Beauty Bones (Part 1)
Chapter 1
Xie Yuan sat cross-legged in a corner of the dungeon, holding a withered twig in her hand and writing and drawing on the muddy ground, a stark contrast to the trembling women around her.
As night fell, the temperature at the border plummeted, and wind and snow, carrying frost, drifted in through the small ventilation opening in the dungeon, shattering the desolate moonlight.
Thanks to the original owner's "blessing," she was forced to flee from pursuers and ended up here.
She deliberately brought herself to be captured here, but it was purely by chance that she discovered so many beautiful young women here.
Strangely, although these girls were beautiful, their clothes were very ordinary, mostly wearing coarse linen clothes. In normal trade, if they wanted to sell their goods for a good price, silk dresses would be essential. Perhaps there is some unknown truth hidden behind this.
In her view, the current situation is not optimistic.
When she was brought in, her eyes were covered by a black cloth, but based on her basic senses, she could tell that this dungeon probably had more than two levels and was guarded by many people with short intervals between shifts.
In addition, her own situation was quite complicated, and there were still many things that hadn't been sorted out. If the mission failed, she should have been completely destroyed. However, when she woke up, according to the original owner's memories, she learned that this year was the thirty-sixth year of Zhaoyuan. According to this year, she had been "dead" for ten years.
Now, she has inexplicably been reborn in the body of the Eastern Mausoleum Princess. Her face is exactly the same as hers in her previous life, except for being slightly childish.
After being reborn, the system disappeared, and there were no mission prompts. The most important thing now is to find a way to escape from here.
Xie Yuan glanced around at the innocent and naive girls huddled together for warmth, and sighed softly.
Let's not even talk about these girls who are only fourteen or fifteen years old. The original owner of this body has been pampered and spoiled since childhood, never lifting a finger. She is delicate and cannot lift a finger or carry a heavy load. If it were her in the past, she could have taken on the entire village by herself. But if they fight now, it would be pure suicide.
Thinking of this, her expression turned slightly sad. It was truly a case of one wave subsiding only for another to rise, like escaping one dragon's den only to fall into another tiger's lair.
The weather in Dongling is pleasant all year round. When she ran away from her arranged marriage, she was only wearing a red tunic with a cinched waist. The only thing that proved that she was not a simple person was probably the two silk ribbons embroidered with gilded phoenixes around her waist. At this moment, the cold wind was blowing into her skirt.
She threw down the dry branch, rubbing her frozen hands together and breathing into them. "Damn, it's freezing, freezing!"
So many years have passed, and she doesn't know how he's doing now. Although she left him enough savings, she's never truly felt at ease, after all, he was only nine years old when she left...
Once she gets out of here, we must find a way to locate him.
Suddenly, a series of hurried and frantic footsteps echoed outside the dungeon, accompanied by the sentry's heart-wrenching screams, "Run! There are bugs! Lots of bugs!"
"Insects?" Xie Yuan's heart skipped a beat for some reason. Her mission in her past life was also related to this... Could it be...?
She quickly got up from the ground, took three steps at a time, walked to the cell door, gripped both sides of the iron bars, and peered out.
The girls behind her were terrified by the chaos and screams outside; the scene was so noisy it was like a never-ending cacophony of monkeys howling on both banks, giving her a headache.
The exit is at the top of the stairs over the dungeon, but no one has come yet.
I don't know how much time passed, but the noise outside seemed to have quietly subsided.
The only sound in the air was the occasional soft sobbing of the little girls.
Xie Yuan pulled her head back in and tried to pry it outwards with both hands, but after struggling for a long time, it was no use. She wiped the fine beads of sweat from her forehead without any regard for her image and complained breathlessly, "No way, has it become this weak? These skinny arms and legs."
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a loud "bang" echoed as a figure hurriedly flung open the dungeon door and scrambled in, yelling, "Insects! So many insects! They're all dead, all of them are dead!"
A normal person would definitely feel fear upon seeing this, but Xie Yuan's eyes lit up, and she stuck her head out again, reaching out without hesitation to grab the burly man who was crying and sniffling.
Upon closer inspection, lo and behold, it was the same leader who had imprisoned her back then. Now, he was no longer the arrogant man he had been when he arrested her: "Hey, big brother, don't just run away, open the door for me, or you can give me the key."
The leader must have seen something; his face was filled with undisguised fear. He was probably so frightened that he was out of his mind. Otherwise, with her strength, she wouldn't have been able to hold him back.
The leader's terrified gaze gradually shifted to her face, and he continued to repeat incoherently, "Dead, all dead, all dead! There are monsters outside! Insects, so many insects!"
Xie Yuan felt like she was talking to a brick wall. She kept asking questions, and all she got were a few lines about dying. They were all dead? Was it really necessary? What on earth had she seen?
"Jingle bells, jingle bells"
It was the soft tinkling of bells in the wind, which, in the current stagnant atmosphere filled with cries, still had a rather horror movie feel to it.
Having received no response to her questions, Xie Yuan had already released the man and was now listening intently to hear the source of the bell's sound.
However, a series of screams suddenly came from behind her: "Aaaaaaah! Someone's dead! Someone's dead! Bugs! So many bugs!"
Xie Yuan immediately turned around to check on them. The girls were fine and there was nothing wrong with them, but they were all shivering like leaves. Their lips, which were already blue from the cold, were even paler. Some of them had already fainted, but she did not see the insects they had mentioned.
When he turned around and looked down, the spot where the leader had been had turned into a skeleton, without making a sound. The swirling, disgusting black swarm of insects came and went quickly, with a clear target, as if someone was controlling them.
Xie Yuan's expression was also not good. If she was not mistaken, this should be the technique of controlling Gu, but she had clearly sealed it away.
The sound of the bell grew closer.
About half a breath later, the dungeon door was opened again, and the silvery light fell on the steps. A long figure followed closely behind and entered through the entrance.
"Da, da, da"
The footsteps of the person approaching were very light, neither hurried nor slow. With each step, a clear and melodious bell sound could be heard, spreading clearly to everyone's ears with the sound of the wind.
The first thing Xie Yuan saw was that extremely gorgeous and eerie red dress, and several silver chains tied around his waist. His long hair reached his waist and swayed gently behind him with his movements. Then there was a small braid hanging down to his chest, with a red knot tied at the end, and at the bottom was the source of the bell sound, a delicate little bell.
The torches flickering at the prison gate were extinguished by the biting wind, but even so, she was still able to see the person's face clearly.
Xie Yuan's breath hitched, and she almost blurted out those two words, but she managed to swallow them back. Her right hand, hanging by her side, unconsciously clenched tightly.
Ten years have passed, and that little kid who was barely knee-high back then has grown up so much! His face is getting more and more handsome, just as she imagined.
Nineteen years old, in this world, it's the age to get married. I wonder if my little apprentice has someone he likes now, whether he's married and has children, and whether he's doing well.
Xie Yuan stared at him without any attempt to hide it, but her disciple didn't spare him a single glance.
He walked straight to the skeleton in front of her, knelt down on one knee, took out a bone whistle about the size of a human little finger from the pocket of the person's outer clothes, and then, without even glancing at the people around him, turned and left.
Holy crap, he really just turned around and left?
No, all the lessons she taught him before were wasted!
Forget it, as long as we're alive, we can always make a comeback! Let's talk about it outside!
"Hey, hey, young master, wait a minute, wait a minute!" Xie Yuan was stunned for a moment, then quickly stuck her head out, grabbed his wrists tightly with both hands, and smiled ingratiatingly: "Young master, you are beautiful and kind-hearted. Why don't you help us out and let us out?"
"Do you think I look like a good person?" The boy's lips curled up slightly, as if he had heard something interesting. He actually stopped, turned his head slightly, and looked at her with eyes that were more desolate and cold than the moonlight. He was smiling, but the smile did not reach his eyes.
Xie Yuan's expression stiffened slightly. For a moment, countless words of explanation and comfort were about to come out, but in the end, only three words remained on her lips: "I'm sorry."
"Oh, why are you apologizing?"
The boy tilted his head and turned his body completely back this time. He grabbed her wrist and pulled it hard.
Xie Yuan's pupils trembled slightly, and she subconsciously tried to back away. In her haste, she realized to her dismay that she had stuck her head out, but damn it, she couldn't go back!
Suppressing the urge to swear, she quickly braced herself against the iron railing with her other hand, but the boy was holding her other hand, leaving her in a dilemma.
He leaned slightly closer to her, his warm breath instantly touching hers.
Ten years ago, Xie Yuan had countless times imagined what her little apprentice would look like when he grew up, dashing and spirited.
She knew perfectly well that she wouldn't live to see that day.
But it still couldn't compare to the stunning beauty I saw in person; her face was like a pearl, her alluring and exquisite beauty like a celestial being banished from a painting.
The image reflected in her eyes gradually overlapped with his childhood self, the child she had spent so long trying to change his stubborn and obstinate nature, was now back to square one.
After all, he was her own foolish apprentice whom she had personally raised; his emotional changes were very obvious to her, and it was easy for her to tell if he was unhappy at a glance.
"What did you do to offend me? Hmm?"
Xie Yuan was embarrassed. How could she explain it? She had just blurted it out without thinking.
She herself didn't understand the matter of being reborn, let alone the kind of "possession". If she said that she was his master who had been dead for ten years, that would be too far-fetched. Moreover, he was still young when she left, and he might not even remember her as his master. It's better not to mention such sad things.
"It's all my fault for being so clumsy with words. I touched on something that saddened you, sir. I just felt that you looked very upset. It was just a simple apology," Xie Yuan said awkwardly, trying to distort the truth and quickly skip over this part. Her hands were almost numb. "Please forgive my rudeness, sir. Could you please let me out?" She gave an embarrassed smile.
"I see," the boy said, his eyes crinkling and his smile deepening. Xie Yuan was momentarily dazzled by his clean and clear smile, but he changed the subject, casually releasing her hand and turning away to coldly utter, "But unfortunately, I am a villain."
His figure disappeared without a trace at the dungeon entrance.
Xie Yuan was left standing bewildered in the wind. Chun Chun was so shocked and angry by his words, "I am a villain," that she even forgot to stick her head inside.
"Hey, this brat! Ten years have passed, where did he learn this stubborn temper? He's driving me crazy!" Xie Yuan angrily pulled her head back, but her anger hadn't subsided yet. In her haste, "Bang!" Tragedy struck. Her head slammed heavily against the iron bar. "Damn it!" she cursed, clutching her head in exasperation. "Ouch, that hurts!"
Xie Yuan gasped in pain, clutched her head, and plopped down on the ground. Goodness, that bump sent a bunch of stars flying!
Outside the dungeon, a figure stood for an unknown amount of time, his black hair now covered in snow.
Finally, in the cold, desolate night, a lone figure trudged through the wind and frost into the snow, their footprints quickly swallowed by the heavy snow...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
