Splash awake by cold water, Jae-in slowly open her eyes and realized that her limbs have been restricted and tied to the wooden pole. Now, in a + position, she gathered her strength to remain awake.

Everything happened too fast as she tries to recall what had happened.

"Have you checked the premises?"

"Yes Lady Jae-in, everything is fine."

"Missy! I have finished preparing the meals for tonight!"

"Yu'Er! Wow, the dishes look good! I am such a blessed man to be given a good chef as a wife!"

"Wait ... Who said that I will be your wife? Stop dreaming!"

"Wu 'Er, why not you join us for dinner?"

" ... "

"Yes Brother Wu 'Er please come down from the rooftop and join us!"

"Hold on, why are you addressing him Brother?"

"Why can't I ad-"

"No good, someone trespassed my traps!"

"What?!"

"Qing Feng! Protect Yu-ji!"

"Lady Jae-in!!!"

"Shit, when did they release these poison gas? How can I not know when I have been safe guarding the compound!"

"Stop inhaling the air! It's poisonous!"

"Qing Feng!!!! Qing Feng!!!"

"YU-JI!!!!!!"

"You are also coming with us."

These scheming bastards that used such under-handling methods to bring them down. Jae-in click her tongue while controlling her emotions. Observing the room, it seems to be a torture cell with only her in it.

'I guess Yu-ji is in another cell.'

The heavy door shriek open and a rough looking man enter, with a whip in his hands. Staring at him with no sign of evasion, the rough looking man look at Jae-in with respect. After all, not many men have the courage to stare down at him.

Looking at the pathetic state of Jae-in, drenched in water that drips down the beautiful face of hers, the group of men who were the culprit, bow respectfully to the rough looking man. Taking a seat, he pours himself a bowl of water and sip silently.

'This man is definitely dangerous. Too beautiful for a man and too charming for ladies.'

The rough looking man thought as he assessed Jae-in's looks despite being a male himself. Although he had dealt with so many kinds of people before, never once he felt threatened by a single look of an unknown stranger.

"Who are you guys? What do you want? Where is my friend?" Jae-in asked.

"Who are we? Of course, we can't share that with you. What do we want? Well, you have been blessed to be picked by a noble and be appreciative. Where is your friend? Don't worry, she is not dead yet."

"Noble? Who is that?"

"Can't say much about it."

"Female?"

"Male."

" ... "

An awkward silence filled the air as this is the first time Jae-in encounter such a situation. Never in her life, and her previous lives, has she ever heard of romance between the males. And here she thought by disguising herself as a male, she would be safe from the clutches of men. How can this happen to her?!

"But ... I am a man."

The rough looking man stop drinking and stare at Jae-in, with redness filling her face as she doesn't know how to get herself out of the topic. With that bashful look on Jae-in, the rough looking man's heart skipped a beat. Realizing that, he coughed awkwardly and look away immediately.

'He is definitely dangerous. Even I, the man out of most man, is enchanted by his beauty.'

"S-so what? It is a common thing for noble man to have male slaves or lovers as well, just that it is not openly shared in the society."

"So ... What is going to happen next?"

"We will be leaving in 3 days."

'Wait ... Why am I telling him all these information?' The rough looking man cursed at himself for being too nice and quickly left the torture room with the remaining underlings following him behind.

*** ***

Rushing back to Si He Yuan, Xuan Di barged into the entrance while avoiding the traps created. Opening the doors to the main receiving room, he saw Qing Feng lying on the floor, badly bruised and beaten up. Attempting to wake him up, Xuan Di shakes his body violently.

"Qing Feng! Qing Feng! Wake up! What happened here!"

Being shaken, Qing Feng woke up with a drowsy mind from the poison gas that he inhaled earlier on. The appearance of Xuan Di cleared his mind a little as he supports his own weight to sit up right.

"Wang Xuan?! W-what are you doing here?"

"Tell me. Where are they now? What happened?"

As the memories came back, Qing Feng stood up suddenly as the realization of Lady Jae-in and Yu-ji have been taken.

"YU-JI!"

"Calm down! I need you to tell me everything before we can chase after them with a plan."

Xuan Di used all his existing patiences to calm this brainless fool filled with just love. The anger that he had when he heard of Jae-in's disappearance is making him feeling frustrated and yet, this fool is not complying to his command.

"They ... Right, we were preparing for dinner, and we asked Wu 'Er to join us. Just then, Wu 'Er discovered the poison gas released by those unknown attackers and by the time he warned us, the attackers have already gone past the 3rd stage of defence line. The gas is definitely aimed towards me and Wu 'Er, who have high level of martial arts as it temporarily numbed our senses.

There are about 10 men who infiltrate our Si He Yuan, and they seem to be very skilled in this line. Traps created by you and Wu 'Er had been destroyed or easily avoided, they seem to be professionals.

Then, most of them focused on attacking me and Wu 'Er while the others kidnapped Yu-ji and Lady Jae-in. I am not sure why they kidnapped Lady Jae-in as well but, I don't think they knew her true gender."

With a simple report of what had happened, Xuan Di assessed the situation and the current strength that he have to save them. With only Qing Feng's assistance, Xuan Di frown at the disadvantage.

"This is tough. Right now, we do not even know where they are! How can we trace their tracks and chase after them!"

"Wait, I have a way to track them!"

Qing Feng close his eyes and sniffed the air, after a while, his eyes opened with hope. Xuan Di look at him, like a human dog sniffing the air for some food, confused with his actions.

"While you guys were gone, Lady Jae-in taught me how to recognize the scent that she has created. It is a special type of scent that can only be picked up by activating our senses through Jae-in's secret arts of needling, no one else can smell them. The scent will not go away and won't be washed off by water. Lady Jae-in did mention that if Yu-ji got taken away, follow the scent, and we should be able to find her."

"I see."

"Luckily she activated the senses of mine as she worried that we might be separated while searching for Yu-ji. Little did she know that she also got kidnapped."

"Okay, just lead the way."

*** ***

After being locked up for 2 days, Jae-in guessed that they are currently up in the mountain. The shabby looking hut and the sound of nature filled her ears. Today is the last day that they will be trapped here.

Being released from the + position on the 1st day when she woke up and transferred to a new room, at least Jae-in is free to move now. But, she still doesn't know the current situation of Yu-ji. Worried of her safety, but she trusts that she is safe because she is a good to be 'sold' to a noble.

Nobody likes a damaged good.

Clenching her fist, the body energy is not there as she had been fed with 'Ruan Jing San', a pill the numb your nerve system and make your body weak, quite similar to the pill she fed Xuan Di in the cave.

'How am I going to fight in such a state?'

Fumbling over the small compartments in her clothes, she managed to find several silver needles that has not been confiscated by those men. As needles are easy to hide, Jae-in is thankful that she made the right choice to learn the Arts of Medicine before coming to Luo City. Though she isn't good in it, at least she has hope for now.

Just as she wanted to insert the needles at those body points, the sound of the door open, quickly she inserts the needles into her hair. The same rough looking man came in with a tray of food. Unlike the initial impression, Jae-in discovered a side of him that she can manipulate.

"Thank you."

"Hurry up and eat them."

"Thank you for taking care of me these few days ... What's your name?"

With a sudden question of his name, the rough looking man looked shocked as no one asked him this before. He was used to being an underling that was often disregarded, following orders and not living a life of his own choice, no one even bother to know him or his name. Yet this man, that they captured and to be sold off as a male slave, asked for his name and was appreciative of his 'kindness'.

A strange feeling filled him, yet he still guards his heart well.

"Why do you need to know them?"

"Nothing, just felt that you were different from the others here. Since the time I have been captured, you never once torture or treated me badly. Although the things that you do is something that I disagree, well ... I guess this is the only way for you to survive ..."

The ending sentence touched the strings of his heart.

He too, dislike the things he does, the immoral deeds that will be punished by the gods, and he might not have the chance to reincarnate to be a human in his next life, however he had no choice. Being born in Luo City, it is known to be a tough life path for every kid.

If he doesn't engage in such jobs, how can he survive?

He neither beg for forgiveness nor seek understanding of others because they will never know the pain and tough life he had to survive in Luo City. But the feeling of being appreciated and understood by others for the first time, it gives him a warm fuzzy feeling.

Turn away from Jae-in, he walks towards the door.

"Xiao Lang."