Chapter 84
Pei Huai twisted his wrist and elbowed him in the side, but Xiang Mingqi, with his whole body tense, lunged at Han Yi. He said nothing, his forehead bulging with veins, and, ignoring the pistol, he forcibly grabbed the obscene hand.
The bullet went off just past his palm, missing his vitals. Trying to pull him back, Xiang Mingqi unceremoniously punched him in the face. "Was it this hand just now? Wasn't it?" He gritted his teeth, staring intently at the man's face. "Damn you, damn you... This is my bride. A bride who belongs only to me." Han Yi, pinned to the ground, raised his arm with all his might to shoot him in the head, but Pei Huai kicked him away.
He pushed Han Yi down and asked Xiang Mingqi to collect photos around. He wanted to further question the man about the origins of these puppet brides, but he realized something was wrong.
Something was approaching quickly from the side and rear—an animal?
He threw his hands back to block, but after the shadows were swatted away, another came charging at him. They were dogs, two incredibly muscular, fierce dogs. Saliva dripped from their teeth and splashed his arm. The smaller one spun around from behind, latched onto his shoulder, and tore at it. The pain was almost negligible.
Pei Huai suspected that the dog was deliberately biting his clothes to avoid hurting him.
The other big dog, waiting for an opportunity, used its weight to knock him to the ground, pressed its mouth against the side of his neck, growled softly but did not bite, and straddled him with its upper limbs. This was a typical act of dominance.
"You are very smart and strong, a rare talent." The crackling sound of electricity approached, and before he lost consciousness due to the pain, he felt someone holding him up. "It's a pity that you didn't take me seriously." Then he couldn't hear clearly.
When he regained consciousness, Pei Huai felt something licking his cheek. He opened his eyes and saw a sturdy Rottweiler with round, bronze eyes that looked curious and bright.
He moved his wrists and heard the shackles behind the chair creak. But when he moved, the larger and more burly Tosa stood up, hunched over, and stared at him.
The only difference is that Xiang Mingqi is not here.
"You're awake." - Lights, a height-adjustable examination table, various specimens on display on the wall, anatomical diagrams, and countless metal tools.
This is Han Yi's collection room.
"That dress suits you perfectly." He saw Han Yi mixing some solution at the table. "Why refuse? It's such a blessing to have something become a permanent collection. Those brides, poor and homeless, long to change their lives, so they are filled with happiness the moment they put on their wedding dresses."
"so?"
"The transactions between me and these children are just about money. These homeless children, refugees, and bankrupts, if they don't fight for a few cents, their families will starve to death and they will end up on the streets. So they voluntarily sell their bodies to me." He looked at Pei Huai steadily, "Don't you think this is salvation?"
Pei Huai stared at his face, his slightly raised chin showing a look of complete indifference.
"I've seen people like you before." He spoke after a pause. "From childhood to adulthood, they've been watching me, waiting for the day when I lose my value."
He didn't exchange another word with Han Yi, not even glancing at him as he adjusted the solution and sterilized the knives. The Rottweiler hovered beside him, not wary, but curious about a stranger intruding into its territory. Its front paws would occasionally nudge him, not with hostility, but with its head tilted to the side, examining him.
"Rosa, have some manners."
The dog whimpered from the depths of its throat, pacing back a few times in a wronged manner. It rested its front paws on Pei Huai's legs, tilted its head, and looked at its master with the tip of its tongue sticking out.
"Do you like dogs?" Han Yi couldn't help but smiled at the thoughtful Pei Huai. "Rosa has a good personality, little girl. She was born to one of my father's hunting dogs, but unfortunately, she wasn't in good health, so I brought her home to raise. She's a real spoiled brat."
As she spoke, Rosa turned to her nest, grabbed a stuffed bird and invited him to play with it, then placed her front paw on it again. Pei Huai turned his head away, not looking at it. The dog, its almond-shaped eyes wide open in confusion, ran up to him, its broad, muscular body blocking his view. When Pei Huai turned his head to the side, it walked over and bumped him with its back, whimpering.
He probably didn't realize that his hands were tied and he couldn't move.
The burly Tosa suddenly stood up and walked over quickly, examining him from a distance, his brow arched. Han Yi reached out and patted his left flank. "His name is Percy, a retired dog fighter. It's a rarity that he didn't leave a hole in your neck."
"Get your dog out of here."
"They are hungry." Han Yi smiled meaninglessly.
“I don’t see any food.”
"I can take it from you later." Han Yi wanted to appreciate his micro-expressions from calm to fear, but he was inevitably disappointed. "Every time I make a specimen, I feed them the removed tissues and internal organs, so they are waiting now. But... Percy doesn't have much patience for things he likes."
He symbolically let go. Passy, driven to extremes by his master's indulgence, lunged at the chair with his muscles bulging. Standing up, he could have leaped over Pei Huai's head.
Such a bloodthirsty fierce dog stared at him with its head tilted, its cornea congested, its forelimbs pressing down on his shoulders. Saliva kept dripping down, and there was a direct and greedy feeling of oppression.
It licked Pei Huai's cheeks and lips excitedly, turned around a few times, and then raised one of its hind legs, wanting to urinate on him.
Pei Huai didn't tolerate it. He raised his leg and kicked Percy hard in the soft spot of his chest and abdomen to create distance between them.
Even with limited upper body room, he still had enough room to lift his legs and use the shackles to twist the dog's throat. Using his leg muscles, he tightened the chains and pulled them back, seemingly strangling the dog's windpipe. Tosa reacted quickly, twisting his head vigorously to fight back.
"Pasi, stop."
Things unfolded unexpectedly. Pei Huai was stubborn, resolute, and unyielding. He liked him, but a Tosa, a dog from a fighting family, was no match for easy trolling. Han Yi immediately stopped the ensuing fight.
Perhaps in order to kill some time for him, Han Yi started talking about irrelevant topics while preparing.
Family, brothers, and the utterly boring, day-to-day life of a playboy. The Han Group belonged to him, and Han Shaochen, he'd considered finding a reason to eliminate him after he ascended to the throne. Car accidents, plane crashes, or excessive police enforcement—he didn't care about the means; after all, killing each other was the joy of brothers.
As he spoke, he approached Pei Huai, drove away his loyal guard dog, and leaned over to look at him: "I'm in a dilemma right now."
He was observing him from head to toe, including Xiang Mingqi's coat, which was one size too large. His eyes rolled downward, from Pei Huai's handcuffed, slightly red and swollen wrists to his neck.
He saw the blood vessels, the thin bone around the ear, the bulging muscles of the neck rising and falling with each breath. A small black cross adorned an ear bone necklace, brushing against the side of his face.
Under the lens, the pupil began to contract.
"—My brother has brought me the talent I've been longing for. I like him very much." He touched Pei Huai's face through surgical gloves, the back of his fingers scraping across his eyelashes. He sighed with regret, "It would be a shame to turn you into a cold, speechless specimen."
He reached out and grabbed the zipper of Pei Huai's coat, pulling it down a little, until it was exposed near his collarbone. This caused Percy to roar forward.
"So I want to give you a chance." He leaned closer to Pei Huai's rational yet cold eyes and observed him closely. "Come to bed with me."
"You're not the first person to say that to me."
"Has anyone ever told you that you have a personality that easily excites people?"
Without answering, Han Yi continued to provoke him with words: "You don't look like the type to serve others obediently. Your man must be very spoiled with you in this regard. If you want, I can also kneel down to help you."
“…Shut up.”
Han Yi suddenly laughed, thinking that his threatening expression was very irritating: "Why? You are a wild horse, making people want to tame you very much. Why should I remain silent?"
The moment he heard the tug of the chain, Pei Huai had already given him his answer. The handcuffs bound behind his waist had somehow escaped, and the cuffs dangled from his wrists, swung briefly, then grabbed the back of his head and pressed it against him.
Their faces were touching, but their lips didn't even touch.
"Because this method is not enough to deal with a fierce horse."
Almost at the same time, the barking Rottweiler was firmly subdued by Xiang Mingqi who climbed in through the window and tied to a corner cabinet with an iron chain.
The Tosa also rushed towards Pei Huai like crazy, and was knocked down by the same method.
With the matter settled, Pei Huai didn't comment further, handing the reins directly to Xiang Mingqi. The boy kept asking, "Brother, are you okay?" After getting no response, he had the rare tact to tell Xiang Mingqi to proceed with the plan first, taking care of security before anything else. He left this to him, and could use the headset if anything else mattered.
"Can you do it?"
"I have to do it even if I can't. Besides, your sudden disappearance scared me to death, and I want revenge." He didn't look back.
“…Don’t overdo it.”
"OKOK! He won't die." After the senior took the gun and went around in another direction, Xiang Mingqi grabbed Han Yi's collar and slammed him to the ground, no longer hiding the malice in his eyes.
"Bride, bride." He murmured, "You wanted him to be your bride, why didn't you ask me first?"
He was halfway through his words when a group of men, following the noise, burst in, their guns surrounding his head in the blink of an eye. Xiang Mingqi smiled nonchalantly and glanced diagonally across. Judging by the time, Pei Huai should be dealing with the security guards upstairs by now, and if nothing unexpected happens, he'll be able to get back to this floor soon.
All he had to do was to control Han Yi, delay time, and take revenge.
"Maybe you're extraordinary in terms of looks and qualifications. But compared to him, you're nothing." Han Yi remained undeterred during the confrontation. "Feelings may change, but the body never does. Don't you want to have him forever?"
"Yes, why not?"
"I can make him your bride, yours only."
"Like you do to your brides, gouge out their eyes, gut them, and stuff them?"
“It’s a necessary process in production.”
"Then I think you're a little mistaken." Xiang Mingqi smiled happily. "I love him, even every eyelash and every moment of his life. I love his beating heart, his eyes, and his vitality. I won't allow anyone to leave any scars on him."
After saying this, he ignored the gun barrels pointed at his forehead, pulled Han Yi by the collar and brought him in front of him, making him face the wall of specimens.
"I don't care about this kind of thing." He chuckled, "Because I will get rid of everyone who stands between me and him."
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