Bitter Realm: Have the Four Realms been united today?

Chapter 27 Abnormality, Misjudged Physique

Xuanming lay on the table, breathing heavily, each breath accompanied by a burning pain in his shoulders and back.

After the excruciating pain subsided slightly, he stubbornly tried to raise his right hand.

But as soon as he exerted force, the tearing pain surged back like a tide, as if forcing him to abandon this unrealistic idea.

Xuanming's gaze fell on the filthy ink stain, and a feeling of helplessness and bitterness welled up in his heart.

"Mr. Yue must be very disappointed right now!"

"That's fine, that's better than him knowing..."

Disappointment... so be it!

The moment the thought crossed Xuanming's mind, he felt as if his heart had been suddenly gripped by an icy hand, and a dull, throbbing pain shot through him.

He could almost picture what it would look like if Yue Tianji's usually calm and deep eyes were filled with disappointment.

That feeling was far more unbearable for him than being whipped.

Xuanming abruptly closed his eyes, using all his strength to force back the sudden surge of hot, moist tears welling up in his eyes.

Tears are a sign of weakness, an attempt to shirk responsibility, a desire for pity, and a way to escape the responsibilities one should bear.

He didn't mean that, and he didn't want to cause any further misunderstanding.

Xuanming swallowed all the surging grief and grievances.

Almost forcing myself, I adopted a tone of despair and bittersweet humor in my heart:

"Anyway, Mr. Yue won't really kill me, so let him hit me!"

"He put up with me all day, so I should 'give in' to him too."

"I deserve this punishment for lying to him again."

The footsteps behind him grew closer and closer. Xuanming opened his eyes, enduring the excruciating pain, and struggled to get up from the table.

He had already disappointed Mr. Yue enough, and he didn't want to let him see him in such a weak and pathetic state.

Yue Tianji was no longer as indifferent as before; he seemed to have returned to the gentle scholar he was in the morning.

He reached out to support the unsteady boy, his gaze falling on the still trembling right arm.

"Your right hand can no longer hold a pen, but should you continue?"

"Hmm!" Xuanming nodded, almost afraid to look at the secrets of heaven.

He had thought that the Heavenly Observation Fate would later conjure up a long whip to further injure him, or that the Heavenly Observation Fate would be so disappointed in him that the Heavenly Observation Fate would turn away and leave.

But what he didn't expect was that Yue Tianji would sigh softly and apologize to him.

"I was too hasty and lost my sense of proportion, and I hit too hard."

"No, sir, you gave me chances time and time again. It was my failure to meet your requirements that led me to this situation..."

Yue Tianji waved to stop Xuanming from saying anything more. He supported Xuanming with one hand and used the other to untie Xuanming's belt.

"Yue, Mr. Yue!" Xuanming hurriedly used his left hand to stop Yue Tianji from doing so.

"Don't move! Take off your shirt first. If the blood from the wound congeals and sticks to your clothes, it won't be as easy to remove it as it is now."

Just thinking about the feeling of having his clothes and skin ripped off sent a shiver down his spine.

He hurriedly moved his left hand away and, together with Yue Tianji, removed the robe from the right side of his body.

Without the blue robe to conceal it, a whip mark about twenty centimeters long appeared on Xuanming's right shoulder, and the wound was still bleeding.

Yue Tianji helped Xuanming sit down again, reached out and touched Xuanming's wound, carefully examining whether there was any damage to the meridians and bones at the wound site.

He knew that Xuanming had no cultivation and his physical strength was not as good as that of a cultivator, so he deliberately controlled the force when he struck with the whip to avoid really hurting the boy.

According to the estimate, the skin should have broken and bled by the fifth lash, but Xuanming's physical strength did not even reach half of what he had predicted.

The first two lashes landed solidly, and given the misjudgment, he couldn't guarantee that they wouldn't cause any hidden injuries.

Actually, after realizing that Xuanming's attitude was a bit off, the third whip of reading the secrets of heaven did not want to be used again.

However, Xuanming stubbornly refused to tell the truth.

Yue Tianji spent time pondering, which delayed things and caused Xuanming's shoulder wound to stick to his clothes.

Left with no other choice, he had to deliver a third lash, reopening the wound so that Xuanming would suffer less.

In reality, the force of this last lash was only one-tenth of that of the first two lashes.

Xuanming's strong reaction was largely due to the forced separation of the wound from his clothing.

Every time Yue Tianji's hand pressed down, the stinging pain would suddenly pierce into his bones, causing Xuanming to tremble all over.

The dull pain from the wound came in waves, making him gasp for breath and tense his muscles.

My upper body began to involuntarily shrink to the side, trying to escape the tormenting force.

Sensing the boy's dodge, Yue Tianji paused in his movements.

Are you afraid of pain?

There was a hint of surprise in his tone.

The way this young man withstood three lashes without changing his tune just now is quite different from how easily he can be touched now.

"No, no..." Xuanming gritted his teeth and forced a reply, not wanting the other person to think he had no backbone.

"Aren't you afraid?" Yue Tianji walked around to stand in front of him, leaned down slightly, and looked into Xuanming's eyes with his deep eyes, clearly asking a question he already knew the answer to.

Xuanming's Adam's apple bobbed. "No, I'm not afraid."

"That's good!" A faint smile flashed across Yue Tianji's eyes, but it inexplicably sent a chill down Xuanming's spine.

He then slowly walked back to Xuanming's side, his fingers pressing precisely on the red and swollen area around the wound, and suddenly exerted force.

"If these bruises aren't massaged away, they'll make healing more difficult later on."

"I was planning to let it dissolve slowly after applying the medicine, but since you're not afraid of the pain, it saves me the trouble."

The moment he applied pressure with his fingertips, Xuanming gasped sharply!

The wound was already swollen and shiny, and when pressed like that, it felt as if burning red-hot coals were buried under the skin, both hot and painful, almost like it was about to explode.

Yue Tianji's hand continued its relentless pressure, slowly circling and pressing, each stroke feeling like a dull knife grinding back and forth between the muscles.

Xuanming's vision blurred with pain, and he involuntarily shrank forward, only to be firmly pressed back into place, his voice distorted:

"Sir! Please have mercy...please have mercy..."

He truly regrets it now, he's so regretful he could die. This is what it means to reap what you sow!

Yue Tianji seemed not to hear him, and even increased the force of his hand.

Xuanming could no longer bear it; the pain pierced his nerves, forcing him to groan in agony.

"Ugh! It hurts... I'm afraid of pain! Sir, please stop pressing..."

"I really know I was wrong!"

"Sir, please...please spare me this time!"

As if he had heard a satisfactory answer, Yue Tianji finally loosened his grip.

But his fingers remained hovering over the swollen area, as if he didn't want to let the stubborn boy off so easily.

"Why not stop pretending to comply while secretly going against your wishes?"

Xuanming replied sheepishly, "You already guessed it, so wouldn't it be foolish to keep denying it?"

Yue Tianji snorted coldly, and the fingers on the bruised area began to stir restlessly again.

"I see you really enjoy making things difficult for yourself!"

"You know perfectly well that my true intention is to force you to refuse, so why do you ignore it?"

Yue Tianji knew that with Xuanming's intelligence, it was impossible for him not to understand his intentions after the second whip.

"I..." Xuanming tensed up instantly!