I Accidentally Triggered the Restricted Punishment Protocol - Chapter 29

In the dining hall of Qingtang Valley, the most popular spot is always the vegetarian window. Whether male or female, young or old, every disciple is constantly dieting, perpetually anxious about their physique, and forever a slave to beauty. This is considered one of the great burdens of being in the Hehuan Sect.

While a group of disciples carried trays of green fodder, their faces looking as sallow as the grass they ate, Yi Hanxing sat down with a plate of braised chicken in a rich, dark sauce, a jar of mother hen soup with goji berries, and a side of fragrant fried chicken wings, all accompanied by a bowl of glistening, fresh white rice.

Though some cultivators pursue extreme asceticism, most still eat three meals a day. They simply use spiritual water and spiritual rice to aid their cultivation, maintaining a distinction from mere mortals.

Yi Hanxing started eating the moment she sat down. The meeting had lasted nearly an hour, and she was truly starving. With a braised drumstick in her left hand and a fried wing in her right, she chewed vigorously. Su Meinang watched her eat with such relish that the advice to watch her figure died on her lips. Finally, she just smiled kindly. “Eat slowly. Look at you, eating like a little yellow weasel.”

Forget it, she thought, the child is still young and growing; it is only natural to have a good appetite.

With that in mind, Su Meinang used her chopsticks to place a piece of braised eggplant into Yi Hanxing’s bowl. “Balance your meat with some vegetables. Try this; I have not touched it yet.”

1. 1. Genetically. Modified. Giant. Eggplant!

Seeing that dark purple mass, Yi Hanxing’s brow twitched. A certain less than pleasant memory from the Golden Scale Palace surged into her mind. Darn it, she used to be a good child who was not picky about food at all!

But Su Meinang was so insistent that Yi Hanxing found herself in a dilemma. She tried to divert attention by making conversation. “By the way, Senior Aunt, can you tell me what usually happens during the internal competition?”

Su Meinang ate a few stalks of boiled greens and began to explain. “The internal competition for our sect’s disciples is called the Mirror Heart Trial. It consists of two stages and five subjects. The two stages are a written exam and a practical evaluation.”

While she was not looking, Yi Hanxing stealthily stuffed the purple eggplant under her rice, pretending she had finished it. “Practical evaluation, is it what I think it is?”

Su Meinang’s gaze turned slightly pitying. “Silly child, that is why I told you to ask your Master for help. One of the three practical subjects is Hehuan Arts.”

Yi Hanxing thought to herself that it was exactly as expected of a restricted novel. It was one thing for the Hehuan Sect to test Hehuan Arts regularly, but why was it a requirement for selecting disciples for an inter-sect joint trial? Did they expect disciples to suddenly start doing it in the middle of a fight with other sects?

Su Meinang comforted her. “But you need not worry too much. The trial uses one time wooden puppets. They are enchanted to lower their heartbeat; only under a sufficiently strong charm spell will the puppet’s heart begin to beat. If you reach fifty beats within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, you pass.”

At least she did not actually have to deal with a real person. Yi Hanxing breathed a sigh of relief and plucked up the courage to ask, “What are the other three subjects?”

Su Meinang replied, “Besides the Hehuan Arts testing charm, the other two practical subjects test willpower and endurance. To prevent students from memorizing the answers, the specific format changes every year and is decided by the competition committee. We do not know the details yet.”

“The remaining two written subjects are the Overview of Techniques and General Knowledge of the Immortal Sects. These are general education courses that inner disciples take as soon as they enter. They should be a piece of cake for you.”

That was not exactly true. She did not know if the original body had learned them, but Yi Hanxing had never even heard of them.

Seeing her gnawing on a chicken wing with a face full of worry, Su Meinang sighed. “Why are you so set on going to the Ascension Ceremony? It is a thankless task. If you just want to go out and sightsee, I can take you.”

Yi Hanxing shook her head. “I just want to see the world.”

There was a deeper reason, of course: she was planning for her furnace constitution. In the original book, Yuxu Mountain was a righteous sect, incomparable to the Hehuan Sect where lust and evil ran rampant. As a furnace, she was like a little fat lamb; she would naturally rather stay with a herd of grass eating cows than in a den of wolves. Moreover, in the original ending, Qin Wuzhou’s schemes were exposed, and he became a public enemy. He died from a backlash of his own power, and the Hehuan Sect that supported him was purged, leading to the entire sect’s annihilation. Staying here was a dead end. Turning toward the light was the only right path.

Grateful for Su Meinang’s care, Yi Hanxing could not help but drop a hint. “Senior Aunt Su, have you ever thought about going to another sect?”

Su Meinang was shocked. “Do you not want to stay under your Master’s command anymore?”

Yi Hanxing nearly choked. “No, of course not. I just, well, sigh, forget it. Pretend I did not say anything.”

Su Meinang agreed, but her heart swelled with pity. She knew Hanxing was an honest girl; for her to be pushed to the point of trying her hardest to leave the valley and change masters, Qin Wuzhou must have tormented her beyond belief! The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Suddenly, she slammed the table. “Qin Wuzhou!”

Yi Hanxing nearly caught a chicken bone in her throat. “I know you care for me and are upset, but you do not need to shout his name so loudly.”

Su Meinang raised her voice even higher, shouting angrily, “Qin Wuzhou!” After shouting, she stood up abruptly and pointed behind Yi Hanxing. “Sect Master Qin Wuzhou, come over here!”

What! He is actually here!

From the Thousand Volume Pavilion to the Dining Hall, this man was everywhere! Yi Hanxing shivered and dove under the table. Once underneath, she realized something was wrong. She was not the one yelling at him, so why was she hiding out of guilt? But having already ducked inside, it would be too embarrassing to crawl out in front of everyone. During her moment of hesitation, a pair of wooden clogs clattered to a stop in front of the table.

Qin Wuzhou’s voice rang out. “I am not deaf. Elder Su need not shout so loudly.”

Su Meinang snorted, then realized Yi Hanxing was gone. She looked around in confusion. “Where is Disciple Yi?”

Qin Wuzhou looked down. A corner of a pale pink skirt was stealthily retreating by the table leg. He curled his lips into a silent smile and moved his right foot, firmly stepping on the edge of the fabric. Yi Hanxing tugged hard, realizing this man was definitely doing it on purpose! Now she could not run even if she wanted to.

“She probably finished eating and left,” Qin Wuzhou said with a grin.

Squatting under the table, Yi Hanxing watched as Qin Wuzhou sat down in her former spot. Su Meinang huffed and sat back down as well. Fortunately, the dining hall tables were large, made of heavy, solid huanghuali wood. Trapped between their four legs, she managed to find just enough space to hide.

“Sect Master Su usually sees me as a thorn in her side. Why so warm today as to invite me for a meal?” Qin Wuzhou lied through his teeth the moment he opened his mouth.

This tactic successfully disgusted Su Meinang, who snapped back, “If it were not for Hanxing, do you think I would want to bother with you!”

“Is it about the Mirror Heart Trial again?” Qin Wuzhou stuffed a spoonful of iced yogurt into his mouth. He spoke while chewing. “I already said I would teach her. Truly, the emperor is not worried, but the eunuchs are frantic.”

Under the table, Yi Hanxing’s mouth twitched. To be able to make every sentence sound so sarcastic, her Master truly was gifted.

Su Meinang said, “Hmph, are you truly so kind as to teach her? Hanxing has been in the sect for decades, and I have never seen you show her an ounce of care.”

Qin Wuzhou’s cheeks bulged as he muttered, “Maybe I suddenly found my conscience, repented for my ways, or was possessed; that is what you want to hear, right?”

Su Meinang shouted, “Absolute nonsense!” As the daughter of the previous Sect Master and a senior to Qin Wuzhou, she often felt entitled to treat him like a junior brother. “Hanxing is good material. How did she end up with such an unreliable Master?”

Qin Wuzhou continued to grin. “Good material? The kind that has not broken through her cultivation realm in a hundred years?”

Darn it, I am actually angry now! Yi Hanxing shifted toward his leg and stomped on his foot with all her might.

Qin Wuzhou’s smile froze. He lowered his head and stuffed some malt candy into his mouth to hide his expression before saying, “My affairs need not concern Sect Master Su. I have my reasons for teaching her, and for those reasons, I will teach her well.”

Su Meinang was skeptical. “If that is the case, should you not be busy teaching her right now? Why are you idling in the dining hall?”

Qin Wuzhou answered righteously, “They have osmanthus sugar yogurt today. How could a sweets lover like me miss it?”

Su Meinang said, “The Sect Master is quick to feed himself, but does not care if his own disciple has been starving for days!”

Yi Hanxing thought, Who is starving? Me?

Qin Wuzhou was equally confused. “Did she tell you that? That I maltreat her and keep her hungry?”

Su Meinang replied, “Hmph, you know Hanxing’s honest and dutiful nature. She would never say a bad word about you to an outsider! I saw it myself; she just ate with me. Most Qingtang Valley disciples only eat greens and tofu for the sake of their charm, but Hanxing ordered two roast chickens and a big bowl of soup. If she was not starving normally, what else could it be!”

Is it possible she was just craving it? Yi Hanxing had no way to explain. She tugged at Qin Wuzhou’s skirt twice, hoping he would realize she was not a traitor who badmouthed him behind his back.

However, after two tugs, the man suddenly stretched out his long legs. The already cramped space under the table was halved instantly. Unable to dodge, Yi Hanxing fell against his thigh. Before she could push his legs away, she felt the need to clarify a few things. First, she is not a foot person, but his toenails are pink. Second, she is not a foot person, but his instep actually has visible dark blue veins. Third, she is not a foot person, but the red clog straps really complement his jade white skin.

Yi Hanxing struggled to push his legs away, but he was as solid as a rock. He even reached down with one hand and flipped his palm open in front of her. Seeing a piece of candied eggplant lying in his palm, Yi Hanxing nearly laughed out of spite. Do you think you are feeding a stray cat under the table? And who wants to eat that kind of dark cuisine that is neither sweet nor salty!

Above the table, the two continued their verbal sparring. Qin Wuzhou said, “Children are just greedy; they eat when they are hungry and eat when they are not. And Elder Su, you are far too focused on my disciple.”

That slender hand waited for a moment. When no one took the food, he curled his index finger invitingly. Yi Hanxing rolled her eyes hard and tried to crawl away. But it was as if Qin Wuzhou had eyes on the bottom of his seat; another hand came from behind her, wrapping around her neck to pinch her chin. His calloused thumb pressed mercilessly against her soft lower lip, seemingly intent on forcing the eggplant into her mouth.

Startled and angry, Yi Hanxing instinctively bit down. A sharp hiss came from Qin Wuzhou above. She spat out his thumb, and it was withdrawn. Qin Wuzhou remained expressionless, looking at the moisture and deep tooth marks on his thumb. “Truly a dog’s nature.”

Su Meinang thought he was insulting her again and flew into a rage. “Say that again!”

Qin Wuzhou did not answer. He suddenly bent down, but the space under the table was empty. Yi Hanxing had already crawled out from the other side, right next to Su Meinang. Seeing her materialize out of nowhere, Su Meinang was startled. “Hanxing?”

Yi Hanxing did not have time to explain. She grabbed her Senior Aunt and ran.

“Stop!” Qin Wuzhou’s voice came from behind, followed by a loud thud. “Sect Master! Sect Master, why did you fall?” “Sect Master, are you alright?”

Exclamations rang out through the dining hall. Yi Hanxing could not help it; she laughed so hard while running that she almost lost her breath. Before crawling out, she had untied the man’s clog straps and tied them to the table leg. Behind her, Qin Wuzhou’s roar echoed through the hall: “YI HAN XING!”

Since that prank in the dining hall, Yi Hanxing did not dare leave her room for a while, fearing he would come to settle the score. After hiding for a few days without incident, she finally felt safe enough to venture out.

Life in the Hehuan Sect was not much different from her college days. She woke up at the crack of dawn for her first 8:00 AM class. Each class lasted ninety minutes, followed by a thirty minute break. Besides small group teaching by elders for their own disciples, there were general public lectures that all inner disciples attended. These covered a wide range of basics: circulating spiritual energy, principles of spells, identifying artifacts, and mythical beasts.

Yi Hanxing had missed the start of the academic year, so she could not add or drop classes. She had to continue with whatever the original body had chosen. Luckily, she knew nothing, so every class was beneficial. Today’s class was Introduction to Swordsmanship at the martial arts field. She was running a bit late. While hurrying, she saw someone approaching from a nearby path, dressed in midnight purple with black hair loose. Qin Wuzhou!

There was no cover on this path. He clearly saw her and raised an eyebrow. Before he could speak, she made a sharp turn and retreated into another alley. Because of this detour, she was indeed late for swordsmanship class. The elder in charge was a very serious, old fashioned man. Even though she was the Sect Master’s disciple, he punished her without hesitation. After being beaten one sidedly by a training puppet for nearly an hour, Yi Hanxing rubbed her sore arms and went to receive her final chore.

The instructor ordered her to move all the training puppets used in class back to the storage hall. She took it as arm training, but the puppets were taller than her. Hugging one in front of her, she could barely see the path. The storage hall had many stairs. As she wobbled her way up, she heard footsteps coming down. She instinctively tried to make way, but her foot slipped. She lost her balance and tumbled backward.

“Ah!” The puppet hit the ground heavily, clattering down the stairs. But Yi Hanxing did not fall to the ground. More accurately, she fell onto the person coming up the stairs behind her. She groaned as she scrambled up. Seeing the person’s face, her eyes widened. It was Qin Wuzhou again!

Qin Wuzhou’s long eyebrows arched. “How long do you plan on lying on your Master?”

Yi Hanxing hurried to stand up, but her hair got caught in his buttons. Her frantic tugging did not free her; instead, she slammed her head hard into his chin. Both of them hissed in pain simultaneously. “I will untangle it right now! I am getting up!” Yi Hanxing apologized profusely while cursing the cliches of old soap operas. Who falls onto someone like this? At least they did not fall mouth to mouth.

Qin Wuzhou said coolly, “I am counting to three. If you do not get up, consider your hair gone. Three.”

Her fingers were already tugging at his button. Spurred by his countdown, she used too much force. With a rip, something round bounced away. She turned her head blankly and realized with horror that it was his button. The collar of the man beneath her was pulled wide open, revealing a solid, jade white chest that rose and fell with angry breaths.

Qin Wuzhou’s voice sounded through gritted teeth. “Did you do that on purpose?”

Yi Hanxing slammed his collar shut, trying to distance herself from the responsibility. “No! I have absolutely no desire to see Master’s big pecs!”

Qin Wuzhou pushed her away and stood up, his tone even more furious. “What? Am I so eyesore that you look down on me like that?”

Yi Hanxing waved her hands frantically. “Master is as beautiful as a flower, with a heart as broad as a valley.”

“Shut up!” Qin Wuzhou’s brow twitched. He gave her a look of pure disgust and swept away.

Yi Hanxing stuck out her tongue and picked up the fallen puppet, heading upstairs step by step. Today was truly not her day. She kept running into that guy. Ever since she saw the original body’s memories, she had not figured out how to act around him. And he said he would teach her to pass the Mirror Heart Trial, but there had been no word from him since the meeting. Did he forget? Seeing his angry face just now, she did not dare remind him.

She wondered why he was here. “Hello, Senior Sister. I am here to store the puppets from the swordsmanship class.” As she handed over the puppet, she caught another glimpse of purple. Qin Wuzhou was leaning over a desk, filling out a form. It turned out he was at the storage hall to borrow items. In this regard, Qingtang Valley was very much like a modern university. Elders and disciples could register to borrow public sect items. Of course, this being a restricted novel, the meaning of publicly available furnaces in the later stages would be quite different.

Yi Hanxing shuddered at the thought and focused on her task. Across the room, Qin Wuzhou remained expressionless, writing with flowing strokes. As she was leaving, she couldn’t help but peek. He had just finished his last word; the strokes were sharp and powerful. He did not even bother to wait for the ink to dry before shoving it toward the cultivator in charge. “Have these items ready. I want them brand new. I will pick them up tomorrow night.”

With that, he walked out with a straight back and long strides, never once looking her way. Yi Hanxing’s gaze fell on his chest, and her fingers instinctively twitched. When she fell on the stairs earlier, her palm had landed right on his chest. It felt rock hard. Her player roommate back home once told her that pectoral muscles are soft unless they are intentionally flexed. In other words, if someone lets you feel hard muscles, it was a deliberate move.

Yi Hanxing watched his retreating back, her gaze becoming sharp. After he left, she could not contain her curiosity and asked the disciple at the desk, “What did my Master come to borrow?”

Seeing she was the Sect Master’s direct disciple, the girl did not hide it and showed her the list. Yi Hanxing scanned it and saw it was all raw materials for forging artifacts and treasures. He was forging something personally? Looking at the quantities, it was a lot. She wondered what it was for.

Qin Wuzhou was a puzzle. But she had something more important to do. For the past few days, she had not left the house, so she finally had time tonight for one task: to burn incense for the original owner of this body. Knowing the original soul had vanished made her deeply sad. She had seen the girl’s past struggles to survive and liked her. Carrying incense, candles, and paper money, she headed toward the Dreamscape Terrace under the cover of night. She had picked this spot long ago. Located at the edge of the valley, it was unobstructed by mountains and offered a vast view, a perfect place to honor the dead.

The full moon hung high, its bright light falling on the girl in the pink dress and also illuminating a young man sitting on the roof of the terrace. Qin Wuzhou had been very irritable lately. The backlash from the Glass Sun was more frequent than before, and the overwhelming bloodlust was hard to suppress. Leaning against a painted gargoyle on the roof, he sat with one leg bent, drinking wine. His vision flickered, as if covered by a faint red haze.

Except for tonight. He looked down and saw a slender, graceful figure with her back to him, spiraling up the stairs. Perhaps because of the violent bloodlust in his veins, he, who was usually indifferent to women, suddenly felt a spark of interest in this girl whose face he could not see. He held up a thumb, measuring her silhouette from a distance, and licked his molars.

“A beauty, a beauty,” he murmured. He suddenly began to slap his thigh to keep rhythm, singing in a desolate voice. “There is a beauty, whom I cannot forget. A day without seeing her drives me mad.”

The song disturbed the quiet night and the girl on the stairs. The moonlight beauty suddenly turned her head. Her features were incredibly familiar. It was Yi Hanxing. Qin Wuzhou’s song stopped abruptly. It was this brat. He frowned deeply, and all his romantic whims vanished instantly.