MD Ch3 Part 5

The secret chamber was located inside an old storage shed in the back garden. I watched in fascination as Ah Jiu paced back and forth on the flat ground, hopping several times. A moment later, the ground trembled, and an opening, about seven chi wide, appeared.

Following the steps downwards, the earth above slowly closed behind us. Small lanterns hung on both sides of the walls, emitting a faint glow. Although dim, the light was sufficient to illuminate the path.

Ah Jiu led me forward in silence. After walking about 20 zhang, the steps disappeared, and what appeared before me was…

Th-th-this…this is a sex shop basement, or the kind of dungeon an S&M enthusiast would use for imprisonment, isn’t it?

Warm light filled every corner of the chamber. Iron chains hung from the walls, their length and color suggesting they were used to restrain people. Beside the chains were iron shelves, upon which jade dildos of various sizes were neatly displayed. They were crafted from clear, pristine white jade, but the thought of their purpose made me gulp involuntarily. Below the shelves, countless bottles were arranged in two rows. Black characters were etched onto the white porcelain surfaces. The three characters “Losing Heart Powder” – a drug that induces unconsciousness and a type of aphrodisiac – seemed to flash blindingly before my eyes.

D*mn it! Yu Ke, you perverted bastard! You S&M fanatic!

I finally understood the meaning behind Ah Jiu’s earlier look. This wasn’t his fault. Any normal person (or bird) who knew about this place would be too embarrassed to speak. Besides, Ah Jiu was still a child!

Looking up, I noticed a hook on the wall above the shelves. A meticulously crafted whip, at least five zhang long, hung from it. There was no need to speculate about its use.

Ah Jiu perched on a chest in the corner, facing the wall in silence. After carefully laying Song Qiyuan on the red bed, I walked over as if possessed and opened the chest. I felt like I had opened a gateway to a new world.

An array of costumes lay before me. Most were red or white, and so revealing that wearing them was practically the same as being naked. I glanced back at the red bed where Song Qiyuan lay, imagining a beautiful woman in thin white clothing lying there, sending me seductive glances.

Oh my god, this is crazy…!

“Lord, what are you thin…king…?”

Ah Jiu, having already hopped down from the chest, was back on my shoulder. As if knowing where my gaze had lingered, he shrieked before finishing his question,

“Aaah! Lord, th-th-that’s terrible!”

Snapping out of my lewd thoughts, I quickly lowered my voice and said,

“This is the perfect place to hide someone.”

The moment I spoke, a sense of foreboding washed over me. Leaving the deeply sleeping Song Qiyuan behind, I dragged Ah Jiu back up the stairs we had just descended. Standing in the empty storage shed once more, I recalled the method for setting up a barrier and drew strange symbols in the air with my hand. Something coalesced in the air, then vanished.

I was confident that unless Gu Jincheng conducted a thorough search, he wouldn’t discover this place. Completing the barrier eased my mind, but I immediately sensed someone tampering with the ward I had placed at the entrance of the residence.

“Let’s go, Ah Jiu.”

As expected, Gu Jincheng was incredibly fast. Ah Jiu knew he couldn’t reveal that I had hidden Song Qiyuan here. Without a word, we quickly returned to the residence.

On our way back, we ran into Gu Jincheng. He naturally knelt on one knee, bowing his head as he looked up at me. His calm voice, blending with the autumn breeze, echoed through the garden, sending a chill down my spine.

“Lord, what are you doing here? Are you thinking about that man again? Could it be that you’ve already grown tired of the Mo Clan young master you just brought to the Demon Palace? Are you still yearning for the dead?”

His barrage of questions left me dumbfounded. Looking closer, I noticed his hands were clenched into fists, the tendons faintly visible beneath his skin.

Was he questioning me? And what were these nonsensical questions? What man? Yearning for the dead? Could he be more specific?

“What are you talking about?”

After a brief pause, I spoke coldly.

“Gu Jincheng, you are overstepping your bounds.”

Yu Ke would never tolerate such insolence. To properly portray the original character, I had to be harsh with Gu Jincheng and assert my authority. I refused to admit that his tone and expression had momentarily intimidated me.

Gu Jincheng fell silent, momentarily stunned, then spoke in a subdued voice, as if realizing his mistake.

“This subordinate has overstepped. Please forgive me.”

I didn’t know what Gu Jincheng was up to, but seeing him lower his head, I had no intention of making him kneel again. He hadn’t committed any grave offense.

“Rise. To seek this Lord out so urgently, could it be that something has happened at the Demon Palace?”

Gu Jincheng wouldn’t come looking for me without a reason. He was always meticulous in separating personal matters from official business. His hasty arrival here indicated an urgent matter, something he couldn’t handle alone.

Rising from the ground, Gu Jincheng stood three paces away, his expression composed as he met my gaze. He spoke with a serious tone, his brows furrowed.

“The Lord’s suspicions were correct. There was a problem with that Jiang Gui.”

My heart suddenly lurched, and I asked urgently,

“What about Jiang Gui?”

“He died suddenly. His soul has completely vanished, and we couldn’t determine the cause. The circumstances are suspicious, so I immediately came to report to the Lord.”

Died? I must have misheard. Jiang Gui died? He was joking, right?

When I saw Jiang Gui two hours ago, he seemed a bit listless, but I hadn’t sensed anything amiss. Besides, when I told him to return to the Demon Palace from the Heavenly River, he had looked excited, not like someone on the verge of death.

As I pondered, a crucial problem dawned on me. If news spread that Jiang Gui, the Domain Lord of the Domain of Bones, had died mysteriously in the Demon Palace, I, the Demon Lord, would be held responsible, regardless of whether I was present or not.

Why were so many problems arising one after another? My head throbbed from the unwanted stress. Closing my eyes, I asked Gu Jincheng as calmly as possible,

“Has this matter been made public? Who else knows besides you?”

If this wasn’t handled properly, the other Domain Lords would find out, and their suspicions would inevitably undermine my position within the Demonic Realm. This was definitely unfavorable for me.

“Only a few of my trusted subordinates know. They are also the Lord’s loyal followers and would never speak carelessly.” Gu Jincheng continued, looking at me, “If the Lord is concerned, I will eliminate them.”

Knowing that this world was real, how could I casually order someone’s death? In the modern world, that would be a straight ticket to prison.

Giving up on that idea, I looked at Gu Jincheng’s impassive face, feeling a chill run down my spine. How many lives had he taken with those hands? Did human life hold no value for him? Kill them if I asked?

“There’s no need to kill them. Just ensure their silence. This Lord will investigate this matter further. And if, by any chance, news does spread, tell the other Domain Lords that Jiang Gui had recently been practicing a forbidden demonic cultivation technique that involved absorbing fire into his body, and that the black clouds above the Domain of Bones’s main city were related to this. Use that to temporarily silence them.”

“Understood.”

That was the best I could come up with. I had to cover this up if possible. If not, I would have to resort to lies. Since the incident had already occurred, all I could do was hope to maintain my position as Demon Lord. It would be too tragic to be overthrown so soon after arriving in this world.

Gu Jincheng didn’t leave immediately. He remained standing there, looking at me for a long moment, then asked,

“When do you plan to return to the Demon Palace?”

“…..”

Wasn’t my previous statement clear enough? I had assigned him the task; why did I have to return? The protagonist of this world was hidden below. Who would look after him if I left?

“Tomorrow night.”

Despite my inner complaints, I had no choice but to return. I would have to entrust this place to Ah Jiu. Jiang Gui’s sudden death was too suspicious for me to ignore. The stability of this fictional world relied on its characters and events. Although Jiang Gui was a supporting character, he still had a role to play in the upcoming plot. His death at this juncture didn’t make sense.

Jiang Gui’s death was undoubtedly a sign of something, and this world had been changing since my arrival.

Gu Jincheng didn’t ask any further questions. He simply acknowledged my answer, bowed, and departed.

He seemed displeased, his brows slightly furrowed, his usually cold expression even more frigid.

“Lord, it’s a bad omen that Jiang Gui died in the Demon Palace. You shouldn’t have kept him in the first place; you should have just let him go.”

Ah Jiu whispered his concerns and complaints.

“If this Lord had known something would happen, I wouldn’t have kept him. Since it has already happened, let’s investigate thoroughly before discussing it further.”

As we headed back to the storage shed, I said,

“First, this Lord needs to ensure Song Qiyuan settles in properly before I can rest easy.”

When we returned to the secret chamber, Song Qiyuan was sleeping peacefully. Only the bed he lay on bothered me. The red color felt out of place.

Bringing a normal chair into this S&M dungeon, I sat beside the bed and, for the first time, observed the boy with a peaceful heart.

This child was the protagonist I had created. Regardless of what he had done to me before or what might happen between us in the future, at this moment, he was just a pitiful child, a victim of fate.

I reached out and stroked the boy’s face; it was rough to the touch. He had long, elegant eyes with thick lashes that cast shadows beneath them. His nose was straight and high, and his lips were thin and well-defined. He was a handsome child. Involuntarily, an image of the grown-up Song Qiyuan from my past life flashed through my mind, and I swallowed hard. He truly was a handsome face hiding a wicked heart.