Chapter 93: The Arena of Hounds

“Lin Qing, prepare yourself. I have a bad feeling about this.”

While Liu Hong spoke, the red cloth covering cast the cage in a dim light. He couldn’t discern Lin Qing’s expression, only seeing him huddled silently in a corner of the iron cage.

Just moments ago, he had been actively preparing to fight back. Now, he seemed like an entirely different person.

Something felt profoundly wrong.

As these thoughts raced through his mind, Liu Hong was about to approach Lin Qing. However, the iron cage suddenly ceased its movement, and the red cloth shrouding it was swiftly yanked away.

Blinding lights instantly assaulted his eyes, forcing Liu Hong to squeeze them shut. The moment he reopened them, a chill of dread settled deep within his heart.

The layout resembled a tiered lecture hall, though with fewer seats. A thick layer of glass separated the seating area from a large room, perfectly dividing it into two distinct zones.

Over a dozen people were already seated, among them the corpulent Wang Fanran, who occupied a central position and gazed in their direction.

Yet, what truly sent a shiver down Liu Hong’s spine wasn’t the room’s arrangement, nor the gawking guards and Wang Fanran.

Instead, it was the ten vicious hounds encircling the iron cage, barking ferociously. Their immense, muscular bodies, baring sharp fangs, fixed their gaze on the cage with a hunger and madness as if they hadn’t eaten for days.

The floor was utterly filthy, marred by clumps of dark red, dried black stains. In a corner, several uncleaned bones lay hidden, their stark white gleam assaulting Liu Hong’s eyes.

Observing this grim setup, Liu Hong instantly understood, even without a single word being uttered.

“Damn it all!”

“They’re insane!”

“They’re going to feed them to the dogs!”

“These people are all lunatics!”

“Wang Fanran, you motherfucker! To join a gang like this—may you die a horrible death! Even if I perish, I’ll haunt you as a ghost and never let you go!”

As Liu Hong spat these words, his eyes bulged with fury, filled with resentment and despair. He violently slammed his hand against the iron bars of the cage. Yet, beyond the searing pain in his palm, his predicament remained utterly unchanged.

The noise immediately drew the attention of the vicious hounds, which turned to bark furiously in his direction.

Were it not for the iron bars, the pack of dogs would undoubtedly have swarmed him, tearing him to shreds.

Originally, Liu Hong had harbored a sliver of hope, believing he could find an opportunity to escape.

Now, however, his adversaries were not humans, but exceedingly ferocious dogs.

Simply gazing at the hounds’ razor-sharp teeth, Liu Hong knew their bite force would be astonishingly powerful.

A single bite could likely sever his arm!

What’s more, at this very moment, there wasn’t just one, but a full dozen of them, forming an impenetrable circle around the cage, leaving no avenue for escape.

To be cornered by these vicious dogs would inevitably lead to a gruesome end, leaving not even a complete corpse.

‘Total annihilation.’

‘Damn it.’

‘This is truly the end.’

From his seat not far away, Wang Fanran observed the scene beyond the glass.

His arm, clutching the hem of his clothes, trembled uncontrollably, and his face, too, had turned—

—ghastly pale.

Although he had long known that Chen Sen and Dog Brother were despicable individuals, possibly even involved in illegal activities like child trafficking, Wang Fanran had never imagined they could be so utterly brutal.

To feed living people to dogs!

Moreover, the dogs stolen recently hadn’t been resold; instead, they had all been used to fill the stomachs of these vicious hounds.

The more he thought, the more he panicked; the more he panicked, the more he thought.

“Sixth Brother,” Wang Fanran began, “they only had a minor quarrel with me. There’s no need to kill them, is there?”

While Wang Fanran had previously incited Li Dong to harm someone in the changing room, and had even clapped and laughed upon seeing Li Dong covered in Lin Qing’s blood, he had shown no sympathy for Lin Qing whatsoever.

Even though Wang Fanran was involved, it was merely incitement to commit a crime.

He hadn’t personally laid a hand on anyone.

Nor had he witnessed the assault with his own eyes.

His emotions hadn’t undergone any drastic shift, allowing him to continue watching the spectacle unfold.

However, compared to the current dog-feeding spectacle in this makeshift slaughterhouse, his previous actions were nothing more than petty mischief.

Truly, a drop in the ocean!

“What’s wrong? Is this your first time witnessing such a sight?” The man sitting beside him chuckled softly after hearing Wang Fanran’s question. “It’s understandable, given you haven’t been with us for long. You wouldn’t know these things. But rest assured, our dogs are incredibly voracious. They can devour everything, leaving not even a single bone behind, ensuring those people vanish silently from this world.”

He displayed no fear whatsoever regarding the impending scene; rather, he harbored an almost uncontrollable excitement.

He longed to witness living people being torn apart by dogs with his own eyes.

A thrill of bloody violence surged within him.

However, upon hearing this, Wang Fanran felt an even stronger urge to vomit.

‘He sounds like a seasoned perpetrator!’

‘Just how many people had this organization secretly executed?’

“Sixth Brother, I’m a coward. I think I’d rather not watch… I—I’m afraid I’ll have nightmares tonight.”

No sooner had Wang Fanran finished speaking than he immediately rose, intending to make a swift escape.

Judging by the current turn of events, if he were to plead for Lin Qing and the other’s lives, it would be utterly useless. Instead, he would likely be met with strange looks from the people here.

He might even become an isolated outcast.

Or worse, they might throw him into the iron cage as well, to be fed to the dogs!

At this thought, Wang Fanran’s corpulent body shivered, further solidifying his resolve to leave.

“It’s about to begin! Why would you leave now?”

However, before Wang Fanran could even fully rise, Sixth Brother, who sat beside him, simply reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. With a forceful grip, he pressed Wang Fanran back into his seat.

As Sixth Brother’s words hung in the air, tinged with a teasing amusement, it was clear he wouldn’t let Wang Fanran depart easily.

Wang Fanran managed a strained smile, his heart immediately filling with unease as he watched.

‘I must get out of here as soon as possible!’ he vowed internally.

‘They’re all bloody madmen.’

‘Damn it, is this karma for all the bad things I’ve done?’

After Liu Hong’s furious outburst, the dog barks intensified, causing him to sink helplessly to the ground. His muttered words were laced with a hint of a choke.

The arrogance and domineering attitude he’d displayed when assaulting people at school were utterly useless now. It made him realize that the thrill of bullying the weak stemmed from the tears and blood they shed.

If he could only return alive, he swore he would never again casually bully anyone.

‘Just to live…’

He had considered every possibility, yet never once imagined he would meet his end in the belly of a dog.

Coming here had been a grave mistake.

Still, he was thankful that Zhou Lin and Wang Jian hadn’t followed them. Thank heavens.

Otherwise, they would undoubtedly be wailing and clamoring to go home right now.

Everything he had experienced since entering the abandoned slaughterhouse made it clear to Liu Hong that these people were genuinely serious about feeding them to the dogs; it was no idle threat.

Thus, no amount of crying or pleading would be of any use, only drawing out the arrogant laughter of these individuals.

Should he, then, be grateful that the person accompanying him wasn’t Zhou Lin, that pair of noisy troublemakers, but rather the quiet Lin Qing?

Wait!

Lin Qing’s state just now had been off. How could he have forgotten that?

“Lin Qing, are you alright?”

As these thoughts struck Liu Hong, he immediately turned his head toward Lin Qing. He saw Lin Qing still curled up, unchanged, with both hands tightly clasped around his head, muttering something under his breath.

Though the iron cage wasn’t particularly large, the dogs inside were scrambling and barking wildly, making it impossible to hear what Lin Qing was saying.

It was only apparent that his condition was extremely abnormal.

After Liu Hong called out, Lin Qing seemed not to have heard him at all. He continued to violently tug at his hair, a self-abusive motion that looked as though he were about to tear his scalp right off.

This sight made Liu Hong forget the imminent danger of his own death. He immediately stepped forward, rushing towards Lin Qing, eager to examine him closely and see if he was having an episode.

After all, Lin Qing had a history of such episodes back at school.

“Stop. Don’t come closer. You’ll be in danger.”

Yet, even with his head bowed low, his hands still tormenting his hair, Lin Qing was acutely aware of his surroundings and spoke up instantly.

Despite Lin Qing’s warning, Liu Hong did not heed him.

He continued to quickly approach Lin Qing.

“Liu Hong!”

Then, in the very next instant, Lin Qing suddenly shrieked.

This caused Liu Hong to freeze, his steps unconsciously halting in place.

He dared not move.

‘What was truly wrong with Lin Qing?’

He recalled Zhou Lin mentioning that Lin Qing had once convulsed uncontrollably in class, appearing as if in an epileptic fit, his eyes rolling wildly, his mind clouded.

However, his current state was distinctly different.

Before Liu Hong could ponder further, the iron bars of the cage began to tremble. With the ropes at the top steadily ascending, the entire cage separated from its base.

It seemed designed to inflict maximum terror, for the cage’s ascent was excruciatingly slow.

Due to their considerable size, the vicious hounds lurking outside couldn’t immediately squeeze in. Instead, they frantically clawed at the floor, their barks growing even more frenzied.

Only a few seconds remained before they could force their way in.

In those final seconds, Liu Hong pushed aside his concern for Lin Qing and took a deep, steadying breath.

His face, mirroring his earlier panic, now held an expression of unwavering resolve.

After the initial wave of despair had passed, Liu Hong knew he couldn’t escape his fate today.

Yet, he wouldn’t simply wait docilely; he would fight back.

Even if he only managed to kill a few dogs, it would be worth it.

He would die with some dignity, rather than whimpering and begging like a coward.

It was a pity, though.

He was about to die.

And he hadn’t managed to save Su Yao.

“Lin Qing, I’m going ahead.”

With these thoughts, Liu Hong cast aside any further sentimentality. He focused instead on the immediate predicament, determined to make one last desperate stand, to buy Lin Qing some time.

Even if it only meant delaying the inevitable.

However, just as Liu Hong, resolved to die, prepared to charge out and sacrifice himself by killing a few dogs, Lin Qing, who had been fiercely clutching his hair, suddenly released his grip.

His hair, no longer neatly in place, now stood disheveled, revealing Lin Qing’s face to others for the first time.

Liu Hong instinctively widened his eyes at Lin Qing’s handsome features.

‘Lin Qing looks like this?’

Yet, what followed astonished Liu Hong even more. Lin Qing stood up, his face devoid of emotion. Though he made no unnecessary movements or expressions, Liu Hong’s heart still lurched.

An overwhelming sense of dread and fear instantly washed over him.

He felt even more terrified than when he had first seen Dog Brother.

It was as if a monstrous beast stood before him, capable of tearing him in two with a mere swipe of its sharp claws.

At that precise moment, the iron cage had ascended to a certain height, and the vicious hounds began to squeeze in, one after another, lunging with frenzied bites.

Seeing this, Lin Qing’s emotionless black eyes filled with a chilling coldness, and he suddenly smiled. He drew out a sharp, pointed tag from between his fingers and swiftly charged towards the nearest hound.

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