XH 140

 

A girl in her late teen was inside a badly kept prison cell, with only a thin white robe protecting her from the cold night. The guards were hardly sympathetic to the prisoner, much less one that tried to pin blame on their Empress for attempted murder.

 

Xin Ren does not know how long she had been in this cell, suffering torture in order to pry information out from her. She was proud to withstand it all to protect her true master's secrets and intended to bring it to her grave.

 

Her jaw was still dislocated and even if her prisoner suddenly grew a conscience and decided to heal it, it will still be deformed. They had taken away her only method to silent herself and now she had to suffer the long way to her death. Her torturers do not mind that she was unable to speak properly despite it will hinder their information gathering and from their filthy gazes; they enjoy inflicting pain on her.

 

Soon, the pain and hunger slowly broke her down and she hardly remembered much of what happened in between her moment of consciousness. But recently, her muddled mind was clearer and she noticed a guard would always force her to drink something every day. She could not remember how it tasted, but she knew it was the best thing she had ever tasted in her life.

 

When her mind was clearer, she realized that the water she drank every day was a tea given by the Empress. Not only that, the torture had stopped, allowing her body to slowly recover.

 

Doubts and questions circled around her mind at her currently favourable situation and luck must be shining on her for the answer came to her one night when she managed to eavesdrop on the guards' conversation.

 

"That girl is better already. Soon we will have one less person to torture," a guard lamented.

 

"Sshh! Don't speak of such matters!" Another guard hurriedly whispered in a cautious manner.

 

"Don't worry, who would come at this late hour other than rats? Our masters do not care if we torture the prisoners anyway. As long as they are alive, no one will bother."

 

The second guard sighed but did not refute his co-worker.

 

"I really want to have a taste of that tea," the third guard lamented wistfully.

 

"If I didn't see it, I won't believe it!" the first guard exclaimed excitedly. "Who would have thought the Third Prince would have such a miraculous tea!"

 

"But why would the Empress keep feeding that girl this precious tea?" The third guard was puzzled.

 

A loud smack followed by an 'ouch' entered Xin Ren's ears.

 

"Stop daydreaming or we won't save your ass again," the first guard scolded.

 

The second guard answered, "That girl will be sent to South Guilin Village tomorrow morning so she must not delay the journey."

 

"But we tortured her and she said nothing. There's no need to send her there, right?"

 

"Stupid! Our technique is way tamer than the techniques used in South Guilin! I have a friend there and he told me they always get to pry out information from even the most resilient prisoner. That girl will spill everything out soon."

 

Xin Ren's heart chilled and no longer paid any attention to their conversation. Her body trembled and for once not due to cold but fear. She had heard of South Guilin Village before and knew that place was built to guard the border between Guilin and Tang Guan Country. It would not be surprising that they would have seasoned interrogators at that place to deal with enemies.

She does not want to go there! She needs to escape!

 

...But how?

 

Xin Ren jumped when she heard a loud jingle of keys followed by heavy footsteps.

 

"Hey scaredy-cat, do you want us to accompany you?" the first guard answered.

 

"I can patrol by myself!" The second guard snapped and the footsteps get nearer.

 

But what caught Xin Ren's attention was the sound of keys as her mind whirled with idea forming. She would have the chance to escape if she has the key. Due to punctuality and rigid schedule followed by the guards, she had memorized them to keep her mind away from the pain and hunger. This was the final patrol for the day before the next round which was before sunrise.

 

She did not know where the guards will be between those times but she does not have the time to stay and figure it out. She rather died while escaping than being sent to the dangerous South Guilin Village.

 

Pressing herself against the wall, she waits until the guard reaches her cell. Waiting until the shadow on the floor grew larger and longer, she thrust her hands out of the bars, successfully grabbed the guard's front robes the first try, and yanked hard.

 

The guard's head banged hard on the metal bar loudly, rendering him unconscious. But her fear of getting caught made her desperate. With newfound strength, she twisted the guard's neck with a loud crack, immediately killing the guard.

 

"Hey! Keep it down! This lord wants to sleep!" A prisoner from the cell next door yelled as he banged his fist on the bar. Fortunately, there were walls between prisoner cells so her actions were not seen.

 

Xin Ren's trembling hand dropped the dead guard on the floor and quickly grabbed the keys at his waist, refuse to think that she killed an innocent man. She had killed before, but that person was an evil man that tried to rape her.

 

"I don't want to die. Sorry. I don't want to die," Xin Ren mumbled with a hint of insanity in her eyes as she clumsily unlocked the chains around her wrist that blocked her inner energy. After that, she hurriedly tried to open her cell.

 

After plenty of trial and error, her cell bar released a loud 'click', and the door swings open, leading her to the path of freedom.

 

"Yes. Yes. Yes." Xin Ren quickly scrambled out of the cell, her wild eyes darting left and right. Seeing no one, she dragged the dead guard into her cell and quickly exchanged their clothes.

Tugging the hat low until most of her eye was hidden underneath, she stepped out and quickly locked the cell before tying the keys onto her belt. It seems luck was on her side for she did not encounter the other two guards as she made her way to the exit.

 

Her joy could hardly be contained when she spotted the exit! She speeds up, almost running, towards the exit with her mind full of freedom without thoughts of being careful.

 

It was that familiar smell that stopped her legs and the sudden stop nearly had her falling onto the ground. She sniffed around and located the smell came from the small table with meal boxes and bottles.

 

Her head leaned closer and sniffed until she found where the familiar smell of tea came from. Its container was a tall bamboo tube and once she opened the lid, the smell grew stronger.

 

She eagerly drank a sip and confirmed it was the same tea she was feed for days.

 

Feeling like she was truly lucky today, she quickly escaped from the prison and hurried out of the palace using the secret route very few knew about.

 

She does not felt tired, her adrenaline and desperation fueled her energy until she reached the second prince's manor. Approaching the guards at the back door, she quickly said, "Please tell Mistress that Ren Ren is here!"

 

֎֎֎

 

"Empress, the state of your dungeon is terrible. It would be bad if your prisoner died before you got what you need from them." Duke Heng covered his nose using his wide sleeves as his eyes take in the terrible condition of the prison.

 

The Empress silently agreed with her childhood friend. "This prison belongs to the Emperor and run by the Head Warden. This Empress has no authority to meddle into this matter."

 

"That is most certainly untrue." A huge man with scars that could be seen on his neck and downward, as well as on his hands approached the Empress with a respectful salute. "This subordinate will listen to Empress' golden words."

 

Ignoring the head warden, the Empress stepped towards the cell where Xin Ren was supposed to be locked inside. Right behind her was the anxious Xiao Hua, who followed her closely, eager to reach the cell.

 

Instead of seeing a dead male guard, they saw a female wearing the dirty attire that Xin Ren had worn beforehand, sitting up in the middle of the cell. Her mole below her right eye was eye-catching under the moonlight from the small window that could only fit the size of a fist.

 

"XiYing! Are you alright?" Xiao Hua grabbed onto the bar, her eyes examined Duan XiYing's form worriedly.

 

Duan XiYing stood up with grace of prey and approached the bars. "XiYing is fine~ Fortunately, XiYing replaced the guard or else we will have a dead guard."

 

"Dead?" Xiao Hua gasped in alarm and eyed Duan XiYing up and down. "You are injured?"

 

The head warden swiftly unlocked the door, letting Duan XiYing step out of the dark cell and Xiao Hua can finally see her well under the candlelight that was lit along the long corridor.

 

"XiYing is not injured. She is too weak~" XiYing giggled.

 

"Ya know," a rough man voice interrupted from the prison cell beside the one they were standing right in front. "That loud snapping sound is very familiar to me. I would know since I love snapping people's neck."

 

Duan XiYing rubbed Xiao Hua's head to comfort her growing panic once she realized what that man just said. "Snakes have flexible bones so XiYing has a flexible bone."

 

"You are a snake cultivator?" the Empress asked, a little warily. Snakes do not care for their owners and would bite their owner's hands. For such a dangerous being beside her son was worrying.

 

Xiao Hua was not at all surprised to know that beast cultivator exist since there was 'Madam White Snake' drama in her original world and with how she had heard servants betting on Xiao Liu's love life with a horse cultivator.

 

That also explained how flexible Duan XiYing could be at times. She could defeat pro yoga instructors in her original world!

 

Giving the Empress a harmless smile, Duan XiYing said, "I'm just the Third Prince's little snake."