Inside a ramshackle mud-brick hut on the verge of collapse, a dim oil lamp cast more than a dozen twisted shadows onto the mottled walls. The air reeked of sweat, blood, and a trace of lewdness.
A young woman in ragged clothes, her hair disheveled, was curled up in the cold corner. Her body trembled uncontrollably from fear and tears.
Before her lay a man with a bloodied, broken head. Blood streamed out, soaking the ground. He was likely beyond saving.
Eight men had surrounded them.
Several held gleaming knives and axes, their faces as vicious as demons. The others were somewhat better dressed and appeared refined, yet their eyes were even more sinister and venomous.
The leader of this gang was a burly, bald man with one eye. A savage scar ran across his face, and his remaining eye gleamed with cruelty.
The one-eyed bald man gave a feral grin, seized the woman by the front of her clothes, brutally dragged her from the corner, and slammed her to the ground! A muffled groan of pain escaped her.
"You little bitch, you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit!" The one-eyed man spat, jerking his chin toward the unconscious man nearby. "Look at the cowardly state your brother's in! If you'd obediently submitted to us earlier, would things have come to this? Hm?"
The crowd around them immediately burst into obscene laughter and jeers of agreement.
"Exactly! You stinking bitch, your family owes Master Wu money and has dragged its feet on repayment. Master Wu was kind enough to give you a chance to sell yourself to pay off the debt. Your ancestors must be smoking green from their graves! And you still dare resist?"
"Your whole family is made of cheap bones. You need a good beating!"