528 To The Grave (1/2)

This was just one of the prisons of the Imperial Palace, but it was the worst one. There were a total of no more than three cells inside. The darkness and incessant dripping of water droplets were enough to drive someone insane.

When Li Xueyue stepped down the staircase, her nose instantly crinkled. The stench in here was horrendous. It was pungent and smelled of human waste.

Her nose stung and even her eyes burned a bit. It was difficult not to recoil, especially when she saw the questionable burgundy and yellow stains on the pale, grey stone walls.

It was pitch-black down here, except for the lanterns that Yu Zhen had ordered to be placed prior to their arrival.

”Would you like a scented veil?” Yu Zhen quietly asked her, gesturing to her face. ”To cover your nose.”

Li Xueyue dropped her hands. She shook her head and forced a smile. ”No, that's alright.”

Li Xueyue didn't want to appear weak. He walked just fine, and didn't even flinch at the stench. She could not help but wonder what type of life he had lived to be alright with this. Did the battlefield desensitize him?

Yu Zhen raised a brow. ”Are you certain?”

Li Xueyue responded with a nod.

Seeing as she didn't voice her concerns, Yu Zhen did not say anything else. He placed his hand behind her back and guided her down the prison.

It was a short walk. Once they turned a corner and down another short hallway, they stopped before a daunting door of steel with a small window at the top.

”When no one comes here, the lanterns are not lit, which leaves this place in pitch darkness,” Yu Zhen whispered to her so that only she could hear.

Li Xueyue's heart raced at his words. It was psychological torture. To see nothing, not even your hands, and to hear nothing but water droplets, it would be enough to make a grown man insane. Forced to be faced with nothing but the demons of your own thoughts, this place could crack even the most stable of brains.

”I see,” was her only response.

Yu Zhen picked up one of the lanterns beside his feet. He handed it to her and picked up another one for himself. It would be the only way that they'd be able to see.

Quietly, he slipped out a key from his pocket.

”You have to prepare yourself,” Yu Zhen told her.

She gave him a curt nod. ”I will be fine.”

It was the truth. Li Xueyue had seen what he was capable of. What happened in the tent behind the Li Manor was unforgettable.

She would never forget the faces of the Bai Family. From the haunted Viscount Bai Sheng to the scarred Bai Tianai, there was not much else in this world that would scare her. She had seen her tormentors suffer horrendously.

Li Xueyue preferred it that way.

Despite that, her stomach twisted and churned, just like Yu Zhen's key. The door opened with a creak. It took a single push from him to swing the heavy, metal door open.

”S-save me!” a voice shrieked, as chains rattled.

Li Xueyue stiffened at the noise. It did not sound human.