So painful!

An Ruowan's consciousness was blurry, but she could feel a throbbing pain in her head.

Her eyes tightly shut and eyebrows deeply furrowed, she gently shook her head, trying to shake off some of the pain.

The next second, another wave of pain washed over her.

This pain, it seemed a bit different from the one before. But what was different exactly?

With her brows knitted, An Ruowan subconsciously shook her head again. Wait, did the pain… move?!

She tried hard to clear up the chaos in her mind and felt a little more coherent. To her shock, she found that the pain was coming from... there!

"Ah—" An Ruowan suddenly opened her eyes wide, releasing a scream of terror that echoed throughout her entire body.

"Shut up if you don't want to die!" A voice as cold as ice carried an intimidating aura, penetrating her body to the tip of every hair. The man's icy gaze was as sharp as a blade, causing her face to sting in response. An Ruowan couldn't help but shiver, her eyes opening wide, and found to her surprise that what stood against the light was a man's face.

A man?

After a two-second pause, "Ah—" she screamed again, sounding just as terrified as before.

Because, An Ruowan trembled as she realized that she was completely naked in front of a man, and the weird pain she was feeling was coming from the man's hands.

"Boom…"

It was as if there was a deafening thunderclap next to her ears, which left her dizzy with her blood rushing, feeling like she was about to have a brain hemorrhage any second.

She was mortified and felt greater shame than ever. At this moment, she wished she could just die immediately!

"Shut up!" Just as An Ruowan was continuously screaming ear-piercingly, the pain suddenly vanished. The man's voice was cold as though laced with shards of ice, causing her eardrums to ache, "You're a virgin, and that checks out."

An Ruowan could hardly believe it.

What was he doing to her?

A nightmare! She definitely had a nightmare! The scenes enacted in her dreams were too terrifying. She was actually being bodily examined by a man...

The man stood up, unable to see the woman's stunned expression. His sharp gaze was like a searchlight, scanning up and down her body, leaving no places for secrets.

An Ruowan's consciousness returned abruptly, sweat standing on her skin. She was consumed with a mixture of shame and rage. She wished she could dig a hole and bury herself.

She was stark naked, lasciviously inspected by a complete stranger, felt up and down! She almost thought she had been violated by this man, but evidently, aside from the discomfort just now, there was no pain down there.

Inhale, steady.

Forcing herself to stay calm, An Ruowan's glare sharpened, her voice seethed with anger: "Who are you exactly? And what are you up to?"

Li Tianrui gave An Ruowan a cold sweep, seemingly surprised that the woman who was screaming in meltdown just a while ago could calm down so quickly.

"What do you think? Hmph..."

The man looked down at the woman on the bed with a noble and kingly arrogance, a cold sneer curving on his face.

An Ruowan's eyebrows knitted into a frown. She loathed smug, high-handed, and arrogant men.

Tonight, she was supposed to go to a new bar with Xia Xinran to apply for a waitress job. The manager liked her and they both stayed at the bar to get acquainted with the environment. Then, the manager brought over two drinks. She drank...and then felt a little dizzy...

Was there something wrong with that drink? This was bad. Was Xinran in danger too?

"Where is my friend? Did you take her as well?" She looked around subconsciously, but found no sign of Xia Xinran. Her face became as pale as a sheet. "Did you kill Xinran?" Images of bloody scenes filled her mind: brutal violence, first violated, then murdered. Her heart clenched and her teeth chattered.

She was almost certain that Xinran had met a gruesome end.

Her body struggled fiercely as she stared fiercely at the man. "If you won't hand over Xinran, I will fight you to the death."

Pain! Pain! Pain!

With a clanging noise, a sharp pain spread from her wrists, ankles, and neck. Downing her head, she was startled to see shining handcuffs and shackles on her limbs, an iron chain around her neck securing her to an iron frame on the bed.

What on Earth was going on? Had she been kidnapped? Was she to be sold abroad to serve soldiers, or was she prey to organ traffickers, about to have her heart and lungs ripped out for sale?

She gasped in terror, her eyes filling with fear. "Let me go; I want to go home..." She didn't want to serve soldiers, and she didn't want her organs sold.

"Take her away," the man ordered coldly to a maid at his side.

He had no patience for women like this!

They bartered with their bodies and feigned innocence, tried to cover their greedy nature with deceit and drama.

Four maids bowed their heads respectfully: "Yes, young master." They strode towards her.

"What...what are you going to do?" Staring at the advancing maids, she widened her eyes in terror, shouting at the approaching servants, "Stop! Don't come any closer!" But her voice was weak and colorless.

Ignoring her struggles and screams, the four maids fixed cold smiles on their faces. They unfastened the chains around her neck and feet effortlessly. One of them opened a small bottle and waved it under her nose.

It smelled so pleasant!

She didn't have time to hold her breath. She felt dizzy, and then blacked out.

Feeling something wet and sticky around her neck, a little itchy and sore, she opened her eyes to find the man’s handsome face close to hers.