About an hour before Huang Wen entered the forest. Twenty men or so, entered that forest. One of them carried a girl on his shoulder. His hand kept on grabbing various part of her body every once in a while. The other men behind him would curse whenever they saw it and like hungry wolf fighting for food, some would made their own move toward the girl.

The girl looked exhausted and helplessly limped. She no longer struggled, the way she did previously. One side of her face was severely bruised. Her clothes partly torn, exposing some of her delicate body. Dried blood and mud couldn't hid her youth.

"Damn...! This bitch really like crazy dog. She killed Yong and Zhang."

"Who cares. She's pretty and it's been days since I had a woman. Back in Gutian, I have at least one a day."

"You're sick. It's that all you have in mind. You should think bigger. You heard that? Think bigger. This girl, I saw her stood behind that devil. Colonel would give us tons of reward if we brought her to him.", said the man who carried the girl.

Of course, that girl was Xia Yue.

"As long as we keep her alive. Don't think the colonel would care if we had some fun before we deliver her to him.", said another followed by sickening laughs from the other.

"Shut up! What if the colonel want the first dip?", their leader angrily argued.

"How in the hell the colonel can know whether she's still virgin or not in the first place?", another man argued back.

"Yea, that's right.", few more men supported the plan.

More joined in and it was getting heated. The leader knew he had to give up, or else he might have mutiny at hand. The time they spent in Gutian town like a little tyrant, made them grew rotten to their cores. When they arrived at their hidden base, their leader didn't argue about Xia Yue's fate anymore.

"Just do whatever you want to do with her. Try to keep her alive though.", he grumbled through his teeth.

--- o ---

It was just a small log cabin, that was built hidden among trees and bushes. Huang Wen was still few hundreds meters away from that place, but the quiet forest made their ruckus clearly heard.

"I win! Ha ha..."

"Damn lucky dog! She's a virgin."

"Ha ha ha, blame your own luck."

"Wait, wait, let's make it more interesting. One more game! I'll bet my armor, to be the first."

"Who cares? Let him do it. We already waited too long. Let's play a game to decide who will be the second.", one of the losers took the cards and shuffled again.

---- o ----

It took less than a minute for Huang Wen to race that few hundred meters. Long before he kicked the door opened, his blood were already boiling. Baihu and Fengsu were close behind him.

---- o ----

While the winner of the previous game, grinning from ear to ear, walked toward Xia Yue. She whimpered and crawled to go further to the corner. Her body aches all over, she fought fiercely but lost. Now she felt her strength left her. She wasn't brave from the beginning, the changes gave her some confidence. But today she faced brutal reality, she was still weak compared to these savages.

Actually she was stronger than their average, she killed two of them and wounded several. But there were too many of them and she failed to keep her path to escape opened.

Now, she had to pay the price for her carelessness.

The winner of the card games was a burly man, even from a meter away Xia Yue could smell the stink of cheap beer and sweat. Her face paled as his hand moved closer. She could not ran further, her back pressed on the wall.

She did her best to cover her body.

---- o ----

Huang Wen almost reached the cabin. Baihu was right behind him, with his sword in hand. Fengsu was just a few steps behind them, his feet ran lightly. Both demons could sense Huang Wen's anger and his rage incite their basest instinct.

---- o ----

"Stop struggling... heh heh heh.", his hand easily lifted Xia Yue's hand that covered her body.

"Let's see what we got here, shall we?"

"Rrrrriiiiipppp...", he torn what was left from her torn clothes and revealed the beauty under it.

His eyes bulged like hungry wolf. His friends stopped their game to watch the scene that was going to unfold.

"BRAAAK!!!!!", the door broken into pieces.

"Who's there!?"

"What the f...?"

No one could think straight at that moment. Their attention was focused on Xia Yue, when Huang Wen broke the door behind them. Moving like a hungry ghost upon seeing the sacrificial foods, Huang Wen, Baihu and Fengsu quickly spread around the room. Each targeting the weakest among their enemies.

"Ugh...."

"Huekk..."

Without a pause, Huang Wen moved to kill the nearest man. His fists thrown like a storm. He quickly sent two of them to see King Yama, before he raced toward Xia Yue at the other side of the room.

"Argh..."

"Kuakk..."

Baihu followed closely behind and took care the other side. His swords easily caught the unprepared enemies. He took three lives in seconds.

"Damn! That's the devil!"

Fengsu attacked but his opponent managed to block. He didn't stop with one attack though and soon he managed to disable his opponent.

"There are three of him!"

"Run!!! Run for your life!"

"Wimps!!! There are just three of them!"

"Fight! Damn it! Don't run!"

It was a chaos, some tried to run and quickly killed by Baihu or Fengsu. But most of them fought back after the initial shock passed. While Huang Wen use that chance to charge his way across the room and stood next to the bed, where Xia Yue crouched at the corner of the room.

"Kill them all.", Huang Wen coldly spoke.

Ice cold was his expression, burning with anger was his heart. But just within few days, Colonel Wen Liang's men already a different person. Seven men killed, several others ran away and six men were left for Baihu and Fengsu to fight. They fought desperately. They were better prepared, compared to their killed comrades but they were clearly out of Baihu's and Fengsu's league.

Huang Wen didn't even give a glance. He turned to Xia Yue and carefully approached her.

"Hey... it's me...", said Huang Wen as gentle and as soft as possible.

Xia Yue raised her head and saw him. It took her few seconds before she realized that it was Huang Wen who crouched near her. Huang Wen's heart was bitter to see her in such condition. He took off his shirt and carefully used it to cover her bared body. The gesture, the look in his eyes, filled with compassion and care, finally broke the last terror that bound her.

Xia Yue threw herself to his arm.

Huang Wen hugged her and let her cry. Carefully he lifted her. Sitting on the bed, Huang Wen cradled the crying Xia Yue like a big baby girl. Xia Yue who cried on his chest, couldn't see his angry expression.

Silently Huang Wen growled in his mind, 'Damn you Xia Bao... Do you think I can't see what you're plotting? Damn you.... old fox...'

Huang Wen knew all along that it was Xia Bao who arranged for all the coincidences that brought him closer to Xia Yue. Once or twice might be a coincidence, but more than that, he wasn't so blind to not notice that someone was made it happened. He realized that there was a wedge that appeared between Xia Bao and Zhang Hu. Huang Wen didn't mind that, in fact he was glad it happened that way. He personally enjoyed Xia Yue's presence as well and didn't mind.

It was beyond his imagination though that Xia Bao would make such a risky move by putting Xia Yue's in danger, just to push her on him.

He knew that Xia Yue was used by Xia Bao unknowingly. Telepathically, Huang Wen could sense her genuine fear and distressed. He also learn of Xia Yue's naivety during the time he spent with her.

As Xia Yue grew calmer, she began to realize that she was hugging Huang Wen without any clothes on her.

She no longer felt any fear. In Huang Wen's arm, she felt save and secured. Now, that she felt save, another feeling surged. It wasn't escaped from Huang Wen's keen sense.

He silently chuckled and thought, 'Well..., old fox... you wholeheartedly prepare a banquet for me. I won't hold myself anymore then.'

Part of him shudder at the thought of Xia Bao's cold calculating mind. Part of him pitied Xia Yue for having a father like Xia Bao and wanted to be her protector. Another part of him, was amused by the feeling that currently occupied Xia Yue's mind.

He gently caressed Xia Yue's bared back, "Are you okay...?"

Conscious of her situation, Xia Yue nodded shyly. She tried to pull herself away, but Huang Wen held her firmly, close to his bosom. He lifted her easily. While carrying her safely in his arm, Huang Wen leaped through the broken door and left that cabin.

"I'll take you away from this place.", he whispered on her ears.

There was something in his voice that made Xia Yue shivered. Not in fear, but a mix of complex feeling, of anxiety and anticipation of what to come.

Next : Chapter 101.