Song of Everlasting Regret - Chapter 27

After Cao Bo left, Snake Lady beckoned. Two subordinates approached carrying a strip of black cloth, blindfolded Lou Jing, and escorted her away with one person on either side.

At their mercy, Lou Jing could only submit.

Although she could not see the route, she traced it in her mind. Judging by the distance, they had nearly left the manor.

Was Cao Bo planning to throw her from a cliff?

Yet from his earlier words, it did not seem he intended to let her die so easily.

The path beneath her feet became uneven and began climbing upward.

Another set of footsteps approached from behind. Someone hurried to catch up.

As expected, Lou Jing heard a familiar voice call, “Miss Snake Lady.”

It was Cao Bo’s son—the man who had slapped her in the hall.

Snake Lady glanced back and smiled.

“Oh, Young Master Liu. Have you come to watch the excitement?”

Lou Jing wondered why Cao Bo’s son bore the surname Liu.

Liu Qingyun caught up and glanced at Lou Jing.

“What do you intend to do with this woman?”

Snake Lady continued climbing the mountain path at an unhurried pace.

“The manor master entrusted her to me. Naturally, he wishes me to throw her into the Dragon Pit and slowly torment her to death.”

Liu Qingyun’s eyes were like blades of ice.

“This woman escaped from the Qianyuan Sect’s black prison. She may also be capable of escaping from the Dragon Pit.

“To prevent future trouble, it would be better to kill her immediately and throw her corpse inside afterward.”

Snake Lady lazily looked over her shoulder.

“Is that the manor master’s order?”

Liu Qingyun froze.

He lowered his gaze and avoided her eyes.

“I am merely concerned that this woman is cunning.”

“Young Master Liu seems eager for this little girl to die.”

Liu Qingyun said indignantly, “She killed Ruxu. I wish I could cut her down this instant.”

Snake Lady wore an ambiguous smile.

“Young Master Liu truly shared deep brotherly affection with our unfortunate young master.

“Unfortunately, without the manor master’s instructions, I cannot act on my own. I must disappoint your heartfelt desire to avenge your brother.”

Liu Qingyun’s expression stiffened.

He forced a smile.

“No matter. Allowing her a quick death would indeed be far too merciful.”

As they spoke, the group crossed a suspension bridge.

Lou Jing felt the ground swaying beneath her feet and the mountain wind blowing from both sides, so she knew they were crossing a bridge.

Not long after reaching the other side, the group stopped.

At last, the black cloth covering her eyes was removed.

Light entered her vision. She closed her eyes briefly before looking around.

The mountain peak upon which she stood resembled something carved by blades and axes, its sheer sides rising straight into the clouds like an enormous screen.

The summit was flat, with a large hall built upon it.

The hall was plain and unadorned. Even its signboard did not bear the words Dragon Pit.

Lou Jing was escorted inside.

The hall was empty except for a table in the center. An oil lamp stood upon it, and two burly men sat nearby resting.

When they saw the group arrive, they hurriedly stood and came forward.

Snake Lady said, “Open the door.”

The two guards walked about ten paces from the table and began pulling something from the ground.

Metal clanged loudly.

They were dragging iron chains.

There were eight chains in total, each as thick as a man’s forearm and secured to the floor.

Lou Jing looked more carefully and finally understood.

The chains were fastened to a round disk of black iron.

The two strong men had to combine their strength merely to move it. The iron plate was more than a foot thick and, if raised upright, would probably be as tall as either guard.

As they dragged it across the ground, the round disk vibrated with a deep metallic ringing.

Once the circular iron “door” was pulled aside, it revealed a cavern beneath.

The hole was pitch-black, and nothing at its bottom could be seen.

Judging from its rough edges, it had not been excavated by human hands but had formed naturally through the uncanny craftsmanship of heaven and earth.

Snake Lady seized Lou Jing’s chin and used her thumb to wipe some yellow mud from her cheek.

“What a lovely face. Big Sister likes it very much. What a pity…”

She turned to the two guards and said without emotion, “Throw her in.”

The guards dragged Lou Jing to the edge.

One kicked her ankle while the other shoved her back.

Her hands were tied, she had suffered internal injuries, and there was nowhere behind her to retreat. She could not possibly avoid them.

She stumbled forward and fell into the cavern.

The opening was narrow at the top and broad below, with a drop of seventy or eighty feet.

Had the rocky walls not jutted outward and struck her twice, slowing her fall, she would have been half-dead from the impact alone. Her inner force was still sealed.

Even so, her condition was hardly better.

Lou Jing struck the ground heavily, stars bursting before her eyes.

Above her, the narrow thread of light rapidly vanished.

The iron door closed over the cavern.

The clanging of chains sliding across the iron disk continued for a short while before stopping.

It was like a sudden thunderclap in the darkness—light and sound tearing briefly through the gloom, only to disappear at once and leave the surroundings even darker and quieter than before.

Lou Jing’s eyes had not yet adjusted to the blackness, so she could not distinguish the cavern’s shape.

Her internal organs ached dully.

Second Master Cao’s palm had struck her too viciously. Now, after falling from such a height, she could scarcely catch her breath, and even her senses had dulled.

Only then did she notice the unceasing hissing around her.

Something was surrounding her.

She narrowed her eyes and discerned countless dark shapes.

The sound of something cutting through the air reached her ears.

Her martial instincts remained. She quickly dodged to one side, and a foul-smelling gust swept past her face.

After glimpsing what had flown before her, a dreadful suspicion crossed her mind.

She tried to free her bound hands and struggled to rise from one knee.

Suddenly, scorching pain erupted in her right leg.

A muffled groan escaped her throat.

In that instant, all strength seemed to leave her body. She had only risen halfway before collapsing to her knees again.

The pause gave another creature time to strike.

A foul wind rushed toward her, and something coiled around her wrist.

Poisonous fangs sank deeply into her flesh.

The pain was excruciating, and beads of sweat immediately appeared along the bridge of her nose.

Her eyes gradually adjusted to the darkness.

At last, she clearly saw what surrounded her.

The vicious figures lurking within the damp gloom, writhing and slithering around her, were the same creatures she had crushed at the inn.

Venomous snakes covered the walls, the jutting rocks, and the cold ground, coiled and tangled together until there was nowhere safe to place a foot.

The Dragon Pit was no dragon’s lair at all.

It was a pit of vipers.

Lou Jing’s fall had startled the cold-blooded creatures.

The snakes were now agitated and fiercely aggressive.

Her breathing grew increasingly labored, and her vision began to blur.

She knew she had to stand.

She absolutely had to rise.

If she remained upon the ground, these poisonous snakes would bite her to death.

She had to pull her hands free from the ropes before she could fight back.

The snakes around her either raised their bodies high or coiled tightly with their heads drawn back.

They gave their prey no opportunity to breathe.

They lunged forward to bite her, twisting around her body and binding her limbs.

Each time their fangs pierced her flesh, the burning pain grew more intense.

It struck again and again. She should have become numb, yet every new bite felt sharper than the last.

Standing up and pulling her hands free began to seem like a journey without an end.

Every step was unbearably difficult.

Pain eroded her will.

She no longer knew why she was struggling so desperately.

Even if she freed herself, would she not remain trapped inside this prison?

She would still be bitten to death, starve, die of thirst, or eventually kill herself because she could no longer bear the sinister loneliness.

What purpose did her struggle serve?

Before long, even the thought of struggling became weak and sluggish.

The venom spread through her body.

Sharp pain drilled directly toward her heart, then transformed into a tormenting chill that gnawed at her bones.

Unable to bear it, she collapsed forward.

Once she fell, she could no longer rise.

The snakes nearby slithered onto her body.

They climbed her calves, wound around her waist, and coiled about her neck, opening their fangs and flicking their tongues.

Lou Jing was too weak from pain to move.

It felt as though a thousand poisonous snakes had sunk their teeth into her flesh, like countless cold iron nails driven into her body.

“Ah—!”

A profound, anguished cry tore from her throat.

She pressed her forehead against the ground, as though the pain of scraping it against the stone might lessen the torment elsewhere.

Hoarse and miserable screams escaped her, resembling the howls of a wounded beast.

The cries gradually faded, becoming broken, pained whimpers.

The cold sank from her flesh into her marrow.

Lou Jing felt damp and freezing, as though she were naked in the depths of winter, surrounded by ice and snow.

She felt only cold.

Cold so severe that it hurt.

It seemed as though ice had formed inside her lungs.

She could not breathe. Her chest spasmed as it struggled to obtain the smallest amount of air.

It was unbearable.

A single moment seemed as long as eternity.

She curled into herself, her will shattered by countless poisonous fangs.

Her eyes gazed mournfully ahead as she softly sobbed, “Father… Mother… I’m cold.”

Her voice was barely audible, and her gaze gradually lost focus.

She did not know how much time passed.

Perhaps a day.

Perhaps a hundred years.

Suddenly, Lou Jing felt her body become light.

It was as though the pain had separated from her flesh, or her soul had left her body.

Had she died?

Was this what death felt like?

This state without suffering or pain was deeply tempting, a hundred times easier than being devoured by countless snakes.

Yet she could not accept ending this way.

She was far too unwilling.

Her body and soul were imprisoned within this gloomy, brutal place. Without her realizing it, her mind and heart had been stained by the same darkness.

A bright flower had been poisoned by venom, withering and rotting from its roots.

She began to hate everything.

She hated herself.

She hated Cao Ruxu’s true murderer.

She hated the person who killed her father.

She hated those who confused right and wrong and condemned her.

She hated Caoliu Manor.

Most of all, she hated the thieving heavens.

She refused to accept this.

Her crimes did not deserve death, yet she had fallen to such an end.

It was as though the order of heaven and earth decreed that true murderers should remain free while the innocent suffered every torment.

If that were not so, why was she trapped in this pit of snakes?

If that were not so, why had the person who murdered her father not yet faced justice?

Her refusal to submit became a breath of resentment buried deep within her heart, supporting her and preventing her from accepting death.

If she possessed a flame, she would set the clouds across the heavens ablaze.

She would burn the entire world until it was scorching, bright, and completely illuminated.

At that very thought, it seemed as though a tiny spark ignited inside her dantian.

A thread of warmth began traveling through her meridians.

Her soul fell heavily back into her suffering body.

Perhaps because she had stopped moving, the snakes gradually became less agitated.

Although several remained coiled upon her body, none continued biting her.

Every part of her still hurt.

Her blood seemed frozen, and the bitter cold remained unbearable. Even breathing was excruciating.

She knew the snake venom had penetrated deep into her marrow.

Although she possessed considerable inner force, she feared death would still be unavoidable.

Unable to move, she could only lie upon the ground and allow the snakes to crawl across her body as though they were slithering over the piles of white bones nearby.

She closed her eyes and struggled to recall the internal cultivation method Shen Zhongyin had repeatedly recited beside her.

Shen Zhongyin’s internal art was supremely yang and exceedingly tyrannical.

It could restrain this sinister cold.

It had indeed proved effective.

Earlier, driven purely by the will to survive, she had unconsciously circulated that cultivation method and felt a trace of warmth appear within her frozen dantian.

The Qianyuan Sect’s internal art was gentle.

Unless one had brought it to completion and possessed several decades of cultivation, it would be difficult to suppress this cold poison.

All things in the world generated and restrained one another.

If she wished to survive the venom, Shen Zhongyin’s method would be more effective and far quicker.

Perhaps it would take effect before she became a cold, rigid corpse.

For now, she could rely only upon that single spark.