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When Xia Zhiyao walked out of the stilt house, the sunlight outside was so bright that she could barely open her eyes.
Just a few minutes earlier, she had still been a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, someone who could be thrown into the muddy ground at any moment and torn apart by vicious dogs.
Now, she was following behind an assistant named A-Ken.
The guards surrounding her, who had once looked fierce and terrifying, were now staring at her with a trace of fear and hesitation in their eyes.
This was the taste of power.
In this place, human lives were worthless. The only thing that mattered was that man’s mood.
“Miss Xia, please.”
A-Ken stopped in front of a black off-road vehicle.
It was a heavily modified, bulletproof George Patton SUV. Its black exterior gleamed under the sunlight, resembling a steel beast lurking on the muddy road.
A-Ken opened the rear door.
Xia Zhiyao’s heart tightened.
The interior of the car was dimly lit. A man sat on the other side, his posture relaxed and languid.
Hearing the sound, he slightly turned his head and casually glanced at her.
Even while sitting there quietly, the suffocating sense of oppression he carried still filled the entire vehicle.
Xia Zhiyao froze at the car door.
The mud beneath her feet was wet and sticky.
She lowered her head and looked at herself.
She was barefoot. The tops of her feet were covered in black mud and scrapes, and the white dress she wore was stained with dust from the struggle only moments earlier.
Meanwhile, the carpet inside the car was made of expensive wool.
“Don’t want to get in?”
Shen Yu did not raise his head as he spoke. His voice was deep and low.
“No… it’s not that…”
Xia Zhiyao trembled all over. She no longer dared to hesitate and climbed into the car on her hands and feet.
Bang!
The car door slammed shut.
Outside was a hot, filthy hell.
Inside was another world, an extravagant, silent space maintained at a constant temperature of 24 degrees Celsius.
Xia Zhiyao pressed herself tightly against the car door, curling into a small ball. She did not dare move too close to Shen Yu.
She only dared to sit on a tiny corner of the seat, with most of her body practically suspended in the air.
Her hands clutched a small part of her skirt, and she carefully tucked her dirty little feet behind the fabric.
This was a top-grade calfskin seat. She was afraid the mud on her body would stain it.
“Drive.”
Shen Yu gave the order indifferently.
The vehicle started smoothly.
The wide tires rolled over the muddy road, yet there was almost no sensation of bumps inside the car.
The interior was terrifyingly quiet. The only sound was the soft, steady hum of the air conditioner.
Xia Zhiyao felt as if she was about to suffocate.
Although the man beside her had not moved at all, the powerful aura he naturally exuded was overwhelmingly intimidating. It made her feel as though she were sitting on pins and needles.
She should say something.
Should she try to please him?
Or beg for mercy?
Before she came here, Master Ba’s words still echoed in her ears.
“Being chosen by Mr. Shen is a blessing you earned over eight lifetimes. You’d better serve him well. If you make Mr. Shen send you back, I’ll tear you apart and feed you to the dogs!”
Xia Zhiyao swallowed her dry throat.
Finally, she gathered all the courage she had and turned toward Shen Yu. Lowering her head, she spoke softly.
“Mr. Shen… hello…”
“Thank you… for saving me.”
Regardless of what his true purpose was, at least at this moment, she no longer had to be taken away by that group of men to “run the train.”
Shen Yu finally reacted.
He turned his head.
The light and shadows outside the car window flashed by rapidly, occasionally falling across his sharp nose bridge and deep, defined brows.
His piercing eyes narrowed slightly.
His gaze moved down from her pale little face, passed her tense neck, and finally landed on her curled-up feet, which were covered in dirt.
The edge of the clean calfskin seat had already been stained with several spots of black mud.
Xia Zhiyao followed his gaze.
Her mind instantly went blank, buzzing loudly.
She instinctively pulled her feet back beneath her skirt, wishing she could cut them off.
“S-Sorry, Mr. Shen… I… I didn’t do it on purpose. I… I’ll wipe it clean for you…”
Xia Zhiyao immediately bent down and hurriedly wiped away the few muddy marks.
Suddenly, the vehicle came to a stop.
Thud!
Xia Zhiyao’s head slammed into the seat in front of her.
“Ah!”
The corner of Shen Yu’s lips curved upward slightly.
It was like the malicious amusement of someone watching a newly purchased little pet get startled and fluff up in fear.
“This carpet costs $20,000.”
He spoke casually, a hint of teasing hidden in his voice.
Xia Zhiyao’s breathing stopped.
Tears immediately gathered in her eyes.
$20.000…Even if she sold herself off, she still would not be able to afford the compensation.
“However…”
Shen Yu changed the direction of his words.
He leaned back, his posture relaxed yet domineering.
“Since it is my thing, it doesn’t matter if it gets a little dirty.”
His thing.
Those words made Xia Zhiyao’s heart sink.
It seemed that, for the time being, he had no intention of letting her go.
Shen Yu did not look at her again.
He closed his eyes and continued resting.
Although she was being ignored by him, Xia Zhiyao felt slightly relieved— at least it meant that, for now, he had no intention of hurting her.
The motorcade left the winding mountain roads, and the scenery ahead suddenly widened.
Through the brown-tinted bulletproof glass, Xia Zhiyao looked outside.
Ahead stood a massive camp built against the mountains.
No, more accurately, it was a heavily fortified fortress.
A 5-meter-high reinforced concrete wall surrounded the entire area, topped with electrified high-voltage barbed wire.
Every few dozen meters stood a watchtower equipped with heavy surveillance and security equipment.
At the entrance were 3 separate checkpoints.
The highly trained guards wore identical dark green tactical uniforms, with a ferocious wolf head embroidered on their arm patches.
This was a private military compound.
“Wow…”
Xia Zhiyao widened her eyes and unconsciously let out a soft gasp of amazement.
Shen Yu heard the genuine surprise in her voice.
He glanced at the little thing beside him. From her expression, it was obvious that she had never seen anything like this before.
A trace of amusement quietly flickered in his eyes.
As the massive blast-proof steel gate slowly opened, the guards standing on both sides straightened their bodies and saluted in unison.
Only then did Xia Zhiyao truly understand how terrifying the power of the man beside her was.
He was the king of this place, and she…was the spoils of war that the king had brought back.