"Young Master!" Ah Che yelled. All eyes went to Ying Qingcang. They saw blood dripping from the hand that Ying Qingcang had kept under the table. He stood up and walked towards a spot beyond the camera's range. All of a sudden, he staggered and spit out a mouthful of blood.
Young Master Shen quickly rushed over to help, but Ying Qingcang waved him off. "I'm good. I just bit myself," he said. Then he held out his hand and saw the blood covering his palm. Sobbing, Aunt Tian began cleaning his wounds. All of a sudden, Ah Sha began wailing. Young children were the sensitive towards emotions. She had already noticed that something was wrong with everyone.
Zhang Mi quickly picked up Ah Sha. "I'll take her upstairs and get her to sleep," she said. At times like this, there was nothing she could do to help. Looking after the child was all she could do.
Ying Qingcang cleaned himself up and sat back in front of the laptop. "State your conditions."
"Oh, come now! There's no need to rush!" William laughed hysterically. "Let me show you something first." A footage began playing on the screen. It showed the entire process of William whipping Xin Qing. Ying Qingcang saw the way Xin Qing had clenched her teeth, refusing to make a sound even if it killed her. Then he saw her smiling weakly at the camera before passing out.
Young Master Shen held Ying Qingcang back. The twins' hands had destroyed the back of the couch. Finally, William reappeared on the screen with a smile that betrayed his bloodlust. "Tomorrow morning, south of the manor, the demesne. Come alone. If you've forgotten which building, you can ask your father."
William stretched out his tongue and licked Xin Qing's face. "Don't worry. She isn't dead. It's not like I have the heart to kill her. However... If you try any funny tricks again such as bringing a bunch of people with you? Then I can't promise what I'd do once I get provoked."
On the screen, William waved at them. Then the screen turned greyish white.
Ying Qingcang destroyed the laptop with a single punch. Then he picked up the phone and called Ying Hao. In the meantime, Young Master Shen had called and assembled every single one of his men. He had to deploy his men and had them in place. Having Ying Qingcang going alone was never an option. That William had gone mad and was dead set on killing Ying Qingcang.
"Xin Qing! Xin Qing!"
Xin Qing felt pain all over her body so much so that she did not wish to be conscious. A muddled figure appeared before her eyes. Dianne dared not touch Xin Qing since her body was covered with wounds. There were even three deep lacerations on her face.
"Come on. Drink some water!" It was evident from Dianne's face that she no longer had the heart to watch Xin Qing's suffering. But at the same time, she knew there was nothing she could do other than feeding Xin Qing some water.
Xin Qing turned her head away slowly, refusing to look at Dianne. "I'm in so much pain that I want to die," she thought. "Someone please kill me!"
At Xin Qing's refusal, Dianne spoke to her in a muted voice, "William had already informed Ying Qingcang. He will come to get you soon. You have to hang on."
When she heard Dianne, Xin Qing mumbled something, trying to open her eyes. Dianne took the opportunity to place the straw into Xin Qing's mouth.
"I know you're worried about Ying Qingcang. But he'll definitely be here to save you," Dianne said, clenching her teeth. "This entire house was rigged with explosives. William did not intend to let you guys leave here alive. I'm sorry. I can't help you."
Xin Qing glanced at Dianne who was already running out the door. Her tears slid down her cheeks, against the wounds on her face. The stinging sensation that followed was nothing compared to the agony she felt in her heart.
"Ying Qingcang... Please don't come no matter what!" She thought.
A light zephyr stirred the air of the early summer morning. The beauty of the countryside had shrouded all the lust and cruelty from the night before. William stood outside the manor, watching Ying Qingcang. Ying Qingcang opened the door of his car and slowly made his way towards William.
"Very punctual indeed. There's no one else in the car, I presume?" William was holding a cigar between his lips as he swept a glance at the car nearby.
Ying Qingcang stared him down. "You can go see for yourself," Ying Qingcang said, his face devoid of any emotion.
"Pfft!" William laughed. "I believe you aren't stupid enough to hide your people in the car."
Glancing at the double storey cabin behind him, Ying Qingcang raised his brows. "Can't believe this house still exists. Looks like you've been here often to clean up. It looks very clean."
"Hahaha! This is an important place! Of course I'd keep it in good shape." William glanced backwards. "So? You must hate this place very much, right? How old were you back then? What, like four? Do you still remember what went down here?"
All of a sudden, William broke into a grin. "If you don't remember, that's fine too. I'll refresh your memory later!"
"All this time, we thought you were dead. Can't believe you've become the successor of the William family. You have a good life right now. You don't have to destroy everything you have just to avenge your predecessors." Ying Qingcang stared at the man before him. When he called Ying Hao, Ying Hao had told him about the house that William had referred to. It was probably the same house where Ying Qingcang was kept after that woman and her lover had abducted him that year. Ying Hao said that only he himself knew of William's existence that year. Ying Hao did try to track William down. Eventually, he found out about William's presumed death due to illness. To everyone's surprise, William had survived and had hidden himself away for so many years. All that effort just so he could exact revenge on the Ying family.
"Of course you'd say that!" William roared at Ying Qingcang. "I saw my father jumping off a cliff with my own two eyes. It was your people from the Ying family who drove him to that. You expect me to just stand back and watch your happily-ever-after?" William turned around and walked into the house.
"Don't you want to see your woman? Come on in!"
Within the underground bunker, Xin Qing was still drifting in and out of consciousness. She could no longer feel her wrists after being tied up for so long. She squinted and saw Ying Qingcang there.
"Hehe..." Xin Qing tried to laugh. "Great, now I'm hallucinating..."
"Ah Qing!" Ying Qingcang tamped down his murderous intent and slowly approached Xin Qing. Xin Qing moved and began mumbling something in a quiet voice. Ying Qingcang wanted to release her but all of a sudden, there was a loud smack, and he felt a sharp sting in his back.
"I didn't say you can touch her. Step back!" William held some kind of remote control in his hand. "See this red button here? The moment I press it, this entire place would be flattened in a boom!"
Ying Qingcang stared at him. "I'm already here. Come to me if you want revenge. Let her go."
"Hahahaha!" William laughed. "Fine. You can release her. But you'll have to take her place and allow yourself to be tied up."
Xin Qing had already come to realize that none of this was a dream. Ying Qingcang really came for her. When she heard William, she began shaking her head with all her might. But her injuries had sapped away every ounce of her strength. Ying Qingcang noticed the bobbing of her head, so he quickly untied her and brought her down. He immediately noticed the purple bruises on her wrists, which had swollen up so much that they were now the same size as her forearms. All of a sudden, Ying Qingcang saw red. Still, Ying Qingcang tried everything in his power to calm down. He took off his shirt and covered Xin Qing with it.
Turning around to face William, Ying Qingcang said, "Send her away."
William's whip lashed out. "In your dreams!"
Fearing that William's strike might hit Xin Qing, Ying Qingcang held out his arm in front of his body in an attempt to block the strike. The act excited William even more. William kept whipping and shouting, "Ah! Hahahaha! Look at you! Right now, you're exactly the same as the younger you in those photos. My father has the power to whip you that year. Now I have the same power!"
Worn out from all the whipping, William toss the whip away and ran out of the prison cell. He locked the metal door of the cell. "Don't say that I never loved you as your elder brother. Now I'm allowing both of you to be husband and wife in hell. Tsk, tsk. You guys should be thanking me for allowing you to die together! Hahaha. When I push the button later, you'll both be blown to smithereens. Nobody would be able to tell the difference between you. That way, you'll be together forever!"
Xin Qing leaned against Ying Qingcang, trying everything in her power to open her eyes and see the man before her. Ying Qingcang picked her up and carried her. In a low voice, he whispered beside her ear, "Don't be scared. We'll get out of here soon. I won't let you die."
William hurried upstairs and saw that Dianne was already waiting for him in the car. He turned around and gave the house another glance. With sheer madness in his eyes, William hopped into the car and stepped on the accelerator. When they reached the hill, he stopped the car and blew a kiss towards the house. He pressed the button.
"What the hell?" William's face darkened. He glanced at the house, which was still standing and in one piece. "Why didn't it blow?"
"Smack!" He gave Dianne a slap. "Is this your doing?"
"I didn't do anything!" Dianne held her face. Tears had welled up in her eyes. "You know I won't ever betray you!"
"M*th*rf*ck*r!" William cursed. Then he saw a few people helping Ying Qingcang out of the house. "How did they get here?" William had every intention to go back the way he came, but Dianne held him back. "We're outnumbered right now. Aren't you just seeking death if you go back?"
William thought for a moment. "We'll get out of here first and figure out the rest later!"
A gunshot sounded just when William fired up the engine. A few cars emerged from the forest nearby. Young Master Shen stood at the car door, shooting at their car.
"Trying to catch me? Let's see if you have that kind of ability!" William slammed his feet on the accelerator. The burst tire wobbled as the car careened onto the main road. Young Master Shen and his men started their cars and were soon in hot pursuit.
A few more gunshots sounded. This time, William's car lost its balance; all of his tyres had been shot out. Despite that, he drove on with a look of sheer madness in his eyes. Dianne screamed suddenly. "Turn!"
William quickly braked, though the car had already lost control. It flew off the cliff and went tumbling downhill.
Young Master Shen stopped his car. Standing by the roadside, he watched the car tumbling all the way down to the bottom of the hill. After that, there was a loud explosion where blazing flames shot to the sky.
"Find them. Find their corpses if they're dead!"
Xin Qing seemed to hear someone calling her name, though she did feel like waking up at all. Her body would hurt so much if she woke up. With so many wounds on her body, she knew for sure that she would never be able to wear a skirt again.
"Mommy! Mommy!"
"Mommy is sleeping. Ah Sha, go play by yourself, okay?"
That was all Xin Qing heard before she lost consciousness again. She heard nothing after that.
Two days later...
Xin Qing slowly opened her eyes. A white ceiling came into view. From the head of the bed, she could smell a flowery fragrance. She opened her mouth and released a soft cry...
"Ah Qing!" Ying Qingcang stood up abruptly. "You're awake?"
Xin Qing started crying the moment she saw him. Ying Qingcang thought something was wrong with her, so he immediately alerted the doctor. At that point, everybody knew that Xin Qing was awake and had all swarmed into the room. The doctor examined her and told everyone that she was fine now. After that, Ying Qingcang chased everyone out.
"Ah Qing!" Ying Qingcang said, wanting to hug her but was too afraid to touch her wounds. Xin Qing's entire hand was covered in wounds. He truly had no idea where to touch.
The corner of Xin Qing's lips broke off into a smile. "My face is ruined. Do you still want me?"
"Even if you got turned into ashes, you're still my woman!" Ying Qingcang said imposingly before lowering his head to kiss her. He grabbed the cup and carefully fed her water.
Xin Qing reached out in an attempt to tug at his sleeve. Ying Qingcang quickly, but carefully, placed her hand in his palm. "Don't move around. Your wounds will hurt."
Xin Qing started crying again at his mention of pain. "It really hurt so much. I wanted to die back then."
"I'm sorry! It's all my fault." Ying Qingcang lips pressed gently onto Xin Qing's cheek. "If he hadn't been seeking revenge on me, you never had to go through so much. It's all my fault. I've caused you trouble!"