The whip was not tied very tightly, but Wuma Liya was still struggling to get it loose for the time being.
Suddenly she noticed seven or eight vagrants walking not far away.
Knowing full well the high crime rate in this area, and that women walking on the road could be violated, Wuma Liya's expression became tense.
She didn't dare ask them for help at all.
She kept struggling with great effort, seizing the time to try to get the whip loose.
The vagrants discovered her and rushed over scrambling and shoving to be first, quickly coming up to Wuma Liya.
Several of the men spoke in the local dialect, their expressions lewd, someone directly reached out to touch Wuma Liya's face, no different from a windfall, picking up money, those extremely aggressive and destructive hungry gazes were frightening just to look at.
"Get lost, take your filthy hands off me, don't touch me."
"I'm of the Wuma family, my Wuma family will be here soon, if you dare touch me you'll be dead for sure!" Wuma Liya spoke in the local dialect, wanting to scare them off with her status.
But they simply didn't believe her, several men surrounded Wuma Liya groping her, speaking vulgar words.
"We really hit the jackpot today, let her go, we can't get started with her tied up like this." Several men impatiently released Wuma Liya from the tree, unafraid that she, a lone girl, could get away.
Although the whip around Wuma Liya was untied, her wrists were still bound together by the whip, and they in their starved impatience didn't have time to untie the whip from her wrists either.
Wuma Liya charged through knocking two of them aside then turned and ran, but her hands were tied behind her back, and they had strength in numbers.
She hadn't gotten more than a few steps before her way was blocked, Wuma Liya kicked one man away, but was grabbed around the waist by another.
Soon she was tackled to the ground, the other men quickly surrounding her, tearing open the front of her clothes.
Wuma Liya had seen things like this since she was little, just yesterday in court, she even heard her older brother had raped a girl, she was already numb to things like this, but this was the first time she herself suffered something like this, when she began to empathize, a fear she had never known before welled up in her heart.
Wuma Liya was pressed to the ground, her kicking legs pinned down.
She was simply powerless to resist.
She cursed at the top of her lungs at the vagrant men on top of her, tears streaming uncontrollably from her eyes, frightened to the point her mind went blank, in the hoarse screams, the weight on her body suddenly lightened, the man pressed on top of her was kicked away by someone, then another.
Cheng Jinyan, who had turned back, swiftly beat away several of the vagrants.
He looked towards Wuma Liya, who had fallen into deep terror on the ground, clothes torn to shreds, hair disheveled, face still bruised.
Cheng Jinyan placed his own jacket over her, helped her up from the ground, then went to untie the whip around her wrists.
As soon as the whip was untied, she slapped him.
Cheng Jinyan's face was struck to the side, never having been slapped in his life, Cheng Jinyan poked his tongue against his stinging cheek, his expression somewhat ugly, his angry gaze immediately turned to Wuma Liya, only to meet her eyes full of tears.
Wuma Liya glared at him resentfully.
Cheng Jinyan got up and left.
After walking some distance, looking back he saw Wuma Liya wrapped in his coat, limping with difficulty in the opposite direction.
Hearing someone approaching, Wuma Liya was like a frightened bird, her whole body alert, she shrank away to the side, only to find it was Cheng Jinyan.
Cheng Jinyan crouched down in front of her: "Get on."
Not waiting for Wuma Liya to react, Cheng Jinyan said: "If you don't want what just happened to happen again, don't waste time."
Wuma Liya clenched her fists, then climbed onto Cheng Jinyan's back.
Cheng Jinyan had just gotten the girl onto his back when a sharp tree branch was pressed against his neck.
Cheng Jinyan ignored it, and strode forward with the girl on his back.
"If you can't guarantee you'll stab me to death, I advise you best not make a move." Cheng Jinyan reminded.
Wuma Liya didn't make a move, but she also didn't remove the tree branch from his neck, keeping it pressed there the whole way.
Cheng Jinyan carried the girl back along the same road, finding a small clinic.
Her ankle was badly sprained, swollen hugely, the doctor gave her some anti-inflammatory medicine and medicinal wine to promote blood circulation.
Leaving the clinic, Cheng Jinyan brought the girl to a hotel, throwing her a set of new clothes.
Wuma Liya: "I want to shower."
Cheng Jinyan: "What, you want me to carry you into the bathroom?"
Wuma Liya: "Get out."
Cheng Jinyan: "Who cares to look at you."
The exhausted Cheng Jinyan sat on the sofa without moving.
Wuma Liya glared fiercely at him, at an impasse for a moment, then limped into the bathroom to shower gripping the clothes, the water still on her body and hair not yet dried.
Cheng Jinyan poured himself a glass of water, sat to rest for a bit, then came to the window, discovering Wuma family men on the street.
- They had strange totem markings branded on their necks.
Wuma Liya also had a totem, just at her waist.
He had noticed when she was unclothed earlier.
The Wuma family men quickly entered the hotel, got Cheng Jinyan's room number from the front desk, and immediately came upstairs to apprehend them.
Wuma Liya was still showering, Cheng Jinyan suddenly urging her from outside the door, the shaken Wuma Liya hurriedly put on clothes, the water still on her body and hair not yet dried.
She refused to open the door.
Cheng Jinyan: "If you don't open the door I'll kick it in."
Only then did Wuma Liya open the door.
Unexpectedly as soon as Cheng Jinyan entered, he pointed a gun at her.
Before Wuma Liya could react, hearing people break into their room, it was only when Cheng Jinyan held her hostage out of the bathroom that Wuma Liya realized it was her family's men come to find her.
Wuma Liya told her subordinates: "Don't mind me, catch him."
Cheng Jinyan held the gun against her neck: "You're not afraid of dying, but they are afraid of not being able to explain to your father."
Cheng Jinyan's words made the Wuma family men not dare act rashly.
Just like that, Cheng Jinyan again took Wuma Liya hostage and left.
With her injured foot, walking was difficult for her, Cheng Jinyan also worried she would play some trick, so directly held her around the waist with one arm, lifting her feet off the ground, then commandeered a car after leaving the hotel.
As soon as they got in the car, Wuma Liya disgustedly pushed him away: "This place is full of my Wuma family's men, you won't get away."
But Cheng Jinyan just said: "If I wanted to get away I'd have done it already. Just you Wuma family trash, could they stop me?"
Wuma Liya didn't understand what he meant.
Come nightfall, Cheng Jinyan brought the girl to stay at a small inn, Wuma Liya took the medicine Cheng Jinyan tossed to her.
It was medicine from that small clinic, Cheng Jinyan had stuffed it in his pants pocket, only now getting a chance to take it out.
Wuma Liya ordered: "Get me a glass of water."
Cheng Jinyan: "You really think you're a young miss?"
Wuma Liya: "If not for you, this young miss would not have been bullied by those scumbags at all, would not have hurt my foot at all."
Cheng Jinyan laughed: "Why don't you blame that bastard brother of yours." But still he went to pour her a glass of water to take medicine.
As the night grew late, Cheng Jinyan took out Wuma Liya's whip from another pocket, about to come tie her up.
"What are you doing?" Wuma Liya sat at the edge of the bed, watching him warily, wanting to dodge but unable to.
