Chapter 2
Edward Quan ·
It was Fang Ye.
He and our junior disciple had arrived late. He was patiently braiding her hair.
She looked surprised to see me hiding.
“What are you hiding for? Afraid Master will choose you? You’re awfully confident.”
Fang Ye lifted me out with a helpless look.
Nowhere to hide.
“You’re always so timid. Not nearly as many people are watching you as you think.”
She stood on tiptoe toward Master.
Accustomed to being pampered and the center of attention, she tried her hardest to catch his eye.
It worked.
He turned.
His gaze met mine.
Cold fury surged in his eyes.
He pointed from a distance.
“You. Come here.”
She beamed, thinking he meant her.
Fang Ye looked pleased, too, and pulled me aside.
“Don’t block her way.”
As she ran forward, Master said coolly, “Stop. Not you.”
She froze, scarlet-faced.
An invisible force seized my collar and dragged me to him.
The pull was so strong I crashed straight into his body. My head spun.
My legs went weak with fright.
As I apologized and slid downward, my hands scrabbled across his chest.
I grabbed at him several times, squeezing two generous masses of flesh, and still couldn’t stand.
“I’m sorry, Master. I’m dizzy.”
The others exclaimed around me.
“She’s so excited she’s fainted!”
“Master’s blushing with happiness, too! What a rare sight!”
I woke on the floor.
Sunlight was just breaking through the window.
I stared for a long time.
Since exchanging rooms with our junior disciple, I hadn’t seen such beautiful sunlight.
Then came a rustle.
Scales brushing against the floor.
I followed the sound.
In the cold palace, beyond the layers of gauze around the bed, a man had his back to me.
His upper half was human and bare.
His lower half was a snake’s tail.
The black tail coiled on the ground like a mountain range, slowly shifting.
It was injured.
I drew a sharp breath.
Master turned at the sound, his expression icy.
“Afraid?”
A little.
I’d never seen such a fat tail.
I didn’t dare say so. I prostrated myself, trembling.
Suddenly, my mouth grew hot.
He raised a hand and cast a spell.
“This is a truth spell. I ask. You answer.”
“Are you a spy?”
“No.”
“What did you feed the snake? Did you poison him?”
“Pig swill. All natural.”
Chu She frowned, his chest rising and falling with anger.
Apparently struggling to contain himself, he asked, “On purpose?”
“I fed the wrong one by accident. He’s so adorable. I only wanted to spoil him. So round and plump, just like a little pig…”
Before I could finish, Master told me to shut up.
He steadied his breathing and pronounced judgment.
“Only the dead keep secrets. If you have family, I will take good care of them.”
As he lifted his tail, I immediately begged for mercy.
“Please don’t!”
But no pain came.
That fat tail approached like a cat’s teasing string, waving before my eyes.
It even hooked lightly beneath my chin.
I was lying on the cold floor. The tail wound around my hands, bringing a little warmth.
Like a blanket, it curled around me.
Without thinking, I stroked it.
“Stop.”
Chu She’s upper half was furious.
His tail clung to me fondly and wouldn’t let go.
His face chilled. He pulled at his lower half.
It refused to come back.
A tug-of-war.
Blood began seeping from the wound.
I tried to push the tail away and said softly, “Master, it hurts. It’s bleeding. Could you stop pulling?”
He paused.
Then he struck his tail with his palm.
It convulsed with pain and reluctantly let me go.
Only to turn around and slap him.
Chu She: “…”
I’d heard that the body parts of powerful demonic beings could develop minds of their own.
Apparently, Master’s tail refused to obey him.
He wasn’t inclined to indulge it, either.
They fought for several minutes.
The wound kept splitting open, filling the room with the smell of blood.
The tail crawled miserably over the floor but refused to surrender.
It kept smashing into the walls.
Hurting the enemy, hurting itself nearly as much.
At last, with blood seeping from his mouth, Master made peace with his own body.
He looked at me coolly.
“Come bandage it.”
“Afterward, I’ll send you on your final journey.”
There were only the two of us in the cold palace.