Chapter 44
It was a long night, and I had just given back the key to Elder Liu for safe keeping. She said that Risless still hadn’t come out of Seclusion. Mom the Sect Master, I just don’t know what she’s thinking. These days have been boring. The most difficult thing is you never know when they’ll be coming out of seclusion, and sometimes cultivators will stay in the seclusion for a hundred plus years at a time.
If mom does that, I’ll be dead or an old man. I’d have spent my life as nothing but a wastrel here in this room, and mom would go mad because of my death. No matter how much I think about everything, it doesn’t change the fact that this situation is messed up.
The day passed by and night came. The girl came.
“Dong Chen,” the voice said. “I have bad news.”
“Bad news?”
“The Evil spirit isn’t a spirit, it is the Sect Master.”
“The Sect Master?”
You mean mom? Mom is the one shrieking at night and banging on the door? That’s hard to believe… but… all those moves mom made on me… the assaults… it makes sense…
“I mean, are you sure? Are you sure it’s my mother doing that?”
“I have the recording jade,” the girl said. “I have a plan to have you escape. I don’t know if we can make it, but we can help you leave if you are willing.”
“Help me leave?”
A lifeline?
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“If we don’t she might ravish you one day and you will die.”
“I’ll die anyway one day,” I said. “It’s a fate I can’t escape. I’m a mortal. I won’t live forever.”
“Still, don’t you want to live out your life? Don’t you want to leave that room and go somewhere else?”
Even in my previous life there had been many movies talking about this freedom and about struggling. People just had to believe in themselves, and they could overcome somehow any curse or difficult obstacle. You know the… ‘oh your love has lifted the curse’ crap that is always spouted.
This isn’t one of those stories. I’m aware of the curse. If the evil spirit will attack the woman who touches me, then it’s my mom who will attack her. This girl is innocent and does not know the extent of it all. She saw something she shouldn’t have seen and now she is throwing away her life for this.
“No, I don’t want to leave,” I tell her. “If I leave, then there will be problems. I enjoy talking to you and I hope you will continue to talk with me, but to risk yourself for this is too much. Even if I were to believe you, she is still my mother and I can’t leave her even if she is cursed.”
I can’t leave her because any other person I touch will be attacked by her. I remember those crazy eyes from when one girl approached me when I was touring the Sect with her. Even Elder Liu is wary and keeps her distance from me in order to make sure an accident doesn’t happen.
I also can’t die because if I do, it might make her go mad.
I have to wait for her to leave seclusion, then I have to take her to bed like a man would a woman… even though I’m a virgin with no sexual experience at all… well, she doesn’t have much experience either. Then again, doesn’t the assault count as experience? I mean, even if it was against my will… I let it all out in her mouth.
“You might die if you stay here,” the girl said.
“If I die then I die, my life isn’t worth much anyway. People kill others in this world for so much less so why am I any special?”
“You… but you’re special to me…”
What?
There were footsteps and I could tell the person on the other side was already gone. That was strange.
—
Flustered, Hou Jian was back in her room with Qin Zheng there waiting for her.
“Little sister, where did you go?”
“I… I went to talk with Dong Chen,” She said. “I wanted to tell him we were going to work on taking him out, but he refused to go so we should cancel the plan.”
“Cancel the plan?” Qin Zheng was a bit disappointed. “We can’t cancel the plan, we have to take him and take him soon—”
“—but he said he didn’t want to leave!” Hou Jian protested.
“He has to leave, you wanted him to leave so we are going to take him out and make him leave,” Qin Zheng said. “I already called some helpers on the outside. We have to bring him there and then maybe we can talk to the Sect about giving him better treatment than what he has now. The Blossoming Flowers Sect has more than enough resources to take better care of him than leaving him stuck in that room. Trust your big sister, if we help him his life will be better.”
“His life will be better?”
Hou Jian had a slight blush to her face. Although she didn’t want it to happen, talking with a male made her heart different. There were too many tales of romances among gossiping girls for her to keep her heart from changing. Also, Dong Chen was interesting to her as someone who sparked her curiosity.
“Yes, his life will be better.” Qin Zheng had firmness to her voice that made it believable. “Trust your big sister. I’ll be on your side even if the entire Sect turns against you.”
“I…. I… thank you, big sister,” Hou Jian said.
“Good, now scout an escape route. The Sect is large and the speed we cultivators travel can cause harm to mortals without proper planning. I have a protection ability that can prevent him from being hurt by the air, but we have to go at a speed they won’t be able to catch.”
“Yes, big sister,” Hou Jian said.
They began preparations for removing Dong Chen from the room. There were other details that had to be completed.
“Big Sister, we must also get the key to his room, right?”
“Yes, we do,” Qin Zheng said. “The key is currently kept by Elder Liu, and she keeps it on her person all the time. Elder Liu stays in a mansion near the palace and has many servants. There are sisters among them loyal to me who can help.”
“There are more of us?”
“Of course, Little Sister, there are always many who care about the injustice caused by powerful cultivators. You only need to breathe and realize that there are many of us who do not want to see the suffering of mortals. Almost all of us were born from mortals after all, and that birth gives us a strong attachment to our parents even if they do not live as long as us. Many Sects take us in as children so we would be loyal to the Sect rather than our parents.”
“I see… I never knew my parents… perhaps that is why I did not think there would be those who would do that,” Hou Jian said a little startled. “Then the Sects are not benevolent towards all…”
“No… they only take in disciples who could further their own power. That is the law of the world and the law of cultivation. Did you think you were taken in because they cared about you? Certainly after you are proven to have a fate that allows you to cultivate, they would take care of you. If you were born a mortal, you would still be in that cage, perhaps serving some lord who thought of you as nothing more than a worm.”
Hou Jian didn’t like what was being said but couldn’t refute those words. Before coming to the blossoming flowers his life had been cruel indeed. Remembering the hunger and cold that happened, the lack of dignity and the animal like treatment.
“I will help Dong Chen then, perhaps he doesn’t know what it means to be free since coming here,” Hou Jian said. “If he has given up on life, then I only need to give him a reason to live. I will do whatever I must help him.”
Qin Zheng could only smile at her.
“Make sure you are prepared. After I get the key once everything is ready and we will carry him out of bed. Make sure you don’t touch him or something bad might happen, prepare clothing that will prevent contact with his skin. Until we figure out how to end the curse, it’s best not to touch him.”
“Yes, Big Sister.”
The night grew darker as the moon was no longer full as it was the previous night.
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