Chapter 192: No escape
Hye Yang felt her body freeze. What did he mean by ’let them in’? Let who in?
Her mind raked with so many possibilities and her heart began to pound heavily against her chest. Her fingers found her opposite arms and she clung her nails deep into her skin, bruising herself in the process.
Like a Red Sea parting, the crowd gave way to let the some people walk forward. The sound of numerous feet hitting the ground slid into Hye Yang’s ears. She heard the sound of metal and immediately deduced that it was chains.
Her heart skipped a beat. She feared to see the people who were being let in now more than ever.
A group of cheetah warriors made their way forward to the centre, some behind and some in front of beast people of different body types and sizes bound by the hands and feet with chains. The cheetah warriors in front stepped to the side to reveal four beast men whose faces were covered with sack cloth.
Hye Yang felt a lump form in her throat. She did not need to see their faces to know who they were. She recognised these rogues. She had bribed them nicely with gold to aid do her bidding several times. And even now, they were the ones she paid to destroy the farm in the cheetah clan.
"Make them kneel." Ming Tao commanded. Immediately, the back of the knees of the beast men was whipped and they all dropped to their knees brashly.
Ming Tao returned his attention to Hye Yang, her rageful gaze was now replaced with what looked like fear. The end of his lips curled as he saw that. "Do you have anything you want to confess, daughter of the fox clan, Hye Yang or do you want this to proceed as I intend it to?" He asked in a crude tone.
Hye Yang let her eyes meet Ming Tao. He was not smiling at her and there was not a singe flicker of concern on that face of his. The man she had lived with and made trust her all those years was gone, now replaced with someone who was completely riding underneath her sister’s fingers.
This made her heart wrench. If she had known, she would have used her synopsis elsewhere and not on some man who had already gotten his heart taken by her sister!
"Speak when you are asked to. Unless you have nothing to say." Ming Tao ordered.
Hye Yang swallowed. "I. . ." She began, lost of words. "Please, proceed, my lord. My innocent will be proven." Hye Yang muttered.
Ming Tao raised a brow. Even when she was clearly at a disadvantage, this woman did not know when to back away. He raised his hand up and gestured his palm up. "Take off the sack cloths." Ming Tao stated.
Immediately, all the sack cloths concealing the faces of the beast men were raised up by the cheetah warriors behind them. They had an attire tied around their eyes so they could not see.
"Do you rogues know where you are at and what kind of trouble you have gotten yourselves into?" Ming Tao asked.
The bodies of the rogues in chains stiffened. Sweat ran down their bodies and their distress was visibly obvious.
Ming Tao nodded his head once at his cheetah warriors and a whip landed on the backs of the beast rogues, blasting through the air like a gunshot. Mira pulled her hands to her ears and began to pant heavily. Never had she heard such a brutal sound by a whip before. It was then she realised that movies takes the soundtracks that came from those olden days films.
She could not see the backs of these rogues but she could tell by the metallic scent that filled the air that their skin was ripped and blood flowed. This was getting way more intense than she anticipated.
Screams tore through the air at the whipping. Ming Tao gestured that his warriors stop after the first whip. "When I speak to you, you answer." Ming Tao barked in a commanding tone that made silence shoot throughout the environment.
In these parts, no one cared about rogues. Every rogue was banished and a rogue for a reason and that rogue title was a curse that stayed with them their entire life. Even though they were beast people, they were never accepted or treated nicely so even now, no one cared that they had been whipped.
Mira swallowed. She did not know why but she began to fear what kind of death Ming Tao had in mind for her sister.
"Forgive us, my Lord!" One of the rogues pleaded and fell forward to the ground. The others made gestures of grief and murmured for mercy.
"Please, my Lord! We only did bat we did to survive! We needed the payment!"
"We did not mean to wage any war or be on your bad side, my lord!"
"Please spare us! We only carried out a task assigned to us to feed!"
Ming Tao let out a sigh. "You may be rogues but your sense of smell is not gone." Ming Tao started. "Your eyes will not be unbound but you will be allowed to move freely." Ming Tao paused to let his words settle in the air. "Do so with precaution." He added in a sinister tone. "Tell us your crime and sniff around to find out who paid you."
Hye Yang’s head began to feel heavy. She had made so many moves and precision with her plan but she had not been smart enough to not meet the rogues in person and to mask her scent. She knew she was in trouble without it being said out loud and she knew she could not escape it.
Her body began to quake and she searched her head for a solution but none came. Once these rogues pointed out who had paid them, it would be over for her and she knew that she could not run away too.
"Let them have some breathing space to move around." Ming Tao ordered his men. And they obeyed.