Promise and Betrayal: A Mo Dao Zu Shi (the Untamed) Story

Chapter 9

**Hey y'all! I'm sorry for the late post; I was away this week. PSA, this chapter is another violent chapter with sexual harassment. Happy reading!

I awaken to an empty room, lying facedown on the cool stone. My wounds, open to the elements, stab like knives in my back. They sting in the cold air. I can feel that they gave me at least fifty lashes, if not over a hundred. My back will be in tatters for weeks to come. I do not move. I cannot. If I do, my back wounds will worsen. It is all I can do to wait for someone to open my cell door. For as long as they decide to keep me, I am a prisoner. I have no respectable clan to back me. I have no weapon to escape, save my ingenuity. I am at their mercy.

I drift off.

A cycle repeats through the night: they sweep in, torture me, leave me be, I lose consciousness, wake to an empty room, drift off, they disturb my sleep, they whip me again. I lose count of how many times it happens. By the end, I am panting for breath, desperate to even just form a coherent thought. Every time I blink, my vision refuses to focus. Every time I think, my mind trails off after a half-formed thought and returns to the pain.

I black out.

I am shaken awake. I did not wake up of my own accord, this time. A Wen Clan guard cultivator stands over me, holding out bandages. "Dress your wounds," he orders. "Then we will escort you back to the platform." I would chuckle at their imitation of generosity, but I can barely even breathe through the pain.

I take the fresh bandages from him, the small movement enough to irritate the tender wounds that speckle my back. The guard leaves the room. Gingerly, I undress as much as I need to and wrap my back. Thankfully, the front of my robes has remained undamaged enough to be unrevealing. But the wounds have been exposed all night, and they sting, the back of my clothes is in tatters. If the Wen Clan wants to conceal their activities in this dungeon, logic would dictate they give me a fresh robe, yet they have only given me dressings. Either another clumsy misstep, or they want everybody to know they have tortured me.

Gently, I wrap my back with the rough cloth. Once finished, I tap lightly on the cell door. The guard opens it and harshly pulls me into the corridor. His hands stay painfully on my back as I limp the entire way there. We climb the stairs, making slow progress, and arrive on the platform. I am the last to arrive, just as I was yesterday. Once I am situated, my vision blurring with the pain of standing up, Wen Chao addresses the group.

"Good morning," he says as he walks to us. "As I recall, we asked you to read and memorize the Wen Clan principles last night. Do we have any volunteers? Or shall we go in order?" His eyes find Lan Zhan, the easternmost edge of our line. The second master of the Lan Clan says nothing, only stares, eyes icy, at Wen Chao.

A familiar chuckle echoes from my right. "I'd be happy to," Wei Ying says, stepping out. "You Wen fellows have some interesting rules."

Wen Chao sweeps a hand out in invitation to begin. Wei Ying begins pacing. "Alcohol is prohibited," he begins. "Talking behind another's back is prohibited. Running is prohibited. Killing livestock within the area is prohibited. Fighting without permission is prohibited..." I soon realize, despite not having read the Wen Clan principles myself, that Wei Ying is not reciting them. He is reciting the Lan Clan's, the principles we had to listen to every morning at Cloud Recesses, the principles Wei Ying had to copy more than three hundred times as punishment. Of all of us, he would know them second only to Lan Zhan himself.

With every statement, Wen Chao's expression becomes more and more enraged. He starts to tremble, the anger gathering in intensity on his face. Wei Ying pauses, looking inquiringly at Wen Chao. "Shall I go on?" The tiniest wisp of a smile appears on his features.