That eunuch moved extremely fast, carrying Jing Hengbo and rolling several times before they were about to fall off the terrace.
Jing Hengbo was spun dizzy and had no time to harm anyone. In her panic, she quickly retracted the hidden spike to avoid accidentally injuring herself during the tumbling.
Just as they were about to roll off the terrace, she looked up and saw Yong Xizheng’s figure leap up, reaching out to grab the eunuch’s back.
Jing Hengbo shouted loudly, “Hewan! Your fiancé is trying to kill me!”
Yong Xizheng sneered coldly in midair, “Stop playing tricks…”
He suddenly stopped, twisted his body to land, and looked back.
Somehow Hewan was already standing at the hall entrance, awake, her face pale as she looked at him, with two masked figures standing on her left and right.
Jing Hengbo recognized the two as Yelu Qi and Tian Qi. Her heart relaxed—these two had still guessed her whereabouts and come to help.
Just as she was about to call out, her body suddenly fell backward as someone pulled her, and with a thud she dropped into the flower bushes.
She cursed inwardly—that foolish eunuch was still trying to save her!
Was he trying to save her or harm her? Couldn’t he see her reinforcements had already arrived?
She wanted to shout and struggle, but the poison outbreak left her powerless, and the antidote-containing sash was still in the other person’s hands. Tumbling down dizzily, fortunately the eunuch was beneath her and the terrace wasn’t high, so she wasn’t injured at all, just got a mouthful of dirt.
The eunuch scrambled up as soon as he landed, hoisted her up and ran. Jing Hengbo was extremely anxious, spitting out dirt and trying to speak. But by the time she’d spat out all the dirt, that particularly good runner had already carried her out of Hewan’s sleeping quarters. Jing Hengbo watched as lights gradually lit up in Hewan’s quarters, Yong Xizheng’s angry roars echoed through the palace, all the palace guards were alerted, and torches, lights, and voices converged. She immediately knew the most unfortunate thing had happened—shouting now would be unwise, so she had to keep quiet.
The eunuch seemed panicked too, stumbling and running chaotically toward areas with fewer people and more darkness, finally crashing into a pitch-black courtyard.
As soon as they entered, her nose was filled with musty smells that made her sneeze. It looked like either a long-abandoned palace or some cold palace. The eunuch carried her straight toward the main hall, and when the door panels crashed open, she got a head full of dust.
Outside there were noisy voices, but they were all far from here. The vague light of torches reflected on the window paper, barely showing the eunuch’s ordinary profile.
He placed Jing Hengbo on the bed, but his movements weren’t as gentle as before. Her back hit the bare bed boards with a thud.
Full of frustration and anger, she angrily demanded, “Who are you?”
The eunuch didn’t answer, moving close to the window to listen to the sounds outside.
“Thank you for saving me,” Jing Hengbo suppressed her anger and said, “but my friends came to rescue me. Give me back my sash and hurry back. Yong Xizheng probably didn’t see you clearly just now. I’ll talk to Hewan later and she’ll protect you.”
The eunuch turned from the window to look at her, his gaze flickering in the darkness.
In this old, dim palace hall, facing such a gaze from a stranger, Jing Hengbo suddenly felt uneasy.
A thought flashed through her mind like lightning.
This eunuch… could he have improper intentions?
No relatives or friends, suddenly saving her, ignoring that her reinforcements had arrived, taking it upon himself to kidnap her to this remote abandoned hall—this rhythm, how was it so similar to trashy novel plots and black headlines in social news?
“College student lured and abducted by old bachelor, becomes sex slave for eighty days”
“Perverted old man falsely shows kindness to imprison young girl”
“My 121 days in the cellar, living worse than death”
…
The more Jing Hengbo thought about it, the more nervous she became. Normally she could handle this type in minutes, appearing and disappearing to strike, and if she couldn’t win she could still teleport away. But right now with the poison outbreak leaving her powerless, Yelu Qi and the others must have been held up by Yong Xizheng, and it would take time to find her in this unfamiliar palace in the dark night. By the time they found her, wouldn’t it be too late?
“You…” She tried to keep her voice calm. “Give me the antidote, send me out, and I’ll definitely reward you handsomely later.” Watching his expression, she added, “Gold, silver, property… everything you want, all possible! As much as you want!”
She dared not mention the word “women,” afraid of provoking him, but she emphasized the hint.
The eunuch still didn’t say a word, his eyes particularly bright in the darkness, making her somewhat panic-stricken.
“Don’t believe the price I’m offering?” She smiled. “My fiancé is nearby—he was one of those who held Hewan hostage to rescue me just now. He comes from a great family and has considerable influence in Xiang Kingdom. Anyway, trust me, I’ll definitely do what I promise you.”
This was using the ethereal “fiancé” to warn the other party that she would soon have people coming for her, that her people had wealth and power, telling him to think carefully.
In that modern world, young single women walking alone encountered all kinds of misfortune. Posts like “How girls can protect themselves” were everywhere online. Jing Hengbo, who considered herself absolutely beautiful and certain to attract covetous attention, had naturally read them.
Not only was the eunuch unmoved, but after hearing the words “fiancé,” he even took two steps forward.
He bent slightly, the light in his eyes seemingly able to illuminate this dim old hall.
Jing Hengbo seemed to feel his slightly warm breath about to brush against her half-open collar.
She barely managed to lean back, and just this movement made sweat break out on her forehead. She cursed inwardly—tonight’s poison outbreak seemed particularly fierce.
Her eyes suddenly brightened—someone was shouting loudly in the wind, the voice carrying from far away. It seemed to be Yi Qi’s voice!
This guy had also come out to look for her.
Hearing the voice nearby, Jing Hengbo gritted her teeth and was about to shout, gambling that Yi Qi could find her faster!
The eunuch suddenly raised his hand and covered her mouth!
Jing Hengbo wanted to struggle, but his hand was extremely strong. His other hand scooped up her waist and carried her out of the hall again.
Moonlight illuminated the hall’s courtyard. Jing Hengbo vaguely felt this hall’s architecture seemed different from ordinary halls, but being nervous at the moment, she didn’t have time to observe carefully.
The courtyard was empty, with a well in the center. The well rim was covered with mottled moss, giving off a cold aura in the moonlight.
Yi Qi’s voice was very close, at most one palace room away, wailing like a ghost: “Wave! Wave! Where are you! If you’ve fainted, give me a shout!”
Behind him was a pile of chaotic shouting.
“Stop! Stop!”
“Halt! If you keep barging into the royal consorts’ quarters we’ll shoot you!”
“Oh my, he’s gone to the queen’s quarters again…”
Among the angry shouts, Yi Qi’s strange cries could still be heard: “Your Xiang Kingdom consorts are too ugly! Their figures are too bad! Looking at them makes people sick! Compared to Wave they’re far inferior! Wave! Wave! If you’ve fainted, make a sound!”
A night bird was startled by his strange cries, flapping its wings as it flew across the square sky above.
Jing Hengbo suddenly looked up, using up all the strength she’d been accumulating.
The night bird let out a “caw” and its wings seemed to be yanked sideways, falling toward a nearby hall roof. But the bird immediately broke free, flapping its wings to fly up again.
Jing Hengbo silently breathed a sigh of relief—her current condition was too poor, she’d done her best. Now it depended on whether Yi Qi had the awareness.
But her luck seemed quite good. Yi Qi’s voice suddenly stopped, then footsteps and voices rushed toward this hall!
“Wave, are you in here?” Yi Qi’s shout was very clear. Jing Hengbo was overjoyed!
There was nowhere to hide in this hall, and this eunuch seemed to have no martial arts. As long as Yi Qi came, he could rescue her regardless.
But her joy was instantly doused by cold water.
Because the eunuch didn’t panic either. Carrying her, he took two leaps in the empty courtyard and suddenly jumped into the well!
Almost simultaneously, the gate banged as Yi Qi kicked it open, followed by a mighty army of pursuers.
He rushed in frantically, quickly circling the small hall, then shouted in bewilderment: “Wave! Where are you hiding? Come out quickly!”
“What assassin dares to be so bold! Men, surround them!”
…
Jing Hengbo heard Yi Qi’s voice from the bottom of the well but couldn’t respond—the eunuch was tightly covering her mouth.
Fortunately, this eunuch wasn’t like the legendary eunuchs, reeking of urine. His breath was clean and warm, his palm slightly hot. At least it was more acceptable to Jing Hengbo.
The well wasn’t large—one jump reached the bottom. There was no water below, nor any trace that water had ever existed. The ground was covered with a layer of reddish fine sand-like substance with a slightly bitter taste.
The eunuch seemed to know the way well, carrying her unhesitatingly inward. After just a few steps there was a door. Jing Hengbo recognized the patterns on it as sun, moon, stars, and bagua diagrams.
She very much hoped some mechanism would drop from the door to crush this ill-intentioned eunuch to death. Unfortunately, the eunuch simply pushed open the door and nothing happened.
The door closed behind them, and almost immediately Yi Qi’s penetrating voice could no longer be heard. By the same logic, even if she screamed her throat raw now, Yi Qi wouldn’t hear her.
Jing Hengbo took a breath, trying hard to gather her energy while carefully observing the surroundings.
Before her seemed to be a stone chamber with no windows, with a luminous pearl hanging that dimly lit the interior. The furnishings were simple—a couch, a table, and an alchemy furnace. Especially the central alchemy furnace was enormous, taking up almost half the stone chamber. It looked like a secret place for alchemy.
Jing Hengbo felt the walls were somewhat strange. Looking carefully, she discovered the walls seemed covered with a layer of red substance—not like blood, more like some kind of medicine, giving off an odd smell.
Hanging on the walls were dust whisks, Taoist robes, and standard equipment like qin and swords. This seemed to be a Taoist’s alchemy and rest place. Only then did Jing Hengbo remember that the palace architecture above was also different from the harem, more like a Taoist temple layout. Could this be where Taoists had lived? Why was alchemy done underground? Was the alchemy particularly secretive and strange?
But regardless, these were all past matters. What was strange now was this eunuch.
Kidnapping her to this place where calling heaven brought no response and calling earth brought no aid—what did he want to do?
This thought had just flashed through her mind when the next instant the eunuch flung her onto that couch.
“Creak.” Jing Hengbo’s body pressed the soft couch down. She raised her head and saw the eunuch slowly approaching her with wide eyes.
That posture and movement… her mind thundered, not knowing if it was shock or disappointment—after such a big detour and so much trouble, this eunuch was still after her beauty?
The problem was she didn’t have her original face now. Her made-up face was just a moderately beautiful woman. Was this eunuch so desperate as to take such big risks for lust? Or had he done such things many times already? Taking advantage of this secret place he’d discovered?
Thinking that rape and abduction might have happened on the bed beneath her, all her hair stood on end. She quickly struggled to get up, stumbling toward the exit.
As soon as her feet touched the ground she felt them slip. The floor seemed covered with lots of sand-like stuff. Behind her the eunuch let out a sinister laugh that made her blood run cold. Before she could slip out, he raised his hand and pushed her.
Smack—she hit the wall, her face against it, her hands naturally grabbing upward. She felt something rustling down from the wall, and reflexively inhaled a few breaths through her nose.
The smell entering her nose had a medicinal quality. She was greatly alarmed, afraid it might be something bad, and quickly raised her face. Behind her came whooshing wind sounds—the eunuch had already pounced.
Jing Hengbo twisted her body, pressing against the wall to dodge three feet. The eunuch seemed very clumsy, crashing into the wall beside her with a bang, immediately raising another cloud of red mist. Jing Hengbo turned her face to avoid it. The eunuch hadn’t even raised his face yet but reached out to grab her. Jing Hengbo lifted her foot to kick, and the eunuch dodged aside.
When Jing Hengbo’s toe kicked, she felt something was wrong again. There was something under her foot, raising a cloud of white mist that mixed and merged with the red mist knocked from the wall, making the mist color even more eerie.
Feeling uneasy, she wanted to hold her breath, but the eunuch pounced at her chest again. She had to retreat rapidly, banging into another wall. Under violent movement her breathing became rapid, gasping several times and inevitably inhaling a large amount of mist into her nose.
She immediately felt her nose itch, then her throat became hot with a bitter, fishy, foul taste. Then her abdomen also became hot, and within the heat seemed to be slight pain. She couldn’t tell if this sensation was good or bad, but she could be certain that this mist and dust was definitely not wall dust.
If this stuff was poison, she was doomed.
Jing Hengbo was furious, feeling that if she died here it would truly be unjust. But regardless, things had come to this, so at minimum she had to drag this old lecher down with her!
Whether from anger or some other reason, the pain from the poison in her body seemed to be suppressed considerably. She had a bit of strength in her body—teleportation and telekinetic attacks still weren’t enough, but beating someone up might still be possible.
Wind sounds came from behind as that persistent eunuch pounced again, this time more agile than before, one hand landing on her shoulder.
Jing Hengbo shrank forward, crouched down and had already pulled out the dagger hidden on her calf, stabbing backward without looking.
The eunuch flipped over her back, avoiding the dagger. Jing Hengbo actually followed the momentum and flipped too, tumbling over his back, then backhandedly stabbed at his heart.
The eunuch flipped again. Before he could stand steady, she had already flipped over again. Her movements were light and agile. The two flipped over each other’s backs three times in the small chamber space. In the misty dust they looked like butterflies dancing—quite beautiful.
But no one had the mood to appreciate it now. After three flips, sweat appeared on Jing Hengbo’s forehead.
This movement technique was learned from Si Si, who had the best qinggong among the Seven Kills. Si Si specialized in close-quarters nimble skills with excellent waist strength, able to flip hundreds of times on someone’s back. Her current physical strength wasn’t sufficient to support this. Being able to flip three times consecutively was already exceptional performance.
As the last flip was about to land, she suddenly paused. The hidden spike on her ring had already emerged, her palm forming a fist as she stabbed heavily at his tailbone!
At this moment they were back to back—he couldn’t see her movements at all. As long as she broke through his skin even slightly, he’d be ruined for life!
But the person beneath her suddenly disappeared!
The next instant her hand was caught!
The next instant she felt his fingers brush over her eyelids. The moment his fingertips passed over her eyelids made her shiver violently. Despair filled her heart as she waited for the next instant when her eyes would be gouged out and blood would splash.
In a flash, his fingertips slid from her eyelids to near her temple. She was then waiting for her temples to be poked with two holes. But those fingertips just lightly pressed a spot near her temple.
With this press, she felt severe pain in her brain, her thoughts in complete chaos, golden stars exploding before her eyes, almost unable to think. But this feeling lasted only an instant. Then his fingers slid away from that fatal spot again, landing on her wrist.
She hadn’t yet recovered from that moment of collapse-like sensation, hadn’t even noticed being caught. The person behind her grabbed her hand. Her wrist went numb, the dagger flew out, hitting the alchemy furnace with a cling.
That person lifted her up and flung her back onto the couch.
The soft couch creaked again and swayed.
The entire chamber seemed to sway too.
She also shook her head. The confusion and dizziness from just now finally dispersed. At this moment she suddenly felt that just then, if someone had asked her anything or wanted her to do something, she definitely couldn’t have thought and would have executed it without hesitation.
This thought flashed by. She had a strange feeling in her heart, not understanding why that guy had let her go three times, or whether he himself had also coincidentally found some secret techniques?
Wind sounds came from overhead. She raised her head and found it both funny and exasperating to discover that guy pouncing again in the same posture and angle. She always felt his posture of pouncing to rape was particularly stiff.
She also realized she seemed to be getting more energetic with each fight…
The soft couch was hit and sank lower, so that her legs hung long below the couch. She pushed with both hands and simply slid out before that guy pounced.
The two passed each other face to face. In that split second of lightning speed, she reached out, the hidden spike on her fist gleaming again!
He slapped the ground beside her, flipping his body away at extreme speed.
Jing Hengbo almost wanted to curse—every time he dodged her killing moves, he became awesome and flexible!
The ground was all that slippery fine sand. One slide went very far. Ahead were the three legs of that alchemy furnace. She had a brainstorm, estimated the space under the furnace, and felt she should just hide under that alchemy furnace. If she curled up in the furnace center, that guy couldn’t catch her no matter what. If he wanted to catch her he’d have to crawl in himself, and then with his posture constrained, she could slaughter him.
Thinking this, she stretched out her body, adjusted her angle, and slid all the way toward the alchemy furnace.
Whooshing sounds continued as the fine sand-like substance on the ground kept volatilizing and rising under such violent friction. The entire alchemy chamber filled with mist. Jing Hengbo had to inhale a lot. At this point she couldn’t worry about all that—anyway this stuff wouldn’t kill her immediately, and it was better than losing her chastity.
With a swoosh she slid under the alchemy furnace. The furnace shook with a light clang. She felt a slight depression beneath her that caught her perfectly, not continuing to slide forward. Then she heard creaking sounds from inside the alchemy furnace.
That was clearly the sound of mechanisms being activated.
She was startled, not knowing if this mechanism would help or harm her. But currently under the alchemy furnace, she couldn’t dodge or hide, only resign herself to fate.
Nothing unusual happened under the alchemy furnace. She only heard a series of sounds going upward, as if something was being slowly pushed out. At the same time, Jing Hengbo suddenly smelled a special, rich fragrance.
She poked her head out to look and vaguely felt the lighting in the chamber seemed to have changed. From under the alchemy furnace she could see the eunuch’s boots—he had stopped and wasn’t pursuing.
Then he let out a low exclamation.
The exclamation was hoarse but full of wild joy.
Jing Hengbo’s heart jumped—what was good for the enemy was definitely bad for her.
Then she saw the eunuch step forward, seemingly to receive some object.
Could something have emerged from this alchemy furnace?
Smelling the scent in the air, Jing Hengbo became increasingly certain. Qi Yi among the Seven Kills, who was skilled in alchemy, had said that top-grade famous pills gained heaven and earth’s great fortune and were most precious. Such pills generally had natural luster and rich unusual fragrance. A good pill’s value could be roughly determined just by looking at its color and smelling its scent.
Such a secret underground alchemy chamber in the royal palace, mysterious bagua talismans, strange medicines covering walls and floor, the enormous alchemy furnace—all indicated this must have been a secret that Xiang Kingdom’s royal family had spent great effort creating. Combining this with roadside gossip about Xiang Kingdom’s king once being obsessed with alchemy, she immediately couldn’t hide anymore.
If this wretched eunuch really ate a treasure pill, she’d have no chance!
Without thinking, Jing Hengbo crawled out from under the alchemy furnace. Looking up, she saw clouds and mist swirling in the furnace, holding up a round, golden-yellow pill.
The pill actually seemed to have a faint glow, illuminating the eunuch’s mediocre features. He seemed struck by tremendous surprise, standing there dazed, momentarily forgetting to take the medicine.
But the pill seemed drawn by human qi and automatically flew toward him. He reached out to catch it.
Jing Hengbo immediately did a hungry dog pounce!
I’m snatching it!
Bang—she crashed into the eunuch. He was startled and immediately reached out to grab the pill, no longer caring about killing her.
Jing Hengbo had already bounced up. No time to use her hands, she opened her bloody mouth wide at the pill and bit down hard…
She snatched and swallowed the pill…
The eunuch seemed not to expect her to be such a good snatcher. He was momentarily stunned, watching helplessly as she hurriedly swallowed the pill.
The pill was cool in her mouth with rich medicinal fragrance. That fragrance made her brain dizzy and heart steady, confirming it definitely wasn’t poison. Her heart rejoiced.
A thick liquid flowed down her throat into her abdomen. She suddenly felt this thing was very heavy, extremely heavy, pressing until her stomach hurt.
Her face went pale as she finally remembered that pills supposedly all contained lead, right? Maybe mercury too, which was quicksilver. Though Qi Yi said Dahuang alchemy didn’t use these things, this taste… Oh my, her stomach hurt so much, her stomach was so hot…
A fire suddenly surged through her body. This fire not only immediately suppressed the existing poison in her body, but even ignited in her meridians. Almost instantly she felt itchy and swollen all over, as if something had multiplied inside her body—roaring, struggling, conflicting, howling, trying hard to break free from constraints.
She wanted to fight, wanted to kill!
She howled and turned to stare at the eunuch behind her, her gaze blazing like a wolf, startling the eunuch into stepping back.
“I haven’t shown my power yet, and you all think I’m a sick cat!” Jing Hengbo shrieked, rolled up her sleeves, turned and pounced.
The eunuch stared dumbfounded as she charged like a tigress. The next instant Jing Hengbo had grabbed his wrist, lifted him up and swung hard.
Bang—she smashed the eunuch onto the soft couch.
The poor soft couch creaked and collapsed another section.
The eunuch fell on the couch, struggling unsuccessfully to get up. Jing Hengbo had already pounced again, once more grabbing his wrist and throwing him.
“Bang.”
“Creak—”
The soft couch finally broke into two pieces. The protruding footboard tripped Jing Hengbo, and she fell forward, landing right on top of the fallen eunuch.
The two locked eyes, both stunned.
Her big eyes held slight confusion and blazing fury.
His eyes held faint pain and distant heaven and earth.
Just for an instant, then he pushed her off with one hand and turned to crawl up.
How could she let him go? Roaring, “Throw! Throw! How dare you throw me! How dare you all throw me! How dare all you random cats and dogs bully me! If I don’t beat you until peach blossoms bloom, I’m not surnamed Jing but Taishi!”
In her roar she pounced forward, fiercely mounting the eunuch.
The eunuch’s back stiffened.
Her fists had already come down like raindrops, fierce and violent.
She beat him until golden light shone everywhere, until auspicious qi flowed in thousands of streams, until there was wild wind and violent rain, until there was thunderous lightning. Even with powder fists and delicate legs, there was infinite killing intent. Even with insufficient internal strength, there was domineering power.
The qi in her body surged left and right, the impacts making her meridians seem to ring like metal, transforming into countless vigorous strength venting outside. A satisfying beating while cursing.
“Dahuang mud pond, bastard turtle eggs!”
“A bunch of cowards, petty people, hypocrites, scum!”
“I don’t want it but you force me to want it, I want it but you won’t let me want it, a pack of dogs barking wildly!”
“Let you bark! Bark! Bark!”
“Bang bang bang.” Her fists fell like muffled thunder. The eunuch beneath didn’t know if he was knocked unconscious or stunned—he didn’t struggle or speak.
But large drops of water, following the fierce fists and cursing, fell faster and faster silently, pattering on his back.
Even beaten like that he never moved. But when his back clothing became slightly damp, his body trembled.
Seeing that tremor, Jing Hengbo immediately realized herself, raised her face, and forced back certain liquids that shouldn’t flow out.
The luminous pearl on the ceiling glowed faintly with a calming power. She pressed the corner of her eyes, realizing her loss of composure.
Pills had strong heating properties that made people go mad. When taking them, one either needed someone to protect or needed self-control.
The wildly surging qi in her body calmed somewhat, all flowing out with that venting beating. She glanced at the eunuch who looked like a broken sack, her heart’s fury and heat subsiding slightly. She was grateful that at this moment there was such a person for her to vent the pill qi she couldn’t immediately absorb, otherwise she might have gone into qi deviation or injured herself.
She also laughed at herself for actually suspecting earlier that he was Gong Yin. This guy’s body heat aside, after their alchemy chamber struggle, his movements, martial arts, demeanor and subtle reactions—nothing resembled Gong Yin.
Considering this point, she decided not to kill him. Anyway she hadn’t suffered any real damage, and through this mistake she’d even gotten a pill. She just didn’t know if there were side effects—she’d have to find the Seven Kills to check later.
After venting the pill qi came fatigue. The poison injury had automatically been suppressed. She got up, her figure flashed, and disappeared from the alchemy chamber.
The eunuch lay motionless throughout.
Like someone whose courage had been completely shattered, never lifting his head or looking back.