"Weak! What a disappointment!"

Bai li yue barely heard the words as she groaned. Her head was killing her. The very act of lifting her hand was a herculean task.

"Meixiu… What happened?"

She croaked through parched lips. She felt as if she had been at the receiving end of a proper trouncing. Her bones ached as she shifted in her bed. 

"Meixiu!"

She called out again. 

One eye slowly slit open. The ceiling she was looking at was different from hers. It was too ornate. Now that she thought about it, the bed she was lying in was too big, too soft. 

Where am i?

The last thing she remembered was falling asleep in the restaurant beside Meixiu. She was supposed to wake her up when the feast was over.

"Meixiu!"

Her voice sounded weak even to her ears. She rested to regain her strength and called out again. Her voice didn't reach far. Nobody heard her. Calling out had exhausted her of the little energy she had. Apart from looking around the large room from her place in the bed, she was incapable of doing anything. A thought occurred to her, but she quickly pushed it away. However, it kept pushing its way back into her thoughts. 

Meixiu had promised her that Shen duyi hadn't been invited to the celebration. She'd seen it for herself. She didn't know what had happened between her losing consciousness and waking up in this elegant bedroom, but she couldn't pass judgement until she saw Meixiu. 

"I've been to Meixiu's courtyard. This room isn't hers."

Doubt weighed on her mind. It was starting to dawn on her that she might be in a whole lot of trouble. 

She heard soft footfalls that stopped outside the room.

"Meixiu!"

She called out again and rolled onto her side to catch a glimpse of the person entering through the door. A maid entered the room carrying a tray. She stood at attention when she saw Bai li yue was awake. 

"You! Where am i? Where is Meixiu?"

The maid squeaked and lowered her eyes. She placed the water jug on a nearby table and retreated without speaking a word. Bai li yue didn't have to wait long because she heard more footfalls. They were coming from two pairs of feet. The doors opened wider this time. A tall masked man stepped into the room. He took a spot at the door in watchful vigilance. Behind him was Shen duyi who looked at her smiling. He walked to the bedside.

"Li yue, you're awake at last. I was beginning to worry."

Her instinctive reaction was to get out of the bed and meet him with her sword drawn. 

"Shen duyi, what did you do to me?"

Her anger was drowned by the weakness that plagued every part of her body. She backed away weakly from his reaching hand. But weakness yields to strength. Despite her protests, he raised her into a half sitting position and lifted the cup to her lips. Bai li yue kept her mouth closed stubbornly. 

"You should drink something. I promise not to drug you again."

She glared at him with murder in her eyes.

"Drink. You'll feel better."

In the end, her thirst won over her anger. She drank the water greedily.

"Let me go!"

"Why must you be so stubborn?"

'The great Shen duyi reduced to imprisoning a woman because he can't take rejection! You disgust me!"

She spat into his face. His response was to wipe his face and gently pat her head.

"I'm doing it for your own good. Li yue, your stubbornness amuses me most of the time. But you should understand that you are mine. If you ever try to leave again, believe me, I will kill you. No matter how much i love you. I'll kill you before I allow you to leave me."

She wrenched her body out of his hold and fell back helplessly onto the bed. He let her go.

"This will be your quarters until the ceremony. It will be in your best interest to get used to the idea of being with me."

Bai li yue wondered if he could feel the daggers she was shooting at him with her eyes. 

Kill me? Just wait till I recover my strength. I will make sure I kill you even if i have to destroy this whole place to do it.

She spoke an oath in the wind, when the doors closed. Alone, she focused on inspecting her body. She needed her strength back in order to free herself and hopefully get payback. A weak string of spiritual energy entered her body and flowed into her meridians. The energy flowed sluggishly along the channels with her urging it along. At the point where the channel widened, the energy could flow no further despite her willing it. Something was wrong. The same thing was happening in other meridians. The energy pooled in her extremities but could move any further. Something was inside her body blocking her attempts. 

At sunrise the next day, Bai li yue lay on the bed, red eyed and struggling to control her body. She finally had a complete picture of the condition that her body was in. 

'I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill him even if I have to die to do it!' 

She swore through her teeth. Her body had been sealed once upon a time so she recognised that a seal had been placed on her again. 

There was a crimson chain and lock around her left ankle. She'd tried to break the lock but to do it, she needed strength. The chain and lock were the source of her weakness. They had placed her dantian into a vacuum, cutting it off from the channels supplying her body with spiritual energy. She was no more than a mortal at the moment. The situation was worse than she'd imagined. 

"Little black! Little white!"

She cried out till she was hoarse, but there was no response from the swords in her spatial ring. That was her last hope, crushed. 

"There's no need to panic. I have time to think of another way."

She didn't know how to go about unsealing her body except breaking the lock. Last time she'd been sealed, Teacher Chu had been around. Who to turn to for help this time when she was surrounded by strangers and enemies? She calmed herself by reciting the soul sword formula to herself. It occupied her busy mind until the repetition put her exhausted body to sleep.

You're weak and a great disappointment…

Who are you looking to for help?

If you can't help yourself then no one will help you.

If you can't free yourself, then only death awaits!

Hahahaaa!

Sometime in her sleep, she jumped awake. She found herself in Shen duyi's arms. 

"Release me!"

He ran his fingers through her long hair, tugging and playing with it as if she hadn't spoken.

"I've always loved your hair. It delights my senses whenever i run my fingers through the strands. I would visit you at night whenever you returned from the sword tower and just watch you sleep. I have gotten to know you very well during that time so i understand that you need time to get to know me too."

She felt dirty all over. He'd been in her room, watching her… touching her without her knowledge.All this talk made her realise that he was crazier than she'd thought. She'd believed that he could be persuaded, but he was too deep in his delusion to be swayed. 

"Why did you seal me?"

"I already told you. I won't allow you to leave me. I could have chained you to the floor, but that would have made you angry with me. In a few decades, when i can trust you to not run, I'll have your dantian unsealed."

Bai li yue pictured the future if she couldn't escape soon. Powerless, she would end up marrying her delusional stalker. He would smile and touch her and she would be powerless to stop him. That would kill her. 

"Get out!"

She screamed and struggled to leave the hollow of his arms. He sighed, as one would when dealing with a stubborn child, and headed for the door.

"I'll kill you if it's the last thing I do in this life." She swore again as angry tears flowed down her cheeks. 

Even if it took decades to be free, she'd bide her time.

She struggled for hours pulling at the chain on her ankle, but it was all in vain. She fell back on the bed, exhausted from the hours of yanking the chain.

"Teacher…"

She cried; the rest of her words, unsaid. 

When she wasn't sleeping, she was reciting the soul sword formula. The weakness improved and she was able to walk on her own. However, she was in no state to run a marathon. She was getting used to her weak body as the days went by. After the first few days, Shen duyi was leaving her alone. But he'd given her a new shadow. The tall masked guard followed her wherever she went. She didn't bother making conversation with him. What was the use? It wasn't like she could sway him to betray his master. 

She stayed in the garden during the day quietly reciting the formula till she retired for the night. The action calmed her wandering mind and gave her an air of tranquility and quiet acceptance. The masked man no longer stood in her view, but that didn't mean that he was gone. If he was expecting her to attempt escaping, he was sorely disappointed. The most she did was send a note to Meixiu asking what had happened that night. 

She never received a reply. Her anxiety pushed her to seek out Meixiu, but first she had to get past the guards.