I Accidentally Triggered the Restricted Punishment Protocol - Chapter 20

The Villain’s Personas are Overstocked

No one could see how the first strike between the two men was exchanged. In the instant the spiritual energy exploded, those with weaker cultivation were sent flying back in unison.

Yi Hanxing dodged quickly and avoided being hit. She looked up immediately. Lin Wujiu held his sword, his face ashen with strain. Yet, the man before him caught the blade with a single hand while his other arm rested casually behind his back.

Seeing the veins bulging on Lin Wujiu’s forehead while his opponent remained composed, Yi Hanxing cast aside her hesitation. She drew a sword from a fallen, unconscious servant and lunged straight at the Lord of No Phase. She used the basic sword forms Qin Wuzhou had taught her that night in the Valley of Withered Bones. As she charged, the Lord of No Phase let out a short laugh. With a slow, deliberate flick of his sleeve, he freed his other hand to intercept her blade.

Yi Hanxing felt as if she had struck an iron mountain. The shock numbed her hands. A moment later, her longsword shattered into several fragments with a sharp crack.

“Hanxing, go! Find my Junior Brother Jiang!” Lin Wujiu roared at her.

As he shouted, he swung his sword again with all his might. The white robes of the Lord of No Phase billowed in the wind. He caught the blade with one hand once more and backhanded Lin Wujiu, sending him tumbling ten feet away. Ignoring the blood Lin Wujiu coughed up, the Lord took two steps toward Yi Hanxing and laughed heartily. “Do not be in such a hurry, because none of you are going anywhere.”

Yi Hanxing swallowed the metallic taste of blood in her throat. She did not dare to stay a moment longer. She turned and fled. She grabbed a passing attendant who was pinned under a wooden beam and dragged him out. “How do I get to the Tianxiang Pavilion from here?”

The attendant, having just escaped death, pointed dizzily in a specific direction. Yi Hanxing dropped him and ran, gathering up her skirts.

The chaos that began at the Linlang Estate had already reached this street. Passersby were frantic. Someone cursed while running for their life, “What madman dares to challenge the Lord of No Phase? The last person who crossed him was hacked into pieces, and his body was never found!”

Most visitors to the No Phase Ghost Market were outlaws. Once the disturbance began, it was like a line of falling dominoes. Opportunists emerged like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. As she ran, Yi Hanxing tripped two thugs attempting to rob her. She smelled the scent of gunpowder and smoke from a distance. After two more streets, she saw thick plumes of smoke. Someone had set a fire in the confusion. The Tianxiang Pavilion, once a place of carved beams and painted rafters, was now engulfed in a sea of flames.

It was a literal scene of looting while the house burned. Disheveled guests and servants were fleeing the building. Yi Hanxing snatched a sword from a passerby and plunged into the smoke. Behind the glass screens on the first floor, the furnaces were desperately pounding on the glass. Usually, they were viewed as beautiful playthings under the spotlight, but in this moment of life and death, no one remembered them.

The sword struck the glass screen with a heavy thud. It did not break on the first hit. To prevent these valuable goods from escaping, the screens at the Tianxiang Pavilion had been reinforced with magic. The sword, bolstered by her spiritual energy, struck the glass with a sound like a tolling bell. The transparent screen vibrated slightly, but not a single crack appeared.

The women had looked hopeful when they saw someone coming to save them, but as Yi Hanxing failed to break the barrier after several attempts, their faces clouded over with gray despair. The smoke thickened, making Yi Hanxing cough and tear up. One of the older women shouted to her, “Just go! Leave us!” Their lives were as cheap as grass, and they did not want to drag their savior down with them.

Yi Hanxing shook her head vigorously. Her hands were numb from the impact, and her heart felt like it would burst from her chest. Amidst the cries and the roar of the fire, her mind became unexpectedly calm and clear.

Living things or inanimate objects, everything in this world has a weakness. The only difference is whether you can calm down enough to observe and find it.

The words Qin Wuzhou had spoken in the Valley of Withered Bones echoed in her ears. Yi Hanxing took a deep breath and looked at the smooth, magic imbued screen that felt like tempered steel. Suddenly, she reversed her grip on the sword. With the blade pointing toward herself, she used the hilt as a hammer and ran toward the edge of the glass.

“砰！砰！”

She struck the edge of the screen heavily. A miracle occurred. As if guided by divine help, the once indestructible glass began to crack slowly. With one final, heavy blow from the hilt, the entire screen shattered. The girl in the pink dress pushed through the smoke and shouted to the terrified women, “What are you waiting for? Run!”

The women snapped out of their shock, thanked her in a flurry of confusion, and scrambled toward the exit. Yi Hanxing wiped the soot from her face and headed deeper into the burning building. It seemed her gold finger as a transmigrator was simply her knowledge of twenty first century safety: the corners and edges of tempered glass are its weakest points. In an emergency, that is where you strike.

The magical reinforcement on the screen operated much like the tempered glass of a car window. It was simple common sense, but in a crisis, the greatest danger is often the panic of the people involved. With the screen broken, most of the women rushed out like headless flies. Only a few remained, moving slowly due to their injuries. One woman limped at the back, having been beaten on the leg. Yi Hanxing stepped forward to support her.

She realized the woman looked familiar. This was one of the women she and Wei Ruyi had paid to redeem earlier. “Did the female cultivator not escort you all away?” Yi Hanxing asked, puzzled. “Why are you still here?”

The woman looked ashamed and stammered, “But where else would we go? The world outside is so chaotic. It is better to stay at the Tianxiang Pavilion. At least we have food and drink here, and we do not fear the cold.”

The other women nodded. Many felt the same way, as they had all returned of their own volition. Yi Hanxing could not help but say, “If you are willing, I know people from righteous sects who are reliable. You could join a sect and learn swordsmanship to protect yourselves. You would not have to stay here and face cruel men like the last time.”

The woman replied, “It is not so bad. When the guests do not beat me, they are actually quite kind.”

Yi Hanxing found herself at a loss for words. The women said no more and slowly made their way out. Remaining in place, Yi Hanxing heard a noise nearby. It was a female furnace bending over to pick up a scattered sword. Through her long hair, a vivid whip scar was visible on her right cheek. This was the woman Wei Ruyi had saved at the very beginning. Seeing Yi Hanxing look her way, the woman gave a small, shy bow. “My name is A-Yu,” she whispered.

“A-Yu, did you also return voluntarily?”

A-Yu shook her head. “I came back for revenge. I wanted to kill the cultivator who beat me.”

Yi Hanxing let out a startled “Oh.”

A-Yu smiled dismissively. Having grown up in the streets, she was accustomed to the ugliness of the world and had developed a sharp mind for self-preservation. She tucked the sword into her waist and sighed. “Unfortunately, I did not get the chance. The man was dead before I could act. Perhaps the heavens have eyes, even if they opened a bit late. I heard as soon as I returned that the cultivator and several guards died the night before. They say an evil cat appeared out of nowhere and scared them into a frenzy. They ended up hacking each other into mincemeat!”

A-Yu bowed deeply to Yi Hanxing and left with her sword. Yi Hanxing did not delay. She continued through the burning pavilion, hoping to save anyone else left behind. The evil cat that could induce madness and fratricide sounded exactly like Qin Wuzhou. That man had acted as though he did not care, yet he had clearly done this. As she walked against the tide of smoke and fire, she wondered how her cheap master was faring now.

Most people had escaped the Tianxiang Pavilion. Those left were mostly the elderly, the weak, and the disabled who could not protect themselves. The pavilion had been built with high quality, hardened wood to impress guests. It was so sturdy that it would normally be impossible to cut, but the fire had turned many beams into charred ash. Yi Hanxing was able to break through the debris and rescue several trapped people, directing them toward the exit.

Moving through the labyrinthine corridors, she soon realized she was lost. The Tianxiang Pavilion was a massive beehive of rooms and hallways. To protect the privacy of guests, every room was separated by identical paper doors. She found herself opening door after door, entering rooms that looked like carbon copies of each other. The fire had not reached this section yet, but the heat was unbearable. Yi Hanxing felt like an ant on a hot pan. The wooden floor was burning her feet. If not for her Golden Core cultivation, she would have collapsed by now.

To make matters worse, a sudden cramp hit her abdomen. She calculated the date and realized she had no idea when the original body’s cycle was due. She prayed for her luck to hold and hurried to the second floor. Aside from the crackling of the fire, the cries for help had died down. She felt a bit of relief and began searching for Jiang Yinghui.

Just then, a terrified scream echoed down the hall. Without a second thought, she gripped her sword and charged into the room. Inside, a masked figure held a black circular bag in one hand while pointing a sword at someone pinned to the floor. “Take me to your master, or I will kill you now!”

The person on the floor struggled, their voice trembling. “I do not know what you are talking about! I cannot betray my master! I would rather die now than fall into his hands!”

Yi Hanxing was shocked to see the face of the person on the floor. It was Ding Wa. Ding Wa had previously mistaken her for the original owner of the body, and his genuine concern had moved her. She would not stand by and watch him die. She swung her sword, the blade gleaming. The masked figure sensed the danger and dodged, allowing Ding Wa to roll away to safety.

“It is you,” the masked figure said. Their voice was magically altered to be genderless.

Yi Hanxing helped Ding Wa up and held her sword defensively. “You know me?”

The masked person snorted and pointed their sword at Ding Wa. “Hand him over.”

“You want to kill him, but I cannot allow that,” Yi Hanxing said.

The masked figure grew angry. “Do you know what this man has done? He conspired with the Night Demon and aided a tyrant!”

“Night Demon? What is that?” Yi Hanxing asked, confused. Then it clicked. “Wait, are you talking about Ye Mitian?”

As soon as the name left her lips, the other three people in the room gasped. Ding Wa turned deathly pale. “I, I did not know. Master, he is the Night, Night, Night.” He stammered several times before simply fainting from terror.

Yi Hanxing’s mind raced. If the Lord of No Phase was Ye Mitian, that meant he was Qin Wuzhou. This man had more personas than she could count.

The veins on the masked person’s forehead pulsed. “Enough! Do not mention that name!”

Yi Hanxing thought that while the righteous sect members might fear him, she did not. She said dismissively, “It seems Ding Wa only knew he was serving the Lord of No Phase. He had no idea the Lord was the Night Demon. Ding Wa is innocent. Immortal Jiang, there is no need to kill him.”

The person remained silent for a moment before pulling off the mask. Jiang Yinghui’s expression was unreadable. “How did Miss Yi recognize me?”