Villain : I reincarnated as a Prince! Shouldn't I have a Harem?
Chapter 26: Don't be afraid, I will save you!

Dark Cell, Inside a cave,

"Ha...ha..ha, When will I get to leave this place? I miss you, Sister Shiyue" Veli murmured after getting tired of attempting to break the shackles confining her.

These shackles were designed to confine Body transformation realm cultivators, therefore, It was impossible for Veli to break them.

After she had woken up, she found herself confined in this dark cell, shackled by these confinement chains.

Sighing to herself, she, with a determined expression, muttered: "That leader of the kidnappers said that they would let me leave after their demands are fulfilled. I should wait here patiently, Sister Shiyue will surely get me out of here"

Veli was referring to the leader of the dark robed men who had kidnapped her.

Veli knew that she couldn't do anything in her situation, therefore, she decided to just wait, although she wanted to see her dear big sister badly.

Two days had passed since her abduction, and she did nothing instead of waiting for her freedom while being bored out of her mind, however, today, something unexpected happened as the leader of the dark robed men appeared outside the door, carrying a man on his shoulders who was unconscious.

Veli observed the leader, who ordered his minion: "Open the door!"

Creak!

The minion nodded, adhering to his command as he opened the cell door.

The leader entered the cell, moving to the adjacent shackles to Veli.

This cell had numerous shackles to confine multiple people, therefore, there was one for this unconscious man too.

Due to the dim lighting, Veli wasn't able to get a good look at this unconscious man who was unlucky enough to get caught by these kidnappers.

The leader put on these shackles on this unconscious man, confining him in this dark cell.

After the leader had made sure that this man was confined perfectly with no chance of escaping, He turned to Veli, informing her:

"Girl, rejoice, Now you will not be alone as he is from your sect too. He seemed to know you, We have captured a big fish this time thanks to you."

Hearing that, Veli attempted to get a good glance at the man, however, her attempt wasn't successful as the minion following the leader blocked her view as he attempted to butter him up:

"Yes leader, We have captured the genius who has an 8-star spirit. I am sure his sect will be ready to pay good amount for him."

The leader smiled as he shook his head, correcting his underling: "Not just his sect, the other sects will also be ready to pay for him, hehe"

Then, he turned around to leave as he ordered: "lock this cell once again, I will go and send our demands to the ten sects"

"Yes, leader!"

Saying that the minion once again locked the door from outside, leaving for his chores.

From their conversation, Veli already had an idea about who this man was and to confirm her suspicion, she attempted to take a glance at his face.

Right now, Ashen's head was bowing down due to being unconscious and as a result his face hidden from Veli, therefore, she wasn't able to see his face.

Veli decided to wait for Ashen to wake up before asking him what happened.

Clank!... Clank!

It didn't take long for Ashen to regain his consciousness as his shackles began to make clanking noise from being moved.

Veli's attention was grabbed by this noise as she shouted: "Brother Ashen, Brother Ashen, Are you alright?"

Ashen groaned, his vision blurry as he asked: "This Voice... Is it you sister Veli?"

Veli nodded: "Yes Brother Ashen, It's me."

"Now, Can you tell me how you got captured by these people?" She asked.

Ashen, getting his vision cleared, gazed at Veli.

As soon as his gaze fell on Veli, he sighed in relief: "Thank god sister Veli, I found you. It appears my plan worked."

Veli, puzzled by his statement, asked with a confused expression: "Plan? What Plan?"

Ashen smiled politely at her, answering embarrassingly: "ah, It's nothing, I heard that you haven't returned to the sect for a whole day, therefore, I got worried and began searching for you. Afterwards, I found out from a female disciple that you had gone to Spirit Beasts Thicket and not returned.

Hence, I went to search for you there, where I encountered these dark robed men who attempted to kidnap me. I suspected that they were the ones who had kidnapped you, therefore, I asked them about you.

Since they were confident in catching me, one of them had his tongue slip up and spilled that they had indeed capture you, therefore, I just let them capture me and now I am here."

Veli's eyes widened in shock as she asked: "But why would you do something like that for me? We just met a few days ago and we aren't even that close, so why would you risk yourself for me like that?"

Ashen, wearing a solemn expression, answered with a gentle smile: "I suppose I did that because you remind me of my childhood friend. She was also cheerful and innocent like you. Even your face matches hers. I just couldn't stop myself from worrying about you"

Veli lost herself for a moment as she gazed at Ashen's beautiful smile and his genuine care for her. She found his story reasonable as she could understand why he would feel that way. If someone reminded her of her sister, she would also feel close to that person.

Now, instead of pondering over the past, she decided to focus on how to get out of their situation.

Therefore, looking at Ashen with hope in her eyes, Veli asked: "Brother Ashen, since you got captured on your own volition, you must have a plan on escaping from here, right?"

Ashen nodded with a smile as he replied with a calm voice: "Of course Sister Veli, First, Let me inspect, what method should I employ to escape from here"

Veli's expression turned cheerful, however, she contained her excitement as she nodded: "Alright, I will wait, Brother Ashen"

Ashen nodded back before beginning to act as if he was inspecting his surroundings and the shackles confining him.

This was all a facade as Ashen was the one to choose this cell to confine Veli in. This cell was at a far away distance from the Phoenix Feather sect and he was sure that no one would be able to sense her, this far.

This cell was actually made inside a cave, covered by thick trees in the surroundings.

Although, they were in the outer layer of the Spirit Beasts thicket, however, they were far from any sect's boundary.

This was the perfect place to keep kidnapped victims.

After a while, Ashen stopped his act of inspection as he informed Veli: "Sister Veli, I have found a way to escape!"

Veli, wearing a curious expression, asked: "What is it?"

"Here, let me show you!"

Saying that Ashen channeled his soul strength to his arm, attempting to break off the shackles by pulling them with sheer force.

Crack.. Crack!

Gradually, cracks began to appear on the shackles as Ashen increased the force and in no time,

Break!

The shackles broke open, freeing Ashen's hands, next he freed his legs in a similar way.

Veli, who witnessed this scene had her eyes opened wide with her mouth gaped open in shock.

If breaking those shackles was this easy, then why was she still trapped here?

Not understanding the situation, she asked: "H-How did you do that?"

"Oh, I forgot to tell you that I am a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator now. These shackles are for the Body transformation realm, so I can break them easily"

Veli's eyes widened as she asked: "You advanced to Nascent Soul Realm?"

Ashen smiled as he began to break her shackles too before answering nonchalantly: "Yeah, just a few days back"

Now, this news was shocking to her. From her point of view, Ashen just started his cultivation a few weeks ago and he was already a nascent soul realm cultivator.

She had been at the body transformation realm for god knows how long.

Break!

As she was lost in her thoughts, the shackles were Broken by Ashen, freeing Veli of her confinement.

He gazed at her face, matching her eyes with his as he suggested: "Let's leave!"

Veli nodded after having regained her composure.

Ashen moved towards the cell bars, inspecting them carefully to see their toughness.

After he had made sure that it was made of normal metal, he clenches his fingers into a fist, employing his first skill, Martial Fist.

His bones hardened, and his spirit's power flowed into his fist as a python's mouth silhouette appeared in an ethereal form around his fist.

Boom!

He attacked the bars, a loud explosion echoed before a large hole appeared where the fist had struck.

Veli, who observed the power behind the attack, couldn't help but look with eyes opened wide in amazement as she wondered to herself: "What skill was it? I am sure that doesn't belong to our sect"

However, she didn't have much time to ponder as sounds of steps approaching them reached her ears.

Ashen reached out his hand to Veli, prompting her to follow behind him.

They both left the cell through the hole before encountering the dark robed men at the entrance of the cave.

"How did they escape? Weren't they confined?" A dark robed men questioned.

"We don't have time to discuss how they escaped, Let's capture them first"

"Attack!"

Shouting that, the dark robed men rushed towards Veli and Ashen.

Ashen had a calm expression while Veli was panicking.

Ashen saw her panicked expression as he held her by the shoulder, bringing her close to himself before whispering in her ear: "Don't be afraid, I will save you!"

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(A/N - Thanks for reading. ^..^)