“All right, I’ve had quite enough of looking at the legs. There’s nothing remarkable about them — just two fat pillars.”

Feng Qingyin shrugged her shoulders. Having savoured their terror and panic to her satisfaction, she smiled cheerfully. “I am going to accompany Father now. The two sisters may continue hanging up there and enjoy yourselves — this younger sister takes her leave.”

“You…”

No one dared to get agitated. What they feared most was that agitation would cause their bodies to move, and the branches truly snap.

They were almost certain that Feng Qingyin had arranged all of this. Yet to have pulled off something like this was truly no easy feat.

How could Feng Qingyin have such a formidable expert among her people?

More pressingly — how were they supposed to get down? They had no intention of dying here!

……

Feng Jiu’er had been held in the secret dungeon for at least over an hour. From the dead silence outside, a sudden sound of footsteps reached her.

The footsteps came to a halt. It seemed as though someone was speaking.

Though her hearing was serviceable enough, the walls of the secret dungeon were far too thick. Jiu’er could only faintly make out the sound of voices, yet still could not discern what was being said.

Then, another set of footsteps — moving from near to distant. Some of those people had left.

By inference, it seemed that after a group of people arrived, those who had originally been guarding the dungeon had been reassigned.

She drew a deep breath and bent herself down as far as she could, and after great effort, her right hand reached the pouch at her side…

All of a sudden, the stone door of the dungeon was pushed open, and several people entered, carrying candles.

There were three of them in total — all large, powerfully-built men. Now, one by one they fixed their gazes on Feng Jiu’er’s face, lovely as a flower in bloom, and the desire written in their eyes was unmistakable.

“Boss, we’ve struck it rich this time. This girl is tender and fresh — absolute top-grade goods!”

One of the slightly stouter men standing behind spoke.

The one addressed as boss smiled with a villainous air. “Whether she’s top-grade goods or not, we’ll only know after trying. She might already be worn-out.”

“True enough — let’s try her first, then decide!”

As they spoke, the men actually began to strip off their own clothes!

“What do you want to do?!” Feng Jiu’er pressed herself back toward the wall as far as she could, until her back was flat against it, then began sliding along the wall toward a corner.

“What do we want to do? Little girl, you really don’t know? Good that you don’t — means you haven’t been broken in yet!”

Jiu’er clenched her palms tightly. These men — one hardly needed to guess who had sent them. The only person who could despise her this deeply, and who could freely plant her own people inside the secret dungeon, was Nanmen Rong — who else?

She was to be executed at the Hour of the Dragon tomorrow morning, yet even that stretch of time she could not endure waiting through. Or perhaps she felt that a single blade taking Jiu’er’s head was too merciful?

In the blink of an eye, the men had stripped themselves bare — so brisk and efficient about it, clearly not strangers to this sort of act.

The boss in the lead wore a vile smile on his face. Seeing that Feng Jiu’er’s hands were locked in iron chains, leaving him without any concerns, he rubbed his hands together. Faced with such a beauty, he actually felt a twinge of nerves.

Never before had he enjoyed a girl this comely. Though she had been thrown into the dungeon and her clothes were somewhat dirty and dishevelled, that small face of hers was strikingly beautiful.

Today, they had truly stumbled upon a great windfall.

This girl would be beheaded come tomorrow morning anyway. Indulging himself before her death — what could be more agreeable?

“Little girl, your lord here will be gentle, I promise. I guarantee you’ll be so comfortable you won’t want to survive it!”

The boss’s smile grew even more licentious. He drew a deep breath, then lunged straight at Feng Jiu’er.

The two large men behind him were equally consumed by bestial excitement, each of them wishing they could kick the boss aside and take his place, to have the first taste.

Once the boss had finished with this delicate beauty, the experience would surely lose much of its flavour.

Still — getting a taste at all was something. Who told them their rank was not as high as the boss’s?

Getting a taste was worth it either way.

Both men watched with wide-open eyes as the boss, like a starving wolf, lunged toward that pitiful little rabbit cowering in the corner. They were already impatiently fantasizing about how the little rabbit would be tormented under the boss once it was their turn to watch.

Yet no one could have anticipated that the boss, in the very middle of his lunge, let out a howl of anguish midway and rolled across the ground.

“Ah… aahh… aahhh…” He was clutching his groin, rolling on the floor, as though enduring tremendous agony!

What had happened? Had the girl done something to the boss? But she seemed not to have moved at all.

Besides, both her hands were shackled in chains — where had she had the opportunity to strike?

Yet the boss was truly injured, rolling on the ground crying out continuously — as though the most vital part of him had suffered a grievous blow!

“Boss! What happened to you?!” The two men hurried over, trying to help the boss to his feet.

But the boss would not stop rolling, clutching himself below the waist, and whenever anyone tried to help him up, he frantically shoved them away.

“Boss… Boss, what on earth is wrong with you?”

The boss was in too much pain to utter a single word. He only clutched himself tightly below, desperately wanting to know the same answer himself. It hurt so much down there — truly agonizing. After one more howl, the boss rolled his eyes back and lost consciousness entirely.

The two exchanged glances, both dumbfounded. Now what?

The taller of the two large men crouched down and gingerly checked the boss’s breathing. Fortunately, he was still alive — it seemed the pain had simply caused him to faint.

But why had this happened so suddenly? Who had done it? Was there a master hiding in this place?

Both men felt a jolt of alarm and immediately became alert to the sounds around them. Yet all four sides were solid thick walls — where could any expert be concealed?

Even if one were here, unless this expert could turn invisible, there was no way to hide in this place.

“Now what?” The short, stout man looked at the tall man and asked, deeply unsettled.

The tall man glanced back at Feng Jiu’er. She was still seated in the corner, watching them with an expressionless face.

The candlelight was faint, and the expression on her face could not be clearly made out — but she genuinely seemed to have none at all.

To watch a grown man collapse before her, even lose consciousness, yet show not the slightest reaction — was she not afraid at all?

“It must have been her!” The short, stout man jabbed a finger at Feng Jiu’er and raged. “I heard earlier that this wretched girl is formidable. Just now, she must have done something to the boss!”

The tall man thought the same, but — she had nothing on her at all, and no hidden weapons of any kind. How had she struck?

“We can’t stop. If we don’t complete tonight’s task, we’re both in trouble.” The tall man shot the stout one a glance. “You go from the left; I’ll approach from the right. Pin her down between us — the two of us together!”

Since the boss had only fainted, let him stay fainted for now. Tonight’s task had to be carried out. Otherwise, the person behind all this would certainly not let them off lightly.

Jiu’er’s fingertips tightened slightly. She watched as the two men split in opposite directions and advanced cautiously toward her, and finally a fine bead of sweat seeped from her brow.

Just now, she had only managed to strike precisely because the boss had been so careless and off guard. Now, both men were this careful and wary — and on top of that, they were advancing together. Her silver needles, she feared, had no way of striking both men in a single move.