The news about Lin Xulian's disappearance spread throughout the manor causing them to panic. Steward Wu, being an elder and experienced servant, warned everyone to keep this news inside the manor to protect the reputation of their master. And also to protect their lives from her overprotective brothers. They knew that the two are good people but their sister is their reversed scale. They will surely turn hostile to protect Lin Xulian.
*****
While the people in the Lin Manor are about to go crazy and panic, somewhere inside the woods outside the city gates, a wooden cabin stood isolated from the outside world. Through the cold silent night, low groans and painful howls can be heard.
Inside the cabin, ten men are curled up into balls in every corner of the room. They are the same men that Xulian saw inside the teahouse. They are all in a sorry, messy state. They looked at the woman in a fiery red robes in front of them. She is currently smiling sweetly at them while mumbling something they could not understand. Sometimes she would praise them for being good boys that never failed to instill more fear in their hearts. This woman is too scary. She looked like a red demon who crawled out the fiery pits of hell. If they could turn back time, they would never accept this job at all.
Back to two hours ago.
When Xulian and Tianshi went out the teahouse, two men followed them while maintaining a good distance. When Xulian suddenly stopped, they panicked. Then they heard her say. "Tianshi, go back inside and buy some varieties of tea. I'll go buy some pastries. We might not be able to go out again anytime soon so I will take this chance to stock up some of my favorite snacks. We don't have time to spare so let's just meet at the back alley of the manor where we leap off earlier."
Hearing this, they heave a sigh of relief and knew that their chance has come. The two gave an eye signal to the rest of the men and scattered in different direction. When Xulian entered an alley, the ten men suddenly appeared and surrounded her. Then Xulian stood in a fighting position seemingly wanted to fight to death.
When the ten men started to attack, Xulian defend and fought back. She made sure to hit each men at least one time. When she was done, her movement slowed down. She panted slightly looking tired. Seeing this, one of them went behind her and hit her nape. Xulian shifted her body a little then fell down. The men rejoiced. They took this chance to take off her veil.
Seeing her bare face, the ten men's breathing turn ragged. "Such a beauty! I've never seen such pure angelic beauty in my whole life." One of the men said lecherously. He was drooling while looking at Xulian's beautiful face.
Although his breathing is uneven due to lust, the leader reprimanded his men. "Stop what you're thinking. Our job is to take her to the place and hand her over to our employer. Obviously she is reserved for him. Don't risk this important job for a woman. After we get paid, you can have as many women as you like."
The men then retreated and let the leader carry Lin Xulian towards the carriage they prepared earlier. After he lay her down on the floor of the carriage, he reluctantly closed the door and proceed to the place that his employer told them.
After the leader left, Xulian opened her eyes. Looking around the carriage, she found a cushion and comfortably took a seat and smiled coldly. She took out ten silver needles hidden on her bracelet and checked if they are all clean. Seeing that they are, her smile deepened. They didn't realize that every time she attacked them, she would prick them with her poisoned needles. They are her personal creation. She never tried it but these men were kind enough to be her test subjects.
When the carriage stopped, Xulian pretended to faint again. The leader took her and carry her in his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. They entered the forest on foot. When they arrived in a wooden cabin, they placed Xulian in a bed at the center of the room. The soft and comfortable bed is a huge contrast to the simple looking cabin. It was the only furniture in the room. The men could tell that the place is used for one purpose only. That is to indulge in a life of debauchery. They now know what this young lady's outcome is. They don't exactly know her identity. They only knew that she always wore red with a red veil.
While they were waiting for their employer, the ten men started to feel pain. Some feel like there are ants crawling underneath their skin. Some felt like they were being stabbed by tiny needles all over their body. Some felt like they are being burned from within. The sensation varied, but they all agreed on one thing, it is very painful. One by one they started to fall down to the floor. They curled themselves into a ball trying to lessen the pain.
Soon the room was filled with their painful howls.
After the tenth men fell down, Xulian opened her eyes and slowly stood up. The ten men's eyes widened in shock seeing her awake and even smiling sweetly towards them. Their body trembled and they feel unexplainable fear.
"It seems the effects of the poisons are almost the same and it start effecting at the same time. I only varied one herb in each. Good boys, thank you for testing them out for me. Can I ask you how you feel?"
Hearing no reply, Xulian got disappointed. "It seems that the pain is too unbearable that you can't speak. I should lessen the pain next time. But right now, this pain is just right for you. Being in the Snake Assassin Guild, you would kill anyone for money. You would even rape women and young girls before killing them. I will make you feel the pain they've gone through." Xulian identified them when she was carried by the leader. She saw a black jade pendant carved with a snake using melted silver. The ability of the Lin Mercenary Clan to investigate is not just for show. this is also the reason while Xulian knew about them and also about other hateful assassin guild.
The assassins regret it now. Not only because they took a kidnapping job instead of killing, but because they were blind enough to mistaken a demon as an angel. They never regretted being an assassin because it's the job that fed them and their family. Although reluctant, they just accepted their fate to die today in the hands of a woman.