I Accidentally Triggered the Restricted Punishment Protocol - Chapter 23

“You want it.”

He spoke those words as casually as if saying, “You are hungry.” However, this calm tone fell upon Yi Hanxing’s ears like a sudden clap of thunder, jolting her drowsy brain back to consciousness.

Want what? How would she take it? If she wanted it, was he planning to give it to her? And what if she kept wanting more?

Consequently, Qin Wuzhou saw the girl before him suddenly widen her eyes. She froze completely, looking like a wild rabbit caught in the beam of a lantern in a field after a rainy night. He suddenly felt like laughing. Never one to hide his temperament, he simply let out a loud laugh.

While he was laughing, Yi Hanxing tried to slip away from beneath his palm. She had only crawled two paces when the back of her neck was seized.

“Where do you think you are going?” Qin Wuzhou pinched the back of her neck with one hand while propping his chin with the other. He scrutinized her flushed earlobes. “In this state, where else could you possibly go?”

He had underestimated her. Even in a life or death situation while being hunted by Jiang Yinghui, she had been able to use herself as bait to distract a man. The skin on the back of her neck felt extremely strange where he touched it, as uncomfortable as if she had fleas. She could not help but squirm while muttering, “Anyway, I do not want to stay here with you.” This unpredictable murderer might decide to snap her neck at any moment.

Qin Wuzhou tilted his head and let out a long sound of contemplation. “Do you hate me that much?”

Finding herself unable to break free and recalling how she had been chased like a stray dog earlier, a rush of blood went to her head. She blurted out, “Could it be that Master is going to do it for me?”

The moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them. Qin Wuzhou raised an eyebrow in surprise but said nothing. Yi Hanxing cursed herself internally. She immediately tried to explain, struggling to maintain an honest and aggrieved expression. “There must be something wrong with the incense in Tianxiang Restaurant. I am not usually like this.”

Qin Wuzhou’s tone was somewhat disdainful. “To fall for aphrodisiac incense meant for mere mortals shows just how much you have neglected your cultivation as a member of the Hehuan Sect.”

If her neck were not still pinched in his grip, Yi Hanxing would have rolled her eyes at this man’s sudden burst of patronizing behavior. Earlier, when he was chasing her, Qin Wuzhou seemed possessed. Now, he appeared a bit more normal. Perhaps his twisted, manic pleasure had been satisfied during the process of terrifying her. At the very least, he showed no signs of wanting to kill her now.

“If I do not help you, what do you plan to do?” he asked suddenly.

Before Yi Hanxing could think of an answer, she suddenly heard someone calling her. “Lord of Wuxiang! Why hide like a rat? Why not come out and face me in a fair fight?”

She froze for a moment. “Did I just hear Immortal Lin’s voice?”

Qin Wuzhou raised an eyebrow and looked toward the source of the sound. “He caught up quite quickly.”

A flood of questions rose in her mind, but Yi Hanxing had no time to think. Driven by the instinct to survive, she burst out with incredible strength, shoved Qin Wuzhou away, and scrambled out. She had no idea how those two ended up fighting their way to Tianxiang Restaurant, but as long as she reached Lin Wujiu, she would be safe.

For some reason, Qin Wuzhou did not immediately chase her. Yi Hanxing did not stop. She rushed down the stairs in one breath. When she saw that familiar, slender figure, she almost cried out of sheer excitement.

“Immortal Lin!” She nearly tripped at his feet.

Lin Wujiu was startled by her sudden appearance. He quickly reached out to steady her. “Miss Yi, why are you here?”

“Do not worry about that now,” Yi Hanxing said, her words coming out like a barrage of gunfire as she endured the torture of the cauldron marks on her body. “The Lord of Wuxiang is upstairs! We have to run!”

Lin Wujiu did not move. He frowned and stared at her. “Miss Yi, are you injured?”

My dear protagonist, can you please stop being such a saint right now? Yi Hanxing thought. Do not worry about this minor character’s body. Worry about whether you will live or die.

Evidently, Lin Wujiu had not fared well in the battle at the tavern. He was covered in blood, disheveled, and his footsteps were somewhat unsteady. He had only pursued them to Tianxiang Restaurant out of sheer willpower.

“I am fine. I was affected by aphrodisiac incense,” Yi Hanxing said truthfully.

An awkward expression immediately appeared on Lin Wujiu’s face. He instinctively let go of her arm but then felt that was wrong, leaving him at a loss for how to proceed.

Yi Hanxing didn’t want to dwell on these social niceties. She took the initiative to speak. “Never mind that. I can hold on for a while. Earlier, the City Lord appeared in Tianxiang Restaurant and killed Jiang Yinghui.” She choked, hesitating on how to phrase the fact that Jiang Yinghui had been trying to kill her.

Lin Wujiu did not seem surprised. He said in a heavy voice, “Halfway through my fight with the City Lord, even though he had the upper hand, he suddenly abandoned me and rushed to Tianxiang Restaurant. I suspected something had happened here. Every Yuxu Mountain disciple carries a piece of each other’s life incense. On my way here, I saw that Junior Brother Jiang’s incense had gone out. I knew then that he had met with disaster.”

He likely misunderstood Jiang Yinghui’s death as a whim of Qin Wuzhou’s. Yi Hanxing thought about it and realized there was no way to explain why Jiang Yinghui had suspected her, so she kept quiet.

“However,” Lin Wujiu said in surprise, “you say the City Lord is here, yet he has not appeared even after we have spoken for so long?”

Yi Hanxing was also stunned. She instinctively looked back toward the second floor. The stairs, half destroyed by fire, were empty. Qin Wuzhou had actually not pursued her. Just a moment ago, he had looked absolutely manic while chasing her.

As her focus wavered, a sudden burning pain flared in her lower abdomen. Yi Hanxing doubled over, clutching her stomach, cold sweat pouring down her face. Damn it. Why is the onset even more severe than before?

Yi Hanxing instinctively pushed Lin Wujiu away. “Immortal Lin, you should leave first.” In the original book, the male and female leads were the official couple. No minor character was allowed to interfere. Not even her.

Lin Wujiu froze. Suddenly remembering something, he pulled a brownish, twig like object from his storage ring. He stepped forward quickly and pressed it into her hand. “This is the Essence Nourishing Vine I carry with me. It can neutralize all toxins. You should try it.”

Yi Hanxing lacked the strength to push him away and could not explain. First, she was having a cauldron reaction, not an aphrodisiac reaction, so the vine would likely be useless. Second, she had gone through immense trouble to obtain this medicinal vine to save her senior brother, Nan Xun. Third, if she refused again, she feared the saint like protagonist would sacrifice himself to help her clear the toxin.

“Alright, I will take it. Thank you, Immortal Lin,” she said. She squeezed out a smile, clutching the root in her palm and pretending to feel better. “It will take a while for the vine to take effect. I want to be alone for a bit.”

Lin Wujiu gave an unnatural smile. “Alright. Be careful.”

He helped Yi Hanxing into a guest room that had not collapsed from the fire and drew a protective circle at the door. After walking a few paces, he still felt uneasy. He returned and pressed the Shura Sword into her hand. “Miss Yi, take this for protection.”

This time, Yi Hanxing did not dare accept. “I cannot take your life bound sword!” A cultivator without a sword was like a soldier without a gun.

Lin Wujiu shook his head. “Even without this sword, I can protect myself. This sword is merely the icing on the cake for me, but it is help in a time of need for you. I can tell which is more important.” He showed a rare moment of firmness. He cast a spell to shrink the sword to the length of a small dagger and tucked it into Yi Hanxing’s sleeve. Then, he ran toward the second floor.

Watching his retreating back, Yi Hanxing was filled with gratitude. He truly was one of the few pure characters in this restricted novel. Such a refined gentleman was far better than a certain unscrupulous, ambitious wolf. She sighed with emotion for a while before pulling her gaze back. Once again, she was like a weak Tang Sanzang locked in a protective circle, curling into a ball and hugging her knees.

Unfortunately, the circle could not keep out the monsters. No sooner had Lin Wujiu left than footsteps approached. The newcomer was unhurried, finally stopping in front of her. Yi Hanxing took a breath during the surging waves of heat and looked up at him.

Qin Wuzhou stood in his white robes, backlit, his face half hidden in the darkness. His lips were curled into a playful, mocking smirk. She had no idea how she looked in his eyes. She was naturally frail, her bones smaller and more delicate than most. Squatting on the ground with her arms around her knees, she looked weak and pitiful. Her pink dress was half torn, her glossy black braid was messy, and the frost white silk flower pinned in her hair looked battered.

Seeing him stand before her, she trembled slightly. Her right hand immediately reached for her sleeve, but she stopped herself, not wanting to make it too obvious. Qin Wuzhou stared at her for a while, then suddenly laughed and reached out to her. “What a pitiful little white flower, battered by the wind and rain.”

His hand passed through the protective circle Lin Wujiu had drawn without any resistance. His fingertips touched the flower in her hair, his thumb rubbing against the petals. Yi Hanxing sighed internally. Although she had not expected the spell to stop him, the speed at which he broke it was simply too fast.

Qin Wuzhou gently brushed the center of the flower and said thoughtfully, “I thought you would ask Lin Wujiu to help you with the aphrodisiac.”

Yi Hanxing was in no mood for his pimp mission. She said perfunctorily, “Did you not see? As soon as I said I was affected by the incense, Immortal Lin avoided me like the plague. A gentleman like him would never take advantage of someone in distress.”

“A gentleman?” Qin Wuzhou laughed loudly as if he had heard a joke. Then he changed the subject. “Everything is up to the individual. He might be unwilling, but why did you take the initiative to tell him to leave? Oh, actually, you did not. You were staring longingly at his back as he left.”

What time is it? This man was still acting like a greedy landlord. Yi Hanxing, feeling annoyed, muttered, “Master, you do not understand. This is called playing hard to get.”

Qin Wuzhou seemed to find this amusing. He sat in the armchair opposite her and propped his chin. “Tell me more.”

He did not look as crazy now. Although Yi Hanxing really wanted to ask if the backlash from the Glass Sun was over, she feared that asking at the wrong time might trigger him. Strangely, as soon as Qin Wuzhou arrived, the restless cauldron marks in her lower abdomen calmed down quite a bit.

She composed herself and began her honest faced nonsense. “Although I did not drag Immortal Lin into a dual cultivation session, I left him with an image of me being a well bred lady who follows the rules. I am playing the long game. Once I have slowly built up a good impression, it will be natural for him to fall in love with me.”

“Being a lady and following the rules is just nonsense used to trick women into sacrificing themselves to be stepping stones for men,” Qin Wuzhou said dismissively. “If you want something, then fight for it, grab it, take it. Only losers who have lost use so called rules to polish their dignity.”

Yi Hanxing sneered in her heart. She didn’t say it aloud because one must bow one’s head when under another’s roof. The hard object in her sleeve was poking her uncomfortably. She shifted her posture and said, “According to Master, there should be no rules in the world. If everyone did as they pleased, would everything be in chaos?”

Qin Wuzhou took in her every movement. A hint of mockery flashed in his eyes. “The strong are the rules. The words of those above are the laws for the ignorant below.”

A complete dictator and tyrant! That was the only thought Yi Hanxing had after hearing that.

“What are you thinking about now?” he asked suddenly. “Are you cursing me in your heart?”

Yi Hanxing’s expression changed and she defended herself with an aggrieved look. “How could I? Master, you know me. I am such an honest person.”

Qin Wuzhou remained noncommittal. Yi Hanxing continued, “I just think Master is wrong. A person’s rules can only be decided by themselves. Even if you are the Emperor of Heaven and Earth, you can control the world, but you cannot control the thoughts in my head. If it is as you say, the commands of the strong, that is not called rules. That is called oppression.”

Qin Wuzhou simply smiled. “Even if it is oppression, what is wrong with that? The sun rises and the moon sets, spring comes and winter goes, new buds replace sick trees. This is the law of heaven and the way of man.”

This seemed to be the first time she could talk to this great demon so calmly. It even helped distract her from the discomfort. Yi Hanxing gathered her strength to argue back. “But how can you guarantee the strong stay strong and the weak stay weak? A swarm of ants can devour an elephant. Even in the Battle of Red Cliffs, the weaker Shu and Wu forces defeated Cao Cao. Can Master guarantee he will always be the strongest?”

Qin Wuzhou was about to nod as a matter of course, but then he thought of something and asked instead, “Who is Cao Cao?”

Yi Hanxing realized she forgot this story has a fictional historical setting. “Just a character in a book I read once,” she stammered vaguely.

Fortunately, he did not dwell on it. His head seemed to be starting to ache again. Qin Wuzhou clicked his tongue in annoyance and pressed his fingers firmly against his temples. The relatively harmonious atmosphere vanished instantly. Yi Hanxing stiffened her back, staring intently at those trembling golden pupils. Her right hand reached into her sleeve, clutching the hard object in her pocket.

Qin Wuzhou sat in the armchair with a domineering air, appearing to be resting with his eyes closed. Yi Hanxing began to move quietly. After much stalling, she finally reached the corner of his white robe. His palm, hidden beneath his wide sleeve, rose silently.

“This is for you, Master.” Yi Hanxing grabbed his wrist, pulled the object from her sleeve, and pressed it into his palm.

Qin Wuzhou’s eyes snapped open. Lying in his palm was a brownish, long twig: the Essence Nourishing Vine.

Yi Hanxing explained dutifully, “This is the Essence Nourishing Vine, a treasure Immortal Lin carries. They say it can neutralize all toxins. Master, the backlash from the Glass Sun should be a type of blood toxin. This might work on it. Try it.”

She was just too honest. She could not stand to watch someone who had just saved her life die before her eyes.

Qin Wuzhou looked at the vine. After a moment, he turned his gaze toward her. Another moment passed before he said, “Yi Hanxing.”

Being called by her full name like that made her hair stand on end. “I am here! What are your orders, Master!”

“What kind of person do you think I am?” Qin Wuzhou asked without expression.

Yi Hanxing suppressed the countless thoughts that flooded her mind. She finally thought of one merit. “Your teaching is blunt and aggressive, but it is actually quite effective.”

Qin Wuzhou’s expression was unreadable. “Oh?”

She then gave a brief account of how she had used the sword techniques he taught her to save the cauldrons in Tianxiang Restaurant. She added, “If you had not taught me swordsmanship, I could not have saved them. Perhaps you are not a bad teacher.”

Her expression of gratitude appeared very sincere. Qin Wuzhou was speechless for a moment. He raised a hand to rub his brow. “Stop flattering me. It seems I have been too lenient with you.”

Yi Hanxing nodded obediently. “Yes, yes. I still hold Master in both awe and fear.”

“You had better,” Qin Wuzhou said coldly. “Also, the Essence Nourishing Vine can only be used once on one person. If you give it to me now, are you just waiting to die?”

Because she was a cauldron, the vine was actually useless to her, but she could not tell him that. She said vaguely, “If my aphrodisiac is not cleared, I will just be uncomfortable for a while. But if your blood toxin is not cleared, people will die here.”

She thought for a moment and then imitated Lin Wujiu’s words. “I can also tell the difference between the icing on the cake and help in a time of need.”

Qin Wuzhou was silent for a while before his lip twitched. “You learn the wrong things.”

However, he still returned the vine to her. “The backlash of the Glass Sun cannot be neutralized by the Essence Nourishing Vine.”

Yi Hanxing let out a tragic sound. Misfortunes never come singly. The almost forgotten cauldron marks flared up once more. Her expression changed and Qin Wuzhou noticed immediately. “The Essence Nourishing Vine cannot clear your aphrodisiac either?”

Yi Hanxing took it back hesitantly and tried it. As expected, it had no effect. She lied, saying she did not know why.

Qin Wuzhou sneered. “This piece of junk is as useless as its owner! It cannot even clear a minor aphrodisiac. What a waste!”

After insulting Lin Wujiu by proxy, he frowned and looked at her. “What do you plan to do now?”

Yi Hanxing stared at him blankly. After a short while, Qin Wuzhou began to look enticingly radiant in her eyes. She shook her head violently, suppressing the urge to throw herself at him. She stammered, “I will handle it myself.”

Qin Wuzhou’s gaze suddenly grew deep. He said darkly, “Did you often handle it yourself in the past?”

Yi Hanxing was stunned by the question. She flailed around a bit. Right now, Qin Wuzhou looked like a perfectly marbled piece of meat to her. She was reaching her limit and could only say, “Maybe Master should tie me up.”

Realizing her words were ambiguous, Yi Hanxing jolted and used her most righteous tone. “No, Master, I did not mean it that way!”

Qin Wuzhou remained silent for a moment before preparing to walk toward her. However, in the few seconds it took for him to prepare himself mentally, the desire in Yi Hanxing’s body underwent a substantial change. Before she realized what she was doing, she lunged at him.

“What are you doing!” Qin Wuzhou’s physical reflexes were faster. He immediately pinned her to the ground.

Yi Hanxing thrashed around deliriously. “Brother, you smell so good! No! Let me go!”

The veins on Qin Wuzhou’s forehead throbbed. He tried to use a heart clearing spell, but the effect was greatly diminished. After the spell was cast, Yi Hanxing only partially regained her senses. She began to plead pitifully, “I think I am a bit better. Master, let me go first.”

“No,” Qin Wuzhou refused decisively. “What if I let go and you pounce on me again like a hungry tiger? After all, Master is still somewhat attractive.”

“I cannot beat you anyway,” Yi Hanxing said with a miserable face. “If I really try to do anything to you, you can just resist.”

Qin Wuzhou let out a disdainful sneer. “With your small frame, could you even withstand a single resistance from me?”

Yi Hanxing was speechless. “Then what will it take for Master to let me go?”

Qin Wuzhou pondered for a moment. One hand still held the back of her neck, while the other suddenly reached down toward his waist.