QT: Against My Will (Volume 2)

4.28 - Penalty - Dangerous Angels

° Start of flashback...

° Bing Shi felt a broken bone-cutting pain on her flesh and skin. What happened to her legs? Overwhelming nausea assaulted her guts, causing her to throw up the saliva from her already empty stomach.

° As she felt thick blood dripping out of her lower regions, a silhouette of a man above her shadowed the dim light provided by the single bare bulb that dangled from the ceiling.

° Inside a basement, that man pinned her down. Throwing the spoon at the fancy dishes next to him, he squeezed her cheeks and showed an entire loaf of bread into her mouth, "You bītch! I told you to eat!"

° Lying on the cold ground, every movement she made felt like a nail bomb exploding in her innards. Grotesque purple flowers bloomed over her ghastly white skin all over her body, which would only continue spreading for the upcoming weeks.

° Slapping her face, he spewed out, "Open your mouth!" He had to keep this one alive. He so hated it when they died too soon. Once he had forced himself upon one in the back of his van. Since then, there has been no turning back.

° "Ugh!" Choking, Bing Shi spit out everything. She hadn't expected him to be so strong. Though his hand was empty, it was like being hit with a hammer, "Ahh, N... Nooo!"

° She experienced internal brokenness.

° The pain that no one else could see.

° Because...

° Nobody cared.

° She was worthless.

° Replaceable.

° Nobody would notice her disappearance.

° Nobody would save her.

° A burden.

° She was alone.

° On her own.

° She needed to save herself again...

° She weakly reached out her hand towards the spoon on the ground.

° Only... Only if that house wasn't empty...

° End of flashback...

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"Xuan Mu..." Shaking violently, Bing Shi curled up on the ground. A thick flow of tears came out of her closed eyes as she whimpered his name continuously, "Xuan Mu...Xuan Mu..."

Traveling through space and time could cause some irregularity in the soul, and Kuro's job was to prevent such things from happening. Something triggered her trauma again.

Receiving no response from her, it didn't know what to do. But it was still connected to the device in Bing Shi's boyfriend's hand, who saw the whole situation from the beginning to the end.

"Give me a fūcking access to her brain!" From his mouth came a yell so raw that even the eyes of the strangers would wet with tears, "Do You hear me?! NOW!"

Seeing her agony was as if the whole world was vanishing before him, what remained was only pain enough to break him, pain enough to change him beyond recognition.

"Whoever did that to her," Xuan Mu gritted through his teeth as he leaped on the horse, "I'll destroy you. I'll fūcking destroy you."

[Bing Shi, dear, wake up. It's just a dream. Wake up, please.]

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Before Gu Min could find her sister, she bumped into Hasan. After she told him what happened, he reacted immediately. Reaching the tent where Bing Shi was supposed to clean herself, a humongous snake stopped him from approaching.

Hasan's legs slumped on the ground as he felt like pissing himself on the spot. This massive Kuro was more than terrifying! Turning around, it seemed like only he could see this snake. Taking a closer look, Kuro showed him a letter in its mouth.

(That's what happens when HQ forgets to implement a speech function to a system, all Kuro could do was hissing...)

'Watch the tent until Ru Quan appears? Chase out the people and open the tent when Kuro shrinks in size? Continue with Angel's plans after he appears?' Hasan read the message in confusion. 'Wouldn't it take too long?'

It only took a few minutes for Kuro to shrink in size. Making sure nobody was nearby, Hasan opened the entrance to the tent when a bone-jarring wind shifted by. Hasan opened his eyes wide. What just happened?! Shaking his head, he quickly went to fulfill Angel's wish.

Rushing towards Prince Zhao Rong's tent, Hasan didn't sweat as before; the exercise caused his body to slim down by a margin. "Inform his Highness that Hasan has an urgent message for him," he spoke to the guard in the front, "It's regarding Tian Shi."

"Come in," voiced Zhao Rong from within.

Hasan stepped inside a tent and bowed down before the man wearing a mask. After all the honorifics, he jumped right into the matter.

Placing a piece of paper before Zhao Rong, he gulped down his saliva, "Currently, Tian Shi's damage is an equivalent to one month of her service, that's 930,000 Kangs. Another 100,000 Kangs for a breach of contract."

He continued, "Because this servant is taking Tianshi away, Your Highness doesn't need to pay today's 30,000 Kangs. This subject will also compensate back the same amount of money... Altogether, it'll cost Your Highness one million Kangs."

(1 000 000 Kangs = 666 gold coins.)

This was it. Bing Shi's unforgiving patience. For the best effect, she waited for the best moment to strike. She started her approach before the victim was even perceptually aware that it was under attack.

'Habits are hard to change. Will he repeat himself the next time he becomes unsatisfied?'

To get a closer look at Zhao Rong's character, she had to test the waters first; she was cautious not to trigger him in any way, but he still lost control. The next time they met, she fully took advantage of his uncontrollable habits. Bing Shi made him pay. Literally.

"..." Zhao Rong gripped the paper in his hands. 'Don't do something you can't afford,' was the warning on the contract.

If in danger, Hasan could step in and take the Angel away, he'd then reimburse her price for the day as an apology. There were too many witnesses who saw Tian Shi's bruises and how she threw up continuously.

She damaged her throat and guts just to satisfy His Highness' wish. She had to; if not, she'd die under his hands. Everybody knew how the prince killed his wives. Tian Shi actually saved his money as the price of her death was astronomical. Making others think twice if they'd be able to protect her outside of the brothel.

Would his Highness pay, or would he refuse? As the wealthiest person, the only thing he was not short of was money. If he paid, there'd be rumors about how he spent one million Kangs on a woman.

Accepting the consequences of his choices, he'd become an example for others to follow the rules. If he didn't pay, shameful rumors about how he couldn't afford a courtesan would spread by none other than this man before him.

Zhao Rong knew what he got himself into. Nobody would accuse Hasan. To keep the demand and supply, there were only twenty-one Tianshies. Except sēx to preserve Tianshi's purity as an angel, she'd do anything to satisfy her patron.

If she lied about any injuries to earn more, it would break the trust between them. The price to find and train Tianshies, and their capability to make money wasn't worth it for Hasan to plot their intentional death.

'What changes a person?'

'Love? Love is too overrated.'

'In this dog-eat-dog world, pain and money are the answer.'