Chapter 1: I say three sentences

The sound of rain pattered softly outside the cave.

When Fang Xiyu opened her eyes, the crackling of the bonfire leapt before her.

She tried to raise her wrist to retrieve her sword ring, but when she attempted to channel her spiritual energy, she found it sealed, completely unresponsive.
When she tried to stand, she realized her body was tightly bound by ropes.

“Before you call for help, scream, or curse me out, let me say three things.”

A man’s voice came from across her.

The man was cloaked in a black robe, his face hidden behind a bronze mask, revealing only a pair of sharp, black-and-white eyes.

“First, you’re my captive now, your spiritual energy sealed.
This cave is in the southwesternmost corner of the secret realm, surrounded by ferocious beasts.
No one dares come here.
No one knows you’re captured, and no one will come to save you.”

“Second, I despise idiots.
If you don’t follow my orders, I won’t hesitate to leave a few slap marks on your face—or perhaps some whip lashes.”

“Third, cooperate with me, and I’ll let you go.”

The black-robed man leisurely added wood to the bonfire, the flames filling the damp cave with mist.
In the hazy vapor, the bound First Saintess of the Eastern Domain’s Moonwheel Sect trembled slightly, her delicate and graceful form quivering.

Fang Xiyu remained silent for about five breaths before responding softly, “Fine.”

Gu Chi was pleased with her compliance.

He slowly rose and approached her.

Fang Xiyu was placed on a bluestone slab, her body tightly wrapped in a golden cord—a valuable spiritual artifact that could stretch, shrink, or thicken at will.
To ensure the First Saintess of the Moonflower Sect couldn’t break free, Gu Chi had tied her carefully.
The cord wound around her, binding her so tightly that faint marks appeared on the pale skin of her thighs beneath her skirt.

“Now, I need you to use the faint trace of spiritual energy left in you to open your storage ring.”

Fang Xiyu had no choice but to comply.

The restriction on her storage ring was lifted.
Gu Chi leaned toward her hand, slipped the ring off her pinky, and began rummaging through its contents for valuables.

A pile of high-grade spirit stones and spirit stone vouchers exchangeable for high-grade spirit stones, totaling one thousand.

Two protective artifacts: a Mysterious Turtle Shell Orb and an Earth-tier Thunderburst Bead.
When his fingers brushed the Thunderburst Bead, a bead of cold sweat dripped down Gu Chi’s forehead.

Had he not ambushed Fang Xiyu while she was slaying that Core Formation beast, knocking her out cold, she might have pulled out this Thunderburst Bead.
If she had, he’d likely be in pieces now, part of the secret realm’s ecosystem.

Continuing his search, he found several talismans, some crafting materials, and a handful of pills for healing, calming the mind, or restoring spiritual energy—worth roughly five hundred high-grade spirit stones.

But this left him deeply disappointed.

Gu Chi nearly turned the storage ring inside out.
Aside from a few pairs of Evil-Warding Ice Silk stockings and some lace-trimmed ice silk undergarments, there was nothing else of value.

Indeed, it seemed these saintly fairies all loved wearing knee-high Evil-Warding Ice Silk stockings.

His fingertips held a pair of white lace-trimmed undergarments.
He knew these were the latest design from the Watermoon Trade Guild, woven from Southern Domain Snowmountain Ice Silkworm thread.
Even a single piece was exorbitantly priced.

“You can afford such expensive undergarments, yet you only have this many spirit stones?” His tone dripped with dissatisfaction.

“I’m a sword cultivator,” Fang Xiyu replied calmly.

Everyone knew sword cultivators were notoriously poor.

“I wonder if the Moonflower Fairy’s personal undergarments could fetch a good price…” Gu Chi muttered casually.
The next moment, Fang Xiyu’s eyes flashed with murderous intent.

Sword cultivators proved their path through killing.
Fang Xiyu had likely slain plenty of evil cultivators, or the cave’s temperature wouldn’t have dropped so sharply, sending a chill through Gu Chi.

“I expected to make at least five thousand spirit stones off you…” Gu Chi met her gaze.
“You’d better have something else worth money, or… I’ll have to take something else instead.”

As Fang Xiyu’s eyes burned with growing killing intent, the face beneath Gu Chi’s mask grinned wider, his eyes gleaming with unabashed greed.

Admittedly, taking her virtue would be a guaranteed profit for Gu Chi.

Fang Xiyu wore a light blue gauze skirt, its hem thin and ethereal.
With her legs bound together, their curves were fully displayed, her ankles wrapped in white silk stockings.

Fang Xiyu bit her lip, saying nothing.

Gu Chi approached her, his fingers gently slipping off her pale green embroidered shoe, revealing a delicate foot wrapped in a white stocking.
His fingers then grasped the edge of the stocking, sliding it off her ankle, exposing her smooth, jade-like foot to the air.

The Moonwheel Fairy, Fang Xiyu, was renowned among the Eastern Domain’s younger generation for her cold, aloof demeanor, known to nearly all.

Her Moonwheel Sword Technique was famed throughout the Eastern Domain, yet it paled in comparison to her beauty’s renown.
Gu Chi had only seen her in portraits before, but seeing her now, her reputation was well-earned.
Every inch of Fang Xiyu was flawless.
Her bare foot, now exposed, was fair and delicate, its ten toes like glistening crystal grapes.
Though her face was filled with murderous intent and her lips tightly pursed, her toes curled slightly from fear.

Gu Chi moved slowly.
As he reached to remove her other white silk stocking, Fang Xiyu finally spoke, resigned.
“I’ll contact my mother to prepare three thousand spirit stones for your accomplice outside.
You… stop there.”

Gu Chi’s eyes glinted with amusement.
“See? Wasn’t that easier?”

It seemed his reputation as the Bronze-Masked Bandit had spread among the Eastern Domain’s younger generation.

“Need me to help the Fairy put her stocking back on?”

“Don’t… touch me.” Fang Xiyu’s voice was clear and cold, like pearls falling on jade, yet it trembled slightly with fear.

“Five thousand spirit stones,” Gu Chi stated his price.
“Five thousand, and I’ll guarantee not to touch you or tarnish your purity.
If it’s only three thousand, I’ll have to make up the difference with you.”

Perhaps never in her life had she faced such humiliation.
Despite her pride, mist began to gather in her eyes.

Fang Xiyu couldn’t even recall how she’d been brought here.

She knew where she was: the Burning Heaven Secret Realm, controlled by the Eastern Domain’s Qin Clan, a small independent world open only to cultivators below the Fifth Realm.
She’d paid thirty spirit stones for an entry token to seek her fortune.
Before losing consciousness, she’d been battling a blood-red demonic python by a lake, expending nearly seventy percent of her spiritual energy to slay it.
As she prepared to claim the Blood Lotus it guarded, a sharp pain struck the back of her head, and everything went black.

As a Core Formation sword cultivator of the Fourth Realm, being knocked out cold in a realm restricted to those below the Fifth was a humiliating disgrace.

But shame was the least of her concerns now.
Far more terrifying was the man before her, wearing a bronze mask.

This man, who called himself Bronze Mask, had been wreaking havoc in secret realms for three years.
Beyond petty thefts of spirit stones and treasures from noble disciples, he’d pulled off a deed that shook the entire Eastern Domain.

Last year, he kidnapped the Saintess of the Fire Phoenix Sect, the second greatest sect in the Eastern Domain!

Sect prodigies like her carried spiritual artifacts to contact the outside world, even in secret realms.
These were for self-preservation—if someone tried to kill or rob them, the artifact would release a divine sense, marking the culprit.
When the culprit left the realm, they’d face the full wrath of the sect.

Yet Bronze Mask seemed to possess a secret method to erase this divine sense.
This was proven when a prodigy died in a secret realm, their contact artifact shattered, yet no culprit was traced—and Bronze Mask had been in that realm.

Fang Xiyu’s close friend, the Fire Phoenix Saintess, had been his victim last year.
She knew the details well.
Bronze Mask had an accomplice outside.
He’d demanded the Fire Phoenix Sect Leader place unmarked spirit stone vouchers at a designated location, with no one allowed to stake it out.

If his accomplice didn’t retrieve the vouchers within a day, or failed to confirm their safety, or if Bronze Mask detected any hint of coercion in the response, he’d kill his hostage.

In the end, Bronze Mask won that gamble.
He and his accomplice secured five thousand high-grade spirit stones, and he released the Fire Phoenix Saintess as promised.

But according to the Fire Phoenix Saintess, Bronze Mask had… violated her.
He’d kissed her face and touched her delicate feet.
Yet this was unconfirmed—her chastity mark remained intact.
If he’d truly done such things, only the two of them would know.
Why would she speak of it and risk her reputation?

As her close friend, Fang Xiyu knew the truth.
Bronze Mask hadn’t done much—merely pinched her face.
The Fire Phoenix Saintess spread the rumor to spite her father’s arranged betrothal, hoping to disgust her unseen fiancé.

“So, contact the Moonwheel Sect Leader,” Gu Chi said, sitting on a bluestone by the bonfire, looking down at Fang Xiyu, who lay helplessly bound.

Fang Xiyu hesitated, then used her faint spiritual energy to activate the small blue earring on her lobe.
The earring glowed faintly, and after a breath, she spoke softly.
“Mother, I’ve been kidnapped by Bronze Mask.”

“Yes, he demands five thousand spirit stones.”

“He hasn’t humiliated me, but if the sect refuses… he’ll ruin my purity.
It was my negligence.
When I return, please punish me, Mother.”

After the brief exchange, Fang Xiyu looked up at him.
“Where should the five thousand unmarked spirit stone vouchers be placed?”

“Beneath the peach blossom grove in Zhongzhou’s Mist Forest, under the thirty-seventh peach tree from the left, starting from the first tree by the stream.
Once my people receive the vouchers and confirm their safety three days later, I’ll release you.”

“Understood.”

Fang Xiyu silently relayed his demands through her artifact.
When the conversation ended, she deactivated the artifact, closed her eyes, and lay still, saying nothing more.

Gu Chi sat by the bluestone, quietly studying her face, thinking this job was proving much easier than expected.

His last job—that lunatic of a girl—had yammered at him for three days and nights straight.
He’d only shut her up by pulling off her stocking and stuffing it in her mouth.