Imprisoned by Forced Love! The Yandere Disciple Tied My Hands and Told Me to Be Good - Chapter 14

Mu Chenyuan was trapped within the residence day after day, with nothing to do but unable to leave. The only benefit was that he didn’t have to work; he was waited on hand and foot. While it was a bit boring, Mu Chenyuan didn’t find it particularly unbearable.

No commute! And no more of those god-awful overtime hours!!

Furthermore, Yue Qi hadn’t forced himself on him or “broken his seal.” Aside from exerting a little manual effort every day, he hadn’t lost anything.

However, Mu Chenyuan was very curious: how could a Demon Venerable like Yue Qi be so idle? The man was cooped up in the residence with him every day, doing nothing productive. None of his subordinates except Jiu Li ever came looking for him. Right now, Yue Qi’s greatest pleasure seemed to be dragging Jiu Li along to study recipes and making all sorts of delicious food for him especially barbecue.

To be fair, the food was exceptionally good. In just a few days, Mu Chenyuan had already gained a noticeable amount of weight. And he wasn’t the only one; even Jiu Li was getting chubby!

Driven by curiosity about Yue Qi’s idleness, Mu Chenyuan asked the System. He received the following reply:

Have you ever seen your boss punch in and out of work every day like you?

Mu Chenyuan nodded. “Fair point.”

Besides, the Immortal and Demon realms just had a skirmish over you; they need time to recover. During this hiatus, he doesn’t need to manage much. It’s not like the Immortal sects with their strict discipline. In the Demon realm, murder, arson, and lawlessness are the norm.

“But does Yue Qi really not care about his subordinates? What if they try to rebel?”

If they can’t beat him, what’s the point of rebelling?] The System actually cursed. [The Demon realm has always been about the survival of the fittest. Power is everything. As long as you’re strong, you can be a tyrant regardless of whether people like you.

Mu Chenyuan stopped asking irrelevant questions and changed the subject: “When can I do the next task? I’m confined here every day and can’t even step out.”

The System replied with a question instead: [But from where I’m standing, you seem quite happy to stay here, don’t you?]

“I’m just…” Mu Chenyuan racked his brain for a term. “Finding joy in a bitter situation!”

[You haven’t fallen for him, have you?] The System hit the nail on the head.

“Impossible!!!” Mu Chenyuan reacted strongly, even looking a bit angry. “Don’t talk nonsense and slander a red-blooded straight man like me! In this lifetime, I will never, ever, ever like a man!!!”

Seeing him so angry, the System teased him mischievously: [What if the male lead were a woman?]

“Even more impossible! Just because he’s good-looking doesn’t mean anything. Besides, the person he likes isn’t the real me. I refuse to be anyone’s body double!”

Mu Chenyuan meant those words sincerely. He wasn’t some brainless romantic. He could live without anyone else; why would he be so pathetic as to be someone’s substitute? Just because he had never been loved didn’t mean he was so starved for affection that he’d lose himself. On the contrary, having never received love, he had long stopped caring about such ethereal things.

Seeing his resolve, the System felt relieved: [It’s good that the Host thinks this way… I was actually going to warn you: never fall in love with any character in the book. Even if you fall for the male lead, the final outcome is you dying at his hands… well, underneath him.]

Mu Chenyuan was most annoyed when the System brought up that disgusting ending. “Exactly. I don’t want to die. Hurry up and tell me how to complete the next task. I want to go home and see my sweet July!”

The System went quiet. Mu Chenyuan thought it had gone offline again, but it soon returned.

[I just checked the plot for the Host. Three days from now is the Qixi Festival (Double Seventh), which is also the male lead’s birthday. You can use this special occasion to get him to take you out of the residence to Crescent City at the foot of the mountain. Your target, the one you need to save, is hidden by Yue Qi inside the Spring Rain Tower in Crescent City. If you can help Wei Lingyu escape from there and leave the city, the task will be considered complete.

One special note: the Spring Rain Tower is a brothel. The male lead didn’t physically torture Wei Lingyu; instead, he stripped him of his cultivation and made him a male courtesan for the Spirit tribe to humiliate.]

Mu Chenyuan didn’t have a big reaction to that last note. He even said, “Isn’t that great? I think the male lead did the right thing.”

He had disliked Wei Lingyu from the start. If it weren’t for the task, save him? He’d be lucky if Mu Chenyuan didn’t trample on him.

For the past few days, Mu Chenyuan had been thinking about how to bring up the idea of going down the mountain. Doing it out of the blue would seem too suspicious.

Just as he was worrying, Yue Qi couldn’t hold back any longer and spoke first: “Master, do you still remember my birthday?”

Fearing a negative answer, Yue Qi added specifically, “In the past, you remembered every year…”

Seeing his expectant face, Mu Chenyuan went with the flow: “I remember.”

Yue Qi’s eyes lit up instantly. “Then, has Master prepared a gift for me?”

A gift? Mu Chenyuan thought. How old are you, still wanting a gift? He personally didn’t see the big deal about birthdays since he had never celebrated one. Incapable of empathizing, he replied nonchalantly, “No.”

But he quickly thought of the task. “How about this: you take me to the city down the mountain for a stroll, and I’ll buy you a birthday gift on the spot, okay? It also happens to be the Qixi Festival.”

Mu Chenyuan didn’t have any money. However, the items on him—especially that hair crown—must be very valuable. At worst, he could pawn it for something. Even though… the crown was also a gift from Yue Qi.

Yue Qi didn’t suspect a thing and agreed without hesitation. “Okay.”

After agreeing, he quickly produced two rings. Without explaining what they were, he slid one onto the ring finger of Mu Chenyuan’s right hand.

Staring at the silver ring on his finger and then at the other one lying in Yue Qi’s palm, Mu Chenyuan couldn’t help but think: A couple’s set?

The designs were identical a Mobius strip style.

A Mobius strip? The loop with no beginning and no end. Much like an Ouroboros or the infinity symbol ($ infty $). Because of this, the Mobius design is extremely common in wedding rings, symbolizing eternal, undying, and infinite love.

But such a modern design and the act of wearing a ring on the ring finger weren’t those traditions from the real world? What kind of era was this book set in? Was it really okay for modern and contemporary elements to keep cropping up like this?

Despite knowing exactly what it was, Mu Chenyuan pretended to be ignorant: “What is this?”

“Master… has truly forgotten…”

The light in Yue Qi’s eyes dimmed, and a helpless, faint smile gradually appeared on his lips.

“A hundred years ago, at the Covenant Ceremony… you said that as long as two people placed these rings on each other’s ring fingers, their hearts would be tied forever, and they would never fail each other in this life.

“Unfortunately…”

A surge of sorrow welled up in Yue Qi’s eyes, yet it was devoid of resentment. “…You didn’t put it on.

“And you failed me.”