Binding the Dragon for the Empress Chapter 97

Thank You for Making it Happen

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The demon chain was left behind by the Taoist priest who had come to the palace to try to get rid of him before. The chain is said to imprison the Tao in a demon’s body, and they couldn’t break free even if they had ten-thousand years of Tao. Yan Yuan was sure that Xuan Long's Tao was sealed, so he never used it on him.

The demon chain was black in colour, as thick as an adult man's arm, and was divided into four strands, two long and two short. The two long strands could be connected to the wall, and the two short strands had two large sharp round hooks attached to the end, which were used to nail the demon's body.

It was kept in Yan Yuan's armoury and he had never intended to use it in his life, but who knew that Xuan Long would be so ungrateful, so it was time to show him what he was capable of.

Since he was not afraid of earthly punishments, he should try something that would scare him.

The imperial guard outside the cell door received the order to take Yan Yuan's badge and go to his armoury to find the demon chains. The reason for the existence of the weapons in the armoury was to deal with the enemy, but now he had to use those things to deal with his pillow man.

The distance from the armoury to the cell was quite far, and it took quite a lot of effort to get there and back. The footsteps of the imperial guards were far away, and the dark room was terribly quiet.

Yan Yuan knelt down on one knee and crouched in front of Xuan Long, the bottom of his foot stepping on the corner of his quilt: "You still have the chance to repent."

"I know you are not stupid, don't do something stupid that you will regret."

In this cold weather, Xuan Long was wearing only a thin prison garment, his long hair hanging loose, the bedding half covering his high abdomen. His hair used to be shiny and beautiful, like ink falling down, but now it had somehow lost its colour and was as grey as the quilt covering his body.

Xuan Long's face and lips were pale, perhaps too cold, and he could not help but cover his lips and cough twice. His head bowed, his long hair covered the movement of wiping the blood from his lips with his hand very well.

Yan Yuan saw that he was still silent at such a time, which was obviously a blatant provocation, and became angry. Standing up, he ordered condescendingly:

"Someone."

“Let's start with clamping torture first and let him have a taste of it."

The so-called 'clamping torture' is also called finger crushing. As the name implies, the fingers are clamped with a bamboo and rope press, which is often used in the palace to interrogate court officials who have committed crimes. Fingers are connected to the heart, and most of those who are tortured will confess soon.

Outside the door, two tall guards opened the door and dragged Xuan Long out of the bedding, one on each side, and threw him against the wall, the chains scraping against the ground with an uncomfortable sound.

Xuan Long sat on the floor against the wall, staring vacantly across the dark cell, allowing the two guards to slip the cold sticks over his ten fingers. The two jailors turned their heads and asked Yan Yuan, "Your Majesty..."

Yan Yuan's gaze was icy cold: "Execute the sentence."

"Yes."

The two guards each took one side of the thin hemp rope and pulled it. When the clamp was tightened, Xuan Long let out a muffled grunt, his sword brows wrinkled slightly, and he looked down at his shackled fingers. The pain was so intense that he could not bear it, and cold sweat immediately broke out.

The two adult men used all their strength to force the clamp. If it were an ordinary palace eunuch, he would have rolled on the ground screaming in pain, but Xuan Long was so quiet and didn't make a sound after the first one, except for his breathing.

There was a muffled sound of bones cracking between the clamping, and Xuan Long's towering abdomen rose and fell dramatically, his body weakening as he failed to hold on, perhaps because it was too tight, and the strain on his stomach was causing some pain.

One of the jailors suddenly exclaimed, "Your Majesty, he's bleeding from below..."

The pure white trousers were particularly conspicuous when they were stained with blood, but it was not a lot, just a palm-sized patch on the fabric between the buttocks and legs. Yan Yuan looked at it intently, then frowned and waved to tell the jailors to leave.

The jailors withdrew the clamp and Xuan Long's hands hung helplessly on the ground, dripping with blood. His hands were beautiful, with long, clean bones, but now they had been squeezed to the point where they seemed to be somewhat deformed. Yan Yuan deliberately did not allow himself to see them, fearing that he might go soft, and lifted his hand to lift Xuan Long's long, messy hair, revealing a face that was both ugly and handsome.

"Painful?"

"The demon chain hurts more than this."

"It hurts more to have your heart cut out than to have demon chains on you."

"Do you still need me to make a choice for you?"

Xuan Long's turquoise eyes were half dazed as he slowly tugged at the corners of his lips, "You too... are nothing special."

Yan Yuan's eyes were slightly astonished: "What did you say?"

Xuan Long: "I said... you too, are nothing special"

Yan Yuan fiercely pinched his jaw and turned him around, “You’re seeking death."

In the distance came the sound of footsteps, from far to near, it was the imperial guards who had fetched the demon chain returning. In just a few breaths, they arrived at the door of the cell.

Yan Yuan let go of Xuan Long and stood up, and the two guards entered through the door.

"Put the demon chain on him."

"Yes."

The man who had fallen to the ground was dragged up by the guards as if he were a dead animal, and two more people came in from outside, holding Xuan Long's body while the other two aimed the round hook on the demon chain at Xuan Long's shoulder and slowly stabbed it in.

"Uh..."

The round hook was actually a ring the size of a kick ball, and when the mechanism button was pressed and it was opened, it split in half into a round hook, the body of which was as thick as a finger. Xuan Long struggled weakly twice and was soon held down. His hands were already in heavy chains and there was no way to break free.

The round hook pierced through Xuan Long's front shoulder, and blood instantly dripped from his snow-white prison clothes. He trembled in pain but didn’t beg for mercy. Cold sweat constantly fell from his cheeks, like it was raining.

Yan Yuan's fists were clenched tightly under his robe, and he spoke through clenched teeth, "Stop."

The guards immediately stopped.

Yan Yuan walked over and crouched low in front of Xuan Long, staring at him closely, "Have you thought about it?"

"I'll say it one last time, you still have the chance to repent."

"If you repent at this point and hand over the inner elixir, I will let you go back to Qiankun Palace and allow you to give birth to the child."

Xuan Long turned his face sideways and he exhaled almost nothing but a breath, "I don't need… don’t need you to give me a chance."

“I don't want your chance..."

A fire rose up in Yan Yuan's heart, melting a little bit of the softness of his heart: "You said this yourself. Don't blame me for being ruthless."

Yan Yuan was not very ruthless, he had always treated Ning Zhiyu with warmth and consideration, and his ruthlessness had mostly been directed to him. Even if Xuan Long was stupid, he knew what was genuine and what was not. He is not stupid, but he trusts others easily. He just doesn't understand the world and has been alone for too long, so he is easily deceived by the smallest favours.

He thinks that if someone is willing to be close to him and say nice things to him, then he will really grow old with him and stay with him until he dies.

Yan Yuan got up and watched as the guards and the jailor worked together to nail the demon chain into Xuan Long's body. The round hook went through the shoulder and extended out from behind Xuan Long's back. Pressing the mechanism, the ring closed with a ‘clang’, and the guards fastened the chain to the wall along with the shackles and chains on Xuan Long's wrists. 

In fact, he did not need to keep Xuan Long in this way, even without the shackles, he would not be able to walk out of the prison.

If the aim was to cause Xuan Long pain alone, Yan Yuan had indeed done it. The blood had only stained the material on his shoulders, but after the round hooks had penetrated his body, Xuan Long's entire front and back were wet and covered in blood.

The colour was extremely beautiful and as it dripped out of his body, it was able to quickly wear away what little life Xuan Long had left.

Xuan Long sat crooked and motionless, his face hidden by his long hair, revealing only a high nose and thin lips.

Yan Yuan had done everything he could to force Xuan Long to give up his inner elixir, but how could he have imagined that after all this, he would still not beg for mercy, still not compromise?

Why was he so uncompromising, why was he so annoying? Any wise man should know how to choose what is good for themselves, right?

Ning Zhiyu's time was running out... he could not delay any longer.

Yan Yuan raised his hand and spoke to the guard behind him, "Bring the dagger."

The guard pulled the dagger he had prepared earlier from his waist and placed it in Yan Yuan's palm.

Yan Yuan tightened his grip on the dagger and took one step towards the man leaning against the wall. Xuan Long seemed to have sensed something and slowly opened his demonic turquoise eyes, turning his head to look at him.

Yan Yuan's eyes were scarlet as he crouched down in front of him, "Do you think that I really can't bear to lay a hand on you?"

Xuan Long looked at Yan Yuan quietly, and his face was expressionless, just like the first time he saw him. He always looked cold when he was expressionless, but because he was too weak, he was not very intimidating.

"I know that you will not be intolerant."

Yan Yuan yelled at him, "Then why are you still so stubborn with me?!"

It was not stubbornness.

It was that his heart was ashes and he had no more expectations.

Xuan Long lowered his head and coughed a few times, blood pouring out of his lips. He had been living in this damp and cold place for so long without even a single piece of thick clothing, if he was a human, he would have died long ago.

But Xuan Long was not much better, he often felt cold, often had a fever, and coughed up blood when he coughed. Even if Yan Yuan did not kill him at this time, he would not be able to last long.

He might not be able to wait for the baby to be born.

Even if he was born, there would be no one to hurt him, no one to love him, and with Hu Le gone, Yan Yuan would not accept the child. He had said that when he was born, he would drown him.

This man was so cruel.

As cruel as his mother.

Xuan Long didn't have the strength to wipe the blood from his lips, his body hurt too much and the chains were too heavy. He leaned the back of his head against the wall, “Do it."

Yan Yuan gritted his teeth and questioned, "You don't even care about the sinful child in your womb?"

Xuan Long's nature was such that he would not take it personally if he was scolded a few times, but when Yan Yuan repeatedly said that his child was a sinful child, even the best-tempered person would be upset.

Xuan Long said, "You're the one who's sinning."

"You're the one who's sinful..."

His child was not a sinner.

Yan Yuan scowled creepily, "Fine, fine, since you want to die so badly, then I will make it happen for you."

Xuan Long dragged the chains with difficulty, lifted his injured hand, covered his round abdomen and gently said, "Then thank you for making it happen."

In fact, he was not as fearless as he appeared to be. He had been afraid of many things since he was a child, afraid that his mother would not want him, afraid that the Taoist priests outside would catch him and take him away, afraid that the children in the village near the thousand-year-old pond would not play with him because of his ugly appearance, but now he was not afraid of anything.

He would take his child with him, so that he would not have to live alone in the world with no one to love or care for him. What if he was cheated, what if he ended up like him? It would be better to share the same fate and leave together. At least he could still protect him on Huangquan Road. (Angel: Huangquan Road is the road people take to report to the underworld after they die.)

Yan Yuan uttered several words in quick succession, aimed the tip of the blade at Xuan Long's heart and stabbed down.

"It was you who forced me..."

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: October 11, 2022