The White Moonlight Disdained by the Male Protagonist of Redemption - Chapter 15.1

The mountain leaves rustled softly. The wind stopped, and the forest grew still.

Feng Jingzhuo felt like his heart was being crushed.

The girl in front of him looked like a goddess descended to earth, standing in the shifting light and shadow, here to save him.

His throat tightened, and the icy shell around his chest shattered into a rushing warmth.

“Yao Yao…” Feng Jingzhuo had just opened his mouth to speak when he suddenly flipped backward.

It was like he’d lost all strength—or like something had yanked him back. He tumbled down several steps.

What just happened?

It happened so fast, Ning Yao couldn’t react. She only saw him grasping his neck in panic, as if he couldn’t breathe.

She rushed forward and grabbed his wrist, trying to stop him from being dragged any further. “Jingzhuo!”

Feng Jingzhuo kept scratching at his throat, sweat pouring down on his whole body. It was as though some invisible force was pulling him forward, yanking him down to his knees.

That force didn’t let up, and he had to crawl along with it.

“Yao Yao… Yao Yao…” he gasped.

He forced out the words, as if with all his strength: “Don’t look at me… don’t look…”

How could she not? Ning Yao was desperate. There was nothing on his neck at all.

She even started to wonder if Xuanwu was behind this. What—did some big shot in Xuanwu decided that Feng Jingzhuo wasn’t worthy at all? and, when their persuasion failed, they now wanted him dead?

Ning Yao was furious with the thought.

“Don’t be scared, Jingzhuo. Let go—I’ll take a look.” Ning Yao pressed on his shoulders. Seeing him in such pain and struggling to breathe yet still trying to hide from her, made her heart ache. “It’s ok. Show—I need to help you. Let me”

She placed two fingers on the artery in his neck and sent her spiritual energy in, but found nothing unusual.

Held in place by her, Feng Jingzhuo stopped struggling so much. His lips trembled, and his voice was barely audible. “Yao Yao… Yao Yao…”

“I’m here, I’m right here,” Ning Yao answered. But then she saw his eyes unfocused, like he wasn’t even talking to her—just repeating her name in a confusion and loss consciousness.

“Feng Jingzhuo! You can’t die!” Ning Yao screamed.

Dear heavens, are you really going to cut off my chance at enlightenment and ascension like this?

Ning Yao lifted Feng Jingzhou’s unconscious body onto her back and dashed up the mountain. She would meet with Lord Yuwen no matter what.

Typically, she would seek out Master Jie during urgent situations, but time had run out. Yet, wasn’t Lord Yuwen considered even stronger?

Gathering every ounce of her energy, she dashed up the mountain with incredible speed and reach the Xuanmu Clan Temple.

Whether by chance or destiny, she crossed paths with the round-faced man once more beneath the temple’s archway. He grinned, “Mountain Master Ning.”

Ning Yao’s expression remained serious. “Such a warm welcome, huh? It seems my destined encounter with Lord Yuwen is finally here. Perfect—lead me to him immediately.”

The round-face man led the way as expected, and even had time to flatter her: “Mountain Master Ning, you have great potential for learning our Reincarnation Art!”

Ning Yao: “Then you’ll teach me?”

He gave an awkward laugh.

The temple’s interior was vast and majestic, yet eerily vacant. Dominating the front was an enormous Reincarnation Disc, adorned with innumerable scales and densely packed with minuscule characters—so numerous that reading them was impossible.

They were led through a winding path into a stone chamber in the back. The chamber was small and bare, except for one person meditating.

He wore plain white robes, his hair was white. From behind, he looked more older than her grandmaster.

The round-face man bowed. “Master.”

Yuwen Hui gave a quiet “Mm.”

Ning Yao couldn’t hold back any longer. Feng Jingzhuo still had a pulse, but it was very faint. “Lord Yuwen, I know it’s rude to make a request right upon our meeting, but since you’ve agreed to see me, you must know why I’m here. Please—help me save my friend.”

Yuwen Hui waved his hand and the round-face man who accompanied them quietly stepped out.

Yuwen Hui turned to her and said calmly, “He will not die.”

He pointed to Feng Jingzhuo’s neck. “That’s a Bone-Binding Lock—invisible, untouchable, fused to the soul. It’s a method used in Cangyuan to control prisoners.”

Ning Yao asked, “Then why is he having trouble breathing?”

Yuwen Hui replied, “Because he has fallen in love.”

“The deeper the feeling, the longer the pain. The Bone-Binding Lock is a tool of humiliation. No matter how proud a person may be, the moment they develop romantic feelings, the lock awakens—dragging them down like a dog, forcing them to crawl and show their most shameful side to the world.”

“This isn’t the first time. He had an incident earlier too—at the same time as Bai Mei Sheng.”

Ning Yao frowned.

She checked Feng Jingzhuo again—his breathing was finally stabilizing. She set him gently down against the wall.

Then she paused.

After a moment, she slowly lifted her hand and wiped away the tears on his face.

“Why would he be punished like this? How can the Bone-Binding Lock be removed?”

Yuwen Hui remarked, “Sect Master Ning, our discussion of the lock can only go this far. Beyond that—it is not within my authority to tell you.”

Ning Yao didn’t speak.

If we cannot talk about the Bone-Binding Lock, then what about everything else?

Clearly, their meeting wasn’t over yet.

This master, so skilled in Reincarnation Arts, could see right through her inside and out. There was no point hiding anything. So she decided to speak plainly: “So when you said you wanted to help, what you meant was—you wanted to tell me that Jingzhuo has…”