152 Her Morals

February 6, 20XX (Wednesday)

Hidden Headquarters

In an undisclosed location in Beijing, five affluent friends where talking about their illegal business and its happenings and progress. Chang Min had given Mei Li his phone when he saw that she grew bored with their talk. At first, she had listened to the reports so eagerly due to her curiosity. Then slowly, her eagerness deflated and she grew bored. Everything they were talking about was not interesting enough. In fact, it sounded like an ordinary business deal.

When Chang Min had offered his phone so she could play with it, she was hesitant to take it, but with Yang's nod of assurance, she gladly accepted it with a smile.Chang Min's pride had hurt when his little sister had deferred to Yang first before anybody else. He had a lot to do to make it up to her.

After their small meeting had finished, Chang Min lead a curious Mei Li to the torture chamber. Mei Li's eyes opened with when they had entered a dark and dank hallway. Grey to large black stones piled on top of each other glued by cement made the walls more eerie and spooky looking.It had a foreboding feeling in its atmosphere. Mei Li finally saw where the movies had taken their inspiration from torture scenes. This place was the real chamber that people suffered before they died. Suddenly a shiver went up to her spine.

Coming upon a row of room, Chang Min opened the first one using a passcode, and when the soft unlocking sound echoes against the chamber, Mei Li saw chains on the ground and hanging on the ceiling too. There were a small table and a lone chair. What creeps Mei Li more was the small rope hanging in the center that had marks of being used.

"We had a man here before. He had killed his wife and children to sell their organs. We had to torture him to know where he hid the body so we can bury them properly. He couldn't take the weight of what he did, so he committed suicide by hanging himself after he had told the truth." Chang Min told her.

Mei Li's face blanched white. Her mind going wild with the scenario that Chang Min had painted for her. For an artist, her imagination was one of the things that she boasts of having. Right now, being an artist did not help her at all. Mei Li could imagine the person hanging on the rope, dead and white with foam in his mouth. Slowly her bravery flushed out of her petite frame and her curiosity gone like the wind.

"Big brother Chang Min, Can we go back?" Mei Li tugged the hems of his sleeves.

Chang Min turned to her and smiled as if he was in an ordinary place like a cafe. He tilted his head to ask, "You don't want to see where we kept the woman who burned your studio unit?"

His words piqued Mei Li's interest. Yang had not told her who the culprit was. She grew annoyed that Yang had not told her about it. She steeled her spine and decided to satiate her curiosity again. Mei Li followed Chang Min to the furthest chamber in the row.

"I can't let you enter it because of the rats, but you can view it with this small window." Chang Min took a rectangular metal plate that covered the small glass window, sizable enough to see with both eyes.

Mei Li peeked through the window, tiptoeing with all her toes to reach it. When her vision cleared and she could finally make sense what is happening inside. Mei Li's eyes widen with fright. Rats were eating a dead body's rotting carcass. She instantly recognized the half eaten face of Mother Chen. Mei Li's heart sank; Mother Chen might have done bad things to her, but she didn't want her to die. Mother Chen had done her many good things too when Chen Zhong and she was still amiable.

"Did she have to die?!" Mei Li snapped at Chang Min.

Chang Min took a step back in surprise. He had expected her to understand why the woman should be dead. She was a member of a terrorist group and could potentially kill more innocent people! Suddenly, Chang Min realized that Mei Li did not have any knowledge with Mother Chen's involvement with the terrorist group. He had made a mistake with showing her this scene.

Mei Li stomped her feet and returned to where Yang and the rest of his friends waited for them. Seeing was different from imagining. Seeing made everything real. Mei Li could not take it anymore. She needed to distance herself. Her initial bravado, gone.

Chang Min hurried after her. He had forgotten that even if she was interested in the torture chamber, she was probably only curious about it. She was not raised with the Xue's responsibility for machinery and arms manufacturing tests nor was she exposed by the Bonaparte's problem with terrorist and political unrest like he had. Mei Li was an ordinary woman amidst her extraordinary background.

Mei Li arrived at the room where Yang was talking with Alexandre. Yang smiled at Mei Li. She stopped in front of him, poked her sharp finger in his chest, and snarled at him, "How dare you kill Mother Chen! You should have given her to the authorities! I'm sure you have solid evidence to put her in jail!"

"What? I was... we were.." Yang stammered to explain, and his eyes widen. Why did Chang Min have to show her that?

"I want to go home!" Mei Li shouted, forehead veins almost popping in her anger. Everyone's eyes popped out of their sockets when she roared. Her soft voice had turned chilly and loud.

"NOW!"

Everyone moved frantically to do her bidding.

Yang feared he had taken a large step back in their relationship