Chapter 004: Don't Stab Me with a Knife

Yao Yuan bid a reluctant farewell to the opulent Luo Mansion, her sanctuary of the past year. Though Luo Zhan'en himself was regrettably absent, summoned away by his father, the formidable City Lord. As the carriage rolled away, Yao Yuan gazed wistfully through the rear window at the imposing gates slowly receding into the distance. A pang of melancholy gripped her heart - for within those walls, she had savoured a life of indulgent ease, free from the vicious intrigues and ever-present fears that once plagued her very existence.

A long, resigned sigh escaped her lips. As much as she relished that idyllic life, it was not meant for one of her disposition. Refocusing her thoughts, she unfurled a well-worn map across her lap, plotting the critical next steps with a furrowed brow. Her plan was deceptively straightforward: join a renowned cultivation sect, leverage their vast resources to propel her cultivation swiftly to the vaunted God-General realm - the apex of strength required to exact her long-simmering vengeance - then return to annihilate her myriad enemies, sparing none. The mere thought filled her with eager, ravenous anticipation.

The carriage's gently rocking motions, coupled with the languid heat of the summer day, eventually lulled Yao Yuan into a light slumber. The past year's life of indolent luxury had undoubtedly spoiled her resilience. "Miss Yao, we've arrived at your destination," the gruff driver's voice gently roused her sometime later. Yao Yuan stretched languorously, blinking owlishly as her eyes readjusted to the brilliant noonday sunlight streaming through the window. Feeling the growling pangs of hunger, she decided to dine before attending to other matters.

With a perfunctory wave of dismissal to the ageing driver, Old Man Yu, Yao Yuan entered the bustling tavern, her eyes instinctively scanning for potential threats amidst the boisterous lunchtime crowd. A young waiter, his youthful face adorned with a practised rictus smile, hurried over and greeted her with a jovial, "Miss, are you here to dine or secure lodging this evening?"

White-hot fury flashed across Yao Yuan's eyes like an unsheathed blade. "Take a good look, fool! Do I resemble a woman to you?" she spat, unable to mask her open contempt. Again, her meticulously cultivated masculine guise had inexplicably eluded detection. Why could none perceive her as the man she righteously was?

The waiter's smile faltered as he squinted, suddenly noticing Yao Yuan's distinctly male attire and bearing. Masking his embarrassment, he replied promptly with a slight bow, "My apologies, sir. You'll forgive my foolish mistake."

Yao Yuan's lips curved into a smug smile of satisfaction at his contrition. "See that it doesn't recur. Now, do you have a private dining room available?"

"But of course, sir. If you would follow me?" The waiter spun on his heel and led her briskly up a winding staircase to the second level, weaving through a dimly lit, narrow corridor lined with private chambers until reaching their destination. He pulled open the lacquered door and presented her with an embossed menu, awaiting her order.

Yao Yuan's eyes widened in delight as she scanned the extensive selection of exotic dishes and vintage spirits. Licking her lips in anticipation, she rattled off a sizable order of several delicacies along with an aged bottle of premium rice wine. With her current elevated level of cultivation, she ought to handle the potent alcohol far better than that disastrous, raucous night of overindulgence drinking with the abstemious Luo Zhan'en long ago.

True to the tavern's reputation, the sumptuous orders soon arrived in rapid succession, the mesmerizing aromas of the succulent meats and fragrant spices filling the chamber and whetting Yao Yuan's ravenous appetite. She dug in with unrestrained gusto, savouring each morsel as if it may be her last. Yet, her thoughts strayed unbidden to that detestable scoundrel, Luo Zhan'en. What a pity he couldn't join this sublime feast to sample its divine flavours alongside her.

Strange, why did her mind insist on dwelling on him at this moment? Ah, yes - their parting had been so abrupt, so unwelcomely lacking in resolution. Yao Yuan raised her glass of shimmering amber liquid, addressing the empty space opposite her at the low table as if he sat there. "Luo Zhan'en, I'll never forget the hesitant kindness you showed me these many months. Once my righteous vengeance is achieved, I shall return and serve you like a mere ox or horse to repay that debt." She punctuated the vow by draining the entire glass in one greedy pull. "Oho, a nice robust vintage!"

As she continued imbibing with steadily increasing abandon, a leaden numbness began creeping across her senses, an ominous heaviness seizing her limbs. Wait...the wine! It was poisoned! Yao Yuan fought to expel the insidious toxin from her body through sheer force of will, but found her spiritual power utterly blocked, suppressed by some dark, malefic force. The world tilted queasily as blessed oblivion claimed her.

Stabbing pain gripped Yao Yuan as she regained consciousness, a throbbing ache pulsing through her skull with every ragged breath. Blinking to clear her bleary vision, she took in her surroundings - a cramped, dilapidated shed reeking of mold and musty dampness. Through a solitary slit window, naught but inky shadows and pale moonlight filtering weakly through the untamed foliage greeted her bewildered gaze.

She tried channeling her innate spiritual energy, focusing her mind, but her strength remained shackled, stubbornly inaccessible. Escape, at least for now, was an impossibility she had to resign herself to.

Despair washed over her like a crashing wave. Just like that, freshly departed from Luo Zhan'en's sheltered paradise, she was captured - by whom and for what nefarious purpose, she couldn't fathom. If that arrogant fool ever learned of this embarrassing predicament, he'd surely laugh himself into an untimely grave relishing her humiliation.

The protracted silence was abruptly shattered by the eerie creak of rusted hinges as a door Yao Yuan hadn't noticed swung open behind her. "So, our young guest has awakened at last," an aridly amused male voice crept from the gloom. An elderly figure emerged, his lined face and aquiline features cloaked in shadow save for the wild halo of wispy silver hair glinting in the moonlight. Despite his age, the man carried himself with an undeniable aura of extraordinary power and authority that belied this being a common kidnapping.

"Who are you? Why have you taken me?" Yao Yuan demanded, her eyes narrowing as she scrutinized the man with undisguised hostility.

Rather than replying directly, he countered with an enigmatic query of his own. "Do you know to whom you speak, child?"

Yao Yuan felt her hackles rising at his condescending tone, her infamous short fuse burning ever shorter. "I don't care who you presume yourself to be, graybeard! Release me at once, or when Luo Zhan'en comes for me, I'll ensure he slays you where you stand like the insignificant gnat you are!" She tried wielding Luo's fearsome reputation like a blunt weapon, praying the implicit threat would sway her captor.

The man's lips quirked in an almost imperceptible smirk of mild amusement. "Ah yes, the famed prodigy genius of the mighty Luo Clan. Forgive me if I am...unimpressed. He'll never find you here."

Cold dread congealed in the pit of Yao Yuan's stomach as the dire reality of her predicament truly sank its hooked talons in. This was no mere happenstance - this man didn't even flinch at the ominous invocation of Luo Zhan'en's name. Just what sort of deep, tenebrous quagmire had she so blithely stumbled into this time? "If you mean to kill me, then at least grant me the respect of understanding why you've taken me before I meet that ignoble end," she bit out through gritted teeth.

The old man regarded her with eyes abruptly glinting with keen appraisal, as if peering beyond her outward guise to glimpse the truth beneath. "It's simple, really. I merely wished to see for myself the enigma others call Yao Yuan."

At the utterance of her name, Yao Yuan felt her throat constrict as if an icy fist clenched it, every shred of bravado fleeing as cold sweat bloomed across her brow. Mustering her flagging resolve, she pushed past the dread coiling like a serpent in her breast and declared through a dry rasp, "I am Yao Yuan - the only son of the great General Yao Ye who serves the Hongkun Dynasty!" She couldn't perish here, not before she achieved her destiny and regained her honor through a conflagration of long-overdue vengeance!

The old man's eyes narrowed skeptically. "You are Yao Yuan?" He snorted a bark of laughter edged with equal measures derision and intrigue. "Impossible. I've heard he reached the vaunted Golden Pill Realm long ago. How could you, a pathetically weak woman, be that selfsame figure of legend?"

Those words detonated in Yao Yuan's psyche like a thunderclap, lancing her heart with soul-piercing agony as that ignoble barb of "weak woman" reverberated through every fiber of her being. The insult carved fresh, ragged furrows in festering wounds never truly healed.

"Or..." The old man leaned closer, his obsidian eyes glittering with dark amusement as he twisted the blade with clinical precision. "Could you be his maidservant, my dear? Yes, that salacious explanation would certainly account for your... deficiencies. Tell me, do you pleasure him well?"

Another hateful blow, this one viscerally shattering what little composure remained to her. Enough! If this decrepit relic of a bygone era meant to kill her, then grant her that merciful oblivion swiftly, without further degradation of her battered heart and tattered pride. Hot, bitter tears scored Yao Yuan's cheeks as the encroaching darkness swallowed her in its numbing embrace once more.

**To be continued