Chapter 37: The Water Prison
"Please put this on, senior."
Shen Qingqiu lowered his head, and a black band swept across, obscuring his eyes.
In fact, this was completely unnecessary. Given the ever-changing mysteries of the Illusionary Flower Palace maze, even if Shen Qingqiu walked through it with a camera and filmed it every time, he might not be able to remember how to enter or exit.
The air in the water prison was damp and the ground was slightly slippery. With their eyes covered, they could only be led around by the disciples escorting them.
Shen Qingqiu said, "Gongyi Xiao."
Gongyi Xiao, who had been following closely behind, hurriedly replied, "Senior?"
Shen Qingqiu asked, "While I am waiting for the joint trial by the four factions, may I have contact with people from the outside world?"
Gongyi Xiao said, "Only those who possess the Huanhua Palace pass can move freely within the water dungeon."
If we were to ask Shang Qinghua to come in to visit Lu Zhi in prison and discuss her adoption, that would be a bit troublesome. Shen Qingqiu thought for a moment and asked, "What happened to those seed sowers?"
"After the burning, the masters of Zhaohua Temple took it back for a ritual to help the deceased pass on."
A voice from the side complained, "Senior brother, why are you talking so much to him? Once you're in this water dungeon, do you expect to get out?"
Damn, that sounds so familiar. It's that pockmarked face that looks like he has a grudge against him!
Gongyi Xiao rebuked him, "How dare you be so rude!"
Shen Qingqiu smiled and said, "There's no need to blame him."
As they were talking, they arrived at the place where he was temporarily detained. They removed the blindfold, and their vision became faintly bright. They saw that they were standing in front of a huge stalactite cave.
The bottom of the cave is a dark lake, with irregularly distributed dark yellow torches on the walls. The firelight is reflected on the water, dancing wildly with the ripples. In the center of the lake rises a man-made white stone platform. Its color is crystalline, almost jade-like, indicating it is made of a special material.
Gongyi Xiao took out a bunch of keys, touched a rock, and after some manipulation, the sound of gears turning came from the bottom of the lake, and a stone path rose up, leading directly to the stone platform in the center of the lake.
Gongyi Xiao said, "Senior, please."
The pockmarked disciple picked up an ordinary stone and said, "Watch this!"
He threw the pebble into the lake, and it floated on the surface without sinking. After a moment, a hissing sound came from it, as if it had turned into a piece of meat being fried on an iron plate. The surface was covered with bubbles, which were quickly corroded and dissolved without a trace.
Little Pockmarked Man said smugly, "Anyone who thinks they can escape from here or kidnap someone from here is dreaming!"
Shen Qingqiu was shocked by the ferocious liquid.
This water dungeon looks somewhat like the place where the Sun and Moon Dew Flower grows, but if you rolled around in this lake, you'd probably be left with nothing but bones.
Moreover, this liquid is at least five times larger than a dew lake!
Isn't the Illusion Flower Palace a reputable and righteous sect? Where did they get so much ferocious liquid?!
As Shen Qingqiu walked along the stone path, he was extra careful, as slipping would be disastrous. After reaching the stone platform in the center of the lake, Gongyi Xiao turned the key again, and the path leading to the center of the lake sank back to the bottom of the lake.
Shen Qingqiu sat in a meditative posture on the stone platform, looked around, and thought to himself, if someone could fly in on a sword, these lakes would be meaningless.
Just as he was thinking this, he saw Gongyi Xiao activate a mechanism next to a keyhole.
Suddenly, the sound of rushing water came from above. Shen Qingqiu looked up and saw streams of dark, turbid water descending from all directions, forming an impenetrable curtain of water that surrounded him within a six-zhang square stone platform.
...I was wrong! Not even a fly could get out of there, let alone a person!
The Water Prison of the Illusionary Flower Palace truly lives up to its reputation! No wonder it's a public prison unanimously recommended by all factions!
Shen Qingqiu knew that someone would come looking for trouble, but he didn't expect it to happen so soon.
Shen Qingqiu was woken up by a bucket of cold water.
He shivered from the cold, initially thinking it was a corrosive liquid. He shook his head and blinked hard, but the feeling of icy water in his eyes was extremely uncomfortable, and he realized it was just ordinary water. The 108 binding ropes that wrapped around his body were extremely thin, but they firmly locked his spiritual meridians, even blocking the flow of his blood, greatly reducing his ability to withstand the cold, and he couldn't help but shiver.
The water curtains on all four sides stopped flowing, and the elevator connecting the stone platform to the outside world also rose up.
His vision gradually cleared. Moving upwards, he first saw a pair of delicate embroidered shoes, and further up, a pink skirt. There he saw a little girl, adorned with jewels, her eyebrows arched and her almond-shaped eyes wide open, glaring at him while carrying a whip.
Shen Qingqiu rolled her eyes inwardly.
Luo Binghe is certainly troublesome enough, but his wives are really enough to drive anyone crazy!
They keep appearing one after another like a fleeting sight. Stop appearing! He's not a genuine product; he has no interest in groping beautiful women, okay?!
The little girl pointed her whip at him: "If you're awake, stop pretending to be dead. I have something to ask you!"
Given her seniority, even if Shen Qingqiu is currently a prisoner, it's not her place to interrogate him.
Shen Qingqiu said, "This doesn't seem like something the young palace master should be doing."
The beloved daughter of the former Palace Master of Huanhua Palace, and the most unruly member of Luo Binghe's harem, said, "Since you know who I am, you should also know why I've come."
Her eyes reddened, and she gritted her teeth, saying, "You despicable villain who colluded with the Demon Realm and betrayed your fellow disciples! Now that you've fallen into my hands, I'll make you pay!"
Shen Qingqiu: "...I don't think I've admitted to colluding with the Demon Realm yet."
The young palace mistress stamped her foot and said, "You were so cruel and vicious to Brother Luo, so naturally you would also be capable of colluding with the demons."
The power of heredity is indeed strong; this logic is definitely from the old palace master's own family!
Shen Qingqiu was speechless for a moment, then said, "Did he ever say that I was cruel and vicious to him?"
The young palace mistress spoke with great emotion: "Brother Luo is such a good person, of course he wouldn't say that. He keeps all the wounds he's suffered hidden in his heart, he doesn't let anyone touch them, he doesn't let anyone see them... But do you think I wouldn't be able to tell just because he doesn't say it?!"
...
This was so genuine... Shen Qingqiu was completely overwhelmed!
Is this some kind of poetry recitation competition?!
He simply didn't know whether to burst into laughter or remain silent. I'm so sorry! I know it's incredibly rude to laugh out loud in front of a girl so affectionately expressing herself! But this is just so embarrassing! It's utterly shameful!
Luo Binghe's harem, though vast, is truly a chaotic mess, containing all sorts of types. This is the consequence of biting off more than one can chew, prioritizing quantity over quality. It's also the consequence of Xiang Tian Daji, a deadbeat otaku who's barely even touched a woman's hand, insisting on writing harem novels—serves him right, hahaha!
The young palace mistress suddenly asked suspiciously, "What kind of expression is that?"
Shen Qingqiu quickly composed himself, checking if he had managed to keep a straight face. Offending this girl would have dire consequences.
As expected, the young palace mistress flew into a rage: "Were you just mocking me?!"
The young palace mistress was originally in love with her childhood sweetheart, Gongyi Xiao, but after Luo Binghe appeared, all her affections surged towards the male lead. There's no way around it; a newcomer always wins against their childhood sweetheart, and it's always been effortless for someone new to fall in love. This kind of transference of affection is actually quite common in harem novels, because there are always many NTR enthusiasts in the world. Whether NTRing someone else or being NTR'd, they can derive a strange pleasure from this kind of plot. The one who has fallen for someone else is certainly at a loss, but ultimately feels guilty, and when they see someone's expression, they feel like they are being mocked. The young palace mistress, enraged and ashamed, swung her arm, and her long whip lashed out!
The whip came fiercely, its sound of tearing through the air extremely sharp. Shen Qingqiu's spiritual power was restricted by the Immortal Binding Rope, but his skills had not deteriorated. He rolled on the spot, and the whip landed less than three feet away from his feet.
The stone platform was smashed, scattering stone chips and dust everywhere. Shen Qingqiu knelt on one knee to steady himself.
Holy crap, why would a little girl use a barbed iron whip like that?! This is so weird!!!
What's even more absurd is that in the original novel, the young palace master's fine iron whip was specifically for beating up love rivals! It's equipment used for fighting over men! It was only used to beat up pretty women who caught Luo Binghe's eye, so why is it being used to beat up men now?! Can you hear it crying?!
Seriously, enough already! Can you please stop giving me scripts like this?!
The young palace mistress, her anger flaring after her initial misstep, let out a sharp cry and lashed out with her whip. The stone platform was only so large, and Shen Qingqiu was bound; no matter how quick her reflexes, she was inevitably grazed by the whip's force, her clothes tearing in several places, though her skin remained unharmed. Despite her repeated dodges, she quickly retreated to the edge of the platform. Seeing no way to escape, she could only endure the whip's blow. Gritting her teeth, Shen Qingqiu stood firm, closing her eyes and awaiting the excruciating pain.
He waited for a long time, but didn't feel any pain. He suddenly opened his eyes, looked in front of him, and his heart sank instantly.
Luo Binghe gripped the whip tip with his bare hands, his eyes seemingly burning with two dark, ghostly flames, both cold and terrifying.
He spoke each word with a chilling intensity: "What are you doing?"
The young palace master was startled when he appeared, but what frightened her even more was the cold and stern expression on his face that she had never seen before, and she couldn't help but shiver.
Since they met, Luo Binghe had always been gentle and kind, good at making people happy; he had never looked at her with such a murderous gaze before. She involuntarily took a few steps back, stammering, "I...I...I asked my father for his waist token to interrogate him..."
Luo Binghe said coldly, "The joint trial by the four factions will be held in a month."
The young palace mistress suddenly felt wronged. She shouted, "He harmed so many of my senior brothers and sisters, so many! And he treated you badly! What's wrong with me teaching him a lesson?!"
Luo Binghe snatched the whip from her completely, treating its sharp barbs as if they were nothing. Without any apparent effort, when he released his grip, the whip, made of fine iron, crumbled into a pile of scrap metal.
Luo Binghe said indifferently, "Go back."
The young palace mistress watched helplessly as her beloved possessions were reduced to a pile of rubble, letting out a cry of disbelief.
With a sob in her voice, she pointed at Shen Qingqiu: "You...you actually treated me like this because of your master..."
Without turning his head, Luo Binghe threw the remnants of the iron whip in his hand into the lake, where a hissing and corroding sound filled the air.
The young palace mistress's lips trembled as she read it.
In that instant, she suddenly realized that it was she who wanted to crush Luo Binghe inch by inch and throw him into the corrosive lake. And she wasn't joking at all.
The young palace mistress roared, "I was doing this for your own good!" After shouting, she turned around and ran away in tears.
Shen Qingqiu roared inwardly, "The script is wrong, damn it—something's wrong with this—"
Before he could finish roaring, Luo Binghe's gaze shifted to him.
Shen Qingqiu suddenly experienced toothache, stomachache, and testicular pain.
At times like this, he'd rather the young palace master whip him a hundred or two hundred times; at most, it would only hurt his skin and flesh, which was better than being alone with Luo Binghe in a confined space where he would feel pain all over. Thank you!
The two remained silent for a while before Luo Binghe took a step closer.
Shen Qingqiu immediately maintained a respectful distance.
Luo Binghe's outstretched hand froze in mid-air for a moment before he withdrew it.
He scoffed, "Why is Master so wary? If I wanted to do something to you, I wouldn't need to touch you at all."
Shen Qingqiu understood that he was referring to the fact that he had already drunk the blood of the Heavenly Demon.
Even a single drop entering his stomach is like planting a time bomb inside his body, with endless possibilities. If Luo Binghe wanted, he could simply snap his fingers and cause him excruciating pain, his intestines to burst open.
So, what Luo Binghe said just now was the truth.
Shen Qingqiu sat back in his meditation posture and looked up to meet Luo Binghe's gaze.
One month.
We must hold on for at least a month.
Once I get through this, the world will be my oyster, and I'll leave all this damn mess and these worthless people behind!
After a moment of silence, Shen Qingqiu suddenly said, "If you want to do something to me, there's no rush. After the joint trial by the four factions is over, I will be disgraced and there will be no turning back. Then you can settle accounts with me. Wouldn't that be more satisfying?"
His words were entirely based on his understanding of Luo Binghe's thinking in the original work. Logically, they should have been very much to Luo Binghe's liking.
Unexpectedly, Luo Binghe's eyes darkened.
He slowly said, "Why is Master so certain that the joint trial will find him guilty?"
Shen Qingqiu: "...That's a question for you, isn't it?"
Luo Binghe repeated, "Ask me?"
He sneered, "It's me again."
Who else could it be but you? Shen Qingqiu was speechless.
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