20 Sleep forever

Plutarch, Year of the Dragon

{It was dark. A girl was sitting in a room on her knees. Her clothes were half ripped and chains were wrapped around her arms, neck and legs. She was silent, to the point that it seemed as if she were dead. Her eyes were devoid of light.

The door of the room creaked open.

"Come. It's your turn now." A gruff voice said to the girl. A man with a surgical mask on his face stood on the doorway. His forehead was marked with a huge scar.

The girl didn't move.

The man took out a whip that had been hanging on his belt. He walked towards the girl and lashed it on the girl's shoulder.

The girl didn't flinch, scream or have any reaction. She just kept staring blankly at the space in front of her.

Irritated, the man lashed out again, but no response. He whipped her again and again till her skin was covered with whip marks and blood seeped out of them. She was still silent.

The man got annoyed and he said "If you don't come, then I'll very well get your friends to take your place."

The girl flinched immediately on hearing this. Her hands trembled and she got up. The man, satisfied, smirked and pulled her by her chain on her neck. The girl coughed because of the sudden pressure but walked behind him.

She was brought to a testing lab, where hundreds of equipments were kept. She was pushed onto a seat and the chain on her neck was removed. The scarred man grabbed her face and forcefully opened her mouth. He poured in a bubbling liquid. The girl gasped as the liquid burned her insides and her stomach hurt as if her organs were being squeezed. She coughed and drops of blood fell out. The pain subsided before another wave of pain appeared and this time, she kept on vomiting blood till she felt dizzy.

"Doctor what's her situation? Did the 'Dissolver' work?" A young man with a surgical mask asked the scarred man.

"The 'Dissolver' worked perfectly. She's the only one who survived through it. But the blood loss is still too much." The scarred man replied.

"That's expected. After all, the 'Dissolver' is meant to dissolve the organs of her stomach." The young man said. "But really, she is one of a kind." A smirk appears on his face.

"That she is." The scarred man said and yanked her face up by her chin. "Am I right, Test subject 1313?" He laughed out loud, when he saw the look of contempt she gave him.

The girl spit blood on his face and the man stopped laughing. He glared at her and hit her face with the back of his hand. "You dare to spit on me!? Hmmm.. What should I do? I know, maybe I should let one of your friends take this 'Dissolver'. But, unlike you, their chances of surviving.... Tsk tsk." The man clicked his tongue, an ugly smile spread on his face.

He ordered the young man. "Go bring one of those runts here."

The girl's eyes widened and she panicked.

The man laughed on seeing her expression "What? Regretting it now? It's of no use."

Not long, a small boy was brought there. His face had grown thin and tears trailed out of his eyes. His eyes widened when he saw the girl. He smiled and rushed towards her, but was kicked away by the scarred man. The girl got up, but was pushed down by the man.

"Lala" The boy cried out to the girl. The girl's eyes grew brighter.

The young man held the boy and the scarred man opened the crying boy's mouth forcefully and poured in the 'Dissolver'. The boy immediately let out a heart wrenching scream, making the girl move towards him, but she was restrained by the chair's mechanism.

The boy's eyes started to bleed and his skin became red with the heat dissipated by the 'Dissolver'. His screams made the girl struggle and her wrists started to bleed. The boy cried desperately and screamed "Lala.... Lala.. Please.. Please... Sav... Save me. I.. Don't want this.. Lala" The boy mournfully looked at the girl, his eyes filled with blood and tears.

Pain filled screams increased as the boy's skin started to melt. Blood was constantly spit out by his mouth. The skin melted, till the bones could be seen. The screams only subsided, when the boy's heart dissolved into nothing. What was left, was his eyeballs and bones.

The girl was trembling from head to toe. She could still hear his screams. "Ke.. ita... Kei.. ta.... Keitaaa.." She whispered. She, who hadn't spoken for months, had finally uttered words. The girl wanted to cry. 'But, why won't the tears come?' The girl wondered.

She started laughing, like a crazy person. 'Areee, for what am I doing this? Why am I doing this? Who am I?.... I can't remember. I can't remember anything. I just..... Wish I could sleep already. Sleep forever.'

The girl's laughter stopped after a while.

The scarred man smirked and told the young man, "Bring in another one. This is good for improving her mental strength."

Another child was brought.

The same cycle was repeated.

It didn't stop until five were killed before the girl.

"That's enough for today. You're new, so I'll tell you what to do. Here, switch on the machine. Her mental strength is good for now, but her physical strength needs to improve. Give her some electric shocks, thirty to fourty whips and few burns. Then, make her stretch her body by using that machine. It will pull her body from below and above and stretch her, till her body will feel like it's going to split into two. After that, give her some of those worms." The scarred man said to the young man.

"Those worms that eat muscles? Wouldn't that make her weak?" The young man asked.

"For her to be the perfect specimen, her whole body needs to be replaced. That goes for her heart, organs and muscles of course. That reminds me, first of all give her metal organs in place of her real ones. She doesn't have any currently, except her heart and lungs. No slacking off in her physical training. This is just the usual amount. The special training... Will be done later." The man said licking his lips.

The girl's stomach was cut open and metal organs were placed in. She wasn't given anaesthesia and she felt the pain when her nerves were set in place with her new organs.

A hand crept with a knife in it crept towards her and went through her chest.}

Yi Lan woke up, her body sweating and her face pale. She touched her face with her hand.

'Calm down Lan. It was only a dream.'

Yi Lan comforted herself, but laughed ironically. 'It was a dream, a dream of my past. Why did the knife part appear? It was never there in reality.'

She rubbed her arm whose hair had stood up. That was when she noticed that she was back in her bed and her hand was held by a sleeping Yoru.

He was sitting on the floor beside Lan's bed and Yi Lan had been sleeping on her bed. Yi Lan let out a sigh, shaking her head. 'This boy..'

She slowly removed her hand from his warm one and got out of the bed. She managed to pick him up, but carrying him to his room was out of the question. So, she laid him on her bed and pulled the blanket over his body. His sleeping face was so innocent that Lan couldn't help but pat his head.

She froze when Yoru mumbled "Big Sister.. So.. Sorry for leaving you.."

She smiled and then slowly opened her cupboard, deciding to take a bath. 'Ah... It was so good before. I didn't have to shower every day and have to wear clean clothes.' She thought pouting.

She removed the hairclip from her hair and bracelet and quickly took a bath. "I've had enough of this room and bathroom." She muttered in disgust. "But for the time being, my first priority is getting a new weapon. The room and other stuff will be taken care of later."

"I don't have money though. What should I do....? Temporarily, I'll just go to the market and check if there's something of my taste." She decided.

She looked at her wadrobe in search of a dress. To her surprise, a black coloured pant and shirt was stuffed in its corner. Delighted, she quickly put it on. By the time, she got dressed, Yoru had woken up and was drowsily rubbing his eyes. He gave her a cute, sleepy smile." Good Morning Big Sister."

Yi Lan jumped towards him and attacked him with a hug. Kissing his cheek, she replied "Good Morning, my cute little brother."

Unknown to Lan, Yoru's cheek blushed bright pink in colour.

"Big Sister, do you feel better now? Yesterday, when I woke up, we both were still sitting in the tree's shade. I didn't want to disturb you, so I carried you here." He said with big watery eyes.

"Is that so? Sorry for the trouble. Why didn't you go back to your room?" Lan asked rubbing his hair, an unconscious act.

"Because it seemed as if you were having a bad dream. I didn't want to leave you, so I stayed. You were holding my hand tightly." Yoru said frowning, a look of concern in his eyes.

Lan's eyes softened and she patted his head. "Thank you. Now, let's go and have breakfast after you freshen up."

They both had breakfast alone, as no one was up yet.

Lan told Yoru she had to go to the market and he begged her to let him come with her, but she refused. She didn't want him to see her assassin side. She asked him for the directions and he sullenly drew it for her.

Yi Lan quickly took off and walked and walked till it felt as if her legs would fall apart. "Ughhh, this body is so weak. I have to train as soon as possible." She groaned.

She was currently passing by a cliff. A faint cry reached her ear.

"Help..."

Curious, Lan head over to the end of the cliff. A boy, who seemed in his twenties was hanging to the cliff with his hands at the end. His brown eyes widened in joy in seeing Lan and he yelled out "Hey you! Please help me out. My arms are tired from hanging. I'll give you anything! Money, clothes, whatever. Just let me up. Please."

Lan's eyes shone. 'Money baby, here comes your Mama.'

She jumped over to where he was hanging and slowly pulled him up. Just when he was almost up, the man said in relief "Thank you brother. You're a life saver."

*Kick*

The man screamed as he was thrown down and once again, he clung to the cliff. "What was that for??!" He shouted.

"Do I look like a man to you!? I'm a girl. See! I have breasts ... They're just developing." Yi Lan said angrily, looking at her flat chest.

The man panicked and said "I'm sorry, sister. You're a girl. That too, a beautiful one. I didn't mean that. I apologise. I'll kowtow, give you money, anything. Please, just let me up."

Lan thought and thought till she grew tired and fell asleep standing.

"..... Sister? Sister are you there?"

" Huh? Oh right." Lan yawned and helped him up.

The man bowed down in gratitude."Thank you sister. This knight Feng Wang will always be in your debt."

"Oh~ so you know I'm a girl." Lan said icily.

Sweat trickled down his neck. "This knight deeply apologises. I must have poor vision. I'll go and have it checked once."

"Fine. Fine." She muttered.

Feng Wang straighted up and looked at her. His eyes widened. "Pardon me for being rude, but why is that you don't have Qi?"

"It's been like that since I was born. Supposedly." She replied.

"But that's impossible. Each and everyone is born with Qi, no matter how small it may be. Without that, one cannot exist." He said shaking his head.

Her eyes sparkled. "Then there might be a possibility of me becoming a cultivator?"

"About that... I can't really say. I'm not much aware about it." He said mournfully.

"In other words, you're useless." She sighed and started walking away.

"Benefactor, please wait. I don't know much about this matter, but I do know some who does." He yelled running after her.

"Who?"

"My master. If you would, please come with me." He said eagerly.

Yi Lan thought for a while and agreed. It's not as if it was going to waste her time.

A few minutes later, Lan regretted her decision.

Sitting on the steps of a hotspring was a half naked woman in her twenties, her heavy chest barely covered by ber robe. Her fair skin was wrinkle free and spotless. Long scarlet hair hung around her waist. Her hand held a bottle of wine, her face flushed as she took a sip.

Feng Wang rushed towards the woman saying "Master! Didn't I tell you not to drink in the morning! We have a guest, so please tidy yourself up."

The woman slowly stood up. Her black eyes swept across Yi Lan's body and she walked towards her. On reaching her, the woman gave a seductive smile and wrapped her hands around Lan's neck. She parted her lips a little, the scent of wine escaping her mouth and reaching Yi Lan. In a low voice, she purred "This brother here, would you like to have some fun with this Big Sister? I promise to be. Up. All. Night." She winked and puckered her pink pouty lips to give Lan a big kiss on her cheek.

*Blergh*

Almost immediately after that, the woman puked on Lan's feet.

Yi Lan:".... "

Feng Wang:".... "

Pushing off the woman from herself, Yi Lan said "I'm leaving."

"No! You can't leave! This Big Sister has to still fulfill her desires." The woman hugged Lan and without giving Lan time to react, she slightly pulled open Lan's shirt, till her fair neck could be seen. The woman's lips attached itself to her neck and sucked for a few seconds. After successfully making a mark, she pulled back, satisfied with her work.

Meanwhile, Lan just stood frozen in shock.

Feng Wang was already depressed.