A Beautiful Girl Arrives in the Prison

Whoosh—

A cold draft swept through. Xiao Yu’s eyelids twitched. From a blur of gray darkness, a sliver of light emerged.

Then—his eyes snapped open.

Before him: a gray-white wall, covered in various torture tools—whips, branding irons, spiked maces… and upon closer look, even a peacock feather clearly plucked from a live bird.

Beside the wall of horrors stood a black-barred iron gate.

Was he in a prison?

Not bad. Xiao Yu exhaled in relief.

Compared to waking up tied to someone’s bed, this was much better.

No time to complain. He tried to move—immediately felt a sharp ache in his neck.

“Ugh… my neck.”

He instinctively reached to rub it—then realized he couldn’t move. His body was tightly bound to a chair with thick ropes.

He tried to summon spiritual energy from his dantian—nothing. The energy sank like a stone. No response.

Crap!

Xiao Yu’s expression darkened. Kunling Rope—a modern imitation of the ancient Kunxian Rope. Not even a proper artifact, yet more effective than most.

It was designed to suppress cultivators. Once bound, cultivators were as helpless as Devil Fruit users in sea-prison—unable to use any magic or energy. Defenseless. Even sword cultivators with soul-bound blades were powerless.

Done for. He’d been caught.

Xiao Yu’s fingers, tied behind his back, brushed his palm. Of course—the Qiankun Earth-Dodging Talisman was gone.

His only escape route—cut off.

But not a big deal…

“System, any way out of this?”

Xiao Yu immediately turned to the system.

“Yes. For 25 points, you can obtain a sharp pocket knife. The Kunling Rope binding you is low-grade—equivalent to ordinary rope. A knife will cut through it easily.

Alternatively, for 200 points, you can obtain another Qiankun Earth-Dodging Talisman. However, it requires spiritual energy. System recommends Option One.”

The system responded quickly. Truly reassuring.

“Great! Send me the knife, now!”

Xiao Yu’s face lit up. He said eagerly.

“Points automatically deducted. Item delivered.”

The mechanical voice echoed in his mind. A bright flash appeared before him. A knife-shaped object slowly materialized.

With hopeful eyes, Xiao Yu watched.

Clatter!

It dropped to the floor.

Ah! No wonder it cost 25 points—the sound it made when falling was so pleasing… bullsh*t!

“System, did you mess up?! Can’t you see I’m *tied up*?! What kind of system delivers items right in front of the user?!”

Xiao Yu lost it, yelling at the idiot system in his head.

“…
System reminds host: unless otherwise specified, all items are delivered directly in front of the host. Next time, please specify. Otherwise, the system will follow default procedures.”

“……” Xiao Yu fell silent. He recalled past instances—the system had always delivered items right in front of him.

“So it’s my fault?”

“Yes. The system never makes mistakes. You, host, are just a big idiot.”

The mechanical voice replied, smugly—though it was impossible for a machine to sound smug.

“Then why did you originally bind the wrong host?” he snapped back.

“…………”

That shut the system up. After a long silence, the voice returned:

“The system already stated: you are the protagonist. Do not question it. Believe in yourself. Besides, the protagonist you thought was real is dead. So who does that leave?”

Huh. Weirdly logical.

Pfft! Got dragged into the system’s nonsense. The heavens have fallen, the yellow sky shall rise.

Xiao Yu gave up arguing. Better to focus on escaping.

He glanced at the lonely knife on the floor. It looked smooth, at least.

25 points couldn’t just vanish into thin air.

He lifted his foot—maybe he could hook it.

But no. Li Yunshang had anticipated escape. His legs were also bound with Kunling Rope, tied to the chair beneath him. He couldn’t move any part of his body.

“……”

After several failed attempts, Xiao Yu surrendered:

“System, send me a knife—into my hand.”

“Points automatically deducted. Item delivered to hand.”

Whoosh!

Another flash. Xiao Yu felt a cool, smooth object appear in his palm.

Alright. Last try. All hopes on this blade. *Let’s cut!*

He gripped the handle between his fingers, pointed the tip at his wrist, and began sawing awkwardly back and forth. Li Yunshang had tied it tight—would take time.

Just hope no one comes in the meantime.

As Xiao Yu thought this—

Thud thud thud.

A sound like someone banging their head against the wall echoed from the next cell.

He nearly dropped the knife in shock.

What the hell? Someone else here? Xiao Yu paused.

A sly voice came from next door:

“Hey, bro! You were yelling loud earlier—first time in prison? Making such a fuss.”

No, like I’d want a second visit?

Xiao Yu mentally groaned. Seeing no threat, he resumed cutting.

But the neighbor was a chatterbox. Getting no reply, he kept talking:

“Ahem. So, bro, what’d you do to end up here? I’m from the Thieving Sect—codename Mouth. Call me Xiao Zui. We’re fated to meet, eh? I got caught stealing—accidentally saw the Xuanling Sect leader, that old hag, bathing.

Sigh! Didn’t see a thing! But got chased halfway across the sect. If I hadn’t missed that shadowy figure hiding nearby, I’d have escaped easy. Damn bad luck. Those two damn women…”

The man named Mouth rambled on, complaining about his failed mission.

Xiao Yu paused mid-cut, surprised.

Thieving Sect?!

A mysterious sect. Fewer than a hundred members—counting elders and sect leader.

Yet, they were infamous across the cultivation world—hated like rats.

Why? Thieving Sect—it was in the name.

They stole everything: money, reputation, cultivation partners. Their methods were so subtle, no one could figure out how they did it.

Once, a poor soul had his identity, wealth, cultivation, and entire life stolen. Returned later, yes—but the incident caused a huge scandal.

Luckily, most Thieving Sect disciples followed a code. They didn’t harm people. They cared about the act of stealing, not the loot. The orthodox sects stopped hunting them.

Truth was, the disciples were too slippery to catch.

Once, a cultivator chased one all day—only to come home and find a copy of himself flirting with his wife.

Frightening. So in the cultivation world, no one dared provoke them—unless personally targeted.

Xiao Yu was still pondering this when Mouth’s voice returned:

“Hey! Bro, why so quiet? Like a mute.

Wait…holy sh*t—a pretty girl just walked into the prison! First time ever! I’ve been jailed *so* many times, never seen this! Quick! She’s heading your way—look!!”

A pretty girl?

Xiao Yu’s heart clenched. Could it be…

He quickly hid the knife in his palm.

The next moment—creak.

The iron door opened.

Li Yunshang stepped in.