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Almost immediately, a lazy male voice drifted over from nearby.
“My brother's property... and you actually dared to lay a hand on it?”
Scar-Neck's hand froze midair. All three men spun around at once.
Leaning casually against an armored vehicle across from them was a man.
He looked completely out of place amid the grim, blood-soaked atmosphere.
He wore a floral Gucci silk shirt with several buttons left undone, exposing the firm muscles of his chest. White casual trousers and a pair of loafers completed the effortlessly refined look.
A silver handgun spun idly around one of his fingers. A faint smile rested on his lips, but the icy glint in his eyes sent chills down anyone's spine.
The next second, he caught the pistol in his hand and lowered the muzzle.
The smile remained.
The warmth in his eyes did not.
In an instant, his gaze turned frighteningly savage.
The moment the three men recognized him, the arrogance on their faces vanished without a trace.
“You... Young Master Ji?”
Scar-Neck's legs trembled uncontrollably.
Within this base, aside from that living King of Hell, there was only one other person no one dared offend.
The smiling tiger standing before them.
“My brother finally managed to bring back a woman,” Young Master Ji said as he strolled toward them at an unhurried pace. “He hasn't even finished spoiling her yet.”
He casually swept the barrel of his pistol across the three men before lazily waving it in front of them.
“If your filthy hands damaged her, what exactly am I supposed to use to compensate him? Hmm?”
“Do you have a death wish?”
Thud!
All three men dropped to their knees in unison, frantically knocking their heads against the ground.
“Young Master Ji, please spare us! W-We didn't know she belonged to Mr. Shen!”
“Young Master Ji, we were wrong! We truly were!”
Scar-Neck even slapped himself hard across the face twice. His cheeks swelled almost immediately.
“Get lost.”
Young Master Ji spoke only two words, his voice dripping with impatience.
To the three men, however, those words were nothing short of a royal pardon.
They scrambled to their feet and fled in utter panic, stumbling over themselves as they ran. None of them dared look back.
Silence fell over the area once more.
Still shaken, Xia Zhiyao leaned weakly against the wall. Cold sweat soaked her back.
Young Master Ji holstered his pistol at the small of his back before turning toward her with obvious curiosity.
His gaze swept over her from head to toe.
From her disheveled hair...
To the luxurious gold-thread embroidered top she wore...
And finally, to her bare feet, now stained with mud.
“Tsk.”
He stroked his chin, amusement flickering across his narrowed eyes.
“So this is what you look like.”
“No wonder that old iron tree, which hasn't bloomed in all these years, actually went outside and brought someone back.”
“And he even had Regina personally embroider a Peacock King outfit for you?”
Xia Zhiyao couldn't understand the deeper meaning behind his words.
But she understood one thing.
This man had saved her.
Those thugs had called him Young Master Ji.
He had also referred to Shen Yu as my brother.
Could he be Shen Yu's younger brother?
Regardless, there was no harm in being polite.
She took a steadying breath, suppressed the trembling in her body, and bowed deeply.
“T-Thank you... Thank you for saving me.”
“Thank me?” Young Master Ji arched a brow as he took two leisurely steps closer.
A faint, elegant cologne lingered around him.
“Little girl,” he said with a half-smile, “you've got quite a lot of nerve.”
“This place is crawling with dogs in heat. Running around dressed like that...” Ji Chen said with a teasing smile. “Were you disappointed those three weren't excited enough?”
Xia Zhiyao's face turned deathly pale.
Instinctively, she pulled her collar tighter around herself.
“I... I just wanted to get some fresh air. I didn't expect...”
“Fresh air?”
Ji Chen let out a mocking chuckle.
“In this place, even breathing is a mistake if you're weak.”
After a brief pause, he extended a hand as though intending to shake hers in greeting.
But when he saw Xia Zhiyao shrink back like a startled rabbit, he casually withdrew his hand and slipped it into his trouser pocket.
“Let's get acquainted. My name is Ji Chen. If you manage to survive here for a month, you can call me Brother Chen.”
Ji Chen.
Xia Zhiyao silently repeated the name to herself.
“M-Mr. Ji.”
She hesitated before asking cautiously, “Are you... Mr. Shen's younger brother?”
“Cousin.”
Ji Chen corrected her with a broad grin. His bright white teeth made him look completely harmless.
“Shen Yu is my older cousin. But we're not quite the same.” He smiled lazily. “He's the one who kills and burns his way to power and fortune. I'm just the accountant who comes afterward to clean up the bodies and balance the books.”
“An accountant?”
The way he had pointed a gun at someone's forehead only moments ago had looked nothing like an accountant.
Xia Zhiyao might have been innocent, but she wasn't naïve.
In a place that devoured people alive, anyone capable of becoming the second-in-command undoubtedly had no less blood on their hands than Shen Yu.
Ji Chen's playful smile softened slightly.
Leaning forward, he lowered his voice.
“You know, A-Ken told me yesterday that my brother had brought you back. I honestly thought he was joking.”
“Why?” Xia Zhiyao asked before she could stop herself.
Ji Chen shrugged.
“My brother has never accepted women sent to him by other people.”
Over the years, whether from the compounds or the various independent states, countless people had tried every imaginable way to send women to Shen Yu.
He had never accepted a single one.
“You're not a spy, are you?” Ji Chen suddenly asked, leaning in close. A dangerous hint of suspicion crept into his voice.
Startled, Xia Zhiyao shook her head frantically.
“N-No... I'm not!”
“Haha, I'm kidding.”
Ji Chen laughed.
Just as Xia Zhiyao finally let out a breath of relief, he continued casually,
“Oh, right. When you get back later, make sure you wash your feet immediately.”
He pointed toward her mud-stained bare feet and smiled.
“My brother's an extreme clean freak, and his possessiveness borders on obsession. Your feet have stepped in mud that other men have walked through. If he sees that...”
He deliberately paused.
Then he slowly drew a finger across his throat.
“He might decide those feet aren't clean anymore, chop them off, and replace them with a brand-new pair.”
Xia Zhiyao's entire body went rigid.
Although she knew he was only trying to frighten her, the moment Shen Yu's cold, sinister gaze flashed through her mind, she couldn't help feeling that it wasn't entirely impossible.
“Relax. I'm just messing with you!”
Ji Chen burst into laughter at the sight of the girl's wide-eyed, terrified expression.
“My brother isn't that much of a psycho, okay?”
“He'd only...”
He suddenly lowered his voice again and leaned in closer.
“...throw the person straight into the back mountain to feed the wolves.”
At that moment, Xia Zhiyao genuinely felt like crying.
Maybe I should just die already...
The thought surfaced bitterly as she silently resigned herself to her fate.
“Want me to show you around?”
Seeing her standing there in a daze, Ji Chen smiled warmly.
“This place is boring as hell. There's nothing fun here. You just arrived, so you're probably still unfamiliar with everything.”
Xia Zhiyao hesitated.
She truly wanted to learn more about the surroundings.
The better she understood this place, the better her chances of surviving.
After a brief pause, she nodded.
“Let's go!”
Ji Chen seemed genuinely pleased to have someone to chat with.
As he led her through the compound, he introduced each area without pause.
“That's the training ground over there. Stay away unless you have a good reason to be there. If you get caught in the crossfire, don't say I didn't warn you.”
He pointed farther ahead.
“That's the supply warehouse—my brother's most treasured possession. Anyone who gets too close dies.”
Then he gestured toward another building.
“That's the water prison. Make one mistake, and you'll be locked in there until you die.”
Finally, he pointed toward the distant mountain behind the compound.
“Oh, and that's the back mountain. We keep a pack of wolves there.”
He grinned.
“It's specially reserved for disposing of garbage.”
He spoke so casually that it almost sounded like a joke.
Yet every word made Xia Zhiyao's heart pound harder.
Maybe...
I really should just die already.
The thought crossed her mind once again.