I Accidentally Triggered the Restricted Punishment Protocol - Chapter 26

After some discussion, Nan Xun pushed his wheelchair out of the Golden Scale Hall. The horizon was already bathed in the glow of the sunset.

Under the brilliant twilight, a girl in a pink dress stood beside a large red pillar, tiptoeing as she peered in his direction.

“Junior Sister Yi?” Nan Xun pushed his wheelchair to her side. She gave him a sweet smile and took a round object from her sleeve, pressing it into his hand.

Yi Hanxing had been waiting for him for a long time. “This is the Yuan Nurturing Vine. Senior Brother Nan Xun, the poison in your body can finally be cured.”

Nan Xun froze. Subconsciously, he said, “Master already cured the poison for me long ago.”

“What?” Yi Hanxing was stunned. She stared at him in silence for a moment before Nan Xun realized the situation. He thanked her solemnly. “Junior Sister, you are very thoughtful.”

Yi Hanxing observed him closely. Seeing that his complexion was ruddy and his voice was strong, he did not look like someone suffering from poisoning. She concluded he was not lying and smiled. “It is good that Senior Brother is fine.”

It made sense. With Qin Wuzhou’s level of cultivation, he would know exactly what kind of poison Nan Xun had contracted at a single glance. Even the poison of a venomous fang was something he could resolve with a mere wave of his hand.

Previously, she had assumed Qin Wuzhou was cold hearted and would not care about the lives of his disciples. That was why she had risked asking for the medicine herself and had never mentioned the matter to him.

Yi Hanxing shook her head, sighing at her wasted efforts. However, saving a life was a great virtue, so she did not feel unhappy about it.

Then another thought occurred to her. Qin Wuzhou actually went out of his way to heal Nan Xun? Could it be that the relationship between these two was much better than she had imagined?

It was hard to tell, but it seemed that fellow Qin Wuzhou still possessed a shred of humanity.

A rare smile appeared on Nan Xun’s usually stern face. “It was kind of you to remember me while you were out. You should keep this Yuan Nurturing Vine for yourself. You previously suffered a deviation in your cultivation. Have you fully recovered yet?”

If he had not mentioned it, she would have almost forgotten.

If not for that deviation, the original owner of this body would not have risked her life to climb into Qin Wuzhou’s bed. If she had not climbed into his bed, she would not have angered the Great Demon. If she had not angered the Great Demon, she would not have been expelled from the sect and ended up in the Ghost Market. If she had not ended up in the Ghost Market, her identity as a human cauldron would not have been discovered, and she would not have been subjected to all that followed.

In short, the root of everything lay in that cursed cultivation deviation!

Yi Hanxing said, “Because of that deviation, many of my past memories are blurry. Senior Brother, can you help me remember? Before the accident, did I do anything strange?”

Nan Xun’s expression changed slightly as if he were hesitant to speak. After a long pause, he said vaguely, “About half a month before the incident, perhaps because the weather was hot, you stopped dressing properly. You even knocked on my door in the middle of the night, asking me to save you.”

Yi Hanxing felt a chill. That was not a cultivation deviation; it was clearly the human cauldron going into heat.

Nan Xun added, looking confused, “It was also strange because you never focused on your cultivation. Yet during that time, you frequently went into seclusion for ten days at a time. You were so diligent that you did not seem like yourself at all.”

She suspected that during those periods of seclusion, the original girl was struggling through the tides of her physical desires.

It was a close call. The original owner had maintained a shred of morality and did not force herself on Nan Xun despite her condition. Otherwise, it truly would have been a case of bullying a disabled person.

Realizing that the original owner had also been troubled by the human cauldron constitution, Yi Hanxing felt a surge of shared sorrow. This constitution was a literal time bomb.

Nan Xun studied her and looked relieved. “It seems you gained much from your travels with Master. Your complexion is much better now.”

Yi Hanxing touched her face guiltily, wondering if he was referring to the effects of the human cauldron’s dual cultivation. She gave a forced laugh. “Is that so?”

Nan Xun returned to his serious demeanor. “Diligence is a good thing, but you must use the right methods. What you did last time was unacceptable. You spent three days in the Pavilion of a Thousand Scrolls without eating or sleeping, and you suffered a cultivation deviation that very night.”

Yi Hanxing’s interest was piqued. “I went to the Pavilion of a Thousand Scrolls before the incident? Senior Brother, do you know what books I was reading?”

Nan Xun shook his head. “That day, I only saw you carrying a stack of thick books. You looked happy but were in a hurry, so I did not stop to greet you. I do not know exactly what you were reading.”

It seemed that to find the truth behind the cultivation deviation, she would have to visit the Pavilion of a Thousand Scrolls.

Finally, Nan Xun insisted on pressing the Yuan Nurturing Vine back into her hand. “A cultivation deviation is no joking matter. You must take care of yourself. This vine belongs to you since you are the one who obtained it.”

Yi Hanxing could not refuse and tucked it into her pocket. She found it ironic that the great artifact of the original male lead, which could cure a thousand diseases, had become a useless item she could not even give away.

Since she held the artifact of the original male lead, she needed to find an opportunity to return it to Lin Wujiu. Otherwise, it would be quite embarrassing if she delayed his path to greatness and romance.

Following Nan Xun’s directions, Yi Hanxing found the library of Qing棠 Valley, the Pavilion of a Thousand Scrolls.

In that moment, Yi Hanxing, who had spent two years slacking off in university, looked at the mountains of books and felt the familiar fear of being overwhelmed by schoolwork. Since she did not know what the original girl had been reading, finding the specific book was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

She decided to make the best of it. She was somewhat interested in the notes left by the predecessors of the Hehuan Sect, so she opened one.

It claimed to be a travelogue, but it was more of a conquest log for the Hehuan Sect elders.

“On a certain day of a certain month, I met a sword cultivator of the Way of Heartlessness in Jiangdong City. He was exceptionally handsome but cold and indifferent. After failing to get close to him multiple times, I drugged him and slept with him.”

Below it were two fresh ink comments added later. One said, “Great equipment, great skills. Five star review for the Feiyu Sect sword cultivator.” The other said, “Strong drug effect. Produced by Lihua Palace. Truly top quality.”

Yi Hanxing was speechless.

“On a certain day of a certain month, I sneaked into the Great Mingguang Temple and met a handsome Buddhist monk. I could not take him by force, so I bound him with Immortal Binding Ropes. However, he broke free halfway through. I had to cut off my own arm to escape the pursuit of the other monks. That was a close call.”

She was stunned by the sheer chaos of it.

“On a certain day of a certain month, a sword cultivator from the Feiyu Sect came to our door. He claimed to have been abandoned by a female cultivator of our sect and that his heart for the Way of Heartlessness was ruined. Total damages included two stone guardian beasts, four houses, and various porcelain items. Six disciples were injured. Total compensation: three hundred and seventy eight taels of spirit stones.”

She read on, horrified.

“On a certain day of a certain month, I visited the Formless Ghost Market. I actually saw a living human cauldron.”

Seeing those keywords, Yi Hanxing’s breath hitched. She skipped a long list of praises for the cauldron’s beauty and finally found a crucial piece of information.

“That human cauldron told me that although the constitution is innate, it is not irreversible. To break the curse, one needs to find a sincere love. The true heart of a lover can eliminate the curse of the human cauldron constitution. However, I suspect she was just trying to trick me into dual cultivation. Regardless, I slept with her first.”

Yi Hanxing closed the book in annoyance. None of these Hehuan Sect cultivators were reliable. This Qing棠 Valley was no different from a den of vice. Those who stayed here either exploited others or were exploited themselves, and she wanted neither.

She had to run. She could not let her experience at the Fragrant Heaven Pavilion repeat itself.

Realizing these travelogues were useless, she stood up to find a new volume. As she passed the management desk, the disciple on duty recognized her. “Senior Sister Yi.”

In Qing棠 Valley, the rank of disciples followed their respective masters. Since Qin Wuzhou was the Sect Leader, his disciples were considered senior brothers and sisters to everyone else.

The disciple, eager to please, said, “Senior Sister, are you here to borrow that same book from ten days ago?”

Ten days ago, exactly when the original girl suffered her cultivation deviation. Yi Hanxing said casually, “I am sorry, I have been busy lately and my memory is a bit fuzzy. What was that book called again?”

“Oh, you used the self service checkout last time. Let me check. Here it is: The Method of Washing Meridians and Changing Marrow?” The disciple frowned. “How could the Pavilion of a Thousand Scrolls have such a thing?”

Yi Hanxing feigned curiosity. “Is there something wrong with that book?”

The disciple looked around before lowering his voice. “Do you not know, Senior Sister? This book is listed as one of the ten great forbidden books of the immortal sects. It is supposed to be destroyed upon sight!”

Yi Hanxing kept a straight face. “I thought so. That book looked strange when I read it. I flipped through a few pages and then misplaced it.”

The disciple did not doubt her. “It is good that you did not read it, Senior Sister. I cannot believe there is a spare copy in the library. I must find it immediately.”

Yi Hanxing offered to help, and the disciple led her to the second floor. Records showed there were two copies of the book hidden in an obscure corner.

While the disciple checked for other copies, Yi Hanxing turned her back and opened the book. She nearly choked on the dust. The disciple was busy reporting the discovery of a forbidden book to his superiors. “Yes, there is no record of who purchased it. It appeared out of nowhere. Fortunately, only one person has borrowed it so far, so it has not spread.”

He was too distracted to watch her.

Yi Hanxing skimmed through a few pages and quickly understood why the book was forbidden. As the name suggested, the entire text focused on one theme: how to change one’s innate constitution and reshape spiritual veins to defy fate.

However, this was not achieved through divine techniques like in a typical novel, but through demonic paths. No spiritual roots? Simple. Capture a cultivator, pull out their roots while they are alive, and graft them into your own body.

Difficulty in body tempering? Easy. Find a suitable practitioner, flay their skin, and wear it as your own.

Unable to grow spiritual herbs? Not hard. At every full moon, bury a high level cultivator alive in the herb garden. Once the seeds absorb enough essence from the person, they will sprout and grow vigorously.

The more she read, the more nauseated she became. Every word in the book screamed of “devouring humans.” How did such a thing end up in this library?

The book was suddenly snatched from her hand. The disciple had finished his report. Seeing her pale face, he said nervously, “Senior Sister Yi, you must not believe a single word in this book! It was written by the Sky Demon to deceive people!”

Yi Hanxing snapped out of it. “The Sky Demon?”

The disciple spoke with lingering fear. “Yes. Legend says that a thousand years ago, the world was in chaos and demonic energy ran rampant. Mortals were displaced and misery was everywhere. It was a tragedy. Human resentment accumulated and turned into demons, eventually giving birth to a great disaster. Can you guess what it was, Senior Sister?”

Yi Hanxing answered, “The Sky Demon?”

“Exactly!” The disciple clapped his hands and began to talk incessantly. “They say the Sky Demon was formed from the resentment of all living things. Therefore, it could not be harmed by blades, destroyed by fire, or die of old age. Originally, the demons had no intelligence and were no different from beasts. Although they were physically strong, they lacked brains and were easily defeated by our ancestors. Before the Sky Demon appeared, humans and demons had fought for centuries. Humans were about to drive the demons back to the Bone Wastes. But after the Sky Demon arrived, everything changed.”

“It used unknown methods to enlighten the strongest demons, giving them intelligence. Then, instead of leading them directly into battle, the Sky Demon sent its subordinates out to preach and lure humans into practicing demonic arts!”

A chill ran down Yi Hanxing’s spine. She whispered, “The way of the warrior is to strike at the heart.”

“Exactly! That move by the Sky Demon was effective. The war reignited and lasted another two hundred years, nearly wiping out the human race. If not for the Sky Demon being stopped by that Ye.”

The disciple suddenly covered his mouth and stared at Yi Hanxing in terror. She understood and mouthed the name “Ye Mitian.” The disciple nodded frantically.

This was surprising. It turned out her Master had such a glorious past as a savior of the world. Yet now he had fallen into such infamy that his name was a forbidden taboo.

The disciple sighed. “After the Sky Demon died, most demons were driven back to the Bone Wastes. Peace returned, but it did not last long. That Ye, well, you know who I mean, started fighting his own master for the position of Immortal Sovereign. Many sects were dragged into the conflict, leading to another bloodbath.”

He shook his head. “Human hearts are unpredictable.”

Yi Hanxing handed the book to him for destruction and found a place to sit. To help disciples study, the library burned a special incense that aided meditation. This allowed her to think about the relationship between the book and the original owner of her body.

The book was designed to lure people into the demonic path. The original girl had borrowed it ten days before her deviation, after which she had tried to seduce Qin Wuzhou. Yi Hanxing had noticed a chapter titled “How to Remove the Human Cauldron Constitution.” She had not looked closely for fear of being lured, but the original girl likely had.

The original book did not say much about this side character, but a girl who ended up as a human cauldron likely lacked a strong will. She probably refused to accept her fate as a cauldron. She was weak but desperate, making her the perfect target for a demon’s lure.

Yi Hanxing felt a sense of melancholy. The truth behind the cultivation deviation seemed obvious now. However, a new question emerged. Who had placed that book in the library? The library was managed daily, and there were strict rules for books. Who could have planted it without leaving a trace?

She could not figure it out. As she meditated, her mind slipped into a dreamlike state. She saw herself, or rather, the original owner of the body, walking alone, passing by laughing disciples.

Yi Hanxing realized these were the residual memories of the original soul within the body. She had never felt these before. Usually, after a cultivation deviation, the soul would have dissipated. She did not know how long this memory would last.

The original girl walked close to the walls with her head down, clutching a thick stack of books. She navigated the shelves with ease and finally found a dusty volume.

Seeing the title The Method of Washing Meridians and Changing Marrow, Yi Hanxing sighed. She could not stop the past, but she watched as a smile bloomed on the girl’s face. This was the first time she had seen the girl smile, and her clear eyes sparkled with light. She was truly a beautiful girl.

The girl tiptoed to take the book and held it to her chest like a treasure, ignoring the dust. Her steps were light as she walked back, believing she had found a way to change her fate. She did not know she had just opened the gates of hell.

As the memory of the library faded, the scene shifted to an unexpected place: the Formless Ghost Market.

Before joining Qing棠 Valley, the original girl had been Slave Number Sixty Seven in the Ghost Market.

A small figure appeared on a hill covered in white flowers. It was a child in ragged clothes with messy hair and a dirty face. Yi Hanxing recognized those deer like eyes immediately. It was the original owner as a child.

She looked terrified and was running, constantly looking back for pursuers. She stumbled over stones, making Yi Hanxing’s heart race. Below the hill, the Ghost Market was in chaos. People were shouting that someone had injured the Lord of Formlessness.

Yi Hanxing realized that the person who injured him must have been.

“Ouch!” The young girl accidentally bumped into someone and fell.

A young man in black was crouching by a stream, washing his hands. The water was icy, but he did not seem to care as he washed the blood from his palms. Qin Wuzhou turned his head and frowned at the child. “Where did this brat come from?”

The child recognized him. He was the one who had crushed the head of the Lord of Formlessness. She wanted to run, but her legs were too weak from fear.

“Hey, where did you come from?” The Qin Wuzhou of a hundred years ago looked much like the current one, though his expression held a more obvious ferocity.

The child began to wail. A flurry of footsteps approached from behind him. “Lord!”

Yi Hanxing saw the newcomer and widened her eyes. It was Nan Xun. She had not expected him to have followed Qin Wuzhou for so long. But why did he call him “Lord”? She also noticed he was not in a wheelchair.

Nan Xun knelt before Qin Wuzhou. “I failed in my duty. The Lord of Formlessness escaped.”

Qin Wuzhou grunted. “He took a hit from my palm. He won’t get far.”

Nan Xun nodded and then noticed the child. “Whose child is this?”

Qin Wuzhou, suffering from a headache after the fight, pressed his temples. “Probably a slave kept by that disgusting Lord of Formlessness.”

Nan Xun’s face darkened. “To treat such a small child this way, that man was truly wretched!”

Yi Hanxing was surprised by Nan Xun’s kind heart. How did such a man end up following a cold blooded master like Qin Wuzhou?

Nan Xun approached the child with great patience, trying to force a smile. However, he was not used to smiling, and the child began to cry even louder.

“Hey, don’t cry!” Nan Xun tried to pat her back. Qin Wuzhou, annoyed by the noise, said coldly, “Why are you bothering with her? Besides, it is a girl!”

Nan Xun was stunned. It was hard to tell at that age, especially since the child had short hair and a dirty face. Sensing that the man in green was kinder, the child choked out, “I, I am Number Sixty Seven.”

Qin Wuzhou sneered. “Indeed, a slave of the Ghost Market.”

Nan Xun looked sympathetic. “Only a number? No name?”

The child shook her head. Nan Xun was about to speak when Qin Wuzhou interrupted. “You aren’t planning to give her a name, are you? Why don’t you just take her back as your daughter?”

Nan Xun said seriously, “I am not married. How could I have such a large daughter? On the other hand, you have no one to care for you, Lord. Ever since Lady Qin passed away, you have been alone. It worries me.”

Yi Hanxing sat on a rock to watch. She was in a spiritual state, acting like a silent witness to this scene.

Qin Wuzhou’s face turned black at Nan Xun’s words. “One more word and I will pull out your tongue!”

Yi Hanxing smirked. The thousand year old virgin was clearly defensive. She almost laughed at the thought, until she remembered that she was the one who had finally broken that streak. Her smile vanished instantly.