Song of Everlasting Regret - Chapter 28

All beginnings were difficult.

Although Lou Jing possessed a foundation in martial arts, her acupoints had been sealed and she had suffered internal injuries. Cultivating Shen Zhongyin’s internal art under such circumstances was far from easy.

She was like a dampened flint that refused to produce even the smallest spark, no matter how desperately it was struck.

Death hovered around her like a thin veil, drifting near and far. It seemed that the slightest carelessness would allow it to envelop her and drag her into the endless hells.

Her desire to survive burned fiercely, allowing her to disregard the cold and pain.

The thread of hot qi curled inside her dantian suddenly surged like a thunderbolt, tearing a path through the darkness as it circulated through her meridians.

It felt like a sharp silver needle forcing its way through delicate, fragile channels, brutally puncturing an opening in meridians frozen solid by poison.

The pain inside her body could neither be touched nor located.

It was sharp and piercing, sore and scorching.

Lou Jing seemed to die and return to life, then die once more.

Yet she did not dare stop for even a moment.

She had to complete the circulation in one sustained effort. If she paused, the qi might weaken and disperse. Her body would then be unable to endure the poison’s erosion, and she would truly die here.

The longer the hot qi circulated, the more her body seemed to alternate between being submerged in ice and buried in flames.

A crushing suffocation descended like the collapse of the heavens. The flesh across her chest seemed to be torn apart by unseen hands.

Though Lou Jing had no strength remaining, the pain still drove her to bite her lips until they became bloody and mangled.

Sounds resembling both sobs and groans spilled continuously through her nose and between her teeth.

After enduring torment that left her half-dead, she finally completed one minor circulation and forced open her sealed acupoints.

Her body gradually warmed, and a trace of life returned to her.

She did not know whether it was her own inner force or Shen Zhongyin’s cultivation method that had suppressed the venom.

The poison still tormented her nerves like needles of piercing ice, but at least she could breathe freely again.

Lou Jing struggled to turn herself over.

When she opened her eyes once more, she felt as though she had returned from another lifetime.

Her body resembled a dried skeleton that had crawled from beneath the earth.

She had no idea how many days had passed since she fell into the cavern.

Hunger and thirst pressed relentlessly upon her.

Even had she not been completely exhausted, the sealed cavern contained nothing but stone, poisonous snakes, and piles of white bones.

Where could she possibly find food or water?

She rested her forehead against the ground.

Even the cold, hard, damp stone felt as soft and comfortable as a warm bed.

The moment she closed her eyes, drowsiness surged over her and her awareness began to sink. She could not resist the desire to sleep.

A moment later, her eyes abruptly opened again.

Within the darkness, they resembled two cold stars.

She could not sleep yet.

Lou Jing struggled with her hands, attempting to pull them free of the ropes.

After some time, her wrists became wet, sticky, and numb.

Perhaps because she had rapidly lost so much weight over the past several days, half of one hand had already slipped through the bindings.

With one forceful pull, she freed her right hand.

At the very instant it emerged, a poisonous snake shot toward her from the side and sank its teeth into her wrist.

People said that human greed was so great that a snake might try to swallow an elephant.

This snake seemed equally incapable of recognizing its limitations.

Its fangs dug deeply into Lou Jing’s flesh, while its body greedily coiled around her wrist.

The creature’s head was not even as thick as her forearm, yet it seemed determined to swallow her whole.

When Lou Jing pulled it closer, she noticed that the ropes had rubbed the skin from both wrists, leaving them covered in blood.

The pain throughout the rest of her body had been so overwhelming that she had become numb to these injuries and had failed to notice them.

After enduring this ordeal, her temperament had grown increasingly dark.

She seized the snake’s head and said, “I never harmed you. Why did you bite me?”

Her voice was rough and hoarse.

Watching the snake coil ever more tightly, she suddenly understood.

It had been drawn by the smell of blood upon her hands.

It was merely following its instinct to feed.

The weak became food for the strong. Such was its nature.

She herself was powerless and thus became fish upon another person’s chopping block.

Now even this cold-blooded reptile could humiliate her.

Seeing the snake bite her so eagerly only made Lou Jing more aware of the emptiness in her stomach and the burning thirst in her throat.

Both places seemed aflame with scorching pain.

Her lips were dry, cracked, and peeling.

When she saw the blood covering her hand, she could not help swallowing.

Her mouth was so dry that she did not possess even a trace of saliva.

Her eyes remained fixed upon the snake’s body.

They grew brighter and brighter.

Suddenly, Lou Jing opened her mouth and bit into it.

The snake writhed in pain.

Imitating its own fangs, she sank her canine teeth deeply into its body and tore away a chunk of flesh.

She chewed it inside her mouth.

The taste of raw snake flesh and blood was indescribable and extremely difficult to swallow.

Lou Jing chewed several times before forcing it down.

When that small piece of meat and blood entered her stomach, it seemed to restore a trace of strength.

She ate the snake’s flesh and drank its blood.

She tore the entire poisonous snake apart and consumed it raw.

Only its skeleton and internal organs remained upon the ground.

Her own blood mixed with the snake’s blood across her hands.

Between her fingers, she held its gallbladder.

It dangled there, no larger than the tip of her little finger.

The light in Lou Jing’s eyes burned like fire.

The delicate flower had withered and decayed, crushed beneath mud and dust.

Its seed sprouted again, but what emerged was wild grass.

Lowly and common, yet among the most tenacious things in the world.

Lou Jing opened her mouth and placed the gallbladder inside.

She bit through it.

Bile burst across her tongue, filling her mouth with a bitterness and foulness unmatched by anything beneath heaven.

Even after starving for so many days, the taste still made her cough and retch, unable to swallow.

She coughed for a long while, tears gathering in her eyes.

Yet she forced the bile down.

Raising her head, she began to laugh.

“You want me dead. I will live just to spite you.”

After recovering some strength, she could finally sit upright.

She crossed her legs, sank her qi into her dantian, pressed her thumbs together, and continued cultivating Shen Zhongyin’s internal art to resist the bitter cold within her body.

When hungry, she ate raw snake meat.

When thirsty, she drank snake blood.

The internal art carved a path through her meridians as though with axes and blades.

The pain remained nearly impossible to bear.

No one had ever cultivated an internal art as though they had first been thrown into the karmic flames of the endless hells, rolled through them, and then dragged back out.

Every time Lou Jing completed one full circulation, cold sweat soaked completely through her clothes.

She did not know how much more time passed before she could finally walk without difficulty.

She explored the entire cavern and came to understand its shape.

It was spacious but completely enclosed, with thick rock walls. It was probably located deep within the mountain.

There was only one exit—the opening above—which was sealed by a heavy iron door and secured with chains.

Even if her body fully recovered and she used qinggong to reach it, her inner force would not be sufficient to break open that iron barrier.

If she wished to escape, she could only wait for an opportunity.

She did not know how long she would have to wait.

Day followed day as she lived within the dark, damp cavern.

Her only companions were the poisonous snakes filling the pit.

Sometimes the cavern became so silent that she felt herself going mad.

She would attack the snakes merely to make them produce some sound.

In the past, she had disliked noisy places.

Now she longed desperately to stand amid a bustling crowd.

After enough time passed, even cultivating became tedious.

She would sit facing the wall and stare blankly at it.

Deep inside the cavern was a section of rock that remained relatively dry.

There was no light below, so Lou Jing could see neither the sun nor moon. She could not distinguish day from night or sense the passage of time.

Each time she finished circulating her inner force through a complete cycle, she cut her finger and rubbed its tip against the stone wall.

Using blood, she drew horizontal marks to count the days.

She repeated this endlessly, without knowing when it would end.

Lou Xuanzhi’s former fears had come true.

Lou Jing was trapped in the pit of snakes, enduring inhuman torment.

Apart from the people of Caoliu Manor, no one knew.

Yu Jingqiu, who was wholeheartedly trying to clear Lou Jing’s name, naturally knew nothing of it either.

Yu Jingqiu, Lang Ye, and the two fellow disciples escorting them had left Tiger Roar Mountain and were traveling toward Heavenly Star Palace.

After journeying for an entire day, they saw night approaching but could not find a single household in the wilderness.

They assumed they would have to sleep outdoors and were preparing to stop and rest when Lang Ye’s horse suddenly surged several steps forward.

Lang Ye’s sharp eyes caught sight of a light in the distance.

Where there was lamplight, there must be people.

The four mounted their horses again and approached.

They soon saw an old two-story building brightly illuminated.

It was an inn.

Hearing the horses neigh, a waiter ran outside.

He was lean and quick-moving.

Throwing a cleaning cloth over his shoulder, he saw the four travelers and approached with a clever smile to take their reins.

“Are the four honored guests staying the night? Please come inside. Leave the horses to this humble servant. I guarantee they will be fed until their bellies are full.”

The four entered the inn, and another waiter immediately came forward.

This one was more sturdily built than the first.

“The night is deep and the dew is heavy. Honored guests, please have some hot tea.”

Yu Jingqiu glanced around.

Numerous marks from swords and sabers scarred the inn’s tables, chairs, pillars, and walls. Some were old, while others were recent.

Furthermore, a dense, gloomy fragrance permeated the entire building.

The scent was extremely strong and made her uncomfortable.

She involuntarily frowned.

The waiter followed her gaze and smiled.

“This is the only inn within ten li. Many people from the martial world pass through here.

“Those honored masters often possess terrible tempers. At the slightest disagreement, they draw their swords and sabers, smash bowls, and chop apart tables.

“The only thing they have not done is tear down our entire inn.”

Lang Ye said, “Arrange four rooms for us first. Prepare some food and send it upstairs.”

“This humble servant can carry your luggage for you.”

The waiter respectfully extended his hands.

“That will not be necessary,” Lang Ye replied.

“Very well. Please follow me upstairs.”

The waiter led the four upstairs and arranged their rooms.

Once they entered, he vaulted over the railing and dropped down beside the staircase with the agility of a monkey.

He hurried into a storage room and pushed aside a tall elmwood cabinet, exposing the wall behind it.

After pulling a thin cord hidden behind the cabinet, a concealed doorway soon opened in the wall.

A gaunt man emerged. His face was pale, and dark shadows surrounded his eyes.

The waiter said, “Fat sheep have come to our door.”

The man asked, “How many?”

“Three men and one woman.”

“The woman is mine.”

The waiter spat.

“Damn your mother, you old lecher! Do you not already have one? Even if we gave you another, you could not handle her. It is the brothers’ turn this time.”

The man clicked his tongue.

“Enough. Look at yourself. Keep your eyes sharp and sound them out first. Tell the brothers to sharpen their blades. We will slaughter the sheep.”

After speaking, the man retreated through the doorway, and the hidden entrance closed again.

The waiter hurried to the kitchen.

Before long, he carried food upstairs.

Yu Jingqiu and the other three sat together at one table.

After placing the dishes before them, the waiter said, “Please enjoy your meal. Should you need anything, simply call downstairs.”

He closed the door and withdrew.

Lang Ye poured tea for the other three.

“We traveled more urgently today than planned and covered additional distance.

“If we move quickly tomorrow, we should pass through the border by noon and arrive at Heavenly Star Palace early the following morning.”

One of the accompanying disciples said, “In that case, we should rest early after eating and rise at dawn tomorrow.”

Lang Ye nodded.

“Yes.”

He raised the cup of tea and was about to drink when Yu Jingqiu reached across the table and covered it with her hand, pressing it down.

“There is an unusual fragrance in the tea.”

The odor was crude and muddled.

Lang Ye lowered his head and smelled it.

The scent was concealed beneath the tea’s aroma, and he could detect nothing unusual.

However, he had long known that Yu Jingqiu’s sense of smell was extraordinarily keen.

He poured the tea onto the floor.

The fellow disciple who had already placed food in his mouth quickly spat it out.

The disciple said gravely, “Could this be a bandit inn?”

Lang Ye replied, “To be cautious, we should drink our own water and eat the dry provisions we brought.

“Whether this is truly a bandit inn will become clear tonight.”