Chapter 58: Do I Look Like I Said You Could Leave?

Zhu Yuan kicked away the iron chain used to lock Zhu An'an at her feet.

"Single-handedly, you've got guts." Pei Ling tossed aside the remote control in his hand and walked down the steps.

The room's lighting was dim, and on the other side was a pack of wolves eyeing them covetously. This eerie atmosphere made one's heart grow cold, yet Zhu Yuan still gritted her teeth and walked over.

The two stopped in the middle of the empty room.

Pei Ling shot a piercing look over, signaling Zhu Yuan to stand where she was and not get too close to him.

He looked down at the woman before him from his superior position and said with great interest, "What, you know how to train wolves?"

"A little." Zhu Yuan's expression remained unchanged, but her back was already soaked with sweat.

Just kidding, how would she know how to train wolves?

She couldn't even train a dog well.

It was only because her maternal grandfather—that is, the father of Mother Zhu—lived on the vast grasslands.

During her childhood vacations, she often went there, and when she encountered wild wolves while herding sheep with her grandfather, he taught her that this method could disperse a wolf pack.

The whistle must be loud.

The gaze must be firm and sharp.

She had only tried it just now, not expecting it to actually work.

She had successfully bluffed her way through this one.

Glancing at the person who had fainted on the ground, she pleaded with Pei Ling, "Can Second Master Pei give her to me?"

"No."

Pei Ling answered without a moment's hesitation.

He sneered, "You sent someone into my hands, and now you want her back? What, do you think my place is a trash transfer station?"

Who knew that Zhu Yuan would nod quickly, "That's a rather apt description, though I find even the idea of someone like Zhu An'an being trash disgusting."

"Then why take her away?" Pei Ling squinted at her.

"I have my reasons, and I hope Second Master will grant my request."

At first, she hadn't known that Sheng Yu had hidden from her the fact that Lu Huaizhan had deposited fifty million for her; she had drugged Zhu An'an and dumped her at the entrance of the Pei Family Bank, wanting to use Pei Ling's hand to teach her a good lesson.

But things had changed; she had taken the five hundred thousand from the Zhu Family and had to take Zhu An'an away.

Pei Ling acted as if he had heard some kind of joke; no one had ever dared to ask him to "grant a request" to his face, and the coldness around him spread, "Why should I grant your request?"

"Because you owe me." Zhu Yuan met his intimidating gaze, her fingertips digging hard into her palms to keep herself from crumbling.

"I owe you?"

The man's tone dropped, sounding like a blood-stained blade dragging across the floor.

A dangerous aura closed in, and Zhu Yuan felt a jolt of terror; she swallowed hard, raised her hands, and slowly untied the silk scarf around her neck.

A flash of disgust crossed Pei Ling's eyes, "You think you can trade your own body for..."

"Second Master thinks too highly of himself." Zhu Yuan clutched the untied scarf in her hand, and at the same time, she lifted her head slightly, revealing a slender neck.

And that neck, which should have been as flawless as white jade, was covered in red marks.

"These are the marks left behind when Second Master choked me that day."

Pei Ling narrowed his eyes; of course, he remembered choking her neck that day.

"Is it really that exaggerated?"

Of course it wasn't that exaggerated.

They were almost entirely marks left by Sheng Yu's sucking and biting; she had just touched up these marks with makeup before coming, so the tooth marks were invisible, leaving only red welts.

Zhu Yuan's eyes gradually welled up with tears, "That day, Second Master choked my neck without rhyme or reason. I felt aggrieved, but I also felt that your reputation had been damaged. We were both victims, so I didn't want to hold a grudge."

Pei Ling glanced at her battered-looking neck, then at the tears in her eyes, and slowly clenched his fist.

Zhu Yuan sniffled, "But from the truth coming to light until now, Second Master, ask yourself, who is the real victim of this storm? I was slandered with lewd rumors for no reason, and I was almost choked to death. If I had died, even the King of Hell would have cried out for justice on my behalf."

As she spoke, she began to cry with grievance.

Suddenly hearing her crying, the vein on the man's temple throbbed, and he snapped, "Are you acting?"

But the next second, Zhu Yuan bit her lower lip to stop the crying, a whimper escaping her throat. In the dimly lit room, Pei Ling's gaze swept over her aggrieved little face, the long, curled eyelashes stained with tears, and the peach-colored lower lip bitten by her teeth.

He looked again at her neck covered in red marks.

Pei Ling suddenly gritted his back teeth, "Stop crying!"

Zhu Yuan held her breath.

The man kicked the chain, "What benefits did the Zhu Family give you to make you come save her?"

Zhu Yuan sobbed as she answered, "Five hundred thousand."

"Just for five hundred thousand?" Pei Ling looked at her with the eyes of someone looking at an idiot.

Zhu Yuan didn't explain further, instead saying, "Zhu An'an's cheap life is capped at five hundred thousand; I asked for the maximum amount."

"You're quite foul-mouthed when you curse."

Pei Ling turned and sat back down on the black chair, looking up at her, "You say I owe you, I admit it. I can release her, but you must make her leave something behind."

"I will give Second Master an explanation, but before that, I want to handle some private business first."

The man crossed his legs and said indifferently, "As you wish."

Zhu Yuan glanced to the side, walked over, picked up the water gun on the ground, and opened the valve. A powerful jet of water rushed toward Zhu An'an's body, and Zhu An'an woke up in a panic.

Before she could even see clearly, Zhu Yuan grabbed her arm and dragged her toward the iron cage where the wolves were kept.

"Ah—"

Upon seeing the baring, snarling wolves, Zhu An'an screamed in terror and begged for mercy, "Zhu Yuan, please don't do this!"

Zhu Yuan stopped and turned back to stare at her face, "So afraid? Why didn't you think of the consequences when you were harming me?"

"I didn't..."

Before she could finish speaking, Zhu Yuan continued dragging her closer to the cage, and the pack of wolves inside the iron cage began to slam against it and roar furiously again.

Zhu An'an was so terrified that her eyes rolled back and she nearly fainted, unable to even finish her plea for mercy: "I'm sorry... I, I know I was wrong..."

Zhu Yuan opened her phone, tapped on the camera, and began recording a video, "If you know you were wrong, then tell me everything you did to harm me, from beginning to end; if you leave out a single thing, I will drag you one step closer!"

There was less than three steps of distance left to the iron cage.

Pei Ling sat on a chair, staring at Zhu Yuan's face with composed leisure.

Until Zhu An'an had confessed every single thing she had done to harm Zhu Yuan, including drugging her at Lu Huaizhan's funeral, having people spread the news that money could be borrowed from the Pei Family Bank, secretly taking photos of her being taken away by Lou Yi, and how she had stirred up trouble in front of the Zhu couple, among other matters both big and small.

Zhu Yuan sent the video to Zhu Chaoqin and put her phone away.

Zhu An'an knelt and sprawled on the ground, drenched in water and shivering uncontrollably.

"C-can I go now?"

Zhu Yuan raised her eyes to look at Pei Ling; she still owed him an explanation.

She turned and walked toward the wall, picking out the sharpest-looking one from a whole row of knives.

Turning back to stand before Zhu An'an, Zhu Yuan said coldly, "I warned you not to overreach, or I would chop off your hands if I were unhappy, but you insisted on seeking your own death, even daring to provoke the Second Master of the Pei Family."

"No!" Zhu An'an screamed in terror, "You can't chop off my hand, you can't."

Zhu Yuan flicked the knife in her hand, "It's not that I can't, it's that I dare not."

As she spoke, she tossed the knife in her hand toward Pei Ling.

Pei Ling raised his hand and caught the handle in mid-air.

Zhu Yuan turned around and closed her eyes, urging him, "Second Master, please chop off one of her fingers for me; I'm afraid of blood, so please be quick."

Pei Ling stared at her face and let out a cold laugh.

He stood up and walked slowly toward Zhu An'an.

Following a shrill, miserable scream from Zhu An'an, the man's icy voice reached her ears, "Drag her out and give her to her family."

Zhu Yuan turned to leave as well, but was blocked by a hand.

"Did I say you could leave?"