I Accidentally Triggered the Restricted Punishment Protocol - Chapter 24

“Whoever blocks me, whoever stands in my way, shall die.”

With one hand, he pulled off his gold-embroidered belt and bound Yi Hanxing’s wrists in front of her with practiced ease. Only then did he release her, standing back with his hands on his hips and a look of satisfaction as if admiring a masterpiece. “This way, I am safer.”

But she was not safe!

Yi Hanxing felt like a succulent crab, not only trussed up and unable to move but practically served on a Mid-Autumn banquet table, just a pair of chopsticks away from being devoured. She collapsed on the floor, nearly spitting blood in frustration. “You tied me up! What if you are the one who wants to do whatever you please with me?”

Qin Wuzhou could not help but snap at her, “If I truly wanted to do something to you, you would not be able to escape even without the ropes!”

That logic was, unfortunately, sound.

As they wasted time with nonsense, a new wave of heat surged from the center of the lust seal on her abdomen. She bit the tip of her tongue, but she could not stop a low moan from escaping the depths of her throat.

Qin Wuzhou scratched his ear. “In the past, there were disciples of the Hehuan Sect who took aphrodisiacs by mistake. Though the effect is intense, it lasts at most four hours. You just need to endure it.”

Having said his piece, he actually left Yi Hanxing on the floor and returned to the couch. He was fine with punishing her for official business, but he considered himself far from so depraved that he would lay a hand on his own young disciple.

Yi Hanxing did not know if she felt heat or an itch. Tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision. From her perspective, the man had actually closed his eyes and was sitting cross-legged, seriously regulating his breath. She panted for a while, her gaze lingering on him more and more. She had never noticed before that her cheap Master was actually quite handsome. He possessed the elegance of a dragon and the grace of a phoenix, a natural masterpiece. There were those dark, deep eyes, that straight nose, those thin lips, and the broad shoulders, narrow waist, and firm physique she had glimpsed back at the Golden Scale Hall.

She could not help but swallow hard. In the dead silence of the room, the sound of her swallowing was incredibly conspicuous.

Qin Wuzhou abruptly opened his eyes. As a Nascent Soul cultivator, his senses were far sharper than those of an ordinary person. The rustle of her clothes as she squirmed on the floor, her high body temperature, and the faint fragrance emanating from her could not escape him. And now, she was actually drooling over him!

His nerves, already tormented by the backlash of the Glass Sun, were now at their breaking point. It was impossible to continue his meditation. He lost his usual smile, looking down at the person on the floor with a dark, brooding expression.

Yi Hanxing looked back at him with a dazed, unfocused gaze. She seemed lost in thought, her face flushed red and wearing a foolish grin. As soon as their eyes met, it was as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over her, clearing her mind slightly. Immediately after, the girl’s face twisted into an expression he knew all too well: one part honesty, one part grievance, and four parts pretense. It was the same look the black and white cat used to give him after scratching his clothes.

“Master, why are you looking at me like that?” She was still playing dumb.

Qin Wuzhou stared at her for a moment and said coldly, “Is it that difficult to endure?”

Yi Hanxing froze. After a moment of hesitation, she admitted honestly, “Yes.”

Qin Wuzhou rubbed his throbbing temples, summoning the last of his patience. “What does it feel like?”

“It is very hot, very itchy, and I am so thirsty.” Yi Hanxing used the conversation to distract herself. Perhaps it was psychological, but the unbearable desire actually ebbed slightly. “Also, I feel that Master’s face is particularly handsome today.”

Qin Wuzhou’s fingers stopped mid rub. Without a word, he turned his body around, presenting her with only the back of his head.

Forget it, he thought, taking a deep breath. She was just a child who knew nothing. He had lived for a thousand years, and there was no need to take a brat’s nonsense seriously. “Can you still hold it in?” he asked, before frowning and adding decisively, “Even if you cannot, you must!”

Yi Hanxing said in a trembling voice, “Master, why do you not talk to me? Say anything. If I have something to think about, it will not be so painful.”

Qin Wuzhou was silent for a while before saying, “Fine. Twisting Jiang Yinghui’s head off just now, that felt truly satisfying.”

Yi Hanxing was speechless. She wondered if he was really starting with something that intense.

Without waiting for her response, Qin Wuzhou continued on his own, his speech rapid. “Before I defected from Yuxu Mountain, I was the youngest in the sect. My Master, Han Shengyue, was the previous Sect Master of the Yuxu Mountain Sword Sect.”

He seemed to find the word Master difficult to say, eventually referring to the man by his full name with no hint of respect. He was beginning to recount his life story. It seemed that all villains had a desire to provide plot exposition. Yi Hanxing sharpened her focus and continued to listen.

“The position of Sect Master has always been chosen from the personal disciples. According to the order of seniority, the next Sect Master should have been my Eldest Senior Brother, Lin Wujiu. Han Shengyue and the elders all favored him. They said that although Lin Wujiu’s talent was mediocre, his character was outstanding and his wisdom remarkable.”

At this point, Qin Wuzhou let out a cold, mocking laugh. “What a joke! In the path of cultivation, the strong are respected. Character and morality are nothing more than excuses losers use to salvage their dignity. In terms of cultivation, experience, or methods, in what way did Lin Wujiu ever compare to me? So, I sought out Jiang Yinghui. He was the disciple of Martial Uncle Zhou. He had idolized me since childhood, following me around all day like a shadow, calling me Senior Brother this and Senior Brother that. Therefore, the moment I proposed seizing the position of Sect Master, he agreed without hesitation.”

“Unfortunately, it ended in failure. On the day I planned to assassinate Lin Wujiu, the news somehow leaked. Han Shengyue led Lin Wujiu and over two thousand cultivators to ambush me at the peak of Yuxu Mountain. I only found out later that Jiang Yinghui had deserted. I had misjudged him. I did not realize that the little shadow was actually a spineless worm. Seeing the enemy’s numbers, he feared the rebellion would fail and snitched to Martial Uncle Zhou and Han Shengyue first.”

The events of a century ago still carried the scent of blood. Yi Hanxing was drawn in, her heart racing. No wonder Jiang Yinghui acted as if he were in a life and death struggle with the Night Demon. He likely knew he was the one who betrayed him first and felt guilty, leading him to strike first time and again until his obsession became a mental demon.

But she wondered what role the original male lead played in this story.

Qin Wuzhou continued in a deep voice, “Because the coup failed, I was despised by everyone at Yuxu Mountain. I was buried in the Valley of Withered Bones, and my name was erased. The winner takes all, and that is just how it is. But I refuse to accept my fate. Since I crawled out of hell, it must be heaven’s will that I do not die. Otherwise, in a dead land filled with demonic energy where nothing grows, how could a black and white stray cat appear out of nowhere to lead me to a way out?”

He gave a short laugh. “It is providence. It is my destiny to live. The position of supreme ruler of the world belongs to me.”

The long buried past had been poured out all at once, like using a hot blade to excise rotten flesh. It was both painful and liberating. He closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the buzzing vibration of the Glass Sun in his eye sockets to subside. Only then did he realize the room was exceptionally quiet.

“Why are you,” he began, turning around. He was shocked to find Yi Hanxing collapsed on the floor. Her face was flushed dark red, and her hands were struggling weakly, trying to reach for the water bowl on the table.

Qin Wuzhou grabbed the tea bowl and scooped up her head. She gulped it down in two swallows. She had clearly been pushed to the brink of death by the thirst caused by the aphrodisiac incense. After coughing for a long time, she finally caught her breath and looked up at him. Her first words were, “And then?”

Qin Wuzhou was stunned, then suddenly felt like laughing. “There is no and then.”

He let out a long breath. The gloom that had been weighing on his chest had dissipated quite a bit after this interruption. Yi Hanxing slumped in his arms, lowering her head to drink more water while muttering indistinctly, “Although I do not really want to admit it, Master, you have such a high sense of entitlement. No matter what you do, you will succeed.”

“What does entitlement mean?” When she finished one cup, Qin Wuzhou poured her another. This girl was like she was made of water. If he looked away for a moment, her clothes were soaked with sweat. She felt damp and heavy in his hands. He wiped his sweaty palms on her skirt with a look of distaste.

“It means you are very confident,” Yi Hanxing said weakly, having no energy to argue with him.

He took it as a compliment, so Qin Wuzhou naturally accepted it.

“You mentioned a black and white stray cat? Was it Little White?” Yi Hanxing asked curiously. No wonder a grand Spirit Severing cultivator had such a surprisingly cute avatar.

Qin Wuzhou looked at her. The girl’s condition was not good. Because the aphrodisiac remained unresolved, she had become sickly and weak. It was strange, as he had never seen an aphrodisiac incense with such potent toxicity. He withdrew his gaze, composed himself, and briefly explained how he encountered the stray cat in the Valley of Withered Bones, fed it some meat from corpses and rainwater, and was then led out of the valley. He did not know why he felt like talking so much today.

When he finished, he was silent for a moment before his lips curled slightly. “Such a heartless beast actually possessed a bit of humanity and knew how to repay a debt.”

Yi Hanxing thought about it and said seriously, “A kitten might be weak, but a kitten has a heart. You gave the kitten water and food, and you were kind to it. The kitten definitely would not leave you behind.”

Qin Wuzhou blinked, his gaze slowly settling on her. She was pouting as she drank water. Suddenly feeling uncomfortable under his focused stare, she was about to say something when an unprecedented wave of heat surged into her abdomen. It was as if the last string in her mind had snapped.

“What is wrong now?” Qin Wuzhou reached out to support her, but before he could touch her shoulder, she suddenly grabbed his arm. He did not know what was wrong with him, but he did not dodge immediately. He was tackled straight to the floor by her.

Yi Hanxing’s wrists were still tied in front of her chest, but that did not stop her from nimbly straddling him. Feeling his waist tightly gripped by her legs, a vein popped on Qin Wuzhou’s forehead. “What madness are you,” he began, but before he could finish, his eyes were covered. Yi Hanxing’s hands were pressed against his eyelids, and her body began a clumsy yet passionate rhythmic movement.

In a state of chaos, she belatedly remembered that in the original book’s setting, a furnace’s heat could not dissipate on its own. On the contrary, the more it was suppressed, the more violent the eventual backlash. She thought about what a garbage story this was.

But she was now completely unable to think rationally. Her mind was filled with nothing but illicit thoughts. Had she been conscious, her natural detachment would have prevented her from being this close to Qin Wuzhou, but under the buff of the furnace constitution, that part of her had vanished. The only thing she remembered was reading somewhere that moving the hips in the shape of the word O would make for a better experience.

It seemed the experience was too good. Just as she was tracing the letter O, the man beneath her let out a low growl and flipped her over, pinning her down. The hands Yi Hanxing used to cover his eyes were forcibly pried away and pinned above her head. Her Master’s brilliant golden double pupils were trembling and spinning violently. They reflected a dizzying light under the flickering candlelight, looking as if countless flower buds were blooming in his pupils.

Qin Wuzhou’s expression was one of both pain and confusion. Clearly, the backlash of the Glass Sun he had been suppressing was surging once more. His face was flushed, and the veins on his forehead were prominent. As he looked down at her, a drop of sweat hung from the tip of his nose. Yi Hanxing instinctively stuck out her tongue to lick it, but he jerked his head away.

Their bodies were intimately close, yet their heads were kept far apart. Qin Wuzhou seemed very unwilling. He would neither kiss her nor let her kiss him. He just stared intensely into her eyes, seemingly wanting to use the Illusory Flower Pupil technique on her one last time before losing control completely. But Yi Hanxing was prepared and simply closed her eyes.

“Look at me!” Qin Wuzhou growled in anger, reaching out to pry her eyelids open, only to have her bite down hard on the base of his thumb. He winced in pain. The last of his patience was instantly wiped out. He used his other hand to roughly grab her chin, forcing his knuckle between her teeth and firmly pressing down on her soft, restless red tongue to force her mouth open.

Only then was his left hand rescued. The bite was deep, leaving clear, tiny teeth marks like those of a small animal, with several thin lines of blood seeping out. Qin Wuzhou’s bloodlust and anger were ignited by this pain. He pinned down Yi Hanxing’s wrists again as she tried to strike him. Rather than a romantic encounter, their current state was better described as a scuffle.

They wrestled together. For a time, the room was filled with nothing but heavy breathing. Both sides were stubbornly struggling, moving from one end of the floor to the other without a word. In the heat of the moment, neither thought to use magic. They were like village children brawling, fighting without any grace or dignity.

It was unclear who started on the clothes first. After a period of tearing sounds, tattered cloth that no longer resembled garments was scattered across the floor. Even after the clothes were gone, the battle for dominance continued. They used kicks, punches, headbutts, and eventually even teeth. Yi Hanxing bit down on Qin Wuzhou’s shoulder. His forceful movements stopped abruptly, and he let out a sharp hiss of pain. He could no longer even fake a smile, cursing in exasperation, “Are you a dog? Why do you only know how to bite me?”

The room was not lit, relying entirely on a dying candle in the corridor for light. Yi Hanxing was nearly blind in the dark, judging his body parts solely by instinct. She wrapped her tied hands around Qin Wuzhou’s neck. As her hands slid down his back, her fingers suddenly felt a thick, long ridge. She did not react immediately and pressed it a few more times before realizing it was a long scar. It was two fingers wide and spanned his entire spine.

“What is this?” she asked, frowning.

Qin Wuzhou did not answer. Instead, he suddenly increased his intensity. The sound Yi Hanxing made changed instantly. At first, she had the strength to tell him to be gentler, but she soon realized the man was not listening at all. He was focused solely on his own release. Her requests turned into curses, and when her voice grew half hoarse, the curses turned into low whimpers and sobs mixed with piteous pleading.

However, those soft sounds did not earn her any sympathy from Qin Wuzhou. Instead, they only further stimulated his primal instincts. Chaos, madness, and being covered in scars, it truly was an X rated original book. That was Yi Hanxing’s last thought before she passed out from exhaustion.

The fire burned through the night. At dawn, a sudden torrential rain finally extinguished the flames. The rain pattered down with lingering warmth from the overcast sky. It turned from drops to sheets, and then into a thick curtain of rain that shrouded the half collapsed ruins of the Tianxiang Pavilion. The glazed tiles buried in ash were washed clean, revealing their bright colors once more.

Amidst the roar of the rain, Qin Wuzhou woke up. A snow white arm was draped across his chest, pinning down one of his hands. He glanced at the bloody scratches on his arm made by her nails but ignored them. He reached out to check the breath of the person beside him. She was still breathing, just not awake. He felt her cheek. The high fever from the aphrodisiac incense had subsided.

Only then did he push her aside and sit up. He inadvertently strained the bite wound on his shoulder and winced slightly. He frowned and picked up the discarded clothes on the floor, checking them over. As expected, they were all torn beyond repair. He walked out naked. After a while, he returned, having found robes, shoes, and socks in another intact room. He had also found a set of women’s clothes and a candlestick.

As he tied his belt, he felt something was missing. His left ear felt empty. He guessed that during the intensity of last night, the earring must have flown off. He frowned, holding the lamp in one hand as he circled the room. Seeing no sign of the earring, he paused before walking toward the bed.

Perhaps they had truly overdone it last night. Yi Hanxing was still not awake, clutching the silk quilt and sleeping in a sprawled out position. Even when the candlelight hit her face, she only frowned slightly and turned over to continue sleeping. Qin Wuzhou instinctively twitched his lips, then realized he was smiling. The smile froze.

His face became expressionless. He stood in the glow of the lamp for a moment before suddenly slapping his face twice. He took a deep breath, composed himself, and bent over to search the bed. He soon found the earring. It had been pinned under her backside. The hard silver piece had left a red mark on her soft skin. When he pulled it out, she let out a comfortable grunt of relief. The cold earring had been kept warm all night, and as it sat in his palm, it carried a strange warmth.

Having found his item, Qin Wuzhou did not leave immediately. He kneaded the flat, slightly round earring in his fingers, lost in thought. Whenever the Glass Sun backlashed, it was accompanied by an overwhelming urge to kill. That feeling could only be compared to having ten thousand arrows pierce the heart. In the past, he would return to the Valley of Withered Bones to vent by slaughtering the demons there.

But that was only a temporary relief. It felt as if a never satisfied beast lurked in his heart, roaring in fury at all times, craving blood and slaughter. Last night was different. Qin Wuzhou sat in a daze. He did not like the feeling of being trapped in confusion, as that would make him feel as if he were being controlled by some unknown power. He wanted everything to be within his grasp. So, he sat by the bed, his head tilted and his chin resting on one hand, thinking deeply.

Last night, there was no river of blood or land covered in corpses. Upon waking, there were no severed limbs or the tears of someone in pain. Instead, he felt like a starving man who had eaten a full meal for the first time. A strange warmth filled his chest, and the backlash of the Glass Sun gradually dissolved in this gentle heat.

Qin Wuzhou’s gaze fell once again on the sleeping girl. If her first encounter at the Golden Scale Hall could be considered a mistake, then after last night, after she touched the scar on his back and asked about it, he could not let her live. No one who knew his secrets could survive. Success is built on ten thousand bones, and whoever blocks me, whoever stands in my way, shall die.

Qin Wuzhou slowly reached out toward her. Just as he was about to touch her slender neck, she seemed to feel an itch and suddenly turned over, narrowly missing his fingertips. He let out a sharp breath, his fingers clenching into a fist.

But she had said that he was kind to the kitten, so the kitten would never leave him.

Qin Wuzhou took out the earring again, letting fate decide. If it landed with the side with characters facing up, then it was heaven’s will that she live. If the blank side was up, then he would finish it.

The earring glittered as it was tossed high into the air, spinning as it fell. The side facing up was as smooth as a mirror, and there was nothing. Qin Wuzhou was silent for a moment before muttering to himself, “Once is too hasty. Besides, I did not throw it correctly just now. I should do it again.”

Having successfully convinced himself, he grabbed the earring and tossed it up once more. Almost at the same instant the earring fell, he moved like an arrow and slammed his hand down on it without looking. The hard edge dug into his palm, making him frown. It was time to look. Were there characters or was it blank? Why was he hesitating?

But he still maintained this strange posture for a good while without moving. Instead, the restless Yi Hanxing turned over again, her face rolling right next to the base of his palm. She must have been dreaming of something, as she mistook his wrist for food and bit down. Qin Wuzhou jerked his hand back, but he was too late to grab the earring. He watched as she snatched the earring, put it in her mouth with her eyes closed, and chewed a few times. Realizing it did not taste good, she spat it out.

The earring clattered off the bed and rolled deep into the space beneath. Qin Wuzhou stood there, stunned. After a moment, he suddenly lowered his head, covered his face, and let out a low, soft laugh.