In a moment of desperation, An Xiaoni swept the wine bottles off the table next to her, sending several bottles—none of them cheap—crashing to the floor. She was attempting to create a distraction.
"Dammit! Who’s the blind fool?" the man at that table stood up, shouting angrily.
But when he stood up and saw Huoji standing beside the girl, he immediately hunched over to apologize. "Brother Ji, it’s nothing, it’s nothing! My mouth is just filthy, it’s my fault."
He even began slapping his own face—*slap, slap*—the sound ringing out clearly. He was apologizing for the words he had just shouted.
Even though his own wine had been swept to the floor for no reason, he was the one slapping himself and apologizing. An Xiaoni’s heart went cold. This was their turf, and it seemed no one dared to cross them. She felt truly doomed.
To prevent her from struggling, they grabbed her other arm. Two men dragged and hauled her along.
"Let go of me! Help! Help me..." An Xiaoni kept screaming for help.
People passing by didn't even dare to raise their heads to look at them. Even if they bumped into them by chance, they acted as if they hadn't seen anything. An Xiaoni could only kick her legs wildly, but the two men showed no mercy; they dragged her along without a shred of restraint.
"Save your energy for the rich men later," said the sleazy underling dragging her—the same one who had been groping her in the car, the one with the beady rat-like eyes.
Then, his gaze darted around, and he turned to Huoji. "Brother Ji, if those rich guys play her until she’s broken, can I have the leftovers? How about it?"
The other thug was also staring at Huoji with eager anticipation, as if he would have a share the moment Huoji gave the word.
"We'll see," Huoji said irritably.
He pushed open the door to a luxurious presidential suite. The room was so vast it was hard to take in all at once, and An Xiaoni felt like she couldn't breathe. A nauseating, heavy atmosphere of smoke and stagnant air washed over her. On a small stage inside the suite, the dancing women were wearing practically nothing at all.
An Xiaoni looked around, trembling. Men and women were tangled together in ways that were impossible to watch.
"I don't want to go in!"
An Xiaoni twisted her arms with all her might, and even her feet, though they couldn't find purchase, scrambled against the floor as she was forced inside. Even as she was dragged by her arms, dangling off the ground, she couldn't inflict the slightest damage on them.
"Little darling, stop shaking. Save your energy—you can shake all you want later when you’re with Brother Zu."
From behind, Huoji kicked An Xiaoni in the back of the knee, sending her crashing to the floor.
"Huoji, why so rough? What kind of good goods did you bring this time?"
Gu Yanzu pulled his hand from under Marilyn’s skirt. He tilted his head at a forty-five-degree angle, licked his thick lips with his tongue, and wore an obscene smile as his eyes locked onto the girl sprawled on the floor. The vulgar, degenerate nature of the spoiled rich kid was perfectly captured in that single expression.
"Lift your head." Gu Yanzu raised his chin slightly.
Because of the fall, An Xiaoni’s long hair covered most of her face. Her large eyes, blocked by strands of hair, glared stubbornly at the man sitting before her.
"Brother Zu told you to lift your head. Did you go deaf from the slap?" Huoji grabbed a handful of An Xiaoni’s hair and yanked her head back.
The girl’s face tilted upward, her neck strained. Her long hair fell across her cheeks, but it didn't stop anyone from seeing her silhouette. Her chest heaved up and down; the way she looked in her terror was truly pitiful.
"Hey, hey, hey, Huoji, how can you be so rough with a little girl? Let go, let go."
Gu Yanzu pulled Huoji’s hand away. His lecherous eyes scanned An Xiaoni from her hair down. Her hair was dark and glossy. He suddenly reached out, threaded his fingers through her hair, and lifted a lock to his nose to smell it.
"Take your filthy hands off me, you sick pervert!" An Xiaoni slapped Gu Yanzu’s hand away.
*Oh?* Interesting!
Gu Yanzu wasn't even annoyed.
"Brother Zu, this little girl is a bit spicy. She just needs to be broken in," Huoji explained specifically to Gu Yanzu, then barked at An Xiaoni, "What time do you think it is? Still being stubborn? Don't be ungrateful."
He then made a motion as if to hit her. An Xiaoni squeezed her eyes shut, instinctively turning her head to dodge.
In the end, the slap didn't land. Huoji had realized it—Gu Yanzu’s eyes had given him a signal. He was interested in the girl.
Gu Yanzu’s lips curled into a lewd smile as he continued to study her. Her clear, large eyes were pure and bright, filled with fear and unease. Her high bridge of her nose had beautiful lines. Her plump lips trembled slightly, a trace of blood still lingering at the corner of her mouth, which looked even more striking against her fair skin. Her face, usually as fair as jade, had flushed a strange, unnatural red—perhaps from fear, or perhaps from being struck—looking just like a ripe apple.
Gu Yanzu’s gaze didn't stop there; like a sinister snake, it slowly slithered downward. The girl’s slender neck looked as if it could be snapped with a light squeeze. This fragile appearance only seemed to incite the malice in Gu Yanzu’s heart. Xiaoni’s chest heaved violently from sheer terror, every breath trembling. Gu Yanzu’s gaze lingered on her rising and falling chest for six full seconds. His eyes revealed a nauseating desire.
In Nevernight City, if you grabbed any random woman, she would likely be more experienced than this girl, but... her shy, resistant little demeanor only deepened Gu Yanzu’s depraved desire to destroy her. In short, this girl was exactly to his taste.
"Brother Zu, she’s no daughter of common folk. She’s a pampered daughter of a wealthy family, raised in luxury. She’s clean and fair—look at that skin, it’s so tender you could pinch water out of it."
"And she’s got a bit of spice. That lack of submission? It’s stimulating!"
"How much?" Gu Yanzu glanced at Huoji sideways; he was growing impatient.
Whenever money was mentioned, Huoji’s mouth couldn't stop grinning. As expected of one of the top power-brokers in the Capital—if he liked what he saw, he let Huoji set the price. That was why, whenever Huoji had high-quality goods, the first person he thought of was this spoiled brat, Gu Yanzu. He was generous.
Huoji hummed and hawed, wanting to demand a fortune, but mindful of the fact that Gu Yanzu was a regular client and they would have to do business in the future, he didn't want to overstep. He casually, yet seemingly deliberately, gestured a number in the air with his fingers.
Gu Yanzu saw the number Huoji gestured and smiled. This amount of money meant nothing to him; he had so much wealth he couldn't spend it in eighty lifetimes, all thanks to having a father who could make money.
"Huoji, if I inspect the goods and she’s not a virgin, I can still take this money back," Gu Yanzu said, rubbing his thumb across his lip.
"Of course, Brother Zu, surely you trust my eye for quality?" Huoji said with a smile.
Gu Yanzu’s eyes remained fixed on An Xiaoni’s face as he nodded to the person standing beside him—who appeared to be his assistant. Afterward, Huoji and the others walked out of the suite.
They were going to transfer the money.
Originally, because of Marilyn, he had been feeling a heavy, stifling frustration in his chest, but now that he had this high-quality catch, he felt his mood lift immediately. But one thing at a time; he would settle the score with that man surnamed Quan sooner or later.