Chapter 25 – Inside a Prison Cell
The sound of steady footsteps entered her ears without warning.
Under the flickering light, she opened her eyes, and cold air battered her eyes in an instant.
Legs parted to the sides, kneel sitting on the ground, Xue Qilin raised her heavy eyelids.
Outside the bars stood Hua Tianji.
The corners of his mouth rose, and he looked down at Xue Qilin, pleased.
“Ohhhh, Little Ji, are you that idle?”
“Well, it seems that you’re still quite energetic, Senior Xue.”
“Do those eyes of yours see me as energetic?”
Xue Qilin wrinkled her nose and lifted her right hand to in front of Hua Tianji.
…Clear metallic sounds echoed. It was the sound of chains rattling as Xue Qilin moved. Her neck and four limbs were shackled, with the other end of the chains being deeply embedded in the wall.
Hua Tianji personally helped her to wear the shackles in order restrict her movement.
“You come and go like the wind. If you hadn’t made that stupid decision, I’m afraid that I wouldn’t have been able to keep as a guest, Senior Xue.” Hua Tianji appeared to sigh emotionally.
Xue Qilin snorted coldly, feeling like the other side was mocking her.
Generally speaking, with just those shackles, it was a pipe dream to imprison the Heaven Realm expert Xue Qilin. However, that was under the condition that she could use her true qi.
At this time, Xue Qilin only had a bit of true qi circulating in her body, and at an exceptionally slow pace to boot. Xue Qilin even was under the impression that the true qi will stop and dissipate at any time.
Xue Qilin naturally knew the reason behind this. There were countless long needles pierced deep into her back. The long needles were stabbed into her major acupoints on her back, sealing her qi passageways and hindering the flow and recovery of true qi.
She was no different from an ordinary person when she couldn’t use her true qi. Her physical strength was at the level of an adult at best, so she naturally couldn’t break free.
“That so… However, Little Ji, the way you treat guests is really unique and unheard of.”
“You can rest assured, Senior Xue, I spared no effort to make you feel at home.”
“Humph, the nerve of some people!” A cold expression on her face, Xue Qilin was a little impatient.
Normally, she might be able to irritate the other party to death. But now that she fell so low, she wasn’t in the mood to talk nonsense with him.
“It seems that you aren’t too happy, Senior Xue.” Hua Tianji sighed in disappointment. Naturally, Xue Qilin knew that he was just pretending.
“I’ll be happy if you let me go.”
“That wont do. You need to stay here for a few more days, Senior Xue.”
“Oh? In other words, you will let me go in a few days?”
“It’s not up to me to decide whether to let you go or not. However, I promise you that you can leave the Heavenly Sword Gate in a few days. But how you leave depends on another party.”
Another party? What does that mean? Is it really just like I have surmised before, is there a backstage manipulator behind the scenes? Xue Qilin’s eyes narrowed.
“It seems that you’re rather curious, Senior Xue…” Hua Tianji continued with an enigmatic smile, “In fact, there’s no harm in telling you. I just promised to capture you. I never had the intention to harm you. If you regain your freedom one day, please don’t bear a grudge against me, Senior Xue.”
“Do you think that’s possible?” What the other side said was too laughable, and Xue Qilin sneered.
“Right, if it was me who was treated this way, I’m afraid that I’d bear this in mind for the rest of my life.”
“… Why don’t you kill me?” After a long time, Xue Qilin asked doubtfully. She was baffled by this point.
“It’s because the other party won’t let me kill you, Senior Xue. I have to keep you alive and give you to him… Well, even if I wanted to kill you, Commander Luo wouldn’t permit that…” Hua Tianji turned his head and shouted towards a shadow in the cell,” Right? Commander Luo?”
Is that Luo Hong here? Xue Qilin frowned. She couldn’t sense his existence in her current state. Moreover, if no one responded to Hua Tianji, then she would have no way to be sure.
“It seems that Commander Luo follows the principle silence is gold.” Perhaps he felt snubbed, but Hua Tianji snorted coldly.
“Ohhhh, it looks like you aren’t that tight.” Xue Qilin took this chance to poke fun.
“Senior Xue, you’re still in the mood to crack jokes?” Hua Tianji suddenly patted his forehead, “Ah, I forgot that you still don’t know what’s going on, Senior Xue.”
“What’s going on?” An uneasy feeling suddenly gripped her heart, and Xue Qilin couldn’t help asking.
“Well… it’s the Merak Palace, it’s about to be turned upside down.”
What’s going on in the Merak Palace? Xue Qilin was stunned at once.
“Ah, it seems that you’re still confused, Senior Xue…”
“Then would you like to explain?”
“How could I? … I can only say that it wasn’t us who poisoned you.”
If not them, then – Xue Qilin’s eyes suddenly opened wide.
“How does it feel, Senior Xue? Does it feel good to be stabbed in the back by your own people?” After Hua Tianji finished speaking, he sneered, turned around, and left. A dull expression on her face, Xue Qilin was left there alone to ponder.
Even though the courtyard was provided by the Heavenly Sword Gate, and they indeed could poison the cups, but that would be too passive. Who knew if I would use the cups? Under these uncertain circumstances, how could Hua Tianji have dared to gamble with the Heavenly Sword Gate at stake and fall out with the Merak Palace?
If he really was this daring, then the Heavenly Sword Gate would have fallen out with the Merak Palace at an earlier time.
In other words, the people of the Heavenly Sword Gate probably weren’t the ones who poisoned me.
The best way to make sure that I was poisoned was to have someone whom I trust poison me. Therefore…
Two figures quickly swept past her mind – Luo Qing and Gong Tianqing.
Was it them? Xue Qilin didn’t want to doubt them, but reason forced her to do so.