Chapter 63 – He Must Care About Me

Mu Nanjin pushed the cart to the last cell, leisurely scooped a bowl of rice, and squatted in front of the cell door, saying, “How can I die without even seeing your face?”

“Want to see me? Sure.” The voice from inside was deep and chilling. “As long as you come inside the cell, you can look all you want.”

Mu Nanjin said, “Come to the door.”

“Then you come in.” The person inside didn’t listen at all.

“If you don’t come out, there will be no food for you.”

The person inside was silent for a moment before finally standing and walking to the door.

Mu Nanjin raised her lantern to shine inside. Suddenly, a black shadow darted out from the food slot.

Before she could see what it was, the bowl in her hand was snatched by the person inside.

Mu Nanjin furrowed her brow and released her divine sense to check.

However, there was a restriction inside; outsiders couldn’t see in. All she could perceive was pitch darkness.

The person inside let out a sinister laugh: “Young lady, can you see my face now?”

Mu Nanjin honestly replied, “No.”

“Then come in and look.”

“Fine.” Mu Nanjin stood and grabbed the door handle.

The person inside chuckled: “I’ll be right here waiting while you find the key to open the door.”

“No need.”

Mu Nanjin gave a slight tug.

With a loud clang, the heavy iron door swung open.

The person inside was completely stunned, he hadn’t expected her to really fall for his trick.

The others in the five remaining cells couldn’t sit still either.

They rushed to the doors to see what was happening.

Since the first four cells were far from the last one, they couldn’t see inside. Someone from the second cell hurriedly asked, “Which brother can see what’s happening in there?”

“I’m too far away; I can’t see.” People from the first, third, and fourth cells all replied similarly.

The fifth cell, diagonally opposite the sixth, could clearly see what was happening at the sixth cell’s door: “The young lady opened the cell door with her bare hands.”

“Bare hands?” Those in the second, third, and fourth cells widened their eyes in disbelief. “Are you sure? She really opened it with her hands?”

“I didn’t see a key on the door, and there’s a crack in the wall next to it.”

If she had used a key, the wall wouldn’t have cracked.

The second cell’s occupant was still amazed: “Someone can actually open a cell door with bare hands.”

A person from the first cell muttered, “This world really is full of hidden talents.”

Mu Nanjin entered the cell and saw it filled with black fog, toxic in nature.

With a wave of her hand, the black fog dispersed rapidly.

The occupant of the sixth cell quickly stepped aside, brushing back his hair.

Mu Nanjin raised her lantern and approached the person, seeing him sitting sideways on the bed. Half his face was hidden by long hair; the other half was handsome, though a little grimy from years in the cell.

The sixth cell’s occupant pretended to be shy: “Young lady, am I handsome?”

Mu Nanjin said, “I want to see your entire face.”

“You’re impatient, aren’t you?”

He slowly lifted the other side of his hair. Just as Mu Nanjin focused on his face, he suddenly raised his other hand to strike her.

Mu Nanjin’s expression sharpened; she swatted his hand away.

The person didn’t linger and charged toward the cell door at full speed.

Mu Nanjin quickly turned, grabbed his hair, and yanked him back. The sixth cell’s occupant slammed into the bed.

Crash.

The wooden bed split in two.

Mu Nanjin’s cold voice rang out: “Trying to escape?”

“If you were locked up this long, you’d want to escape too.”

The sixth cell’s occupant wasn’t discouraged and charged at her again.

Mu Nanjin kicked him back and used the other end of her lantern pole to lift his hair, revealing a brown, blistered face covered with oozing sores, grotesque and disgusting.

Mu Nanjin’s pupils shrank. Her furious shout echoed throughout the Jinyiwei.

【Damn!】

The busy Jinyiwei officers all paused.

Captain Liu rubbed his face, exhausted: “What’s this little girl doing now? Can’t even deliver food quietly?”

【Grown like that and still dares to touch me, asking for death!】

【You disgusting man, give me back the first kiss on my hand!】

Mu Nanjin swung the lantern pole at the blistered face.

Smack, smack. The blisters burst, spraying thick blood.

She quickly stepped aside.

“Gurgle… gurgle…”

The sixth cell’s occupant made strange noises, cheeks puffed, eyes bulging, his skin turned brownish yellow. Half-man, half-frog, covered in thick sores, he lunged at Mu Nanjin.

Mu Nanjin lightly tapped the ground with her toes and leapt backward out of the cell.

The frog-like man missed and crashed to the ground.

Boom!

The impact shook the ground violently.

Even people far away in the palace could feel it, let alone the Jinyiwei stationed above the dungeon.

“The ground’s shaking, the ground’s shaking…”

The people in the office ran out in alarm.

The Commander-in-Chief stepped out, face stern.

The Vice Commander frowned: “What’s happening? Is it really an earthquake?”

“No.”

The Commander-in-Chief used lightness skill to fly to the dungeon entrance: “Someone’s escaping from the dungeon.”

The Vice Commander quickly followed.

Meanwhile, the sixth cell’s frog-like occupant lunged at Mu Nanjin again.

Mu Nanjin kicked him in the chest.

“Ah, ugh…”

He was kicked back into the cell, spitting a mouthful of blood.

Mu Nanjin closed the cell door, dismantled the lantern pole, lit it, and drew a fire talisman to seal the door.

Inside, the frog-like occupant tried to rush the door despite the pain, only to be bounced back by the talisman.

Mu Nanjin said coldly: “Next time you dare lick my hand, it’ll cost you your life.”

One can have a malicious heart, but if you’re this ugly, forgiveness isn’t an option.

The frog-like man: “….”

Mu Nanjin prepared five more bowls of rice for the other cells.

Everyone behaved properly. When she reached the first cell, someone inside asked, “Young lady, are you from around here?”

The voice was hoarse and deep, sounding like an old man.

“Yes.”

Mu Nanjin replied without hesitation or guilt.

The first cell’s occupant whispered, “Impossible.”

Mu Nanjin asked, “Why, is there a problem?”

The prisoner asked: “Young lady, do you want to know a secret?”

“Just tell me a secret? Nothing else?”

The prisoner chuckled softly: “You’re clever. Let me out, and I’ll tell you a huge secret.”

“Let you out? Not now, at least. I’ll have to hear your secret later.” Mu Nanjin’s ears twitched. “Someone’s coming.”

The first cell’s occupant fell silent, taking the bowl back to the far end of the cell.

Mu Nanjin pushed her cart away.

Halfway out, she encountered the Commander-in-Chief and Vice Commander coming in.

The Vice Commander asked: “Little girl, are you alright?”

Mu Nanjin: “I’m fine.”

【The one with trouble should be that frog man. How dare he lick the back of my hand without permission, losing half his life was lenient.】

The Vice Commander: “….”

Mu Nanjin looked at the Commander-in-Chief: “Did you come down because you were worried about me?”

The Commander-in-Chief was about to deny it, but the Vice Commander quietly poked him in the back, and he had no choice but to swallow the words he had wanted to say.

The Vice Commander smiled warmly: “Yes. We were worried about your safety, so we came straight to the prison to check if you were hurt and, while we were at it, see what happened inside.”

【He’s concerned about me… he really cares about me.】

【He cares so much… how should I repay him? I need to think about it.】

The Vice Commander: “…”

He distinctly remembered that it was “we” who were concerned, right?

Why am I being ignored?

I deserve repayment too, you know!

【I remember someone saying that to repay a man, you help him wash his underwear. Then tomorrow morning, I’ll wash the Commander-in-Chief’s undergarments. That way, he’ll surely feel my gratitude.】

The Commander-in-Chief: “…”

If he knew someone had said something so indecent, he would absolutely kill them.

The Vice Commander: “…”

Suddenly, he thought being ignored wasn’t so bad after all.

The Commander-in-Chief snorted coldly and walked toward the inner cells.

The Vice Commander reminded Mu Nanjin to leave quickly, then followed the Commander-in-Chief to the doors of the six innermost prison cells. The eerie atmosphere immediately made him uneasy.

“Did a prisoner escape from here? Weren’t there only six strange people locked up?”

The Commander-in-Chief first examined the symbols on the walls, then checked each cell door, stopping finally at the sixth cell. He frowned at the burn marks on the symbols; they were freshly made.

The Vice Commander couldn’t see anything unusual. “Is there a problem here?”

The Commander-in-Chief said calmly, “No.”

“Then did someone escape?”

The Commander-in-Chief shook his head: “Let’s go.”

“Are you sure everything’s fine?”

“Yes.”

After leaving the cells, the Vice Commander’s curiosity got the better of him. “Sir, who exactly was locked up in there?”

The Commander-in-Chief’s expression stiffened slightly: “Five of them were yaoren.”

The Vice Commander’s curiosity intensified: “Yaoren? What’s a yaoren?”

He had never heard of them before.

“Yaoren are humans who, after absorbing a demon’s essence, become beings that are neither fully human nor fully demon.”

The Vice Commander was completely stunned.

He felt that what the Commander-in-Chief was telling him was far beyond his understanding.

“A demon’s essence? There are really demons in this world? But… I’ve never seen any of them!”

“You haven’t seen them because they usually only appear in the Ancient Kingdoms, and even the people there rarely know of their existence. The yaoren in the prison came here after committing crimes in those kingdoms. They are extremely vicious; you are no match for them. If you ever encounter them, don’t provoke them under any circumstances.”

Seeing the Commander-in-Chief’s serious expression, the Vice Commander nodded instinctively: “Then the other prisoner is…”

“You don’t need to know who he is. From now on, stay away from the affairs of the six prisoners. The less you know, the better it is for you.”

“Yes, sir.”

Although curious, the Vice Commander knew that curiosity could be deadly. He wasn’t foolish enough to risk his life over it.

While they were talking about the six prisoners, the first five cells were all focused on the “frog man” in the sixth cell.

Someone in the third cell asked: “Hey, brother in the last cell, are you alright?”

The frog man didn’t respond.

The fourth cell clicked their tongue: “He must be badly hurt.”

The first cell laughed and cursed: “Serves him right. He didn’t figure out who he was dealing with before acting rashly. And it’s not the first time, either. Finally, he hit a wall.”

“Brother…”

The frog man finally spoke, but his voice was weak, as if he were on the brink of death: “I’ve had it rough enough. Don’t mock me.”

The fifth cell asked: “Brother, how badly are you hurt?”

“Some bones are broken, and I’ve internal injuries from being kicked. It’ll take a year or more to heal.”

That was an understatement; he felt he could have been even worse off. Even speaking now nearly cost him half his life.

The second cell asked curiously: “Was that young lady strong?”

“She… she didn’t even use spiritual power. Just one kick, and my whole body was shattered.”

With the added effect of the rebounding charms, he felt his life was nearly over.

The first cell murmured: “She doesn’t feel like she’s from here.”

“Not from here?” the fourth cell asked in confusion. “Do you mean she’s not from the Great Qian?”

“Something like that. Anyway, I’m full and need to rest.”

The second cell complained: “Brother, that’s not fair. You just stopped talking halfway, are you teasing us?”

The fourth cell said: “I’m sure he’s hiding something from us.”

“Brother, brother, don’t sleep yet. Tell us what you meant!”

The third cell called to the first cell several times, but got no response.

Seeing that he was determined to stay silent, everyone stopped asking.

The prison fell silent once more.

…

The next morning, when the Jinyiwei came to report to the Commander-in-Chief, they saw two rows of white undergarments hanging in the courtyard, fluttering in the breeze.

Deng Xingchao asked curiously: “Whose undergarments are these? Why are they hanging in the Commander-in-Chief’s courtyard? Isn’t he going to kill whoever did this?”

Kan Chaoyan guessed casually: “Maybe the Commander-in-Chief hung them himself?”

He guessed this because the Commander-in-Chief lived long term in the Office of the Commander, never going home even for holidays. People had speculated that he might have no family.

“The Commander-in-Chief is very particular. There’s no way he’d hang these where everyone can see them.”

Kan Chaoyan looked at the Vice Commander, who was laughing at the underwear, and said: “If you’re curious, just ask him yourself.”

Deng Xingchao walked up to the Vice Commander. Before he could speak, the Vice Commander asked: “Do you know whose undergarments these are?”

Kan Chaoyan asked: “Aren’t they the Commander-in-Chief’s?”

“They are,” the Vice Commander said, barely containing his laughter. “Do you know who washed them?”

Deng Xingchao guessed: “A servant?”

“No.” The Vice Commander chuckled, walked into the Commander-in-Chief’s office, and called: “Sir, are you awake?”

“Yes,” came the voice from inside.

The Vice Commander continued: “Sir, check your wardrobe. Are your undergarments still there?”

The Commander-in-Chief frowned, opened the wardrobe, and found all of his undergarments had disappeared.

“Gone, huh?” the Vice Commander laughed heartily. “Come see if these are yours.”

The Commander-in-Chief

opened the door with a serious face. Seeing the white undergarments in the courtyard, he immediately recognized them as his own.

“Who…”

He barely got the words out when a familiar giggle reached everyone’s ears.

【Hee hee… the Commander-in-Chief finally sees his undergarments.】

【But how should I tell him that I washed them for him?】

Everyone: “……!!!”