This Celestial Dragon was called Saint Yasde, and he was no good. Ye Chen had no intention of showing him mercy. He swung the whip and lashed him hard several times. "You like this, don't you? Then I'll give you what you want."
The whipping left Saint Yasde howling like a slaughtered pig, his body convulsing. Before long, Ye Chen had beaten him bloody from head to toe.
"Damn it, where's the key? Let this little girl go, now."
Ye Chen stopped whipping him and demanded an answer. Saint Yasde struggled to pull a ring of keys from beneath his pillow.
Ye Chen hurried off the bed and unlocked the Collar around the little girl's neck as she cowered trembling on the floor. "Get out of here. Don't let them catch you again."
The little girl looked as though she were dreaming. After a stunned moment, she knelt and kowtowed to Ye Chen. He waved her off. "Go. Get as far away as you can. This damned place isn't somewhere anyone should stay."
"Come here."
Ye Chen beckoned to Saint Yasde and shook the Collar in his hand. "Come on. Put it on!"
"No..."
Saint Yasde had barely started to shake his head when Ye Chen's whip cracked toward him.
It struck Saint Yasde across the face. "You want to die? Fine. I can arrange that right now."
Ye Chen curled his left hand into an Eagle Claw and raked it across the headboard. With a crack, he tore a chunk from the solid rosewood.
His face darkened. He squeezed, and the wood crumbled into fine splinters. "Want your head to end up like this?"
Saint Yasde stared at the splinters drifting from Ye Chen's hand. Cold sweat poured off him, and a chill surged from the soles of his