The escape fails, Fu Yanzhi is injured

With the two men joining the fight, Fu Yanzhi and the others were quickly subdued. Feng Yunxiao was thrown to the floor by the man.

The bald man walked over, planted a foot on Feng Yunxiao's chest, and said, "Little bastard, run! Why aren't you running anymore? You dared to run as soon as you woke up. You've got some nerve."

As he spoke, the bald man pressed down harder with his foot. Pain showed on Feng Yunxiao's face, and he passed out.

Fu Yanzhi and the others tried to get to him, but they were all pinned face down on the floor, their cheeks pressed against the icy cement and their arms wrenched tightly behind their backs. Their knuckles turned white from the strain.

Fu Yanzhi roared, "Let them go! If you have a problem, take it up with me! Don't touch my brother!"

The skinny man looked at Fu Yanzhi, who was pinned to the floor, then walked over and grabbed him by the hair.

Seeing the bruises covering Fu Yanzhi's face and the blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, he said, "Not bad, kid. You're a real man."

He turned toward the bald man, took the telescopic baton from him, and tossed it in front of Fu Yanzhi.

The skinny man said, "Today, all you have to do is use that baton on the floor to hit each of these so-called brothers of yours five times, and I can let you all go. Or you can take the beating for them yourself. You choose."

Fu Yanzhi was just about to speak when Wen Shiming cut him off.

Wen Shiming said, "Big brother, don't listen to them! Come on, you skinny monkey, hit me! Don't make things hard for my big brother!"

Bo Qing struggled desperately, trying to reach his big brother, but the person behind him held him down so tightly that he couldn't move. He could only stretch his left hand toward Fu Yanzhi.

Kong Fanxing and Kong Fanyue kept crying and begging them not to hit their big brother, but someone had them pinned against the wall, one in each hand, leaving them unable to move.

The skinny man said impatiently, "Enough. Stop crying and shut up. Hurry up and choose. If you haven't chosen by the time I count to three, I'll beat all of you. Three, two—" Before the skinny man could finish,

Fu Yanzhi said, "I choose option two. I'll take the beating for them."

Hearing Fu Yanzhi's answer, the skinny man burst out laughing. "Good, good, good! Such deep brotherly affection!"

The skinny man picked the telescopic baton up off the floor and swung it. "Five blows each for seven people, that's thirty-five blows. Iron Head, come hold him down for me."

The bald man came over and hauled Fu Yanzhi up, forcing him onto both knees. He and another man held Fu Yanzhi's arms down on either side. The fat boss sat in a chair, smoking a cigar as he watched their performance.

The skinny man walked behind Fu Yanzhi and swung the baton hard across his back. Fu Yanzhi clenched his teeth and made no sound, but sweat rolled down his cheeks like beads from a broken string.

Bo Qing and the others struggled madly, trying to break free and shield the big brother who had always protected them. But no matter how they struggled, the men behind them held them down tight. Tears streamed from the corners of their eyes, and all they could do was call out to their big brother.

Under the barrage of blows, the clothes on Fu Yanzhi's back were beaten to shreds, and blood ran down his back onto the cement floor. Blow after blow landed on him. Fu Yanzhi gritted his teeth and endured without a single groan, but the image of his brothers before him gradually twisted into a blur, and their voices grew more and more distant. His consciousness sank slowly, as though submerged in water, until he finally passed out.

Seeing Fu Yanzhi pass out, the skinny man stopped swinging the baton. The bald man and the other man also released Fu Yanzhi. Without their support, Fu Yanzhi fell straight forward like a puppet with its strings cut, his face hitting the floor with a dull thud.

By then, the skin and flesh on Fu Yanzhi's back had been beaten open, and his once-intact clothes had been reduced to tattered scraps hanging from his body. Warm blood soaked through the fabric, gluing the scraps firmly to his festering wounds. Every inch was smeared with dark red, muddy blood.

The fat man, who had been sitting in the chair all along, got up and stretched, then walked over and nudged Fu Yanzhi with his foot. When he saw no response, he held a finger beneath Fu Yanzhi's nose. A few seconds later, a faint breath brushed his fingertip.

After confirming that Fu Yanzhi was still alive and wouldn't die, the fat man gave the bald man and the skinny man a few instructions, then left with the other men. The bald man and the skinny man cursed a few times before going out and locking the iron door. The room fell quiet again, broken only by Kong Fanxing and Kong Fanyue's sobs from beside the wall.

Freed from their restraints, Bo Qing and Wen Shiming ran to Fu Yanzhi and helped him up. They moved very slowly, afraid that any large movement would hurt their big brother. Although he had taken beatings for them before, he had never been hurt this badly.

Bo Qing and Wen Shiming were at a loss. They had no medicine, so all they could do for now was clean the blood off their big brother. Wen Shiming took off his shirt and spread it on the floor, letting their big brother lie facedown on it. Bo Qing tore off a piece of his own clothing, dampened it with water, and slowly cleaned the wounds on Fu Yanzhi's back.

It was evening by the time they finished cleaning the blood off Fu Yanzhi. Bo Qing carried Feng Yunxiao and Li Huanhuan over to their big brother Fu Yanzhi's side and kept quiet watch over them.

He didn't know when they would wake up. He was now the oldest, and although their big brother had sheltered them before, he had now fallen. Bo Qing could protect his younger brothers too, just like their big brother.

He told Wen Shiming to take Yueyue and Xingxing to sleep first while he stayed up to keep watch. Wen Shiming had intended to discuss it with his second brother and have him sleep first, but his second brother said he was better able to fight and told him to sleep first and conserve his strength. Unable to argue Bo Qing around, Wen Shiming had no choice but to take their two younger brothers to sleep.

Late that night, Fu Yanzhi developed a high fever because his wounds had become inflamed. Bo Qing saw that his big brother's cheeks were burning red, as though scorched by fierce flames. Even the tips of his ears had taken on an unnatural color.

The wounds on his back had long since swollen into hard lumps, and dark red inflammation spread along the lines of his skin. Every movement pulled at the wounds, sending piercing pain through him.

Bo Qing dampened the torn piece of clothing with water and placed it on his big brother's forehead. Fu Yanzhi's cheeks burned bright red, and Bo Qing changed the wet cloth on his forehead again and again.

The high fever had left Fu Yanzhi barely conscious. In a haze, he seemed to return to a summer night in his childhood. His mother sat in a bamboo chair, fanning him and his younger brother with a palm-leaf fan, while his father held peeled watermelon to their mouths. The sweet watermelon slid down his throat.

But the next second, the scene suddenly shattered. His younger brother was lying curled up in their father's arms, his soaked hair plastered to his pale, swollen face. His lips had turned a dark purplish blue, and he had long since stopped breathing. His clothes clung heavily to his body, with water weeds and silt from the riverbed still hanging from them.

His eyes were tightly shut, and his once-lively features had become blurred after soaking in the water. Only his fingertips remained curled, as though they had clutched at something, frozen in one last struggle.

His mother wept beside them, distraught. "Why weren't you the one who died? Why didn't you protect your brother? Why did I ever pick you up and bring you home? No wonder your family didn't want you. You're a harbinger of disaster! Why don't you go die?"

Fu Yanzhi looked at his dead brother in his father's arms, tears running down his cheeks. He wanted to touch his brother's face, but his mother slapped away the hand he reached toward him. She pointed at him and told him to get lost. He didn't understand why his once-gentle mother had suddenly become like this.

Was it because I didn't protect my brother? "Why didn't I protect my brother? Why didn't I go play with him? Why didn't I stop him from catching fish?"

It's all my fault. I didn't protect my brother. It's my fault. I'm a child someone picked up, a child nobody wanted. A harbinger of disaster.

In the dream, his mother's face gradually blurred and finally disappeared, but countless accusations and insults kept repeating in his ears. Fu Yanzhi crouched on the ground, hugged his knees, and hid his head in his arms. He didn't want to hear the endless abuse.

Just as Fu Yanzhi was on the verge of breaking down, Bo Qing's voice rang out. "Big brother, are you all right? Wake up! Don't scare me, big brother! We need you, big brother!"

Bo Qing appeared in the dream, followed by Wen Shiming. In the dream, he was cheerful and bright. He hugged Fu Yanzhi and said, "Big brother, wake up! I'm still waiting to drive those bad people away with you and escape together."

Then Li Huanhuan, Kong Fanxing, and Kong Fanyue also appeared in the dream. They gathered around Fu Yanzhi, calling out to their big brother again and again. Fu Yanzhi felt their warmth, and the voices hurling abuse gradually faded away.

When Fu Yanzhi woke up, he found himself lying on Wen Shiming's shirt, with Bo Qing keeping watch beside him. Seeing him wake, Bo Qing's eyes filled with joy. "Big brother, you're finally awake."

There was a hint of a sob in Bo Qing's voice. Fu Yanzhi shifted, and a sharp pain shot through his back. He sucked in a breath.

Bo Qing hurriedly said, "Big brother, don't move. Your wounds haven't healed yet."

Fu Yanzhi looked at his younger brothers around him, his heart full of warmth and guilt.

When Huanhuan saw that his big brother was awake, he hugged him, tears flowing from the corners of his eyes. "Big brother, how did you get hurt so badly? Who did this? I'll go kill him!"

Fu Yanzhi supported Huanhuan's bottom with one hand and patted him. "All right, Huanhuan, I'm fine. You don't need to worry. How are you, Huanhuan? Does it still hurt where you were kicked?"

Hearing Fu Yanzhi's words, Li Huanhuan lifted his shirt to show his big brother. A purple bruise covered the spot on his pale little belly where he had been kicked.

Fu Yanzhi pulled Huanhuan's shirt back down and stroked his hair, then looked at Bo Qing and Wen Shiming beside him. They were bare-chested, and their bodies still bore the injuries the skinny man and the bald man had given them yesterday.

Fu Yanzhi's eyes filled with heartache. "It's because I didn't protect you well enough."

Bo Qing quickly shook his head. "Big brother, you've already done enough. It's all those bad people's fault. Focus on healing now, big brother. We'll protect this home." Fu Yanzhi nodded with relief.

Just then, Feng Yunxiao, who had remained unconscious all this time, slowly woke up too. He called weakly, "Big brother."

Fu Yanzhi looked at him and said gently, "I'm glad you're awake. How do you feel, fourth brother?"

Feng Yunxiao forced a smile. "I'm fine, big brother." He looked at Fu Yanzhi and noticed the wounds on his back.

He walked over to his big brother. "How could they beat you so badly? It's all my fault. If I hadn't bitten the bald man, you wouldn't have been hurt."

Fu Yanzhi stroked Feng Yunxiao's head. "It's not your fault, fourth brother. It's a big brother's responsibility to protect his younger brothers. I'll protect you all. We'll escape."