Chen Rong shuddered as soon as she heard him. She immediately said, “Turn around, Old Shang. Let’s go home.”
She had barely spoken when a gruff laughter rang from the hillside behind the woods: “Ain’t you in a hurry, sweetheart? You arrived so early. Damnit, I would’ve gotten here too late!”
“Old Shang, turn around,” cried Chen Rong in alarm.
She leaned forward and grabbed the whip she had taken with her out of habit.
“It’s too late.”
The one to laugh this time was a thin, sallow man. He widened his rat eyes to gawk at Chen Rong while cackling: “That man was right, you’re quite a stunner.”
Eyes glued to her full chest, he quite salivated when he said, “I’d be damned, I don’t think I’ve ever played with such a pretty woman before, old as I am.”
While he was speaking, six other men darted out from the foothill; the two or three who had been standing nearby were also making their way over.
Old Shang repeatedly flung his whip and shouted, “Yah – yah – ”
The horse sprang forward.
This place was different from the city, however. The unpaved ground had turned muddy from the newly melted snow. How could they run with the carriage rocking back and forth?
The wheels got stuck in the mud. While they were unable to extract themselves, the six men had closed in on them and blocked the carriage’s path.
Old Shang was so fretful that he was sweating buckets. “Yah, yah –” His right hand continued to fling the whip, but the more anxious he was, the worse the carriage shook. It leaned to the side several times, almost throwing Chen Rong outside.
At this point, the men had encircled the carriage. They did not move, merely smiling at the scene. The first to speak was the stick-thin one in his forties. He leered at Chen Rong, gleefully saying: “Don’t be alarmed, sweetie. You aristocratic girls can only taste the flavor of one man your entire life. Now ya get to have a full feast with us today. Why would ya be afraid of such a good thing?”
His cohorts roared in bawdy laughter.
Chen Rong’s heart was in knots; she hopelessly thought: It seems Heaven wants to take me away. He knows I’m not supposed to exist in the world, so he wants to take me back.
Her heart stilled at this thought.
Ever since she escaped from Mo’yang, Chen Rong discovered that her heart had truly hardened. Right now for example, once she understood that there was no escape, fear was no longer one of her thoughts.
She drew her lips and issued a low bark: “Old shang, forget it.”
Old Shang broke down and hoarsely cried: “Then what are we going to do?”
Chen Rong ignored him.
Amid the men’s sharp laughter, she searched and removed the hairpin from her hair.
She put it away in her sleeve, raised her whip, and coldly said, “If I’m going to die, I’ll be dragging a few with me.” She paused and then said through her teeth, “Too bad I have no way of dealing with the ones who had stabbed me behind my back.”
Her eyes murderous and her voice ruthless, she stared at the men and shouted: “Who had ordered you to harm me? Why don’t you tell me so I won’t die an ignorant ghost?”
The sallow-faced man laughed out loud. “It’s a waste to be a ghost, pretty as you. Ya better off as our leader’s wife.”
Chen Rong whipped around to look at him. “Who wanted to harm me? I can’t escape anyway, why won’t you tell me?”
He stared at her bottom, saliva frothing over his yellow teeth. “All we know is that he’s a bearded man with a northern accent. He didn’t say who had sent him.”
“So I don’t even know who my enemy is?” Chen Rong said disappointedly.
While she exchanged with them, Old Shang continued to blubber, his hand trembling to hold the whip.
Seeing him and a seething Chen Rong, the men went on laughing. At this time, several other had also joined them, making a total of nine that completely blocked the carriage and its passengers. Now nine pairs of eyes were vulgarly leering at Chen Rong’s face and body, their laughter and obscene language becoming increasingly insufferable.
At this time, Chen Rong whipped around and snapped, “What are you crying for, so we’ll die, big deal!”
Old Shang choked at her outburst.
Still staring at him, she yelled, “Stop quaking. If I’m not afraid to die, then why should you when you’ve lived for so long?”
Old Shang looked at her in tears. His grief had mostly been for her; he could not bear to see her ruined like this. Now seeing that the young girl wasn’t panicking herself, he felt slightly better.
Wiping his snot and tears, Old Shang also raised his whip and tremulously said, “You’re right, we’ll just die at the most.”
Chen Rong softened to see him finally calm down.