Chapter 19: The Lavish Prison
The moment Du Yuejiao woke up, she didn’t see the hateful hooked nose, but a writhing mass of snakes.
Snakes of all sizes and patterns intertwined, terrifying her. She recoiled with a scream.
She had been released from the rack, but her hands and feet were still bound.
She bumped into the young man behind her. He leaned down, placed his hand on her shoulder, and said slowly, “I have to admit, you’re more resilient than I expected.
“Honestly, I don’t understand what you’re holding out for. As far as I know, your parents are also Chinese. You have Chinese blood, yet you’re suffering to protect the secrets of a barbarian family. Do you think that’s honorable? Noble?
“You don’t have to suffer. I can let you go. No one will know what you said tonight. You’re a beautiful young woman, and I’m willing to give you this opportunity, something I rarely offer. Now, just nod your head and tell me you’ll cooperate.”
The girl’s lips were tightly sealed, her eyes filled with fear.
She saw the writhing pile of snakes, the burning furnace with a red-hot branding iron resting on the coals.
She saw the table with various torture instruments, small but menacing tools like iron clamps and pliers.
“It seems you’re still determined to resist,” the young man with the hooked nose said, untying the knot at the back of her neck that held her thin garment in place.
She struggled, trying to preserve her last shred of modesty, but it was useless.
The garment was ripped away and tossed into the furnace, the flames flaring up.
She huddled on the floor, trying to cover herself with her back and legs.
The young man with the hooked nose scooped the snakes into a sack and slowly approached her.
“I’ll kill you!” the girl screamed, a desperate, hysterical threat.
The sack, filled with snakes, was placed over her head. Her terrified screams were chilling.
The young man with the hooked nose stepped back, watching the writhing sack coldly.
The snakes had been defanged.
Although they still had their fangs when he bought them, as the young master of Small Han Mountain City, he had access to hunters skilled in handling snakes.
He walked to the table, picked up one of the small torture instruments, and toyed with it casually as he watched the girl struggling and screaming inside the sack.
The loud, chaotic music continued from above, wave after wave.
Two more nights passed like this, and he still hadn’t learned anything.
Another night filled with the incessant music from above.
The girl was now tied to the wooden horse, face down, her hands and feet bound to its legs.
Suddenly, one of her hands twitched.
She woke up, but the hateful villain wasn’t there.
Perhaps he was delayed, or perhaps she had become slightly more resistant to his acupoint sealing technique and woke up earlier.
Whatever the reason, she was alone in the underground cell.
She realized this was her chance and used all her remaining strength.
Her wrists were chafed raw from the ropes, but she finally managed to free one hand.
Gritting her teeth, she shifted her body and, with her free hand, untied the other.
Gasping for breath, she sat up, not daring to waste a single moment.
She didn’t know when the villain would return.
Unable to reach her ankles, which were tied to the back legs of the wooden horse, she slowly inched backwards until she slid off, falling to the floor.
She landed on the cold, hard ground, her legs still tied to the wooden horse. She heard a cracking sound, perhaps a bone breaking.
But this pain was nothing compared to what she had endured these past few days.
She contorted her body and finally managed to untie the ropes around her ankles.
Looking down, she was naked, her body covered in bruises, the two vertical and two horizontal cuts on her thighs particularly gruesome.
One more cut, and it would form the character “正.”
She shuddered, the memories of the past few days filling her with terror.
She didn’t even know how she had endured it. The initial agony of having her muscles and tendons torn, followed by various forms of torture, had made her wish for death every moment.
She pulled herself up, using the wall for support. The torture instruments on the wooden table made her tremble just looking at them.
The disgusting, defanged snakes were still writhing in their cage in the corner, occasionally hissing.
The fire in the furnace had died out, but the large red candles on the lampstand beside the luxurious bed, likely replaced just before dawn, were still burning.
Her clothes had long been burned by the villain.
She limped to the bed, grabbed the crimson bedsheet, and wrapped it around herself.
Covered by the sheet, she slowly made her way to the door.
The door was closed, but thankfully, it wasn’t locked. She noticed the latch was on the inside, which puzzled her slightly.
This prison cell, filled with torture instruments, had a door that locked from the inside, as if it wasn’t meant to keep prisoners in, but rather to keep others out, perhaps for some activity with the prisoner.
She opened the door and climbed the stairs, each step a struggle due to her injured leg.
There were paintings on the walls, but in the dim light, she couldn’t make out what they depicted.
The music from above grew louder, along with laughter, both male and female.
Reaching the top of the stairs, she found another door. Fear gripped her, worried that it might be locked from the outside… but it wasn’t.
The latch was also on the inside. She opened the door and rushed out, the crimson bedsheet trailing behind her.
She ran through winding corridors, the sounds of music and laughter growing louder.
She burst into a large hall, brightly lit by red lanterns. The hall was filled with people seated at tables, the air thick with the smell of alcohol and noisy chatter.
“Help!” she cried, “Someone imprisoned me! Please help me report this to the authorities!”
People turned and looked at her, laughing. The men were dressed in fine clothes, while the women wore loose, revealing garments, some barely covered at all.
“What a beautiful girl!” A fat man reached out to touch her.
Du Yuejiao recoiled in fear, clutching the bedsheet tightly around her, trying to cover her thighs and the wounds on her legs. She turned, desperately seeking help, the laughing faces swirling around her like a carousel, as if they were watching some amusing spectacle.
She screamed, “Please, help me!”
Their laughter only intensified. A drunk man stumbled towards her, reaching for her face, “Such a pretty girl. I haven’t seen you here before.”
Suddenly, an arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her close. A cold voice said, “She’s mine.”
Du Yuejiao’s heart sank at the sound of his voice. She didn’t even need to look up to “see” his hooked nose, his terrifying face.
“Tsk!” The fat man staggered away.
The cold, icy voice whispered in her ear, “You can keep running, it doesn’t matter. I’m guessing you’ve figured out where you are. I can let you go, just throw you out onto the street like this.
“Let everyone see a little Daoist nun from the Chongxian Sect, the woman they see as a celestial being, thrown naked out of this filthy place. Let them see the marks on your legs, let them guess why there are tally marks on your thighs.”
He released her, but she collapsed limply to the floor.
The young man with the hooked nose laughed, picked her up, and spun her around, the crimson bedsheet swirling like blood.
The girl sobbed in his arms, the laughter of the hall echoing around her, endless and mocking.
Surrounded by bright lights and revelry, she had fallen into an abyss of darkness.
The young man with the hooked nose carried her back to the underground “prison.”
He threw her onto the bed, her body rolling across the luxurious sheets.
She lay there, staring blankly at the ornate ceiling.
Her tear-filled eyes were devoid of light.
Her sobs ceased, and the lavish, bridal chamber-like prison fell silent.
Shi Hao felt he had made a mistake somewhere.
He didn’t know whether he had succeeded or failed.
He had tortured her body, tormented her mind, given her a glimmer of hope, and then cruelly crushed it.
He had thought that this would break her, forcing her to reveal the information he wanted.
But now, it seemed she had indeed broken.
She lay on the bed, tears streaming down her face, motionless.
Even after her tears dried, her eyes remained open, empty and unfocused, bloodshot.
She didn’t respond to any of his questions.
She was alive, but like a corpse.
This wasn’t what he wanted at all.
To be fair, although this girl had clearly been targeting him from the start, he had saved her junior sister, and all he got in return was ridicule and suspicion. That alone was irritating.
But his grudge against her wasn’t enough to warrant killing her.
And now, she looked no different from a corpse.
He left her alone that night, only forcing her to drink a bowl of broth before dawn.
During the day, he simply left her there, unbound, unlocked, untouched.
But she remained motionless, without even the will to live.
He couldn’t get any information from her like this.
In the end, he had to seal her Jade Pillow acupoint, forcing her to sleep.
After putting Du Yuejiao to sleep, Shi Hao, still disguised with the Evil Shadow Disguise Technique, returned to the courtyard to meet with Old Qiu, Lu Tong, and the others from Dark Thunder.
Old Qiu asked, “Righteous Hao, how did the interrogation go?”
Shi Hao slowly shook his head, “That girl is tougher than I expected. I haven’t been able to get anything out of her yet.”
Lu Tong said softly, “We’ve received new intel. Even the barbarian emperor seems to be questioning the Yue Ke Tai family about this experiment, as well as the Chongxian Sect. It seems Ming Kun Monastery didn’t report the God-Sealing Experiment initially. At least one of the six elders of the Chongxian Sect is on their way to Jin Prefecture.”
Shi Hao was inwardly surprised. Dark Thunder’s network seemed larger than he had imagined, capable of grasping the movements of the barbarian court and the Chongxian Sect’s upper echelons to some extent.
He frowned. This matter was indeed no small thing.
Lu Tong continued, “And there’s a young lady from the Yue Ke Tai family, a daughter of Yue Ke Tai Ni Nan, named Yue Ya’er, who has also arrived in Jin Prefecture. I wonder if it’s also related to the God-Sealing Experiment.”
Shi Hao said, “It’s not.”
Old Qiu and Lu Tong looked at him.
Shi Hao clasped his hands behind his back, his expression darkening, “As far as I know, this Yue Ya’er seems to be here to investigate the recent surge in child abductions among the refugees. It has nothing to do with the God-Sealing Experiment.”
Lu Tong said in surprise, “We’ve also noticed this and have been investigating secretly, trying to find out which gang or villain is responsible for these heinous acts. But why would the barbarian court care about such a thing?”
Old Qiu said grimly, “If they truly cared, they wouldn’t be carrying out such large-scale construction projects in the central plains. The people are already suffering due to the wealthy landowners seizing their lands and abusing them. Now, they’re being conscripted for forced labor. Every canal built by the barbarian court is paved with countless lives.”
Lu Tong said softly, “The people in the central plains are truly suffering. Even in the remote West Shu Province, many common people are struggling to survive, let alone those who have lost their homes and families. Fleeing offers little hope, but staying is a death sentence.
“And yet, that barbarian emperor and his chancellor are still talking about ‘Jin-Xia Family Harmony.’”
Old Qiu sighed, “In the eyes of the barbarian court, the common people, without power or influence, are not even considered human. Their lives are worthless. This so-called ‘Jin-Xia Family Harmony’ is just a way to win over the local gentry and the treacherous sects in the martial world. Ultimately, their goal is to ‘use the Chinese against the Chinese.’”
Lu Tong said angrily, “It’s a pity there are so many treacherous villains in the martial world! Especially the Chongxian Sect, rising to power with the support of the barbarian court and suppressing the entire Central Plains martial world.”
Shi Hao pondered for a moment and suddenly said, “I need you to do me a favor.”
Leave a Reply