(Author’s note: Warning! I know a lot of us do not want to read r.a.p.e, so if you’re someone who hates that, do skip this chapter. Thank you!)

  Xiu Mei got distracted hence the men were able to tie her down immediately.

  "Ying Yue!" She called out her friend’s name while struggling. She tried to struggle against them by continuously kicking and trying to bite anyone who attempted to go near her. She tried her best to apply whatever self-defense she learned from her brothers.

  She panicked even more when she started hearing Ying Yue’s pleas and cry. She trembled with fear and even though there are people obstructing her view of what was happening on the other side, she didn’t dare imagine what was happening at all.

  Xiu Mei knew that once she tried to picture that, she won’t be able to take it.

  "Mei Mei! H-help me…… ahh!…… No!"

  What she heard next were Ying Yue’s cries and someone’s m.o.a.ns in the background.

  ���No!……ahhh……s-stop!……g-get o-ah!……Mei……hnnn!"

  "Hn~ aah~" That was the sound of a man m.o.a.ning.

  Then she faintly heard Ying Yue’s muffled screams. Despair and dread filled her at that exact moment.

  Even though she couldn’t see Ying Yue, even though she couldn’t see what was happening, the noise resounded in her ears like a heavy drum.

  It sounded very ominous as if it was a sign that her ending is already sealed. That no matter how much she tried to fight them, she’ll still be violated and be left at their kidnapper’s mercy.

  Xiu Mei was too stunned to realize that she unconsciously paused on her actions. Seeing this, the men surrounding her took this an opportunity to hold her down properly.

  "Sh——" Before she could even react, a rag was jammed into her mouth, silencing her cries. Xiu Mei whimpered, feeling someone touching both her feet to hold her down. Her arm was pinned above her head again.

  She felt another hand touching her thighs and someone licking her leg. The man that was holding her shoulders jumped and hovered above her.

  Seeing the intense l.u.s.t in their eyes, Xiu Mei’s gaze trembled as she tried struggling again.

  ’No! No!! They’re disgusting! Go away! Go away! No! I wanna go home!!’ Is what Xiu Mei’s thoughts were at that moment. Since her mouth was blocked by a rag, she couldn’t scream for help at all.

  At that very moment, the courage she had before shattered into pieces. In her mind, she was immensely regretful and it felt like the darkness was consuming her so slowly. She was filled with anguish thinking that no matter how much she tries to struggle tonight, she would fall in their hands and be at their mercy.

  Half of her soul was already screaming at her to just give up. That struggling would just prolong the pain and torture. That it would be better to just get this over with instead of being continuously torture by the pain.

  Xiu Mei felt someone attacking her neck. She only knew that her uniform was now being torn apart by these men assaulting her. The man bit her skin from her neck up to her collarbone. She even felt someone pulling up her top and touching her skin underneath it. The hand was slowly climbing upwards until it landed on her not yet developed chest.

  As they continuously attacked different parts of her body, Xiu Mei’s mental state was in shambles. She felt disgusted when the men kept touching her body but no matter how much she wanted to push them away, the number of hands holding down her limbs and body isn’t something she could overpower with her body.

  The cold crept in her body, with most of her uniform now torn apart. Her sanity was slowly shattering. A minute ago, she was still struggling but right now, she felt like a lifeless doll that won’t move anymore.

  She wanted to fight, but the shame and despair were breaking her soul. She felt lost, and at the back of her wind, she was thinking when will this be over?

  She couldn’t hear Ying Yue’s cries and the m.o.a.ning sounds anymore. Maybe it’s because her body was finally closing off her senses due to the intense anguish she was feeling.

  Her sight was slowly darkening as if she was now sinking into darkness.

  Xiu Mei didn’t know how long she stayed like that, but somehow, the pain she was expecting did not come.

  With a blank gaze, she watched the men trying to assault her bleed to death in front of her. Even when their blood sprayed on her face or when the dead body pressed on her, Xiu Mei did not react at all. Her gaze stayed on the ceiling, staring at nowhere at all. Her mind blanked out completely. She was numb.

  Then someone finally pushed away the dead body that was pressing on her. She couldn’t recognize that person’s face, but she smelled the familiar scent that her uncle usually wore. A piece of cloth was quickly wrapped around her, but Xiu Mei did not feel warm at all. Instead, she felt colder.

  She unconsciously traveled her eyes towards the opposite side of the room. Her eyes paused on the area where some people were gathering around. Because a lot of them are moving around, she could see a white hand outstretched out on the ground.

  Xiu Mei’s gaze trembled. She didn’t see the medics trying to revive her, she didn’t see the blood that was pooling around her body.

  Her eyes were only glued on the arm that wasn’t hidden in her sight. Her body moved absentmindedly. She couldn’t hear her uncle’s calling her out, and she unconsciously fought back the people who were trying to stop her from approaching the owner of the arm.

  Barefooted, she approached that area. She stopped in front of the arm that wasn’t moving and stared at it for a long time.

  She crouched down and wrapped her hand around it. It was a bit cold but still warm. Her gaze shifted from the hand, then to the arm, and then to the owner of the outstretched arm.

  She felt someone grabbing her by the shoulders but she quickly pushed him away.

  As soon as her gaze landed on that person’s face, Xiu Mei slightly regained her senses. Her hand trembled, reaching out to touch the face of that person.

  This person……

  "Ying……Yue……" She mumbled, caressing the face of that person.

  After uttering her name, all the memories flooded back into her brain. Her memories with her best friend when they were young, Ying Yue’s face when she won her first award in the ballet competition, the expressions she would make when she sees a handsome person, Ying Yue’s frustrated expression every time she beats her when they play in the arcade, how much the two of them enjoy eating street foods after sneaking out from school, then when they went to Italy to celebrate her birthday, and many many more.

  A minute ago, she felt very empty. But now, the pain and torment were haunting the depth of her soul.

  "Ying Yue?" With the last piece of sanity she has left, Xiu Mei called out her name.

  But the person she was calling out did not respond at all. Xiu Mei stared at the brown lifeless eyes that were staring back at her.

  "Ying Yue?" She called out again. Can’t she hear her voice? Why is she just looking at her?

  "Yue……" Then her sight moved downwards. There, she saw a piece of glass embedded on her stomach.

  She quickly tried to cover it, attempting to stop her bleeding when a hand stopped her movements.

  "Mei’er, no." A voice sounded behind her. But she didn’t listen at all and tried moving that hand away. Eventually, that person hugged her from behind, stopping her movements.

  "Ying Yue!"

  "Mei’er, stop!"

  "No!"

  Xiu Mei didn’t know how she managed to push that person away but she returned to Ying Yue’s side and cupped her face.

  "Wake up! Ying Yue, wake up!" She desperately called her name yet, she didn’t get any response.

  Xiu Mei was clearly not in her right mind. She did not even notice the slight change in the color of the skin around Ying Yue���s neck.

  She repeated her name multiple times. She was desperately clinging into Ying Yue’s lifeless body while repeating her name like it was some kind of chant. Because of that, Xiu Mei was now also covered with Ying Yue’s blood.

  Her uncle pulled her away again from Ying Yue, and with the help of the other soldiers, they quickly blocked her line of sight of Ying Yue’s dead body.

  "No! Don’t take her away! Ying Yue!!" She pleaded.

  "Give her some tranquilizer." Xiu Mei’s uncle ordered to the nearby medic that checked Ying Yue’s pulse awhile ago.

  Xiu Mei continued struggling in his arms until she felt a sting on her arm. She didn’t know what happened but her feet suddenly felt like jelly, and her body felt weaker and weaker. Despite that, she whimpered and called out Ying Yue’s name until she finally blacked out in her uncle’s arms.