Chapter 5 Baby Soup, Snake Feed

Sharp fangs pierced Sophia's calf.

Pain shot through her leg.

She kicked hard, and the snake flew off, hitting the wall.

Before she could catch her breath, a stabbing pain tore into her shoulder.

A black cobra clamped its jaws onto her shoulder blade.

Venom seeped into her bloodstream.

It wasn't lethal, but the agony spread wildly through every part of her body.

Sophia convulsed. Her hands were chained—she couldn't reach her back.

She slammed herself against the wall. Once. Twice. Until her skin split and blood ran down the concrete.

The snakes smelled the blood and swarmed toward her even more frantically.

Her thighs, arms, waist—everywhere, that slick, sliding sensation and the sharp sting of fangs.

Sophia rolled on the ground, gasping for air. Sweat and blood streamed into her eyes, stinging.

She refused to accept this.

Her parents had died horribly. Her newborn child had been boiled into soup. She hadn't even touched her enemies—was she really going to die in this dark basement?

No. She couldn't die.

She had to get out alive. She had to make Joshua and Rainey pay with their blood.

She gritted her teeth, enduring the pain, dragging the heavy chains inch by inch toward the iron door.

Every inch she moved, the snakes on her body tightened.

"Help!"

"Someone! Save me!"

She shouted at the iron door until her voice went hoarse.

Two burly bodyguards stood outside. Both had their hands behind their backs. Neither turned his head.

Through the special glass wall, Sophia could clearly see the coldness on their faces.

The venom spread. Her limbs grew numb. The pain grew sharper, as if her bones were being crushed.

Then the sound of high heels echoed in the corridor.

Rainey stopped outside the glass wall, holding a black plastic basin, her lips curling wildly.

She pressed a switch on the wall. A small opening appeared at the bottom of the iron door—the slot used for food.

"Sophia, how does it feel to be bitten by snakes?"

Rainey's sweet voice came through the speaker.

Sophia lay on the ground, covered in blood, gasping. Several snakes were wrapped around her ankles, tightening constantly.

She lifted her head, stared hard at Rainey, and gritted her teeth. "Rainey... you'll die a horrible death."

Rainey burst out laughing.

"I'm living just fine. Why would I die? If anyone dies, it's you."

She shook the plastic basin. Inside was a pile of dark red minced meat, giving off a strong fishy smell.

"Oh, by the way, Sophia, these snakes have been starving for days. Joshua specifically told me to give them an extra meal."

Sophia ignored her, closing her eyes, enduring wave after wave of pain.

Rainey took out a transparent sealed bag.

"Sophia, look what this is."

Through the glass, Rainey held up the bag. Inside was a piece of meat, still stained with blood.

"This is part of your bastard child. Joshua was going to throw it in the trash, but I was kind enough to save it as a keepsake for you."

Sophia stared at the bag, her eyes bloodshot, red veins spiderwebbing across them.

"Rainey! I'll kill you! I'll kill you!"

She pounded on the glass wall. The chains struck the glass, but it didn't budge.

Rainey laughed even harder.

"Kill me? What are you going to kill me with? You can't even protect yourself right now."

She poured the contents of the sealed bag into the plastic basin.

Then she walked to the feeding slot, squatted down, and with her gloved hand, grabbed a handful of minced meat to show Sophia.

"Look carefully—this piece of cartilage. Isn't that your son's finger?"

"Oh, and this piece. Such tender meat."

Sophia's mind shattered.

Staring at that handful of minced meat, she shook her head like a madwoman.

"Don't. Please don't."

"Rainey, I'll kneel to you, okay? I'll do anything you want. Please—"

Rainey burst out laughing. "Sophia, look at yourself. You're like a dog."

Her mouth stretched into an exaggerated arc.

"I really want to help you."

"But unfortunately, these scraps left over from making the soup—Joshua said throwing them away would pollute the air. He told me to feed them to the snakes."

"You know how it is. I always listen to Joshua."

With that, Rainey threw the handful of minced meat through the slot.

The meat fell onto the dark, damp concrete floor.

The snakes surrounding Sophia were instantly drawn to the strong smell of blood.

They abandoned her, twisting their bodies and slithering quickly toward the meat on the ground.

"Don't eat it!"

Sophia let out a shrill, unbearable scream.

She lunged forward like a madwoman.

The chains went taut, cutting deep into her wrists. Blood flowed freely.

She couldn't feel the pain.

Her mind had only one thought: That was her child. The child she had carried for nine months, who hadn't even had a chance to see the world.

A thick python reached the meat first.

It opened its mouth wide, about to swallow it.

Sophia threw herself onto the ground and grabbed the piece of meat in her hand.

"Get away! Don't touch my child!"

She clutched the meat tightly to her chest. Tears and blood covered her face.

The python, its meal stolen, grew enraged.

It reared up, opened its bloody mouth, and bit down on Sophia's arm, tearing hard.

A chunk of flesh ripped off. Blood gushed out, splattering onto the meat.

Sophia's hands were already bitten to a bloody pulp, deep enough to see bone. Still, she didn't let go.

She pressed her body down hard over the meat on the ground, her hands desperately gathering the scattered pieces beneath her.

"Don't eat it. Please don't eat it."

She cried and begged, her voice hoarse beyond recognition.

The snakes couldn't understand human speech.

They crawled up along her arms and thighs, opening their fang-filled mouths, biting her body frantically.

A green viper bit down on the side of her neck. Another snake burrowed into her clothes, leaving deep bloody gouges on her body.

Sophia curled into a ball, using her own flesh and blood to shield the meat.

"Baby, don't be afraid. Mommy will protect you."

"Mommy is here."

She muttered deliriously, pressing the dirt-caked, reeking meat tightly against her chest.

The venom coursed through her body, and she coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood, spraying it onto the meat in her arms.

"Baby, don't be afraid."

She had lost all sanity, falling into a mad delusion—believing the meat in her arms was still a living child.

More and more snakes swarmed toward her.

They smelled the food, and they also smelled the even stronger scent of blood on Sophia's body.

One after another, countless snakes crawled up her legs. They wrapped around her thighs, then coiled around her waist.

The largest python released her arm and slithered up her back. Its thick body coiled around Sophia's neck, loop after loop.

Tightening.

Sophia's ribs cracked—a crisp sound.

The broken ribs seemed to pierce her lungs, making her breathing ragged.

She no longer had the strength to struggle. Her face turned purple, veins bulging on her forehead.

She opened her mouth wide but couldn't make a sound.

Yet her hands still clutched the pile of meat in her arms.

Outside the glass wall, Rainey laughed hysterically.

"Hahaha! Sophia, the way you look right now is absolutely pathetic!"

"Go to hell with your bastard child!"

The suffocation grew heavier. The air in her lungs was slowly squeezed out.

Sophia's vision began to blur. The scene before her eyes turned into vast patches of blood red.

Countless venomous snakes completely engulfed her.

Her consciousness began to sink, deeper and deeper, into the darkness.