GTB Chapter 25

Chapter 25: Regret

In the dense part of the mountain forest, the air was filled with the fragrance of grass and trees, and the occasional chirping of birds sounded like heavenly music.

The slightly westward-slanting sunlight filtered through the leaves like shattered gold, sprinkling delicately on a hidden cave entrance. From the cave, the faint sounds of a woman crying and begging for mercy could be heard.

Inside the cave, it was a different world altogether, clean and tidy, with basic living furniture.

At this moment, on a stone bed covered with brocade on the right side, a man in black was pressing down on a woman in green, tearing at her clothes.

Although the woman’s hands were tied behind her back, her legs struggled desperately. In her panic, she kicked over a low table beside her, followed by a crisp crash.

The black-clothed man paused, turned his head to look at the shattered cup on the ground, a hint of impatience in his eyes. He chuckled evilly and threatened, “Beauty, I like your struggle, but there has to be a limit. Otherwise… if you make me unhappy, you’re the one who’ll suffer.”

Yu Qin looked at the person in front of her, tears streaming down her face. Helplessly, she shook her head and pleaded cautiously, “Please, let me go. I can give you as much silver as you want, but if… if anything happens to me, you won’t be able to escape.”

“Really?”

The black-clothed man wasn’t afraid at all upon hearing this, but laughed instead. “Looks like you’re someone important! But I, Black and White Yama, haven’t been slacking off all these years. We came to Kyoto specifically to pluck flowers like you… the most precious ones.”

As he spoke, the black-clothed man raised himself up and looked at the woman beneath him. “Why don’t you tell me, which family’s daughter are you? Or perhaps… a princess or a county princess?”

After saying this, the black-clothed man wasn’t in a hurry to act. Instead, he stared straight at Yu Qin, excitedly waiting for her answer.

He wasn’t afraid at all, but found it even more thrilling. After all, the higher the status of the woman, the more excited he became.

Moreover, those powerful officials valued face and reputation the most, so most of the time they just let things go. Even if it was their most beloved child, they would at most send people to secretly hunt them down.

But the two of them were highly skilled in martial arts, and they wouldn’t stay for more than a few months before moving on, because once the flowers were plucked, they had to find a new place.

So, killing them wasn’t that easy.

Besides, they brothers adhered to a maxim: “To die under a peony flower is worth it, even as a ghost.”

Looking at the excited lust in the man’s eyes, Yu Qin swallowed her words completely and instead said, “I… I’m just a courtesan, not some noble lady.”

“Haha… you didn’t say that just now. But it doesn’t matter, since you’ve fallen into my hands, you can’t escape.”

As he spoke, he lowered his head and leaned close to Yu Qin’s lips, whispering, “Blame it on your beauty. After all… if you were ugly, I wouldn’t touch you even if you were sent to my bed.”

“Brother.”

Just as the black-clothed man was about to kiss her, a panicked shout came from the cave entrance.

The black-clothed man paused and looked back at the white-clothed man, impatiently asking, “What’s the matter? Why are you so flustered?”

As he spoke, he got off Yu Qin and curiously looked at the woman the white-clothed man was carrying in his arms. “Oh! So that’s why you weren’t carrying her on your shoulder today. You’re holding her so preciously?”

The black-clothed man’s gaze fell on Jiang Jiuchu’s exquisite face, and he involuntarily swallowed.

“Did you kidnap her from the temple too?”

Seeing this, the white-clothed man turned sideways, gently placed the still unconscious Jiang Jiuchu on the other stone bed, and turned to the black-clothed man, saying, “She’s mine. You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”

“Hey, you little brat, you’re even guarding against your own brother? Don’t worry, you play with her first, and when you’re done, we can switch.”

“We’ll see,” the white-clothed man said, frowning slightly as he recalled what he had seen on his way back. “Brother, when I came back, I noticed that someone was following our tracks, searching everywhere. They’ve already found this mountain, and two people seemed to have spotted me, but I shook them off.”

Upon hearing this, the black-clothed man’s expression turned ugly. “Are you sure you shook them off? We finally found this place. It’s extremely well-hidden. I don’t want to be forced to move before we’ve even stayed for two days.”

As he spoke, he glanced at Yu Qin behind him. “We have to play with these two women before we find another place.”

Then, worriedly, he said, “Go out and check. If you find them coming this way, find a way to lead them somewhere else.”

“Alright.” The white-clothed man glanced sideways at Jiang Jiuchu on the bed, picked up a rope beside him and tied her hands and feet. Then, worriedly, he looked at the black-clothed man, “You’re not allowed to touch my woman.”

It wasn’t that he didn’t trust his brother. After all, all these years, whoever caught the person got to enjoy them first.

But today was different. She was so beautiful that he didn’t want to give her back.

So, he was worried that his brother wouldn’t be able to resist breaking the rules.

“Don’t worry! I haven’t even finished with my own yet,” the black-clothed man said, finding it funny to see his brother acting like this. He had never seen his brother so stingy before.

Hearing this, the white-clothed man glanced at the bed opposite him and saw that the girl on the bed, although her hair was disheveled, still had her clothes on. He knew at a glance that nothing had happened yet, so he left the cave with peace of mind.

In the mountain forest, the two black-clothed men who had previously spotted the white-clothed man, one chased after him, and the other immediately took out a whistle and used his inner strength to blow a series of bird calls.

Less than a quarter of an hour after the whistle stopped, Song Fuge arrived, followed by a dozen or so black-clothed men.

“What did you find?” Song Fuge’s icy gaze pierced through his mask, and a suppressed, violent aura leaked out.

“Reporting to the Pavilion Master, this subordinate saw a white-clothed figure heading east. Fifteen has already chased after him, but that person’s lightness skill is extremely fast. I’m afraid Fifteen might… .”

“Go and pursue him immediately.”

Before the subordinate could finish speaking, Song Fuge quickly interrupted and instantly disappeared in front of everyone.

Seeing this, the dozen or so black-clothed men quickly followed him east.

Inside the cave, Jiang Jiuchu was awakened by the sound of a woman crying and slowly opened her eyes with a slight frown.

The stone wall above her and the clear cries beside her made her widen her eyes instantly and immediately turn her head to the right.

However, the scene before her shocked her instantly. After a cry of surprise, she tried to get up, but found that her hands and feet were tied.

Hearing Jiang Jiuchu’s exclamation, the black-clothed man turned his head to look, a lewd smile on his lips. He slowly sat up and began to untie his belt.

Yu Qin, almost completely naked, watched the man slowly untie his belt, her heart slowly sinking to the bottom, replaced by extreme unwillingness.

She was unwilling that heaven would treat her this way. Her future glory was clearly within reach, so why did this happen?

She suddenly regretted it, regretting coming to Ning Yin Temple to see Gu Changxuan. She shouldn’t have kept this way out.

She should have obediently stayed in the Seventh Prince’s residence. Even if she couldn’t win the Seventh Prince’s heart, she could still live without worry.