Chapter 55: Imprisonment |
[August 10, 2023]...
The fire in the corner was the only light in the room and it cast a distorted shadow of the woman against the wall. She was shackled to heavy chains that were anchored to the wall above her head. But instead of being connected to the chains with cuffs, she was connected to them with thick basalt posts that pierced the bones of her wrists and ankles. Any kind of movement caused pain to stab directly into her heart. Even when she tried not to move, the sheer weight of her body was enough to make the pain in her wrists throb unbearably. Her joints were swollen, and her wounds were black and festering. It was difficult to look at her.
The woman looked dead, without a single breath left in her body. But the person opposite her knew better. The chained woman had a surprisingly strong vitality. Given a little time, she would wake up again.
“Cough. . . cough! Cough!”
Just as the person was thinking this, the chained woman coughed suddenly and violently, as if she was trying to cough up her all her organs.
The sound alarmed the guards outside and they yelled out, “Hey, that Azure Sky king woke up again. Go tell the lord!”
“No way. The lord’s resurrection took longer than usual, and he’s been in a bad mood these past couple days. I went twice in a row already. And the last time, I nearly lost my head. It’s your turn to go now.”
“Tsk! Fine, fine. Watch the door.”
Outside got quiet.
“I’m relieved to know those suffering with me are also unhappy.”
The woman spoke lightly but her voice came out hoarse. Běi Xiǎoyán’s mouth twitch; he was so dissatisfied. “Azure Sky king, today, you’re not deaf and your voice is even good. It’s not often your day begins so nicely. Can’t you be more gentle with your words?”
Shěn Lí lowered her head and sneered. “In this kind of forsaken place, any beginning is a bad beginning. Besides, I wish every day that I could lose my five senses.”
Běi Xiǎoyán bent down and snuck a peek at Shěn Lí’s eyes that were blocked by fallen hair. “It’s OK, doesn’t look like you can see today. What about your sense of smell? Touch? As long as touch is gone, you’ll get through the day.”
“Thanks but three of my five senses have recovered today. It just so happens touch is one of them.”
Běi Xiǎoyán shivered, hugged his knees to his chest and scooted to the corner. “Then try to hold it in. I don’t want to hear your screams. Just the blood and flesh flying everywhere is already scaring me to death.”
Shěn Lí smiled but didn’t say anything else.
She couldn’t tell how much time passed since the battle at sea that day, but she guessed from the bits she heard from Běi Xiǎoyán that it was about three months ago. March, it would be fine if they were in the Human realm, but if they were in a corner of the Heavenly or Demon realm. . . she was afraid the outside world would have changed too much.
The Demon realm probably thought she was dead. She didn’t know how the Demon emperor was doing; if he was still recovering from his injuries. She didn’t know if the capital would return to normal or whether Ròu Yā and Parrot cried when they heard news of her death. Would the indifferent High God feel a little sad?
She suddenly had a wicked desire to see his face. What kind of expression would he have once the indifference was wiped away? But it was only a passing thought.
Xíng Zhǐ couldn’t lose his shield of indifference with all the burdens he had to bear. The three realms could be sad, but he couldn’t, even for a minute. It was only right for a god to be unmoved.
Shěn Lí stopped her messy train of thought and calmed down.
She didn’t know when she was imprisoned. Her last recollection was of the flames that day. By the time she woke up, she was already a prisoner. On top of that, her body seemed to have changed. She was like a mortal who never practiced; there was no magic power whatsoever inside her body. She couldn't summon any up no matter what she did. In contrast to that, her physical body was much stronger and so hot it was scalding, though she didn’t feel it herself. When Běi Xiǎoyán had nothing to do, he would toss clumps of dirt at her and watch as they roasted and crumbled into gravel.
That was why the extremely cold black basalt was used to chain her. It was the only material that could suppress her burning qi.
But Shěn Lí wouldn’t be able to escape just relying on her physical body; without magic, she wouldn’t be able to take a single step.
More troublesome were her vocal cords and five senses; they disappeared and reappeared inexplicably. One day she wouldn’t be able to see, the next she wouldn’t be able to hear or speak. Take today for example, two senses were gone but three came back. It annoyed her that it changed daily.
But since she couldn’t move left or right, her senses weren’t really that important. Shěn Lí got used to it after a few days. It was fortunate she lost her sense of touch on the days when she was being questioned and tortured. She couldn’t feel pain and her skin was thick; those were easy days.
Watching as the other party used all their strength to torture her while she just stared at them with cold eyes not feeling anything was great. How could she not feel a sense of superiority at that?
Shěn Lí was just thinking about it when a creak sounded. A man in a green robe slowly walked inside, led by another in black. The flickering flames reflected off the face of the new green robed visitor. The interlaced light and shadow highlighted the crevices and valleys of the wrinkles on his burned skin, making him more horrifying than normal.
Luckily today, Shěn Lí wouldn’t have to look at his disgusting face.
“How is Your Highness today?” The voice came out hoarse. Shěn Lí heard him, but she chose to ignore the question.
It was Fú Shēng. He was the one keeping her imprisoned, and lately, he had been coming to torture her daily. Shěn Lí felt like she was a phoenix unafraid of fire. But this guy, incredibly never died, which was honestly a little unbelievable.
Had that day been a dream? Shěn Lí used to wonder if perhaps Mò Fāng being a spy was just her imagination, that the battle with Fú Shēng never happened, that she hadn’t burned herself to death over the sea. But the past few days, the times when she had her hearing and could listen in on the guards’ conversations and the mutterings from Běi Xiǎoyán, she knew she hadn’t imagined it. She really had been on fire, Mò Fāng was a spy, and Fú Shēng really was. . . immortal.
He had the resurrection ability and could resurrect himself over and over again without negative effects on his body.
It was at this point that Shěn Lí realized Fú Shēng’s name meant resurrection.
He was a difficult guy to deal with, but fortunately he was burned to such a crisp his powers were considerably lower than before. She had burned nearly all the demons nearby; even Mò Fāng was burnt away. It was a heavy loss on their side. They wouldn’t be able to mount an attack any time soon. The Demon realm could recover and establish a stronger connection with the Immortal realm. And even the soldiers from the Immortal realm were useless, the combat powers of the Demon realm soldiers would improve ten times over with the help of Heavenly weapons. And if she returned. . .
A shot of pain from her wrist and ankles interrupted her thoughts. Shěn Lí could bear it but not without grimacing. The larger vibrations weren’t so bad, but the smaller vibrations that moved the basalt chains were horrible. They agitated the posts in her bones and were like a vicious itch that couldn’t be scratched. It was debilitating.
If she could go back. . .
Shěn Lí gritted her teeth, enduring. She thought about returning, but she knew she would not be able to. She hoped Fú Shēng would torment her harder so she would die faster and be rid of the pain once and for all.
Someone suddenly shone a light in her eyes then blasted a firecracker beside her ear.
Shěn Lí subconsciously turned to the side. This made Fú Shēng smile. “I think your sense of hearing and touch recovered a bit today. The vocal cords should be good as well. Does Your Highness still refuse to hand the Phoenix Fire pearl?”
Here we go again.
Shěn Lí hated Fú Shēng to the bone and refused to answer normally, but regarding this question, she genuinely was helpless. “I ate it already,” was her reply.
She knew the Phoenix Fire pearl they were referring to was probably the Bìhǎi Cāng bead the Demon emperor gave her that day. According to the emperor, it was hers to begin with. She had followed the emperor’s instructions and ate it. But now Fú Shēng wanted her to hand it over. How was she supposed to do that; it was digested long ago. Shěn Lí smiled mockingly. “Come and get it.”
Fú Shēng gritted his teeth and raised a hand to slap Shěn Lí, but the hand he raised was scarred with burn marks. He forced his anger back. “Since the Azure Sky king refuses to cooperate, I’m afraid you will suffer more pain today.”
After saying that, he raised his hand and the attendant next to him brought a prepared black basalt whip. Fú Shēng covered his mouth and coughed twice before retreating to the side to let his attendant whip Shěn Lí. A flogging ensued.
Shěn Lí bowed her head while Běi Xiǎoyán on the other side of the cell paled considerably. Watching Shěn Lí be punished, it was like Běi Xiǎoyán could see himself in her shoes. Despite huddling in the corner and being as inconspicuous as he possible, Fú Shēng still turned to look at him curled up in the corner.
“Third Prince, do not be afraid. You cooperated with us and shared information without withholding anything. We will not treat you badly.”
Běi Xiǎoyán nodded, too scared to even take a breath.
Shěn Lí’s punishment lasted until Fú Shēng got tired.
Fú Shēng waved his hand and waved then left the dungeon with his attendant. The cell door locked behind them and only the torch was left.
Běi Xiǎoyán was alone with Shěn Lí again in the cell. Seeing her covered in blood made him hesitant to talk, so the cell was quiet for a long time.
Finally, Shěn Lí broke the silence. “Does Third Prince feel no guilt at giving them the information they needed to seize control of the North Sea monarchy and turning the monarchy into their puppets?”
“I. . . ” Běi Xiǎoyán shrank back. “Of course I feel guilty. . . but I can’t help it. I’m not you; I can’t bear that kind of pain. And besides, my mother’s imperial concubine is guilty. I’ve been discriminated against since I was little, so quite frankly, I have no affection for the royal family. Betraying them. . . was something I did because I had no alternative.”
Shěn Lí’s voice was hoarse when she spoke. “Everyone has their problems, but betrayal is not something easy to forgive.”
Běi Xiǎoyán was silent for a bit before speaking, “People blame Heaven for the things that happen to them. Why are you so tough? Things are the way they are; why be so unbending? Just give him what he wants.”
Despite her horrible situation, Shěn Lí still managed to laugh out loud. “I really did eat it though. . . ”
Běi Xiǎoyán looked at her like she was a monster.
“Third Prince, don’t worry. This king is invincible. . . ”
Běi Xiǎoyán lowered his head and muttered, “I really don’t understand you. You can still laugh even in this kind of situation.”
Of course she could laugh; she was trained.
After sitting for a while, Běi Xiǎoyán fell asleep. He was just drifting into dreams when sharp sounds startled him fully awake. He opened his eyes to find a man in black standing in front of Shěn Lí. The visitor clenched and unclenched one fist several times, raising one hand then lowering it again repeatedly, as if he wanted to touch her but didn’t dare.
He called out, “Your Highness. . . ” his voice sad and extremely hoarse. Then suddenly a sword appeared in his hand after a flash of purple light. He cut off the black chains that held Shěn Lí and hugged her unconscious form in his arms. “I will take you out.” The words came out hoarse and resolute, without room for disagreement from anyone.
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