Dark.

It was very dark.

There was only darkness as far as the eye could see. One that resembled un-ground ink or the River Styx, in which millions of skeletons rested.

Chi Muyao had been shoved into a bag by Elder Yao Weng at least four hours ago, yet the destination they arrived at was also shrouded in darkness. He almost suspected his time in the bag had rendered him blind.

The cold darkness silently suffocated him. He didn’t know where he was or what this place was supposed to be.

He didn't even know if he could or should move. Would the slightest shift send him tumbling down into an endless abyss?

Elder Yao Weng paid no mind to his panic. He sneered after untying the bag.

Elder Yao Weng had lived in the dark for many years. Along with his high level of cultivation, it meant that his night vision was far superior to Chi Muyao’s. He could still move unhindered in this dark environment.

Elder Yao Weng shook out his sleeves and broke the silence. “For a bastard, you sure are behaving yourself. Do you really think your father will come save you? Not a chance. I’ve set down so many layers of restrictions on this treasured land that even your father will have trouble finding you. You might even be a centuries-old skeleton by the time he tracks you down.”

Chi Muyao knew that Elder Yao Weng’s words were not directed at him, but another person.

Still, hearing them made his back tense for a second. His heart was like a little plum flower deer that was being chased by wild beasts after separating from its herd, terrified and uneasy.

Sure enough, the scene he had expected ensued—

"I was worried you’d be lonely in here, so I caught you a companion.” Elder Yao Weng let out another sinister laugh, the sound full of schadenfreude.

His voice was quite hoarse and gritty, like gravel rubbing against a tree trunk. Listening to him made people subconsciously swallow in discomfort.

The third person in the darkness continued to remain silent. Apart from the sound of Chi Muyao’s frantic heartbeat, the only other noise was Elder Yao Weng speaking. “Being locked up alone might get boring, so I decided to snatch a He Huan Sect disciple to be with you. That way you two can still experience ‘heavenly joy’ in this cave.”

As Elder Yao Weng spoke, he inspected the chains and restrictions holding down the third person. “This He Huan Sect disciple has little talent, and is still at the early stages of Qi Refining, despite having little lifespan left. Think about it. He’s but a candle in the wind, with an excellent furnace like you in front of him. Your hands and feet are held down by chains, and your cultivation is suppressed. There’ll be no one to disturb you two after I leave. What do you think he’ll do then?”

The third person finally showed a reaction. His eyes abruptly opened and stared into the darkness. Only Elder Yao Weng could see his features, and the sight made his laughter even more unrestrained.

That third person's hands and feet were indeed tied down by chains, and his cultivation was also suppressed by the cuffs. He couldn’t even circulate the spiritual energy in his body.

Under such circumstances, aside from not needing sustenance since long ago and a sturdier body due to cultivating, he was no different from a mortal. A sitting duck would be an apt description of his current state.

If the He Huan Sect disciple really came over right now to use him as a furnace, he would be completely at their mercy.

Seemingly noticing his shocked expression, Elder Yao Weng’s ruthless smile widened like he had finally gotten his revenge.

He hastened to deal the final blow. “Oh that’s right. I forgot to mention something. The one I snatched isn't a female He Huan Sect disciple, but the waste male disciple they’ve been keeping around. To be used as a furnace by a male He Huan Sect disciple! Peipeipei.”

He finally got a verbal response this time. “Why don’t you just kill me and be done with it? Why go through all this trouble?"

This voice was quiet and deep, carrying a bone-chilling intent.

Even as a bystander, Chi Muyao felt his heart tremble at this cold voice.

He patted all around him, trying to escape. But a pulse of spiritual energy from Elder Yao Weng deterred him and made him sit still.

“I can’t kill you. If I do, the Qing Ze Sect Master will go mad and exterminate my entire Sect. Like father, like son, you’re both lunatics!” Elder Yao Weng suddenly changed his tone. He seemed aggrieved and gloomy.

He circled around the stone bed again as he added, “In any case, it’s not like I didn’t leave you a way out. My restriction formations can easily be broken by anyone at the Foundation Establishment stage. Once he uses you to cultivate to that level, he’ll escape and free you as well in the process. But who knows how many years it’ll take this waste to help you leave.”

"Help me leave?" The chained man scoffed. “The moment I leave will mark the annihilation of your Sect. Not only your grandson, even your disciples and great-disciples will die!”

Elder Yao Weng snickered disdainfully at his words. “What arrogant words from a milk-toothed brat.”

In the eyes of Elder Yao Weng, he was just an eighteen year old. Even if he had good potential, he was not a threat for now.

A peak Foundation Establishment cultivator against a Nascent Soul stage Heavenly Venerable?

Absolutely ridiculous!

But the third person replied, “You just watch.”

His tone was neither heavy nor light, but it made Chi Muyao's heart tremble with fear.

He knew that this person actually ended up keeping his word! And in an extremely messed up way too.

Provoked, Elder Yao Weng scolded him, “Don’t act too arrogant, brat!”

"I'm too used to being arrogant to stop now. Isn’t that grandson of yours the same way? Oh, but he howled and wept so pitifully when I crippled his hands and feet. He even wet himself. How funny. Why don’t you give it a try? See if I’ll be cowed if you kill me?"

"Find some other idiot to kill you if you want to die so badly!”

Elder Yao Weng shook out his sleeves and tried to restrain his anger as he left. He was afraid that his rage would get the better of him if he stayed here any longer and he’d actually kill this brat. Then the Qing Ze Sect Master would definitely come after his disciples and grandchildren like a mad dog.

He couldn’t harm the boy due to his fear of the Qing Ze Sect Master, but that wasn’t enough to make him give up. After racking his brain for several days, he came up with this method to torment the brat.

Who didn’t know that the Young Sect Master of the Qing Ze Sect was arrogant, violent and out of control?

If news got out about him being the furnace of a male He Huan Sect disciple, the shame would haunt him for the rest of his life.

He was already prone to madness. By adding this kind of mental pressure, it would either make him qi deviate while cultivating, or aggravate his madness, shortening the periods of lucidity in between.

By then, even the Sect Master of the Qing Ze Sect would not be able to suppress the Hui Dragon Flames within him!

As he listened in on their conversation, Chi Muyao grew more and more certain that there was no chance of escape for him.

He even knew the name of the imprisoned person lying on the stone bed.

His name was Xi Huai, and he was the biggest villain in ‘Peach Coloured Sins'.

And Chi Muyao himself? He was probably a cannon fodder character.

In fact, he already knew his fate the day he entered the He Huan Sect.

—As the only male disciple of the He Huan Sect.

This piece of information was so specific that only one character in the book fitted the bill.

Originally, the plot of the book would have gone something like this:

Xi Huai fell in love with the second female lead at first sight. Due to his youthful inexperience, he was very restrained at their first meeting, staring at her from afar for a long time, before going to ask her name.

The second female lead didn’t like that he was a demonic sect disciple, so she ignored him.

At a later point in time, she was harassed by the grandson of Elder Yao Weng, who couldn’t keep his hands to himself. Xi Huai rescued her and broke crippled that disciple’s hands and feet.

Not only did the second female lead not thank him, she was horrified by his ruthlessness, and became even more distant with him.

The hero saved the beauty, but it backfired on him.

That was when Elder Yao Weng started to hold a grudge against Xi Huai. After many years of this hatred brewing in his heart, he finally caught Xi Huai and locked him in a cave with the only male disciple of the He Huan Sect.

This cannon fodder character gradually began to have bad intentions the longer he looked at this exceptional furnace. He used Xi Huai to cultivate from early Qi Refinement stage all the way to the peak of Foundation Establishment. Then, when he had no more use for Xi Huai, he planned to kill him and leave alone.

Naturally, Xi Huai wouldn’t die from this. From that point on, he carved the names of Elder Yao Weng and that He Huan Sect disciple deep into his heart. Both of them met truly miserable ends.

This incident was also a major contributor to Xi Huai’s blackening.

He barely survived that extended, humiliating ordeal, only to find that the woman he liked and had saved before had hooked up with the protagonist.

Little did he know, there was even more suffering in store for him...

In fact, in Chi Muyao's opinion, this second female lead was too concerned with labels like ‘evil’ and ‘good’. At the beginning, when Xi Huai wasn’t a complete lunatic, he could’ve been considered a decent young man.

Xi Huai was the child of two Nascent Soul stage Heavenly Venerables. He had exceptional potential and succeeded in building his Foundation at the age of twelve, the youngest to ever do so in the cultivation world.

Despite just turning eighteen this year, Xi Huai was already at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage. Everyone speculated that he might become the youngest to reach the Golden Core stage as well. Alas, the time imprisoned in the cave delayed his cultivation.

As for his appearance…

Everyone agreed that Guan Nan Heavenly Venerable was the most beautiful man in the three realms, but the book also mentioned how Xi Huai’s features and physique were all outstanding. If he wasn’t so unpredictable and ruthless, he might even outshine Guan Nan Heavenly Venerable.

The cogs in Chi Muyao's head were turning rapidly. Now wasn’t the time to be concerned about the relationship plotline between Xi Huai and the second female lead. His life might be at stake here.

He hesitated for a moment before finally speaking, "Don't worry, I won't touch you. If you tell me to, I’ll die right here on the spot!”

Xi Huai seemed quite startled by his outburst. He looked up from where he had been stewing in silent rage.

In the darkness, Xi Huai turned his head in the direction he thought Chi Muyao was. Unfortunately, with his cultivation sealed, he couldn’t even see Chi Muyao, much less distinguish what he looked like.

Darkness was the only thing either of them could see. They couldn’t catch head nor tail of the other.

Xi Huai suddenly asked, "What will happen to me if you die?"

Chi Muyao was flattered by this question. He didn’t expect their relationship to already be good enough that Xi Huai was concerned for him!

“You don’t need to blame yourself. My cultivation is very lacking and I only have a year or two of lifespan left. Don’t take it to heart. I’ll try to find a spot further away to die so you won’t have to smell my body decomposing.”

Xi Huai listened to him finish in silence before clarifying, "How will I get out if you die?"

"Ooohhh." Chi Muyao scrubbed at his face, a little embarrassed at his misunderstanding. But he soon replied, “I have a sound transmission talisman. I can—”

“That shriveled turtle-like old man is still a bonafide Nascent Soul stage cultivator. You think he can’t block that talisman of yours?”

Not to mention sound transmission talismans, it was unlikely Chi Muyao would be able to dig or mine his way out of the cave no matter how hard he tried.

An eerie awkwardness suddenly descended in the darkness.

Chi Muyao pursed his lips as he racked his brain, but he was unable to come up with another plan. So he just gave up. “Oh…sorry, I seem to be all out of ideas.”

Xi Huai closed his eyes again and said to him, "Get the hell away from me. I don't want to be this close to you."

"Oh. Okay, one sec.” Chi Muyao fumbled his way to his feet. With every step, he tentatively tested out the ground before him a couple of times with his toes to see if the ground ahead was safe to walk on.

He reached a wall after less than ten steps. Then he used the wall and walked along it.

This cave wall seemed to be chiseled by humans, since the stone had traces of being polished by tools. The space was still quite rough and uneven though, so in some places Chi Muyao needed to crouch.

For the next half hour, Xi Huai could tell, with his excellent sense of hearing, that Chi Muyao had felt his way a full circle around the cave—with him in the center.

As Chi Muyao started on his second lap, Xi Huai spoke up, "Stop walking."

His voice startled Chi Muyao. "Why am I still so close to you? I've been walking for so long."

"This cave is very small. You’ve just circled around it.

"Oh..." Chi Muyao obediently squatted where he was, curling up in a small crevice like a helpless little mushroom. “Then I’ll just stay here. Don’t worry, I won’t go over. I’ll definitely discard the lustful thoughts in my heart, so that you will still be pure when you leave. I definitely won’t touch you in any way.”

"..." Xi Huai didn’t dignify that with a response. He just took a deep breath.