Chapter 59: I Have a Hostage! Accompanying a Ruler is Like Accompanying a Tiger
Chapter 59: Chapter 59: I Have a Hostage! Accompanying a Ruler is Like Accompanying a Tiger
Xie Qingwu went to write the list of materials.
Pei Shaoqing shut himself in his study.
He took out the Shaking Light Saintess’s Storage Ring.
As Spiritual Qi had dried up and Cultivators passed on, the restrictions on these Magical Treasures had all failed. All one needed to do was offer a drop of blood to claim ownership, and they would belong to whoever held them.
Of course, there were exceptions for Magical Treasures that required Spiritual Qi to activate. Even if they obtained such items, they couldn’t use them. At best, they could serve as part of a family’s heritage, enshrined as heirlooms.
Pei Shaoqing dripped a drop of blood onto the ring.
A white light flashed as the blood was absorbed. He could now "see" the various items stored inside the ring.
Food, wine, dresses, Ice Silk, various beaded hairpins and jewelry, gold and silver, Qi Gathering Pills to quickly restore Inner Strength, Secret Manuals, a map, and a Jade Pestle...
Huh? Wait a minute!
A Jade Pestle!
’This thing... it can’t be the Saintess’s "husband," can it?’
For a moment, his expression was a picture.
He suddenly understood why the Shaking Light Saintess had lost control when he took her Storage Ring, screaming for him to kill her. It was because she feared social death more than actual death.
The situation was equivalent to getting into a car accident, being unable to move but still conscious, and watching helplessly as your phone—with its browser history uncleared—falls into someone else’s hands.
"Interesting. Truly interesting."
Pei Shaoqing laughed out loud. He never thought that the proud and haughty Saintess would... play with herself in private.
You really can’t judge a book by its cover!
He thought she was an iceberg, but it turns out she was a volcano.
It just went to show that desire is human nature. No matter how cold a woman seemed on the outside, she was still hot on the inside.
He set the Jade Pestle aside and began to study the Secret Manuals: "Profound Jade Hand," "Heart-Breaking Palm," "Shaking Light Swordsmanship," "Shrinking Inches," and "Suxin Technique."
He flipped them open for a quick look.
’I could probably practice all of these. Then, someday when I’m wandering the Jianghu, I can impersonate someone from the lesser Profound Yellow Sect.’
’When you’re out and about, you make your own identity, after all.’
The "Suxin Technique," however, he’d pass on. The purpose of its cultivation was to suppress one’s inner desires and achieve a state of purity and tranquility, unmoved by worldly things.
He was a worldly man and only ever wanted to be one—greedy for wealth and women, food and fun. If he truly became pure and tranquil, he felt life wouldn’t be interesting anymore.
After examining his spoils, he got up and headed for the dungeon, eager to go mock the Saintess.
The dungeon was located in the rear courtyard of the estate. It was built by Zheng Xuancheng and wasn’t large, with room for only three or four people.
But though the sparrow was small, it had all its vital organs. Inside, various torture instruments were set up, modeled after the dungeons of the Jing’an Guard.
Zheng Xuancheng had taken more than a few lives here with reckless abandon.
With only the Shaking Light Saintess locked inside, the dungeon seemed quite spacious. The ropes binding her had long been untied, but with her injuries and her Dantian sealed, she was extremely weak, her face as pale as paper.
Suddenly, she heard the sound of footsteps.
She looked up instinctively.
Pei Shaoqing walked in, holding a folding fan. "Hahahaha, Saintess, are you accustomed to being a guest in my home?" he said with a smile. "I trust you haven’t been treated poorly?"
It had to be said, a beautiful woman with a good figure still looked good even with disheveled hair and covered in filth.
Take the Saintess at this very moment.
She possessed a kind of broken beauty.
The Shaking Light Saintess stared at him coldly, not saying a word.
"Saintess, look here. I have a hostage now. If you continue to glare at me with such impolite eyes, I’ll have to tear your husband to pieces first," Pei Shaoqing said with a playful smile, pulling the Jade Pestle from his Storage Ring and delivering the threat with a straight face.
The Shaking Light Saintess’s deathly pale face flushed crimson.
Her delicate body trembled, and the world spun around her.
She nearly fainted.
She shot up, lunged forward, grabbed a bowl of water from the table, and threw it at Pei Shaoqing. "Bastard! I’ll kill you!"
"Ooh! Missed me." Pei Shaoqing easily sidestepped the attack. He held the Jade Pestle high, shaking his head and sighing. "Brother Jade, oh, Brother Jade, they say the heart of a woman is the most poisonous thing on earth. I truly feel for you.
The saying goes, ’One day as a couple earns a hundred days of grace.’ You and the Saintess have been together for more than a day, I presume? For so many years you’ve served her diligently, never complaining of hardship or fatigue, yet she shows no regard for your life! How heartless can she be?"
"Bastard! Shut up! Stop talking! I’ll fight you to the death!" The Shaking Light Saintess’s eyes turned red, and she couldn’t stop the tears from streaming down her face as she charged at Pei Shaoqing like a madwoman.
Pei Shaoqing caught her in an embrace, his expression teasing. "Saintess, please have some self-respect. Throwing yourself into my arms right in front of your husband... that’s not very proper, is it?"
’It wasn’t like he got a thrill out of this kind of thing.’
"Kill me. I’m begging you, kill me." The Shaking Light Saintess struggled a few times but couldn’t break free. Tears streamed down her face as she pleaded desperately with Pei Shaoqing.
Pei Shaoqing shoved her to the ground and looked down on her. "Kill you? Easy for you to say! Do you take me for some murderous fiend? Everyone knows that I was born kind-hearted and charitable.
Besides, if I kill you, what happens when your husband comes looking for revenge? Should I kill it too? Wouldn’t that just be helping you two die together as a couple? Hahahaha."
"AHH! Bastard! Shut up!" the Shaking Light Saintess roared in utter humiliation. Scrambling forward, she grabbed a shard from the broken bowl and tried to slit her own throat.
Pei Shaoqing kicked her wrist. The moment she fell to the ground, the shard flew from her hand.
He leaned down and pinched the Shaking Light Saintess’s chin.
"If I don’t let you die, you can’t die."
To prevent her from attempting suicide again, Pei Shaoqing first put her "husband" away. Then, he took out several silk ribbons from his Storage Ring and proceeded to bind the Shaking Light Saintess.
It was, once again, the Turtle Shell Binding he was so skilled at.
Her clothes covered her completely, not revealing a hint of skin, but once bound, the sight of her full breasts, tightly constricted by the ribbons, was particularly enticing.
The Shaking Light Saintess’s body trembled ceaselessly. Every time she moved, the friction from the silk ribbons made her blush, sending a tingling, numbing sensation through her that she was too ashamed to speak of.
"Kill me, I beg you, just kill me!"
"I couldn’t possibly bear to kill you. Be good. I’ll come see you another day." Pei Shaoqing gently patted her cheek, then stood up and left without a backward glance.
First, he would completely destroy the Shaking Light Saintess’s unbearable pride, making her subconsciously bow her head whenever she faced him. Then he would supplement it with physical blows.
At the same time, he would occasionally treat her with consideration, making himself the sole source of her fear and her hope. Slowly, he would condition her to be obedient and see him as her one and only authority.
"AHH! WAHHHH! WAHHHH!"
The Shaking Light Saintess collapsed on the ground, wailing.
She had completely broken down.
She had suffered countless "firsts" in humiliation today, all at Pei Shaoqing’s hands. It made her rather die than face him, yet death was a luxury she couldn’t have.
. . . . . . . . . . . . .
"My Lord, I’ve finished writing."
As soon as Pei Shaoqing returned to the room, Xie Qingwu quickly handed him two identical lists of materials.
Pei Shaoqing took them and glanced over them.
He had heard of most of the materials.
But there were two he was seeing for the first time.
"What are these, ’Poisonous Plant’ and ’Soul-Attracting Flower’?"
Xie Qingwu explained, "They are highly toxic. The Poisonous Plant usually grows on cliffs, while the Soul-Attracting Flower is typically found in places with heavy yin energy, like graveyards."
"General Li," Pei Shaoqing called out.
WHOOSH—General Li burst in through the window.
"Your subject is here!"
"Have your men find these." Pei Shaoqing tossed one of the lists to the cat. He then said to Xie Qingwu, "I’ll take the other one to the Hundred Households tomorrow and have them search."
"Mm-hm." Xie Qingwu nodded obediently.
General Li pulled the list off his face, glanced at it, and said, "Master, Mistress, rest assured. Your subject will personally lead my subordinates into the mountains to search."
"What did you call her?" Pei Shaoqing raised an eyebrow.
General Li’s little face was serious. "Mistress."
Pei Shaoqing turned his head to look at Xie Qingwu.
Xie Qingwu smiled, pressing her lips together. "I’m the one responsible for procuring the main military rations for the Mao Camp—dried fish."
"Currying favor with a commanding general... that’s a taboo for the imperial house!" Pei Shaoqing’s expression turned stern as he issued a warning.
Xie Qingwu let out a small laugh, playing along by bowing and feigning an apology. "Your Majesty, please quell your anger. My dealings with General Li are purely official, with no personal motives whatsoever."
"Don’t let it happen again." Pei Shaoqing flicked his sleeve and looked at General Li. "What are you standing there for? Aren’t you going to get lost?"
"This humble officer obeys!" General Li put the list into his Storage Jade Pendant, dropped to the floor, and started rolling toward the door.
"Wait!" Pei Shaoqing suddenly stopped him. "Give me back that unnamed book."
He was a man with a Storage Magical Treasure now.
He could keep some things for himself.
"Yes!" General Li complied. The Demon Race diary flew out of the Jade Pendant. "Your subject will resume rolling now."
His chubby body rolled in circles toward the doorway, crashing into the threshold with a THUD. "That hurt your subject!" he exclaimed on the spot. Then he stuck his butt in the air, scrambled over the threshold, and vanished in a flash.
Once he was out of the courtyard, he stood up on his hind legs, patted his chest, and stroked his white whiskers. Shaking his head, he lamented, "Serving a lord is truly like living with a tiger!"
’It’s much more comfortable back at the Mao Camp barracks.’
’There, *I’m* the lord, *I’m* the tiger.’
"MEOW!" In the dark of night, a fierce tiger roared.