Landlord in the Arctic

A cigarette butt traced an arc through the air.

Its faint, glowing ember landed right on the handsome man’s shirt.

"Fack!" The handsome man jumped, frantically brushing off the still-smoldering cigarette butt.

He saw the cigarette had burned a hole in his shirt. His face flushed with anger, and he couldn’t stop himself from shouting, "Damn it, that’s my ex-wife! What’s wrong with me getting a little close to her?!"

"Hah, ex-wife!" The Black man shot him a disdainful look, his eyes full of contempt. "Jenny was the campus beauty back in the day. I’ll never understand how she fell for a scumbag like you."

Another man, a scrawny, long-haired guy who was clearly high, had bloodshot, dazed eyes.

A sickly, lecherous grin spread across his face.

"Hey man, is Jenny any good? Once we get the ransom, how about we all have some fun with her?"

As he spoke, the long-haired man made obscene gestures, his words dripping with vulgarity.

"Fack, I thought you liked that Barbie doll!" the handsome man sneered, frowning in disgust at the long-haired man.

But the long-haired man paid no mind to Gaston’s attitude.

He rubbed his hands together as he spoke, his vile expression enough to make one sick.

"I like the Barbie doll, and I like Jenny too. And that tattooed chick... Heh heh, I’m gonna have a real good time with her. Her legs are so long!"

Listening to the same vulgar crap these two scumbags rehashed several times a day, the Black man finally snapped.

He grabbed a bag of snacks from nearby and hurled it at them.

"I gave them three days. If any of you dare touch those women in the next three days, I’ll personally take a file and grind your dicks down to nothing, bit by bit."

Just then, the bathroom door of the log cabin swung open, and a burly, white-haired man with a beefy, menacing face stepped out.

He was tall and powerfully built. His arms, as thick as tree stumps, were covered in a dense web of bizarre tattoos.

The moment he appeared, the four men in the living room fell silent. Their crude, unrestrained conversation died instantly.

Their eyes, when they looked at the white-haired man, held more than a little fear.

"Bobby, take some food to the ladies. And remember, no touching." The white-haired man’s gaze landed on the Black man.

"Boss Hal, you know I like men. Women aren’t my thing!"

Bobby got up lazily from the sofa, a nonchalant look on his face.

He shot the other three a smug glance, as if flaunting his particular preference.

He then found a few unopened bags of chips on the garbage-strewn table and sauntered up the stairs, swaying his hips.

"Harold, what if they call the police and don’t pay the ransom?" Gaston asked, his voice laced with worry. He’d been feeling on edge for the past two days. A sense of foreboding lingered in his mind, a feeling that something bad was about to happen.

After all, 2 million US Dollars was no small sum.

Gaston wasn’t sure if some fool would actually be willing to cough up that much money for a few employees.

"It makes no difference whether they pay or not," the white-haired man, Harold, said with a cold laugh. His smile was utterly ruthless, as if human lives were as insignificant as ants to him. "If we get the money, we kill the women and go hide out in Australia. If we don’t get the money, the women still die, and we still go to Australia. The only difference is waiting three days."

"Boss Hal, is the Australia plan set?" the long-haired man asked with a wide grin, his eyes shining with anticipation. He already seemed impatient to get to their new life.

The white-haired man, Harold, nodded. He reached down, picked up a dumbbell from the floor, and began to work out with a steady rhythm.

He spoke between heavy breaths.

"It’s all set. A security job at a gold mine. The place is extremely remote—you won’t see another soul for hundreds of kilometers. We’ll lay low there for a few years, then come back and nab some other rich bastard."

In the guest room on the second floor of the log cabin, the atmosphere was so oppressive it was hard to breathe.

Jenny, Erica, Tammy, and Demi were in the room. Their hands were tied behind their backs, their feet were tightly bound with rope, and cold iron chains were fastened around their necks.

The other end of each chain was secured to a ceiling beam, restricting their movement.

A dark, purple handprint—the clear mark of violence—was visible on Tammy’s face.

She huddled in Jenny’s arms like a frightened fawn, her eyes filled with terror and helplessness as she asked in a pitiful voice.

"Sister Jenny, is Feng really coming?"

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"He’ll come. Feng never lies!" Jenny struggled to shift her bound body. Even though having her hands tied behind her back was incredibly uncomfortable, she did her best to give Tammy some warmth and chase away her fear.

"Fack, when Feng gets his hands on them, I’m going to throw them into the Bering Sea myself!" Erica spat, her teeth gritted. She was sitting on the floor, her clothes torn and disheveled, her eyes burning with rage.

"I have a premonition... Feng is right outside!" Demi said, looking at the boarded-up window with a mysterious expression. Her eyes shone with anticipation, as if she could see a familiar figure right through it.

THUMP THUMP THUMP!!

Heavy footsteps echoed from outside the room.

The steps were heavy and slow. Each one seemed to land right on the women’s hearts, making their nerves tighten instantly.

They fell silent at once, a sudden tension filling the air.

The door creaked open slowly.

A repulsive Black face appeared before them.