Page 15 of Dynasty of the Wicked

“Get undressed.” He shot a worried glance in Feng Mian’s direction. They didn’t have much room. One wrong move and anyone could get cut.

Adrenaline rushed through her veins. “No.”

“What?” Clearly not expecting that answer, he lowered his sword.

Just then, the shorter soldier knocked into the other one. The tall one’s sword struck the space above her head and she just barely bobbed down as the sword dragged over the wall as he tumbled forward.

“Focus on this fucker!” the stouter one shouted, elbowing his companion as they righted themselves. They kept their swords drawn toward Feng Mian.

Feng Mian breathed out heavily, a gash on his shoulder. He held the small knife he had nabbed from the corpse in front of himself defensively.

“Forget the girl,” the man continued. “Wait until—damn it!”

Feng Mian shot forward, quick and lithe, and struck the man’s face. The soldier barely jerked away, forcing down his sword toward the blind man.

Zhi Ruo dropped down to her knees with a yelp as another wayward sword was flung in her direction. The two soldiers circled Feng Mian and attacked him with all their might. They should have won immediately. The odds were stacked in their favor, but Feng Mian was faster, stronger, and somehow more terrifying than the two swordsmen.

Hugging the wall, she crept closer to the exit. The clang of steel biting steel, swords ricocheting off the bars and walls, and heavy breathing filled the tight space. Blood streamed down in thick splatters from all three of them.

She grasped the swinging door just as the old prisoner shouted, “She’s trying to escape! She’s trying to escape!”

The tall soldier cursed something, but Zhi Ruo didn’t hear it. She shoved the door open with her shoulder and lurched to her full height in the same second. She ran two steps, her eyes adjusting to the short dark hallway, lit by only a single sconce. The was a staircase at the end of the corridor and she could see a crack of light at the door at the top. It warped and shifted in the damp, cavern-like hall.

Freedom was so close. Just two dozen feet away.

She took another step forward, her gaze locked on the stairwell, when her head jerked back violently and her world spun. Pain clawed at her scalp and she tried grasping the fingers that were lodged deep into her tangled hair. The man yanked her back, her body slamming into his.

“Youbitch,” he snarled, breathing heavily into her neck. He tightened his grip while she flailed.

She was so close.

“Let me go!” She elbowed him as hard as she could. He cursed loudly, angrier than before, as he reined her back by the hair and tossed her against the wall like a ragdoll. Her back smashed into the hard surface and she crumpled onto the floor. Stars danced in her waning vision as the man stooped down in front of her. He grasped another handful of her hair and pulled her head back so she was staring up at him.

“Let’s see what you’re hiding under these rags,” he growled. His dark brown eyes were lit with animosity and battle fervor. He was too much of a coward to face Feng Mian alone, but he had no qualms pushing Zhi Ruo around when she was half his size.

“Let me go!” she snapped, digging her fingernails across his face with a swipe.

He shouted and released her, grabbing his face. She scrambled up on her knees to launch herself back in the hallway, but he slapped her, hard. Her face whipped to the side and crashed into the wall. Pain erupted on her cheek and the back of her head. The iron tang of blood filled her mouth and she blinked back tears of pain. The man was shouting something at her, but she couldn’t focus. All she could do was swing her arms and fists and legs.

The man punched her again and again, and this time, the fight left her limbs and her body slumped to the floor. Herface throbbed and she could taste the blood streaming down her mouth. Her eye had swollen shut immediately. A soft groan escaped her lips.

Everything hurt.

She had never been brutally attacked like this. Even back in the royal palace when that noble had groped her, she hadn’t felt this weak, thispowerless.

The soldier straddled her and grasped the front of her dress and ripped it. The sound resonated in the tight space loudly, almost crashing over the clang of steel. The rush of cold seeped over her exposed breasts, goosebumps running over her flesh like wildfire.

The tension in the room immediately thickened. Zhi Ruo protested weakly, but she could barely move her hands. Her mouth was so full of blood she was practically choking on it.

She squeezed her eyes shut. She didn’t want to be here right now. She wanted to disappear into the floors. Into the wind itself. Somewhere far away from this place that smelled like rot, death, and despair.

“Don’t—” Feng Mian snarled. His voice grew louder, overpowering everything. “Don’t. You. Fucking. Touch. Her.”

His roar seemed to awaken something within her. She snapped her eyes open just in time to see the soldier turn his head to look at Feng Mian.

Everything happened so fast. Feng Mian flung something at them; it whizzed through the bars and lodged straight into the man’s eye. The man jerked back, gasping loudly. Blood gushed over Zhi Ruo’s face, and she stared in horror at the knife sticking out of the man’s eye socket. He touched his face with trembling hands, the pain seeming to register on his face a second too late.

A scream ripped from his throat. He bucked back, pale hands smearing the blood over his face. “M-my eye! My eye!” he screamed.

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