Escape the Miaojiang Villain - Chapter 4
Chapter 4: His Little Slave Bell-Fleeing
She went outside to wash her hands once more before coming back in to peel the shrimp for him. He hadn’t asked her to sit, and she didn’t dare to either, so she could only stand by his side peeling them. The more she peeled, the angrier she grew in her heart—how had she, an author, fallen to the point of peeling shrimp for her own villain?
She looked at the tender, smooth shrimp in her hand, her eyes shining with desperate craving.
It smelled so fragrant…
If you’re going to torment someone, you shouldn’t torment them like this.
She placed the peeled shrimp one by one into Lian Jing’s jade bowl, watching him eat them, unconsciously swallowing her saliva.
It must be delicious.
After that, she watched helplessly as Lian Jing finished every single one of the six dishes on the table, leaving absolutely nothing behind.
He wiped the corners of his mouth with a silk handkerchief, stood up, and walked outside, not forgetting to instruct her as he left,”You, go wash the dishes.”
“Yes,” Tu Lingxiang responded with a gloomy face.
The life of a slave was simply too miserable. Not giving her food was one thing, but she even had to wash his dishes.
This place was full of men and lacked a single woman. Could it be that all the hard labor and messy chores would be hers from now on?
No, she definitely had to escape tonight!
Once she escaped, she was going to order a whole pound of shrimp to eat!
“After washing the dishes, warm the bed for me too.”
Tu Lingxiang raised her head in utter shock: “??!!”
Warm the bed???
How on earth was she supposed to warm a bed?
In novels, when maidservants warmed beds, they just lay directly on the bed to do it. Could it be that Lian Jing wanted her to warm it like that too?
But wasn’t the current weather only late summer and early autumn?
Surely he couldn’t be that afraid of the cold?
However, Lian Jing left after dropping that single sentence, giving her no chance to ask further questions.
After washing the dishes, she came to the room.
Hesitating for a long time while pacing back and forth, she finally pulled back the blue silk quilt and lay down upon it.
Lian Jing’s bed actually smelled fragrant, carrying a faint scent of lotus wood. Lying upon it, she felt as though she had arrived on a solitary wooden boat floating in a fresh, natural lotus pond. All around her were pink lotuses taller than she was. Lying in the midst of it all, she felt somewhat intoxicated, losing track of her way home as her eyes gently closed, slowly drifting off to dreamland.
When Lian Jing returned from outside, he didn’t see her in the courtyard. The room was lit with a dim glow, and he walked inside with suspicion, only to see the girl sleeping soundly on his bed.
“Tu! Ling! Xiang!”
A roof-shattering roar jolted the girl on the bed awake. She immediately sat up in a panic and saw the youth across from her, fuming with rage. At that moment, she felt as though even the bed had been cracked open by his roar. She panicked and stammered out,”Lian Jing… you… you’re back?”
“Get the hell off right now!”
Tu Lingxiang had been startled awake from her sleep, and her head was still addled and confused. She pulled back the quilt to scramble off the bed, but because she was in too much of a panic, she lost her balance and crashed straight onto the floor.
This fall instantly jolted her brain completely clear.
Seeing the youth closing in on her, he bent down, grabbed a lock of her dark hair, and yanked her toward him.
“Ah… Ow!”
Tears of pain shimmered in her eyes as she was forced to look up at the stunning youth before her. She saw his face looking dark to the extreme, his thin crimson lips pulling into a mocking sneer as he said, “You like my bed that much? A dignified eldest young lady of Tianyi Sect, and yet after only one day, you couldn’t resist offering yourself up for favor?”
Tu Lingxiang shook her head vigorously and said,”I was only warming the bed for you!”
He let out a light laugh, “Your way of warming a bed is truly special.” He swept a glance over her fully intact clothing.
“Why haven’t you taken off your clothes? How can you seduce anyone like this?”
His hand reached toward her collar,”How about I help you take them off, and then send you to Second Uncle’s bed, hmm?”
Tu Lingxiang’s scalp throbbed with pain from his grip, her body drawn close to his side. Hearing these words, she felt as if her soul had been instantly ripped away. She immediately held his thigh tightly and pleaded, “I really was warming the bed… Young Master, I absolute have no improper thoughts about you whatsoever! I beg you to believe me!”
“No improper thoughts, yet you’re hugging me?” He glanced down at her hands clutching his thigh.
Tu Lingxiang released him immediately, “Really, none…”
“Heh, are your eyes blind? Can’t you see there’s charcoal in the room?”
“Use charcoal? To warm the bed?”
Tu Lingxiang was stunned; she had never seen anyone use charcoal to warm a blanket before.
She glanced at the basin of unlit silver-thread charcoal in the room. In a season like this, surely there was no need to burn charcoal?
Was this guy tormenting her, or was he tormenting her?!
He bellowed loudly,”Change the bedsheets and quilt covers for me! Hurry up!”
“Yes, yes, yes, I’ll change them right away.”
Tu Lingxiang scrambled up from the floor, wiped a handful of sweat from her forehead, and under his watchful gaze, nimbly replaced the entire set of bedsheets and quilt covers. Just as she picked up the replaced linens to head outside, the silent Lian Jing spoke up again,”Halt! Going to wash them in the middle of the night—are you trying to fall into the river to feed the fish?”
Tu Lingxiang knew that he was simply afraid she would escape, which was why he spoke up to stop her.
“What did I tell you to do during the day? Did you forget it all?” he said coldly.
“No… didn’t forget…”
She set down the bedsheets and quilt covers, then ran outside to pick up that Double-Deer Green Jade Teapot, placing it aggrievedly on top of her head.
Lian Jing shot a sharp glance at her and said,”Fill it to the brim with water, then come stand in my room.”
“???”
Still need to fill it with water??
An empty pot was already hard enough to balance, yet she had to fill it up to the brim too—was he trying to let her live or not?
Cupping the pot, she walked toward the edge of the pond reluctantly, muttering in her heart as she walked: Dead Lian Jing! Go die!
She filled a full pot of clear water, then carried it back into the room. After entering, she saw Lian Jing untying his clothes in front of a silver screen. Her eyes widened in shock, and next came his low scolding, “Turn around!”
The next moment, the only candle flame in the room suddenly went out.
She stood facing the wall while holding the teapot, just like a child who had done something wrong standing in punishment, both hands still having to hold the teapot for fear that it might drop.
This teapot was crafted from top-grade jade, with two delicate green deer lying symmetrically at the lid. Her fingers were resting right on that pair of jade deer, feeling exceptionally smooth and comfortable.
Behind her came a few soft, rustling sounds—the sound of Lian Jing removing his robes. For no reason, her face flushed red. Fortunately, the room was pitch black, so no one would notice.
A living person as big as her was right here—how could he strip his clothes in front of her?
Simply uninhibited and scandalous!
“Stand properly. This Young Master is going to sleep.”
Behind her, the youth got onto the bed and spoke airily, his words sounding like a brag no matter how one listened.
Bragging that he could sleep while she couldn’t.
Too much!!!
What could she do? She could only smile and live on.
She replied with a smile, “Goodnight, Young Master.”
The person behind seemed to let out a light snort, a sound that seemed to mock her insincere hypocrisy. After that, the room fell into a dead silence, with no further sound replying to her.
She pressed her forehead against the cold wall, relying on the wall to support her body.
Having had no food and no sleep today, when would this day finally end?
“System Bro, I don’t want to experience life here anymore. I beg you to take me away! Once I get back, I’ll definitely burn high-grade incense for you for three days and three nights straight.”
【…】
The system emitted a series of speechlessly mechanical sounds.
【Instead of begging me, you’d be better off begging the one on the bed. If you coax him well, will you still need to worry about having good days?】
“But I… can’t coax him well!”
【Then I can’t help either.】
“…”
She suffered through an hour with great effort.
Only when she heard the even, long breathing from behind did she slowly turn her head and peek toward the bed.
Threads of moonlight poured in from the window, illuminating the dark wooden bed. The youth on the bed lay straight and flat, his face veiled with soft moonlight, which added a touch of pristine elegance to that stunning face.
She stared at him for a long while. Once she made sure he was truly fast asleep, she cautiously shuffled a step toward the doorway. Seeing no reaction from him, she took the teapot off her head, cradled it in her arms, tiptoed to the door, and gently pulled the room door open.
A tiny creaking sound rang in her ears, sounding like a loud boom to her. She peeked her eyes toward the person on the bed, and seeing he wasn’t affected, she tipped on her toes and slipped out the doorway.
Only after getting outside did she realize her heart was beating so violently. Unable to think any further, she ran out of the courtyard cradling the pot in her arms.
It was late at night and quiet outside. The people on watch had all been drawn away by Shu Yan, so she sprinted along the route she had planned out in her mind beforehand.
The night breeze fluttered gently as the bright moon filled her chest. She sprinted in the direction of the riverbank.
Although this was the Demon Realm’s territory, it was very close to the Mortal Realm.
As long as she crossed this river and walked another ten miles, she could reach a town with human habitation, where it would be difficult for Lian Jing to find her.
She poured the water in the teapot into the river under her feet, but didn’t throw the pot away. This was a valuable treasure after all—once she escaped, she could still pawn it at a pawnshop for quite a bit of silver.
Humming a little tune, she ran while laughing,”Lian Jing, oh Lian Jing, this lady is escaping!”
She tried to circulate her spiritual energy, only to find that her body seemed to be suppressed by a seal. She couldn’t teleport, nor could she exert any spiritual power.
It must have been Lian Jing’s doing—he had sealed her spiritual power.
Right now, she was just a weak woman without even the strength to truss a chicken.
Without knowing how long she had been running, she realized she seemed to be spinning in circles in the same spot. Could there be a disorienting mist in this place?
Suddenly, she saw a convoy of people coming from the foot of the mountain in the distance. She stared at them curiously—there were at least twenty to thirty people there, but their walking postures were very strange.
They all wore wide white robes that surged in the night wind, light and airy, looking remarkably like ghosts.
Those were… corpse-drovers!
This place was located in West Hunan, where the tradition of corpse-driving was prevalent.
Corpse-drovers were mostly well-trained; as soon as night fell, they would drive corpses from one place to the next.
And the direction they were heading right now was the exact same direction she wanted to go.
Corpse-drovers like these walked in deep mountains and dense forests year-round; as long as she followed behind them, she would definitely be able to get out.
Having made up her mind, she hid in the thicket, waiting for those people to slowly march over. At the very front of the line sat a man on a dilapidated ox cart, dressed in a wide grayish-white robe with a white cloth cap on his head, holding a ringing bell and a spiritual banner in his hands to guide the corpses behind.
Only after they passed did she quietly step out and fall in line at the very back of the corpses.
Looking at the corpse brothers in front of her, her entire body shivered. This immersive experience was far more thrilling than writing a novel!
They only moved according to the corpse-drover’s bell and hand gestures, so they wouldn’t notice her following behind.
Without knowing how long they walked like this, the ox cart ahead suddenly came to a stop, and the white-robed corpses also ceased marching. Tu Lingxiang had been walking with her head down and nearly bumped straight into a corpse brother in front of her.
What was going on? Why did they stop?
Poking her head out to look ahead, the distance was too far for her to know what had happened up front. Suddenly, she heard a deep, resonant voice.
“Why is Your Excellency blocking the path?”
This was the voice of the corpse-drover.
Blocking the path?
Who is blocking the path?
She didn’t see anyone up front.
Over the wild plains, the river breeze blew gently and green grass grew lushly, while the bright moonlight bathed the earth. A clear, cold, and pleasant voice rang out across the open green field: “This humble one came to capture a runaway little bride.”
Her pupils dilated violently. That… that was Lian Jing’s voice!
He had come to capture her!
He was here!!!
Ahhh!
How could he come so fast?
What to do? What to do?
The corpse-drover ahead was stunned for a moment, asking in surprise, “Runaway bride?”
Lian Jing was concealed in the dark, his laugh light and elegant as he said, “I wonder if Your Excellency has seen my little bride?”
“What does your bride look like?”
“About sixteen years of age, wearing Miao attire, hair in a long braid, not very tall, skinny as a rail, with a small heart-shaped face and round almond eyes.”
Tu Lingxiang hadn’t expected him to be able to describe her appearance so clearly. He had clearly barely glanced at her, and every time he swept a glance, his eyes hid obvious disdain.
His tone was unhurried, even adding a line at the end, “Oh, and she particularly loves to glare at people.”
“Haven’t seen her.”
The corpse-drover shook his head.
“Young Master, go search elsewhere. I’m in a hurry to get on my way, please make way.”
“Is that so? Then pardon the intrusion.”
Lian Jing cupped his hands to apologize, then stepped aside to make way for him.
Tu Lingxiang shuffled forward a few rows, hiding inside the robe of a corpse sister.
Her white robe was especially wide and billowed big in the night breeze. She squatted and hid at her feet to conceal herself.
The corpse-drover ahead resumed ringing his brass bell, and this corpse sister began walking again. She walked slowly, stopping with every step, so squatting inside allowed her to barely keep up with her pace.
She prayed in her heart that Lian Jing could leave quickly, preferably searching for her in another direction. Little did she know that right now, far from leaving, Lian Jing was standing right in front of the line, quietly watching this long corpse-driving procession.
Tu Lingxiang couldn’t see the situation outside. She was so nervous she broke into a cold sweat, still cradling that Double-Deer Green Jade Teapot in her arms while trying hard to endure the foul odor of decay from the corpse.
Wasn’t it said that Lian Jing slept very deeply at night? How could he be awake?
And even tracked her all the way here?
She almost suspected whether he had placed a tracking spell on her body!
She counted her steps silently in her heart. By the time she counted to the fiftieth step, she could barely hold on anymore; walking squatted like this truly tested one’s endurance.
There had been no sound from Lian Jing outside all this time—he… should have left by now, right?
She tried lifting a bit of the robe to look outside, seeing no figure, and her mind eased up.
Who would have thought that the moment she pulled the robe all the way open, a suddenly enlarged handsome face appeared right in front of her. The other party blinked innocently at her, his peach-blossom eyes bright as the moon, as he asked with a smile.
“Little bride… is running away… tiring?”
