Chương 105: We Are All Wild Dogs

"Heh." Zhao Lian'er stood up with a cold laugh and continued her story.

"From then on, I settled down. In that courtyard, I followed the older girls. Mornings were for learning to sing, play instruments, and dance. Afternoons were for practicing all kinds of strange moves... A few years passed like that. My body developed fully. I grew into a graceful young woman. It was time for me to start receiving clients. Hahaha..." She laughed, her face twisting with savagery.

"Those men's eyes were like wild dogs'. They stared at me greedily, tongues out, licking their lips, like they wanted to swallow me whole. It reminded me of that rainy day on the hilltop. The wild dog with its sharp teeth and blood-red tongue, lapping up the grass seeds from the puddle. It also reminded me of Da Chang, crouched over that pit, sucking on Grandpa Yang's hand. Drool dripping, gnawing with his white teeth, biting through the finger bones, then sucking out the marrow. That image...

haha, it was beautiful..." A strange excitement flickered across Zhao Lian'er's face, her expression twisted and wild.

"But I was too young back then. I didn't understand anything. I only knew I was being hunted by wild dogs. I was scared. I wanted to go home to my mother. I ran. I was always good at running away. No dog could catch me. Haha. I went to Madam Wang, the same old madam who'd whipped me before. She whipped me again, hard, and threatened to lock me in the woodshed and starve me for three days.

"No! I'd sworn to myself that I would never go hungry again. Never!" Zhao Lian'er grew more agitated, her eyes blazing with madness.

"So they wanted me to play with the wild dogs? Haha, fine. I'd play along. I'd tame them, turn them from wild dogs into obedient little puppies. I'd make them lift their tails to shit. They'd never squat again. Hahaha.

"I realized I was just like my father. A natural liar. In front of those wild dogs, I'd put myself down, pretending to be a lowly ant. And I'd flatter them, calling them great beings worthy of the Celestial Emperors. They'd float on air. I was a great actress too, just like my father. I'd dab a little red rouge on my cheeks, make them flush. I'd let my eyes glisten with tears, shy and timid, like a budding flower.

"Any man who saw me would feel the urge to protect me. I'd lean into their arms and pour out a few woes, and they'd be too gentle to touch me. Haha. That was my special talent. None of the other girls could learn it. Maybe Madam Wang was right. I was never wild grass. I was a white lotus born in the mud. Everyone who saw me felt pity and couldn't bear to harm me. They'd circle around me, tongues out, crouching down, sniffing at my toes with wet noses, tails wagging happily. Haha. I was their queen.

'Good doggy. Good boy.' They were so obedient. They'd hand over all their money. Some even wanted to buy my freedom. Heh. As if I needed their help.

"I'd been saving up for a long time. I was almost there. Just a little more, and I could buy my own freedom. And then, my dear father, why did you have to show up? Why did you kneel before me, crying, saying you were sorry? Did you think I was still that naive little girl? Did you think I'd still listen to you? Heh. My heart had long since turned cold. My blood had run cold too. I had only one word for you: Get lost! Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"But then why did you say, 'Daughter, my dear daughter, your mother is sick in bed. I have no money for medicine. She doesn't have much time. Please, save your mother!' My heart and blood warmed again. She was the one who loved me most. She'd shielded me from my father's whip with her own body. She'd held me close when my father tried to trick me away, begging me not to go. If I had said, 'I can't leave you, Mother,' instead of 'Get lost, you old hag,' would I have ended up here? Heh.

"I gave my money to my father. What a fool I was. Because... That bastard took the silver I'd worked so hard to save and spent it on wine and other brothels! Did you think I wouldn't find out just because you went to other brothels? Every girl in every brothel in this city had come to me for advice. I knew them all better than you did! And then, my dear father, after losing everything at the gambling den, you came crawling back to me? How dare you show your face! Get lost! I screamed at him.

And he raised his hand and left a red handprint on my face. Haha. How dare you hit me? Do you think I'm still part of your family?

"Madam Wang saw me being hit and brought over a dozen burly servants. Without a word, they set upon my father.

'You old bastard! How dare you hit our top courtesan! You've got a death wish!' My father lay on the ground, wailing pitifully, begging for mercy. He explained that after he took the money home, my mother had already died in bed. He was devastated and drowned his sorrows in wine. Then he'd been tricked into brothels and gambling dens and lost everything. Was Mother dead? Wuwuwu. My dear mother, why couldn't you wait for me? Wait until I'd earned enough to take you away to a better life. Wuwuwu...

My heart softened again. I let my father go and gave him some more money. Hahaha. What a fool I was. My dear father had fooled me again.

"One early morning, Madam Wang woke me up and said a relative was downstairs looking for me. I went down and saw my mother! She was dying. The doctor said she'd starved for too long; her stomach was beyond saving. She couldn't digest anything. My mother stared at me with cloudy, lifeless eyes, as if she wanted to say something. But she didn't speak. She just reached out her withered hand and touched my forehead. Then she closed her eyes and passed away peacefully. I held my mother and knelt on the ground, weeping.

Mother, don't leave me. Don't go. Damn you, Zhao Old Eight. You deserve to die!

"After that day, I stopped trusting anyone. Hahaha. I have to thank my mother's death for waking me up, for letting me see these ugly ants for what they really are. Do you know what really happened? Madam Wang had sent word to my father, telling him I had money. She had someone goad him into coming to me, to take my money and spend it all, so I'd never be able to leave that filthy, disgusting cage! Hahaha. So that's it. I was never a white lotus. I was just a weed caught in someone's palm, pushed around. Heh.

Do you think I'd let them have their way?

"I'd become a wild dog. I should have done it long ago. I was never a fragile weed. I was just like Da Chang, a greedy wild dog crouched over a pit, gnawing on bones. Not bones of gold. Bones of blood!" Zhao Lian'er's eyes erupted with blazing light, like two dragons of fire shooting forth! Her long-suppressed rage rose like a mountain, then exploded like a volcano, spreading across her entire being in a flash! In that moment, she was consumed by endless fury!

At the same time, the Dharma Manifestation behind her kept shifting between a lotus and a laughing face. With each shift came a surge of power. The air around her grew heavy and still, as if it could tear apart at any moment... Fang Cheng saw this and cried out in excitement. Hahaha, almost there, almost there. The fresh delicacy was about to be served...

"Lian'er, my dear girl, keep going! Don't stop! Let all the evil inside you out!"