I tried to resist, but was quickly held down.
"Be obedient, or you'll suffer a lot."
Yan Yan's words went unchallenged. A few black - clothed men glanced at us. The leader, a man with hawk - like eyes, sneered and said in a sarcastic tone,
"You're really nice to this guy."
I didn't understand what he meant by "nice". Did this guy treat me well? That was utter nonsense.
"You bastard! I regarded you as a friend, but this is how you treat me. Do you really want them to treat me like a monster, like a cow or a sheep to be slaughtered?"
"Who said you'd be slaughtered? We're going to capture you for a wedding."
"What?"
I stammered and looked at the fat guy beside me. My lips twitched as I stared at Yan Yan, waiting for an explanation.
At this moment, this poker - faced guy said nothing. He just stared straight ahead expressionlessly.
The words "I don't need to explain" were clearly written on his face.
I said nothing and stiffly turned to the guy beside me. "What on earth is going on? I need an explanation."
The fat guy looked innocent. "I don't know when it turned out like this."
Just then, Hua Lian'er spoke up. "There's nothing you can't know. Let me tell you. This matter is actually very simple. If you don't believe it, we can have a good talk. I always thought you were quite interesting."
The young girl's eyes were fixed on me. I felt a bit stiff and sensed something was off.
Hua Lian'er smiled and told me a fact.
"In these mountains, there was once a legend. They needed to find the fated person of the holy son of their clan. Only when the holy son marries this fated person will the clan enjoy peace and prosperity."
"Wait, are you sure it's appropriate to use the phrase 'peace and prosperity' at this moment? Peace and prosperity my ass! You're kidding, right? What's the situation now and you still talk about peace and prosperity? You guys are a primitive - society race and you're trying this on me. I'm not buying it, okay?"
I wanted to push Hua Lian'er away. To my surprise, she just sighed indifferently.
She played with something in her hand and smiled at me. "Actually, you don't need to be so nervous. I know what you're thinking better than anyone else. It's okay. If you want to leave here, you can resist. The three of us definitely won't stop you. I believe your fat friend is willing to help you too, but only if we can escape from here. To be honest, we've tried to escape before, and the result was predictable."
I turned to look at the fat guy and met his helpless gaze. It was obvious that the fat guy might have wanted to escape before. I didn't know why he had set me up, nor why he had surrendered without a struggle.
All I could say was that it was fate. I sighed, shook my head helplessly, and turned to walk down. Just then, someone behind me shouted,
"Stop."
I looked at the guy and was shocked to find that Yan Yan not only didn't stop the black - clothed leader but also took a paintbrush from his hand.
"I'll do the painting. You don't need to interfere."
"You're quite possessive. So you've finally found your little wife interesting, but it seems she hates you a lot."
"Don't be a good - for - nothing at this moment. You have your own status. There's no need to treat such a wonderful person like this."
Wait a minute. I realized that the holy son I was supposed to marry was Yan Yan. So all his previous actions were just for fun?
I felt my worldview was on the verge of collapse. I forced a smile and was about to ask what was going on, but he just gave me a cold look and then turned away without saying a word.
I felt like my confused expression was about to break. I forced myself to say something, but the next second, a voice came from behind me.
"Wait. Stop for a moment."
I turned around and saw the fat guy winking at me. There was some white powder in his hand, and it trickled into my fingers through his fingertips.
While Yan Yan was causing trouble for me on one side, he was pretending to hand me the powder nonchalantly.
What was the function of this powder? I raised my eyebrows but said nothing. I quietly hid the powder in my palm along his hand.
The red stuff spread on my skin along with the smell of blood.
The few black - clothed men all turned around at the same time. Looking at their expressions, I felt extremely annoyed.
I sighed and was about to say something when I was immediately held down.
The man shook his head at me, signaling me not to speak. I stared into his eyes and sensed something strange.
"Why are you doing this?"
I asked carefully, but my mouth was immediately covered.
Wait, buddy. What did you use to cover my mouth?
Yan Yan grabbed a tattered cloth from a nearby chair and stuffed it into my mouth.
God knows how frustrated I was at this moment. Could you be any more excessive? This guy was really going too far.
The cloth smelled of stench. It was a black cloth stained with some animal's blood. It was extremely disgusting.
My clothes and pants were untied, and the red stripes spreading on my skin looked eerily flickering.
Coupled with the evasive actions of the people around me, it was hard not to think of something unpleasant.
"Wait. What are you doing?"
I was about to say something when suddenly a figure rushed over. It was Hua Lian'er.
Hua Lian'er's eyes sparkled as she stared at the guy's fingers. There was a bit of flame on his fingers.
Only then did I notice that he had painted on me with a tissue dipped in fuel.
The tissue had a gentle touch. When it touched my skin, it created an ambiguous ripple.
Seeing this scene, Hua Lian'er's eyes sparkled like a hungry wolf seeing meat. Her gaze was not on me but on the guy beside me.
"You really live up to your name as the holy son. You're amazing. Tell me, how did you use this technique? This specially - developed dye is not easy to find."
I saw her expression and said nothing. I realized that in the eyes of people like Hua Lian'er, Yan Yan might be a rare treasure.
The way she treated Yan Yan was as if she had found a huge treasure trove. A huge treasure trove was always welcome anywhere.