Under the escort of two bailiffs, Ye Xuan, battered and bloodied, was dragged into the pitch-black depths of the prison.
Behind him lay the bright entrance, but ahead was only endless darkness. Below his feet were the alarming bloodstains from being dragged from light into darkness.
For such a supposed lecher, the bailiffs showed no mercy; they unceremoniously threw Ye Xuan into the cell:
“Get in there and stay put—!!!”
“Hmph, the thing I hate most in my life are shameless lechers like you. If you weren’t nearly dead, I’d kick you myself—!”
The bailiffs, without any courtesy, spat towards Ye Xuan and left the place with faces full of anger.
By then, Ye Xuan had been beaten nearly to unconsciousness; how could he even register what they were saying or doing?
When he finally came to, his mind felt foggy and heavy. Gradually, he began to feel an indescribable, intense pain in his fingers, feet, and shoulders. The intense pain caused him to pass out.
How much pain does one have to endure to pass out directly from it? And to what extent must one suffer to, while unconscious and not yet awake, hear one’s own cries of pain?
Ye Xuan found it hard to imagine how he had survived, but when he awoke, he felt as if his entire body was about to split open. Even when his martial bones were destroyed, he had not felt such agony...
In an instant, tears of boundless injustice streamed from his eyes, finally breaking free as he could no longer hold them back.
“Hehe, if you intended to ‘pluck flowers,’ you should have known what would happen if you fell into others hands. Why are you crying?”
Just then, a voice sneered from the darkness. Ye Xuan looked towards the darkness and, after a long while, managed to make out a figure sitting there.
The man had a face full of long beard, his hair a mess, and his clothes tattered, barely resembling a human, more like a monkey dressed in rags.
His gaze was fierce, glaring venomously at Ye Xuan. Looking at him, it seemed he was no good person either. Observing the man before him, Ye Xuan couldn’t help but give a bitter smile.
How could anyone locked up here be a good person? Even if he, Ye Xuan, had been a good person, he was not a good person in these times...
Throughout his life, Ye Xuan had always preferred to take the initiative and never liked to rely on others for his affairs. But this time, he was completely ruined. He was nothing but a cripple now.
Thinking that his junior sister could find a way to save him was probably just a naive hope. After all, it was impressive enough that the junior sister could avoid detection by their cunning master.
Moreover, even if she managed to save him, he was still a cripple; the destroyed martial bones would not return. This time, he had truly paid the price of his life to save an innocent person. But if there were a next time, would he still do such a thing?
Knowing what would happen, yet still playing the hero, risking his life...
Ye Xuan really wanted to say he wouldn’t do such things again. But if there really were a next time, could he truly stand by and not help?
Maybe, he himself couldn’t even clarify this matter.
At this moment, facing the fellow prisoner, Ye Xuan actually felt free. Because now he could say anything, “I’m not a lecher, I was... willing to be framed as one.”
“Oh?!” Hearing this, the man opposite him showed a curious expression:
“Not a lecher, but framed—I’ve heard of that, but I’ve never heard of someone willingly being framed as one. Kid, tell me what your situation is, and if it sounds good, maybe I’ll consider not beating you.”
“Ah...” Hearing this, Ye Xuan sighed, enduring the intense pain all over his body, and said: “Well, since it’s boring anyway, I might as well tell you...”
He then told the evil-looking man about his recent experiences, though he left out the part about signaling to Yu Ling’er.
After all, he wasn’t so naive as to share his secrets with just anyone he met, especially if the other person might be in league with Yu Tieshan, as that would endanger his junior sister too.
He was willing to sacrifice himself to save others; that was his own choice. But he could not involve his junior sister, who could have lived without being drawn into this.
As long as Yu Tieshan was unaware that Yu Ling’er already knew what was happening, he would never dare to harm her. After all, Yu Ling’er was his daughter.
As Ye Xuan narrated, the ferocious expression of the man in the dark softened. “What you’ve told me is indeed fascinating, and I enjoyed listening to it,” he said to Ye Xuan. “However, I still have to beat you because I don’t believe you.”
“You don’t believe me?” Ye Xuan said with a wry smile, shaking his head. “That’s right, who would believe such a thing...”
“It’s not that I don’t believe what you said,” the man continued. “I can’t believe you’d be so foolish as to not seek help from the Order of Immortal Justice instead of walking into your master’s trap to be slaughtered. In your story, you’re clever, yet so foolishly you forgot to include such an important detail.”
“The Order of Immortal Justice?” Ye Xuan asked, puzzled. As he spoke, he moved and felt a sharp pain from his wounds, causing him to gasp in pain, sweat beading on his forehead and his face turning pale.
“Hahahaha... You don’t even know about the Order of Immortal Justice?” The man laughed heartily. “Even a three-year-old knows this. Every major city has a stronghold of cultivators who usually don’t interfere in mundane affairs.”
“However, if someone uses evil magic to harm people, or there are issues beyond mortal ability to resolve, they will help. Some meddlesome cultivators even involve themselves in matters like catching thieves or solving murders.”
“In your case, you could have sought help from the Order of Immortal Justice. I can’t believe you walked into your master’s trap so naively, hahaha... that’s hilarious!”
With these words, Ye Xuan’s eyes lit up. So it was...
Justice in this world was maintained by cultivators. No wonder his master hadn’t killed him outright. Logically, with his martial skills, killing Ye Xuan would have been easy, and no one would dare to intervene.
At most, he avoided overt actions for the sake of his reputation...
He could have acted covertly. But he did not even do that, not out of any perverse pleasure, but because in this world, one truly cannot kill at whim. How foolish of him to think he was clever, not knowing such a crucial piece of information!
Luckily, he had already told the truth to his junior sister. With that, she should be able to find a way to save him soon...
He just hoped she would be careful not to get herself into trouble too.
As the people of the Jade Fox Palace watched Ye Xuan being mocked for his ignorance, they felt for him. Ye Xuan had done his best; it was his master who was despicably cunning.
Not even teaching him such essential knowledge clearly showed he had planned to harm him all along. No matter how clever he was, what could he do?
That brute, does he even have the right to mock Ye Xuan?

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