"Brother Ting Chao!" Luo Wei hadn't even managed to leave the courtyard when he heard someone yelling from outside.

Luo Wei stopped and looked at Luo Ting Chao.

Luo Ting Chao was just about to order whoever it was to stop when a powerfully built, rather rough looking man, burst through the doors.

The five Secret Guards appeared quickly, and huddled around Luo Wei.

This man took one look at Luo Wei and grinned lewdly at Luo Ting Chao, "I was wondering why I couldn't find you all morning, looks like you were..."

"Stop!" Luo Ting Chao shouted, "Brother Qian, please, head home for now, I've still got business to attend to."

"I've also got business to attend to, with you!" Said the big guy with the surname Qian, "Who the hell did you give me yesterday?"

At this moment, a couple of the villa's servants actually dragged a naked man in front of the gathering.

"Absolutely useless," the big guy shouted, "He passed out like five or six times last night, and tried to force me out of him in the end. Listen, Ting Chao, your Shadow Guards are getting worse and worse! I'm fucking pissed off!"

The big guy didn't even look at Luo Ting Chao's expression. He kept cursing as loud as he could, getting more and more obscene as he cursed.

Luo Wei looked at the man on the ground. His long hair hung in a mess over his face, obscuring his features. The man was curled in on himself, bruised blue and black all over, mapped with all kinds of wounds and marks. Luo Wei only needed a single glance to know what kind of torture this shadow guard had to endure last night.

Luo Ting Chao observed Luo Wei's expression. Seeing that he was rather neutral about this whole thing, Luo Ting Chao slowly let down his guard and addressed the big guy, "If this one's not good enough, I'll give you another one later."

Qi Lin Villa's shadow guards was, with the exception of the Dragon's Secret Guard, the best guards in the world. Many people clamor to buy them at high price, but they were also the most worthless group of people in the world. They didn't have any personal thoughts, no freedom, no emotions, and were only objects for the people who owned them. Everything was up to their owners. If those who bought them wanted them to live, then they will live, and those who owned them wanted them to die, then they will die. These guards have been trained at Qi Lin Villa since childhood, and those who finally rise to the rank of Shadow Guards were the few who managed to struggled through hell and high water.

The big guy said to Luo Ting Chao, "This is the level of your Shadow Guards? Useless! He's so loose I can fit a hand inside him! I brought over three buddies and they fit no problem. Brother, how many people have played with him? Did you think you were gonna pawn this piece of shit off on me?"

Luo Ting Chao made a noise of displeasure.

The shadow guard on the ground actually tried to get onto his knees at this point, but sadly he was too severely injured, and couldn't manage to get himself up.

"Take him to the torture chamber," Luo Ting Chao commanded.

A shudder of fear ran through the shadow guard as soon as he heard the words "torture chamber".

Several of the villa's servants stepped up, one of whom took a fistful of the shadow guard's hair and started to drag him out by it.

Wei Lan would have preferred to die by the villa master's friend's hand last night. His body was already failing, how could he have endured the torments of tens of men in one night? Before, he could have used his internal energy(1) to ease the pain, but now his insides burst with agony whenever he so much as tried, and he was afraid to use it anymore. If he couldn't make one of his owner's guests happy, then his only option was to die. However, he was commanded to die in the torture chamber, to suffer the kind of death that one prayed to be free of but was impossible to achieve. This sort of death where he still had to endure anguish for days on end was one that he could not accept. He should have ended himself last night, at least then he wouldn't have suffered such humiliation before death, and could die by a quick hand. Even though he had wanted to, he wouldn't dared to. After all, Shadow Guards didn't have the privilege of making any choices for themselves.

FOOTNOTES:

1. Internal energy / force: An internal energy / power cultivated by martial artists through practice of their internal martial arts (often gotten through meditation and cultivation of mental energies). Realistically, probably similar to a person's constitution, but in wuxia fiction it can help a martial artist sustain power behind their attacks, give them strength, shield themselves from being wounded, or even heal wounds.

TRANSLATOR'S NOTES:

say it with me, THIS MAN IS AWFUL!!!