A Thousand Lotus

Jiao Yu said, "No, I don't think so."

The man was unhappy with her words and the smile on his mouth slowly washed away, "You don't think so? You don't want my arrangements?"

Jiao Yu only stared at him.

"Why?" The man started to get closer to her and their nose was almost touching then, he looked at her with a unknown smile forming back in his lips. Jiao Yu did not shy away and took her stand, not moving and not backing away from the viciousness of the eyes staring back at her, "If you don't like it, then we can arrange something else... However, I don't know if I can promise that I could 'pamper' you enough with that."

"At first, I thought that one could do something to keep that face of yours but with the new arrangement that one have thought just now, the only thing that will stay beautiful is probably one's eyes." The smile on the man's face became coarse.

The man violently took hold of her chin and jerked up Jiao Yu's head, wickedly laughing. Jiao Yu coldly stared back at him and struggled to get his hand off her, she said, "What exactly do you want to do?"

The hand gripping her chin got even tighter and she somewhat could feel the pain, Jiao Yu was sure that there will be bruises forming. She was extremely disgusted by the hand that was touching her, wanting to get it off her. Jiao Yu tried to struggle again without letting the man notice that her hand was already holding the knife inside her sleeve, "Let go!"

'Shhhiii'

Because of her half faking in struggling to get his hand from touching her, Jiao Yu's dress was ripped that her dudou (a traditional bra) could be seen. The man's gaze momentarily stilled, looking at her eyes however, when something that Jiao Yu did not expect and want to reveal suddenly showed up, the man turned his gaze towards her chest and made her want to hack this man in half.

Licking his lips, looking so intoxicated and eyes hazy, the man pushed Jiao Yu's body to the ground and leaped towards her.

During their fall, Jiao Yu swiftly pulled the knife in her sleeve and stab it towards his face. Jiao Yu rolled on her side to avoid his body crashing hers and looked behind her as she heard a loud 'bang' and a roar sounded through out the room.

The man was lying on his stomach, his hand was on his right eye and the handle of the knife of Jiao Yu protruded from it while his hands were also holding it in place. Occasionally, the man would rock his body side to side as if it could lessen the pain and the blood flowing out of it however, the more he moves and try to pull the knife out, the more pain and blood could be felt and gush from his wound.

Jiao Yu stood near the rolling body of the man and slowly extended her hands as she grasps her hands on the hand of the man and slowly pulled the knife from his eye. Jiao Yu made sure that the man could feel every brain cracking pain he could feel as the knife was moving out from his eye.

"Why don't I use your own medicine to let you have a taste before you go to hell." She said as she successfully pulled out the whole knife in his eye and moved to the table near them to get one of the 'tools' he used to 'pamper' his victims.

Picking up the same sickle the man showed to her earlier and fondly caress the blade as if she found a new toy.

"You are right. One also find this quite suiting and nice."

"Only to a trash of a person like you." She said.

The man was still screaming and rolling however, when he heard Jiao Yu, his body stilled for a moment and forced his uninjured eye to look viciously towards Jiao Yu's back who was admiring the sickle in her hands. Thinking that she wouldn't notice or didn't even care if one noticed him or not, he violently leaped towards Jiao Yu expecting to hit her again and let her body bump with the table, only that, this time Jiao Yu already went to the side and kicked him hard in his stomach, making him inhale a lump of air and cough severely.

There was a saying that when a person feels that life was slowly slipping from oneself, they would feel emotions they never thought would bloom; hope, hopelessness, faith, fear, hatred, and greediness of life, the same thing that was happening to the man surging towards her.

Jiao Yu took her stance, raising her right hand where the sickles was, to give him what he deserves. However, just as she moved forward and the man almost colliding with her, there were several shouts and barking that was coming out from the locked door, stopping her in her tracks and looked towards the door.

And because it was too sudden and Jiao Yu was unprepared, she was unable to stop the man from his course and collided with him hard enough for her to be tackled down, bumping towards something behind her before she thrown to the ground with the man sitting on top of her.

Jiao Yu tried to get up and throw the man off her but just when she supported her body with her elbow, her elbow slipped and her body once again hit the floor. Under them was a pool of liquids from blood to something one can't describe even if one has a strong stomach. The liquid that was pooling under them was not other than the barrel that Jiao Yu checked earlier. And with the smell hitting her senses, her movements slowed down.

The person on top of her was on frenzy and even with the smell hitting him and the unmentionables surrounding them, he did not care about it and only looked for a way to retaliate by choking Jiao Yu.

It had been two years since he and his brother was doing this type of activities behind the back of the monarch, their family and the people.

The first time was when they had their first victim. At first, it was only just a joke and one did not take things too far as killing and doing other things to their victims. However, as days and months passed, they could not keep themselves from discovering and do things irrationally, going against what human behavior and interests was.

They first indulged themselves with collecting the tools they used in torture, which they first found out from a foreign country and because they were curious how it works and what was it used for, they tried to know more until, they finally did things and did not want to stop and go back to their normal and boring lives. They targeted women who degraded themselves as prostitutes and lowly servant to test and have their kind of fun, and only do they stop if the result satisfied them.

They felt that with this, they had every right and power. They could force anybody and be on top of anybody else, stepping on them, physically and mentally. The excitements of seeing their victims ran and hide, beg and kiss up to them was their snacks and the moment they cut the flesh and use the tools on someone was their alcohol. It was the biggest and happiest moment they were, even without them passing the scholarly examination, they knew they were still big and powerful enough.

There was a time when they were almost got caught and by just paying some silver and gold to the witness, they were able to get away from it.

That was why, the two of them were never afraid even if they were caught as they could just pay someone to keep silent.

"You dare!! A woman who sells her body and reduces herself to being a prostitute is just a man's toy! Nothing more!"

"You think just because one has injured me, you would be saved and free? Don't forget this place is my bode!"

Jiao Yu felt the pressure and the passageway of her air was being blocked, clawing the hands of the man choking her, she tried to kick the man from the back but did not reach and only kicked air. Jiao Yu saw the glint of the sickle just near her head and reached for it but with the weight of the man on her body and him choking her, it made her exert more effort to do so.

The man saw what she was doing and wickedly laughed, "Ha! Don't even think you can do that." The man also reached for it and because he was on top and was not restrained by anything aside from Jiao Yu's clawing hands, he was able to grab it in no time.

Jiao Yu felt the danger coming surging towards her and didn't care if she scratches her neck as she clawed more and saw the man raised one hand upwards with the sickle in his hand and just as he brought it down, she use both her hands to stop it, as if to catch it in between before it reaches her.

However, just when she thought it would certainly cost her hands, Jiao Yu felt the weight on her suddenly vanish as a loud 'da' crash resounded through out the room and some splinters of woods came flying in the air and on to the ground, while the man that was on top of her was forgotten and replaced by a man in a red armor vest and clothes on, looking down at her as he stood just beside her.

Several men dressed similarly however, in metal blue and grey color stormed inside and the howls and screams outside did not cease.

One of the armored men walked towards the man in the red armor and said, "General Yu."