1 The quest for truth

Twelve years ago.

"Tell me the truth!"

In the aftermath of an extremely precarious situation, a woman's demand for answers breached the tranquil night of China's most well-known red-light district, Huayuan. Her questions reverberated loud and clear to everyone gathered around the mansion.

The estate belonged Long Sicong - A man in his mid-forties, who carried himself with an air of superiority as the tyrant chief of Huayuan. He was a man revered and feared by many. The district's people could never oppose his tyranny because he ruled Huayuan with his iron fist.

Yet with no fear of the consequences, a woman stood before his estate, mustering every last bit of courage she could gather. Her gaze was fixated on Huayuan's lord yearning for justice and an answer.

"It has been eight days, but Nuwa is still not back! Where is she? Why hasn't she returned yet? Why aren't you doing anything to look for her? Answer me, Long Sicong!"

The air turned ominous with an escalating deadly silence. The people of Huayuan respectfully addressed Long Sicong as the "Chief."

But for the first time in a decade, a mere sex worker called him by his name with utmost disrespect.

Long Sicong's dark and piercing gaze grew grimmer by her audacity.

"You sure have become gutsy tonight, Ruolan?"

The crowd trembled in fear with the alarming menace in his voice. They instinctively lowered their gazes to avoid his wrath.

Ruolan, the woman bravely facing Long Sicong all alone, clenched her fists.

"Are you leaving me with any choice? There has been no news about Nuwa at all ever since she left to serve that client. She should have been back by the next day. I thought her job would have gotten extended if the client was extremely pleased with her. But for how long? Eight days? It's impossible that Nuwa would be gone for so long and not even send a word to me!"

"You think that I am answerable to you?" Long Sicong's cruel eyes glinted with threat, heightening the tension in the air.

Ruolan felt chocked as if a rope was slowly tightening around her neck. "S-somebody from Huayuan has disappeared without a word and you…you won't even question it? You won't ask the client about her? You won't try to know what happened to her? You are Huayuan's Chief and yet…is this how little you care about us?"

The tone of her last question reverberated a sharper accusation at him.

"Who knows if the client took a fancy to her? It's not that uncommon. Have you been born yesterday? Don't you already know how things are like in your line of occupation?" He sneered.

"I know it. I know it in my heart that it's not like that!" She exclaimed with a quivering voice, her eyes getting wetter. "It was a job for just one night. She wanted to live here…with all of us. She loved being in Huayuan. Even if the client permanently wanted her, she would not agree to it! I know Nuwa the best…"

Her tears and sniffles annoyed Long Sicong to the core. "I had enough of your nonsense. Get out of my sight!"

"Why... Just why won't you ask the client?! Why don't you question him? Who is he? Where did Nuwa go to serve? What if she is in trouble? Who would take responsibility if something happens to Nuwa!?"

"Nobody," Long Sicong cruelly answered.

Ruolan froze on the spot. Her mind struggled to comprehend his answer.

"Do you think I am here to waste my time keeping track of every woman selling her body to men?"

The calm callousness in his voice sent tremors down everybody's spine. His words dripped with venom as he looked down upon Ruolan, the contempt evident in his gaze.

"Nuwa should feel lucky if somebody took a permanent interest in her. You are disrespecting my authority just because she didn't contact you? Know your place, Ruolan."

The last sentence was said with such animosity that an unsettling fear crept deep into the crowd's hearts.

Ruolan stood silent, completely stunned. She wasn't ignorant of Long Sicong's nature. But at the same time, she hadn't expected that he wouldn't even budge when a woman from his territory had disappeared.

Ruolan wasn't the only one to feel her pride as a woman being shattered. A woman who was considerably taller, and slightly more muscular than all the women in Huayuan trembled with a deep resentment burning through her heart. Her expression twisted ugly with outrage.

She must be cursing profanities in her mind. Another woman, who had partially covered her face with a wooden fan, calmly thought as she observed the situtation.

She could sense the growing unease in the crowd. But compared to everyone else, she wasn't rattled by Long Sicong's words to that extent.

Then there was a third woman who, slightly drunk before, was now completely sobered up. She gripped her son's hand firmer, making the child look up at his mother.

That was the end of Ruolan's patience who was now seething in wrath.

"I see… It was my mistake expecting anything from you. No matter how many women get hurt, you won't care about any of them. You only want to wear expensive, tailored suits that you buy by hoarding the money we earn! You only want to hold your power by trampling your feet upon us! If this is your answer then fine. I'm fine with it. I will find Nuwa myself!"

Her declaration startled Long Sicong, and his dark gaze turned frigid. Danger leaked through his aura as he said, "So you will continue to resist me like this?"

From the crowd, a young girl of twelve hastily broke through, her face marred with dread. "Mom!"

She ran to her side, grabbing Ruolan's hand. Urgently whispering to her, "Mom please end this now! Don't you know who you are talking to?"

The turn of events had shaken her, watching her mother fiercely oppose Long Sicong. She couldn't gather courage to even look his way.

"Mom please…let's head back. Please I beg you… I am sure Aunt Nuwa is okay."

Ruolan looked into her apprehensive eyes. "You know how close we are to each other. You know our sisterhood. You treat her like your second mother. Yuming… How can I keep quiet? I don't know…" tears fell from her eyes as she broke down, "I don't know how she is. Nobody has heard anything about her. And you say that I should go back? Then who will care about Nuwa?"

Her glare fell on Long Sicong as she snarled. "Who will make sure that Nuwa is back in Huayuan safe and sound?"

Yuming kept begging but neither Ruolan was ready to budge, nor Long Sicong was ready to excuse her actions.

He left his throne-like seat and walked towards her, causing sheer panic to rise in the crowd. "You will do no such thing," he warned her in a deadly low voice.

Yuming paled and tried to pull her mother away, but with no avail.

"I will... I will Long Sicong!" Ruolan bit her lip hard, "I will find Nuwa at any cost!"

"Then you must suffer. There is no happy ending waiting for those who goes against me."

He summoned his most able aides and ordered, "Take her away. Give her ten whiplashes everyday until she returns to her senses. Don't give her any food either and let this serve as a warning to everyone out there about the consequences of challenging me."

"No!" Yuming immediately got down on her knees, crying for her mother. "Please don't take her away! I- I beg your forgiveness on her behalf. Ple-please don't hurt my mother please…"

"You cannot do this Long Sicong! You have to get Nuwa back! You cannot run away from your responsibilities!" Ruolan's agony shook all the women in the crowd. She struggled against the aides, but they continued to drag her away towards the confinement room.

"Nuwa… Anybody, please get Nuwa back!" She shouted a desperate plea to all the people of Huayuan.

"Please find her… Please find her at any cost!"

The tall and muscular woman gritted her teeth, lowering her head. The woman with the fan partly covering her face clutched it tighter.

The little boy looked up at his mother again and asked, "Will you not help her, Mom?"

Her eyelashes faintly trembled in the darkness, "Right now... I am afraid I can't."

Yuming cried until her throat began to hurt, but all her pain went to deaf ears as Ruolan was being dragged away.

"You cannot do this… You cannot do this Chief. I will bear all the punishment if you want, but please let my mother go…"

Long Sicong looked at her with ridicule. "This seals your mother's fate. She will never be able to escape her imprisonment. I was more than enough patient with her tonight."

"Chief, please! I beg you! I beg of you Chief! She won't do this again! I- I will talk to her. My mother… Please don't take my mother away from me…" Yuming tried to chase him but was ruthlessly pushed away by his aides.

She fell on the ground. Her blurry eyes watched Ruolan being forcefully taken away on one side and Long Sicong walking away nonchalantly on the other.

Her petite figure trembled in the dark night's cold. She curled her fingers into a fist as disappointment and hatred gradually consumed her heart.

Mom… Please let her go…

Yuming found herself losing her consciousness. She collapsed on the ground, her lips whispering as the world blacked out before her.

"Mom…"