I Accidentally Triggered the Restricted Punishment Protocol - Chapter 6

This scene of apparent madness had only one possible culprit: Qin Wuzhou.

Although he had only placed a wisp of his divine sense into the cow cat’s body, and his magical power was largely restricted, he could still execute low-level Hehuan Sect charm techniques. Dealing with two street thugs took him nothing more than a blink of an eye.

Looking at the cow cat’s exterior, it was impossible to tell that a murderous spirit who would kill at the slightest provocation was stuffed inside. Currently, it was perched on Yi Hanxing’s shoulder. Qin Wuzhou stubbornly refused to let her carry him, yet he would not deign to walk on the ground himself, so he stood firmly on her shoulder instead.

“I truly loathe being stared at by vermin,” the cow cat Qin Wuzhou yawned, speaking lazily.

Although the two men had not actually been looking at him, Yi Hanxing was not foolish enough to gloat after benefiting from his actions. She did not plan to explain it to him, so she quickened her pace and turned into a deserted alleyway.

The original body’s “cauldron” physique meant that even just walking down the street normally would attract unwanted attention.

I just want to be an ordinary person! I have to find a way to resolve this sooner or later.

The cow cat Qin Wuzhou suddenly spoke as a reminder: “The entrance to the underground Ghost Market is right here.”

Following his lead, Yi Hanxing reached out and stroked the cat’s fur. Amidst his expression of disgust—which was mixed with a hint of strange comfort—she used her fingers to channel magic, tapping the solid brick wall in front of her several times from left to right.

They descended a long, pitch-black stone staircase, and suddenly, Yi Hanxing’s vision brightened. Countless dim copper lamps burned along the damp stone walls, illuminating the entire underground grotto until it looked like a paradise on earth.

As far as the eye could see, grottoes of all sizes lined the cramped streets. The goods displayed at the stalls were bizarre: rolling eyeballs, unknown biological embryos soaked in murky liquids, and bundles of medicinal herbs emitting ominous black smoke.

A young cultivator who looked like a small child pulled at the adult beside him, pointing at a purple-black sugar figure on a stall and acting spoiled. “Master, I want this one.”

As the pair pulled at each other, Yi Hanxing watched for a moment, cleared her throat, and turned to the cat on her shoulder. “Master, I also want to—”

The wicked cow cat Qin Wuzhou smiled “sweetly”: “No, you do not.”

Yi Hanxing: “.”

Although the Ghost Market was built underground, the ceiling was decorated with night pearls to form patterns of the sun, moon, and stars. It was bright day and night, making it impossible to distinguish between morning and evening.

After walking for a while, Yi Hanxing felt something was wrong. The sword shop in front of her looked extremely familiar; this must be the third time she had seen it.

“Master, it seems we are lost.”

The cow cat had been crouching on her shoulder with its eyes closed to rest. Hearing this, it nodded composedly. “Look up. Those night pearls are arranged in a Bagua Formation. They are meant to trap uninvited guests like you.”

Among the various types of people gathered in the Ghost Market, there was no shortage of desperate outlaws who lived by the blade. This place was far from the jurisdiction of the immortal sects above and had its own set of rules. Those who entered by mistake often had a life to go in but no life to come back out.

Yi Hanxing smiled sweetly. “Surely such a trivial trick cannot stump Master?”

The cow cat opened its eyes a crack. “Since you are down the mountain for training, how can Master overstep his bounds? Good disciple, you must resolve this obstacle yourself.”

Yi Hanxing clearly saw a cat-and-mouse playfulness on his face. It was obvious that Qin Wuzhou was more than happy to see his disciple trapped in a dangerous, unfamiliar market.

If this were the hot-tempered daughter of the former Sect Master, Su Meinang, she would have exploded in a rage by now. But Yi Hanxing merely made a mental note of this debt.

After wandering for an unknown amount of time, the scenery finally shifted slightly. A four-story building with carved beams and painted rafters appeared. Before they even drew close, the sound of light singing and dancing drifted out, accompanied by a waft of flowery perfume.

Yi Hanxing’s face, however, darkened.

The ground floor of the small building, where white walls should have been, had been replaced entirely by giant, transparent glass screens. Behind the glass, which was so clear it could reflect a person, more than a dozen underdressed young men and women were huddled together.

Every one of them was beautiful, yet their expressions were panicked. Heavy iron chains were fastened to their hands and feet. The “garments” they wore were less like clothes and more like pieces of semi-transparent rags.

Standing on Yi Hanxing’s shoulder, the cow cat twitched its furry nose and wore an expression of disgust. “They are cauldrons.”

Several pot-bellied cultivators were leaning against the glass screens, teasing the cauldrons who had nowhere to hide. Others, dressed elegantly, waved their fans and offered critiques. “The quality of the stock Tianxiang Manor brought in this time is not bad. I will definitely attend the Great Myriad Treasure Assembly in a few days. I have been stuck at the late stage of Golden Core for over two hundred years; if I can buy a high-grade cauldron this time, there will be hope for a breakthrough.”

“The cauldron I spent a fortune on last time broke after only a few uses. Bah, what bad luck. I wasted two hundred spirit stones. This time, I will buy ten cheap ones; once they are used up, I will just throw them away.”

Inside the glass screens, the cauldrons trembled like leaves in an autumn wind. Among them was a young woman around Yi Hanxing’s age. She wanted to cry but feared attracting the customers’ attention, so she lowered her head and bit down hard on the back of her hand. The back of her hand was already a bloody mess.

The cauldron slowly lowered her hand and looked out with teary eyes, accidentally locking gazes with Yi Hanxing.

In those clear, bright, deer-like eyes, there seemed to be something resolute and compassionate—the look of someone seeing one of their own.

Under that gaze, the cauldron’s nose suddenly stung. She could no longer hold back her words: “Save me…”

The cow cat Qin Wuzhou waited for a moment. Seeing that the disciple beneath him had no reaction, he nudged the back of her neck with his paw. “Hey.”

Yi Hanxing snapped back to reality, her entire body feeling as if it had been plunged into cold water. “Those are people!” They were not goods; how could they be treated and sold so despicably?!

Qin Wuzhou said, “What do you want to do?”

Yi Hanxing instinctively took a few steps forward, but a sharp pain suddenly shot through the back of her head, and her body stopped involuntarily.

Qin Wuzhou had used the Illusion Flower Pupil Technique on her, taking control of her body.

Qin Wuzhou moved in front of her, using the cow cat’s body to meet her eyes. “You cannot save others. Stay right where you are.”

Yi Hanxing’s throat felt dry. “But I… I must at least do something.” Half a bag of spirit stones from Senior Aunt Su remained; she could buy those cauldrons. Even if it was just two people, or even just one…

A mocking smile appeared in the cat’s eyes. “With your meager cultivation and weak constitution, what could you possibly do?”

“I…” Yi Hanxing felt as if a ball of fire was stuck in her chest.

Qin Wuzhou said, “Naive, childish, and self-righteous.”

Yi Hanxing took a deep breath and replied, “But I simply cannot stand to watch this.”

Qin Wuzhou suddenly laughed. “If you want to go to your death, suit yourself.”

He released his control over her with his pupil technique and jumped down from her shoulder. Suddenly, a commotion broke out in front of Tianxiang Manor.

A pot-bellied, middle-aged cultivator had purchased a cauldron and was pulling her by the arm to lead her away. It was the same cauldron who had sought help from Yi Hanxing earlier. For some reason, she had suddenly found the courage to resist, crying and clinging desperately to the doorframe, refusing to leave with the buyer.

The buyer’s eyebrows flared with anger. He impatiently pulled out a silver whip and cracked it with a sharp “snap.” A deep red, bleeding scar immediately appeared on the cauldron’s face.

Yi Hanxing’s head buzzed. As the buyer raised his leg to kick the girl, his actions finally drew the ire of others.

Outside Tianxiang Manor, several young female cultivators had stopped to watch. One of them said in a heavy voice, “Wounding someone in broad daylight; this Wuxiang Ghost Market truly is lawless!”

The speaker had used a spell to conceal her face. She wore a white robe with blue trim, her sleeves fluttering like snowy waves, and her voice was ice-cold. “Release your pig-like hand. Can you not see that the cauldron is completely unwilling to go with you?”

In the Wuxiang Ghost Market, besides the various outlaws and rogues, there were occasionally righteous cultivators who disguised themselves to investigate. Clearly, this woman in the white dress was a seeker of justice who could not stand by in the face of inequity.

Following her lead, other young female cultivators who were displeased also chimed in: “Exactly! You are at such an age; no matter how much you practice ‘plucking and nourishing,’ your cultivation will not rise. Why waste a young girl’s life? You should save your money for your own coffin!”

Surrounded and attacked by the crowd’s chatter, the buyer turned all his fury toward the woman who had first spoken up. He roared, “What kind of thing are you, daring to speak to me like that!”

As he spoke, he raised his whip to strike her. The woman in the white dress said nothing, but with a block and a twist of her green umbrella, the silver whip snapped into pieces. She was unexpectedly a person of extremely high cultivation who did not show her strength.

Having suffered a loss, the buyer continued to curse incessantly: “Where did this stinking woman come from, meddling in other people’s business? I bought this cauldron; whether I beat her or kill her is none of your concern!”

The female cultivator said, “You bought her? For how much? I will pay double.”

The buyer choked for a moment, then became enraged with shame. “Five thousand silver taels for one person! Do you have that kind of money?!”

He had originally bought this cauldron to turn her into a “medicinal human,” spending three hundred spirit stones. Now, consumed by anger, he intended to make things difficult for this meddling woman. Daring not to fight her, he opened his mouth wide to demand an exorbitant price. Sure enough, hearing this astronomical figure, the female cultivator fell silent.

The buyer gave a cold snort and turned back to grab the cauldron’s fingers to drag her away by force. An older woman threw herself beside the cauldron, wailing, “My child—!”

The tragedy of flesh and blood being torn apart filled the air with cries of grief.

The female cultivator’s expression was very grim. She turned her patched, empty coin purse over and over. Finally, unable to endure any longer, she drew her umbrella like a sword. Just as blood was about to be spilled, someone behind her spoke softly: “Excuse me, Daoist, are you short on silver?”

The female cultivator froze and turned around. The girl in the pink dress was looking at her, her eyes clearly defined in black and white like autumn water, appearing innocent and charming. In the next moment, the girl handed her a bulging money bag. “There should be some silver notes in here. See if you can use them.”

Having said that, and fearing the other woman would see through her identity, Yi Hanxing tossed the money bag into her arms, turned around, and ran off while clutching her skirts.

A moment later.

Yi Hanxing crouched at a corner, watching the white-robed female cultivator take her money bag to speak with the Tianxiang Manor guards. She paid the ransom, and the cauldrons were granted a general amnesty, weeping as they thanked the cultivator for her grace.

The woman shook her head and said, “I am not the only one who helped you; there was a righteous person who did a good deed without leaving a name. Regardless, this is not a place to stay for long. I will escort you out of the Wuxiang Ghost Market first.”

Yi Hanxing stealthily followed them from a distance until she confirmed with her own eyes that the female cultivator had escorted everyone out of the market. Only then did she breathe a sigh of relief.

If she had not guessed incorrectly, that female cultivator should be the original book’s heroine, Wei Ruyi. She just had not expected to meet her here ahead of time, as the plot of the heroine saving people at Tianxiang Manor definitely did not appear in the book.

Throughout the entire event, the cow cat Qin Wuzhou had crouched on her shoulder, watching coldly. Now, he suddenly said, “I have met a naive fool like you before—someone who thought they could save people and change the world on their own.”

Is this man mocking her again? Yi Hanxing curled her lip and said dismissively, “Is that so?”

Qin Wuzhou said, “Are you not going to ask me what happened to that person later?”

Without waiting for her to answer, he said of his own accord, “They died.”

The night pearls on the ceiling of the grotto formed the pattern of the moon and stars; it should be nearing nighttime.

Yi Hanxing planned to find a clean inn to spend the night. She was not bold enough to parade through the Ghost Market after dark.

Fortunately, while the Wuxiang Ghost Market was full of hidden dangers, there were still some inns run by honest folk. Following the tips Senior Aunt Su had given her, she found a safe inn where disciples of Qingtang Valley often stayed.

However, while she was speaking with the innkeeper, she did not notice that Qin Wuzhou, who had been following her, had disappeared.

Under the cover of night, the black-and-white cat expertly flipped over a wall, crossed a roof, and finally ducked into a dark alley behind Tianxiang Manor.

Several guards from the manor were supporting the cultivator who had previously tried to buy the cauldron. The latter had just come out of a banquet inside and was dead drunk, staggering toward the exit of the alley.

Qin Wuzhou crouched on the wall, looking at their retreating figures expressionlessly. A faint golden light flashed in his cat-like eyes.

The five guards suddenly stiffened. They drew the swords at their waists and began to hack at each other in silence.

Before long, nothing remained of the people where they had stood but a few puddles of blood and mangled flesh.

The stronger the mental resistance of the target, the more magical power is consumed by the Illusion Flower Pupil Technique, and the heavier the backlash from the Glass Sun. For guards like those at Tianxiang Manor, their mental resistance was no different from mud. Qin Wuzhou suffered little backlash. He flicked his tail and jumped down from the wall with practiced ease.

With the guards dead, the cultivator who was being supported slumped onto the ground, splashed by the flowing sewage and gore. He sobered up considerably. Opening his eyes and seeing the heap of mangled flesh before him, he fell back in terror, nearly fainting.

A flash from Qin Wuzhou’s eyes suppressed his scream.

“A person from Yuxu Mountain?” He jumped onto the man’s face and, using his tail, fished a jade slip out of the cultivator’s robes to identify him.

The cultivator’s eyes were nearly crossed under the influence of the pupil technique; he could only speak the truth: “Yes… yes!”

Qin Wuzhou muttered to himself, “The Lord of Wuxiang, that fool, actually hooked up with the dogs of the immortal sects behind my back… and is even selling cauldrons.”

In the next moment, cat claws tore the cultivator’s throat.

Leaving behind a ground full of corpses, Qin Wuzhou jumped back onto the wall and moved across the rooftops. Before entering the inn, he found a well to wash himself clean.

This entire sequence had happened in just a few breaths. By the time he returned, Yi Hanxing had not even noticed his absence. She was about to call him to the room and casually gave the cat on her shoulder a rub.

Qin Wuzhou was in a good mood after the kills and did not dodge, closing his eyes to rest.

Those golden cat eyes that had just killed without leaving a trace narrowed from the simple, physiological comfort of the touch.