Chapter 283 - Shenlong Yanhuang

The kid kept staring at the man, unmoving, but whenever the man moved or looked at him, the kid would look down, afraid as if the man would suddenly pounce on them. 

The man continued to order his men around while sitting on the chair unmoving. After a while, one of his men came back with a slice of cake before reporting, "No one got away. We are just waiting for your order, sir, but it would be great if we can move faster. We came unannounced and without any warning, so I doubt they managed to send for help, but just in case-"

The man stopped speaking when the sitting man raised a hand, palm out. "Sir?" 

"I'll wrap here up now. Give me the cake." 

The other man nodded and handed the slice of cake over. After that, he bowed respectfully before leaving. 

The calm man, who was now alone in the room, stood up and turned to look at the kid. He then placed the cake on the chair and said, "Kid, do you want this cake? It's chocolate. Do you like chocolate?" 

The kid merely looked at him without so much as a hint of expression to acknowledge that he understood him. 

"Can you understand me?" the man asked. When the kid did not answer, the man continued to say, "I won't hurt you, kid. I know that you were probably hurt badly by a.d.u.l.ts before, and I don't know how bad it was for you. Probably horrible, and I might not be able to live with it if I were you... However, I know that I can't help you if you don't want to help yourself. I'll give you one minute. If you want to continue to live in your pain, then so be it. After one minute, I'll go in and carry you out regardless of whether you want or not."

He looked at the kid who was still showing him the same blank expression. The things that betrayed the kid's true emotions and thoughts were in the tiny details; the way the kid held the pink blanket closer to themself and the subtle finger movements.  

The man continued, "I can save you, but I hope that you could walk yourself out. Have you been in the darkness for a long time? Don't you want to walk out by yourself?"

The kid did not answer. The kid had indeed been in the dark for a long time, in fact, the kid had not known any other places other than this room and the middle-aged man's room. 

Standing at the other side of the room, where he was illuminated by the light, the man reached out a hand toward the kid that was hiding in the shadows. "Walk toward me..." he said in an authoritative manner, yet his voice was tinted with a hint of concern and hope. 

The kid finally looked up at the man. The kid's eyes then slowly traveled down to the man's hand. After a few seconds, the kid looked at their own hands.

"You can do it, kid..." the man said, hoping that he would be able to walk out of this by himself. If he were to go in and carry the kid out, he was afraid that he might scar the kid further, so he really hoped that the kid could understand him. "All you need to do is walk toward me, and you don't have to hide in the dark anymore..."

The kid finally looked away from their hands before taking a brief glance around the room. This room that had been enshrouded in darkness was all that the kid knew. The kid had suffered a lot of pain in this room, yet the kid was still afraid that they would only suffer more pain outside of it. 

"I'd protect you, kid..." the man said. "Come to me..."

"Protect?" the kid thought about the unfamiliar word, and a curious expression appeared on their face. 

As if he saw that, the man smiled and said, "I won't let you get hurt anymore, kid..." 

The kid understood the word "hurt" very much. For some reason, despite the fact that the man smelled like blood, the kid felt a gentle kindness coming from him. 

With unsteady steps, the kid slowly limped toward the man... a step at a time... When the kid was just a step away, they looked up at the man with a confused and slightly fearful expression, as if unsure if going out of the darkness was a good thing. The kid was afraid that the man would get angry at them soon and would hurt them as well.  

However, the man just kept smiling at the kid kindly. When the man saw the kid's hesitant steps, he knelt down on one knee so that he was at eye-level with the kid, before placing a palm up and out. "Hold my hand," he said in a soft voice. "Walk out of there with your own strength."

The kid looked at the man's eyes, which were clear and bright yet somewhat sad, and the kid looked at their own hand. After a few seconds, the kid placed a trembling hand on the man's bigger and rougher hand.

This was the first time the man saw the kid clearly, and his eyes widened slightly as he thought, "She's beautiful..."

The kid looked like a child model, albeit slightly thinner.

"You're safe now, kid..." the man said as he gently tugged the kid so that the kid would walk out of the room, and the kid did. 

Once the kid was out, the first thing the man did was to pat the kid's head and said, "Good job!" 

The kid looked up at the man before turning their gaze at the slice of cake on the chair. 

Seeing the kid's gaze, the man smiled and said, "Go on. It's yours."

The kid hesitated for a few seconds before walking to the chair and picking up the slice of cake. As if it was trained into them, the kid then turned and offered the slice of cake to the man.

The man sighed softly before patting the kid's head. "It's yours. All yours. Eat it."

The kid ate the slice of cake carefully, as if they were afraid of dirtying the place. Once the kid was done, they placed the plate down on the chair carefully before looking up at the man. Suddenly, the kid felt sleepy, as if all the energy had seeped out of their body, and they kept rubbing at their eyes, hoping to keep the sleepiness away. 

The kid's legs suddenly buckled, and the man caught the kid before they fell onto the floor. Carrying the kid's on his arms, the man asked softly, "Are you sleepy? Go to sleep, kid. Everything would be better once you're awake."

The kid grabbed onto the man's shirt and looked at his eyes through their own sleepy ones. The kid then pointed at the man's chest while opening and closing their mouth, as if the kid was trying to say something but nothing came out. 

"Are you trying to ask about my name?" the man asked. 

The kid nodded sleepily before yawning adorably. 

The man smiled and whispered, "I'm not supposed to tell anyone this... But my name is Shenlong Yanhuang..."

For the first time, the kid's expression relaxed and a small smile formed on the kid's face before they lose the battle to sleep. Once the kid fell asleep, the man chuckled as he gently tapped the kid's cheek. "This is why you shouldn't eat stuff from strangers..." 

He then sighed and added, "But I guessed you were never taught that by anyone..."

He looked around, hoping to find a place where he could put the kid down, but knowing that the disgusting pig of a man had probably done unspeakable things to the little one in his arms and maybe others as well, he chose not to. 

Shenlong Yanhuang sat on a couch and placed the kid on his lap before looking at the bruises on the kid's arms. "F*ck... She's all bones..." he thought angrily as he held the kid's hand. He looked at the kid's legs, which were equally thin and covered in bruises, and sighed while wondering how long had the kid been kept locked in the hidden room. 

When he tried to check the kid's thighs by pushing the kid's nightgown higher, the kid's legs clamped shut unconsciously, and they started trembling, as if they were afraid of what was about to come. 

"Shhh..." he shushed softly. "I won't do anything to you..." 

Shenlong Yanhuang merely did a simple check up to make sure that the kid's legs were fine since he noticed that the kid was limping earlier. Once he was sure that the kid did not have any broken bones, he carried him up again. 

Shenlong Yanhuang then carried the sleeping kid in his arms carefully as he walked toward his men who were waiting outside the bedroom. 

"Sir, let me..." a man offered to carry the sleeping kid from Shenlong Yanhuang, but when he tried to remove the kid, he noticed that the kid had a death grip on Shenlong Yanhuang's shirt. When he tried to pry the kid's fingers open, he felt a cold chill running down his spine and looked up. 

"Leave the kid alone. I'll take care of him," Shenlong Yanhuang said with a cold voice as he glared at his man. He then added with an evil expression, "Everyone here... I want them to suffer a fate worse than death. They like to play with children? I want them to be unable to play with anything! Whatever they made these poor kids go through, inflict it back to them tenfold! Make sure that you guys do a thorough job." 

The man gulped and nodded. "Yes, sir!"

"As for the other children, my brother will know what to do with them. I'll take this kid back with me first. Before you burn down this sh*t place, make sure you get all the information you can whether from this place or from those b*stards down there. Anything that you can find on these children's identities would help us in finding their families."

"Yes, sir!" the man, as well as the rest of the men outside the room, saluted respectfully. 

....