Love from the Male Protagonist's Harem

Chapter 101-Late Night Talks at the Mountain Prison Part 2

At the back mountain, the wind was gentle, the leaves of the trees softly rustling, and the moon shone bright and clear overhead.

Hands tied behind her back and kneeling, Mao Qing was next to a beautiful young lady in red, and on the other side was a deathly pale young man with a very gloomy mien.

Accidents tended to be unforeseen.  For example, when Mao Qing had gone to say goodbye to Huo Bai, who would’ve expected that she’d inadvertently overhear him talking with the young lady in red?  Mao Qing been discovered on the spot, captured, and taken to Lingxi’s back mountain before she even knew what was happening.

The moment she’d arrived at Huo Bai’s quarters, it’d already been too late.

Unable to move, unable to speak, Mao Qing had to watch the farewell candy she’d bought for Huo Bai scatter all over the ground.  It was all rather ridiculous.

Glancing at Mao Qing’s bound form, Su Chan laughed lightly to herself.  The Danfeng disciple was a fortuitous gain, obtained with minimal effort.

Su Chan then turned her attention back to her conversation with Qin Yue, asking indifferently via her small puppet: “Don’t you want to see your daughter?”

Qin Yue’s face remained stoic, hiding the faint tightening of her heart.

“What that child just said wasn’t without merit,” Su Chan continued calmly, “There is no impenetrable wall in this world.  So long as someone has the mind to, they can follow the tiniest traces, peel back every layer, until the truth comes to light.”

The little puppet faithfully transmitted the voice of its master, its expression apathetic, made even more eerie by the dimness of the dungeon.

Qin Yue: “……no one will find her.”

Despite Qin Yue’s words, Su Chan could easily discern the woman’s fear and unwillingness.

“I know what you’re not reconciled to.”

At the back mountain, Su Chan bent down and looked at the bound Mao Qing.  When Mao Qing’s eyes widened in fright, Su Chan smiled faintly, her slender pale fingers softly tapping at Mao Qing’s forehead.  “You’re happy that your daughter is still alive.  Nevermind that she doesn’t remember anything anymore.”

“On one hand, you want her to forget everything, and live like an ordinary person.  On the other hand, you selfishly want her to remember everything.”

“People really can be very contradictory.”

Su Chan’s fingers emitted a bright red glow as they rested on Mao Qing’s brow, and Mao Qing’s face suddenly became pained.  Next to Mao Qing, Bairen’s expression marginally shifted: “Master……”

Su Chan gave Bairen a lazy glance and any further words died in his throat.

Indiscriminately rifling through Mao Qing’s memories, Su Chan closed her eyes, even as Qin Yue’s voice sounded in her ear: “……what are you trying to say?”

In Mao Qing’s memories, Su Chan saw a somewhat familiar youngster with a dazzling smile buying the girl a big bag of candy, yet at the same time pocketing a candy for themselves.

Su Chan laughed and her little puppet’s voice was soft: “What I’m trying to say is……I can help you.”

“Help me?” Qin Yue paused, “I find it hard to believe that you’d be so kind.”

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Su Chan indolently replied: “Perhaps because I can’t be bothered to rise early for anything, you could try believing in me for a bit.”

“So, your child, do you have a clue for me?”

Qin Yue was silent for a long, long time, until finally whispering to the puppet in the window: “……butterfly.”

Lost in thoughts of the past, Qin Yue didn’t realize that the barrier erected by Su Chan had discretely dispersed.  Chu Yi, who’d been walking away from the mountain prison, stopped dead in her tracks.  A butterfly fluttered on her fingertips as she registered the clear sound of Qin Yue’s voice.

That had been Qin Yue’s voice, right?  Was there some other person talking to her?!

Fists clenching, Chu Yi turned and ran back towards the mountain prison.

Having her memories forcibly read, Mao Qing was now left in a bewildered state, her eyes drifting.

Su Chan crouched down next to her, smiled lightly as she took in Mao Qing’s dull gaze: “Interesting clue.  What about a butterfly?”

Qin Yue murmured: “On that child’s shoulder is a butterfly birthmark.”

Gently stroking Mao Qing’s temple, Su Chan answered: “I see.”

The barrier rose up again, the silver butterfly in the prison suddenly dissipated into thin air, and Chu Yao’s pupils shrank.

The silver butterfly she’d left behind in the prison had been……discovered?

Who had been speaking to Qin Yue?!

Inside the mountain prison-

The second the silver butterfly had vanished, Qin Yue realized what’d happened, and her voice turned cold: “Why did you do that?”

“It makes things more amusing.”

Qin Yue: “Are you insane?!  That girl want to avenge the Ye family!  If she finds……”

Su Chan softly chuckled: “Let her take revenge.”

Qin Yue held her breath, her tone hard: “What is your……meaning?”

“Some people will only know what’s good for them once they’re suffering.  Your child is probably the same.”  Su Chan’s fingers trailed down Mao Qing’s cheek, slowly following its curve down to the girl’s neck, “Don’t you think?”

“Master……!”  Bairen couldn’t stop himself from calling.

“Are you worried for her sake?” Su Chan tilted her head to look at Bairen, “Do you want to save her?”

Hands tightly fisted, after a while Bairen spoke laboriously: “This subordinate doesn’t dare……still I ask that you let her keep her life.”

“What’s moved you to pity?  Can you say it?  Or……should I ask what gives you the courage?”  Su Chan’s hand left Mao Qing’s neck as she stood up, peering at Bairen in apparent confusion.  “You weren’t afraid of your punishment when you failed your mission.  Yet now you have the mind to be concerned over someone else?”

Heavy, terrifying pressure fell upon Bairen, his entire body trembling.  But he managed to stay standing, staring down at the bewildered bound girl and the scattered mint candies on the ground.

“Give me an answer.”  Su Chan was now very interested in the question of Bairen and Mao Qing, not caring that Qin Yue could still hear her.

Bairen shook under the immense pressure, yet didn’t say a word.

Realizing he wasn’t going to speak, Su Chan followed his line of sight to the mint candies in the dirt.

“This?”

Su Chan stooped over and picked up a mint candy.  Turning it over in her hand, she laughed lightly: “Ah, it turned out to be this.”

Still not speaking, Bairen’s lips quivered.

Qin Yue in her cell: “What is it exactly that you’re planning to do?”

Squeezing the candy tight, Su Chan sighed: “What am I planning to do……I said I would help you.  You don’t need to worry about how the cat catches the mice.”

Qin Yue: “I don’t believe you.”

“What a pity,” Su Chan’s tone was detached, “Only I’ve already leaked the clue you gave me……what to do?”

She couldn’t hide the amusement in her voice: “It won’t take long before that girl can discover many things.”

A furious Qin Yue : “You!”

“If you don’t believe me now, you shouldn’t have believed me earlier.”  Su Chan crushed the candy in her hand.  “Believing and then disbelieving.  You’ll make me think carefully about what I did and did not promise you.  After all, you’re going back on your own words.  Doing that……if you think about it, don’t you regret it?”

Qin Yue sneered: “You betrayed my trust first.”

“Betrayed?” Su Chan contemplated the word, finding it curious, “Do you think me a trustworthy person?”

Qin Yue: “……”

Tossing aside the broken candy, Su Chan exhaled deeply: “If you decided to believe me, even when you don’t think me trustworthy, it can only mean you’re very naïve.  The problem doesn’t lie with me.”

Bairen still stood to one side, his body rigid.

Su Chan glanced at a hollow-eyed Mao Qing and laughed to herself: “What’s certain is that intelligent people will each have their own merits, and foolish people will each have their different stupidities.”

“Only in your case, you have nowhere else to turn to,” Su Chan continued, “Fortunately for you, you’re still useful, so I suggest you continue to believe in me.”

In other words, you have no other choice.

Qin Yue took her time responding: “……what is it that you want from me?”

Su Chan answered carelessly: “You’re one of the best priestesses in this world, correct?”

Qin Yue looked inside and considered the spiritual seal that’d locked her power away before saying: “Yes.”

Su Chan: “So you should be able to find Mount Wuling, right?”

祭祀  jìsì         to offer sacrifices to the gods or ancestors