I Accidentally Triggered the Restricted Punishment Protocol - Chapter 3

The moment Yi Hanxing stepped out of the Golden Scale Hall where Qin Wuzhou resided, the heavy doors shut behind her.

It seemed her “cheap” Master was eager to sweep her out of the house as soon as possible.

Yi Hanxing’s steps were stiff. She walked down a dozen steps before realizing she had not inherited the original body’s memories; she had no idea how to get back to the Hehuan Sect disciple quarters.

“Hanxing! Over here!”

She turned toward the voice. Before seeing a face, she heard the rhythmic clinking of gold hairpins and jade rings as the person approached.

The newcomer was a brilliant beauty with an air of sophisticated charm, draped in jewels and dressed like a nouveau riche socialite.

Recalling the descriptions from the original book, Yi Hanxing ventured a bold guess. “Senior Aunt Su?”

Her Senior Aunt, Su Meinang, looked her up and down with amazement. “Qin Wuzhou actually did not break your legs!”

Yi Hanxing: “…” Could you not wish for something better for me?

This Senior Aunt Su Meinang, whose name was only one character away from a certain dessert and a certain empress, was as plump and moving as white snow, with a personality as bold as a heroine.

Unfortunately, this gorgeous beauty was also a tragic cannon fodder character. However, her misfortune was different from Yi Hanxing’s—who was a natural-born “cauldron” and could not escape her fate. Su Meinang’s trouble was entirely self-inflicted.

Su Meinang was the daughter of the previous Hehuan Sect Master. After the previous master died, Qin Wuzhou took over, and Su Meinang had held a grudge ever since, suspecting that Qin Wuzhou murdered her father to seize power.

Because of her bloodline, Su Meinang became an Elder of Qingtang Valley despite her mediocre cultivation—having only just reached the Nascent Soul stage. However, she was not a very dedicated Elder. She was far more interested in toppling Qin Wuzhou than in contributing to the sect’s development.

For example, she frequently tried to cozy up to Qin Wuzhou’s disciples to fish for secrets or poach them to her side.

The problem was, that man was the all-knowing Great Demon Qin Wuzhou. Thinking of how the original book ended—with Su Meinang disfigured and locked in a water dungeon, driven mad—Yi Hanxing sighed inwardly.

Looking at Su Meinang now, she felt a sense of “cannon fodder meeting cannon fodder.” Feeling a bond of shared fate, she couldn’t help but feel closer to her and offered a smile.

Su Meinang was surprised. As a typical visual-oriented member of the Hehuan Sect, she had tried to get close to the exceptionally beautiful Yi Hanxing before, but the girl had been silent and aloof. Something must have happened last night to change her temperament.

Su Meinang could not help but ask, “Qin Wuzhou… he is quite capable in bed, right?”

Yi Hanxing: ?

Senior Aunt, of all the things concerning my future safety, is this your primary concern?

Yi Hanxing thought for a moment and gave an honest review: “Like a transgenic giant eggplant.”

Although she did not know what “transgenic” meant, Su Meinang caught the most critical word and gave her a thumbs up.

She was first happy that her niece had enjoyed a good “meal,” but then she remembered the one being praised was her enemy. She knitted her brows. “Pah! No matter how capable he is, it does not change the fact that he is a beast in human clothing!”

Yi Hanxing thought to herself: Keep acting out while you still have the protection of being the former master’s daughter. Once Qin Wuzhou tames the Glass Sun and has a free hand, you, this autumn grasshopper, will not be jumping for much longer.

Alas, was she any better off?

Yi Hanxing: “Why did Senior Aunt come here to pick me up?” Don’t tell me the original character’s bed-climbing is already common knowledge!

Su Meinang winked at her. “Did you wake up too late? Have you not checked your jade slip yet?”

A sense of foreboding rose in Yi Hanxing’s heart.

A cultivator’s jade slip was much like a modern smartphone. The moment Yi Hanxing entered the sect’s internal forum, the first red-titled thread on the homepage pierced her eyes.

[I saw Junior Sister Hanxing enter Sect Master Qin’s bedroom last night! Come quick, place your bets! Minimum bet is half a spirit stone! Will Sect Master Qin’s chastity fall to Junior Sister Yi Hanxing tonight?]

These people really have a death wish.

Sure enough, a second later, the thread with over three hundred replies turned into an inaccessible gray link. A second after that, the entire internal forum page went blank.

Su Meinang leaned over to look, gritting her teeth in anger. “That ‘He Who Shall Not Be Named’ has come to silence everyone again.”

As if to confirm her words, a cheerful young man’s voice suddenly rang out in the air: “Presumptuously speculating about a teacher’s private life is not what good children do. Today, everyone involved in the forum gambling is sentenced to half a month of hard labor in the Thorn Cave. The bookmakers will have an extra month’s worth of spirit stones deducted.”

The entirety of Qingtang Valley erupted in a chorus of wails.

Yi Hanxing put away her jade slip, lost in thought. “Master really dislikes being the center of attention.”

This morning was the same; he had pressured her to admit if she had seen anything noteworthy on his body. What exactly was it that made him so defensive, to the point of nearly killing her multiple times?

However, between the drinking and the demonic deviation last night, her senses were too muddled. Aside from the “messy” things, she could not remember anything useful.

Su Meinang, thinking of something, looked displeased. “He who does no wrong has no fear of ghosts knocking. Since he became Sect Master, he has been elusive. He forbids disciples from serving him closely, bans the spread of his news, and never interacts with other immortal sects. He is definitely up to no good.”

Qin Wuzhou did not have many scenes in the original book; he was usually either busy causing trouble for the male protagonist or on his way to do so. There was very little background information on him, so Yi Hanxing could only shake her head in agreement.

Su Meinang affectionately put an arm around her shoulder. “You fought hard all night; you must have lost a lot of vitality. Come, Senior Aunt will take you to eat some venison to nourish yourself.”

Yi Hanxing still looked miserable. “How can I have an appetite? I feel like I will not live long.”

Su Meinang’s eyes widened. “On what grounds? Is Qin Wuzhou going to punish you? Just because you climbed his bed?”

Yi Hanxing naturally dared not tell the whole truth. She only said, “Master told me to go seduce and kill Lin Wujiu of the Sword Sect.”

“The Shura Sword Lin Wujiu?” Su Meinang lost her voice. “Is that man surnamed Qin crazy?! Lin Wujiu is currently the top figure in the Soul Transformation stage. What is your cultivation level? Have you even reached the Golden Core?”

How could a “cauldron” truly cultivate? Yi Hanxing’s throat felt bitter. “Only just reached the second stage of Golden Core.”

Su Meinang immediately began to curse. “That man Qin Wuzhou is so cruel! He clearly wants to take revenge on you but is afraid of gossip, so he found a reason to send you out to be beaten to death! Pah! Who does he think he is? We are all members of the Hehuan Sect. He is the only one acting like a chaste martyr. He refused to participate in master-disciple teaching before, and now that you have slept with him—it is not like you betrayed the sect—he treats you like this!”

Little did she know that the harder she cursed, the more Yi Hanxing’s heart jumped with fear and a sense of shared misery. “Senior Aunt, let us lower our voices.” Climbing Master’s bed… is this something to be proud of?

Su Meinang spoke with pained frustration. “Hanxing, you are just too honest, which is why he can manipulate you. I say, what is the problem with master-disciple ‘Chamber Arts’ instruction in the Hehuan Sect? Why should Qin Wuzhou be the exception?”

Yi Hanxing: I am sorry, it is I who do not understand your Hehuan Sect.

Su Meinang: “Although Nan Xun is self-taught and does not need him, you have been unable to break through the Golden Core stage for a long time since joining the sect. I say this is Qin Wuzhou’s fault! A student’s failure is the teacher’s fault. He, on the other hand, not only washed his hands of it but now wants to incite you to go find death!”

In the current cultivation world, everyone knew that the Shura Sword Lin Wujiu of the Sword Sect was upright and stayed away from women. Countless demons and monsters had tried to seduce him to destroy his “Pure Yang” body, only to die under his thin Shura Sword.

But that was only the surface. He appeared to be a gentleman, but in reality, he ended up in a whole book’s worth of adult-rated plot with the original female lead, Wei Ruyi.

But all that was for later. Yi Hanxing was only worried about her uncertain future. “Is there a way to make Master stop being angry? I do not want to take this mission.”

Trying to break up the original book’s official couple seemed like a classic death-seeking move for a cannon fodder character.

Seeing her junior’s pale, delicate face looking so timid and pink, Su Meinang felt even more pity. “Do not panic yet. I will help you think of something.”

She pondered for a moment and suddenly clapped her hands. “I have it! Although Qin Wuzhou is the Sect Master, Qingtang Valley is not his personal dictatorship. Sending disciples on missions requires going through procedures. I am well-acquainted with the Head of the Affairs Hall, who manages disciple missions. I will ask him to jump you to the front of the line for a different mission. You can use that as an excuse to slip out of Qingtang Valley. By then, the sky will be high and the sea wide; he will not be able to find you easily. You can hide out for a year or so. Hmph, he is a busy man with a short memory; he might just forget about you, and you will naturally be safe.”

Laugh out loud. I just transmigrated here, and am I already going to be homeless?

However, desperate times called for desperate measures. Yi Hanxing swallowed her sadness, sincerely thanked Senior Aunt Su, and watched her leave in a whirlwind of elegance.

Before leaving, Su Meinang told her the general direction of the disciple quarters. Yi Hanxing now knew the way from her own room to Qin Wuzhou’s bedroom; the distance was actually quite short, separated by less than half a mountain.

As the personal disciple of the Sect Master, the original character’s living conditions were not bad. She had a small courtyard to herself with flowers and grass planted in front, and the interior was elegantly furnished.

However, it was clear that no one had looked after it. The plants outside were half-dead, and the tables inside were covered in a thin layer of dust.

Yi Hanxing could not stand a speck of dirt. She immediately frowned and seriously broke out the rags and water bucket.

By the time dusk approached, she stretched and nodded with satisfaction at the sparkling clean room.

She was someone who took things as they came. Since it had already happened, there was no use in blaming heaven or being blindly anxious. It was better to stay grounded and start with small things to make herself more comfortable.

One of the unexpected benefits of her deep clean was that she found a stack of “ink treasures” the original character had thrown into the corner of a bookshelf. Yi Hanxing glanced through them; she guessed these were notes left from the original character’s study of Daoist laws, similar to her university homework papers.

It was clear the original character had given up on herself because she was a “cauldron.” Since she could not catch up to others even by one percent, she had not written a single word on the homework assignments regarding spells and scriptures.

Yi Hanxing looked at the crumpled pile of papers and remembered Su Meinang’s words from earlier.

Regarding the “conquest” mission, she suddenly had a good (?) idea.

She had to go to the Golden Scale Hall.

To find Qin Wuzhou.