Escape the Miaojiang Villain - Chapter 2
Chapter 2: His Little Slave Bell-Serving Him
Three hundred years ago, in the cold, dark Demon City, a flock of ravens flew across the lonely sky above.
A little girl dressed in a sky-blue Taoist robe held a bright torch in her hand and threw it mercilessly toward the boy on the ground.
A crescent smile curled at the corners of her mouth,”Little demon child, when you reach the Netherworld, remember to miss me!”
After throwing the torch, the girl turned around and took a man’s hand, “Father, let’s go.”
Behind her, flames swept across the sky. She didn’t see the intense, burning hatred deep in the boy’s eyes.
Tu Lingxiang recalled this plot point from her book. The scene of the girl throwing the torch was the encounter she had personally written for the two of them. They had only met that single time, yet it was enough to make Lian Jing hate her to the core.
His sentence just now had been phrased as a question, yet it wasn’t really one.
He had sealed her mute acupoint, yet asked such a strange question—it was obvious he never intended for her to answer.
The nearby haystack was engulfed by aggressive snake-like flames. Seeing that the fire was about to singe her red wedding dress, the youth in front of her remained unmoved. He looked at her in leisure, his cold gaze seemingly saying: If the dress burns, you can strip it off; if your hair burns, you can cut it off; if you burn to death, then so be it.
Tu Lingxiang looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, her eyes reddened by the smoke, droplets hanging off her individual eyelashes. If she could speak right now, she would definitely say: Lian Jing, if you burn me to death now, you won’t be able to torment me! To torment me properly, hurry up and save me!
Just as the thought crossed her mind, the youth actually pulled her out with a sudden jerk, hoisted her onto his shoulder once more, and unsealed her acupoints at the same time.
The moment her acupoints were freed, she began to cough violently. Having inhaled too much dense smoke, she felt as though she was about to cough up her lungs, tears streaming down her face as she coughed.
What a close call! She had managed to step back from the gates of hell after all.
Carrying her over his shoulder, Lian Jing effortlessly descended the mountain. All the disciples across the mountain were busy putting out the fire; no one noticed his intrusion, nor did anyone notice he had carried off the bride.
At the foot of the mountain, a group of people had been waiting early on. They hurried forward to greet him, bowing their heads respectfully.
“Young Master.”
Tu Lingxiang only caught that single address of “Young Master” before finally fainting, just as she wished.
Someone glanced at the bride on Lian Jing’s shoulder and flatteringly grinned.
“With Young Master taking charge, you truly are invincible!”
Someone immediately echoed.
“Of course! Look who our Young Master is.”
“If you ask me, a minor matter like this didn’t need Young Master to act in person at all. Just letting us few handle it would suffice. How could we let this lowly woman dirty Young Master’s noble hands?” Saying this, the man reached out to take the upside-down woman from Lian Jing’s shoulder. However, Lian Jing had already strode past him, carrying her forward.
The man’s hand froze awkwardly in midair as his eyes sized up the bride. Unfortunately, her hair hung down and veiled her face, preventing anyone from catching a glimpse.
“I wonder how this little girl looks?” The thought made his heart itch with curiosity.
—
When Tu Lingxiang woke up, broad daylight had already arrived. She opened her bleary eyes, and for a fleeting moment, she mistakenly thought she was lying on her big bed at home. But when she caught sight of an unfamiliar face, she suddenly snapped to reality—she was inside the book.
She sat up with a start and realized she was in a dim, grand hall. Several people sat on the surrounding mahogany chairs, every single pair of eyes fixed upon her.
The man sitting obliquely opposite her suddenly spoke up, “The daughter of Sect Master Tu… she actually doesn’t look half bad.”
He was a middle-aged man in his mid-forties, wearing a dark black robe.
His eyes stared at her unabashedly, filled with a villainous smirk—his intention couldn’t be clearer.
There were so many people in the room that she couldn’t figure out who he was for a moment.
A man sitting beside him took up his words, “She’s an enemy’s daughter. No matter how pretty she looks, that’s all there is to her.”
The black-robed man kept his bold eyes glued to the beauty on the ground and added, “That’s where you’re wrong. An enemy’s daughter makes it all the more thrilling! Coincidentally, my whip hasn’t been used in a long time—looks like it can finally be put to work today.”
Tu Lingxiang’s eyes widened in horror. Propelling herself with her hands on the floor, she scrambled backward, only to accidentally bump into someone’s foot behind her. Looking back, she saw a youth holding a celadon teacup, sipping his tea in quiet composure.
Who else could it be but the main villain, Lian Jing?
He certainly looked relaxed listening to them. Were they seriously holding a meeting to brainstorm creative ways to torture her?
Perhaps disgusted that she had touched him, he actually used the tip of his boot to kick her forward a few inches, clearly intending to deliver her straight to those men for torture.
Tu Lingxiang grieved internally once again: Why on earth did I write a villain like this?!
The youth lowered his long, ink-feather eyelashes. His slender fingers set down the tea lid, his voice made remarkably pleasant after being moistened by the tea, “Second Uncle, did you handle the task I assigned to you?”
“Young Master, everything is taken care of. You can rest assured when Second Uncle handles things,” the black-robed man sitting obliquely opposite beat his chest and said.
Second Uncle?
Tu Lingxiang instantly recognized who he was. He was Lian Jing’s Second Uncle, Shu Yan—a coward who craved power he couldn’t hold, a useless figure who claimed submission to Lian Jing on the surface while remaining utterly defiant in his heart.
Shu Yan added, “We can set out tomorrow.”
Lian Jing gave a light response and then asked, “Any movement from Changyan Sect?”
Speaking of this, several people in the room grew excited.
A slightly younger boy among them said, “I’ve had people closely monitoring Changyan Sect. Last night’s big fire threw them into utter chaos; it wasn’t until this morning that someone realized the bride was missing! Man, those people from Changyan Sect were furious! When Tianyi Sect heard the bride disappeared, they rushed over to Changyan Sect in a panic. Word has it those two old men almost fought! Su Mengxuan even claimed Tu Lingxiang eloped with a secret lover to skip the wedding, pulling this stunt intentionally to embarrass him, hahahahaha!”
After finishing, he turned with a smile toward Lian Jing in the head seat, “Young Master, why aren’t you laughing?”
Lian Jing’s face went as dark as charcoal. He questioned in a icy tone, “Are you implying… I am her secret lover?”
He pointed his finger at Tu Lingxiang on the floor.
“No, no, no!” The man waved his hands frantically and slapped his own mouth.
“Bah! I was talking nonsense. Pure nonsense!”
Seeing Lian Jing’s utter disgust for the woman on the floor, Shu Yan walked over, dragged her up, and said to Lian Jing with a grin, “Lian Jing, since we finally captured this woman, how about letting Second Uncle play with her for a few days?”
Hearing this, Tu Lingxiang trembled all over.
She immediately looked up toward the grand high-backed armchair.
The red-robed youth leaned back lazily in his chair, holding the teacup with one hand while using his other hand to lightly scrape the tea lid against the rim.
His gaze dropped into the clear tea liquid as he drawled lazily, “Just don’t kill her. I still have a use for her.”
Those words were a tacit permission.
From start to finish, he hadn’t lifted his head to glance at her even once.
Tu Lingxiang knew it! He was so evil—how could he possibly refuse?
He couldn’t wait for these people to torture her to death!
Hearing Lian Jing agree, the others joined in the clamor. An older member pointed at Shu Yan and shouted, “Shu Yan, why do you get the first share of the prize? I object! Have her come to my room tonight!”
“Why shouldn’t I be first? Young Master agreed to it himself! If you have the guts, go talk to Young Master yourself!”
Another person added, “Then you guys hurry up and fight for it. Either way, put me down for the day after tomorrow!”
“Me too! Put me after you!”
…
What? They’re actually queuing up for this?! What do they take her for?!
“Are you people insane?!” Tu Lingxiang clenched her fists and yelled at the top of her lungs.
The moment her words fell, the entire room went dead silent. Everyone turned to look at her in astonishment, and even Lian Jing lifted his eyelids.
Stared at by so many wolfish, predatory eyes, she was terrified to the point of fainting again. Her legs turned to jelly instantly; she felt like she was going to suffer a terrible fate tonight.
“I mean… haven’t… haven’t you guys ever seen… a woman before?”
She stammered out, wailing in her heart: How about I kneel down to you all, dear authors of my misery?!
Taking advantage of Shu Yan’s brief lapse of attention, she broke free from his grip and dashed to Lian Jing’s side. Collapsing beside his legs, she hugged his leg tight and looked at him with pleading eyes, “I’m willing to serve you like a horse or an ox, Young Master! I beg of you… take me back to your room!”
She knew Lian Jing was a germaphobe who looked down on her; staying by his side was at least safe. He was the boss here—other than begging him, she truly had no other way out.
Being hugged like this, Lian Jing spilled a couple of drops of tea from his cup. A subtle trace of dark anger crossed his face as he lowered his gaze to look down at her.
“What are you hugging Young Master for? He’s not someone who knows how to cherish a woman!” Shu Yan shouted loudly.
Tu Lingxiang refused to listen, clinging tightly to Lian Jing’s leg while looking at him stubbornly, “Young Master, I beg you to take me back to your room.”
Her eyes were filled with desperate pleading. She genuinely didn’t want to be carried off by those men; she would rather Lian Jing lash her with a whip than be trampled by those beasts.
The youth in the high seat fixed his gaze on her face. No emotion could be read in his deep, well-like dark pupils. She only saw him let out a soft, troubled sigh, saying,”Ah, I don’t really like girls who are ‘too’ proactive.”
With that said, a surge of force erupted from his leg, blasting her away.
“Ah!” Tu Lingxiang was sent skidding several feet away, landing right back at Shu Yan’s feet.
The man behind her grabbed her back collar, laughing, “Told you already, Young Master doesn’t know how to cherish women. You’d better come with me obediently—I guarantee you’ll be so satisfied you won’t want to get out of bed, hahahaha!”
As Shu Yan dragged her outside, her face turned pale with horror. She screamed at the top of her voice, “Lian Jing! Lian Jing!”
“Impudent! Is Young Master’s name something a creature like you can shout?!”
Tu Lingxiang didn’t care about anything anymore, repeatedly screaming Lian Jing’s name,”Lian Jing, I will die! I will really die!”
“Lian Jing! Lian Jing! If I die, you won’t be able to torment me! Don’t you want to torment me yourself?!”
“Lian Jing… Lian Jing…”
Yet the red-robed youth in the armchair remained completely unmoved. He set down his teacup, pulled a soft white silk handkerchief from his sleeve, and methodically wiped the tea stains off his clothing, muttering to himself, “Can’t she shout pretty well after all?”
*Why was it so difficult when I told her to shout last night?*
Tu Lingxiang was dragged out to the courtyard by Shu Yan, followed by several onlookers. Shu Yan wore a lustful smirk, “Make sure you scream this loud on the bed later!”
Tu Lingxiang’s face went completely white, as if covered in heavy frost overnight. What sin had she committed? She had merely written a terrible villain—why did she have to suffer such punishment?
“Lian Jing…”
“Lian Jing…”
She was dragged into a room by the tall, imposing man. He threw her onto the ground and began searching for something in the room.
Before long, he pulled a long red whip from a trunk. He cracked it twice against the floor to test the weight, then began walking toward her.
Supporting herself with her hands on the floor, she backed away into the corner. Her pupils widened in terror, and she still couldn’t control herself from calling out Lian Jing’s name.
“Still calling him? That kid doesn’t understand the concept of tenderness at all. Calling him a hundred times won’t do you any good!”
Her harrowing screams echoed throughout the courtyard. Sitting straight in the mahogany chair inside the main hall, the youth’s eardrums hurt from the noise.
He tossed aside the silk handkerchief in annoyance,”So noisy.”
In this world, no one had ever shouted his name so tearfully and desperately.
She was the first and only one.
Tu Lingxiang was quickly cornered against the wall by Shu Yan. Seeing him raise his powerful arm, the long whip about to strike down upon her, she instinctively closed her eyes tight. But the expected pain never came.
The air seemed to fall dead quiet all at once—so quiet that a falling pin could be heard.
“Did you mean it when you said you’d serve me like a horse or an ox?”
After a long silence, a clear, sharp voice suddenly rang out from across the room. Surprised, she opened her eyes to see the red-robed youth standing at the doorway, tall and slender, standing against the light, his expression unreadable.
He came?
He actually came!
The youth’s vivid red robes were exceptionally bewitching in the warm light. His dark hair and red hairband fluttered long in the breeze. Enveloped in the halo of light, his entire being resembled a fiery red demon lotus blooming in full force.
Meanwhile, Shu Yan standing in front of her seemed to be frozen in place, his raised arm holding the long whip suspended in midair, unable to bring it down.
The expression on his face was quite a sight, seemingly shocked that Lian Jing would actually interfere in such a minor matter.
Tu Lingxiang froze for a good moment before realizing the meaning behind Lian Jing’s words.
Scrambling up from the floor immediately, she ran toward the doorway as if fleeing for her life. Looking up at the tall youth, she grabbed his sleeve and blurted out hurriedly, “It’s true! Serving like a horse or an ox—I will never go back on my word!”
Only then did a satisfied smile appear on the youth’s pale face, his peach-blossom eyes curving slightly.
“Then… back to my room?”
Tu Lingxiang’s eyes widened in surprise.
Back to his room in broad daylight?!
The youth bent down slightly, bringing his stunning face close to hers.
The tip of his nose, bathed in sunlight, almost touched hers as he said with a subtle smile, “If we don’t go back to the room, how are you going to serve me? You didn’t actually think I, Lian Jing, am some saint who stays away from women, did you?”
Tu Lingxiang froze completely.
This wasn’t how it went in the original novel!
The villain she wrote was someone who kept away from women altogether, with extremely high standards—there was no way he could ever take a liking to her!
His palm caressed half of her cheek, carrying a trace of chill as he smirked, “If you serve me well… there’ll be a reward.”
“???”
