Snap! Snap!
The iron whip lashed against the girl's bare skin, violently tearing it open as the wounds blossomed like flowers. Her strength and power seeped out with the blood only to be smeared back onto her body with each strike.
Before long, her body was stained red with her own blood. Chikou Zhenfan was suspended in midair, looking as horrific as if she had just been pulled from a pool of blood.
She dared not cry, for tears would only make the adults angrier, and her torment would only become more painful.
"You were born for what purpose!" the whip-holder roared, "Why were you even learning!!"
"...to protect the country..." Zhenfan repeated mechanically, "to protect the country."
"That's right! To protect the country!!" Another lash came down, and Zhenfan held her voice back, "Can such strength protect your country?! Can it protect everything you hold dear?!"
