Within the dark, elongated stairwell,
Xu Yuan did not speak, nor did he press her. He simply rested his hand gently before her.
Su Jinxuan's slightly ragged breathing was the only sound in the space. She bit her red lips tightly, her small canine piercing the delicate skin at the corner of her mouth, yet she was entirely oblivious to the blood seeping out.
Xu Yuan watched her in silence.
He watched her struggle,
watched her bristle with anger,
watched her indignation,
and,
watched her waver.
Having experienced it firsthand, Xu Yuan knew exactly what Su Jinxuan needed at this moment.
A long silence stretched between them.
Su Jinxuan drew a deep breath, and the arms hugging her legs loosened slightly.
*It's fine.*
*This isn't surrender. It's only to deceive this bastard.*
*To make him lower his guard around me.*
*Right, it's just to make him lower his guard, not surrendering...*
*As long as I'm not dead, as long as I can stay by his side, I'll still have a chance...*
With these thoughts running through her mind, Su Jinxuan slowly reached out a slightly trembling hand, wanting to grasp the only person she could touch.
Yet before she could make contact, the man before her withdrew his hand.
"Since Miss Su is unwilling, then never mind."
"..." Su Jinxuan froze.
Xu Yuan lifted his hand slightly, quietly circulating the Blood Yuan Heart Calamity Art, and a ball of flame rose from his palm.
A faint, bewitching crimson flame illuminated the gloomy, narrow passage. The sudden burst of light caused Su Jinxuan's eyes a spasm of discomfort, but fortunately, the flame was dim enough that she could still make out the faint smile lingering in the man's narrowed eyes.
"..." Su Jinxuan instantly clenched her fists.
Xu Yuan glanced at Su Jinxuan squatting by the wall. Saying nothing, he let out a scoff, turned, and walked away.
Su Jinxuan lowered her lovely eyes, her breathing chaotic and ragged, utterly oblivious as her fingernails dug into the flesh of her palms.
She was being toyed with by this man.
A whirlwind of complicated thoughts left her momentarily breathless.
Yet Xu Yuan's footsteps did not halt while she was lost in a daze; he continued upward at a steady, unhurried pace.
Slowly, the firelight and the footsteps grew increasingly distant. It was not until the darkness was on the verge of swallowing Su Jinxuan whole once again that she suddenly snapped back to her senses. Casting a glance at the despair-inducing abyss below, she gritted her teeth, rose, and hurried after the receding firelight.
A moment later,
listening to the footsteps trailing not far behind him, Xu Yuan suddenly spoke with a soft laugh:
"Seeing Miss Su refuse to leave earlier, I thought you'd grown fond of this secret chamber."
"..."
Two seconds of silence passed.
Su Jinxuan's cool, faint voice drifted up from a dozen meters down the stairs:
"Rumors truly do not lie... Xu Changtian, your character is vile indeed."
"Vile indeed? Miss Su shouldn't speak so carelessly. I consider myself to have quite a gentle disposition."
Trembling crept into Su Jinxuan's voice:
"Gentle? Xu Changtian, you study such bizarre tortures, yet you have the gall to call your disposition gentle?"
"What conflict is there between the two?"
Xu Yuan's tone did not change in the slightest, the smile lingering in his voice. "Does studying torture mean my character is vile? Furthermore, Miss Su, aren't you misunderstanding something?"
"Our relationship isn't that of dear friends or kin."
Pausing briefly,
Xu Yuan's voice took on a trace of mocking teasing:
"Miss Su, you don't expect this young master to repay malice with kindness and treat you—an enemy who nearly killed me—with the attitude of a friend, do you?"
The long, gloomy stairway stretched his words out into lingering echoes.
Trailing far behind, Su Jinxuan fell entirely silent at his words.
No further conversation passed between them.
One in front and one behind, they followed the narrow stairwell until they reached a landing at the top.
The landing was not large, but it featured a stone door.
Su Jinxuan stopped two meters behind Xu Yuan.
Xu Yuan turned around slowly, looking at the downcast, silent Su Jinxuan. He casually tossed over a long strip of black silk and instructed offhandedly:
"Put it on."
"..."
Su Jinxuan caught it instinctively. Glancing down at the silk ribbon in her hands, she raised her eyes once more, a faint guard in her gaze.
Xu Yuan merely met her gaze placidly.
In the end,
Su Jinxuan looked away. Lowering her head, she quietly began wrapping the silk between her fair, slender wrists...
"..."
Watching the woman's actions, Xu Yuan's expression turned somewhat strange.
He could not fathom what she was doing.
"What are you doing?"
Su Jinxuan lifted her eyes, retorting in a cold voice:
"Weren't you telling me to bind myself?"
Her voice was quite aloof, but owing to her innate bewitching physique, her words inadvertently carried a subtle, lingering allure.
Xu Yuan shook his head with a look of exasperation.
"Who told you to tie yourself up? That silk is to cover your eyes."
Hearing this, Su Jinxuan looked even more guarded.
Xu Yuan merely stared back at her with indifference and smiled. "You have no cultivation. If you don't want to go blind, you'd best listen to me. It's blazing sun out there today."
"..."
Su Jinxuan pursed her red lips and shifted her gaze away.
She realized what he meant.
After several breaths of silence, without speaking or offering any thanks, she quietly wrapped the long black silk over her eyes.
The world plunged back into pitch blackness.
As the light before her vanished once more, the surrounding darkness caused that endless dread from earlier to creep back into her heart, bit by bit.
"Got it on?" he asked.
"Yes," she replied.
"Then I'm opening the door."
The moment Xu Yuan's words fell,
the stone door at the entrance of the secret chamber let out a rumbling roar.
Sunlight flooded into the dark passage past the stone door, though Su Jinxuan could not see it at this moment.
In the lonely darkness, a suffocating sensation akin to drowning washed over her wave after wave. Forcibly reining in her body's trembling from fear, she groped forward from memory.
"You don't actually plan to walk out blindfolded all on your own, do you?"
A voice laced with a faint chuckle came from in front of her.
Immediately after, a hand firmly caught the wrist she was using to feel along the stone wall.
The sense of security brought by the warmth of his palm caused Su Jinxuan to instinctively clench her fingers.
Glancing at this Bewitching Soul Fiend Physique whose expression had visibly stiffened, Xu Yuan smiled and said:
"Relax a little. If there are steps, I'll tell you in advance. There's no need to be so nervous."
With that,
he led her out of the gloomy, silent secret chamber.
Chapter 61