CHAPTER 2023: CHAPTER 2022: SECRET CHAMBER SEALED

Besides the men knocked down by Fen Jiu in the dungeon, there were two other small lackeys. The two wanted to resist, but Jiao Ling’s mechanical beast quickly dealt with them.

Bai Ruozhu threw the madam down and rushed towards Lanlan, who was tied to a wooden rack.

"Mother, Sister Ruozhu, I’m so scared!" Lanlan cried, "I wanted it to come out and kill them all, but I can’t!"

They forced her to obediently comply, making her serve customers quietly. Otherwise, they would torture her every day until she listened.

She was extremely scared inside, but she knew that her mother and others would definitely come to save her.

She even held intense hatred for the three people who captured her, wanting to use the poisonous insect to kill them, but the anger in her heart subsided in an instant.

If it were before, she might have gone ahead recklessly, but now she finally got to live under the sun, finally got to be with her mother, and had people like Sister Ruozhu, Uncle Fen Jiu, and Brother Chenfeng who cared about her. She was reluctant to die, and she did not want the poisonous insect to control her and hurt those she cared about.

So she endured several lashes, suppressing the poisonous insect, preventing it from coming out. However, she knew she couldn’t hold on for much longer. Without the medicine liquid to suppress the poisonous insect, she would only be safe for about four hours. After that, she didn’t know if she could overcome the poisonous insect.

Bai Ruozhu went over and cut through the ropes, and Lanlan immediately regained her freedom.

Her body went limp, and Bai Ruozhu hurriedly caught her.

"Lanlan!" Jiao Ling, with red eyes, rushed over and took Lanlan from Bai Ruozhu’s hands.

"How are you? Where are you hurt?" Jiao Ling cried in distress.

Lanlan quickly reached out to wipe her tears, "Mother, don’t cry, it’s just some surface wounds. They whipped me with a whip."

Bai Ruozhu gritted her teeth, went to the side to pick up the whips, and glared at the three people, asking, "Were you the ones who just hit her?"

After saying that, she lashed out, hitting Yang Lao San’s back hard, scaring the two lackeys beside him into kowtowing repeatedly, saying they weren’t the ones who did it.

Unfortunately, Bai Ruozhu didn’t want to hear their explanations and lashed out several times, causing the three to scream incessantly, with bloodstains on them.

"Mother, I’ve caused trouble for you." Lanlan bit her lip.

"Silly child, you’re okay, that’s all that matters. Let’s go back quickly." Jiao Ling said, supporting Lanlan as they walked outside.

Bai Ruozhu threw down the whip, saying, "Aunt, you go back first. I’ll wrap things up here."

Jiao Ling wanted to kill Yang Lao San and the madam. She said to Bai Ruozhu, "They shouldn’t be let off lightly. If the Government Office doesn’t sentence them heavily, I’ll kill them!"

"Don’t worry, I will make sure they receive the punishment they deserve." Bai Ruozhu said.

At this moment, the imprisoned girls in the cage beside them finally regained their senses. One brave girl shouted, "Madam, please save us. We were all captured."

Bai Ruozhu went over to open the jail door and told them, "Don’t be afraid. The Government Office will send people over later and will definitely give you justice."

A woman who had been hanging her head, looking half-dead, suddenly jumped up, "No! When the Government Office comes, our affairs will be exposed, how can we face going home?"

After she said that, she dashed madly towards the Main Gate, shouting, "I don’t want to see the Government Office’s people, I don’t want to see them!"

Bai Ruozhu couldn’t react in time. The woman had already rushed towards the Secret Chamber’s entrance, causing everyone else to panic. Some wanted to follow her out but were blocked by Bai Ruozhu at the entrance.

"There are still a lot of guards and thugs outside. If you want to die, then go out now!" Bai Ruozhu shouted.

Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from behind. Bai Ruozhu hurriedly turned around and saw the madam had pressed something, causing the dark chamber door to suddenly drop down.

She sneered and said, "I’ve sealed this place. No one can open it. Didn’t you want the Government Office to catch me? Let’s all perish together!"

The women panicked, and some pushed Bai Ruozhu hard, running towards the Main Gate. Bai Ruozhu felt a bit annoyed. She shouldn’t have let these women out. If it weren’t for their chaos, she wouldn’t have been distracted enough to miss watching the madam.

"Open the door! Let us out!" The women banged wildly against the Stone Gate, but unfortunately, it didn’t budge, clearly something a bunch of weak women couldn’t budge.

Bai Ruozhu no longer paid attention to those ungrateful women. She rushed over and grabbed the madam by the throat.

"Open the door, or I’ll give you more medicine." Bai Ruozhu said.

The madam laughed bitterly, "It can’t be opened anymore. When building this place, I was afraid of being discovered one day and designed this mechanism to completely seal the place. Even outsiders can’t open it. Even with brute force, the place will collapse, and then all evidence will be gone. What can you do to me then?"

"But if you die here, will anything else matter?" Bai Ruozhu found it ironic. This mechanism was originally meant for the madam’s trusted ones to open in a crisis, but she herself was the last one to open it.

The madam collapsed to the ground, exhausted. "At least I can drag someone down with me too."

"You’re not dragging just someone, but a group of people to be buried with you." Bai Ruozhu deliberately said loudly.

The women, their emotions with nowhere to go, heard this and came over one by one with red eyes towards the madam.

"Kill her! She was the one who had us captured and forced us to serve clients."

"Yeah, beat the old hag to death!"

"No! Don’t kill her so easily. She tortured us every day, we can’t let her die so comfortably!"

Never underestimate the resentment of women. Bai Ruozhu quietly backed away, standing in one corner of the secret chamber, waiting for the madam to be unable to bear the torture and open the mechanism willingly.

Soon, the madam’s screams echoed repeatedly. The women began using all the torture instruments in the secret chamber, reddened eyes watching, making Bai Ruozhu nearly drop her jaw. Weren’t they all respectable women? Even when driven to the edge, they could be so ruthless?

She didn’t say anything, just sighed silently. The road for these women after leaving here might not be easy. Just like that one woman said earlier, even if the Government Office clears them, their reputation is damaged. Getting married is difficult, and it would bring dishonor to their families, making life at home even harder.

Moreover, they had endured prolonged torture, both physically and psychologically severely damaged. Without proper psychological support, big problems would likely persist upon returning home.

For example, their impulsiveness to push Bai Ruozhu or their fury causing them to poke the madam with a horsewhip in her private areas—these were things most wouldn’t do before.

It wasn’t long before the madam was tortured into unconsciousness. Someone reluctantly fetched chili water and poured it directly on her head.

"Ah, my eyes!" The madam woke up instantly, but immediately covered her eyes, screaming nonstop. Her eyes were probably destroyed as well.

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Updating 2,000 words at noon, 4,000 words in the evening, starting with 8,000 tomorrow. Thank you for waiting so long.