Chapter 16

The insides of his thighs burned from the endless friction. Lian Ai’s forehead rested against the cold ground, yet the heat raging inside him showed no sign of fading. Whatever foul thing the Daoist Ji Yuan had laced into the drug, it was vicious. Even after all that grinding, he still couldn’t come. Bu Nian’s grip tightened, his fingers digging into Lian Ai’s waist like he meant to break him in half.

Lian Ai was lying flat with his nipples scraping the ground. It should have hurt, but instead a wave of shivering numbness surged through his body, leaving him trembling.

His arousal climbed higher and higher. The peak was so close it nearly burned, but no matter how he strained, he couldn’t reach it.

Lian Ai squeezed his thighs tight, panting as he begged, “Put it in… please, I’m begging you… I can’t take it anymore…”

Tormented by the same unbearable lust, Bu Nian could no longer hold onto reason. His cock was painfully swollen, throbbing with pressure that felt like it might split him apart if he held back a moment longer.

He suddenly stopped the useless grinding, his breath coming in heavy, uneven bursts. His hands moved on their own, gripping and kneading the soft flesh of Lian Ai’s ass.

The flesh beneath his palms trembled, the skin tightening with every squeeze. At the center, the flushed little hole glistened with wetness, twitching constantly, like a small mouth opening and closing in invitation.

Bu Nian couldn’t take his eyes off it. He guided his cock to the entrance and thrust in with a single snap of his hips.

Lian Ai arched his neck and let out a long cry, a mix of pain and ecstasy. His body seized up uncontrollably, and in the next instant, it slackened completely. That first thrust alone sent him over the edge.

Bu Nian buried himself fully and stayed there, motionless. The tight, pulsing heat inside him clung and squeezed like it was trying to pull him in deeper. His last shred of control snapped. With a low growl, he began to fuck him hard.

Lian Ai’s body was far too sensitive. Every nerve lit up under the ruthless pounding. It didn’t take long before he was convulsing again, sweat-soaked hair whipping as he trembled beneath him.

Bu Nian couldn’t hear anything anymore. The more Lian Ai begged, the more he wanted to fuck him senseless. The hunger burning in his chest had never been this vicious. He wanted to keep his cock buried deep in that tight hole forever, pounding it until it broke, until blood came out, until their bodies felt fused together.

Lian Ai couldn’t take it anymore. To cope with the overwhelming pleasure, he shoved a finger into his mouth, trying to muffle the sounds he couldn’t hold back.

With a hard, brutal thrust that slammed into the deepest part of him, Bu Nian came. Hot release shot straight into him, pulsing deep inside.

Lian Ai let out a sharp cry. His hips jerked forward, and he came as well. Tears slipped from the corners of his eyes. His thighs twitched uncontrollably, and when Bu Nian pulled out his half-soft cock, Lian Ai trembled slightly, looking utterly spent and helpless.

But before either of them could catch their breath, the heat surged back, even fiercer than before.

“Ah…” Lian Ai’s legs curled instinctively around Bu Nian’s waist, urging him to enter again.

Bu Nian’s cock hardened almost instantly. He drove straight in, splitting through the folds and sinking deep into the heat. That long, thick shaft rammed into him without pause, leaving Lian Ai’s mind blank as he moaned without restraint.

They moved like beasts, drunk on desire, fucking without end. Just as Bu Nian had feared, the drug was nowhere near finished with them.

After several rounds, Lian Ai’s lower belly had started to swell, filled with Bu Nian’s seed.

One hand clutched his stomach, the other pushed feebly against the man pounding into him. His voice trembled with sobs. “I can’t… it’s too full… too tight… I’m going to break…”

Bu Nian was lost in it, eyes fierce like a starving wolf. He seized Lian Ai’s wrist and pinned him down, forcing his hips lower and driving in even deeper.

“Ah..” Lian Ai choked on a sob, eyes glassy with tears. His toes curled, calves tightening, body stretched taut until it finally loosened again.

A bitter, musky scent began to fill the air. As it reached their noses, the lust gradually started to fade. They finally began to come down.

Bu Nian collapsed on top of him, still buried deep inside. His sweat-drenched forehead rested against Lian Ai’s shoulder.

“All right, let’s see how much we managed to squeeze out…”

The Daoist Ji Yuan’s raspy, unpleasant voice rang out alarmingly close. Bu Nian tried to lift his head but found he had no strength left in his body.

Ji Yuan opened the cage and kicked Bu Nian aside, sending him rolling off of Lian Ai. Then he crouched over the mess of Lian Ai’s body and let out another twisted laugh.

“You really are a natural-born furnace. Not bad at all.” He shoved both hands under Lian Ai’s armpits and dragged him out of the cage.

Lian Ai had no strength left either. He could only let himself be hauled across the ground.

Bu Nian lay inside the iron cage, his face turned toward them. His eyes, cold as ice, locked onto Lian Ai and didn’t move.

Lian Ai met his gaze and remembered the words Bu Nian had whispered into his ear when he was lying on top of him.

Kill him.

Bu Nian mouthed the same two words again, silent but clear.

Strapped to Lian Ai’s wrist was a hidden sleeve bolt. No one could tell it was there. Bu Nian had given it to him before they left.

“Only a surprise strike will guarantee a kill. You’ll only have one chance. Your appearance is your best cover. The weaker you seem, the deadlier your shot.”

Lian Ai closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down. He recalled everything Bu Nian had taught him about using the sleeve bolt. The nights spent practicing with crossbows. The repeated drills. The weight in his wrist that had always felt like just-in-case.

He had never imagined he would actually kill someone. But now, both he and the general were at this man’s mercy. If killing was the only way out, then he would kill.

Ji Yuan’s bony fingers pressed into him, digging around inside with no care at all.

Lian Ai’s fingers curled inward, slowly gathering strength. The buildup was slow, but it was working.

“Quite a lot…” the old man muttered. His fingers were cold and rough, like the end of a dead, splintered branch. He didn’t care if it hurt Lian Ai, didn’t care if his nails tore into flesh. His movements were crude and violent, treating the body beneath him like it wasn’t even human.

To him, Lian Ai was just a container, nothing more than a vessel. He still showed Bu Nian a degree of regard, but toward Lian Ai, there was no such restraint.

Lian Ai trembled uncontrollably. The pain between his legs was unbearable. Every time Ji Yuan shoved two fingers in and pulled them out, it felt like something was being gouged straight from the bone.

Finally, the man let go of his legs and gave the porcelain jar a pleased shake, clearly satisfied with what he had collected. Lian Ai was drenched from head to toe, as if pulled from water. Sweat clung to his face and hair, making him look even paler and more drained.

“You really are made for this. General Bu is a lucky man,” Ji Yuan said, his shriveled hands still wandering. They slid from Lian Ai’s inner thighs down past his knees, over his calves, and between his feet. The way they moved was slow and slick, like a venomous snake crawling along his skin. “If I weren’t in a rush to finish the refinement, I’d take a taste of you myself.”

Lian Ai’s eyes snapped open. Fighting off the fear and disgust churning in his chest, he forced a smile and said, “As long as you don’t kill me, Daoist, I’ll be your furnace if that’s what you want.”

His robe hung loosely off one shoulder, exposing half his chest and collarbone. His skin was marked with red, his nipples stiff like two blooming peppers, adding a lurid charm to the mess. But the most striking thing was the peace lock around his neck. The plain silver rested against raw, reddened skin, and the red string it hung from was vivid and clean. The contrast gave him a kind of twisted beauty, delicate yet brutal.

The old Daoist let out a low chuckle, his eyes gleaming with lewd delight. “Once I’ve finished the pills, I’ll give you one to try. Then you’ll know what it means to fuck yourself into heaven and hell.”

Lian Ai asked carefully, “How long will it take?”

“Two hours, give or take.” Ji Yuan stood and moved to lift the lid of the furnace.

Lian Ai tried lifting his arm, his mind spinning as he searched desperately for a way to kill the man standing over him.

He wasn’t an assassin. He knew no martial arts. He had never even killed a chicken. Everything about this was new to him.

Even Bu Nian didn’t know whether he could do it.

He could feel the general watching him. That gaze never left his body. But he didn’t dare look back, afraid that one slip might give them away in front of Ji Yuan.

“My back feels a little itchy,” Lian Ai said softly. “Why not help ease the drug’s effect, Daoist? I don’t know martial arts, so even if I regain my strength, I can’t escape.”

Ji Yuan’s blind eyes turned toward him. “Itchy?”

Lian Ai nodded slightly, momentarily forgetting the man was blind.

“Yes. It itches a lot.”

The old man crouched beside him. “Then let me scratch it for you.”

It was exactly what Lian Ai had been waiting for. “Thank you, Daoist. I’d appreciate it.”

His heart pounded hard. Tension coiled through him as Ji Yuan slowly drew closer.

“Where does it itch?” Ji Yuan leaned in, reaching to lift his robe.

Lian Ai didn’t know when the perfect moment would be. But this was the only chance he had to get this close to Ji Yuan.

“Right—” The word barely left his lips when his finger shifted inside the sleeve. The hidden bolt fired like a bird loosed from a bowstring, streaking straight toward Ji Yuan’s throat.

Ji Yuan had let his guard down around Lian Ai. He relied on poisons and medicine to survive in the martial world, and his fighting ability was mediocre at best. By the time he heard the sound of something cutting through the air, it was already too late to dodge.

The bolt pierced him from the side and buried itself in his neck. Ji Yuan clutched his neck and staggered back several steps.
Drops of blood splattered onto the floor with every step.

“I underestimated you,” he said hoarsely. He reached into his robe, pulled out a golden pill and swallowed it down. The moment it hit his stomach, the gray in his face began to fade, and color returned to his cheeks. “But you shouldn’t have aimed for my neck. For someone like you, a novice, it’s too easy to miss the right spot.”

Lian Ai’s face went white. The old man was bleeding, but after swallowing a single pill, he was already back on his feet like nothing had happened.

His only chance had ended in complete failure.

Ji Yuan’s mouth curled into a smile, but his eyes were sharp and glinting with malice. “I was planning to keep you around for a few days. Looks like that’s no longer an option.”

Lian Ai didn’t know what the old man was about to do, but a chill of danger rushed through him. He wanted to run, but there was nowhere to run to.

“Ah!”

Ji Yuan suddenly grabbed him by the hair, yanked hard, and dragged him toward Bu Nian.

Pain ripped across Lian Ai’s scalp like his skin was being torn from his skull. A moment later, he was thrown just outside the cage, right in front of Bu Nian. Ji Yuan crouched and yanked his head up by the hair, forcing him to look.

“Little thing, since you missed, I’ll show you where the real vital point is.”

His fingers clamped around Lian Ai’s neck like claws. The bolt was still lodged in his own neck, and yet he acted as if it weren’t even there.

Bu Nian had managed to prop himself against the iron bars, but his limbs still hung limp. He hadn’t recovered his strength.

His gaze fell on Ji Yuan, and his voice came flat, stripped of emotion. “He’s just a bedslave. Dispensable. Even if you kill him right in front of me, I won’t bat an eye.”

Ji Yuan’s grip tightened. Lian Ai began to struggle for breath.

“Then let’s see just how heartless you really are, General Bu.” His fingers dug in, as if trying to claw through skin. “Even I’m starting to feel reluctant to ruin something so pretty.”

The pressure on his throat kept building. Lian Ai’s vision darkened, and all he could do was gasp for air.

At that moment, the ground shook violently. Dust rained down from above. Ji Yuan gave a short grunt of surprise and loosened his grip for a breath. “Seems someone just broke through my traps and forced their way in.”

Before the words even finished leaving his mouth, Bu Nian suddenly lunged from within the cage. With one final burst of strength, he struck through the bars and slammed his palm against the crown of Ji Yuan’s head.

Ji Yuan hadn’t expected it. He didn’t think Bu Nian could overcome the effects of the drug, let alone stay silent and bide his time for a clean hit. A thin line of blood streamed down his forehead. He fell straight back, eyes still wide, never closing even in death.

That one strike had cost Bu Nian all the strength he had left. As soon as he saw the man fall, he slumped against the bars, completely drained.