Chapter Forty-Nine: Abducted

My entire body was lifted by the thick fog. I wanted to cry out for help, but the dark mist suddenly lunged at me. As I twisted to avoid it, the mist scattered, and I fell hard onto the ground.

"Already here?" A voice, full of amusement, sounded above me.

I looked up towards the voice. Around me was a pitch-black cave. On a stone step sat a man in black clothes, hiding his face behind a fan. His sly, fox-like eyes were fixed on me.

"Who… who are you? Why did you bring me here?" I asked, my voice lacking any confidence.

"You've forgotten my voice so quickly? That's unexpected." The man in black seemed deeply disappointed, clicking his tongue as he closed his fan and leaned down to give me a closer look.

It was then that I recognized him as the Moon Shadow Sect leader I had encountered before.

There was no way he had brought me here for anything good. I needed to think of a way to escape.

"It's too dark here; I can't see anything. Goodbye." I covered my eyes and turned to flee, but a sharp object suddenly pressed against the back of my neck, stopping me in my tracks. I weakly asked, "Stranger, do you need anything else?"

"Stranger?" He chuckled lightly and reached out to brush my tightly closed eyelids.

I shuddered involuntarily. The cold, sharp touch felt like something crawling on my face, sending chills down my spine.

"Such beautiful eyes, wasted if kept shut. Are you really not going to open them?" He pinched my eyelids. "Won't you open them? Do you want to lose them?"

Panicked, I opened my eyes to see him watching me with amusement, his gaze cold and predatory like a beast hunting in the night.

I had to admit, when the Moon Shadow Sect leader got serious, he could be quite intimidating.

Wait, why should I be afraid of this half-baked sect leader?

"You didn't bring me here just to admire my eyes, did you?" I raised my voice on purpose to give myself some courage.

He smiled, lying down beside a stone while fanning himself. "Then tell me, what other reason might I have?"

"Well, it's not to kill me."

"So sure? But what if I told you I brought you here precisely to kill you? What would you do?" He continued to examine the painting on his fan, blowing off the dust, completely disregarding me.

His nonchalance was infuriating.

I squatted down and began playing with the stones on the ground. "Because killing me doesn't benefit you. If you kill me, it would be pointless and only create more trouble for you, making Daxian your enemy."

"You're quite clever and interesting. However—" He suddenly appeared behind me, pressing a point on my body and forcing a pill into my mouth. "I don't like smart-alecks. I, Quan Yousheng, have never feared Quehan. On the contrary, I plan to use you to deal with him."

The pill melted as soon as it touched my tongue, sliding down my throat with a sweet taste before I could react.

A wave of dizziness hit me instantly, and my vision turned to a dense, impenetrable black.

The dizziness in the darkness was overwhelming, as if I were sinking into a quagmire, my limbs unable to move. A sense of oppression pressed on my chest, like a giant stone. It was an external cold, accompanied by an unbearable itching sensation and sweat, cold to the bone inside, yet never penetrating the outer heat, a strange contradiction and torment, unable to struggle.

This nightmare, like an invisible cage, completely surrounded me.

Finally, with a flash of intense white light, I returned to this world.

He was squinting down at me, "How do you feel? Is the sensation pleasant?"

I replied coldly, "Unable to defeat Daxian openly, you resort to such underhanded tactics? How laughable, especially for the dignified leader of the Moon Shadow Sect."

"You don't need to provoke me. When Quehan used such disgraceful methods against me, who exposed him? This world only recognizes winners, not losers." He unsealed my acupoints and casually opened his fan to cool himself.

He spoke as if he knew Daxian well.

"Don't slander him. Daxian is not someone who would stoop to such despicable behavior!"

He let out a few cold laughs and retorted, "How much do you know about Quehan? Instead of arguing with me, you'd better think about what I made you ingest. But I'll remind you, it can act at any moment."

It didn't take much thought to guess it was poison.

He clearly didn't know about the effects of the Moon Spirit Jade I possessed, otherwise, he wouldn't have chosen such a clumsy method as poisoning to control me.

"Not afraid?" He looked at my calm expression with a hint of doubt in his eyes.

"Afraid, of course. If you gave me something lethal, how could I help you with your tasks?" I hurriedly put on a frightened expression and sighed deeply.

He seemed amused by this, laughing heartily, "You don't need to worry about that. What I gave you isn't poison. The true effect is something you'll have to experience yourself and then describe to me in detail."

With those cryptic words, he conjured that strange pen from his hand, flicking a few ink spots in the air, enveloping me once more.

After what felt like a long drift, the sensation of being transported finally ceased. I reached out to touch the black mist, and with a "pop," my surroundings became clear again.

Looking around, I realized I was in the outskirts not far from Luoyang City. This Quan Yousheng really had a poor sense of precision in sending me back.

With no other option, I had to walk the remaining distance back to Luoyang City.