Escape the Miaojiang Villain - Chapter 3
Chapter 3: His Little Slave Bell-Torment
Tu Lingxiang was left completely stunned, staring stupidly at him standing so close in front of her. At that moment, she finally realized she seemed to have fallen out of one wolf’s den and straight into another.
She had thought he would be just as she had written—utterly disgusted by her and determined never to touch her.
She truly hadn’t expected that he would actually utter such words just now.
How could this guy break character like this?
Wasn’t he just despising her yesterday for being “just this pathetic trash”?
How come things had changed today?
“What reward?”
She heard herself asking such a question. But the moment the words left her mouth, she began to curse herself inwardly.
How could she be such a hopeless fangirl too? Just seeing a handsome youth talking to her had completely swept her brains away.
“That,” he let out a light, shallow smile, “depends on how well you serve me.”
Tu Lingxiang didn’t believe for a second that he would have any real reward.
After finishing his sentence, he picked her up by the collar, turned around, and stepped into the courtyard.
Under the astonished gazes of the surrounding crowd, he dragged her all the way to his residence.
The place where he lived was a private courtyard—a slightly larger court planted with a mottled, ancient parasol tree. Golden yellow leaves covered the entire yard, resembling gold ingots scattered all over the ground.
She was dragged by him, stepping across those leaves, and into a dark room. That room was just like his heart—so pitch-black that no light could be seen.
She was thrown heavily onto the floor by him. After throwing her down, he pulled out another soft white silk handkerchief from his sleeve, just like before, and wiped his noble hands.
“…”
Did he really despise her that much?
Since he despised her so much, why even talk about letting her serve him?
Seeing her staring at him, he shot an oblique glare her way.
“Don’t know how to serve a person?”
Of course she didn’t!
She had never served anyone in her life!
Forcing a pleasant smile, she asked.
“May I ask Young Master, how am I to serve you?”
The youth looked down at her from on high with a cold, indifferent expression, saying.
“Take off your clothes.”
“??”
Tu Lingxiang clutched her collar with both hands, her face filled with terror, unable to believe what she had just heard.
She was still wearing yesterday’s red wedding dress; the wide, elaborate skirt flared out across the floor, looking strikingly like a delicate flower blooming upon a lake.
“Do you want me to strip them off for you?” he asked icily.
“Lian Jing…” Tu Lingxiang called out again in a coaxing tone, “Young Master, do I really have to take them off?”
“Take them off.”
“Young Master, a creature of my caliber will only pollute your eyes.”
“Don’t make me say it a third time.”
A trace of impatience had already crept into his voice.
Tu Lingxiang’s whole body shuddered.
She began using her hands to unfasten the sash at her waist. The style of this wedding dress was extremely complex, and since it was her very first time wearing it, she fumbled for quite a while before finally untying it.
The youth had originally been standing right in front of her. When the hem of her skirt seemed to brush against his boots, he took a step back and cursed under his breath.
“How wretchedly unlucky.”
Tu Lingxiang twitched the corner of her lips—it was her first time hearing someone call a wedding dress unlucky.
With a flick of his palm, a set of skirts appeared in his hand, which he threw over toward her.
The jingling dress covered her head completely.
“After you change, wipe every single corner and crevice of this room ten times. In addition…”
He seemed to smile slightly as he said, “Shout my name another hundred times. Shout louder—just like you did earlier.”
“???”
What kind of absurd, unreasonable demand was this?!
With amusement lingering in his eyes, he commanded from above her head,”Remember, curse me with every single repetition. The harsher you curse, the better.”
…Pervert?
Having said that, he turned around with his hands behind his back and walked out, leaving Tu Lingxiang alone in the room in a complete daze.
She pulled down the garments covering her head and peeked toward the doorway. Seeing that he hadn’t left, but had instead laid down on a rattan chair beneath the parasol tree in the courtyard, his entire body bathed in the bright, orange-gold sunlight, eyes closed for a light nap—he looked utterly leisurely and carefree.
Yet in her eyes, this was clearly a display of supervising her.
She lowered her head to inspect the set of red skirts in Miao ethnic style held in her hands.
She knew they were about to enter Miaojiang, so this outfit was specifically prepared for her to conceal her identity as the eldest young lady of Tianyi Sect.
She let out a breath of relief. Fortunately, he hadn’t actually taken a liking to her.
She walked over to close the door, swiftly stripped off the heavy, intricate wedding dress she was wearing, and changed into that light, thin set of skirts. Miao ethnic clothing favored silver embellishments; the dress she wore was embedded with small silver plates at the waist that hung down like tassels, with two tiny silver bells right in the center.
The phoenix crown on her head had long since fallen to who-knows-where, leaving only two red jade golden hairpins stuck crookedly inside her hair bun, resembling the swaying tails of two phoenixes.
Holding that thick, heavy wedding dress, she walked out to the ancient parasol tree and stood beside Lian Jing, speaking hesitatingly, “Lian… Young Master, where… where should I throw this dress?”
If she threw it in the room, he would probably get angry again and claim she dirtied his room.
The youth on the rattan chair opened his dense eyelashes. He swept a glance over the red wedding dress in her arms, then swept a glance at her. Having shed the heavy wedding dress, she looked far more frail than before—so thin she seemed as though she might topple over with a single gust of wind.
It added a few extra traces of pitiable vulnerability to her look.
Perhaps the word “throw” she used suited his taste quite well, as his tone was uncharacteristically much gentler.
“Who said to throw it?”
He extended a finger that looked like a jade chopstick and pointed toward the horizon.
“Later, when the sun sinks down to that mountain peak, take it to the river outside and wash it. Make sure to wash it extra clean.”
Wash it??
Lian Jing didn’t like people questioning him. Knowing she didn’t dare provoke him right now, she had no choice but to nod and comply.
“Okay.”
Afterward, she walked back into the room and genuinely began wiping down the tables, chairs, and stools inside. She wiped a finger across them, only to find them completely spotless—they were clearly already immaculate, yet he still made her wipe them.
Could it be he felt that her coming inside had dirtied his room?
Clearing her throat, she began to yell and curse at the top of her lungs, “Lian Jing, you will die a horrific death! I will definitely kill you!”
If she ever got the chance to go back, the very first thing she would do would be to write him to death!
Hearing this, the brows of the person on the lounge chair outside twitched slightly, after which he said in an extraordinarily good mood,”Continue.”
“Lian Jing, you dead pervert!!!”
…
The golden glow of sunlight poured over the youth’s clean, flawless face. Hearing these unbearable, foul curses, he didn’t feel the slightest bit of anger; instead, the corners of his lips curved into a beautiful arc.
“Lian Jing… I hate you…”
Tu Lingxiang shouted at the top of her voice until her throat burned.
She didn’t know how long she had been shouting, nor could she count how many times she had called out; by the end, her throat felt as though it was about to catch fire. She ran out of the room to the base of the parasol tree and saw the youth with his eyes closed. She couldn’t tell whether he was asleep or merely feigning sleep, though with her making such a racket, it was impossible for him to be sleeping.
She said to him with great difficulty.
“Young Master, the room has been wiped clean.”
Her gaze rested upon the teapot on the stone table nearby, as if trying to slake her thirst by merely looking at it. She asked in a low voice.
“Could you… give me a sip of water to drink?”
The youth gave no response, still resting with his eyes closed. She peeked at him secretly—could he really have fallen asleep?
He could actually fall asleep even with her being this noisy?
In that case…
Her hand slowly reached out toward the stone table. Stealing a quick sip shouldn’t be a problem, right?
Tiptoeing, she lifted the green jade porcelain teapot lid, then gently cupped the teapot in her hands. Just as she was about to tilt her head back to drink, the person on the rattan chair actually voiced out.
“You’re still short by one call.”
Tu Lingxiang’s hands trembled, and the teapot nearly crashed down.
“???”
He had actually been counting them!
How could there be someone this bored in the world? To actually count seriously how many times she cursed him?
Looking at the clear tea inside the teapot, its refreshing scent wafted into her nostrils. She… wanted to drink it so badly!
Immediately, gathering her courage in one breath, she shouted loudly, “Lian Jing, you’re the absolute best person in the entire world!”
Having shouted that, she lifted the teapot at the fastest speed possible and poured it frantically down her mouth.
With a few loud “gug-gug” gulps, the tea went straight into her stomach. Like a water buffalo that had been dried out for several days, she was actually so thirsty that she drank the entire pot of tea clean!
Tea stains dripped tricklingly from the corners of her mouth, wetting the front collar of her clothes. Beside her, Lian Jing looked at her with a face full of utter bewilderment, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly: “I told you to curse me, I didn’t tell you to praise me.”
Having finished the tea in the pot, Tu Lingxiang lowered her head, raised her sleeve to wipe the water droplets off her chin, and thought to herself: Either way, I’ve drunk it. If he wants to punish me now, let him punish me.
Cupping the green jade pot, she asked in a still-raspy voice,”Young Master, this teapot… should I throw it away?”
The moment these words came out, the person in front of her grew even angrier, his entire face turning iron-blue, “Do you have any idea that this is my favorite teapot?”
“Ah?”
Finished.
Tu Lingxiang wore a bitter face; she was about to suffer again.
“Should I wash it for you? Wash it a hundred times?” she asked.
“Do you think I’ll ever use it again?!” he demanded sharply in return.
“Then…”
What on earth do you want me to do then?!
Throwing it away wasn’t okay, and washing it wasn’t okay either!
After a long silence, he was finally heard issuing his order,”Tonight, you will balance it on top of your head for me. You are not allowed to let it fall for the EN-TIRE night.”
“???”
Tu Lingxiang really wanted to cry.
Thinking that she would have to suffer at night anyway, she absolutely couldn’t let herself suffer right now.
She asked, “Then can I interpret this as meaning this pot belongs to me for today? In that case, I’ll go fetch another pot of water to drink—I feel like I’m about to die of thirst.”
Lian Jing: “…”
She actually ran straight over to the edge of the pond to wash the teapot, filled it with fresh water under the bamboo spout, and poured another full pot straight down her throat.
Lian Jing looked over in her direction, gnashing his teeth with hatred.
That was his favorite Double-Deer Green Jade Pot, yet she was actually using it to squander precious things like this!
“GET OUT!” he roared in irritation.
“Yes, yes, yes, I’ll get out right now!” She set down the green jade teapot, turned around to pick up the wedding dress to the side, and ran out of the courtyard with big strides.
The moment she stepped outside the yard, she saw a large crowd of people hiding outside the door eavesdropping. Seeing her come out in utter disarray, with messy hair, an unkempt face, and a red wedding dress held in her arms, everyone stared at her with peculiar eyes.
Those gazes seemed to say:
The Young Master actually… with this woman…
She intentionally raised her voice to shout out, “Oh my, what are you all doing here? Are you looking for Young Master?”
The crowd all scampered away in the blink of an eye.
Only then did she carry the wedding dress to the riverbank, looking around in all directions.
This was located inside a somewhat secluded village surrounded by mountains on three sides. As far as the eye could see, only a small river flowed toward the outside of the mountains; the river was long like a ribbon, its running water tinkling as it reflected the green peaks and blue sky. A few little fish swam lazily in the river, swimming past green summits and sunset clouds.
She couldn’t figure out why Lian Jing wanted her to wash this wedding dress. It wasn’t written in such fine detail in the book; the plot points between Lian Jing and the minor female character were mostly glossed over in a single stroke, appearing only during major events. After all, the two of them were merely supporting characters.
She made up her mind—she definitely had to escape!
Right now, escaping from Lian Jing was her lifelong goal.
The setting sun sank into the west as a cool breeze blew gently, casting sunset light across the shimmering water surface. Squatting on a stone, she looked at the water surface that resembled an ancient bronze mirror and checked her reflection inside. She hadn’t expected that aside from transmigrating into the book, this minor cannon-fodder female character she had casually named actually shared an exact, identical face with her. This was simply too absurd!
Could it really be destiny—that she wrote the villain to be too tragic, so she was dragged in to redeem her sins?
The moment she recalled Lian Jing’s gloomy, cold, and captivating face, she couldn’t help but shiver.
Why did it have to be him of all people?
“Sigh, what a miserable fate I have!”
She wailed while washing the clothes, but because her throat hurt too much, she quickly shut her mouth again.
In her mind, she recalled the original plot.
Lian Jing was the secondary villain of the book; he was about to enter Miaojiang, and the male lead would also head to Miaojiang. Aside from them, many other people would be heading there recently as well, all because the first day of next month was the Miao King’s Son-in-Law Selection Assembly.
And the Miao King’s daughter was the female lead.
This selection assembly offered a Paulownia Flower Mirror as a dowry.
Lian Jing was going specifically for that mirror—it was formerly a sacred artifact of the Demon Race. Obtaining it would allow one to command the entire Demon Realm and summon those stray demons and demon souls wandering outside.
Although Lian Jing was the Young Master of the Demon Realm, the Demon Race had suffered heavy damage three hundred years ago.
The Demon City had been destroyed back then, and even he, as the Young Master, had spent over a century nursing his injuries. Very few people in the world knew he was still alive.
His trip to Miaojiang this time was for the Paulownia Flower Mirror, yet he never anticipated that he would actually fall in love with the female lead.
And on this trip to Miaojiang, he would bring her along as his slave.
She quietly contemplated her escape plan in her heart, completely unaware that a person was approaching her.
When she saw a wretched face reflected on the water’s surface, she was so startled she nearly fell into the river ditch.
Turning her head back, she looked at the burly man standing behind her and asked vigilantly, “What are you trying to do?”
The person who came was none other than Lian Jing’s Second Uncle, Shu Yan.
Shu Yan had previously heard her screaming inside Lian Jing’s room for a whole hour, and now seeing her washing clothes here, he asked,”Did Lian Jing really touch you?”
She raised her head,”What do you mean by that?”
Suppressing his suspicious gaze, Shu Yan broke into a smile,”I told you so—that kid Lian Jing doesn’t know how to cherish women. You were screaming so tragically just now, it must have been very painful, right?”
“…”
She forced a smile and said, “That’s right, Second Uncle. I’m exhausted right now, so don’t disturb me washing clothes!”
Having said that, she turned back, lifted the garments out of the river, and wrung the water out with force.
“It’s fine. He doesn’t know how to cherish people, but Second Uncle does. Lian Jing sleeps very deeply at night. Come out and find me tonight, and I’ll take you to enjoy the ultimate pleasures of the mortal world.”
Tu Lingxiang suppressed the surge of nausea in her stomach. She hadn’t expected him to be so vulgar—failing to take her by force, he actually tried to lure and trick her instead.
She lifted her head and asked,”How do you know he sleeps deeply at night? Could it be… you’ve secretly snuck in at night before?”
The man in front of her instantly flew into a rage from embarrassment, as if a secret had been exposed.
He pointed at her and yelled, “What nonsense are you spewing, girl?! I am his Second Uncle—of course I know his matters inside out!”
Tu Lingxiang smiled without saying a word, thinking to herself: If Lian Jing really sleeps deeply at night, doesn’t that mean I can quietly escape tonight?
After calculating for a moment in her heart, she immediately put on a bright smile and asked, “Second Uncle, Second Uncle, where shall we meet?”
Seeing that she had actually agreed, Shu Yan thought to himself that the eldest young lady of a righteous sect was nothing more than this—a lowly slut at heart after all.
He said, “The bamboo forest behind the mountain—what do you think?”
“Sounds good.”
After a brief moment, she put on a troubled expression and said, “But won’t there be people on night watch during the night? Won’t I be discovered if I come out?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll send everyone away. Feel free to come out boldly tonight without worry.”
Tu Lingxiang got the answer she wanted, her lips curving into a smile, “Then Second Uncle, it’s a date tonight, don’t break it!”
She put the wrung-out clothes into the wooden basin, picked it up, turned around, and left.
Her call of “Second Uncle” had been extremely sweet, snatching away all of Shu Yan’s soul and spirits.
When Tu Lingxiang returned to the courtyard, she saw Lian Jing sitting inside the room eating dinner.
He sat upright and straight, holding jade chopsticks in his long fingers. Hearing her return, he didn’t even glance at her once. Carrying the wooden basin, she went to one side of the courtyard to hang the clothes up to dry. After hanging them, she was planning to sit on the steps for a bit, only to be called into the room by him.
She walked inside and asked,”What orders do you have, Young Master?”
“Stand right here.” He raised his side profile, offering a warm, gentle, shallow smile: “Watch me eat.”
“???”
What kind of weird habit was this?!
Although this body of Tu Lingxiang belonged to a cultivator who didn’t need to eat, she was a foodie at heart!
Five or six plates of rare delicacies were laid out on the table, their tempting aromas wafting directly into her nose. She pressed her lips together, forcing her eyes to look elsewhere so as not to stare at the delicious, fragrant food.
“I recall that you are currently my slave, correct?” he suddenly spoke up again.
Tu Lingxiang shifted her eyes to look at him, waiting for him to continue.
“Serve me my food,” he commanded in a cold voice.
“…”
She walked over to his side, picked up another pair of jade chopsticks from the table, and asked him with a smile,”May I ask Young Master, which dish would you like to eat right now?”
“Shrimp.”
She immediately picked up a shrimp with her chopsticks and went to place it in his bowl, only to hear him say, “Peel it for me.”
“??…”
Tu Lingxiang tried her absolute best to suppress the rage in her heart, cursing inwardly that he was truly difficult to serve.
Do you want me to feed it straight into your mouth too?!
Seeing her standing there in a daze, he raised his eyebrows and looked over, his peach-blossom eyes harboring amusement as if saying: Didn’t you say you’d serve me like an ox or a horse? You can’t even fulfill a minor request like this?
