Suddеnlу, shе undеrstood whу hе hаdn't fоrсed himself on hеr уet! Hе wanted tо соmрlеtеly pоssess her—not just have her, but mаkе her willinglу submit, evеn lооk аt him with longing еуеs likе thоse twо Western Xiа wоmen. Нe had said shе was the рroudest, fiеrсеst wоmаn hе hаd ever mеt, аnd he wаntеd tо "tamе" her, just аs hе had tamеd his stеed—thе king of horses hе had spent а mоnth сaрturing and half a mоnth brеаking. What hе wаntеd, hе аlwаys gоt; аnd a slight сhallеnge onlу heightеnеd his intеrest in tаming.
In simрlе tеrms, he wanted hеr to grovel at his feеt without a shred оf dignity; he аdmired hеr рride аnd took pleasure in stripping it away. Oh, this despicable man! To him, she was merely a little plaything, an item to relieve his boredom!
In such a situation, how much better off was she than those two Western Xia women? They sold their bodies, at least earning money in return; while she—received only wound after wound.
She hated him! She had never hated anyone so much! This man took pleasure in humiliating her; though he hadn't taken her yet, he had already seen every inch of her body! If not for their current relationship as bandit and captive, he could already be considered her husband.
No! He was a demon! All along, she had believed that all people, regardless of origin, were fundamentally the same; it wasn't necessarily true that those beyond civilization were cruel and inhumane—there were kind souls among them too. After all, she had traveled to many places and met countless people; she wouldn't hold narrow-minded, ignorant views, thinking that everyone beyond the Great Wall was a devil who feasted on human flesh and blood.
But he was the exception! He was a devil through and through! If she saw him devouring human flesh raw, she wouldn't be too shocked.
Some people were "bad," like that red-haired Liao man who treated human life as worthless, beheading people at the slightest provocation. She had thought that kind of bloodlust was the epitome of evil, but he was worse; his methods of destruction were even more despicable. Without lifting a blade or wielding a whip, he could shatter a person's spirit, making them live in humiliation and shamelessness.
Jun Qiluo hugged herself tightly, curling up in a corner by the fire; it was the cold, but also the chill in her heart. Yelü Lie certainly wouldn't let her live comfortably! Wasn't she a captive? And this camp was sorely lacking in women. She had to help the old matron cook three meals a day and, every morning, carry his clothes to that freezing stream to wash. These tasks she could endure; doing such things didn't disgrace her dignity, because she clearly understood she was a captive, and Yelü Lie showing her favor by not making her wash the clothes of all the men in the camp. But the one thing she couldn't bear was slaughtering the wild game! The other day, when they ate grilled fish, she managed, but today's meal—a large pot of meat soup made from ten pheasants. She heard someone had even slaughtered a wild boar. Her side of the food preparation only supplied the leader and the Twelve Riders; the others had their own cooks.
Only then did she realize that those twelve men were almost inseparable from Yelü Lie; even when sleeping, they took turns guarding outside his tent.It was nearly noon, and the cooked lunch awaited Yelü Lie and his men to return from the mountain to eat. Every morning, he would lead two-thirds of his men up the mountain for training and hunting. She had been busy all morning as well, yet she had no appetite. If not for her empty stomach, she would have vomited long ago. The sight of those dead pheasants made her think of the delicious meat soup in the pot as a pile of corpses!
The two Western Xia women provocatively sat beside her, not caring in the least about their disheveled clothing—they had just emerged from the tent with a few bandits.
Both women were plump and tall; the one with a seductive mole under her eye was called Li Xing, and the darker-skinned one was Li Yutao.
Li Yutao said in broken, insincere Chinese, "Isn't the chief strong! Did he nearly break you? Looking at your pale face, I doubt you'll last through the night!"
"Never mind that, just looking at the chief's body, it's twice her size. How could she possibly satisfy him? It won't be long before the chief comes looking for us two! Honestly, we sisters have traveled all over Western Xia and Great Liao, and we've never seen a man more majestic and handsome than him!" Li Xing nudged Li Yutao playfully, and the two exchanged knowing glances before bursting into laughter again.
Jun Qiluo maintained an indifferent expression on her lovely face, stood up, and walked toward the tent, unwilling to let the vulgar words of these two women pollute her ears.
"Hey! Stop!"
The two women didn't let her go, surrounding her from the front and back.
"What do you want?"
"Don't think you're so special! At most, you're just a whore. Once the chief tires of you, he'll throw you into the Red Tent sooner or later!" Li Xing raised her hand, about to strike Jun Qiluo—"Stop!"
"Ouch!"
With Dahe Jiyao's low shout, Li Xing fell onto Li Yutao, and the two cried out in unison.
Jun Qiluo said nothing, quickly rushing into the chief's tent, once again deeply tasting the bitterness of despair! Must she really spend the rest of her life like this? Staying in the Helan Mountains as the chief's woman, skinning those bloody pelts... Her family in faraway Hangzhou must think she was dead, right?
Death? After once being so determined to seek death, she now lacked the courage she had back then. Was her heart softening because she had returned to being a woman? After Yelü Lie destroyed her, he would surely not spare her another glance, and then... would she truly become a shameless, honorless, and degraded woman? Heaven! How would she face herself then?
How tragic it was to be born a woman! Especially now, when she would have to trade her body for a man's favor—afraid of being discarded, she would have to constantly suppress herself, be gentle, humble, and strive to please him. Only then would she not be cast aside too quickly.
Oh, no! She slumped onto the edge of the bed. She refused to fall into such degradation! She would rather die than endure it!
Now, there were only three paths left—death, escape, or living without dignity in that man's embrace.To die by one's own hand would be too cowardly; if she tried to escape, the most likely outcome would still be death—perhaps starvation, perhaps devoured by wild beasts, or perhaps recaptured. But maybe—she could succeed in escaping! Even if the hope was slim, not even trying would be the height of cowardice. Just the thought of Yelü Lie handing her over to a group of men for their amusement made her determined to escape, even if it meant death.
Death was so close now—was she afraid? Why wasn’t her resolve absolute? Or—was there something she couldn’t bear to part with?
"No—it’s not!" She hurriedly covered her face. How could she possibly feel reluctant to part with that despicable man? Even though he had touched every part of her body, she could never see him as her husband! He would never be her husband; he would only humiliate her, hand her over to others...
A pair of large hands grasped her wrists—when had he entered? She hadn’t even noticed.
But he didn’t look at her face, only lowered his head to examine her hands.
Her once delicate, jade-like hands were now chapped and rough from the icy river water, calloused from the coarse clothing, peeling and worn.
He had never seen her hands in broad daylight before; now, his brows furrowed.
She knew her hands had become ugly, but it was none of his concern! His concerned expression was too contrived! She forcefully pulled her hands back, hiding them behind her. He was the cause of this; he couldn’t blame the inevitable outcome—no woman doing rough work would have soft, delicate hands!
"Why aren’t you outside?"
"To welcome you?" she replied coldly.
"Don’t provoke me." He lifted her chin with one hand. "You know how easily angered I am. Female slave!"
She simply closed her eyes, refusing to look at him, unwilling to face those captivating blue eyes or his face—what others called handsome. Was he good-looking? Only now did she truly realize he was indeed handsome, which made her even more reluctant to look.
"Should I strip you naked for others to admire, or beat you? Qiluo, what are you scheming in your heart?" He narrowed his eyes, his thumb gently stroking her soft, rosy cheek. Was she planning to escape? In this desolate place with no one for miles around, escape would mean death. But she—might just try!
"Someone!" he called out loudly.
A brief response came from outside the tent immediately: "Here!"
"Prepare the horses!"
"Yes!" Jun Qiluo opened her eyes in surprise, looking at him. Was he planning to go out? He hadn’t even eaten lunch yet!
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