"Have some candy. You can eat more at the next meal." Su Jin put a lollipop in Lu Mingxuan's mouth.
He wasn't trying to starve the man. Lu Mingxuan was still dangerous.
If he ate, he'd need to relieve himself. If he did it in his trousers, no one could stay in the RV.
But untying him would be too risky.
Su Jin had thought of that when binding him.
He had left Lu Mingxuan's backside free of rope. If he folded the man's legs up in front of him...
He could hang him from a tree, pull down his trousers, and let him go.
But that would cause problems. It would humiliate Lu Mingxuan again, and Su Jin really shouldn't do that.
Wiping him afterward would be awkward too. Su Jin had a water gun, but spraying another man's backside clean was too strange.
Until Lu Mingxuan was more cooperative, he would have to eat less. Sugar water would keep him alive.
....
The other three ate as usual. With the lollipop in his mouth, Lu Mingxuan glared at them.
He was growing hungrier. The candy tasted good but did nothing to fill him.
Watching them eat was torment.
Su Jin returned to the driver's seat. Du Wenyan stayed to watch Lu Mingxuan.
After a long silence, Lu Mingxuan glanced toward the front and spoke quietly. "Brother Du, we've known each other a long time. I'm not asking you to free me. Just tell me what group you've joined. I'm your prisoner. At least let me know why I might die."
"There is no group. There never was. I only wanted to save my sister."
"Impossible! Then what about Wu Zihao?"
"We met by chance. Everything happened by coincidence."
"Do you think I'm an idiot? A man as strong as he is, imprisoned because he broke the prohibition on alcohol? You expect me to believe he's an ordinary citizen?"
"You're less clever than I thought," Du Wenyan said mockingly.
"Fine, mock me all you like. But what about this house?" Lu Mingxuan demanded. "Don't tell me one man built it and everything in it. Are you spies from another country?"
"The Demon Spring hasn't erupted in years. Have other countries decided to attack Suyuan?"
"An immortal gave him this house."
"Ha! Do you take me for a child? If immortals existed, the Demon Spring wouldn't have plagued us for centuries."
"Then why do you still sacrifice Suzai to heaven?"
Lu Mingxuan had no answer.
Yunlian looked from one to the other.
Finally she tugged at Du Wenyan's sleeve and whispered, "Brother, I want to watch a cartoon."
Du Wenyan glanced at Lu Mingxuan. "Then let's watch."
She picked up the remote and pointed it at the television.
Over the past few days, she'd learned to use it, though only well enough to play cartoons.
And the only cartoon she knew where to find was Tom and Jerry.
She didn't dare touch the other folders for fear of damaging something of Su Jin's.
Lu Mingxuan's guard went up as soon as he saw the remote.
He'd seen it during the threats the night before, but had been too frightened to think about it.
The small object in Du Wenyan's hand must control the black rectangle.
What the rectangle was, he couldn't imagine. It seemed to open onto another world.
Perhaps a world of prisons and bloody torture.
He didn't believe Du Wenyan's claim that an immortal had given them the house, but he couldn't quite dismiss it.
It was hard to think of another explanation for the things inside. No illusion could be so real and intricate.
Du Wenyan started the cartoon and stood up.
She went around the table and took hold of the ropes at Lu Mingxuan's sides.
"What are you doing?" Lu Mingxuan shrank back. "Are you throwing me in there? Brother Hao!"
With a thump, she tipped him off the sofa into the aisle.
Du Wenyan sat down and patted the seat beside her. Yunlian hurried over.
From here, they had a better view. Across the aisle, they had to turn their heads.
On the floor, Lu Mingxuan's face turned red with embarrassment.
He'd thought he was about to be thrown into the black box. At least he'd been wrong.
But what was she doing?
The sisters looked at the television. Drums sounded, making Lu Mingxuan start.
A lion roared on the screen.
"A fierce beast!"
"Stop shouting. Are you a man or not?" Du Wenyan said with a disgusted glance, then went back to watching.
The cartoon began.
Lu Mingxuan slowly calmed, bewildered by the cat and mouse chasing each other.
Within three minutes, he was engrossed.
....
"Pfft!"
Both sisters turned to look down at him.
Lu Mingxuan's face was red. He slowly turned toward the floor.
What a stupid thing. He'd nearly laughed.
"Sister," Yunlian whispered, "is he stupid?"
"Not stupid. An idiot. Keep watching."
Lu Mingxuan heard their mockery. Lying on the floor, he felt miserable.
That bastard Du Wenyan and the wicked little Suzai.
Back in the royal capital, neither would have dared mock him.
He could have destroyed them with a flick of his fingers.
How had Tanyu Temple's foremost disciple fallen so far? And that foolish show inside the box was impossible to stop watching. He kept wanting to laugh, even while it seemed to be making fun of him. It was like having the urge to eat everything in sight while suffering terrible diarrhea: a shameful contradiction.
Hmph. Endure it.
I'll plan my escape after the cartoon finishes.
Lu Mingxuan gritted his teeth and turned back to the screen.
....
At the wheel, Su Jin smiled faintly. Hearing laughter behind him, he turned down the volume in his headphones.
Lu Mingxuan had left him with a very different impression from their first meeting.
The man was fairly straightforward and, so far as Su Jin could tell, not bad at heart. He was even a little naive.
He had probably been well protected since childhood and hadn't suffered many setbacks.
It might be easy to win him over and explain things to him.
But not yet. Su Jin would give him a couple more days to get used to life in the RV.
Then he would tell him everything.
If Lu Mingxuan joined them, he could help both Su Jin and Shen Yufeng enormously.
Su Jin might also learn some of his arts and be better prepared next time he met a strong opponent.
"Sigh..."
He rubbed his brow, drank some Dongpeng energy drink, and kept driving.
Even with his remarkable constitution, long hours at the wheel tired him. The poor roads demanded constant attention.
Still, things could be worse.
Fortunately, the task gave him plenty of time to deal with this.
He wondered how Shen Yufeng was doing, and whether the man could be trusted.