129: ENTERING THE DUNGEON

ENTERING THE DUNGEON

WHILE being led by Shen Ji Yun, Luo Yan finally entered the manor's underground dungeon.  There were guards standing at the entrance.  There were probably even more surrounding the area.  Inside was dark and damp as expected.  The only source of light was coming from the torches attached to the wall, making the surrounding filled with orange hue.  0

"Brother Ji Yun, I think you should try to pull me a bit harder from here on," he whispered.  "So me being a prisoner would look more realistic."

When he heard that, Shen Ji Yun wanted to disagree.  But then he remembered what the rabbit said earlier about him not thinking of him as 'weak'.  Shen Ji Yun didn't want him to think that he was treating him like some delicate flower.  Or worse, look at him with disappointment.  

So despite him not wanting to, he still dragged the rabbit forward.  

As the proud 'Shishi', Luo Yan, of course, couldn't show weakness.  Even if he's being dragged.  So he still raised his chin proudly, but the fear and frustration between his eyebrows could still be seen.  As if he's trying to act strong and refused to show any weakness, even though he, himself, was afraid.

That's certainly how it looked like to the NPCs of Yuexing Pavilion currently inside the first cell they passed by.

Some girls who looked afraid still walked near the bars.  

"Shishi, are you okay?"

"Did they hurt you?"

Luo Yan acted like he's forcing himself to be tough.  "I'm fine.  Don't worry about me."

Then he did a quick sweep on the people inside the cell and one particular NPC stood out.  Madam Ru.  If the others looked worried and afraid, then she's the only one who's calm.  As if what's happening right now didn't affect her.  

Luo Yan wasn't sure if that's because she didn't have anything to do with what happened so she's not afraid if she's interrogated or something.  Or maybe she's just acting tough.  Being the head of Yuexing Pavilion, she wanted to appear strong in front of the younger courtesans so as not to scare them even further.  But there's also that possibility that she already suspected something like this to happen so she had long been prepared.  

Whatever it was, it wouldn't hurt to take note of Madam Ru's reaction.

Shen Ji Yun pulled him passed the first cell and stopped in front of a cell two rows away from the first one.  Inside were four young women.  They were the courtesans who performed with Luo Yan earlier.  He noticed that one of them was the girl wearing a yellow robe who he first met when he arrived in this door.

Shen Ji Yun opened the cell and pushed Luo Yan inside.  But the push was so gentle that it almost didn't have that much effect.  So Luo Yan had to improvise.  He fell by himself to make it look like he was pushed hard.  

Seeing this, Shen Ji Yun almost stepped forward to help Luo Yan.  But then, the rabbit glanced at him.  It was just a quick glance but he immediately got the message.  He's silently telling him to not come over.  Shen Ji Yun resisted the urge to do exactly that.  He could only close the prison cell and blend with the shadows outside so he could silently observe whatever it was the rabbit was planning.

The four other girls immediately surrounded Luo Yan.  

"Shishi, are you alright?" one asked.

"You were stabbed by a dagger.  Did they at least treat your wound?" another one followed.

"That's not what we need to know right now.  Did you talk to the prince?  Did you tell him that we had nothing to do with what happened?" said one of the girls wearing purple robe.  She looked almost hysterical.

"Zhenya!  Don't be so insensitive," the girl in the yellow robe scolded.

"Oh please.  Don't be such a hypocrite, Guiying.  You make it sound like I only care about myself.  Are you aware of what we are being accused of?  Attempting to kill Prince Lin Rong and the crown prince!  We could be beheaded!" the girl names Zhenya almost shouted.

"B-but we have nothing to do with it," one of the other girls said, clearly scared by what Zhenya said.

"Would those people care?  They just needed someone to blame!  And we're just conveniently there, ready to be sacrificed," Zhenya added.

Well, Luo Yan had to admit, this Zhenya had a point.  But that was only applicable if all of the four girls here were really innocent.  And he highly doubted that.

The girl who just talked before Zhenya made her tirade suddenly burst into tears.  The other girl hugged her and then also cried.

"Oh, shut up, you two!  Do you think crying would save anything?"

"Stop it, Zhenya!" Guiying – the girl in the yellow robe – shouted.

Zhenya glared at Guiying before stomping towards the corner of the prison cell.

Guiying shook her head before turning to Luo Yan.  "Are you really alright, Shishi?  Your wound, does it hurt?"

"I'm fine," he said in Shishi's usual cold tone.

It was only for a moment, but Luo Yan noticed the confusion in Guiying's face.  As if she couldn't believe that she really was fine.  And then her expression immediately went back to that of someone who's worried about her friend.

Man, those game designers really programmed these NPCs really well.

Then he thought back to that momentary confusion that he saw.  It's almost as if she knew he shouldn't be sitting here, all alive and well.  Only someone who knew that the dagger that stabbed him was laced with a special kind of poison unique to Wei would react that way.  

Maybe he wouldn't need to act his way out to get that information their team needed after all.  And here he thought he could show-off his amazing interrogation skills to Shen Ji Yun.

To confirm his guess, he leaned down and whispered into Guiying's ear, "They already found out about Wei."

He saw her eyes widened and then she turned sharply to Luo Yan.  "How…?"

And then she gasped and covered her mouth as if she didn't mean to say what she just said.

Luo Yan smiled inside.  Got you.

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