If Chen Hong hadn’t resorted to trickery, Jian Yi never would have been captured at all.

Chen Hong’s dark arts had been honed to an extraordinary level, but Jian Yi’s swordsmanship ranked among the very best in the kingdom of Bei Mu.

Not long after the two began fighting, Jian Yi had gained the upper hand.

Chen Hong tried to flee, but Jian Yi had no intention of letting her succeed.

But just as Jian Yi closed in to catch her, Chen Hong suddenly stripped off her clothing.

Not just her cloak — she tore off even the garments underneath, baring pale skin.

Mindful of propriety, Jian Yi instinctively averted his gaze.

In that brief moment of distraction, Jian Yi was struck by the bone-softening powder and stupefying drug Chen Hong had flung at him.

In the end, overcome by the poison’s effects, he had become a prisoner.

Lei Shenbao’s domain in the town of Lei was vast — behind the main courtyard lay an extensive water stronghold.

Behind the lake rose a mountain, and at its foot stood a large, sinister-looking house.

On one side of the house was a pavilion with a small bridge and flowing water within it.

Near the mountainside was an area enclosed by large screens on three sides, where a massive cross-shaped frame stood erected.

Bound to the cross was a single figure.

He wore white robes, his wrists and ankles bound, his long jet-black hair hanging down over his face, hiding it from view.

“Someone, douse him awake!” Chen Hong, seated in a bamboo chair, waved a hand.

“Yes.” A woman likewise dressed in black lifted a bucket of water and approached the bound man.

The bucket of water was thrown over him, but he didn’t stir in the slightest.

The water washed his dark hair aside, revealing a pale, handsome face.

“Tell me — who exactly is Long Jiu’er?” Chen Hong demanded in a low voice.

Jian Yi’s eyes were unfocused; he remained completely still.

“Do you think that if you stay silent, I’ll have no way to deal with you?” Chen Hong let out a mocking laugh.

“Don’t even dream of escaping!”

Chen Hong rose and walked toward Jian Yi.

“No one capable of slipping out of my grasp has been born into this world yet.”

Just as Chen Hong’s slender finger was about to touch Jian Yi’s face, he turned his head aside, avoiding her touch.

“What’s this?” Chen Hong’s lips curled slightly. “Feeling shy?”

“Tell me, how could a face possibly be this handsome?”

Chen Hong’s slender finger landed on Jian Yi’s face regardless.

This drew a flicker of disgust onto Jian Yi’s otherwise expressionless face.

“Has that Long Jiu’er never let you touch her? Otherwise, you wouldn’t have fallen for my trap so easily, heh heh…”

“Tell me, with looks as fine as yours, why guard your chastity so carefully? There are plenty of beauties in this world — why suppress your own desires?”

Chen Hong’s finger traced from Jian Yi’s eyes, down to his nose, then to his lips.

With no way to dodge, Jian Yi had no choice but to endure it without moving.

Chen Hong seemed utterly captivated by his face, almost reluctant to take her hand away.

“Since you don’t want to say anything, then stay — and become my kept man.”

After stroking that pale, smooth cheek, Chen Hong sighed with a tsk of admiration.

“No matter. I can make you forget everything. Stay by my side from now on, and you’ll be happy.”

With that said, Chen Hong withdrew her hand and stepped away.

“Form the array.”

“Yes.” Eight women in black bowed in unison and moved toward the center.

The eight surrounded Jian Yi, with Chen Hong standing directly in front.

At a wave from another woman, the eight immediately pressed their palms together, closed their eyes, and began chanting incantations.

At once, a wisp of black energy appeared above each woman’s head.

The eight strands of black energy converged together overhead.

Chen Hong, standing in front, extended two slender fingers.

An even darker strand of energy emerged from her fingertips.

That strand merged with the rising black energy from the eight women.

A single jet of pitch-black energy shot toward Jian Yi, descending onto the crown of his head.

“Ahh…” Jian Yi raised his head and cried out in agony.

As the black energy poured into his skull, his once-clear eyes gradually darkened.

Someone outside rushed in meaning to report urgent news, but since the ritual within was still underway, she could only halt her steps, not daring to go further.

Chen Hong and her eight subordinates continued casting their spell, and Jian Yi’s agonized screams echoed throughout the entire water stronghold.

Feng Yinan’s lightness skill wasn’t a match for Feng Jiu’er and Yu Jingfeng’s, so he could only stay in a corner, seeing if he could find some small creature to help.

Feng Jiu’er and Yu Jingfeng had searched nearly the entire manor and still hadn’t found any trace of Jian Yi.

A scream that tore through lungs and throat reached her ears, and Feng Jiu’er’s mind exploded with a roar, nearly making her lose her footing.

“That’s Jian Yi — it’s him.”

With those words, Feng Jiu’er leapt onto the rooftop and sped toward the direction the sound had come from.

She moved so fast that if Yu Jingfeng hadn’t anticipated it in advance, he might not have known where she’d gone, let alone the guards of the manor.

Two figures streaked past, but the guards only felt a faint gust of wind, seeing nothing at all.

From a distance, Feng Jiu’er caught sight of Jian Yi, suffering in agony.

She drew her short blade and closed in quickly.

Sensing killing intent behind her, Chen Hong immediately reined in her internal energy.

“Defend!”

At Chen Hong’s command, more than a dozen tall women dressed in black suddenly emerged around the pavilion.

Not only that, but countless “dark shapes” were converging from every direction.

Feng Jiu’er had no time to consider any of that — gripping her short blade, she struck hard at the more than a dozen black-clad women blocking her path.

Feng Jiu’er hadn’t gotten a clear look at Jian Yi’s condition, but she could roughly tell.

They had dared to lay hands on her man — Feng Jiu’er had no intention of letting a single one of them go.

A flash of silver light, and the blade’s force scattered the more than a dozen black-clad women — some collapsed, others were forced back several dozen feet.

Beneath the pavilion, agonized screams rang out continuously.

But none of this could cover up the mark that Jian Yi’s earlier screams had left burning in Feng Jiu’er’s heart.

Sensing the situation turning against her, Chen Hong gathered her internal energy, turned, and met the attack with a sweeping palm strike.

With a thunderous boom, the two forces collided, shaking the pavilion until it nearly collapsed.

Chen Hong hadn’t expected that a single blade-strike from her opponent could send all twelve of her guards flying — even the residual force alone was enough to match her own internal energy.

So it was true — that day, the woman hadn’t even used her full strength against her.

Even Feng Jiu’er herself couldn’t be entirely certain of the full extent of her potential — short of an absolutely necessary moment, she didn’t dare unleash everything she had.

“My lady, the enemy has broken through — Master Lei has led the troops away!” one of the women who had been knocked flying scrambled up and shouted.

Earlier, while the others here had been casting the array, she hadn’t dared interrupt — never expecting that enemies would break in so quickly.

“My lady, the enemy has broken through — Master Lei has led the troops away!”

No sooner had the woman’s voice faded than Feng Jiu’er was already standing before Chen Hong.

The array inside was still active, and the man bound to the cross had already fallen unconscious.

“Let him go!” Feng Jiu’er held her short blade, glaring furiously at Chen Hong.

The next moment, Yu Jingfeng arrived with his longsword drawn, standing guard behind Feng Jiu’er.

“I said —” Feng Jiu’er stared at Chen Hong, fury blazing in her eyes.

“Let. Him. Go.” She forced the words out one by one.

Feng Jiu’er gripped her blade tightly, the killing intent in her eyes enough to send chills through anyone who saw it.

—