Afternoon.
The outskirts of Jiangcheng.
An abandoned factory stood alone in the middle of a wasteland, surrounded by dense poplar woods.
The factory’s corrugated iron roof was riddled with rust holes, and most of the windowpanes were shattered.
“Screeech—”
The sound of brakes shattered the silence.
A taxi pulled up outside the factory gates.
In the back seat,
Li Shufen was jolted awake by the brakes.
She opened her eyes blearily, rubbed her neck, and looked out the window.
She froze.
The area was desolate. There was nothing but woods and a weed-choked path, not a soul in sight.
“Driver, where are we?”
The driver didn’t answer. He opened the car door and got out.
Li Shufen’s heart gave a thump. She finally realized something was wrong.
Her expression changed, and she began cursing:
“Are you blind?! Where the hell have you brought me? Take me back right now! Otherwise, I’m not paying you a cent!”
She assumed the driver had gotten lost and taken a wrong turn.
The driver turned around and leaned against the car door, looking at her with a smile.
His smile sent a chill down Li Shufen’s back.
He reached out and opened the rear door.
“Y-you... what are you doing?”
Li Shufen’s voice began to tremble.
Fugui was woken by the commotion. Rubbing his eyes, he snuggled into his mother’s arms:
“Mom, what’s wrong?”
Li Shufen clutched her son tightly with one arm and fumbled for her phone with the other.
She had just pulled it out when—
The driver snatched it from her hand and smashed it on the ground.
“Smash!”
The phone shattered into pieces.
“Ahhh! Murder! Help!!!”
Li Shufen’s piercing screams rang across the wasteland, startling a flock of birds from the woods.
Fugui was so frightened he burst into tears, his face covered in snot and tears.
The driver furrowed his brow, leaned into the car, grabbed the two of them—one in each hand—and yanked them out.
Li Shufen’s knees hit the ground. She didn’t even have time to feel the pain before scrambling backward:
“Mister... please, don’t kill me... I’m begging you... I have money. I’ll give you money...”
She babbled incoherently, trembling all over.
The driver ignored her and pointed toward the factory entrance:
“Go inside.”
Li Shufen looked up at the factory, its interior a black void.
She shuddered involuntarily, her legs so weak she couldn’t stand.
The driver pulled out a knife and held it before her:
“If you don’t go, I’ll kill you both.”
At that, Li Shufen hurriedly scrambled to her feet and staggered inside, clutching Fugui.
The driver watched them go in, then turned and began warily scanning the area.
...
...
Inside the factory.
The light was dim.
The air was thick with the smell of rust and rot.
Broken bricks and rags littered the floor.
A pile of scrap left behind who knew how many years ago lay in the corner.
Clutching her child, Li Shufen trembled as she walked inside and looked around.
No one.
She cautiously called out:
“I-is anyone there?”
Her voice echoed through the cavernous factory.
Footsteps sounded.
Lin Yan emerged from behind a concrete pillar.
Several men dressed in black followed behind him.
He stopped and looked at the trembling woman before him:
“We meet again.”
Li Shufen’s pupils contracted sharply.
It was him!
The man who had taken Panpan away!
The one with the scar on his face!
Without a second thought, she turned and ran with Fugui in her arms.
She had taken only one step when—
Lin Yan was suddenly blocking her way from behind.
Then pain struck the back of her neck.
Li Shufen’s vision went black, and she crumpled to the ground.
“Mom!!!”
Fugui rushed over and shook her desperately:
“Mom, what’s wrong?! Mom! Waaaah...”
Lin Yan looked down at the little boy crying his heart out, his eyes utterly impassive.
He had already had Mufeng investigate.
During the time Panpan had spent in Wang Family Village, this “little brother” had bullied her plenty.
Pulling her hair, pinching her arms, throwing stones at her, and pouring dirty water over her.
A child not yet five had already learned to take pleasure in tormenting others.
Who knew how many people he would hurt when he grew up?
“You men, take the child away.”
Lin Yan ordered.
“Yes.”
Several men in black stepped forward and forcibly carried Fugui away from Li Shufen.
“Let go of me! I want my mom! Waaaah!”
His cries gradually faded into the distance.
Lin Yan looked away and lowered his eyes to the unconscious woman on the ground.
Everything Panpan had gone through...
He would make her experience it all, bit by bit.
...
...
Half an hour later.
Li Shufen woke up.
She opened her eyes, still groggy, and instinctively tried to get up.
Clang.
A heavy tug came from her ankle.
She looked down, and it felt as though a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her.
A rust-covered iron chain was locked tightly around her right ankle.
The other end was embedded deep in the wall.
It was exactly the same way Panpan had once been chained up.
“You’re awake?”
A voice came from above her.
Li Shufen jerked her head up.
Lin Yan stood in front of her, holding a whip.
“Y-you... what are you going to do?! I’m warning you...”
“Crack!”
The whip struck her.
“Aaaah—!!!”
Li Shufen let out a bloodcurdling scream.
She curled up, covering the spot where she’d been struck, her whole body trembling with pain.
Lin Yan looked down at her:
“What, can’t take it already?”
“When you beat Panpan, did you ever think about whether she could take it?”
With tears and snot streaming down her face, Li Shufen sprawled on the ground, kowtowing over and over:
“I was wrong. I really was wrong... Please let me go... I’ll never do it again... I’m begging you...”
Lin Yan shook his head.
“You don’t know you were wrong.”
“You just know you’re going to die.”
As he spoke, he turned and picked up a vegetable basket nearby.
“Clatter!”
A dozen or so moldy, hard steamed buns tumbled across the floor.
Some were covered in green fuzz; others had already turned black.
They gave off a pungent, sour stench.
They were exactly like the ones Panpan had eaten in the pigsty.
“Eat.”
Li Shufen stared wide-eyed at the disgusting buns on the ground and instinctively shook her head.
“Crack!”
Another lash.
“Eat.”
Screaming, Li Shufen lunged for the buns, grabbed one, and shoved it into her mouth.
But the moment it entered her mouth, a sour, rotten taste shot straight to her head.
Her stomach lurched, and she immediately threw it back up.
So she had no choice but to keep stuffing them into her mouth while retching, tears and snot streaming down her face.
Snot mixed with saliva dribbled down her chin, and she looked as wretched as a dog.
Lin Yan watched in cold silence.
Watched her struggle in the filth.
Just as Panpan once had.
Her sobs and the clanking of the chain echoed through the factory.
Sunlight slanted through the broken windows, falling across Lin Yan.
Yet his face showed no emotion.