Within the pitch black, Jiang Shuxia bit her teeth and curled up in a corner, her chest rapidly heaving up and down.
Subconsciously, she held her breath, trying not to make any sound. But the tumultuous footsteps that echoed from afar broke her rhythm, making her heart race with them.
"Doped up and still trying to run! This woman sure has got guts!"
"Stop yapping and start searching room by room!" Along with these orders, were hasty knocks and loud shouts. Jiang Shuxia, feeling like her throat was being choked, didn't dare to even take deep breaths.
"Open the door! Damn it, open the door for me!" The man outside continued to shout boisterously.
Jiang Shuxia recoiled a little more into the corner, making herself seemingly blending with the walls.
Little did she know, her current state was already under the piercing gaze of a pair of sharp eyes.
Meanwhile, those outside seemed to have concluded that there was 'something' in this room, thus the knocking became more relentless.
Jiang Shuxia kept her eyes closed and clamped her hands tightly over ears, as if that would silence the world.
Just then, a pair of shiny leather shoes suddenly halted in front of her.
"Ah...Uhm..." The moment Jiang Shuxia was about to scream, a scorching hand swiftly silenced her mouth.
"Poor thing, you don't seem too worried about being found, do you?" The man had a low, deep voice, a mocking smile playing on his lips.
"Open the door! Or I'll smash it in!" The voices outside were full of threats.
Jiang Shuxia bit her lower lip tightly, her face clearly showing panic. She clung to the stranger's sleeve, yet couldn't help but swallow hard, taking deep breaths trying to keep the drug from taking over. She squeezed out in a fragile voice, "Save...me."
The man extended his index finger, gently tracing her sweaty face. Then, he drew a circle around her neck with the tip of his finger, chuckled and said, "What do you think...should I let them in...wouldn't it be more fun?"
The numbing sensation was almost unbearable for Jiang Shuxia, but she still managed to whimper and shake her head, "No, no..."
"Heh." The man sneered, his face cold and dismissive, he rose to his feet as if to make his way to the door.
Jiang Shuxia fell into panic instantly. The constant reminder of her almost crippling body told her she couldn't fall into the hands of those people. She almost wept, "Please, I'll do whatever you want if you help me."
"Let it be." The man's voice was as cold as ice, causing Jiang Shuxia's heart to sink completely.
The footsteps of the man moving towards the door intimidated Jiang Shuxia at every step.
Finally, the sound of the lock turning made Jiang Shuxia close her eyes, almost despairing.
"What is it?" the man's magnetic voice rang again. Jiang Shuxia, clutching onto a glimmer of hope, shrank into the corner even more.
"Cut the crap and hand over that damn woman..."
Before the man could finish his yelling, having a close look at the man's face, he couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat, "Lin... Master Lin, we... we came looking for someone to report back."
"Does it concern me?" The man arched an eyebrow, leaning against the door casually, yet effectively blocking the people's path.
"But if we can't find him, we..."
"Scram." The man obviously wasn't interested in hearing any more excuses. His cold command exuded such fear that it completely scared the men away.
"We will scram now!" The leading man quickly responded in a flattering manner.
"Bam!" Then suddenly, a loud noise echoed, almost instinctively drawing their attention to inside.
But the man didn’t show the slightest intention of moving out of the way. His inherent icy aura wholly blocked them, leaving them no choice but to leave in disgrace.
"Brother Qiang, the woman was clearly in the room. Wouldn't it be simpler to just go in there?"
"Go to hell. The woman was easy but do you know who that man was? Even if you had ten lives, you couldn't afford to provoke him! Just scram!"
