Chapter Ninety-Seven: Touch Me

Her eyes widening in shock, Red Note stared at Ren Chen and almost doubted her own ears had gone deaf.

A benevolent smile surfaced on Ren Chen’s face. It made her run cold. He cast her an amused glance, then waved a hand and said to the old man with a faint smile, “Very well, I understand. Since she’s already been washed clean, then let it be her. Send her over. And remember to tell that lord that this is the last request I’ll grant him. Don’t push your luck.”

The old man answered with a respectful yes and escorted Red Note out.

Only then did she slowly begin to understand.

Was she being sent to serve a strange man? Was it merely nursing a sick man, or did he have some filthy intention? Judging from Ren Chen’s malicious expression, it was clearly the latter.

This was truly... damn it. Did they really take her for some helpless little woman, to be trampled at will?

None of the elders in this Demon Refining Prison were good men. Why, then, should a prisoner who had lost his freedom receive such unusual indulgence? Red Note was both furious and baffled.

Since matters had not yet come to a point of life and death, she cursed under her breath and followed the old man reluctantly through the prison, where the light was a dim, sickly green.

The farther Red Note walked, the more familiar it all felt.

She had been led back near the cell where she had first been confined. This direction... Her heart gave a sudden jolt. Earlier, in the dark, she had shouted in this direction through secret voice transmission; it was the very place from which that soul-luring melody had sounded several times. Could the prisoner she was now to serve be the one who had played that music?

Was it a coincidence? Or someone’s deliberate arrangement?

Was it possible that this powerful prisoner had some other purpose, and was not simply lonely after being locked up for so long and seeking a woman?

Or perhaps he truly was an utterly vicious man, so much so that even though imprisoned, Ren Chen and the others still had to show him deference—and she had rashly called out a few words, reminding him that a woman was also held in this prison.

With one thought after another, Red Note reached the cell. The old man stopped outside and said in a deep voice, “This is it. Take care to serve him well once you go in, and your reward will not be lacking.”

Red Note curled her lip inwardly, but heard the old man say to the person inside, “Great Sir, I’ve brought the woman you wanted. Light a lamp and take a look. She is the youngest and prettiest female cultivator in the prison, a proper, fresh water-spirited beauty. I’ve truly done all I could. If you’re still dissatisfied, then I really am helpless.”

The guard unlocked the door and pushed open the heavy stone slab.

By the faint light from outside, Red Note could make out a spacious cell, with a large bed inside; someone seemed to be lying on it.

Though it was also a prison cell, this prisoner was indeed treated very differently.

From the old man’s tone, not only did he have a bed to sleep in, he could even have a lamp lit whenever he pleased, and need not live in darkness at all times.

Yet the person on the bed did not stir after the old man finished speaking. He simply lay there, motionless, until the group entered the room, when he let out a soft laugh of unclear meaning. “Is that so? Then have her sing a little tune for me first.”

Perhaps because he had not spoken for a long time, his voice was somewhat hoarse. Yet it was not unpleasant; like the music he played, it carried a nameless charm, almost bewitching, making one reluctant to refuse.

Thus, though the request was outrageously rude, Red Note merely blinked and did not retort. Instead she answered gravely, “I have not learned to sing. If you want to hear it, have them find a songstress.”

“What can you do, then? Surely you can tell a story?” The prisoner’s voice sounded a little more interested than before.

“I’m not good at that either. Better have them bring a storyteller instead.”

The old man at her side could no longer keep quiet. “Great Sir, the elders asked me to remind you: a few years ago you nearly tore the place apart over insisting on seeing the moon. You made all of us suffer plenty, and in the end it was Elder Qin who found a way to settle you down for the time being. Now you’re asking for a beauty to serve you at your side again. You know how hard it is to find a woman in this Demon Refining Prison. The elders have said we can do only so much for you. This is the last time. Don’t be too greedy!”

The prisoner paid the old man’s complaints no heed at all. He gave two low chuckles and said to Red Note, “Can’t do this, can’t do that. How dull. At least you can make a bed and serve a man, can’t you?”

Before Red Note could answer, he had already said to the old man, “Enough, I’ll take her. You can all get lost.”

So insolent a tone, yet the old man did not even dare make a sound. He left dejectedly with the guard, locking the door behind them. As he departed, he even offered a deferential farewell: “Great Sir, please rest well. We’ll bring the medicine at the appointed hour.”

The vast cell once more sank into darkness, so quiet it was almost eerie.

Locked alone with an unknown man, Red Note, bold as she usually was, could not help feeling a little unnerved. At the same time, a thought rose irresistibly in her mind: this person seemed to be very important to the Demon Refining Prison, and he was also ill. If she could seize him by surprise and use his life as leverage, might she win her freedom?

It was a tempting notion indeed. After more than two years of confinement, Red Note finally saw a glimmer of hope for escape.

But this man could make even Ren Chen wary, and he was thriving in the prison; he must have something to rely on. Red Note decided to learn more about him first and said casually, “There is a lamp, isn’t there? Why not light it?”

The man gave a low laugh. “If I light it, I’m afraid I’ll scare you.”

What did that mean? Was he very ugly?

Then the man called out, “Come here, little girl.”

Just as Red Note wished, she fumbled her way to the bedside. Before she could do anything, the man suddenly seized her hand in the dark. It was too quick; he did not move like an invalid at all. Red Note reacted and tried to wrench free, but his grip was astonishingly strong, and she could not break loose.

When the eyes fail, the body’s senses become especially keen. Red Note realized with a start that something was wrong. This man was not at all as harmless as she had imagined. By the time surging water-energy burst from her, it was already too late.

She did not know how deep his cultivation was, but it was clear his inner force was far from exhausted. Her meager spell power sank into him like a stone thrown into the sea, stirring not the slightest ripple.

The man tightened his grip on Red Note’s hand and pulled her into his arms. Leaning close to her ear, he teased her wickedly, “Little girl, put away your claws. You’re here to serve me. Come now, gently, use that little hand of yours and touch me.”

Red Note only felt an irresistible force seize her fingers and guide them downward, as if he meant to have her touch his lower body.

Realizing what he intended, her whole body seemed to burst into flames; rage and shame made smoke billow from her ears. She struggled and cursed, “Dream on!” Dragged thus, her entire upper body nearly sprawled across the bed. Too late to think of any marvelous technique, she swung her empty left hand toward his throat with a fierce rush of wind.

She had learned inner-cultivation techniques from Lu Yanzhang, but regrettably she had never properly made use of them. Her Water Condensation Art had just suffered a bitter loss, and the Myriad Streams Return to the Source method was useless here. This was entirely the fighting of a village shrew, all brute force.

The man raised his other arm and blocked her easily. Her fingers struck his wrist bone and found it as hard as iron, utterly unmoving.

By then Red Note was already entangled with the man on the bed. Everywhere she turned she felt restrained and at a disadvantage, while the hand he had seized was already touching something hot.

The man lay on the bed, and his lower half seemed to be bare beneath the covers. Red Note flew into a fury. Caring nothing for nose or eyes, she suddenly opened her mouth and viciously bit toward his face.

The man was somewhat surprised. With an “oh!” he raised his elbow to shield his face, and the elbow happened to strike Red Note’s nose.

Pain shot through her. She gave a muffled cry, and nosebleed spilled out at once, falling in dripping patters like rain onto the man’s face. When the man realized the sticky liquid on his face was blood, he faltered for a moment, and the hand that had been tormenting Red Note loosened its restraint.

Who was Red Note? She had long been through life and death, with blood and lives on her hands. Once enraged, she struck with ruthless cruelty. Seeing her chance, she immediately seized at his vulnerable point without the slightest hesitation.

The man reacted with great speed. Hissing in a sharp breath, he once again clamped down on Red Note’s hand.

As for Red Note... she truly froze for a moment. Even if she knew nothing of such matters, she could still tell that this hard, thigh-thick thing in her hand seemed somehow not quite what she had imagined.

And although the man was in pain, he did not at all look like someone whose vulnerable point had been struck. He suddenly sat up in bed, the clatter of chains ringing in Red Note’s ears. In the next instant, her upper body was pressed down onto the bed by him, one arm twisted behind her back so painfully that she could not move at all.

The man laughed and scolded, “You little wretch, your hands are vicious. If I really let you touch it, you’d cripple it for sure.” With his movement the chains rattled again. Only then did Red Note realize they were fastened to his body.

Red Note twisted her head back forcefully and glared at him in the dark. “What, what, what did you make me touch?”

The man seemed delighted. He laughed heartily, then reached out and smeared the blood from beneath her nose all over her cheeks.

Red Note was so furious she nearly lost her senses, cursing at him again and again. Yet the man brought his lips near her ear and asked with a smile, “A true water spirit root?”

Feeling his warm breath brush her ear, she got gooseflesh all over. But her posture was far too awkward; if she did not move, it would only be uncomfortable, but if she struggled, her arm felt as though it would be ruined with pain. So constrained by another, she could think of no good way to break free of this plight.

As if he did not need her answer, the man went on cheerfully, “Then perhaps I should feel you instead. Don’t move. Let me guess... if you cultivate water arts, you’re from Azure Cliff Sect? Is your surname Yao or Fang? I’m guessing it must be Fang!”