Xin Qing stared at Dianne. When Ying Qingcang had told her that everything that William was the person behind everything that had happened to her, Xin Qing was curious as to how William had managed to pull everything off. As it turned out, he had planted his people beside her all along. No wonder she was framed during that trip to the diamond mind. No wonder she was kidnapped by people from the human trafficking ring...
"You don"t blame me?" Dianne could not help but ask when she saw Xin Qing"s calm and collected look.
Xin Qing stared at Dianne. "We aren"t close to begin with. So there"s really nothing to blame," she said. In fact, Xin Qing had the impression that Dianne was not a willing partic.i.p.ant in William"s schemes. Otherwise, Dianne would not have acted so indifferently when she approached Xin Qing at first. Dianne would have at least tried to win her trust and become her best friend, since that would be the kind of betrayal that hurt the most.
"Haha!" Dianne chuckled and said, "I"ve always been very curious as to why a man like Ying Qingcang would be so besotted with you. Now I finally understand. Although you look small and weak, you have immense strength hidden inside you. You are brave and tough. Those are the kind of qualities that would make a man crazy about you!"
"You love him a lot, don"t you?" Xin Qing said all of a sudden.
Dianne"s expression changed instantly and she laughed bitterly. "Even you have figured it out..."
"If you didn"t love him, you wouldn"t have done so many things for him, things that you"re clearly unwilling to do." Xin Qing paused. "But he doesn"t love you."
"Yeah? And how do you know that?" Panic flashed in Dianne"s eyes.
Xin Qing smiled weakly. "If he loved you, he wouldn"t have hit you just so he could catch me. Is this kind of man really worth your love?"
"Sometimes, being too clever would get you on other people"s bad side!" William opened the door and stared at Xin Qing smilingly.
Xin Qing ignored him and kept her eyes trained on Dianne instead. "This is what you want?"
All of a sudden, Dianne shot out of the wheelchair and slapped Xin Qing viciously.
"Shut up! Who asked you to look at me with those eyes? I don"t need your pity."
William walked over and helped Dianne back into the wheelchair. "Honey, you shouldn"t be so emotional. We can"t hurt her just yet. Otherwise, everything would be pointless!" William said. When he was done, William walked over to Xin Qing and picked her up. Xin Qing"s hands and feet were tied up, so she had no choice but to let herself be carried away.
"Relax! Now let"s go put on a good show for Ying Qingcang!"
Xin Qing shuddered. Right now, William"s eyes held nothing but insanity and evil.
This place seemed like some kind of bungalow. After William carried her downstairs, they descended a secret stairway and arrived at an underground bunker which contained a prison cell. Xin Qing glanced at a wall and saw that it was filled with all kinds of torture device. On the icy stone wall, the devices gave out a creepy, spine-chilling vibe.
William fastened Xin Qing hands onto one of the ropes, and then he glanced around the place. "How about that?" William asked smugly. "This place isn"t so bad, right?" He grabbed a handful of Xin Qing"s hair and turned her head towards the wall on the left. That wall was covered with photos which were already showing signs of discoloration, making them look yellowish. The photos looked vintage.
Xin Qing went wide instantly. There was a boy in each of those photos. The boy looked to be about three or four years old and in all the photos, the boy was hanging on the wall. The boy"s body was riddled with wounds, both big and small. There was also a blonde woman in the photo. The woman wore a formal gown as she stood there, watching coldly as a man abused the boy. Some photos showed the same woman riding on top of the man as they made love; amid their s.e.xual acts, the man was whipping at the boy who was hanging in mid-air.
Tears slid down her cheeks as Xin Qing sobbed. She looked at William with hateful eyes.
William eased his grip on her hair. Then he gave her face a backhanded slap. "Hahahahaha! How"s that? Ying Qingcang once stayed in this house, you know. Now it"s your turn."
Xin Qing spit out a mouthful of blood. "The man in the photo is your father, isn"t he? So you"re doing all this to avenge your father?" William resembled the man in the photo a great deal. Then Xin Qing glanced at the woman in the photos. Shock filled her heart in an instant.
William slowly undid his b.u.t.tons. He removed his jacket and said, "Technically, Ying Qingcang should address me as "brother"!" He looked at Xin Qing and laughed. "Too bad though... My parents refused to acknowledge him as their child. Otherwise, we would"ve been good brothers!"
"Then you and your parents are truly three animals of the same breed!" To Xin Qing, a woman like Ying Qingcang"s mother had no right to even live in this world. That woman did not deserve to be a mother.
William did not mind Xin Qing"s words at all. Lazily, he set up a camcorder on its rack. Then he retrieved a black whip from the wall and lashed it out against the air.
"I"ve ordered a bunch of cute toys just for you. Hahahaha!" William laughed. "Come. Scream! Scream obediently! And then I"ll send your beautiful voice to Ying Qingcang!"
"Smack!" The whip connected viciously with Xin Qing"s body. Xin Qing clenched her teeth as her body trembled in pain. "I won"t let you get what you wish, you psychopath!"
William raised the whip once again. It smacked against Xin Qing"s body a few more times. Xin Qing clenched her teeth. With each whip, her body shook viciously, though she refused to make a single sound.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk!" William shook his head. He reached out and started poking Xin Qing"s body with his finger. His finger jabbed right in the deepest wound on her body. Xin Qing sucked in a breath and broke out in cold sweat. Still, she gritted her teeth and did not make a sound.
"I guess you truly love him. You"re going to stay quiet even when you"re in so much pain?" William shook his head. "You"ve truly made me envious of you. Now, what do I have to do in order to destroy your love?" William stepped closer to her. Xin Qing felt a little scared. She would rather William hit her than rape her.
"Scared?" William raised her chin with the whip. "Don"t worry. If I really wished to have you f*cked, I won"t be doing the f*ck*ing. I"ll find about seven or eight homeless beggars and then I"ll let each of them have their turn. I"ll let them f*ck you until you die. Hahahaha!" Insanity filled William"s eyes. He was completely different from the jade-like prince she thought he was.
Xin Qing endured the pain, staring at him. "It"s truly a waste that you"re not an actor."
"Who says I"m acting?" William"s vibe changed instantly. The warm smile returned to his face. "See! Isn"t this just me?" Savage cruelty gleamed in those calm eyes. The whip lashed out at Xin Qing once again.
"Smack! Smack! Smack!" Ear-piercing snaps echoed throughout the empty bunker. For Xin Qing, every whip felt as if her skin had been set on fire. She was starting to lose consciousness. She could no longer hold back her moans, which stimulated William even more. He swung the whip repeatedly. With every whip, he turned to say something to the camcorder.
"Ying Qingcang, are you seeing this? Your woman is about to die! Hahaha..."
"You killed my parents that year. Today, I"ll take your woman"s life as repayment! Hahahaha..."
That night, the darkness could crush a man"s soul.
Young Master Shen had mobilized all his contacts in France. Still, they could not find any leads. Ah Che and Ah Nan had been searching and asking around in the hospital"s vicinity. They hoped to find eye witnesses who had perhaps seen Xin Qing. Ying Qingcang stood unmovingly before the window.
"Young Master, you haven"t eaten for a day. Please eat something!" Aunt Tian said. Secured in Aunt Tian"s arms, Ah Sha was reaching out towards Ying Qingcang. "Daddy!"
Ying Qingcang took Ah Sha and sat down on the couch. Zhang Mi, who had cried herself to sleep, suddenly woke up. "Xin Qing!" She yelled.
"Nothing, nothing. Just ignore me. It"s just a dream. I was dreaming," Zhang Mi said.
Young Master Shen came in with a piece of paper. "Someone stuck this on the door."
Ying Qingcang took the paper, which read, "Pay attention to the paintings on the wall."
"What the h.e.l.l is this?" Zhang Mi turned the paper around. "What painting on the wall?"
Ying Qingcang pa.s.sed Ah Sha to Aunt Tian. He stood up and walked around the house. Young Master Shen took down a scenery painting from the wall of the vestibule. Ying Qingcang removed the painting of a little angel that hung above the fireplace. Those were the only two paintings in the room. They lay down the paintings on a table and searched the painting from inside out.
"There"s something here," Ying Qingcang said all of a sudden. His finger poked at the angel"s eye, and the painting split into two halves, revealing a hidden camera.
Zhang Mi shrieked. "My G.o.d! So they"ve been spying on us."
Ying Qingcang"s face went taut. His eyes were as dark as the ocean viewed during night-time, like they could swallow and drown everything in their path. He took down the camera and was prepared to smash it to the ground. All of a sudden, William"s voice blared through the camera.
"You won"t be able to see your woman if you smash it!"
Young Master Shen quickly booted up his laptop and connected the camera to it.
The screen flashed a few times before it revealed a dark prison cell. The view panned around and William"s face appeared on the screen. There was something behind him, something covered with a piece of cloth.
"State your demands," Ying Qingcang said, clenching his hands into fists. He forced himself to calm down.
William burst into laughter and shot Ying Qingcang a provocative look. "Doesn"t this place seem familiar to you?" William turned the camera again. Ying Qingcang immediately saw the wall filled with pictures. He slammed the table with both fists. "I should"ve thought of this sooner. How could I have forgotten about you. You"re that man"s child."
"Oh!" William lips twisted downwards. "Shouldn"t you be calling me big brother, my dear little brother?" William covered his chest with his hands. "Although mom doesn"t like you and never really saw you as her child, but... I was still willing to have you as my younger brother!"
Zhang Mi wanted to say something, but Young Master Shen touched her and shook his head at her.
"Speak. What do you want?" Ying Qingcang stared at the screen containing William"s face which was filled with insanity. "Where"s Xin Qing?"
"Ah!" William said. "My sister-in-law you mean!" Slowly, William backed away. "For your sake, I"ll take very good care of her!" After that, William pulled off the cloth. "Ah!" Zhang Mi yelled at the same time she sprang to her feet, ready to rush outside. Young Master Shen held her down. Zhang Mi struggled and shouted, "He killed Xiao Qing. I want to go saving her. I want to save her! She"s dead! d.a.m.n it, she"s dead!"
"Hey, calm down!" Young Master Shen said through clenched teeth. "Xin Qing isn"t dead. She isn"t dead for sure. Otherwise he wouldn"t have called us."
Some time between all this, Ah Che and Ah Nan had returned and was now standing beside Ying Qingcang. They were terrified that their young master would collapse again. On the screen of the computer, Xin Qing hung in mid-air. Her entire body was covered with lacerations from being whipped. There was not a single spot of her that remained unharmed.
Zhang Mi sobbed and buried her face against Young Master Shen"s chest. "That son of a b*tch! I want to kill him! I want to kill him!"
Young Master Shen carried Zhang Mi towards the couch. He glanced at Ying Qingcang, who had not moved an inch.
"You need to stay calm. Otherwise n.o.body could save Xin Qing!"