Shen Mo closed his eyes in despair, two clear tears sliding down the corners of his eyes and disappearing into his temples.
Unable to resist.
Unable to escape.
Even the angry, hoarse cries were blocked deep in his throat, turning into silent spasms, ultimately fading into a numb, blank void.
Shen Mo opened his eyes, staring at the cave ceiling above.
His body was numb.
His heart was numb too.
He could perceive those touches, that enveloping presence, that irresistible force and warmth, yet strangely, it failed to evoke any human reaction.
No shame, no anger.
Not even much pain.
All emotions had been utterly exhausted the moment his faith collapsed, his affection was trampled upon, and his understanding of reality was completely twisted.
All he could do was tightly, desperately, keep his mouth shut.
Locking all sounds within his chest.
His body was as rigid as stone; even the most instinctive trembling was forcibly suppressed by him.
He shrank his consciousness into the deepest corner, letting that shell of a body endure everything.
This was not his Chao’er.
This was not love.
It was desecration, it was destruction.
It was an overreach of identity, a trampling of humanity.
Shen Mo stared vacantly upward, his focus scattered, unresponsive like a puppet.
Chao’er gradually stopped her frantic movements, her infatuation turning into impatience, her plunder tinged with anger.
She knew he was unwilling.
She knew in his heart, he must be thinking of his Honored Teacher at this moment.
Thinking of that wife he had guarded for seven years, thinking of his so-called loyalty.
“Master’s Husband,” she said, “I’ll just ask you one question. You just need to listen. No need to answer.”
Shen Mo did not speak.
Chao’er began to ask.
“The day she married you, did she stay with you in the bridal chamber?”
Shen Mo’s breathing hitched for an instant.
Her fingers lightly traced his collarbone, across his chest, over the places where she had just left marks.
“Did she ever touch you like this?”
Shen Mo’s throat moved, as if he wanted to say something, but nothing came out.
Seeing him like that, the darkness in Chao’er’s eyes deepened further.
“Master’s Husband, tell me—does she love you?”
Shen Mo’s mind went blank.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say “She loves me,” wanting to say “She’s just in seclusion,” wanting to say “She has her reasons.”
But he couldn’t say it.
He suddenly realized, he didn’t know.
He didn’t know if Su Wan’er loved him.
On the day she married him, she only said one thing to him—”As one who follows the path of cultivation, I do not place great importance on romantic affairs. You guard this peak for me, and I will protect your safety for a lifetime.”
Before entering seclusion, she entrusted him to Yun He.
That woman who wanted to possess him.
“Master’s Husband,” she said softly, “I’m not trying to excuse myself. I know what I’m doing now, you hate me for it. But I just want you to see clearly—”
She reached out, gently stroking his face, “In this world, who is the one who truly cares about you.”
Shen Mo finally moved his lips, an extremely faint motion. “Even without Wan’er… I… would not accept you.”
The warmth in her eyes instantly froze into ice.
Without any trace of pity, she raised her hand, wrapped it around his back, her palm securing the back of his head.
Her left knee pressed heavily forward onto his slender right leg, her body pressing tightly against him, pinning him firmly against the wall like this.
“Look at me, Master’s Husband.”
Her voice was no longer gentle, but a full command.
Shen Mo’s eyeballs moved almost imperceptibly, but his gaze still did not focus on her face.
“I told you to look at me!”
She suddenly grabbed his chin, the force so great it almost seemed to crush the bone, forcibly turning his face towards her.
“You are mine! Now, in the future, forever! Why don’t you dare to look at me?! Why are you like a piece of stone?!”
Shen Mo’s lips trembled slightly, but in the end, no sound emerged.
Only the desolation in his eyes grew deeper.
It was an indifference that unsettled her more, enraged her more, than fierce resistance.
“Fine… just fine.”
She laughed in extreme anger. “Master’s Husband, do you think by being like this, you can pretend nothing happened?”
“It’s alright, Master’s Husband.”
Her voice was soft, yet bone-chilling.
She raised her hand, her fingertips swirling with a dense, almost tangible black demonic qi.
She slowly stroked the fragile blood vessel on the side of Shen Mo’s neck, feeling his faint but still stubbornly beating pulse.
“Accepting or not…”
“Is not for you to decide.”
As soon as the words fell, a completely unrestrained, rough, punitive force assaulted him.
“You are mine.”
“From the inside out, from soul to body, every inch, is mine.”
“You must accept.”
The demonic qi, like living tentacles, coiled around him even more tightly.
Not just restraining his body, but beginning to forcibly attempt to invade his already closed Sea of Consciousness.
Scouring his teetering Consciousness Barrier, opening all his senses.
Pain and pleasure surged in!
No longer the dull ache under a numb barrier, it became sharp, tearing torment.
Coming from the body.
And even more so, from the depths of his soul being forcibly invaded.
Shen Mo finally began to tremble violently, uncontrollably.
His teeth clenched, veins bulging at his temples, and a glimmer of moisture finally appeared in his vacant eyes.
“Chao’er, don’t be like this, calm down a little…”
However, his plea received no response.
Chao’er steadily advanced, pinning him to the ground without hesitation. The impact of that moment forced a soft gasp from him, pain and shock intertwining into a sound…
Immediately, he felt his wrists being powerfully restrained, forced above his head, held firmly in place.
“When it starts and when it stops, it’s all up to me.”
“Understood? Master’s Husband?”
He bit his crimson lips, forcefully suppressing himself, his cheeks flushed red.
He tilted his head slightly, desperately trying to control his ragged breathing caused by tension.
His brows were knotted, his face contorted, his lips trembling subtly, almost unable to form complete words.
Fine sweat beaded on his forehead; he was bearing an unbearable burden, his body and spirit undergoing an extreme trial.
It was like a small boat on a vast, deep sea, rising and falling under raging waves.
Each ascent to a crest felt like touching the sky, and each descent into a trough felt like being swallowed by an abyss.
The boat rocked violently with the impact of the waves, its wooden structure creaking and groaning under the pressure, as if protesting this relentless torment.
The sailcloth flapped madly in the wind, sometimes taut as a drum, sometimes slack and powerless, as if locked in a contest of strength with the storm.
Huge waves continuously battered the small boat, seawater splashing up, hitting the hull with dull thuds.
……
Ten days.
For a cultivator, perhaps it was just the blink of an eye, a brief moment of meditation.
But in this Valley of Deathly Silence filled with thick demonic qi, every breath was stretched unbearably long, like a nightmare frozen in eternity.
Inside the cave, it was impossible to tell if the light was dawn or dusk.
The vines blocked most of the daylight, only a few weak rays of light leaked through the cracks, falling on the damp ground, on the scattered dry grass, and on the figure curled up in the corner.