I Accidentally Triggered the Restricted Punishment Protocol - Chapter 22

Yi Hanxing woke from her dizziness to the sound of a zither drifting in her ears.

The music was like a spring in a deserted valley, crisp and elegant. Although she knew nothing about ancient zither music, it did not stop her from recognizing the player’s superb technique and the relaxed nature of the melody.

She rested for a moment before the events prior to her fainting slowly returned to her. She had been mistaken for the lover of Ye Mitian by Jiang Yinghui and was chased down. In her moment of crisis, Qin Wuzhou had suddenly appeared and snapped the neck of Jiang Yinghui. She had fainted at the sight of the blood.

That was right, Qin Wuzhou.

She rolled over and sat up abruptly, realizing she was no longer in the burning corridor.

Surrounded by pink gauze curtains and the scent of cosmetics, she appeared to be in a room belonging to one of the human cauldrons within the Fragrant Heaven Pavilion. She immediately spotted a figure behind a lacquered screen.

Yi Hanxing steadied herself, got out of bed, and walked toward him. As expected, it was Qin Wuzhou. He was leaning over, focused on the zither. His fingers were slender and graceful. Dressed in snow white robes woven with gold, he reminded her of an elegant, giant white cat.

“Master?” she whispered tentatively.

“Hmm?” The music stopped. Qin Wuzhou looked up, wearing a wide and brilliant smile. “You are awake.”

He was still dressed as the Lord of Formlessness from the tavern. His bone mask had been removed and was hanging from his waist. It seemed he had no intention of hiding his dual identity from her.

Yi Hanxing remained silent and sat beside him. She opened her mouth to speak, but her mind was a tangle of thoughts. She did not know which question to ask first.

Qin Wuzhou glanced at her and chuckled. “Do you want to ask about those cultivators from Yuxu Mountain?”

Yi Hanxing nodded. She heard him continue, “Jiang Yinghui is dead. Lin Wujiu was heavily injured in our confrontation. The other cultivators are scattered and pose no threat.”

Yi Hanxing recalled the plot of the original book. Since the male lead and the other Yuxu Mountain disciples had not suffered catastrophic casualties, she felt somewhat relieved.

As for Jiang Yinghui, one could only say that those who kill must be prepared to be killed.

Qin Wuzhou plucked a zither string casually with his finger. “Are you worried about your Immortal Lin?”

Yi Hanxing hesitated for a moment and then said, “Master told me to pursue him. Naturally, I must care about whether my target is dead or alive.”

Qin Wuzhou sighed. He reached out and patted her head as if he were stroking a dog. “If I had arrived a moment later, you would be dead.”

Did a nerve snap in this man’s head for him to actually care about her? Just as Yi Hanxing was feeling surprised, she heard him continue, “You really are too weak. How can my disciple be such a useless waste?”

Yi Hanxing had no response. He was still the same wretched Master.

Qin Wuzhou sighed and groaned for a while before he began to play the zither again.

This time, he changed the tune. It was no longer elegant and peaceful. The music was hurried and chaotic, sounding like a swarm of bees dancing in disorder. As Yi Hanxing listened, her mood involuntarily became restless.

She wanted to cover her ears, but the music was pervasive. By the end, it felt like a small hammer relentlessly pounding on her nerves.

Qin Wuzhou finished the piece in one breath. He suddenly turned to Yi Hanxing and grabbed her wrist. “Playing alone is boring. Accompany me.”

His hand was terrifyingly hot. Without allowing any room for refusal, he pulled Yi Hanxing toward him. He spread his legs and made her sit in front of him.

She was completely encircled in his arms. To her left and right were arms like iron hoops, and behind her was a burning, hard chest. Her disrespectful Master even rested his heavy head on her shoulder and blew a loud, excited whistle in her ear.

Then, he forced his hands over hers and began to pluck the strings with power.

Yi Hanxing admitted she had little musical talent. Her parents were both teachers and disliked her doing anything outside of her studies. She had been obedient since childhood and never pursued any hobbies. She could only tell that Qin Wuzhou’s technique was fast but not messy. There was a discipline to his movements, making him look like a young noble from a prestigious family who had studied under a famous master.

However, she soon lost the energy to guess his background. From the moment she was forced into this four handed ensemble, she was more frantic than a duck being herded onto a perch. It was like being tied behind a galloping wild horse while walking a tightrope. If she stopped for a second, she would fall into an abyss. She could only follow his lead and run, run, and run some more.

Qin Wuzhou seemed extremely excited. While his fingers moved in a dizzying blur of plucking and twisting, he laughed loudly and continuously.

The music grew higher and more urgent. Yi Hanxing felt as if her throat were being squeezed by an invisible hand. Her breathing was shallow, and her cheeks were flushed bright red.

She felt like a drowning person tossed into the deep sea. Her hands were pinned, preventing her from swimming to save herself. She could only instinctively tense her entire body.

Her two pink embroidered shoes were wedged between his long legs. His black leather boots tightly hugged his calf muscles. His boots were spread wide while her small and delicate shoes struggled to maintain their balance on tiptoe.

The continuous lack of oxygen caused bright white light to flash before her eyes.

“Zheng!”

A string snapped. Yi Hanxing gasped for air and violently pushed the person behind her away, collapsing onto the floor.

She looked up to see the golden double pupils in Qin Wuzhou’s eyes vibrating wildly.

He seemed to be looking at her, yet also looking at nothing.

A bad premonition rose in Yi Hanxing’s heart. The novel The Overbearing Immortal Venerable’s Daily Forced Love mentioned that Qin Wuzhou’s artifact, the Glass Sun, was not without its flaws. Its greatest weakness was that excessive use caused mental backlash for the host. Simply put, it was like taking too many drugs where the person would become a manic madman.

In the later stages of the plot, the male lead exploited this by striking when Qin Wuzhou was in a violent frenzy and his combat efficiency had dropped.

She quickly realized what was happening. This man had just fought Lin Wujiu and then rushed to kill Jiang Yinghui. His bloodlust had triggered the backlash. Right now was likely the final moment of calm before the storm.

Qin Wuzhou’s right eye suddenly spun around before stopping to stare directly at her. He whispered spookily, “It is so quiet.”

Yi Hanxing’s skin broke out in goosebumps. She tried to crawl away, but her legs were so weak she sat right back down.

“Master, please calm down.” She tried desperately to remember the scenes in the book where Qin Wuzhou went mad, hoping to find a way to escape.

Once, when he suffered the backlash of the Glass Sun in the Bone Wastes, the result was that every demon in the area had their head torn off.

Another time, during a fight with the Yuxu Mountain elders, he lost control and crushed their hearts.

Why could she only remember these types of doomed scenarios?

Yi Hanxing watched as he crouched down in front of her, resting his hands on his knees. Because he had played the zither too forcefully, the skin on his fingers had split. Blood dripped steadily along his pale finger bones.

He was at eye level with her, staring silently without saying a word.

The candlelight in the room flickered. He was already handsome to the point of appearing sharp, but now, with his face half in shadow and half in light, his chiseled features took on a sinister and terrifying aura.

Previously, when Yi Hanxing spent time with him, although he held the title of Master, he acted in a free and unrestrained manner. He was lively and loved to laugh, occasionally even using a pampered tone like a young girl. For a long time, she had felt a disconnect between him and the image of the ruthless villain who killed without blinking.

But now, as he sat half hidden in the darkness and half soaked in the dim light, staring at her expressionlessly, she finally realized the danger she was in.

That gaze was like a sharp sword pinning her to the spot.

The air froze for an instant.

In the next moment, at the exact same time, Qin Wuzhou’s Glass Sun suddenly brightened. Yi Hanxing closed her eyes and rolled away. She grabbed the ancient zither and, relying on her memory of his position, smashed it toward him with all her might!

“Bang!” The strings snapped, and the body of the zither shattered. The man who had been struck in the back suddenly burst into a loud laughter.

Qin Wuzhou shook the wood splinters off his body and stood up like a crouching beast. Yi Hanxing had already rushed out the door!

She only hoped that the strike would temporarily stall him, but her hopes were in vain. Soon, the rhythmic sound of wooden clogs echoed behind her. The tapping was erratic, sounding far away one moment and right against her ear the next.

This relentless madman!

Yi Hanxing did not dare open her eyes, fearing she would meet his Glass Sun. She could not beat him in a fight, and if she fell under his ocular technique and hallucinated, she would truly be a fish on a chopping block.

Her vision was pitch black as she stumbled forward. Suddenly, her foot caught on something. She lost her balance and rolled forward.

In the blink of an eye, Qin Wuzhou’s hearty and crazed laughter echoed right above her head. Without thinking, Yi Hanxing reached out and felt a semi open iron door. She quickly darted inside.

The room behind the iron door was likely someone’s private vault. The door was as thick as a safe. Just as she locked the door, it was struck with a loud bang. She snapped her eyes open and saw a fist shaped dent bulging out from the bulletproof grade iron door!

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

Several more strikes followed. Then, a torrential rain of punches and palms slammed against the door. The once flat surface became uneven and began to shake ominously. The only blessing was that he was not using spiritual power. He was punching the door with his bare hands.

Yi Hanxing felt like an ant on a hot pan. The discomfort in her lower abdomen, which had been lingering for a while, suddenly flared up into a scorching pain.

She bit her lip and pressed her back against the iron door, praying she could hold on a little longer. At the same time, she lifted her skirt to check.

The Lycoris flower on her abdomen was vibrantly red and appeared as if it were about to burst. It was incredibly hot. A strange numbness spread from her core, causing her limbs to weaken and her head to grow dizzy.

This was bad!

She slid to her knees and pinched her arm hard, trying to regain her senses. However, the pain that usually registered now felt like a meaningless itch. Instead, the area she pinched felt as if an electric current had surged through it, traveling up her spine. An ambiguous low moan escaped her lips involuntarily.

The banging on the door stopped abruptly.

Yi Hanxing suddenly shuddered.

Could it be that the human cauldron’s heat has arrived?

In the novel The Overbearing Immortal Venerable’s Daily Forced Love, the author had specifically established a heat period for the human cauldron constitution to ensure every plot point led to something scandalous. It happened once a month and was similar to a werewolf transformation. During the onset, the person would suffer from high fever, weakness, and confusion. Simultaneously, they would emit a strange fragrance that attracted all nearby beings. To resolve it, one had to engage in continuous intimacy for a day and a night.

Yi Hanxing had curses on the tip of her tongue. Stupid author, stupid book! Do you think you are writing an ABO story?

Just as she was on the verge of a breakdown, another ominous boom echoed. To her horror, the iron door, which was half a palm thick, was kicked open. Through the gap, a pair of golden double pupils streaked with crimson blood shone brightly.

Qin Wuzhou slowly pulled the iron door open with both hands, mimicking the iconic scene from The Shining. The heavy door that had taken Yi Hanxing every ounce of her strength to move was like wet paper in his hands.

He easily tore the door open and strode into the room.

The moment he stepped into the secret chamber, the room immediately felt cramped. His tall figure blocked out all the light from outside. Yi Hanxing sat paralyzed on the floor with her back against the cold and hard wall, completely enveloped in his shadow. She was trembling and wanted to flee, but her legs were as soft as noodles.

Qin Wuzhou knelt down in front of her and watched her transformation in silence.

In just the few moments since they had last seen each other, the girl had undergone a complete change. Her face, usually that of a natural beauty, was flushed a deep peach color. Her long braids were messy, her hair was wet with sweat, and her eyes were glistening like those of a startled deer.

“Master, I…” Even her voice trembled helplessly.

Qin Wuzhou’s lips curled up as he reached out. He pressed his palm against her lower abdomen. As expected, he heard her let out a low moan that was a mix of pain and pleasure.

He stared at her without blinking. Her lips were a deep red, and her breath was as sweet as orchids as she panted.

Qin Wuzhou’s gaze remained cold, and his tone was flat. “You want it.”