Lin Zhiji felt absolutely terrible.
These days he had been forced to follow Xie Yi through countless killings, and he had thought himself numb by now. Yet at this moment, he still felt intense discomfort.
Even with his eyes closed, he could still hear the screams, hear the whip lashing against flesh, and smell the heavy, all-pervasive stench of blood.
While cursing Xie Yi as a pervert in his heart, he nevertheless shamelessly lowered his head to him.
【Host…】
The young man’s voice lacked its usual brightness, carrying a trace of grievance worn down by suffering.
Xie Yi’s eyelashes trembled ever so slightly before he waved a hand toward Shuangren.
The horrifying sound of the whip instantly ceased.
Xie Yi: 【What is it?】
Lin Zhiji carefully glanced at the bloody figure hanging there and tentatively said, 【Look, this person’s already passed out, so maybe…】
Xie Yi spoke calmly, “Shuangren, continue.”
Lin Zhiji hurriedly changed his words. 【No no no—】
He could only retreat and ask pitifully, 【Then… can we leave?】
【Oh?】 Xie Yi slowly rose to his feet.
Lin Zhiji had not expected him to be so agreeable and had not even had time to rejoice—
When he realized Xie Yi was not leaving the dungeon at all, but instead walking directly toward the torture rack.
The prisoner’s miserable state instantly filled his vision, accompanied by a blood stench so thick it was nearly nauseating.
Lin Zhiji: !!!
But Xie Yi seemed entirely unaffected.
He even leisurely took the whip from Shuangren’s hands.
The whip was lined with barbs, soaked black and gleaming with blood, forming a stark contrast against those hands pale as carved jade.
His fingertip lightly tapped the handle as he spoke in an easy tone:
【Give me a reason.】
Lin Zhiji: ?
In the instant he froze, Xie Yi raised the long whip in his hand. The tail sliced through the air with a sharp, urgent whistle before landing on the prisoner.
Accompanied by the sound of cracking bones, the prisoner’s body twitched instinctively.
Lin Zhiji instantly felt goosebumps crawl across his entire body.
Before Xie Yi could swing a second time, he hurriedly blurted out:
【I’ll talk, I’ll talk…】
He tried his best to keep his voice from trembling.
【M-mainly because it’s too cold in here. Didn’t you get injured a few days ago, Host… right, injured? This kind of damp, freezing environment isn’t suitable for recovery…】
He did not care that the injury was practically healed already and simply made things up with his eyes closed.
Xie Yi raised a brow, his tone unreadable in emotion.
【So, you’re still thinking of my well-being?】
Lin Zhiji swallowed hard and immediately declared his loyalty.
【Of course. You’re my Host, and I’m your System. If I don’t think about your well-being, then whose would I think about…】
Shuangren stood obediently to the side, his gaze turning somewhat vacant.
Master personally coming to observe an interrogation was already bizarre enough. Even stranger, he had personally taken action. But fine, if he wanted to do it himself, then do it himself—but what kind of situation was this where he lashed once and then stopped?
Was this some new interrogation technique?
And what nearly made his eyeballs explode was that he actually saw the corners of Master’s lips lift ever so slightly, as though he were… smiling?
Shuangren had followed Xie Yi for years, so naturally he knew that whenever Master smiled, it meant someone was about to suffer.
And at this moment, inside this dungeon, aside from Master himself, the only people who could even be counted as human were him and the brother hanging on the torture rack. But that brother had already been whipped so badly he barely resembled a person anymore.
So the unlucky one wouldn’t be him, right??
Shuangren instantly trembled with fear, never once imagining there was actually a third person in the dungeon whom he could not see.
Lin Zhiji waited a while before finally hearing Xie Yi say:
【Fine.】
After the previous experience, Lin Zhiji did not start celebrating early this time.
Instead, he braced himself for the inevitable “but” that would follow.
Then he heard Xie Yi’s airy voice, carrying a faint maliciousness:
【Beg me.】
Lin Zhiji: ???
He paused subtly for a moment.
Xie Yi’s voice instantly turned cold.
【Oh? You’re unwilling?】
That was not really it.
It was just that Lin Zhiji had mentally prepared himself for all sorts of difficult humiliation from Xie Yi.
But… this was it?
He felt Xie Yi might have some misunderstanding about his sense of dignity.
Even if he once had any, these past days had already ground it away completely.
Without even a second of hesitation:
【I’m begging you.】
The smile on Xie Yi’s face froze for an instant.
No response came from him.
Lin Zhiji thought about it and felt perhaps the two words “I’m begging you” sounded too plain and insufficiently sincere.
So he cleared his throat.
【Please please please please please…】
【Enough!】
Veins bulged at Xie Yi’s temple as he abruptly cut off the demonic chant echoing in his head.
He had clearly intended to humiliate Lin Zhiji, to make him recognize his place.
But now, whether Lin Zhiji felt humiliated or not was unclear—Xie Yi himself had only become angrier.
Ever since binding to Xie Yi, Lin Zhiji had seen countless examples of him killing without blinking and manipulating everyone in the palm of his hand. This was the first time he had ever seen Xie Yi lose composure.
It was both novel and exciting, even making him itch to push things further.
Who knew before he could put that impulse into action, he would hear Xie Yi say darkly:
【You did that on purpose?】
Lin Zhiji instantly turned obedient, his face innocent.
【No, of course not.】
Xie Yi let out a cold laugh.
Lin Zhiji immediately sobered up, inwardly cursing himself for getting carried away.
Remembering how miserably Xie Yi had tormented him before, he could not help shuddering.
Yet contrary to expectations, Xie Yi did not torment him this time. Instead, he kept his word, tossing the whip back to Shuangren before turning to leave the dungeon.
—
Once outside the dungeon, long-missed sunlight fell over them, carrying warm heat.
Lin Zhiji let out a long breath.
It actually felt like coming back to life.
Shen Xian and Cang Feng were standing outside discussing something. Upon seeing Xie Yi emerge, they immediately stopped whispering and stepped forward to salute.
“Master.”
Without slowing his pace, Xie Yi said, “Come to the council hall.”
The two answered in unison, “Yes.”
When Shen Xian straightened up, he happened to catch sight of Xie Yi’s fluttering robe hem.
Strange.
After entering the dungeon once, why did Master seem to be in a much better mood?
Recently, because of Xie Yi’s secret maneuvers, both the Crown Prince and Prince Qi had become jumpy as frightened birds. Security checks throughout the capital had grown extremely strict, making their previous little courtyard unsafe.
Thus, Xie Yi and the others had moved to this stronghold outside the city.
Shen Xian spoke first.
“Reporting to Master: Prince Qi has not made any obvious moves lately. Aside from clashing verbally with the Crown Prince at court each day, he merely drinks and enjoys himself in his residence. However, he has sent trusted aides to Jiangnan several times. Officially, it’s said to be for purchasing goods, but this subordinate feels something is suspicious… It’s just that the Jiangnan region has always been firmly under the Crown Prince’s control, so I truly cannot imagine what he could accomplish there.”
Xie Yi said meaningfully, “Perhaps that was true before. But not necessarily in the future.”
Realizing something, Shen Xian’s expression changed sharply.
“Master means…?”
Xie Yi said lightly, “The Jiangnan Provincial Governor belongs to Prince Qi.”
His expression remained calm as he casually dropped a thunderbolt, blowing Shen Xian and Cang Feng into charred disbelief.
After all, the Jiangnan Provincial Governor was the Crown Prince’s brother-in-law, an ironclad Crown Prince supporter. Who could have imagined he would betray the Crown Prince and defect to Prince Qi’s side?!
Even Lin Zhiji was shocked.
In the original novel, this secret was only exposed much later, after the male lead Liu Muzhi accidentally obtained a crucial clue.
Yet Xie Yi already knew this so early?!
Shen Xian was so startled he momentarily lost composure.
“How did Master discover this?”
Xie Yi did not bother hiding it from them.
“The account book.”
The account book from Vice Minister Wu’s secret chamber.
Shen Xian became even more confused.
They had examined that account book too, but Prince Qi’s dealings with Jiangnan appeared completely spotless, without the slightest connection.
Lin Zhiji also perked up curiously, eager to know how Xie Yi had deduced it.
“Precisely because it is spotless, it is unreasonable.”
Xie Yi paused and, in a rare occurrence, actually explained.
“Right now Prince Qi and the Crown Prince are locked in fierce opposition, fighting over every inch of territory. If Prince Qi did not already possess sufficient hidden arrangements in Jiangnan, how could he make absolutely no preparations there?”
Shen Xian suddenly understood.
“This subordinate has learned.”
But Cang Feng grew anxious.
“Master, if the Jiangnan Governor belongs to Prince Qi, then doesn’t that mean the Crown Prince is doomed to lose? We…”
Everything they were doing was certainly not to help Prince Qi ascend the throne.
Xie Yi said casually, “Therefore we must break the current balance and force the Crown Prince to expose Prince Qi’s hidden cards.”
“I understand now!” Shen Xian’s eyes lit up. “If things are as Master says, then this subordinate does have a plan…”
Lin Zhiji had little interest in such matters.
And Shen Xian spoke extremely quickly, mixed with countless official titles and personal names. Just listening made his brain knot itself up.
Meanwhile Xie Yi not only understood perfectly, he could casually point out flaws in the plan.
Sigh. Why couldn’t the world of academic geniuses include me too!!
Lin Zhiji thought bitterly, then noticed Cang Feng standing beside Shen Xian as straight as a spear.
Lin Zhiji immediately found it amusing.
Though Cang Feng wore a serious expression and nodded repeatedly, anyone looking carefully could see the clear stupidity shining through his eyes.
It instantly reminded Lin Zhiji of himself during math class, producing a sense of kinship between fellow poor students.
Cang Feng, currently slacking off mentally, suddenly sensed Xie Yi cast him a faint glance. Every hair on his back stood on end.
What what what?!
Could it be that he had been somewhat lazy lately and displeased Master?
Realizing this, Cang Feng instantly tensed up completely.
Thus, after Shen Xian finished speaking, he proactively stepped forward.
“Master, regarding that Liu Muzhi you ordered us to find earlier, this subordinate has already searched the entire capital and found no trace of him. I was thinking Jiangnan is filled with wealthy merchants, so perhaps the possibility of him being there is greater. Since Shen Xian mentioned arranging manpower in Jiangnan, perhaps we could investigate this person along the way…”
The moment Lin Zhiji heard the word “Jiangnan,” his heart immediately leapt into his throat.
After all, in the original novel, Liu Muzhi’s adoptive family lived there.
According to the timeline, Liu Muzhi’s family had already been destroyed, and he was currently being hunted down, at his weakest stage. Xie Yi could crush him with a single finger.
If they truly captured Liu Muzhi, then with Xie Yi’s utterly unpredictable personality, Lin Zhiji genuinely feared the man might simply kill Liu Muzhi on a whim out of sheer disbelief.
Then everything would truly be over.
At that moment, Xie Yi suddenly asked:
【You’re very nervous?】
Lin Zhiji’s heart slammed violently.
Before he could think of a response, Xie Yi smiled pleasantly.
【Looks like the person truly is in Jiangnan.】
Lin Zhiji nearly suffered heart failure.
Whether he answered or not seemed equally disastrous, so he simply curled himself into a ball and ignored him.
Cang Feng looked nervously at Xie Yi. Only after a long while did he finally hear him say:
“Approved.”
Only after Xie Yi departed did Cang Feng let out a long sigh of relief.
Shen Xian looked at him in surprise.
“Well now, who would’ve thought? Cang Feng, there actually came a day when you used your brain and proactively offered a strategy.”
“You think I wanted to?” Cang Feng looked equally aggrieved. “I was just afraid I’d lose my other arm too!”
Like pouring out bitterness, he recounted the entire incident.
Shen Xian stroked his chin thoughtfully.
“Hearing you describe it like this, I actually don’t think it’s because of official business.”
Cang Feng looked baffled.
“If not official business, then what else could it be?”
“How would I know?” Shen Xian replied casually. “Maybe at some point you violated one of Master’s taboos…”
Cang Feng: “…?”
—
For once, Lin Zhiji finally felt a sense of crisis.
Previously, he had planned to take things slowly—first build a good relationship with Xie Yi, then gradually find ways to get him to complete missions.
But now it seemed that with someone as suspicious and psychotic as Xie Yi, slowly my ass. Finishing the missions quickly and getting the hell out was clearly the proper path.
Thus, he immediately adjusted his mentality and even unconsciously softened his voice into a cutesy tone.
【Host~】
The horse beneath Xie Yi instantly stumbled a few steps from the sudden tightening of his legs.
Lin Zhiji had not expected the cutesy voice to be this effective. Just as he prepared to press the advantage further, he heard Xie Yi say coolly:
【If you say one more sentence like that, then from now on you may speak that way forever.】
Lin Zhiji instantly behaved himself.
Xie Yi clicked his tongue.
【What is it?】
Although Lin Zhiji did not dare keep using the cutesy tone, he still sounded somewhat ingratiating.
【It’s like this, Host. Look at today—the wind is gentle, the sun is bright, the sky is clear, birds are singing and flowers are fragrant…】
Xie Yi: 【Speak like a human.】
【Oh.】 Lin Zhiji said, 【How about doing a mission?】
Xie Yi immediately understood.
【What do you want to eat this time?】
Lin Zhiji choked.
Why did it sound like the only reason he ever did missions was for food?
He hurriedly explained:
【This time it’s not a food mission. Let’s do something else.】
Xie Yi’s brow shifted slightly.
【I’ll think about it.】
Lin Zhiji was instantly depressed. Just then, however, he noticed that among the mission list before him, one mission was flashing.
He clicked it open.
【Daily Mission: Please persuade the Host to save someone. Reward upon successful rescue: 100 points.】
Save someone?
At the same moment, Xie Yi suddenly tightened the reins. A faint cry for help traveled through his keen hearing and simultaneously reached Lin Zhiji’s ears.
Seeing that Xie Yi was about to turn the horse and leave, Lin Zhiji’s brain heated up, and he instinctively blurted out:
【I’m begging you!】