6

Lara weakly opened her eyes. She was first thirsty and hungry. Where was she and how long did she sleep? She could see oil lamps hung at certain corners in this unfamiliar place. She tried to move but found to her dismay that she was tied to a pillar in a basement. She scanned the basement with her eyes and saw that all escape routes were closed.

If it were ordinary ropes, then it would have been easy for her to free herself and find a way to escape. But to her dismay, the ropes had a seal placed on them so she couldn't dream of escaping yet. Honestly, she didn't know why she made a scene in the bookshop. She just felt so famished and she couldn't think well. Her actin upon the infeasible idea has put her in this situation. For once, Lara preferred sleeping famished than bein bound to a pillar with ropes like she was a criminal. Anyway, she indeed was a criminal in some way. She lied, caused an innocent to faint and ate his food without his permission. In her situation, though she can't be killed easily she's sure that a session of torture was awaiting her. The thing that also bothered her was, where was the one who had her tied up? She could die from waiting for him.

5 minutes later, a figure appeared in front of Lara who was about to fall asleep from boredom stunning her for a moment. That's right! Her torturer had come. She could see a whip in his left hand, she might as well brace herself for the torture session. The figure who had appeared was owner Bu who had passed out before. On recovering, he sensed that the child was sleeping in the room he kept food for thieves. She was only after food all along. Why then did she lie and cause his reputation to ruin? She must have been sent or threatened by someone. But then, even if she was a kid, he was still going to punish her.

Seeing that she wasn't scared, he was a bit surprised. He walked to her slowly with a frown.

"Little one, tell me, who sent you. How much did he pay you to harm my reputation," he asked.

"Eh...no..no one sent me. I came to the shop by myself"replied Lara.

"Then what grievances do you have against me?" the man asked again but Lara shook her head.

"Then why did you do this? All because of food? You could have just asked me to give you money for food.I'm not stingy" said owner Bu.

"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to harm you. I was just hungry and applied such a bad idea" said Lara.

"Ah, I see. But you still will be punished before I can let you go" said owner Bu with a sly smile.

"Please go ahead and mete out your punishments sir," said Lara.

"I won't hit you. I have a better way" said owner Bu.

"Please relate sir," Lara said in a small voice.

"I know you are a peasant and so cannot read. How about this, I'll take you in as my adopted child for two years. Then I can let you leave" he said with a grin.

"I am not worthy!"Lara refused. She just came here and didn't trust this man who looked too cunning. She knew that being his adopted daughter was a bad thing. Rather than saying she would be an adopted daughter why not say she would be an adopted slave. No matter what, she didn't wanna be a slave. For heaven's sake, even if she'd been expelled from Sirisia due to her stubbornness, she still carried royal blood. She was the crown princess, whose beauty no one could rival. No, she wouldn't accept that.

"I'll give you another chance, would you like to be my adopted child or not?" owner Bu asked.

"I refuse. Hit me all you want. So long as you can release me and let me go, I am willing to take all your beatings. So go on" Lara said determinedly. She would never become a slave to someone no matter what.

"Then I guess...we'll have to do it the hard way. I don't have much energy now so I'll have seven of my workers to hit you while I gather some energy to finalize your punishment. Have a good night fun" owner Bu said before leaving.

"Hmph! He thinks I can break me with that pretense.No matter what, I, Lara will not become his adopted slave. I won't throw away my dignity. Never" she thought in her heart. It did not take long before seven burly men came in, all were carrying whips.

Seein them, Lara's heart nearly jumped out of her chest. These men were here to beat her to death. She's sure of that. She was sure to resist the first one but as for the remaining six...hehe. Is it too late to be owner Bu's adopted child now?

In two minutes, Lara's scream like a pig being slaughtered was heard. The men were ruthless, not taking into account that she was just a kid. According to the orders they received from owner Bu, they were to hit her 100 times each. The whips used were special. They could only inflict pain but not cause wounds to the body. Seeing this, Lara changed her mind and decided that no matter what she won't give in. So long as her skin was okay, she would bear anything, so she decided to stop screaming and only hiss n pain. Seeing this, the seventh burly man smirked and changed his whip to another. This whip not only caused pain to the victim but inflicted ugly wounds on him. Just one lash proved the fact about this whip. Seeing her skin been torn by the whip and the blood flowing out from them caused Lara's resolve to shatter.

"Please stop" she yelled with the little energy she could muster.

"What is it?" the man asked in an impatient tone.

"Can I see owner Bu?" she asked.

"You finally relent?"

The seventh man and Lara turned to look at owner Bu who had just appeared dressed in night robes, his previously tied hair now loose reaching his waist.

"Eh...yes," she said with a hoarse voice.

"You are wise. Release her and give her a place to sleep. Tomorrow, we'll have a heart to heart discussion" said owner Bu before disappearing. At this. Lara passed out from too much pain and her wounds.

"This kid is quite strong. I thought she won't even last 50 lashes but unexpectedly she lasted up to 604. She is a hidden pearl. Hopefully, she won't be a troublemaker for master" said the 5th man.

"you're right. Let's dispose her into a room and go cultivate" said the 1st man.

"Whatever," said the 3rd man.

**********

The next day, Lara woke up late but was stunned by what she saw.