Chapter Five: Poverty Is Just Deserved

Many of the passengers had already realized what was about to happen. Even more chillingly, some of the bandits turned on their cameras. One of them spoke, "Welcome, friends from the Dark Web. The pay-per-view feature starts in ten minutes. The live stream will bring you thrills and pleasures like no other: live dismemberment, and more."

Hearing the words "live dismemberment," Li Ziyuan could no longer hold back. In a split second, he sprang up and snatched a blade from one of the thugs. He didn't dare kill, so he used the blunt edge of the blade to knock the man unconscious, then grabbed Yu Tian and turned to run.

"Crack!" A gunshot rang out. Li Ziyuan felt his lower leg get pierced by a bullet and collapsed to the ground.

A second shot followed immediately, striking his other leg. Terrified and at a loss, Yu Tian could only use her own body to shield him. She was frantic, as were all the passengers present; these thugs were nothing short of demons.

The sniper, perched on the trunk of a large tree, watched everyone on the scene as if the unfortunate passengers were merely his prey.

Two thugs stomped over, showing no mercy, and kicked Yu Tian violently.

"You goddamn monsters, take it out on me!" Li Ziyuan roared in uncontrollable rage.

One of the thugs grabbed Yu Tian by the hair like a demon, yanked her up, and tossed her aside. "Once we've targeted someone, none of you are getting away."

With that, they dragged Li Ziyuan toward the ghastly white table like a dead dog.

A bandit standing by the table roughly shoved the bloated female corpse off onto the floor and sneered, "Live dismemberment always gives the perverts in the Dark Web chat room a thrill."

The URLs for these Dark Web streams were hidden in the grey areas of the internet, making them nearly impossible for the police to crack down on.

Hearing that they intended to dismember Li Ziyuan, Yu Tian lost all composure. Possessing a deep sense of pride, she didn't hesitate to kneel before the thugs, begging them desperately to spare him.

The leader roared, "One life is worth ten million. If there's no money, none of you are walking out of here alive."

Hearing this, Yu Tian fell into deeper despair. Forget ten million; even scraping together twenty thousand would be an insurmountable struggle for her.

A wealthy woman’s eyes lit up, as if she had grabbed a lifeline. Her voice trembled as she said, "I have ten million! Please, let me go, I have ten million!"

The leader smiled cunningly. "Very good. You can call your family in a moment."

The woman swallowed hard, thinking that money was worth it if it meant escaping this disaster. Her offer drew the attention of the other fourteen passengers; if she would pay for their lives, they might survive.

"Ma'am, you have the money, please help us! We'll be grateful to you for the rest of our lives," the man in glasses pleaded, grasping at straws like a drowning man.

Others chimed in, begging the woman in the same groveling tone, desperate for her to save them. Yu Tian was among them, though her heart was set on Li Ziyuan living; she had set aside her pride once more solely for his sake.

Everything unfolding was captured by the viewers in the Dark Web chat room—likely a collection of twisted sadists and perverts. The stream spread with lightning speed, its popularity soaring as the comment section erupted into chaos.

"Why should I? Even if you sold yourselves, you wouldn't be worth ten million. You poor people deserve this. Why should I help you when I have money? I’m no saint," the woman said with biting, bitter cruelty. In her eyes, these people weren't worth the price. As long as she lived, their fates were no concern of hers.

Hearing her words, the passengers were plunged into a state of utter hopelessness.

Li Ziyuan, however, had already steeled himself for death. If he was going to die, he would go out in a blaze of glory; he refused to be a fish on a chopping block.

As he lay on the white table, he grabbed a handful of a thug's hair, trying to bite his ear off with all his might. But he failed; the sniper in the tree shot through his arm with professional precision.

The thug, having realized what happened, cursed, "I'll chop your hands off! Come over here and hold him down—let him taste what a living hell is."

Li Ziyuan’s limbs were pinned down tightly. Knowing he wouldn't survive, he resorted to his final weapon: cursing their ancestors for eighteen generations, wondering what kind of beasts could birth such monsters—they were the absolute worst of their kind.

"The more you scream, the more excited the people in the Dark Web chat room get," the thug with the steel blade said. Without a moment's pause, he swung the blade into Li Ziyuan’s shoulder.

Li Ziyuan felt a sudden numbness as his right shoulder went dead, followed immediately by an agonizing, heart-wrenching pain.

Seeing his arm being severed, Yu Tian screamed, trying to run toward him, but she was grabbed firmly by another thug. It was a scene of pure despair.

Li Ziyuan gasped for breath, whispering to Yu Tian, "I’m sorry. I couldn't protect you, and I’ve only caused you worry. But if we’re going to die, we’ll do it with dignity. We’ll be together in the next world."

Turning back to the thug with the blade, he jeered, "Come on! Keep cutting! I’ll go first, but I’ll be waiting for you in hell. And when I see you there, I’ll pay you back double."

The thug had butchered many people, but he was unsettled by the terrifying look in Li Ziyuan’s eyes. He had never seen anyone so tenacious, refusing to yield even in the face of death.

The thug thought, *His life is in my hands—why would I be afraid?* He swung his blade again, hacking off Li Ziyuan’s other arm.

Yu Tian’s tears flowed uncontrollably; she could only watch as Li Ziyuan was tortured bit by bit. The other passengers, unmoved by his defiant spirit, simply huddled on the ground, trembling.

"Come on! Keep going! Your grandfather here still has two legs. Come on, keep hacking! When I go down there, I'm going to hunt down all your ancestors and ask them how they could have birthed such subhuman animals."

Li Ziyuan continued to curse; as long as he was alive, he would unleash his psychological assault.

"Don't be so impatient. The fun is just starting. A slow, agonizing death is much more entertaining," the thug said with an evil grin.

He gripped the blade with both hands and hacked at Li Ziyuan’s heels. What followed was even more brutal: the thug didn't cut the legs off in one go, but severed them piece by piece until they were completely gone.

It was too cruel. Yu Tian couldn't bear to watch and could only weep in agony, unable to fathom the suffering Li Ziyuan was enduring.