Chapter 33 Locked in My Soul, I No Longer Want to Think of Hairpins and Skirts, From Now On I Dare Not Look...
Inside the Hall of Joy, Xiao Ke was placed on the smooth, reflective golden mirror floor by the black-robed messenger.
Her clothes were burned to ashes, leaving her only wrapped tightly in a red robe, revealing a pair of charred fingers as she timidly looked around.
The place was huge, bigger than anywhere she had ever seen. The walls were covered with colorful and bizarre murals of Buddhas, and in front of each mural sat a masked man. The lust in their eyes frightened Xiao Ke so much that she suddenly fell to the ground.
“Heh,” the Silver-Masked Venerable, seated in the main seat, smiled slightly, leaned forward to drink the red wine offered by the beautiful concubine beside him, and said jokingly, “Look, he’s young and inexperienced. Please don’t frighten our little evil spirit, gentlemen.”
A man wearing a blue-faced, fanged demon mask spoke in a rough, hoarse voice, saying, "Venerable One, after several rounds of drinks, shouldn't we have some fun?"
The Silver-Masked Venerable lay back in Mei Ji's arms, half-drunk, gently nibbling at her chin, and whispered, "This time we can't afford to die. Two uninvited guests have arrived on my island. Let's spare their lives and let them taste some earthly bliss!"
The blue-faced, fanged demon asked again, "Now that uninvited guests have arrived on the island, why don't you go and capture them, Venerable One?"
“Waiting for the rabbit to run into the tree stump,” the Silver-Masked Venerable got up from Meiji’s arms, clapped his hands, and then more than twenty eight-year-old girls filed in. “These girls have been deflowered. Some are obedient, and some are disobedient. Look, this new one is dirty and probably fresh but disobedient. Today, we’ll stick to the old rule: the highest bidder gets to choose first!”
As soon as he finished speaking, the masked men in the hall began to stir, bidding up from one hundred taels to one thousand taels. The Silver-Masked Venerable stroked his wine cup, his smile growing increasingly mocking. The self-proclaimed enlightened Great Huang Dynasty, with its officials who took the people's hard-earned money, turned into beasts once they arrived on the island. But then again, being a player in the ordinary pleasure quarters of Great Huang is nothing compared to being a player on Evil Spirit Island. Here, young, innocent girls are at your mercy, and all your filthy desires are satisfied.
The nobles and dignitaries were all raking in the money pits. Once they had their fill, their lusts were empty and their peculiar desires were not satisfied. So they came to Evil Spirit Island to squander their wealth. As long as they had money, wasn't that taking from the people and using it for the people?
The Silver-Masked Venerable surveyed the scene of revelry, laughing as he strode away before the masked, fanged monsters, leaving behind the words, "Have fun, everyone!"
Feng Tan quietly withdrew her probing eyes and made a sign to Xiao Yinshi behind her, "Splitting into two groups?"
Xiao Yinshi nodded, his figure disappearing into the dark corridor. Feng Tan saw Xiao Ke being bought at the highest price by an official wearing a red ghost mask, and then being carried away by his servant. As she struggled, tears streamed down her face, and her cries echoed throughout the hall.
Feng Tan looked at the hands that were raising the sign, and saw calluses on the index and little fingers. She recognized the man as Liang Baoquan. She quietly followed them and saw them turn into a secret room at the end of a dark corridor.
Infiltrating wasn't difficult. Among the officials from earlier, Feng Tan was certain that Liang Baoquan was connected to the silver-masked venerable one. She could use him to extract clues, but the problem was that she didn't know his martial arts skills.
As Feng Tan hesitated, the masked officials behind her had already chosen their targets for tonight's defilement and were walking one by one toward the secret chamber in the dark corridor. Feng Tan's sharp eyes swept around, finally focusing on a dark, dead corner at the end of the corridor.
In the blink of an eye, before the next masked official could enter, Feng Tan had already slipped into the position she had just aimed at. As soon as she entered, she sensed the presence of a living person. She silently launched a killing move, but the person deftly deflected it and covered her mouth, saying, "Lord Feng, it's me."
Yu Ruxi? What's Yu Ruxi doing here?
News of Feng Tan and Xiao Yinshi's deaths in a surprise attack by Japanese pirates off the coast of Linzhang had reached the capital. Yu Ruxi, who was still in the capital at the time, volunteered to fight and wipe out the pirates. Emperor Chongming, seeing her loyalty and sincerity, entrusted Sheng Honghai to explain the theft of the national treasury and granted her permission to join Xiao Yinshi's reinforcements along with her brother, Yu Zhenyu. Yu Ruxi rode five fast horses to death along the way, and following the coded message left by Xiao Yinshi and Zhu Qi, she finally reached Evil Spirit Island.
"So, the Dahuang army has already surrounded this place?" Feng Tan asked.
Hearing the sound of doors closing one after another in the corridor, Yu Ruxi replied, "Yes, as long as Lord Xiao gives the order, all the rebels will be captured alive immediately."
Feng Tan said, "No. This island is surrounded by explosives. If it alerts the instigator, he will destroy everything in his path."
As the two were talking, the pitiful screams of girls echoed from the outer corridor. Their cries and wails rose and fell, accompanied by the clanging of chains, the cracking of whips striking bodies, and the arrogant laughter of men.
Yu Ruxi's heart skipped a beat, then a surge of rage welled up in her head. She gripped her longsword tightly and roared, "I will kill these beasts!"
Feng Tan quickly grabbed her arm, "Don't scare the snake."
The sounds of torture and sobbing echoed in her ears, like a series of scepters forcing her to make a choice. In the dim light, Yu Ruxi's expression was filled with pain. Morality and justice, merit and demerit, success and failure were pulling her to the brink of collapse. Suddenly, she heard the girl's shrill pleas for mercy and the sound of her pounding on the tightly closed wooden door. "Please, let me go, don't come any closer, help, help!"
In the midst of this torment, Yu Ruxi disregarded the bigger picture; she had to save all the girls in the corridor. So she angrily shook off Feng Tan's arm and said, "To hell with this damn job! I, Yu Ruxi, can't just stand by and watch them be bullied!"
After she finished speaking, Feng Tan quickly pressed down on Yu Ruxi's acupoint, her throat tightening as she said, "I'm sorry, one wrong move can lead to total defeat. I can't let you do that."
Yu Ruxi cursed Feng Tan in a low voice: "Bastard! Let me go!"
Feng Tan's eyes showed no less pain than Yu Ruxi's. She remained calm and dragged Yu Ruxi into the room Liang Baoquan had just entered amidst her piercing pleas and sobs.
For the sake of convenience, Liang Baoquan had already removed his mask and was burning Xiao Ke's naked body with wax. He approached Xiao Ke and gently smelled the girl's tender virgin scent. Suddenly, the wooden door was opened and then quickly closed. He was so startled that he trembled and a large drop of wax burned his own finger.
"Who goes there?!"
Before Liang Baoquan could even process his surprise, a sharp dagger was already pressed against his neck. "Lord Liang, how have you been?"
"You, how could you still..." Upon hearing the boy's voice, Liang Baoquan's heart leaped into his throat.
"How am I still alive?" Feng Tan sneered, pressing the blade back into Liang Baoquan's neck under his shocked gaze, not intending to waste any more words. "Where is the stolen silver from the national treasury?"
Liang Baoquan said, "I don't know, Lord Feng. I just came to the island for a visit, like the other officials..."
A normal person, upon hearing this question, would first ask how the national treasury's silver could have been stolen. So, before he could finish speaking, Feng Tan advanced the blade again, slicing open his neck. As blood gushed out, he asked again, "Where?"
Seeing the murderous intent in the boy's eyes, Liang Baoquan swallowed hard in fear. This time, he stopped making things up, afraid that Feng Tan would really slit his throat with a single blow. So he said, "The switch is under the seat of the Silver-Masked Venerable in the Hall of Joy."
The girl's cries for mercy grew louder and louder in his ears. Feng Tan closed his eyes, tightly bound Liang Baoquan to the chair, tore off a piece of curtain and stuffed it into his mouth, then bowed to Xiao Ke and said, "You stay here obediently and don't move. Brother will come back and take you out. And..."
Feng Tan glanced at Yu Ruxi, who was frozen in place, and said, "Take good care of this older sister."
Xiao Ke was covered in wax dripping from Liang Baoquan. Her large, clear eyes were red and swollen, and there was no light in them. She looked at Feng Tan timidly and said, "Brother, I'll wait for you to come back."
Just as Feng Tan was about to open the door and leave, Yu Ruxi said indifferently, "Feng Tan, is getting promoted really more important than the lives of these girls?"
The girls lingering in the corridor cried out in a shrill voice, their cries growing fainter and fainter. Each weak scream was a cry for help from the depths of their souls. Feng Tan looked into Yu Ruxi's eyes and said, "Yes."
As she opened the wooden door, she heard Yu Ruxi whisper in her ear, "You're no different from them."
You're no different from them.
Feng Tan darted through the dark corridor, her figure like an invisible hurricane. The accusations echoed in her ears; she understood Yu Ruxi's deep-seated bloodlust and sense of justice. Saving the little girls now would alert the island's guards. Even with Da Huang soldiers outside the island, the key was to capture the leader first. If the "king" was insane and ordered the island blown up, everyone would die. Moreover, the number of girls abducted to Evil Spirit Island from the Linzhang sea area each year was far more than just the dozen or so seen today; many more were undoubtedly imprisoned there. Weighing the pros and cons, Feng Tan had no other choice.
Feng Tan returned to the Hall of Joy once more. The vast hall was instantly deserted. The Buddha statue of Joy underwent a slight change, beginning to display a state of ecstasy and union. Layers of red gauze curtains fell, the golden light of the Buddha in the hall vanished, and an atmosphere of decadence and extravagance permeated the entire hall, making people feel inexplicably eerie.
Feng Tan's gaze fell on the lotus chair beneath the Silver-Faced Venerable, then swept past the layers of gauze curtains and landed in front of the golden lotus chair.
She cautiously touched the white pearls inlaid on the golden chair, her fingers hovering over a mechanism. With a gentle twist, the lotus-shaped golden chair rumbled and began to move laterally, revealing a tunnel leading to the island below.
At the same time, a large cloud of grayish-red smoke surged from underground. Feng Tan had no time to dodge and inhaled it deeply. In an instant, her mind began to spin, and layers of light red gauze curtains blurred into blood-red smoke before her eyes. Her body felt weak and dizzy, and she swayed backward, almost falling into the cave.
Feng Tan reached out and grasped the armrest of the lotus-shaped golden chair. She looked up in a daze and saw a woman in palace attire gracefully approaching. She walked up to Feng Tan and smiled slightly, saying, "Yongle, Mother has arrived."
Feng Tan's eyes flickered, and she moved her lips to say, "Mother?"
"It's Mother," Empress Xiaoxian said, holding Feng Tan's hand with a kind smile and affection in her demeanor. "Mother has been waiting for you in the palace for a very, very long time. Why did Yongle come so late? Why didn't he come to save Mother?"
Feng Tan's throat tightened, and he slowly uttered a single word, "Save?"
Empress Xiaoxian said, "That's right. Your father has been imprisoning your mother in the palace, and she has been waiting for you to rescue her. Your mother has been waiting and waiting, but you haven't come. Doesn't Yongle have the weapon your husband gave you? Why doesn't Yongle come?"
Feng Tan's mind was in increasing confusion, and his vision was becoming increasingly blurry. "Weapons?"
Empress Xiaoxian gazed into Feng Tan's eyes, her smile growing even gentler as she said, "Yes, it's about weapons. Where are Yongle's weapons?"
"How did Mother know I had a weapon?"
"I," Empress Xiaoxian hesitated for a moment, then smiled, "I heard it from your husband..."
Before Empress Xiaoxian could finish speaking, Feng Tan had already placed a sharp blade against her neck, clearly stating, "The Master never told you that."
The smile on Empress Xiaoxian's lips vanished instantly, and the tenderness in her words turned icy and chilling. She quickly retreated into the hall and said in a low voice, "To still retain a sliver of reason after being afflicted by the 'Soul Locking' spell, she truly lives up to her reputation as Princess Yongle."
Feng Tan's mind was clouded; she slashed her arm again with the sharp blade, using the pain to ease the numbness in her nerves. This person knew her true identity—how could she know? This was utterly unbelievable!
Feng Tan looked at "Empress Xiaoxian," narrowed his eyes, and asked, "Who are you?"
Empress Xiaoxian looked directly at Feng Tan and said with a smile, "An old friend."
An invisible hand stirred within Feng Tan's mind. She covered her head with one hand, breathing heavily. After a moment of thought without any ideas, she repeated, "An old friend?"
Empress Xiaoxian looked at Feng Tan's hazy yet still defensive and aggressive appearance, and subtly curled the corners of her lips. She then clapped her hands lightly twice and quietly disappeared from the Huanxi Palace.
Everything happened too fast. Feng Tan looked at the empty hall, surrounded by silence. But it was precisely this silence that made her feel even more uneasy.
A gust of wind, seemingly from nowhere, stirred the crimson gauze curtains, causing them to swirl and sway in the hall. Feng Tan, heightened by the sudden change in her senses, drew blood on her arm again, the drops seeping into the soft cushions. She stared motionlessly at the eerie hall.
A huge, hairy claw stepped out from behind the water-red gauze curtain, followed by its head, revealing a majestic ancient beast about half the height of a person. It resembled the Taotie described in the ancient book "Classic of Mountains and Seas," with the body of a sheep and the face of a human, eyes under its armpits, tiger teeth, and human claws, making it extremely ferocious.
Feng Tan's pupils contracted sharply. Her increasingly confused mind was jolted awake by the ferocious beast before her, regaining some clarity. She gripped her sharp blade tightly, watching the Taotie ancient beast slowly approach without moving.
Saliva dripped from the Taotie's mouth. Halfway there, its eyes grew fierce. Suddenly, it pounced forward. Feng Tan quickly dodged the attack, but it pounced again with incredible speed. Feng Tan couldn't react in time, and its clothes were torn to shreds on its back. Fortunately, it escaped quickly and only had a claw mark left on its back.
The Taotie missed its first attack, then stared intently at Feng Tan and pounced again with its huge mouth open. Feng Tan used the golden pillar in the hall to leap into the air, aimed at the Taotie's back, straddled it, and held its fur tightly with both hands to prevent it from being thrown off.
Enraged by being ridden beneath someone, the Taotie flipped over, and Feng Tan jumped onto its belly, wielding a sharp blade to slit the Taotie's neck.
Fresh, viscous blood dripped onto Feng Tan's face, almost turning her into a blood-soaked mess. The Taotie, exhausted, collapsed to the ground, unable to rise. Feng Tan, also exhausted, lay on the ground, panting softly. Her eyes were half-closed, everything she saw was in a state of semi-darkness; the blood from the wound on her arm mingled with the blood of the Taotie beneath her, reflecting the smiling, leaning figure of the Silver-Masked Venerable.
The Silver-Masked Venerable looked at the fair and delicate back of the person beneath him, his eyes, the only part of his face visible, brimming with amusement. "Tsk, how pitiful."
His fingers traced Feng Tan's exposed back, running down her silhouette, and he chuckled, "If you don't want to think about your future, I'll never dare look at Guanyin again..."
Author's note: The second instance is about to end, and Lord Feng will soon be back in court!
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