your lives!"

The girls lowered their heads, avoiding Mu Luofei’s intimidating presence, which was now as terrifying as the demons they feared!

Her menacing look, fierce words, and ruthless demeanor left no doubt: was she even human anymore?!

Mu Luofei’s sinister smile lingered as she stared at the group of girls, then she glanced at her unconscious sister, pondering her next move.

Shuang’er was too foolish to handle the situation, she feared that awakening her might lead her to madness due to the shock.

If that happened, her plan would surely fail...

Mu Luofei closed her eyes briefly before reopening them to reveal a piercing cold gaze. She tenderly stroked her sister’s head with a gentle hand.

‘I will go and fetch our parents to rescue you. You must wait for me here!’

‘If you awake, do not blame me for leaving you behind; it’s for both our sakes that I must do this.’

‘Shuang’er, wait for my return...’

Having made her decision, she promptly outlined the escape plan she had devised, "Given that there are six of them and more than ten of us, exploiting a moment of chaos should inevitably provide someone the chance to escape. That person can then seek help for those left behind."

The girls around her listened intently, some swallowing nervously at the mention of possible escape. One asked tremulously,

"What...what if the escapee doesn’t make it? What severe consequences await?"

"No,"

Mu Luofei replied, momentarily masking her ferocious intent with a slight downcast of her eyes, "The bandits will be too preoccupied with the one who escapes, so those who cannot escape wouldn’t bear much consequence."

Yes...not much consequence; the worst-case scenario was barely survived!

Yet, she was determined not to be the one left behind!

She must escape!

As for these fools, they must become the bandits’ sandbags and the stepping stones to help her escape!

"How shall we create this chance?"

"Raise an alarm that someone is dead. Draw their attention. When they send someone to check, seize the chance to overpower him with whatever sharp objects we can muster, beating him to death! Then, we draw more attention. When they send reinforcements, we find our moment to flee outside!"

Mu Luofei meticulously shared her strategy. The naïve girls nodded, agreeing to the plan, embracing a glimmer of hope.

Because the girls who were captured were all rural descent and they were also quite young, marked by shaken spirits from brutal experiences, they couldn’t even consider the risk anymore, and could only obey Mu Luofei with hope.

"Find whatever can serve as a weapon,"

Mu Luofei urged. The hairpin she used to stab the scar-faced man yesterday was deprived and thrown away by the bandits, so she didn’t have any weapon on her now.

The girls frantically searched their person for any makeshift armaments. They pulled hairpins, held shoes as bludgeons, and clutched stones tightly in their hands.

Prepared with an old wooden hairpin handed by a fellow captive, Mu Luofei was ready, despite her battered state preventing her active participation in the initial brawl.

The readiness for defense was paramount. Then, one girl bellowed,

"Help! Someone is dead! Aaah! Dead, I say! Dead!"

The continuous screams had their effect. The door burst open, revealing a disheveled, inebriated man staggering in, presumably hungover from the night’s excesses.

"Where?! Who’s dead?! Burp...Who the hell died here!"

He stumbled, belching out the stench of alcohol, causing the surrounding girls to shield their noses.

"Over there! The dead are that way!" Pointed a girl toward a secluded corner.

The scruffy bearded man shook his head slightly to dispel his drunkenness, walked towards the direction the girl pointed out, and stared at the figure lying motionless on the ground for a long time.

“Damn it! Who the fuck die? It’s all a waste!”

He cursed in frustration while kicking the body on the ground to see if it was still breathing, then squatted down, turning the body around to see who it was.

As the disoriented man squatted down, the girls exchanged knowing looks and pounced, encircling the man.

"Hey!"

His shock morphed into panic as they attacked in unison, biting, kicking, punching, and stabbing, inflicting wounds across his body.

Before he could even cry out in agony, the girl previously thought dead on the floor abruptly opened her eyes. With a swift movement, she plunged the wooden hairpin she was clutching firmly into his throat.

Gasp!

The burly, bearded man’s eyes widened in sheer panic. He gaped, struggling to vocalize his pain, but the hairpin embedded in his throat stifled any sound.

Blood gushed from his mouth and neck, splattering and staining the girl’s face, who had dealt the deadly blow.

Mu Luofei swiftly extracted the hairpin, causing blood to spurt even more profusely. She raised her other hand to wipe off the blood that had splashed onto her face, her eyes gleaming with a mix of excitement and satisfaction as she watched the last moments of the man’s life.

Seeing the terror and pleading in his eyes only intensified Mu Luofei’s peculiar sense of elation.

Ah...So this was what it felt like to take a life?

Soon, the man succumbed to his fatal wound, collapsing and dying. The other girls recoiled in horror, their minds reeling from their own participation in the killing.

Ha...Had we truly killed a man?

What had we done!?

Several girls slumped to the floor, overwhelmed by dread, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. They cast aside their makeshift weapons as if to disown the nightmare they had just lived.

While the others were terrified by their own actions, one girl noticed Mu Luofei’s unsettling demeanor. Unlike the rest, she sat staring at the corpse with a contented smile, her eyes alight with glee no different from the bandits’ the day before!

Feeling the gaze upon her, Mu Luofei raised her face and met the girl eyes, then she revealed her malicious grin.

The girl was utterly terrified. Mu Luofei’s gaze was no different from a demon reveling in bloodshed. And there was that malicious grin.

This was not a human!

This was a demon!

She had to escape!

She had to get out!

Unable to bear the scene, the girl sprang up and fled through the door, which had been left ajar, her face etched with fear.

"Aaaah!”

“Someone’s escaping!"

"Hey! How did they get out?!"

Alarmed shouts and chaos erupted outside the room, spurring the remaining girls to flee in a desperate scramble.

Regaining her composure, Mu Luofei paled, realizing her escape plan had gone awry.

Those fools!

They’ve ruined everything!

Frustrated, she rose to join the others outside, only to find the escapees standing petrified near the doorway.

Their faces were ashen, bodies trembling as if they had caught a fever. Before them stood five menacing bandits, swords in hand, dripping with fresh blood.

Beyond the bandits lay the bodies of three young girls, their lives cruelly snuffed out.

Mu Luofei inwardly cursed the folly that led to this disaster.

It was all because of that stupid girl!

If only that panicked girl hadn’t bolted, the plan wouldn’t fail!

Biting her lip in rage, Mu Luofei fixated on the first girl who had fled, wishing her eternal damnation.

"Get back inside! Or...die!"

The bandits’ thunderous command echoed, their faces contorted in anger, eyes blazing with unprecedented fury.

The girls retreated into the room, their panic driving them to seek refuge in their corners.

As the five bandits stepped into the room, their gaze immediately fell upon the lifeless body of their comrade, soaked in a pool of blood.

"Hey! Fifth Brother!"

The bandits hurried over to inspect their fallen peers, their emotions swirling with grief, regret, and bubbling rage.

"Who!? Who did this!? Who is responsible!?"

A square-faced man bellowed at the girls, his sword gesturing threateningly towards them. His eyes blazed with demonic fury; his face contorted by the immense anger brewing within.

"Argh! Who did it!? If you don’t confess, I’ll slaughter you all!" He advanced, grabbing a girl’s hair, pressing the sword’s edge to her neck, causing a thin trickle of blood to emerge.

"Sob...Waah. It...it wasn’t me! It wasn’t me! It...it was her! She did everything!" In a paroxysm of fear, the girl accused Mu Luofei, desperately pointing her finger at her.

"Ye...yes, it was her! She planned it all! She told us to lure him in! It was that girl!"

The other girls hastily concurred, fearful of being implicated themselves, and collectively pointed at Mu Luofei.

Mu Luofei’s eyes widened in disbelief. These were the same girls who had cooperated with her, and now they were pinning all the blame on her! 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"Absurd! You all did it together! Don’t frame me!"

Mu Luofei retorted hysterically, her gaze fierce, her hands clenched so tightly her nails dug into her palms.

"You all are vile! Selfish! You deserve the worst! Aaaah!"

She screamed uncontrollably, venting her fury on the girls, her chest heaving with overwhelming anger and breathlessness.

"So, it’s this wretched girl seeking her own demise!" The square-faced man glared at Mu Luofei, his eyes conveying a bloodlust.

The more he saw the blood stains on her body, the more he became convinced that she was the murderer!

"N...No! It’s not me! They’re framing me! I didn’t do it! Stay away! Aaaah!"

In a state of panic, Mu Luofei tried to squirm away, but the man mercilessly stabbed her leg with his sword, pinning her down.

"Aaaah...!"

Mu Luofei’s agonized scream echoed. Overwhelmed by excruciating pain, she couldn’t move, the blade anchoring her leg to the floor.

Hurt!

The pain was unbearable!

Someone saved her!

“Where are you going!? You dare kill my comrade, and you think you can escape punishment? I won’t let you die easily!"

After declaring his intent, the square-faced man intensified the pressure on the blade embedded in Mu Luofei’s leg, then turned to retrieve a lantern outside, bringing it back into the room.

Mu Luofei gazed up in terror, clueless about his intentions but palpably afraid.

"N...No, please! I...I was wrong! Waah...I was wrong! Please, don’t hurt me!"

Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded, her fear reaching its zenith. She couldn’t bear the thought of any more pain.

She wouldn’t dare anymore!

Another bandit approached, seizing the lantern, and glancing at the pinned figure on the ground with his murderous gaze.

“Don’t let her die! You must make her understand the meaning of living death!”

He held the lantern near his blade, letting the flame heat the metal.

Once the blade glowed red-hot, he leaned down, yanking Mu Luofei’s head back by her shirt, keeping her immobilized with the sword still pinning her leg.

"Aaah! No! Please! No! Please, no!"

Mu Luofei’s eyes widened in horror as the searing blade neared her face, its heat brushing against her skin, her heart dropping in dread. In a frantic struggle, she flailed, desperately seeking escape.

"You think you’re so brave, don’t you? Well then, I shall entertain myself with you!"

The ruthless man said coldly before pressing the hot sword tip against the soft right cheek of the girl immediately.

"Aaaah...!"

Mu Luofei screamed in unbearable agony as the searing pain from the burn on her cheek was indescribable!

The surrounding girls watched the scene unfold with deep-rooted fear, their bodies trembling uncontrollably. Some fainted from fear, while others bowed their heads and covered their ears to block out the continuous screams of torment.

Mu Luofei could no longer perceive anything beyond the excruciating pain and torment, as if she were in the midst of flames.

Painful!

Excruciating!

Torturous!

She was in unbearable agony!

She couldn’t take it anymore!

Father!

Mother!

Someone, please help her!

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