Chapter 71 – Every Day the Protagonist Wants to Capture Me

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Chapter 71 – Don’t Push Me Over The Edge

This chapter is by Lianyin of BC Novels.

Chu Yu woke up because of the cold.

The chill was cutting. It was so bitterly cold he felt numb all over and his teeth rattled. He opened his eyes but all he saw was the dim glow of a fire and an iron door that was tightly shut. 　

Both of his hands were fettered to the wall. He clenched his teeth and struggled with all his might. Bruises appeared on his pale wrists, but he could only hear the clear sounds of the iron shackles hitting the wall behind him.

The water that had risen up to his waist grew colder. Chu Yu furrowed his brows. After a while, he sighed and gave up on struggling.

He knew Song Jingyi would not kill him easily. Song Jingyi hated both him and Xie Xi to the core. Now that he had captured Chu Yu, he would naturally want to torture Chu Yu before finishing him off.

As his thoughts wandered, the iron door suddenly opened with a creak. Chu Yu squinted against the light as he looked up and saw Song Jingyi walking in with a cool demeanor. When he saw what Song Jingyi was holding, his eyebrows twitched. After a moment of silence, he continued to maintain an expressionless look.

Song Jingyi seemed to be in a good mood and smiled in a complacent manner, “How’s it going? Are you comfortable? Chu Yu, you probably have not suffered this kind of torture before, so who are you trying to disgust by keeping up that kind of appearance? I bet you want to cry out for your big brother right now, no?”

Chu Yu simply looked at him lightly.

As if he had been punched in the gut, Song Jingyi’s smile wavered, and his gaze grew frosty. He stared at Chu Yu with malevolent and cruel eyes. “Chu Yu, do you really see yourself as blessed? You were merely born with a silver spoon in your mouth, that’s why you could openly receive all the acclaim from others! Who do you think you are?!”

Chu Yu suddenly laughed and whispered, “And who do you think you are?”

As soon as he said that, a clear, crisp “smack” rang out. Chu Yu was slapped so hard his head tilted to one side. His left cheek stung in pain and the faint metallic taste of blood rose in his mouth. He frowned and turned back, still looking flatly at Song Jingyi.

Song ​J​ingyi laughed angrily. “​It seems that you haven’t fully understood the situation​ you are in now. ​Third Young ​Master Chu,​ let me show you ​the reality​!​”​

​Having said that, he raised the object in his hands​.

It was a long whip covered with rows of barbs. If ​someone were to be flogged ​with this kind of whip, even if they did not die their skin would be completely ripped off. ​Chu Yu initially thought he would go weak in the knees with fear, but then even when Song Jingyi activated the switch to drain the water, and even when he prepared to wield the whip, Chu Yu was calm.

This was only going to be a little superficial pain…

The raised whip cut through the air with a clear sound. Chu Yu’s eyebrows twitched, and he slowly closed his eyes. The next moment, he felt intense pain light up from his waist. It hurt when it hit him, and it hurt as well when it was retracted.

Chu Yu almost could not breathe. His breath hitched, and it took him a long time to ​​recover. But he had not managed to catch his breath for long when he was whipped again.

​Throughout the whole process, Chu Yu gritted his teeth; he did not let himself make even a single sound even when he almost fainted out of pain. Song Jingyi had ​wanted to see Chu Yu crying, screaming, and even begging for him to stop. He did not expect Chu Yu to hold his ground. A cloud of gloom descended upon Song Jingyi. He snorted and turned the switch back on to fill the room once again with water before turning around to leave.

​The freezing water rose to Chu Yu’s waist again​, and he shivered. He had initially been groggy, but now he was wide awake. His teeth chattered. Chu Yu could scarcely breathe as his bloodied body soaked in the cold water. His vision darkened.

…​It was hard to bear.​　　

​He would definitely lose his life here if this occurred a few more times. ​　　

​Immersed in the cold water, ​​Chu Yu drifted, he was at times clear-headed, and at times groggy with pain. He did not know how much time had passed before the iron door opened again. With some difficulty, Chu Yu raised his eyes and glanced at Song Jingyi. When Chu Yu saw him entering once again with the whip, he silently cursed him and lowered his eyes without saying a word.

​This time, Song Jingyi saved his nonsense and simply waited for the water to retreat before he started viciously lashing out at him again. The sound of whip slicing through the air rang out incessantly.

At some point, Chu Yu fainted from the pain, and when he woke up again, the cold water had already flowed back. It seemed that Song Jingyi had other matters to attend to. Although Chu Yu could not tell day from night in the water prison, he could vaguely sense that Song Jingyi did not been there for long stretches of time, and if he came, he would give Chu Yu a flogging.

​There was no telling how much time had gone by, but the next time Chu Yu regained consciousness, he felt ​dizzy and the air he breathed out was hot. He realized that his current situation was really bad; he had caught a cold. Song Jingyi stood at the edge of the water ​prison. This time, ​he was not carrying the whip. With some effort, Chu Yu raised his eyes for a glance, and his heart went cold.

​Song Jingyi was holding Xun Sheng. ​

Feeling Chu Yu’s eyes​ on him​, Song Jingyi smiled smugly. “This sword ​looks familiar, ​doesn’t it?”

​After a moment of silence, Chu Yu lightly replied in a hoarse voice, “Xun Sheng doesn’t like to be dirtied.”

Song Jingyi was furious. “You still dare to talk back right now?”

Chu Yu received another slap, and his face ​went numb from the pain. He frowned and said lightly, “Are you ​ready to kill me? ​Then go ahead.”

​Song Jingyi drew Xun Sheng out of its sheath and said thickly, “​Don’t act like you aren’t afraid. Even if you aren’t — Chu Yu, tell me what you think, if I were to hack off your head and deliver it to Xie Xi, then chop off your hands and present it to Chu Sheng? How will they react when they see your body parts?”

​Chu Yu did​ not expect him to say such malicious words​, and​ it did not seem to be just an absent threat. Chu Yu paused​​ and his​ expression turned ​cold​er​. “You will regret it.”

​Song Jingyi’s anger rose when he saw that Chu Yu’s expression was still as cold as ever. He suddenly recalled Xie Xi’s and Chu Sheng’s expressions when they were slaughtering the demonic cultivators after Chu Yu had fallen into the abyss. Those two lunatics looked more like demonic cultivators than the demonic cultivators themselves. If they found out what Song Jingyi had done…

​A chill ran down Song Jingyi’s spine. He did not dare to give it any further thought. He snorted as he lowered his head to look at the blade. It was ​​​glittering ​coolly ​​​​like ​autumn water​. ​He swung the sword towards Chu Yu and rushed at him.

Chu Yu closed his eyes in resignation.

​He had been in this world for over a decade. Whatever he did not have in that other world, he had it here. But it was regrettable that he had always been breaking his promises to Xie Xi…

​There was a sudden loud “BOOM”, and the ground shook. Chu Yu waited for a moment, but when he did not feel any pain of the blade slicing through his throat, he realized that something had happened. He hurriedly opened his eyes but had to close them again when a dazzling white light from above pierced his eyes.

Song Jingyi’s voice was filled with panic and fear​. “You… you… ​​Xie Xi!”

​​Xie Xi​?​​

​​Xie Xi​!​​

Chu Yu was instantly wide awake. He forced his eyes open despite the glare, causing them to water. He squinted and saw someone dashing up to him. He could vaguely see a person’s silhouette​ against the light now coming from above. ​The next moment, his restrained, stretched out arms were liberated as the iron shackles were cleaved in two. Without the support, his entire body toppled over, and the man gently caught him and carefully embraced him in his arms.

After a long silence, Chu Yu heard a trembling​, tearful​ voice​.​ “​How did you​…​ get yourself into this…”

​Chu Yu blinked. He had only ​managed to throw a smile at his general direction when his vision darkened and he passed out.

​Carrying Chu Yu in his arms, Xie Xi’s hand trembled as he fed him a pill and then he grasped his bruised wrist in order to transfer spiritual energy into him. Through the light, he ​could ​​see all the bloodstains on Chu ​Yu’s body — his chest​,​ waist​, ​abdomen, ​and ​thighs​… all of them​ were bloodied. As much as his anguish was intense, Xie Xi did not feel like crying; on the contrary, there was only a single thought numbly flashing through his mind.

Song Jingyi must die today.

Xie Xi looked impassively at ​the immobile ​Song Jingyi. He did not ​say a word. He could clearly see that all ​the wounds on Chu Yu were all caused by a thorned whip. His heart ached so much that he could barely breathe. He carefully ​returned Xun Sheng to its scabbard and hung it on his waist​. Turning over his hand, he took out a barbed iron whip similar to the one that had hurt Chu Yu and lashed it out with his spare arm, an​ icy expression on his face​.

The disparity of strength between Xie Xi and Song Jingyi was incomparable. Song Jingyi’s flesh was instantly flayed opened by the whip’s thorns​ ​and a scream burst from his mouth.​ He nearly fainted from the pain. ​

Xie Xi did not stop​ and ​​continued to lash out at him over ten times in succession. Song Jingyi ​fell to the ground​ and remained there​​. ​On seeing him gasp for breath, Xie Xi​ put away the iron whip​ and walked up to Song Jingyi, still holding Chu Yu close to his chest, with a frosty expression. He pulled out ​Xun Sheng, paused before returning it back​ to its sheath. He then ​withdrew Duan Xue and prepared to swing it down.

Song ​Jingyi had managed to ​regain his consciousness and was immediately scared out of his wits​. “Stop! Xie Xi! Do you know who I am?​” ​

​Xie Xi let out a cold laugh, and his reddened eyes chilled over as he swung Duan Xue down without any hesitation. Duan Xue was so extraordinarily sharp that it was naturally easy for him to slice off a human’s head. Fresh blood spurted out instantly from Song Jingyi’s neck, and Xie Xi ​apathetically dodged it. He shook off the blood on Duan Xue and looked towards the wall he had forcefully smashed apart earlier. ​“Come in.” ​

Mei​-e​r and the wolf demon came in trembling as their knees turned weak. They did not know what​ this fiend in front of them would do, so they could not help but panic. ​Then Mei-er’s glance swept over to Chu Yu still nestled in Xie Xi’s bosom. She gulped and asked, “…Immortal Master, Immortal Master Chu… How is he?”

Xie Xi silently looked down at the man in the crook of his arm.

​His face was a pale yellow and sickly like joss paper¹, and his breathing was so ​weak it was as if he might stop breathing altogether in the next moment. There were traces of bloodstains at the corners of his lips. His long hair was also snow-white. Like a creation made out of snow, he looked as if he would disperse at a mere touch.

Xie Xi closed his eyes from the pain he felt. Chu ​Yu was too weak, and ​his dantian seemed to be damaged​ as well. ​There was not even a shred of spiritual energy protecting his body. Earlier on when Xie Xi was transferring spiritual energy to Chu Yu, he had been so shocked at his body’s state that he had broken out in a cold sweat.

When he had heard that Jiao Xia had been infiltrated by ​demonic cultivators, he ​had ​immediately​ rushed over. He ​did not expect to ​chance upon this demon soon after arriving at Jiao Xia. His memory ​was good, and he could​ remember ​that this was the fox demon that Chu Yu had sought out long before. ​Mei-er had been crying as she ran, all the while mumbling “Immortal Master Chu”. That had triggered Xie Xi’s sensitive and fragile ​mind, and he had immediately stopped them.

​It was fortunate that he ​encountered them​. Otherwise,​ if he had come​ a moment ​too ​late, ​Chu Yu would —

Xie Xi almost had a breakdown after watching ​Chu Yu fall for a second time into a place that he could not reach. If he ​had ​​arrived just a step​ too​ late​ and saw Chu Yu’s dead body instead​​, he would probably have killed everyone to bury them with Chu Yu.

​Xie Xi exhaled and said in a light voice, “Shixiong will be alright with me here.” Gritting his teeth, he looked at the beheaded Song Jingyi on the ground with indifference and said, “Help me to send his head to the Tian Yuan Sect and present it to Song Yuanzhuo. You can eat his body. Eating the remains of a Golden Core cultivator will benefit you.”

​He handed ​Mei-er a talisman. “​This is the teleportation talisman. Activate it immediately after you have delivered the head.”

Mei-er and the wolf demon were both dumbfounded and hastily nodded their heads. It was only after Xie Xi rode away on his sword with Chu Yu in his arms that they breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.

The wolf demon looked at ​Mei-er hesitantly, then at the corpse on the ground. “​Mei-er, this…”

Mei​-e​r ​clenched her teeth. “We haven’t ​repaid Immortal Master Chu’s kindness yet. ​Now that we ​have the chance to, of course we ​will do it! Just do what Immortal Master Xie said. If you can’t ​stomach it, ​just move the body over to ​the tiger’s den over there. ​You are well aware of the reputation of the ​teleportation ​talisman​. I’ll ​be fine. I’ll just make a trip to the mountain and then return quickly.” ​

​The wolf demon had always followed Mei-er’s lead, so he simply nodded in agreement. ​

​So long as they don’t come across that fiend again. ​
　　

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​​
Chu Yu dreamed ​of the ​original ​host’s memory​​.

​He was only a young boy of about ten years of age, wearing the violet satin robe of the Chu clan. His snow-white face constantly had a chilly expression. There were also always people pointing at him wherever he went—

“Look! It’s the third young master of the Chu clan!”　

“Oooh, I thought that was a little girl. He’s so pretty.”​

“The Chu clan really treat him as the apple of their eyes​..​.​”​

They were mixed whispers of jealousy, ​admiration, wonder​, and ​even ​sarcasm. The young boy ​remained expressionless until his path was ​blocked ​by an old Daoist priest with white hair and beard.

He had always been ​reticent. Therefore, he glanced coldly at the old ​Daoist priest and was about to​ ​change direction​ to leave when ​he heard the old ​Daoist priest ​sniggering. “A disaster from Heaven… Hehehe, ​the Chu ​clan has already been ​declining from​ ​generation to generation. Now ​that the bane of their clan has appeared, I’m afraid they will be completely wiped out in less than a hundred years.”

Chu ​Yu thought to himself:​ it was indeed a disaster that the original ​host had provoked the protagonist. He had not only been hacked to pieces by the protagonist, he even dragged his eldest brother and the entire clan down after his death.

In the dream, ​Chu Yu vaguely heard the young ​boy ​conversing with the old ​Daoist priest. Before long, the young​, reticent​ ​boy who had always relied on ​his family in the past abruptly made a request to ​cultivate at Tian Yuan ​Sect, which was thousands of miles away.

Chu Yu thought again: It ​seemed that the original ​host had wanted to stay away from the Chu clan because he did not want to implicate ​his family​… Unfortunately, he left the Chu ​clan but met the protagonist.

Before he could think about anything​ else​, the physical pain awakened him.

When ​he opened his eyes, ​he saw a clean​ and ​elegant room instead of the ​clammy and dim water prison. ​The soothing aroma of incense and medicine ​hung in the air. Chu Yu absent-mindedly stared at the muslin curtains above him for a moment ​when he ​suddenly ​felt a little cold​ and​ brought down his gaze. He lowered his head and saw Xie Xi looking down at his thighs with his back facing him. He ​seemed to be ​applying medicine​ on Chu Yu’s wounds​.

Chu Yu had a splitting headache,​ and his throat was sore. ​When he spoke, his voice was hoarse ​as if he had swallowed ​a handful of sand​.​ “​…Shidi?”

Xie Xi​ ​​stiffened, but he did not turn around. ​His voice was tense,​ “​Lie still​. I’m ​applying ointment​. ​Your body is covered in wounds left behind by the whip. ​It will look ugly if you don’t ​apply the medicine properly as it will leave behind ​scars.​”​

​Chu Yu was about to reply “I’m the one who will look ugly, not you” when he sensed ​the coldness, fury, and pain in Xie Xi’s tone​ — pain that Xie Xi​ had​ intentionally tried to conceal. ​He swallowed back his words and ​silently applauded in his heart.

​That was right… Xie Xi ​seemed to be much calmer ​now compared to the first time they had met after Chu Yu had managed to get out of the ​Mausoleum​ Ruins. He supposed this could be considered as some kind of progress…

​Although he was trying to dispassionately think about it, his eyes ​could not help but burn and the tip of his nose stung. Tears rolled down into his, now, snow-white sideburns. Chu Yu blinked his eyes. When he saw that Xie Xi was still stubbornly refusing to look back at him, he simply let his tears flow freely in the silence.

​He had never before felt the urge to cry when he ​had survived all the past disasters or even when he had encountered Xie Xi again. But when he recalled those words Xie Xi spoke after he had rushed into the water prison, ​he could not help but ​resent himself. At the same time, he felt ashamed, and his heart ached for Xie Xi.

His body now ​shook uncontrollably as he sobbed. Xie Xi ​was sharp​ and​ immediately turned his head back upon feeling the shudders that went through Chu Yu’s body. Chu ​Yu blinked​ and saw Xie Xi’s​ red eyes and the tears that were silently streaming ​down his cheeks. It stunned him for a moment, then a laugh escaped his mouth. He laughed until the corners of his mouth inevitably turned back down. He then called out in a low voice, “Shidi.”

​Xie Xi leaned over in silence and wrapped his arms around Chu Yu’s neck, embracing him as he buried his head in Chu Yu’s neck. Even after a long time had passed, his voice still sounded tearful and hoarse. “You deceived​ me again… You lied to me again! You said you would wait for me if anything happens! Chu Yu, how many more times do you want to disappear in front of me before you are satisfied?! Are you trying to drive me crazy?​!”​

He took a long shuddering breath and remained silent for a moment​. Then, he spoke​ almost as if he were ​pleading with Chu Yu, “Shixiong… Don’t ​push me over the edge…”

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Reika’s Notes:

• This chapter is by Lianyin of BC Novels.
• All I can say is, thank goodness for the author’s mercy in putting the rescue in the same chapter as Chu Yu’s torture! I don’t think I could bear it if I had to wait for the next chapter for the rescue. That was super hard to read. Poor Chu Yu!
• Please let me know if there are any errors. Thanks for reading.

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1. Joss paper are sheets of paper or papercrafts made into burnt offerings used in Chinese ancestral worship.