Chapter 17: I Was a Bad Person to Begin With

“Jiang Xie, what exactly are you trying to do?!”

A somewhat angry voice rang out from within the dim dungeon.

Though it was spoken in anger, it still could not conceal how pleasant it sounded.

Her tone was somewhat cold, yet her voice was crisp and exceedingly beautiful.

Inside the dungeon, an ordinary-looking woman was kneeling on the ground, with both her hands and feet bound by iron chains.

Her clothes were tattered, and her face was somewhat pale.

With her hair hanging loose in disarray, she looked exceptionally wretched.

That woman was Ji Wuyue, who had been imprisoned here.

Under normal circumstances, those two chains, which were not especially powerful, would not have been enough to restrain her. But now, her cultivation had once again been sealed.

Ji Wuyue glared with blazing fury at the man leisurely seated not far away.

He sat quietly to one side, holding a cup of tea in his hand and savoring it carefully, as though completely unaware of the woman’s anger.

“What fine tea!” Jiang Xie took a light sip from the cup in his hand and sighed in admiration.

Only then did he turn his gaze toward the woman in the distance.

With a faint smile, he said, “Little Yue’er, stop cursing me. You knew this from the start. I was never a good person.”

“Yes! I knew that two years ago. During these past two years, I thought your character was not quite that vile, but who would have thought...You clearly told me not to worry, so why are you treating me like this now?” Ji Wuyue bit down on her teeth and stared fixedly at him.

Toward the man before her, she felt both love and hatred.

At this moment, her heart was filled with a tumult of emotions.

Three days ago, after she had been imprisoned here, she had thought that Jiang Xie had arranged this deliberately, and that the cold look in his eyes had only been an act.

Deep down, she had still been full of hope for Jiang Xie.

She had not forgotten what Jiang Xie had told her that day: “Do not worry. As long as I am here, nothing will happen to you.”

She had believed that after more than two years, she had come to understand Jiang Xie at least somewhat,

but the truth proved that...

Jiang Xie really had become like a completely different person.

He had changed into someone utterly unfamiliar to her, as if everything before had merely been a disguise.

Again and again, Jiang Xie wore down the hope in her heart, only to plunge her into despair once more.

During these three days, Ji Wuyue had been subjected to Jiang Xie’s torment every single day.

The torment to her body was bearable enough, since Jiang Xie had not dealt her any heavy blows.

The worst part was the torment to her mind.

The dim dungeon, the endless howls coming from the surrounding cells, the gloomy atmosphere, and the filthy surroundings all made a young lady like her feel sick.

She could not help growing dazed as she recalled the rumors outside.

During these past two years, she had always dismissed them with contempt, believing she understood Jiang Xie.

Things like the number one wastrel of the demonic path, or a great fiend...

Yet after truly experiencing these three days, she finally understood that although Jiang Xie usually seemed harmless, his methods were extremely cruel.

He neither told her what he wanted to do, nor released her, nor gave her a single explanation.

He simply wore away at a person’s patience bit by bit, grinding down the hope in her heart.

“To be honest, if I said I was saving you, would you believe me?” Jiang Xie suddenly asked in all seriousness. When he spoke those words, his heart did not feel good either.

But there was no helping it.

Things had already come to this.

In order to make the act convincing, he had no choice but to continue.

He only needed to hold on for another day or two...

That was also why he had insisted on being the first to interrogate her.

If someone else had come instead, he could not be sure what kind of torment Ji Wuyue would have suffered.

As for Xue Li?

He did not have many days left to live.

Jiang Xie slowly leaned in front of Ji Wuyue and lifted a strand of her hair with his hand, bringing it to his nose and inhaling lightly.

“It still has the same familiar scent.”

Ji Wuyue was both embarrassed and furious.

She clearly found his behavior utterly repulsive at this moment, yet for some reason, a blush still crept onto her cheeks.

Inwardly, she could not help cursing herself for being so spineless. He had already treated her like this, clearly did not trust her at all, and yet she still grew shy because of his actions.

Ji Wuyue, wake up.

He is only lying to you.

This talk of saving you... it is all a lie...

She understood that if it had been anyone else, she might not have been this angry.

But because it was Jiang Xie, she simply could not calm herself down.

She felt as though she were about to explode with rage.

Perhaps... This was what it meant for love to turn into hatred.

While she was still in a daze, Jiang Xie’s voice sounded again. “What a pity. You really do not look very good in your current state.”

“Stop talking nonsense. If you want to kill me or torture me, then do as you please! I will never believe your lies!” Ji Wuyue shouted in shame and anger. If her body had not been restrained right now, and if she had not been completely unable to bring out any of her strength,she would have fought Jiang Xie on the spot and forced the reason out of his mouth.

“See? I told you, but you would not believe me.” Jiang Xie spread his hands helplessly, then smiled. “In that case, I can only make you suffer a little.”

“What are you trying to do?” Ji Wuyue became instantly vigilant, fear rising in her eyes.

Her body also instinctively shrank back, setting off a clatter of chains.

Jiang Xie lifted her chin again and said with a wicked smile, “Of course, this.”

As he spoke, he suddenly pressed his lips against Ji Wuyue’s.

Ji Wuyue’s pupils contracted sharply.

In the next instant, she bit down hard on Jiang Xie’s lip.

“Hiss—”

Jiang Xie cried out in pain and quickly released her.

He wiped at his lips with his hand, and there was already a smear of blood there.

“Little Yue’er, having too much temper is not a good thing.”

Jiang Xie gave a light laugh, then suddenly grabbed one of her little feet and began tickling it.

Ji Wuyue’s expression changed at once.

Her cheeks gradually turned crimson.

In the end, she still could not hold back.

“Haha... hahahahaha...”

Then Jiang Xie pinched a bit of flesh at her waist and began twisting it slightly.

“Ah!! Haha... ahh!!!”

At this moment, Ji Wuyue was on the verge of tears.

It obviously hurt, yet she could not stop herself from laughing.

This kind of torment was hell itself!

“Ah!! I am definitely going to kill you!!”

Her cries of misery rang out without end.

The other prisoners locked inside the dungeon all shuddered in unison, secretly praying that Jiang Xie, this devil, would never turn his attention to them.

At the same time, the two guards outside the dungeon both revealed fearful expressions.

“The Young Master of the Jiang Family is way too vicious, is he not? That Saintess of the Haoran Sect has probably been driven mad by him. One moment she is laughing, the next she is crying.”

“Shh. That may be the truth, but do not say it recklessly. If he hears you, neither of us will keep our heads.”

As if they had thought of something, both men shivered at the same time.

“I truly could not tell. The Young Master of the Jiang Family looks so frail, yet he is actually this vicious.”

“Who knows? We just need to report Young Master Jiang’s actions to the Demonic Heir. We are not to concern ourselves with anything else.”

After a while, the screams inside the dungeon came to an abrupt stop.

The two guards hurriedly shut their mouths as well.

A series of footsteps sounded.

The moment they heard them, the two men’s bodies tensed instantly.

Jiang Xie stepped out.

He merely glanced at them lightly, yet both of their bodies began trembling uncontrollably.

That made him feel somewhat helpless.

Did he really look that terrifying?

After leaving the dungeon, Jiang Xie arrived at a house outside it.

During these past three days, this was where he had stayed.

Old Wu was there as well.

“Is everything prepared?” Jiang Xie asked calmly.

Old Wu nodded and pointed inside the room.

At that moment, a man was lying inside the house.

He was about the same height and build as Jiang Xie, and even his cultivation was only at the eighth level of the Body Tempering Realm.

Jiang Xie took a look, then pulled out another mask identical to the one on his own face and placed it over the man’s face for comparison.

After discovering that it fit perfectly, he finally revealed a satisfied expression.

“Very good.” Jiang Xie smiled faintly.

Without wasting any time, he immediately sat down cross-legged and began examining the second statue in the palace.

The moment he stepped into the palace, Jiang Xie noticed an intense burst of light.

The second statue was now completely activated.

Two large words slowly appeared on the statue’s chest.

They were “Devouring Counterattack.”

Immediately afterward, a ray of light shot out from the statue and went straight into Jiang Xie’s body.

After a while, he opened his eyes.

A smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. “The real show... is about to begin...”