Detecting Hua Yan’s stunned expression, Shui Se grew even more smug.
“Back then, his position as Protector wasn’t very stable. The faction within the sect most opposed to him was your mother’s. To shut those people’s mouths, he deliberately arranged the marriage contract with you. Did you really think he liked you?”
“He told me that if it weren’t for you being the Holy Maiden and having a marriage contract with him, he wouldn’t be interested in a little girl like you at all. He’d rather spend his time tending to medicinal herbs than putting up with you…”
“……”
“Don’t believe me? Think about it carefully. Who else in the entire sect could have drugged you without you noticing? And…” Shui Se laughed coquettishly, “do you recognize this dagger?”
Hua Yan took a closer look. The hilt of the dagger was engraved with a feather pattern, and a ruby was set at the end. It was the gift she had custom-made for Yu Ye last New Year.
At that time, Yu Ye had accepted it with great care, his gaze lingering tenderly on the dagger, telling her he would treasure it.
Shui Se looked at Hua Yan’s expression with satisfaction, pressing the cold blade against her face.
“If I were to scar your face, you’d really have nothing left.”
“By the way, do you know where this is?” she said slowly, clearly enjoying the moment. “This past year, Brother Yu Ye and I have been meeting here in secret. With your keen sense of smell, you should be able to detect the medicinal fragrance on him. I and he…”
Just then, footsteps sounded outside the door.
Shui Se quickly sealed Hua Yan’s acupoints, stuffed a cloth into her mouth, and pushed her into a secret passage, restoring the wall in a flash.
Once finished, she put away the dagger, tidied her hair and clothes, and leisurely went to open the door.
The person outside was Yu Ye, Hua Yan’s fiancé and the Right Protector of the Zhengyi Sect. His usually immaculate clothes were a bit disheveled, but his eyes were bright, different from his usual gentle demeanor, exuding a lively spirit.
Shui Se threw herself into his arms like a swallow returning to its nest.
“I’ve done everything you said.”
“Well done,” Yu Ye smiled, his gaze tender and lingering, not much different from how he looked at Hua Yan.
Shui Se wrapped her arms around Yu Ye’s neck. He lowered his eyes and kissed her on the lips. She clung to his shoulders weakly, separating only after a moment.
Yu Ye casually asked, “By the way, have you seen Hua Yan?”
“Wasn’t she locked up by you? Could she be missing?” Shui Se’s confused expression was very convincing, quickly turning into a grievance, “Brother Yu Ye, didn’t you say you didn’t like her?”
Yu Ye chuckled, “What are you worried about? Naturally, I have no interest in her. Who I like, don’t you know?” His voice softened, seductive, “It’s just that if she leaves to find Xie Yingxian, it will be troublesome. There are many things to handle tonight. Once I’ve cleared up all the troubles, you…” He laughed softly, “will be my Holy Maiden.”
After Yu Ye left, Shui Se touched her lips, eagerly opening the secret passage.
“Ah Yan, did you hear that? Was I lying to you?”
Hua Yan sat dazed in the secret passage, her eyes vacant, as if the blow was too much for her to react.
Shui Se grew even more complacent, dragging Hua Yan out again. Hua Yan fell to the ground, and Shui Se picked up the dagger once more, preparing to scar that beautiful, bewildered face. Just as the blade was about to touch her skin, Shui Se suddenly felt a sharp pain in her wrist.
The next moment, someone grabbed her wrist and, with a snap, broke it.
The dagger clattered to the ground.
Before Shui Se could react, she saw a silver needle embedded in her wrist. She cried out in pain, “You, how did you…”
Hua Yan stood up from the ground, dusted off her dress, and smiled sweetly, “My mother taught me a technique to temporarily change the position of the acupoints in my body, which doesn’t require internal strength to use.”
During the time when Yu Ye and Shui Se were disgusting her, it had been enough for Hua Yan to free her hands from the ropes.
Shui Se gritted her teeth, “You… were pretending the whole time?”
“Not entirely.”
Hua Yan sighed.
She was indeed quite disappointed.
What was this? Her best friend was fake, her fiancé was fake, she and her father had been completely deceived. Their whole family had been tricked!
Shui Se was no good! And Yu Ye was certainly no good either!
There were no good people in the Zhengyi Sect besides her!
Moreover, she hadn’t realized before how nauseating Yu Ye’s sweet talk was. For the first time, Hua Yan felt an urge to vomit while listening to him.
Her mother had told her that men who were glib and skilled in sweet talk were no good. Only men like her father, who were clumsy and didn’t know how to flatter women (her father: cough, cough, cough!), were good men. Hua Yan had thought it was her mother’s bias, but now she saw it was true!
Indeed, to find truly kind and chivalrous people, one had to look in the righteous path!
Hua Yan stretched her limbs, took out a pill, and popped it into her mouth. She didn’t know the ingredients of the drug Yu Ye had given her, and it would take time to make an antidote, so she could only take some medicine to regain her strength.
Though her internal strength was gone, she still had enough strength to break Shui Se’s wrist.
Shui Se, now under the effect of Hua Yan’s Soft Tendon Powder, was truly powerless.
Hua Yan stuffed Shui Se into the secret passage in the same manner, took off Shui Se’s socks, stuffed them into her mouth, picked up the dagger from the ground, and with a radiant smile said, “A little revenge. Do you think I should carve a cross or a tick on your face?”
Shui Se struggled desperately, her eyes filled with terror, and she made muffled sounds from her mouth.
Hua Yan gestured a few times, but remembering her father’s advice, she regretfully put the dagger down.
Her father had said that a gentleman must be magnanimous.
“You got off easy.” Hua Yan patted Shui Se’s face and then clapped her hands, “Come to think of it, I should thank you for letting me see Yu Ye’s true colors earlier… You can have him!”
The sounds of fighting outside had not ceased. Hua Yan went out, retrieved her fan, and then returned to her room to pack her things.
Finally, after some thought, Hua Yan took a detour to the dungeon.
Outside the dungeon, a chilling wind blew, and inside, screams of agony echoed continuously. An ordinary person might have been terrified, but Hua Yan was quite accustomed to it. Her mother had once told her that it was here in the dungeon that her parents had bonded.
“This is where you see true affection in times of crisis.”
To enhance the dramatic effect, her mother had even instructed the disciples of the punishment department to make the screams as heartrending and inhumane as possible.
“At that time, your mother’s heart was pounding, and your father’s heart was also pounding. So I asked him if he wanted to be with me forever and grow old together,” her mother said, lifting her chin proudly. “Your father was moved! He immediately agreed! I asked if he liked me, and he couldn’t stop nodding.”
Hua Yan, holding her face in her hands, nodded along as she listened.
However, when her father found out later, he was so angry that his face turned red: “Nonsense! I wasn’t moved at all… I, I was, I was…”
“Hmph, dare you say you didn’t like me?”
“I… I…” Her father’s face turned even redder.
Of course, that wasn’t important.
In Hua Yan’s view, the dungeon was a romantic place.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t a heroic and righteous warrior in the dungeon, only a trembling Zhao You.
With the turmoil within the sect, the guards of the dungeon were lax, allowing Hua Yan to enter easily.
Zhao You seemed to have been re-educated, utterly terrified. His hands and feet were bound with thin chains, and his mouth was gagged. He looked at Hua Yan with a despairing gaze, like a maiden about to be defiled.
Hua Yan opened the door and helped him remove the gag.
Zhao You looked at her hesitantly, with a resigned expression, and said, “I know my innocence is lost today. If you…” He gasped in shock, “Demoness, what have you fed me!”
Hua Yan smiled, “It’s a specialty of our sect, the Thousand Spider Gu. It acts up once every three months, causing excruciating pain as the spiders gnaw at your heart. However, I have a suppressant. As long as you behave, I guarantee your life will be spared.”
As she spoke, Hua Yan unlocked his chains. Once free, Zhao You immediately rubbed his wrists and retreated warily into a corner.
Hua Yan was exasperated. She put her hands on her hips and said, “Are you coming or not?”
Zhao You shivered at her voice, reluctantly stood up, and shuffled toward the exit. The dungeon was less guarded but still held many prisoners, each glaring fiercely and rattling their chains, causing Zhao You to move even slower.
Hua Yan couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed Zhao You by the collar and dragged him out.
Zhao You stumbled and cried out along the way, “Slow down, slow down! You, you demoness, are you really a girl? How can you be so strong…”
Hua Yan thought to herself, This is nothing!
If she hadn’t lost her internal strength, she could have carried Zhao You out like a sledgehammer with ease.
Once outside, Zhao You finally realized the turmoil of the night. He asked in confusion, “What happened?”
Hua Yan, still holding onto his collar, didn’t turn her head as she replied, “Our Right Protector has rebelled.”
“What! Wait, your demonic sect is having internal strife? Aren’t you… worried?”
“When our Sect Leader, that old fox, returns, he’ll surely clean up the mess.” Hua Yan didn’t seem to care at all. “Come on, let’s go!”
“…Wait a minute, isn’t the Right Protector your fiancé?”
“Don’t mention that traitor! Move faster!”
Zhao You, still dazed, was pulled into a tunnel by her. After walking a long way, he finally realized he should distance himself from this demoness. He struggled desperately to free himself, “You demoness, what are you up to?”
Hua Yan replied matter-of-factly, “Of course, to roam the martial world and meet Lu Chengsha!” Her voice even carried a hint of excitement.
That night, Yu Ye, the Right Protector of the Zhengyi Sect, rebelled.
The current Holy Maiden of the Zhengyi Sect disappeared with a disciple of Qingcheng Sect.
***
When Shui Se was rescued from the secret passage by Yu Ye, she immediately spat out the sock in her mouth and threw herself into his arms, crying.
“It was Hua Yan, Hua Yan did it. She just left not long ago; we can still catch up…”
Yu Ye didn’t rush to comfort her. His voice, though gentle, had an unnerving calmness, “When did you see her, Se’er? Someone told me… they saw you letting her out.”
Shui Se’s voice faltered, “I…”
Yu Ye asked slowly, “So… was it you? I poisoned her, sealed her internal strength, locked the door, and had people guard her. She shouldn’t have been able to escape.”
A cold shiver ran down Shui Se’s spine. Her eyes welled up with tears, “I’m sorry, I…”
“You know I hate being lied to the most,” Yu Ye sighed, “When you do something wrong, you have to accept punishment, Se’er…”
He stood up straight, and the woman in front of him, with one bare foot and dressed in red, looked at him with teary, pitiful eyes, like a weak willow swaying in the wind. Any man would have softened at the sight, but Yu Ye’s tone held no trace of pity, “I’m afraid you’ll have to spend some time in the dungeon. Someone…”
A disciple in green quickly entered, grabbed Shui Se’s arms, and prepared to drag her away.
“Wait!” Shui Se involuntarily shouted, “Brother Yu Ye, you won’t do this to me, right? You said you liked me! You said you’d make me the Holy Maiden! You said we’re the same kind of people, only I can understand you, you forgot about us…”
A finger pressed against her mute acupoint, silencing her.
Yu Ye’s voice remained gentle. He smiled and said, “Silly girl, when you do something wrong, you have to accept punishment. Isn’t that a normal thing? I didn’t want her to know, but look at the trouble you’ve caused me. Now it’ll take so much effort to appease her.” He waved his hand, his eyes cold despite his tone, “Just locking you up and not killing you, isn’t that lenient enough?” Yu Ye sighed, “Take her away.”
“Yes, Sect Leader.”