"We’ll rest here for tonight," he said, though it seemed like he was talking to the horse.
By now, Huang Bei Shuang was slowly regaining her senses. She sat up and asked, "Where are we?"
"A moving oasis," Qing Yun replied.
"Oh..." Huang Bei Shuang’s gray eyes scanned her surroundings. She noticed a small sandy lake nearby, its surface perfectly still, sheltered from the wind by the trees around the oasis.
"It’s my first time seeing a moving oasis. It’s so small, so beautiful. Is it because no one has ever settled here?" Huang Bei Shuang’s voice was soft. She was completely exhausted, and thanks to the double fruit juice that Ruo Wen had poisoned her with, her body was overwhelmed with uncontrollable desire.
Qing Yun started a fire and tossed a few branches into it. After a moment of thought, he suddenly stood up and walked toward her. Without any warning, he grabbed her roughly, with no gentleness, his hands roaming freely over her body.
"What are you doing?" Huang Bei Shuang, consumed by the poison’s effects, trembled at his touch, struggling to maintain her composure by digging her fingers into her palm.
"I’m saving you! You’ve been poisoned, and you want this!" Qing Yun said casually as he pulled off his outer robe, revealing his muscular chest, which gleamed seductively in the firelight. He smiled, then placed one hand on her waist and pulled at her belt with the other.
"Stop!" she whispered hoarsely, barely able to speak as she pressed her hands against his chest in resistance.
"What’s wrong? It doesn’t seem like your body is rejecting me the way it rejected Ruo Wen," Qing Yun paused, watching her with amusement.
His words only reminded Huang Bei Shuang of the humiliation she had almost suffered in Ruo Wen’s tent. She was on the verge of tears, her voice breaking. "Stop, stop... I will not surrender to this!"
Her tears flowed freely, falling onto Qing Yun’s arm, burning hot. For a moment, Qing Yun couldn’t quite understand the storm of emotions surging within him. He stared at her for a long time before finally sighing and putting his clothes back on.
"There is another way to detoxify you," he said, sitting down beside her and pulling a cloth pouch from his pocket. "This is the root of the Everwinter herb. If consumed, it will make you lose all physical desires for seventy-two hours. It can counteract the effects of the Double Fruit poison."
"I won’t take it!" Huang Bei Shuang, now calmer, still had a faint sob in her voice but spoke with determination. "I won’t take it. Eating Everwinter root will make me lose not just my desire, but also my appetite and the ability to sleep for seventy-two hours. I can’t survive three days and nights without food, drink, or rest."
Qing Yun was surprised. He hadn’t expected her to be so knowledgeable. She was still so young, perhaps only eighteen or nineteen. "You won’t let me help you either. So, what do you plan to do?"
Huang Bei Shuang clenched her teeth and forced herself to stand. Slowly, she walked toward the lake, wading in until the cold water reached her chest. She removed all her clothes, except for the gem-encrusted headband on her forehead.
"This water is freezing," she murmured, her voice tinged with bitter amusement under the moonlight.
Qing Yun’s grip on his sword tightened. He couldn’t find the words to speak as he watched her. Huang Bei Shuang trembled from the cold, then turned her back to him.
In that moment, beneath the moonlight and gentle breeze, no amount of softness or gentleness could match the sight of the girl’s trembling shoulders in the lake. No brilliance or mystery could outshine the moisture in her eyes.
So beautiful, so undeniably beautiful. Yet Qing Yun suddenly felt a sense of unease, as if he couldn’t bear to keep watching.
She was right there in front of him!
Meanwhile, back at the bandit camp, Ruo Wen stormed into the hall like a mad bull. He smashed tables and chairs, the noise of his rampage echoing through the hall. His brothers, shocked by his sudden outburst, paused their debauchery and stared at him in confusion and fear.
But Ruo Wen’s fury wouldn’t subside. He kicked aside one of his men, grabbing the girl beneath him and unleashing his anger on her in full view of the others.
Why? Why was life driving him to such madness?
It was a night of cruelty and horror, filled only with noise—the brutal sounds of rage, weeping, excitement, and violation. There were no hearts here, no souls—only frenzied madness, lonely and untethered.
By morning, the hall had been cleaned up. No one knew how many of the captured maidservants and guards remained, but they were all gathered in the center, awaiting their fate. Ruo Wen sat on a large chair, tapping his fingers on the carved dragon armrest. At last, he spoke coldly, "Bring that old witch here."
A chilling authority filled the air, as if the horrors of the previous night had never occurred.
Duo Zai was dragged out, stumbling as she was pushed forward. Now, calling her a "witch" seemed fitting—her once ominous priestess garb was in tatters, her hair wild, and her thin, skeletal form made her look like an ancient, eerie figure, like a withered tree.
"That woman escaped!" Ruo Wen said coldly.
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