Volume Three: Not Following the Carefree Path, Chapter Ninety-Four

The surroundings were bright with daylight. Jin Li pressed a hand to her forehead and struggled to rise. Because of her injuries, her face was deathly pale, her frame terribly frail. She should have been in her full divine form, yet a single strike from that person had gravely wounded her.

That person was certainly no ordinary being. Why were they going to the altar? And what was the object that Su Wen had handed to him?

"Awake?"

Jin Li looked up at the sound of the voice and saw Bei Ting leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed, his eyes appraising her.

Could it be that Bei Ting had saved her?

"Thank you, First Prince, for rescuing me."

She offered her thanks, then gathered her robes and made to leave. But the moment her feet touched the ground, they felt utterly numb and weak. She steadied herself against the edge of the bed.

Bei Ting approached and looked down at her from above. "These wounds of yours won't heal anytime soon. If you leave now, you won't even make it to Lian River."

She had never wished to have any connection with the celestial clan, save for Sang Li. Sang Li was her senior martial brother, and their bond existed only because of that relation. So everything was taken for granted because of it.

"I need not trouble the First Prince with concern. Consider today's life-saving grace a debt I owe you."

Bei Ting watched her quietly for a moment, then stepped aside. "This Lady, go well."

There was no entanglement whatsoever. But just as she reached the doorway, Bei Ting spoke slowly: "Do you know that many of the gods of the divine race have already fallen?"

"What do you mean?"

Bei Ting looked at her clear eyes and smiled faintly. "I only wish to remind this Lady to be careful in all things. Some matters are past; to cling to them any longer is futile."

"What this old woman wishes to do has nothing to do with the First Prince. Do not overstep your bounds."

With that, she left.

She had barely stepped out of Bei Ting's private residence when she spat out another mouthful of blood. She knelt half-crouched on the ground, wiping the blood from her lips and chin with her hand, her expression utterly weary.

In the end, she forced herself to rise and leave.

But in her current condition, without proper rest and recuperation, she would never even make it to Lian River.

Gazing at the surging river before her, she found a rock and sat down. She crossed her legs and sat in silence for a moment—and in that brief span, not to mention the severe damage to her primordial spirit, she could feel her spiritual power slowly dissipating.

At this rate, she probably couldn't even defeat a child wielding a wooden sword.

She did not know how much time passed, but she drifted off to sleep just like that.

The sound of crying and wailing around her stirred only irritation in her heart.

She lifted her heavy, weary eyelids. It seemed she was in a dark, cold place, where the faint light was insufficient to illuminate the shadows. Everything felt far too familiar, as though she had seen it somewhere before.

What she did not know was that the jade bracelet on her wrist was softly glowing.

"Stop crying! Cry again and we'll throw you all overboard!"

A rough, ruthless roar suddenly cut through the crying. Jin Li startled, and in that instant, a good deal of her grogginess cleared.

She tried to rise, but found that she had no strength at all. She suddenly realized with alarm that her hands and feet were bound—she could not move at all. Her expression turned fearful, and she looked around cautiously.

The place was piled with dry straw. Amid the mess, the air was thick with a foul stench, like the smell of blood. There were girls dressed in bright red dresses, their garments stained with mud, their appearances haggard, their eyes dim. Their faces were covered in bruises and swelling, and their arms bore whip marks of all sizes.

Those girls were about fifteen or sixteen years old.

How could this be?

"You... where is this place?"

Those girls had already been frightened by the shouting. They cowered in the corners, and no one answered her question.

She leaned against the straw, and once her eyes adjusted to the dimness, she swept her gaze across the girls here.

Some wore numb expressions; some sobbed quietly, not daring to cry aloud, only swallowing their tears in secret.

"This is a flower-selling boat," someone answered, her voice weak. Jin Li turned her head. The young woman beside her was leaning leisurely against a pile of straw, eyes half-closed in a feigned doze. Her clothes were unlike the bright, varied dresses of the others—she wore coarse hempen robes, and her hair was in a simple braid. She stood out completely from the delicate girls around her.

Perhaps she had been woken by their crying and was rather annoyed.

Jin Li asked in confusion, "What is a flower-selling boat?"

The person opened her eyes, a trace of scorn in them. "You pampered young ladies who've never known a day of hardship don't even know what a flower-selling boat is."

Having said that, she shot Jin Li a look of disgust and contempt.

"Explain clearly."

Since the girl offered no courtesy, Jin Li offered none in return.

She tried to use her immortal arts to undo her ropes, but it was utterly useless.

She could not summon even a trace of her power. Her immortal arts were gone!

What on earth had happened?!

"It means selling you off. Those with a bit of looks get sold to merchants; those without get thrown straight into a brothel. Whether you live or die is nobody's concern."

After explaining, she closed her eyes again as if it were nothing at all.

"How dare you!"

Jin Li shouted in fury. How could a Lady of the realm suffer such a grave humiliation?

These mortals truly did not know the meaning of death! To actually dare desecrate gods!

"What's all this noise?!"

The door was kicked open rudely once more, and light flooded into the small dark room, stinging Jin Li's eyes.

Jin Li struggled to her feet, her gaze fixed on the tall man before her.

"I advise you to release me this instant, or your life will be in peril."

She warned him, but who would take a pretty, fair-skinned girl like her seriously?

The man could not abide being provoked. He raised his hand to strike Jin Li, but someone called out: "Don't touch her. Touch her and she won't be worth anything anymore."

Only then did the man lower his hand.

"You'd better watch yourself."

Jin Li glared at him with fury.

"Who exactly are you people? Do you not fear divine retribution for such deeds?"

The man let out a sinister laugh. "Divine retribution? Hahahahaha. If I believed in divine retribution, would I still be doing this? Hahahaha."

Truly reckless desperadoes.

Hearing the sound of water, Jin Li realized they were on a boat. She asked coldly, "Where are you taking us?"

"Guess?"

Suddenly, a sickening greed flickered in the man's eyes, his naked desire crawling over Jin Li as he sized her up.

Rage burned through her, but bound hand and foot, there was nothing she could do.

The man reached out a hand again, but only when he heard his companion outside calling him did he leave reluctantly. Before he went, he cast one last meaningful glance back at Jin Li.

As he left, the light was taken away with him, and the place fell back into darkness.

Jin Li said to the girl who had been feigning sleep, "Untie my ropes."

The girl lazily lifted her eyes, then turned to the other side.

Jin Li frowned and addressed the others: "One of you, untie my ropes."

But not a single person dared to move.

The girl sneered. "Your price has already been set, clear as day. Apart from you, everyone else here will be thrown into a brothel. Do you think anyone will still help you now?"

"Helping me is helping yourselves."

At that, someone stood up to retort: "You have wealth and glory ahead of you, so of course you can say whatever you like. You may not value your life, but we value ours."

"Nonsense!"

She snapped in fury. She had been ambushed and knocked out without even knowing it, woken up locked in a place like this, and now was being looked down upon by the people on the boat. Everyone here was in the same predicament, yet at this moment they were secretly sparring with jealousy over who had the better prospects.

Jin Li had never had a good temper to begin with. Now that her divine power was gone and she was the target of mockery, she could barely hold herself together. She roared outright.

"Is wallowing in self-pity here going to do you any good? We are all the same. Who here is nobler than the next? The only goal right now is to get out of this place, go home, and find our families! Not to cry here! Not to make spiteful remarks!"

The words she hurled out in her fury actually stunned the girls into silence. They said nothing and did not look at her.

Jin Li raised her hand and knocked over a porcelain bowl on the ground. She picked up a sharp fragment, gripped it tightly, and began to saw at her bonds—but it was completely useless.

The girl from before opened her eyes and looked at her. "That's a Weak Water rope. Useless."

Weak Water rope?

How could a Weak Water rope exist in the mortal realm?

Jin Li slumped to the ground. The space around her fell silent again, and the weather grew increasingly stuffy and hot.

Only by reigniting her cultivation could she leave this place, could she save these people.

She closed her eyes and tried to enter her sea of consciousness.

At this moment, her sea of consciousness was calm, without a single ripple.

Night.

The temperature over the sea was relatively low, especially at night.

The girls on the boat all huddled together trembling, save for Jin Li, who sat alone at the side, as though she had no breath left in her.

The others paid her no mind and huddled together for warmth.

"Are you sure she's asleep?"

"I'm sure."

"Once it's done, you can leave. I'll speak to the boss and grant you your freedom."

"Fine."

The conversation between the woman and the man drifted into the ears of a youth cloaked in the darkness of the night, and he heard every word clearly.

He wore black close-fitting battle garments that melted into the night, his hair tied up in a high ponytail, his fingertips absently rolling a green leaf between them. His face was cold and stern.

He did not know what these people were plotting.

Geng Yuan could not help but feel disgust toward them.

Then he heard the sound of a door opening, followed by a door closing.

He saw, in the moonlight, a man emerging from below holding a woman in his arms, a look of smug satisfaction plastered across his face.

He came up from the lower hold and went straight upstairs to his own room.

Wasn't the hold below the deck supposed to be for storing cargo? Why were there people down there? He cast a glance through a tiny crack and saw nothing but pitch darkness—only thick piles of straw. It seemed the people hidden inside were kept well concealed.

"Is this young master lost?"

A female voice sounded behind him. His movements were unhurried, his expression calm. He turned. When the woman saw his face, her expression froze for a moment, and a glimmer of light flickered in her eyes.

She had never seen someone so beautiful.

Lean yet strong. A tall, willowy figure.

It involuntarily reminded her of the woman she had seen earlier that day.

For a moment, she felt a pang of inferiority.

Geng Yuan said nothing. He simply turned and left.

Geng Yuan returned to the passenger floor. The environment here was quite pleasant—candlelight, food, music, all fine.

"Huai Gui, where did you go? Did you find anything?"

Huai Xiu asked.

In recent days, Bu Zhao Mountain had received reports that water demons had been appearing frequently at sea, devouring passenger ships and merchant vessels that passed by. Tonight, they had come specifically to purge these evil spirits.

Geng Yuan shook his head and said calmly, "Nothing."

But the woman who had been carried out by that man still left him unsettled.

"Senior brother, I'll go up and take a look."

"Go on. We'll hold things down here."

In the room, the man mixed a packet of medicinal powder into a cup, occasionally casting a lecherous look at Jin Li, who lay unconscious on the bed.

He whistled a carefree tune as he fed the drugged water to Jin Li.

In her sea of consciousness, a faint blue immortal light gradually began to glow, and Jin Li's primordial form slowly became clear.

But just as she was gradually waking, she felt someone slowly undo her sash. Her vision was blurry, and her hands had no strength at all.

She caught the foul stench of sweat and cheap perfume, enough to make one retch.

"Get... get away!"

But even the shout she mustered now carried a bewitching, seductive trailing note. Her refusal did nothing to frighten off that beast—it only excited him further.

"Don't worry, big brother will take good care of you."

She pushed at him with all her remaining strength and slapped him across his rough face with everything she had. The man was stunned for a moment, then flew into a rage. He grabbed Jin Li by the front of her robes and dealt her a vicious slap across the face.

Jin Li's mind went blank for an instant. Her face burned fiercely, and a thick taste of blood filled her mouth.

"You filthy bitch! Me taking a liking to you is your luck! Understand?!"

Jin Li's eyes turned dark and vicious, filled with murderous intent.

"If you touch me, I swear I will destroy you!"

But the man was entirely unruffled.

Jin Li struggled desperately, but it only earned her harsher, more violent treatment.

Then came a tearing sound—her outer robe was ripped apart, exposing her snow-white shoulders.

"Bastard!"

"Let this bastard properly spoil you then!"

"Help! Someone help!"

"There's no one here but us. No one's coming to save you!"

Jin Li's mind was foggy and fuzzy. She had definitely been given something.

When had she become so weak? Who could come and save her?

Resentment, humiliation, indignation, hatred, and fear all churned together in her heart.

Xuan Yin... Xuan Yin...

Just then, the door was blasted apart. The man on the bed was startled and glared furiously at the doorway. "Which blind bastard—!"

But what he saw was a young man with a face as dark as a storm, brimming with fury and murder. The youth's pitch-black pupils had turned blood-red, and he was staring at the man with ice-cold hatred.

Before the man could even react, the youth raised his hand, and a dark sword shot forth, piercing straight through both of the man's arms, pinning him to the wall.

The man let out a furious scream. The youth's expression was brooding and grim. He raised his hand again, and with cold indifference, he severed the man's tongue clean off.

The man fainted dead away from the pain. Blood pooled on the floor, and the vivid red stained the walls as well.

Jin Li's eyes were dazed. She felt someone lift her up carefully and drape an outer robe over her shoulders with great tenderness.

Her eyes were red-rimmed and brimming with tears. In a single instant, they spilled over without warning.

In Geng Yuan's eyes were anxiety, fear, compassion, guilt, self-reproach, and worry.

His A-Jin. His A-Jin. She had been bullied. Bullied by a beast.

He swept his gaze over all of Jin Li, his eyes reddening, and his voice was hoarse and trembling: "A... A-Jin... A-Jin..."

He could not ask. He truly could not bring himself to ask.

When he had heard Jin Li's name through the door just now, there was only one thought in his mind: kill that beast!

Even grinding his bones to ash would not be enough!

He had failed to protect A-Jin.

Jin Li's vision slowly focused, and she saw the young man before her.

Was it the youth beneath the pear blossoms? The youth with the clear, pure smile?

"...It's you..."

When the youth heard Jin Li speak, he pulled her into his arms and kept saying over and over: "Thank goodness, thank goodness... A-Jin... thank goodness... A-Jin... thank you... truly, thank you..."

Thank you for speaking. Thank you for being unharmed.

The young man's chest was broad and warm. The scent of cedar slowly calmed her down.

He lifted her into his arms, and Jin Li felt a wave of heat wash through her body, her chest prickling with a strange restlessness. Without thinking, she clutched at the youth's lapels.

"Huai Gui... Huai Gui..."

"What is it? Is something wrong? Are you unwell?"

Geng Yuan helped her sit back down.

He looked at Jin Li's flushed face, her lips slightly parted, her eyes like pools of water glistening with light, and he felt his throat tighten uncontrollably.

Flustered, he averted his gaze. "...A-Jin, are you... are you all right?"

But Jin Li remained silent, simply enduring.

Her body felt as though it were being torn apart. She clenched Geng Yuan's hand with all her might.