flstandardbreds Chapter 152 His Mother
Chapter 152 His Mother
Jiang Wan slowly woke up, feeling numbness in her limbs and a dryness in her throat. She wanted to move but couldn't.
She looked down and was shocked to find herself tightly bound by hemp rope, her hands and feet tied, and her mouth gagged with a rag.
Her eyes snapped open, her heart pounding like a drum—where was she?
The room was silent, save for a wisp of cold wind that slipped in through the crack in the door, causing the lamplight to flicker and making the room appear even darker and more eerie.
Just as she was struggling, she suddenly heard light footsteps coming from the corner of the room.
A figure slowly emerged from the shadows: "Awake?"
Jiang Mian struggled violently, but could only whimper.
The other person wasn't annoyed at all. Instead, he bent down and looked at her mockingly: "I didn't expect you to come to me like this. What? Xiao Hengzhi is willing to let you out?"
Xiao Hengzhi?
Who is this person?
Jiang Mian struggled, twisting her ankles, her wrists aching from being strangled, the rag stuck at the back of her tongue, the taste of blood spreading between her lips.
“Mmmmm!”
"You want to talk?" he asked in a low voice, his tone calm, but his eyes were chillingly cold.
Jiang Mian nodded vigorously.
The man stared at her for a few moments before speaking, "I know you came here alone. Promise me one thing, and I'll let you speak; otherwise, no one can save you..."
He slowly took out a small knife and held it to Jiang Wan's neck: "Understand?"
In this place, surrounded by distant mountains and dense forests, if she were to truly die here, even her remains might not be found.
Jiang Mian broke out in a cold sweat and nodded quickly.
The man was pleased with her reaction and leaned closer, saying, "I want you to refuse that woman's offer to take you down the mountain."
Jiang Mian knew that the "woman" he was talking about must be A-Yun. She didn't understand why he was like this, but she didn't have time to think about it, so she could only nod in agreement.
"accepted?"
Jiang Wan nodded, her eyes filled with terror.
The man hesitated for a moment before finally reaching out and tearing the gag out of her mouth.
Before Jiang Wan could catch her breath, she demanded in a low voice, "Who exactly are you?!"
The man smiled.
"You don't need to know who I am. Just know that you are my bargaining chip for revenge."
“Revenge? I’ve never met you before, why are you dragging me into this?” Jiang Wan questioned.
"Who told you to be Xiao Hengzhi's person?" The man turned around, his eyes revealing a trace of pain and hatred. "Jiang Wan, blame yourself for being in his heart. As long as you fall into my hands, he will have to pay the price for Lord Wu's death."
"Wu Ke? Who is that?"
The man said nothing.
The rain intensified, and the wind blew through the window cracks, sending a chill down my spine.
Jiang Mian felt ice-cold all over, and her heart almost stopped beating.
She had never heard Xiao Hengzhi mention the name "Wu Ke," nor did she know that he owed a life.
But now, someone wants to use her life to pay for it.
Her back tightened, but she forced herself to remain calm and said, "Since you know these things, you must often come down the mountain to investigate... Do you know Xiao Hengzhi's identity?"
The man smiled upon hearing this, but there was not a trace of respect in his eyes.
"Identity?" He leaned closer to her and chuckled. "The Prince of Beiqin? A member of the royal family? Hahaha, you believe that too much."
Jiang Mian's heart skipped a beat.
"What do you mean?"
"You don't know, do you? He's just a slave, as lowly as an ant. You bunch of fools have been completely fooled by him."
"Red slaves?" Jiang Mian asked in confusion.
The man raised an eyebrow and suddenly grabbed her collar, pulling her to the other side.
Jiang Mian's head was slammed against the wooden board on the wall.
"see it?"
Jiang Mian opened her eyes and, through the gaps in the wooden planks, could vaguely see a low-lying earthen platform shrouded in blood mist.
The place was very simple, surrounded by a rough wooden railing. Outside the railing were groups of two or three onlookers dressed in tight-fitting clothes, their expressions fanatical, like gamblers.
Inside the enclosure, a mastiff had gone berserk, its mouth full of bloody fangs, and lunged forward.
Opposite the mastiff was a shirtless man, with no blade in his hand, his body covered in whip marks and wounds, his skin torn and peeling.
Without uttering a sound, he gritted his teeth, sprang up, grabbed the mastiff by the throat, and slammed it to the ground.
The cheers from the sidelines were deafening, and blood and mud splattered everywhere, covering the hurdles and the ground.
Jiang Mian's heart skipped a beat, and her face turned pale instantly.
"Do you see this? This is the Red Slave."
“In the past, when Wu Ke was around, there were only ferocious beasts and birds of prey. If you couldn’t beat the beasts, you would only be eaten.”
"The birthing shed you visited yesterday is the place where Xiao Hengzhi was born."
The man sneered, his hoarse voice close to her ear: "Your so-called King of Beiqin is nothing but a wild dog that crawled out of this place, fighting with beasts for food."
Jiang Mian felt a chill run down her spine from his words, but her gaze remained fixed on the animal enclosure.
Just as the man strangled the mastiff to death, a new mastiff was released into the arena.
He had no time to catch his breath, turned around and faced them again, his eyes showing no fear, only killing intent and wildness.
That bloodthirsty gaze... she suddenly felt a pang of fear for some reason.
Because it looked exactly like someone's eyes.
A gust of wind rushed into the hole, and Jiang Mian's back was soaked with cold sweat.
The person behind him said, "I don't know when Xiao Hengzhi got the guts to steal Wu Ke's privately kept gold and jade talisman and impersonate the Prince of Beiqin."
"You think he's unattainable, but he was actually born in a maternity ward."
"A slave like you dares to be stained with royal blood?"
The room fell silent for a moment, with only the wind and rain raging outside the window, as if something had shattered in Jiang Mian's mind.
"impossible......"
"Impossible? What's impossible about it? He escaped from the beast cage when he was eight years old, severely injured. We thought he had died outside long ago. We never expected him to return with such wolfish ambition and attack Wu Ke!"
Jiang Mian opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything.
Seeing her stunned expression, the man's smile deepened: "If you still don't believe me, I'll make you give up now."
With a malicious smile in his eyes, the man suddenly yanked Jiang Mian towards the hidden door.
Jiang Mian struggled desperately, her wrists already bleeding from the cuts, but he still half-dragged and half-carried her into a basement with winding stone stairs.
A dampness swept over us, the lights were dim, and a layer of moisture enveloped the surrounding area.
The man lifted the heavy curtain and pushed Jiang Mian inside.
"Open your eyes and see clearly for yourself."
The room fell silent. Several women lay on a few dilapidated beds, their hair graying, their faces withered, dressed in ordinary coarse cloth, like old people forgotten in a sewer.
They looked unremarkable, but their slender features still revealed their youthful elegance.
One of them had a look in his eyes that Jiang Wan recognized very well—
He looks just like Xiao Hengzhi.
Jiang Mian froze, her heart pounding wildly.
“She is…” the man said coldly, “She is Xiao Hengzhi’s mother.”
The words struck like a thunderclap, leaving Jiang Mian's ears ringing.