NOVEL NEXT Chapter 19: Once Doubt Arises, Guilt is Established
The next day at the Water Moon Sect, the confinement room.
This place was originally used by the Water Moon Sect to punish disciples and make them reflect on their actions.
At this moment, Yan Rouwan was sitting here, her beautiful eyes vacant and devoid of life.
Facing her were an elder from the Water Moon Sect and a male disciple, busy taking notes.
“Rouwan, how did you sleep last night?”
Yan Rouwan blinked.
She really wanted to say she didn’t sleep well.
All night long, the whispers and pointing from the other disciples buzzed around her ears like an annoying fly, torturing her to the point of being unable to sleep.
It seemed like every time she felt sleepy, she could vaguely hear snickers and mocking sounds outside.
So she hadn’t closed her eyes the entire night.
Even on the way here, the surrounding disciples treated her like some rare exotic creature, all eyes on her.
That feeling was truly unbearable.
“Just to mention, I am only here on behalf of the sect to understand the situation. You shouldn’t feel any psychological burden.”
The elder showed a pitiful yet sympathetic expression, sighing to comfort her:
“I know, my child, you’ve suffered in the demon path. But you must trust the sect. No matter what inhuman abuse and torture you endured, no matter how hard it is to look back on your experiences, you are still a member of the Water Moon Sect.”
Yan Rouwan was momentarily dazed and weakly replied, “I… I wasn’t tortured by them.”
The elder and the male disciple exchanged glances, then revealed warm smiles:
“It’s okay, child, you don’t have to say if you don’t want to.”
“But I really…”
Yan Rouwan wanted to explain, but the two in front of her wore expressions that said, “I understand.”
So she lowered her eyes in despair again.
“Child, we’re here today mainly to ask you: how did you escape from the demon prison?”
“They let me go voluntarily.”
Yan Rouwan spoke mournfully: “They said the prison was getting overcrowded, so they released a batch of useless captives.”
“They, they let me down the mountain.”
Upon hearing this, the elder’s face gradually darkened.
“…Rouwan,” he said earnestly, “I can understand that you’ve faced such hardships at a young age, hence my sincere approach to you.”
“If you are just going to fool me, that wouldn’t be appropriate.”
“But, but it’s true…”
A hint of despair surfaced in Yan Rouwan’s beautiful eyes.
“If that’s true, why is it that you are the only one to return? Why haven’t the other imprisoned disciples from the sect come back?”
The male disciple taking notes coldly added, “Furthermore, Junior Sister Yan, your status in the demon path certainly doesn’t qualify as ‘useless’!”
“What kind of lie do you think can fool anyone?”
Yan Rouwan fell silent.
She realized that no matter what she said, it seemed wrong.
The elder continued to ask, “So, did those demon cultivators use severe torture on you in order to obtain secrets from our sect?”
“…No.”
“Really?”
“Really.” Yan Rouwan’s gaze fell despondently, “There was no severe torture, nor have I betrayed the sect at all.”
The elder and the male disciple exchanged glances.
“I believe in your loyalty to the sect. But if you say they didn’t use torture…”
He stroked his beard suspiciously, “Then what did they do to you during all that time you were captured?”
“They… took my cat.”
After Yan Rouwan recounted everything that Young Master Sang did to her, the expressions of the two in front of her became increasingly strange.
The male disciple’s face was already tinged with mockery, and the elder’s expression was turning grim.
“You’re saying those demon cultivators were so foolish that they tried to use a raccoon cat to pressure you into confessing?”
“Junior Sister Yan, your lie isn’t very convincing.” The male disciple sneered, “A mere cat, even if it were killed, is nothing compared to the secrets of the sect!”
“Are those demon cultivators’ brains broken or what?”
Yan Rouwan didn’t want to argue anymore.
She simply lowered her head in silence, looking weary and haggard, her beautiful eyes dim.
She quietly mumbled:
“But I…”
But I really do.
Love my cat.
At this moment, another person walked into the room and whispered something to the elder and the male disciple.
The two’s expressions shifted once more, settling into dark and suspicious looks.
“Yan Rouwan.”
The elder suddenly became serious: “The medical officer who examined your injuries yesterday said you are indeed intact and show no signs of having been tortured. Even your essence is still present.”
“Could it be that the demon path really just invited you over for tea in their prison? They didn’t do anything to you?”
“I said it; it’s just that you don’t believe me—”
“Absurd!”
The male disciple taking notes shouted angrily: “Junior Sister Yan, speak honestly, have you already defected to the demon path?”
Yan Rouwan was momentarily stunned and stuttered:
“I… I didn’t…”
“Didn’t? Everyone knows that the demon prison is a human hell! How many disciples of the sect have entered and never returned?”
“Yet you came back completely unharmed and insist you haven’t betrayed the sect?”
The male disciple threatened her: “Speak! Did you not wait for them to execute you, but instead was so scared that you proactively surrendered, thinking to return to the sect as their informant?”
Yan Rouwan had no idea how to respond.
All she could do was weakly and helplessly repeat:
“I didn’t… it wasn’t me…”
“Good grief, Yan Rouwan, we thought you were the pride of the sect, the apple of the sect leader’s eye, surely loyal to the sect!”
“To save you, the sect leader sent so many disciples for your rescue. Now that I think about it, it’s really absurd!”
Beside her, the elder’s face was also turning ashen: “Yan Rouwan, the sect will need to monitor you closely these days.”
“If you are clear in your conscience, just wait patiently to find out.”
Yan Rouwan had never felt so despondent.
She hung her head for a long time, a final glimmer of hope welling up inside her:
“Sect Leader… I want to see Sect Leader Master.”
“Master will surely believe me… she will definitely…”
Hearing this, the male disciple scoffed again.
“You still have the nerve to see the sect leader?”
“Do you realize that because someone was sent to rescue you, even Sect Leader’s daughter Si Jingzhu has fallen into the hands of the demon path?”
“The sect leader has been frantic these past few days, reaching out to righteous sects, preparing to launch an assault into the demon path to rescue people.”
“And all of this is thanks to you!”
Upon hearing this, Yan Rouwan’s face suddenly turned pale again.
She tearfully shook her head in despair and helplessness: “I… I didn’t know… please, let me meet Master…”
“Let’s discuss it after we confirm you haven’t betrayed the sect.”
The elder sighed deeply, frowning: “For now, stay in the confinement room and reflect on your mistakes.”
After the two left and the door of the confinement room closed tightly.
Yan Rouwan stared at the cold walls, feeling at a complete loss for a long time.
…Reflect on her mistakes.
But what exactly.
Did I do?