Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Before I even had a chance to calculate the profits from the Clear Dream Mushrooms, the second and most fatal notification arrived.

That night, after finishing my rounds at the Warehouse, I passed by Feng Zhaomian’s alchemy room. I heard a clanging sound coming from inside, as if someone were forging iron.

I pushed the door open and saw her draped in a moon-white outer robe, sitting on the floor and focused on assembling a set of cold-iron chains. Beside her feet sat a completed cage, just large enough to hold an adult man.

I closed my eyes for a moment.

“Feng Zhaomian,” I said, trying my best to keep my voice calm. “Are you planning to raise Spirit Beasts, or are you opening a prison?”

She looked up and gave me a sweet, obedient smile. “Eldest Senior Sister.”

“Don’t smile. Answer me first.”

She thought about it, her tone sounding genuinely confused. “If the person I like always wants to run away, won’t he stop running if I lock him up?”

The notification sound exploded in my head immediately.

“Main quest for ‘The Yandere Junior Sister’s Imprisonment’ is progressing. In seven days, Feng Zhaomian will imprison her beloved, Feng Shuochuan, and will ultimately be killed in a counterattack. Sect Reputation -20, Criminal Risk +100, Compensation Expenses +50,000 Spirit Stones.”

I snatched the chains out of her hands on the spot.

“Come here.” I crouched down in front of her and slapped two books into her arms. One was the Great Zhou Penal Code, which I had borrowed from the local government at the foot of the mountain; the other was Education of Love, which Fu Duyue had just brought back. “Start transcribing these tonight. For the former, copy the sections on illegal detention, intentional injury, and the forcible restriction of personal freedom. For the latter, start reading from chapter one.”

Feng Zhaomian held the books, her face full of bewilderment.

“Eldest Senior Sister, I just want him to stay.”

“To make someone stay, you use your words, not locks.”

She fell silent for a moment and whispered, “But I don’t know how.”

At that, my anger suddenly dissipated.

Feng Zhaomian had joined the Sect halfway through her training. As a child, she had been used as a test subject for drugs; she was afraid of the dark, afraid of pain, and afraid of people leaving. Feng Shuochuan had saved her life in the Miasma Forest three years ago. Since then, although she acted indifferent on the surface, she had long since tethered her heart to him.

She wasn’t born evil.

She was just too afraid of loss.

I kicked the cage over and sat down beside her. “If you don’t know how, then learn. Loving someone isn’t about turning them into your possession; it’s about learning to put your blade back into its sheath first.”

Feng Zhaomian looked down at the two books, her eyes slowly welling with red.

I sighed. “Feng Shuochuan arrives at the mountain gate tomorrow.”

She snapped her head up. “How do you know?”

“Because I know everything now.” I rubbed my temples. “But remember this: if he isn’t willing to stay, you are not allowed to use force, you are not allowed to drug him, and you are not allowed to tie him up. If you truly can’t control yourself, come to me first.”

Feng Zhaomian sniffled and gave a soft “Mm.”

Just as I stood up, she grabbed the hem of my robe again, her voice as faint as a mosquito.

“Eldest Senior Sister.”

“What is it?”

“What if I can’t learn?”

I looked at her and tapped the Penal Code.

“Then you’ll have to learn just how expensive going to prison is first.”