CHAPTER 49
Sheng Qing stared at his right hand in disbelief. Had he unlocked some new skill that could actually injure Reid?
Great, I won't have to put up with this humiliation anymore!
"Why should I tell you?" Sheng Qing's anger subsided, and she spoke with more confidence. "I'm leaving here, and you can't stop me. Otherwise, I can't guarantee I won't hurt you even more if I make another move."
As Sheng Qing retreated, he tried to reactivate his spiritual energy, but alas, he couldn't find that subtle feeling anymore, and his retreat became unsteady.
The exit was just a stone's throw away. Despite her body sending out warning signals, Sheng Qing was still firmly restrained and unable to move, just as she had expected.
"Again." Reed's emotionless voice echoed in my ears, his breath hitting my neck and instantly raising goosebumps.
Sheng Qing remained silent.
"It's no use? It was just a coincidence." Reid's tone was flat, but Sheng Qing could hear the mixture of surprise and disappointment in his voice.
A faint chime sounded, and Sheng Qing's eardrums and eyelids seemed to have been switched on. Suddenly, everything was bright and clear, and all sorts of lights and sounds poured in and spread. The originally deep and quiet manor suddenly became bright and noisy.
“Don’t even think about escaping.” After saying that, Reed moved far away, his face obscured by the backlight. “You won’t be able to leave this place until you’ve stayed for three months. That’s my advice.”
"This place? You mean the manor, or...?" Sheng Qing didn't believe it at all. If you're so capable, then lock me up.
"It makes no difference to you." Reid said this and then stopped looking at Sheng Qing, turning around and gently waving his hand into the void.
"My lord." A figure emerged from the shadows, standing respectfully to the side awaiting orders.
"Any new information?" Reed asked casually, stepping onto the blue stone slab and walking slowly towards the brightly lit corridor.
They're just going to abandon me like this? What was that chase scene all about?
Sheng Qing shook his head, not thinking too much about it, got up and walked towards the side gate of the manor. He opened the gate, stepped out, closed the gate, and everything went smoothly.
Sheng Qing walked anxiously for a few more minutes, but did not reappear in the manor after stepping on any mechanism. However, the slightly warm bracelet on her left wrist made her feel a little uncomfortable.
After several unsuccessful attempts, Sheng Qing finally gave up and focused on finding a place to stay, with unsold rooms in hotels being his primary target.
An hour later, Sheng Qing finished washing up in the bathroom of a hotel room, changed into clean clothes, and ate a hot breakfast. She had exchanged the gold coins she had unexpectedly found in her black robe for a room on a main street, a set of clean clothes, and still had some left over.
Having filled their stomachs, they forgot all about the hotel owner's strange look.
Sheng Qing lay on the bed with her eyes closed, pretending to sleep. In her mind, she thought about how she had sneaked into the convent and how she had been discovered, and how she had managed to escape without being noticed by others.
As drowsiness washed over me, my mind and body relaxed simultaneously, and suddenly my consciousness returned. Outside, the quiet corridor echoed with disordered breathing and deliberately hushed whispers.
"I sensed something was off the moment that woman walked in, and I immediately reported it to you. Although she covered her face with a hat and deliberately made a deep, gruff voice, I could tell at a glance that she was a woman." Taking a moment to catch his breath, the obsequious male voice continued, "A woman loitering outside at this hour is definitely up to something."
"Really?" a greasy male voice retorted.
"How could I dare to lie to you, sir?" the obsequious man said.
"Shut up, are you looking for death?" The greasy male voice carried a hint of fear. "Who told you to call me 'sir'? There is only one 'sir,' the one who cannot be spoken of."
"I know I was wrong, sir. Please forgive me, sir."
"Hmph! You really are a woman, then your good deeds and bad deeds cancel each other out," the greasy male voice said. "If not, you'll be in for a world of hurt."
"Yes, yes, I was absolutely right."
Footsteps approached, the conversation outside the door stopped, and was replaced by the rustling sound of keys being fumbled to open the door.
Fortunately, Sheng Qing was careful and did not move into the room that originally belonged to her. Instead, she chose the empty room next door.
Sure enough, a greasy man's furious shouts and curses came from the next room, followed by a crisp slap and a low, groveling pleas for mercy.
Sheng Qing stopped joining the crowd, turned around and opened the window. Taking advantage of the absence of people, he quickly descended to the ground through the pipes on the wall and mingled into the crowd.
But the constant stares from pedestrians made Sheng Qing very uncomfortable. Hadn't he ever seen a woman before?
Sheng Qing quickened her pace, carefully recalling the innkeeper's words. What did he mean by saying that a woman still wandering around at this hour was abnormal?
As dawn broke, more pedestrians appeared on the road, but there wasn't a single woman in sight.
Even the oblivious Sheng Qing sensed something was wrong. The men's unabashed stares felt like invisible whips, lashing against her. Sheng Qing unconsciously pulled down her hat brim and tugged up her collar, trying to minimize the amount of skin exposed.
The newly bought men's clothing was two sizes too big for my usual size, hanging loosely on my body, making it difficult to tell my gender from behind. Even after covering most of my face, the situation didn't improve.
Sheng Qing turned into a secluded alley, with a series of footsteps behind him. "If I can't beat Reid, I can at least deal with you guys."
Sheng Qing pretended to be scared and jogged towards the other end of the alley.
Sure enough, two footsteps, one light and one heavy, followed. Two people? A piece of cake.
Within a few minutes, Sheng Qing subdued the two men, who were bruised and battered, and slumped against the wall.
"Tell me the truth." Sheng Qing's face was hidden behind the wide brim of his hat and the high collar, his tone devoid of emotion. "What do you want to do with me?"
"No, I didn't mean to do anything," one of the men, dressed in drab gray, mumbled.
Without thinking, Sheng Qing kicked him directly.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch! I, I was just curious, how can a woman like you go out alone?" After saying that, the man glanced at Sheng Qing, then quickly looked down.
"Why can't a woman go out alone?" Sheng Qing retorted.
“How can women go out alone?” another man in rumpled clothes asked matter-of-factly. “They’re all locked up in the convent, waiting to be assigned to important people.”
"Women in this era are very precious, and the law stipulates that women cannot travel alone without a man's accompaniment."
“Even if you are accompanied by a man, you must be covered from head to toe, with only your eyes showing at most. Otherwise, if other men see you, it will be terrible. If you are arrested and imprisoned in a convent, the government will not be to blame.”
The two men seemed to be talking about something extraordinary, spitting everywhere, as if they had forgotten how they got the bruises on their faces.
Sheng Qing frowned as he listened.
"I really envy those women. They just have to wait obediently for their assignment. If they're lucky, they'll be assigned to a good family and give birth to a son or daughter for their master, which is considered a great achievement."
"Even if you give birth to a child who's a financial burden, you'll have two more chances. If all else fails, you can try another family. You'll eventually be able to have a son."
"Having a son means you can enjoy two years of good fortune."
"Those adults really know how to enjoy life, they get to experience the pleasures of different women."
"Keep your voice down, don't let that person hear you."
"Yes, yes, yes."
The two looked wary and hurriedly glanced around, only breathing a sigh of relief when they confirmed that no one else was around.
"It's pitiful that we powerless and weak people can't even get a woman's attention, we can only... sigh."
"It can only be... sigh, why can't men be with men? The law says that men can be together, there are so few women, how could it possibly be our turn?"
"Wouldn't it be more exciting to find a handsome man, dress him in women's clothes, and have him do it?"
"Speaking of which, I wonder if you, brother, have any thoughts on this?"
"What's your idea? Shall we... let's team up?"
The two got more and more excited as they talked, completely ignoring Sheng Qing and not even noticing when he disappeared.
Sheng Qing understood perfectly; the rules governing this world were exactly the opposite of the previous one.
In a society where women are respected, all respectable positions are held by women, while men are only there for entertainment.
One system is male-dominated, where women exist only as appendages to men, serving not only as playthings but also as procreation tools.
In this absurd world, no matter how you look at it, women are still more miserable!
As Sheng Qing pondered, he walked towards the convent where he had first been imprisoned, a place that reminded him of his earliest memories.
But which disgusting guy came up with such an absurd law? I really want to beat him up and then tie him up and take him to that matriarchal world so he can experience it for himself.
And what about that 'big shot'? Who is he? Why not kidnap him too?
Then they set fire to that damn nunnery and freed all the trapped women.
But first, we need to help her find the mechanism to leave this world.
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Before she knew it, Sheng Qing had arrived at the main gate of the convent. A patrol of soldiers was walking towards her, and Sheng Qing slightly stepped aside to let them pass.
"Halt!" A soldier stopped and called out to Sheng Qing, who was about to leave. "What are you trying to do, lurking around outside the convent!"
An idea came to mind, and Sheng Qing took the initiative to lift the brim of her hat and pull down her collar, revealing a face that was clearly that of a woman.
"I'm the woman who was picked up last night. My superior gave me special permission to come back and retrieve my personal belongings." Sheng Qing's voice was gentle and soft, possessing an inexplicable charm that made people believe her.
"Yes, yes." The young soldier nodded slightly, his eyes glazed, and let Sheng Qing pass through the cordon to the entrance of the convent.
"Don't move!" A slightly older soldier seemed to sense something was wrong, broke away from the patrol, and shouted to stop them.
Damn it! Sheng Qing, who was initially delighted to discover that spiritual power actually worked on ordinary people, cursed under his breath.
"How can you prove that this was your superior's order?" The young soldier snapped out of his daze, his expression wary.
"Show your left wrist!" The slightly longer soldier avoided eye contact, circled behind Sheng Qing, and gave the order.
"Is this what you mean?" Sheng Qing raised her left hand, her wide sleeve sliding down to her elbow, and generously showed the two of them her bracelet.
"Put it down!" the two soldiers shouted at the same time.
Sheng Qing chuckled mischievously, "What, you don't need to watch it again?"
Haha, the more people demand that women cover themselves up, the more she insists on doing the opposite.
"You're asking for death!" The young soldier revealed a fierce look and held his weapon to Sheng Qing's neck.
"Wait." The slightly older soldier used his weapon to lift Sheng Qing's left sleeve, saw the words engraved on the bracelet, looked up at Sheng Qing with a skeptical expression, and asked in a questioning tone, "The woman chosen by Lord Reid?"
The young soldier glanced uncertainly at the older soldier, and after the latter nodded, he quickly removed the weapon from Sheng Qing's neck.
What does that mean? Is Reed's name that effective?
"You can't read?" Sheng Qing asked noncommittally, slightly raising the bracelet on his left wrist.
The older soldier winked at the younger soldier and forced a smile, saying, "If you need anything, just ask us. Why bother coming all the way here yourself?"
The young soldier turned and left without hesitation, while the older soldier stayed close by, ostensibly to guide Sheng Qing, but actually to monitor his every move. The young soldier who left was probably going to inform Reid.
Time was of the essence, and who knew if Reed would change his mind and take her back? Sheng Qing dared not delay and openly searched the place where she had first appeared, in front of the slightly older soldiers.
But how could a mechanism for leaving be discovered so easily?
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