Before Xu Xingzhi opened his eyes, he only felt his wet clothes clinging rather uncomfortably to his body.
He recalled that when he was filling up on water by the stream, a pair of hands suddenly appeared from behind him and shoved him into it.
The water clearly wasn’t deep at all, but when Xu Xingzhi fell into it, it seemed like a vortex formed out of nowhere and engulfed him.
Under the violent surging force of the “vortex”, Xu Xingzhi vomited a mouthful of blood and lost consciousness.
When he regained the strength to open his eyes, the first thing that fell into his gaze was an undisguised and bare-bones-white female carcass.
Xu Xingzhi’s eyes seemed to be looking into the kingdom of heaven, it stung his eyes so much that he reflexively shut them. He wanted to prop himself off the ground, but his body was so numb and feeble such that he couldn’t exert any strength at all. Even if he lifted his arm slightly, he would be hit with a burst of weakness and soreness.
That woman smiled wickedly and approached Xu Xingzhi, pinching his chin: “Xu Xingzhi? Remember me?”
Xu Xingzhi: “. . .”
Don’t remember, thank you very much, may I leave now?
Seeing that Xu Xingzhi was silent, the woman smiled and commented: “Xu-shixiong, you really are a noble personage who forgets many things ah.”
. . . Shixiong?
This was an acquaintance of the original owner?
Xu Xingzhi instantly remembered that during the interrogation of the Beast Hide Person, he mentioned that he raised a Meiji and that not only was this Meiji his acquaintance, but was also someone who was aware of all of his “messy affairs”.
This Meiji referred to him as “Shixiong”, could it be. . .
Sure enough, the woman reported her origins promptly: “It isn’t surprising that you can’t remember. Shixiong was always mingling with Yuan Ruzhou-shijie, Meng Chongguang, and Jiu Zhideng, so you probably don’t recall the outer sect disciple of Fengling Mountain, Huang Shanyue ba?”
. . . She’s actually from the same sect as the original owner? And it was also very likely that she was someone who knew something about what occurred thirteen years ago?
Xu Xingzhi’s spirit instantly brightened as he hoped to bait some information out of her: “. . . The events of that year, did you also have a hand in it?”
The woman spread her arms: “If I didn’t participate, would I be here now?”
As she spoke, her voice dimmed: “If I had chosen the right team to side with at the time, then how would I have ended up in such a state?”
Xu Xingzhi continued to sound her out: “A drawn and released bow offers no backtracking arrow, but how could it be so simple to draw a line between right and wrong?”
The woman didn’t respond for a long time.
Xu Xingzhi originally assumed that she was reflecting upon it deeply, but after a while, a gentle temperature stuck onto Xu Xingzhi’s body that was slightly shivering from the cold: “Xu Xingzhi, you want to stall time until Meng Chongguang comes to save you, am I right?”
Vtf abbx j ylaf bo atf alq bo We Wlcuhtl’r fjg: “Tbe’gf bnfgatlcxlcu. Ktlr lr ws bkc rfmgfa mtjwyfg. Ycis ws teryjcv jcv P xcbk atf fzjma ibmjalbc.”
Lfjglcu atlr, We Wlcuhtl’r tfjga rjcx jygeqais.
Coafg obgmlcu tlwrfio ab mjiw vbkc, tf abrrfv bea j yjgujlclcu mtlq: “Tbeg ifjvfg bo atf wbecajlc lr ralii jilnf. Szmtjcuf tlw obg wf, vbfr atja rffw jmmfqajyif?”
The woman didn’t seem interested in this. She undid the fold of his wet robe’s lapel and her slender fingers slid across the curves of his chest muscles causing Xu Xingzhi to utter a low “en”: “. . . Unhand me.”
The woman unscrupulously kissed the side of Xu Xingzhi’s face: “I am committed to my husband and just want to have a place where I can still reside. But now Feng Mountain already has a new owner, so does it matter whether my husband is dead or alive anymore? Besides, he’s probably better off dead than alive right now ba. If you return him to me now, it wouldn’t be any more than just giving me a living dead person. . . . Am I right?”
Xu Xingzhi was rendered speechless for a while and could only let her continue entangling herself onto his body.
He spared a brief glance just now and knew that this was a woman with a pretty good-looking and graceful figure. If she was still a part of the righteous path, she would’ve definitely been able to obtain a good husband and start a beautiful family. She wouldn’t be accompanying a monster in the wasteland like she was now.
Xu Xingzhi inevitably felt a little sympathy for her.
Anyway, it was useless to struggle so he simply let her tease and flirt with him as she wished as he asked: “Since you’re in the wasteland, why didn’t you search for Meng Chongguang? He took Ruzhou under his wing, he could take you in as well.”
The woman’s soft body slightly stiffened as she replied in a self-deprecating tone: “Ruzhou-shijie’s fate is naturally better than mine. My husband took me away and made me his concubine as soon as I arrived in the wasteland. When I am finally able to free myself. . . Where would I be able to go ne?”
Xu Xingzhi was at a loss for words, but the bit of pity he had was quickly dispelled by the woman’s growing overly intimate actions.
He struggled: “. . . Stop moving already.”
The woman didn’t show any signs of restraint, giggling, she gleefully inquired: “Shixiong, are you trembling?”
Xu Xingzhi thought about it, you try falling headfirst into the water and then getting thrown into this frigid little stone room after being scooped out of it. If you don’t shiver, I’ll respect you as a brave warrior.
Speaking of which, Xu Xingzhi still didn’t understand how he fell into the hands of this woman up until this moment.
The woman’s movements became more and more arrogant, every inch of Xu Xingzhi’s skin that she touched would inevitably give rise to patch after patch of goosebumps. He complained internally and tried his best to divert the topic of conversation: “Since you had the ability to whisk me away in an instant, why didn’t you personally do it the moment you wanted to capture me.”
The woman pushed the portion of his robes that were over his shoulders outwards and off before replying in a provocative voice: “I did originally propose using this method, but my husband refused to agree to it. He’s warned me before that if I were to use this method rashly, he wouldn’t want me anymore.”
“Why?”
“This move is dangerous.” The voice of the woman sank into another odd emotion illustrating fatigue, “I’ve used this ability to assassinate a lot of powerful enemies for my husband, but every time I use it, it would make my internal organs age more than a decade.”
She smiled and continued: “You can’t tell, ba? My skin may still be young right now, but my internal organs are already very antiquated.”
Xu Xingzhi was horrified and could hardly believe it: “Is this a spell from the demonic path?”
“Shixiong is well-informed.” The woman said lightly, “But why would you be so surprised? How many people do you assume are like Qu Chi or Yuan-shijie, who can survive in the savage wasteland without having to resort to switching to the demonic path?”
She added further: “. . . Even if my internal organs become completely rotten, it’s still better than being tormented and humiliated.”
Xu Xingzhi gasped a few times, unable to answer.
His body that had been cold to the point of numbness until just before, was now preposterously burning up for some abnormal reason.
The woman also picked up on the strangeness in Xu Xingzhi’s tone. She smiled slyly and stroked the side of Xu Xingzhi’s face with the back of her hand as she eloquently teased: “Shixiong is very tenacious. I was harassing you so openly before and Shixiong wasn’t moved at all. But what’s wrong with Shixiong now? Why are you blushing so madly?”
How could Xu Xingzhi not understand what happened: “You gave me. . .”
The woman already slackened Xu Xingzhi’s completely soaked waist cincher and placed it against her red lips, giving it a kiss. Next, she leaned down and tied the waist cincher loosely around his eyes.
Across the waist cincher, the woman lightly kissed Xu Xingzhi’s eyes: “Shixiong had an unparalleled presence and there were few women from the four sects who did not admire you. At that time, a bunch of us female disciples who got along well with each pther had even made guesses as to who would be lucky enough to become your partner in dual cultivation. . .”
Halfway through her sweet talking, her tone suddenly became sharp, she grabbed Xu Xingzhi’s chin and squeezed until his face became distorted: “Those times have now passed and I am no longer the same youthful beautiful maiden Huang Shanyue. I’ve aged. . . . I managed to seize that life-saving stalk of straw in this savage wasteland and finally found someone who truly treated me well. . . So why? Why did Meng Chongguang even want to rob me of my last semblance of hope? I supported my husband to get rid of so many enemies, and only refrained from attacking Meng Chongguang precisely because of that bit of past friendships? And yet he. . . He. . .”
Her actions of lighting fires everywhere had already accelerated the onset of the effects of the medicine in Xu Xingzhi’s body. Her previous actions of chatting idly with Xu Xingzhi was just used to stall time to wait for the medicine to finally take full effect.
Seeing that the drug had finally started to affect him, she conversely started to casually climb off of Xu Xingzhi’s body. She exposed the thin light yellow shirt next to her, looked at Xu Xingzhi and smiled shallowly: “I want to let his beloved and cherished person cry and beg from bliss underneath my body. I want him to also experience his only treasure being snatched away by someone else and taste the pursuit of the unobtainable!”
Xu Xingzhi: “. . .”
Xu Xingzhi really didn’t know what he could say in response.
. . . If you really want to take revenge, then go seek Meng Chongguang’s sweetheart ah, what’s the use of finding his father instead?
The woman mercilessly swung the door shut and left, leaving Xu Xingzhi alone to be tormented by the drug until he twisted and squirmed.
He had no strength at all now, his joints and muscles felt soft, his limbs were weak like soft tofu, but his body itself was getting hotter and hotter. It was so uncomfortable that although Xu Xingzhi clenched his teeth, he still couldn’t help letting a low-pitched groan or two escape. The sound of his ragged gasps of breath was so loud that it sounded like rolling thunder in his ears.
He felt like he was burning up, scorching into a raging fire that would flare forever.
After the woman closed the door, she draped a luoshan over herself and continued outside.
The medicine was extremely potent and was impossible to endure when its effects were triggered. The woman only needed to wait for the medicinal effects to fully reach its peak and enter when Xu Xingzhi was writhing on the ground and calling out, unable to satisfy his desires.
She tucked her long hair behind her ear and called out to the servant who waited on her: “Where did you die off to? Come out and give me another glass of Nuanqing Wine!”
Very quickly, the little servant appeared from the only convoluted, winding pathway that led to the outside world.
He staggered forward a few steps, then fell face down as large spurts of blood sprayed out from his already slit throat, instantly staining the slate floor red.
The person following closely behind rushed out at a fast pace. That person bore a beautiful face that was currently twisted to the extreme, the red cinnabar mole at the corner of his eye was red enough to drip blood.
“Meng Chongguang?!” The woman exclaimed involuntarily, backing up a few steps, “How did you know the location of Feng Mountain’s secret chamber?”
After that, she was unable to speak another word.
A thick vine sprung out from behind Meng Chongguang and penetrated her body directly.
She widened her eyes slightly and gazed down at the wound as if she wanted to confirm exactly what sort of condition the internal organs spilling out of her was in, like candlelight dwindling in the wind.
It was only too bad that she wasn’t destined to see it.
Dozens of vines pierced through, skewering her into a bloody gourd.
Meng Chongguang didn’t even spare a glance at her fallen body and just stepped over her corpse that couldn’t rest in peace to enter the small room.
However, just when he reached the door of the small room, he suddenly braked.
The door of the small room was designed to be very thick and was even covered in incantations to isolate all sounds, but for Meng Chongguang, this little trick was no different from child’s play.
He could very clearly hear Xu Xingzhi’s ragged and seductive low panting, emanating wave after wave from the small room like a building flood.
Xu Xingzhi was curled up on the cold ground as his face was soaked in sweat. He only felt that he had become a volcano that was on the verge of erupting, all kinds of gorgeous fireworks and colorful stripes bloomed before his eyes, and the muscles of his body were all twisted and screaming as if it was planning on sending this body into death at any time.
When he was in a daze, the door was slowly pushed open with a kaqiang.
Xu Xingzhi knew that he could no longer escape, but conversely still had the intentions to make a joke: “Finally here?”
Yet that woman didn’t speak, completely different from the madness just now.
“In the end. . . how long do you plan on toying with me, ah?” Xu Xingzhi panted in low gasps, “The sect, how had the sect guided you? I’m your Shixiong! You. . . En~”
A lecture that was preached in varying pitches made the face of the person standing at the door gradually show an odd yet excited expression.
The person who approached refused to say a word, making Xu Xingzhi feel surprised.
Just when he was puzzled over it, a bizarre thing climbed up along Xu Xingzhi’s knees. It stuck to him like restless hands wandering all over the places where his clothing no longer covered. It ultimately stopped at his wrists and pulled his arms up from the side of his body, hanging him up high.
Xu Xingzhi’s eyes were covered by the waist cincher and now his arms were pulled away from his body, putting his completely soaked body on display to the person before him without reservations. This feeling was countless times more dreadful than the previous circumstances.
An inexplicable pressure choked his throat. His weak palms clenched and loosened repeatedly. Sweat dripped down his neck and pooled in shallow puddles at the deep dips above his clavicles.
He asked in a trembling voice: “Who is it?”
The person who came didn’t speak.
A small spark of hope was ignited: “Meng Chongguang?”
No, it can’t be Meng Chongguang. That woman just said that this location was a secret and no one knew about it except for her and the original leader of Feng Mountain.
. . . Could it be that that woman wanted to torment him using another method?
Without waiting for Xu Xingzhi to ponder over it further, that group of awkward and soft, thin hands actually bound Xu Xingzhi’s ankles and took this opportunity to head up further towards his waist!
The author has something to say:
Shixiong paralyzed: . . . I am now a salted fish.
Chongguang miao miao: licking with a ciliu.
Author's Chapter Summary:
Shimei, intimidate and force, in the secret chamber
The translator has something to say: One danger resolved and another predator approaches. . .
The editor has something to say: Meng Chongguang, bad! >:(