Long Chen's side story (TW: VERY grim/heavy/brutal) (Patreon)

Long Chen, a teen of barely sixteen, stared as his father sank to his knees.

“Please!” his father begged, his puffy, round face locked in a pleading expression, as he clutched onto the robe of a haughty young man standing before him, “I’ll find the money! I’ll work! I’ll do anything, just please, don’t take them!”

The young man, amused, exchanged a glance with his companion before his gaze traveled to a pair of women cuddled up in the corner. The women looked very much alike, carbon copies of each other except for the difference of a few decades in age. The younger woman sobbed in desperation and in fear, so the other one hugged her tightly, patting her head and soothingly stroking her hair. The older woman herself tried to keep a stoic face, a calm grimace, but Long Chen could see the distress, could see the anxiety crawling behind his mother’s eyes.

“And why would we wait, old man, when there is such…” he bit his lip as he stared at the women, and their breasts, pressed onto each other, “… bountiful repayment present?”

“No-no-no,” Long Chen’s father began to weep again, but perhaps tired of the cries, or annoyed by the tears staining his robe, the young man backhanded him into the floor.

He then kneeled beside the sad, broken man who held onto his face in pain and whispered something in his ear with a smile so disgusting, it send shivers even into Long Chen’s spine. The teen couldn’t hear the words, but they were enough for his father to forget about his hurting jaw, start to once more beg and once more get slapped across the face.

“You should’ve thought of your family before you put them as collateral. Not after you lost every coin you had.”

The young man laughed, shook his head, and turned to his friend, whose eyes never left the women in all this time.

“Which one do you want, Brother Mo?” he asked, courteous and light-hearted.

“I’ll take the older one, Brother Yong. I like them experienced and loose.”

Chuckling, Brother Young nodded.

“I’ll take the sister then.”

Long Chen watched as both of them headed to his mother and his sister who, in response, burrowed into each other even deeper in an attempt to shrink and disappear.

He saw his father bawling his eyes out in regret, screaming to the Heavens that he’ll get the money, that he’ll settle the debt – and yet, Long Chen knew, that if such a sum was ever in his father’s hands away, he would gamble it all away again.

He was just that kind of a man. Weak for the dice and too pathetic to resist temptation. How many times had he said, ‘today I’ll win it big!’, only to return home dejected and in search for an antique to sale?

As his father grew quite after the Brother Yong cast him a threatening look, Long Chen understood that it was time to decide who he was.

Was he a coward, a man that another could silence with nothing but a glance? Was he someone that could watch those he held dear be mistreated and not step up?

The answer was surprisingly clear.

“Stop,” Long Chen said. He didn’t ask them to stop, didn’t plead like his father did: no, he told them.

Because that’s what the strong did. They commanded, they ordered, and they did not fucking beg.

“What are you doing?!” his father angrily whispered, his figure a bloody mess on the floor, “Shut up, Chen, shut up!”

In his head, Long Chen knew that a son should be filial to his father: family was the foundation of honor, and one’s parents were supposed to respected and revered. And yet… for the tear-stained sack of shit whose blood flowed in his veins, Long Chen felt nothing but contempt and hate.

He walked up and kicked his own father in the face.

And it felt better than it had any right to feel.

“Oh?” Brother Yong turned his head, brows raised “You hear that, Brother Mo? The brat wants us to stop.”

“I don’t give a shit,” his companion says, his eyes clouded by pure lust.

Chuckling, Brother Yong shrugged his shoulders.

“Sorry, kid, my friend isn’t the mood to stop,” he winked, “I don’t think he’s in a mood for anything besides split your mother open on his cock.”

Long Chen clenched his fists so hard his nails bloodied his palms. All reason gone from his youthful mind, he looked around, found nothing but a chair and hurled it at Brother Yong’s back.

The stool shattered into wood splinters and the young man didn’t even flinch. But Long Chen wasn’t deterred as he rushed his surprised opponent and swung.

It was a good punch. Right on the button on Yong’s chin, a technical twist of the hips and the shoulder fueling it with his entire body weight. In a tavern brawl, this punch would’ve left even a heavyset man with lights out: but this wasn’t a tavern brawl and Long Chen enemy’s wasn’t the local drunk.

No, as Yong’s head barely turned to the side from the impact of the strike and he laughed, it became clear that this fight wasn’t one Long Chen could win.

It didn’t stop him from trying though, as he reading another swing, only this time Yong didn’t let him. He caught his fist, tilted his head and smirked.

Long Chen’s elbow snapped, but he gritted his teeth and refused to let out even a yelp. Yong leaned in, still with a devious smile and clubbed his ears with both of his palms, the attack powerful enough to rattle Long Chen’s brain. His ears bleeding, his vision blurry and his head ringing, Long Chen fell to the ground despite his firm will to remain standing.

Obviously bored now, Yong turned around – but Long Chen grabbed him by the sleeve, ignoring his own agony.

“You touch them…” he murmured, half-delirious, half in rage, “I’ll find you and wipe out your entire fucking clan.”

At this, Yong burst into such a strong fit of laughter, he actually bent in half, unable to catch his breath.

“What an amusing kid. Alright,” he crouched near Long Chen, who started coming to his senses, “Name’s Jing Yong. Come find me, when you’re ready, little clan destroyer. For now…”

Yong grinned and, despite the protest of flying hands, forced open Long Chen’s mouth.

“For now, I’ll hold on to you front teeth, deal?” he said and ripped out two teeth straight from the gum.

Long Chen passed out from the shock and Yong, with an amused shake of his head, kicked him away. He turned to Brother Mo and smiled.

“Sorry for the interruption. Shall we continue?”