Transcendent

Chapter XI: Escape

The sound of water dripping onto the floor reverberated faintly within the dungeon under the Nightless City. Was it rainwater leaking from above or something else, one could only wonder. After all, it was a place never once touched by the sunlight - a cold, dark prison built solely for the purpose of torture.

Within his dirty, narrow cell, Wei Wuxian remained tied to the rock wall by his wrists, bound by rusty iron chains. The leaking drops of water continuously fell onto his slumping head, seeping into his disheveled hair then rolling down his face. The droplets were small and insignificant on their own, but after a long, long time standing right below the leaks, it was a given that his body was now drenched in the blackened, murky water. His breathing was visibly weakened; the stale air within the dungeon did nothing to improve his condition, if not driving it for the worst.

Covered in both dirt and wounds, had it not been for the chains holding himself up, he would no longer be able to remain standing.

From the other side of the dungeon, quiet footsteps were approaching the cell in which he was being kept in. It didn't come from the direction of the usual entrance that Wen Chao and other visitors usually entered from, but rather from what seemed like the back end of this underground prison. Along the bleak corridor, lesser demons serving as guards of the cells were lying scattered on the floor, sound asleep. A slender figure silently walked through these fallen soldiers; her elegant visage dressed in the Qishan Wen Clan's signature robe. It was obvious that she was part of the nobility; her appearance bearing a stark contrast with the gloomy, filthy atmosphere surrounding her.

Without a sound, she slipped through the darkness and into the prison where the half blood demon was held.

"...Wei Wuxian."

Her voice was not loud, yet it was strong and resolute. Wei Wuxian, however, did not respond at the first call. Days and days of physical torture had eventually exhausted both his mind and body, and no one knew for how long he had passed out, unconscious while still dangling from the dirty rock wall.

Yet his visitor did not give up.

"Wei Wuxian."

This time, there was a little bit of reaction. The half blood slightly tilted his head, his eyes were still closed but his instinct was telling him to follow the source of the voice. He lifted his face, slowly, as though his neck was chained with a heavy rock, and at last, his eyelids fluttered open, revealing a pair of crimson spheres underneath. They were dim and sickly, unlike the bright, sunny eyes most others would remember him by.

"......Wen Qing...?"

His dry, bloodied lips parted as he uttered the name of his visitor. He did not know how he could recognize her so quickly for they had only met a couple of times before, and it had been years since their last meeting, back when he went to train and hunt around Qishan with Wen Ning. But perhaps it was because her presence was so distinguished and memorable that his mind immediately identified her before he could even think.

That, or because it was beyond his imagination, a fact he could not fathom that one of Wen Ruohan's most trusted advisors would visit him in this dungeon without notice.

"...Look at yourself. This is what you get for trying to mess with Wen Chao and his woman."

Her words were scolding, yet the tone of her voice bore a hint of sympathy, if not pity. Having been whipped and beaten, bereft of proper meals and drinks on top of having been forced to stay in a place so unsuitable for a living, it was a miracle that the half blood could still gather the strength to speak. The burns on his chest, left there by the branding iron, looked even more terrible than how it was before, probably infected after days of neglect and unsanitary environment.