If it were his previous life, Shen Yi would probably have started wildly speculating about ghosts and gods.
But now, he sat up, looking down at the space under the bed.
He had felt something was off; who would use a wooden board to seal the space under a bed?
Without searching for any mechanisms, Shen Yi applied a bit of force and broke open the board, reaching for the sword that had been placed by the bed.
"Swoosh!"
At the moment the creature below peeked out, the sword was already pressed against its neck.
Shen Yi's eyes narrowed.
Under the threat of the blade, the woman's dark hair was disheveled, her features delicate yet spirited, her dirty face conveyed anger, her mouth was gagged with a cloth, and her muffled sounds did not seem like kind words.
The originally snow-white robe was now barely cleaner than a rag.
Her hands were tied behind her with hemp rope.
From her slightly reddened forehead, it seemed she had just been using her head to ram the bed board.
Seeing the young woman's beautiful face, Shen Yi's expression gradually shifted from confusion to anger, until he could only use deep breaths to steady his emotions.
What the hell... how many troubles did you... leave for me!
Being angry with a dead man was pointless; Shen Yi helplessly lowered his gaze, casually tearing the cloth from the woman's face.
"You bastard, you're an accomplice to the devil! You won't die well!"
"Let me go quickly! Otherwise, I'll report back to my sect, and they will surely have you flayed and dismembered, you..."
A flash of silver.
Shen Yi withdrew his sword, and the woman, seeing the hemp rope cut, opened her mouth, apparently still eager to continue, but not knowing what else to curse with.
She was set free just like that?
This wasn't quite what she expected.
She licked her dry lips and pondered for a moment: "I'm hungry, is there anything to eat?"
Shen Yi glanced at her and shook his head: "Get out."
He did want the company of a woman, but not to the point of becoming blinded by lust.
Her identity was too special, special enough that just thinking about it could keep Shen Yi awake all night.
Though Baiyun County was not known for its wealth, it had a few rich merchants, with the Lin Family being one of them, having made their fortune trading silk.
If that were all, it might not have mattered much.
While the only daughter of the Lin Family was cherished, she was nothing special in front of the authorities.
The special thing lay in the word 'only.'
Master Lin, for some reason unknown, had many wives but few children, and those he had kept dying, leaving only this daughter.
With no other choice, he had to adopt a male heir to continue the family business.
As for his daughter, he had spent a great deal of money to send her out to learn arts.
What was unexpected, though, was that she indeed acquired skills... Her first act upon returning was to wield a sword to exterminate demons.
Shen Yi got embroiled in these affairs at that time.
She went outside the city, took on a group of fox demons alone, and it was a miracle that she managed to return alive.
The cause of all this trouble was a certain fox who was curious about the bustling human world and insisted on playing a game of swapping places with the heir.
It brought the girl to Shen Yi's house, not only imitating her speech and actions but also giving herself an identical face to hers, and finally, through Shen Yi's own hands, the "seriously wounded" creature was sent back to the Lin Residence, thereby solving the problem of lost memories.
Shen Yi handled the task neatly; the fox was satisfied and thus awarded the girl to him.
As long as he didn't reveal her to Baiyun County, he could do with her as he pleased. For this purpose, it even sealed the girl's vital acupoints.
"In the past few days, there was still rice porridge to eat, but now they won't even give me water, do you know how I've managed to survive these two days?"
Lin Baiwei weakly rose and sat on the edge of the bed.
Shen Yi glanced sideways and said, "I have already released you as you asked, so why haven't you left?"
A fox that could change its form at will was definitely not something he could handle at the moment.
The individual had entered the Lin Residence and had not yet started harming anyone; Shen Yi did not want to make the situation even worse.
"Cursing just to satisfy my urge to speak, do you think I'm stupid?"
Lin Baiwei rubbed her abdomen, her voice weak as she said, "That beast left a restriction on me; if I take even one step out of this room, it will come to take my head within half an hour."
Hearing this, a cold smile flickered across Shen Yi's lips, "So, to you, I'm very safe?"
"If you touch me, I'll fight you with all I have," Lin Baiwei glanced at him, biting her lip hard, "But if you don't, I need to eat!"
From the girl's determined eyes,
Shen Yi felt that she really did love to eat.
He did not want to continue dwelling on this issue, "Listen, I need to rest now. As for you, as long as you don't make any noise, do whatever you want."
Having said that, Shen Yi went straight back to lying down, and conveniently placed the official saber under his arm.
"..."
"..."
A moment later, Shen Yi looked back.
He admitted that Lin Baiwei was very beautiful, even in her current disheveled state, she was the most stunning person he had seen since he had crossed over.
But this could not withstand her sitting next to him like a ghost, hair disheveled and face expressionless, watching him continuously with that eerie gaze.
"Are you sick or something?"
"I haven't made any noise," Lin Baiwei continued to stare at him.
"Right now, I really want to stuff you back under the bed," Shen Yi slowly sat up.
"Whatever, do you need to be tied up again?" Lin Baiwei stretched out her hands.
This attitude made Shen Yi involuntarily question whether he or she was the real hooligan, "Are you trying to stick to me now?"
"I just don't want to die, I need to eat to stay alive," Lin Baiwei's expression was quite calm.
"If you don't want to die then you shouldn't have provoked those foxes," Shen Yi found it absurd; he had initially thought she was a rash and impulsive young lady but turned out she was surprisingly adaptable.
Hearing this, the girl looked at him puzzled, "They prey on the people of Baiyun County, how is it that I provoked them?"
As she spoke, Lin Baiwei suddenly moved her face closer, lightly running her fingers across Shen Yi's garment at the spot stained red with monster blood.
Sniffing the foul stench like a young animal, she lifted her head, "Besides, aren't you provoking them too?"
"I'm not as stupid as you are," Shen Yi pushed her face away, speaking indifferently, "Do you actually belong to any sect?"
The ability to discern the scent of monster blood suggested that she did possess some real skill.
"Peach Blossom Axe, Demon-Slaying Peerless Sword, Eighteen Wave-Breaking Palms…"
"For just two steamed buns, which technique do you want to learn?"
Watching Lin Baiwei list them off like naming dishes, Shen Yi's mouth twitched, "Go wash up and get some sleep…"
Indeed, stumbling upon a good deal like Chen Ji casually handing out cultivation techniques was a rare occurrence.
His own connections were more reliable.
Seeing him lie back down, Lin Baiwei reluctantly lowered her palms.
Made-up names couldn't really trick him into providing food.
She watched Shen Yi's back, lost in thought.
Could it be that she had stayed outside for too long? How did a minor prison servant come into contact with the Initial Realm Threshold?
Hiss, should she come up with something more credible?