He had never heard of such a perverted request.
Xin Hexue looked at Hen Zhen in disbelief, his brow twitching slightly, “What if I refuse?”
Hen Zhen crossed his arms leisurely, as if it had nothing to do with him. “Then… winter is just around the corner, and the stronghold is short on firewood and lamp oil. I’ll have someone burn this poor scholar. His bones will be for firewood, and his body for oil. That way, he can make use of the last bit of his heat in this life.”
A demon born of slaughter had no conscience or empathy. As for pity, that was even more of a pipe dream.
Hen Zhen said the cruel words with complete indifference. He even asked Xin Hexue for his opinion. “What do you think of that?”
Xin Hexue’s hand at his side curled slightly, the thin finger joints tightening within the wide sleeve.
The man asked in a low, hoarse and slow voice, “Or does the kind-hearted bodhisattva have a better solution?”
Xin Hexue’s tone wavered a little, “I…”
“Hexue!” Zhou Shanheng called out his courtesy name anxiously. “Don’t agree to this shameless bastard!”
He struggled hard to stop him, chains clinking coldly with loud clangs that echoed in the empty water dungeon.
[Zhou Shanheng’s heartbreak value +3]
Xin Hexue had originally intended to negotiate with Hen Zhen a bit more, but the system prompt made his heart stir slightly.
His eyelashes trembled faintly, and he looked at Hen Zhen. “If I follow your terms, will you truly release Ziyue?”
‘Zhou Shanheng…’
‘Zhou Ziyue…’
It was all clearly recorded on that document, and it was enough to let Xin Hexue perform with true emotion.
Zhou Shanheng said anxiously, “Don’t believe him!”
Then he tried to reassure Xin Hexue, “Hexue, I’m truly fine. You don’t need to do this.”
In such a humiliating situation, Xin Hexue didn’t even glance in his direction.
There were torches burning on the stone walls outside the wooden railings of the water dungeon, and the view was immersed in the swaying red flames. From this angle, Zhou Shanheng could see Xin Hexue’s hand silently tightening within his wide sleeve. He could almost imagine that once the young man let go, there would be red marks left behind.
The chains binding the prisoner stretched to their furthest limit. Zhou Shanheng gripped the wooden bars, his heart aching and swelling as if it was being squeezed. By now, he no longer cared why Xin Hexue had suddenly vanished without a word, why he was here, why he was familiar with this bandit leader whose true form was a giant snake.
Zhou Shanheng saw the emotion shift slightly in Xin Hexue’s eyes. He seemed to guess something and shook his head weakly. “No… Hexue, don’t do this. Don’t let him humiliate you…”
[Zhou Shanheng’s heartbreak value +3]
Hen Zhen listened to the poor scholar calling “Hexue” over and over, while the young man also used the other party’s courtesy name. The way they addressed each other was so intimate, like a pair of lovers who truly shared their hearts. It irritated Hen Zhen. “So noisy.”
A flash of red passed through his vertical pupils, and Zhou Shanheng was instantly silenced by a speech-ban seal. His lips moved soundlessly, pale and empty.
The torchlight on the stone wall flickered red, casting onto Xin Hexue’s profile like white jade warmed to a faint flush.
The shadows of the two standing figures on the wall behind Zhou Shanheng drew closer, then merged.
Hen Zhen kissed like a beast. He was like a beast without any human ethics, no sense of propriety, and only acted on his evil nature.
The large hand holding Xin Huexue’s waist seemed to carry a scorching heat. His narrow and fair wrists were trembling as they were pinned above his head by the man, and his back slammed against the wall with some force.
Xin Hexue was very sensitive to pain. A faint displeasure flashed across his face, and he bit down on the other party’s lips.
As a result, it was mistaken as returning the kiss.
Hen Zhen kissed even deeper, sweeping everything up like a violent storm.
The scholar in the dungeon cell was forced to watch his beloved being humiliated, and the sound of chains clinked and rattled, scattered and fragmented.
The young man’s broken, low voice that escaped from his throat when he couldn’t bear it anymore echoed clearly in his ears. Even his messy breaths seemed soaked with moisture.
The evil factor in Hen Zhen’s blood boiled completely and his appetite surged. As his lips and tongue tangled with Xin Hexue’s, it was more like devouring, as if he wanted nothing more than to swallow the young man whole.
When the kiss ended, Hen Zhen struggled to restrain his wildly rising hunger. He let go of Xin Hexue and gently brushed the corner of the young man’s reddened eyes with his fingertip.
A teardrop clung to Hen Zhen’s index finger, trembling and crystal-clear.
In a flash, it transformed into a lustrous white pearl.
[Hen Zhen’s love value +2]
Hen Zhen covertly tucked the pearl into his sleeve, then turned his gaze to Zhou Shanheng inside the cell. “Such a useless mortal.”
No one knew how much strength he had used earlier, but Zhou Shanheng’s palm was already deeply wounded from clenching too hard, and blood was dripping steadily to the ground.
Like a defeated rooster, his forehead rested against the wooden bars.
Xin Hexue furrowed his brows and said coldly to Hen Zhen, “Now can you let him go?”
[Zhou Shanheng’s heartbreak value +1]
[Zhou Shanheng’s heartbreak value +1]
[Zhou Shanheng’s heartbreak value +1]
[Zhou Shanheng’s heartbreak value…]
Hen Zhen’s gaze met Xin Hexue’s eyes, and his thin lips curled wider with a smile. “So naïve. How could you believe a snake demon’s words?”
Xin Hexue had already expected that he wouldn’t keep his promise, but that didn’t stop him from giving Hen Zhen a slap right in the face.
He didn’t hold back his strength, and Hen Zhen didn’t guard against him. With a crisp “pa” sound, Hen Zhen’s head snapped to the side, and a red mark bloomed on his left cheek.
But Hen Zhen didn’t get angry. Instead, he chuckled in a low voice.
[Hen Zhen’s love value +5]
Hen Zhen lifted his eyelids, red overlaying his chilling snake pupils.
“Which hand did you use to slap me?” He suddenly grabbed Xin Hexue’s right hand which had slapped him with swift and forceful motion.
Xin Hexue looked at him quietly, his gaze as calm as still autumn water.
Hen Zhen saw that his expression hadn’t scared the other party at all, and his mood grew even lighter, and the storm clouds cleared. He smiled while gently blowing on Xin Hexue’s reddened palm. “Does it hurt?”
Although it had left a red mark on Hen Zhen’s face, to a giant snake demon, it was like a soft paw pad from a little cat. It was completely painless. Instead, it made his heart feel wonderfully refreshed.
Xin Huexue felt a moist sensation in his palm and his eyes widened with surprise.
Even though the cat brain had successfully judged that Hen Zhen was a dog-like person, it still couldn’t predict what this species would do.
Xin Hexue pursed his lips together and said to Hen Zhen, “Disgusting.”
“I like it when you hit me.” Hen Zhen wasn’t angry at all. But when he turned to Zhou Shanheng, his expression turned gloomy and vicious again. He still spoke slowly and unhurriedly, but his tone was chilling to the bone, “But I don’t like… someone watching from the side.”
A bad feeling rose in Xin Hexue’s heart.
When he realized what Hen Zhen intended to do and wanted to stop the other party’s hand, it was already too late.
The prisoner’s chains clanged and rang, like a final sound of death, full of boundless pain.
Xin Hexue shouted in warning, “Hen Zhen!”
Zhou Shanheng’s eyelids felt heavy as if weighed down by a thousand pounds, tightly shut as if glued together. His eyeballs trembled beneath his lids, and finally, two streams of dark red blood flowed out through the gaps.
Xin Hexue took a step forward, then suddenly stopped and turned to Hen Zhen, biting out each word through gritted teeth, “Mad dog, beast, animal.”
Hen Zhen had never felt so pleased.
‘Yes, hate me like this. Let me die at your hands.’
Perhaps a hundred years later, he would still remember that what turned into a handful of yellow earth had once been a beast.
He should remember what he had done to him.
………
It was impossible for Hen Zhen to watch Xin Hexue every single moment.
Moreover, perhaps due to some sudden troublesome situation, Hen Zhen forcibly sent him back to the palace and then left. Xin Hexue guessed it might be related to Taichu Temple.
The one left behind was still the stone screen demon named Kui Cha, responsible for watching over Xin Hexue.
Xin Hexue glanced over. The stupid stone screen demon hadn’t even realized that he had left earlier. It wasn’t until it heard footsteps returning that it opened its dozens of eyes in surprise.
It looked at Xin Hexue and noticed that the young man didn’t look like someone who had just bathed in the pool. It was shocked and furious, “You actually deceived this small yao?!”
Kui Cha was filled with righteous indignation: “You still doubt that this small yao would peek at your bath! This small demon is the well-known chaste jade screen of the earth village. The whole village even erected a chastity archway for me. If word gets out, how will I live as a demon from now on!”
Xin Hexue: “…”
Kui Cha looked like it was about to cry, and dozens of eyes stared at Xin Hexue with resentment. “If this small demon’s reputation is ruined, then you must take responsibility. I will have no choice but to pledge my body to you.”
Xin Hexue: “…”
Xin Hexue: “No need, thank you.”
K observed secretly.
‘…A stone screen demon full of schemes and tricks.’
He was like the legitimate husband catching a third party who insisted on sticking to his wife.
K didn’t think further and reminded Xin Hexue, [Target Zhou Shanheng’s life value is decreasing.]
‘Hen! Zhen!’
Xin Hexue ground his teeth.
It wasn’t that Hen Zhen was deliberately torturing the prisoner, but he had severely injured Zhou Shanheng’s eyes. Coupled with his already untreated wounds, excessive blood loss and rapidly draining life force were foreseeable outcomes.
Xin Hexue now had to go treat his injuries as soon as possible.
Fortunately, at this moment, the stone screen demon, which was like a resentful husband, once again betrayed itself with its ‘superior’ intelligence, “If you don’t want me, then this small demon, whose chastity and reputation have been ruined, can only be scorned by others, and in the end meet the fate of being drowned in a pond. Dozens of eyes unable to open underwater would never see you again, only hoping that your conscience would awaken, and you’d come to take this small demon out from the bottom of the pond…”
Xin Hexue raised an eyebrow.
‘Afraid of water?’
‘Can’t open the eyes?’
