Chapter 10: The Mad Scientist Wife
Li Wei followed Elder Xiao Yun through winding corridors, his heart pounding.
Yue Mei walked beside him, unusually quiet.
"So," Li Wei whispered. "Think she's going to kill me?"
"Probably dissect you first," Yue Mei said cheerfully. "Then kill you."
"Very reassuring."
Then the System chimed in—because of course it did.
║ WIFE DETECTED!
║
║ Xiao Yun - Wife #9
║ The Formation Master
║ Age: 25
║ Cultivation: Soul Realm Stage 2
║ Affection: 35/100 (Annoyed)
║
║ Fun Fact: You have SUCH beautiful
║ wives! She's a genius, you know!
║ Too bad you've been treating her
║ like furniture for 5 years! :)
Li Wei nearly stumbled. Wife number NINE?!
Memories flooded his mind—not his own, but Zhao Tian's.
[FLASHBACK - Five Years Ago]
Zhao Tian stood at the gates of Frozen Moon Villa Academy, aura blazing, sword in hand.
"Surrender your Frozen Moon Core," he demanded. "Or I level this place."
The Academy Master, an ancient cultivator nearing the end of his lifespan, stood defiant. "We will not—"
"Wait!" A young woman rushed forward. Messy hair, ink-stained robes, thick glasses. She looked barely twenty.
Xiao Yun. The academy's youngest prodigy. Soul Realm at age twenty. A formation genius.
"I'll go with you," she said, voice steady despite the fear in her eyes. "Marry me. Use my formations. Just... leave the academy alone."
Zhao Tian laughed. "A bride AND a formation master? Deal."
He'd taken her that day. Not by force—she'd walked willingly to save her home.
And then he'd... ignored her. Stuck her in a villa. Visited maybe twice a year when he needed a formation built.
She'd rewired every security array to electrocute him. He'd stopped visiting.
[PRESENT]
Li Wei's stomach churned with guilt that wasn't entirely his own.
She sacrificed herself to save the academy. And the villain treated her like a tool.
They reached a massive door covered in glowing runes. Xiao Yun pressed her palm to it.
"Lab. Don't touch anything unless you want to explode."
The door swung open.
The laboratory was chaos incarnate. Floating manuscripts. Glowing formations on every surface. A tea pot that poured itself. And in the center, a large examination table with straps.
Li Wei's survival instincts screamed at him to RUN.
Xiao Yun turned to face him, adjusting her glasses. Despite the messy appearance, she was... actually quite pretty. Delicate features. Large, intelligent eyes behind those thick lenses.
The System helpfully provided commentary:
║ She's cute when she's not plotting
║ to experiment on you! :D
║
║ Relationship Status: Married
║ (Technically still your wife!)
║ Romance Difficulty: HARD MODE
"So," Xiao Yun said, studying him. "Zhao Tian. You look... different."
Li Wei's throat went dry. "Different how?"
"Weaker. Scared. Pathetic." She tilted her head. "Rumors say you lost all your cultivation in the fall. Is it true?"
Li Wei hesitated. Zhao Tian's memories confirmed—everyone KNEW. The coalition had spread the word: Zhao Tian fell, lost his power, probably died.
"It's true," Li Wei admitted. "I'm... barely Mortal Realm Stage 5 now."
"Fascinating." She circled him like a predator. "From Core Realm Stage 9 to Mortal Realm Stage 5. That's a 90% power loss. The meridian damage must be catastrophic."
"It is," Li Wei said weakly.
"And yet you're alive. The fall should have killed you." She stopped directly in front of him. "How?"
"Lucky?"
"Insufficient data." She poked his chest with a brush. "I need to examine you. Thoroughly."
"Examine—?"
Xiao Yun flicked her brush.
Formations activated beneath Li Wei's feet.
Oh no.
Glowing chains of light erupted, wrapping around his wrists and ankles. He was yanked backward—straight onto the examination table.
"Hey! Wait—!"
The straps tightened, binding him spread-eagle.
"Perfect," Xiao Yun said, approaching with a pleased expression. "Much easier to study you when you're not running away."
Yue Mei laughed from the corner. "Oh, I LIKE this! Can I watch?"
"If you're quiet," Xiao Yun said absently.
Li Wei struggled. The formation chains didn't budge. "This is kidnapping! Assault! Something illegal!"
"You're my husband," Xiao Yun said, as if that explained everything. "Legally, I'm allowed to do whatever I want with you."
"That's NOT how marriage works!"
"Isn't it?" She climbed onto the table, straddling his waist to get a better angle.
Li Wei's face turned bright red. "W-What are you doing?!"
"Checking your meridians." She pressed her hand to his chest, qi flowing through him. "Hold still."
Her touch was clinical. Professional. But also—she was sitting on him, leaning forward, her face inches from his.
"Your meridians are a mess," Xiao Yun muttered, tracing glowing lines across his chest with her finger. "Seventy percent blocked. It's a miracle you can cultivate at all."
"Can you... maybe do this WITHOUT sitting on me?" Li Wei squeaked.
She blinked, as if just realizing their position. "This is the optimal angle for meridian examination."
"It's REALLY not!"
She ignored him, continuing her investigation. Her fingers traced down his arms, checking qi flow points.
Yue Mei whistled. "Husband, you're so popular! First me, now her!"
"This is NOT the same thing!" Li Wei protested.
Xiao Yun finally climbed off, making notes on a floating scroll. "Interesting. Your soul signature is intact, but your cultivation base is shattered. Almost like you were... reset."
Li Wei's heart hammered. Did she suspect?
"However," she continued, "this presents an opportunity."
"Opportunity?"
"You're weak. Powerless. No longer a threat." She adjusted her glasses, a calculating gleam in her eyes. "Which means I can finally test my experimental formations on you without worrying you'll destroy my lab in retaliation."
"That's your takeaway?!"
"Also," she added, almost as an afterthought, "since you're no longer dangerous, I don't hate you as much."
║ AFFECTION UPDATE!
║ Xiao Yun: 37 → 40
║
║ Reason: "He's finally useful!"
Li Wei stared at the ceiling, bound to a table, his wife—NINTH wife—planning to use him as a guinea pig.
This is my life now.
"So," he said weakly. "What happens if I refuse?"
"You can't refuse. You're tied up." She patted his head like a pet. "Don't worry. Most of my experiments are non-lethal."
"MOST?!"
"87% survival rate. Very good odds."
"THAT'S TERRIBLE ODDS!"
Xiao Yun pulled out a vial of glowing blue liquid. "Let's start with this. Meridian Regeneration Serum. Modified with Thunder essence. Should either heal you... or electrocute you from the inside."
"Or? OR?!"
She uncorked the vial.
Li Wei looked desperately at Yue Mei. "HELP ME!"
Yue Mei just waved. "You're doing great, husband! Very brave!"
"TRAITOR!"
Xiao Yun lifted the vial to his lips. "Open wide. This will either save your cultivation... or make your organs glow. Either way, valuable data."
Li Wei clamped his mouth shut.
She pinched his nose.
He lasted fifteen seconds before gasping for air.
She poured the serum down his throat.
It tasted like lightning and regret.
For three seconds, nothing happened.
Then—
BZZZZT.
Every nerve in Li Wei's body lit up like a firework. Not quite painful. Just... extremely uncomfortable. Like static electricity coursing through his veins.
His hair stood on end.
Literally.
Xiao Yun leaned closer, fascinated. "Oh! The serum is interacting with your shadow affinity! Unexpected variable!"
Li Wei's cultivation—his qi pathways—suddenly burned. But in a good way? The blocked meridians were... clearing?
║ BREAKTHROUGH DETECTED!
║
║ Mortal Realm Stage 5 → Stage 6
║
║ Side Effect: Hair now permanently
║ static for 24 hours
║
║ Worth it? Probably!
The electricity faded.
Li Wei collapsed back on the table, panting. His body felt... stronger. Lighter.
"Stage 6," he breathed. "I broke through."
"Excellent!" Xiao Yun scribbled frantically. "The serum works! With modifications!" She looked at him with genuine excitement. "We can replicate this! Run more tests! Oh, this is wonderful!"
She was smiling.
Actually smiling.
It transformed her whole face—made her look less like a mad scientist and more like an excited girl who'd just solved an impossible equation.
║ AFFECTION UPDATE!
║ Xiao Yun: 40 → 45
║
║ "He's the perfect test subject!"
║ (This counts as affection for her)
"So," Li Wei said carefully. "Does this mean you'll untie me?"
"No. We have seventeen more experiments to run."
"SEVENTEEN?!"
"Eighteen if you count the Exploding Tea Formation."
"Please don't."
Xiao Yun patted his head again. "Don't worry. I'll feed you between experiments. Very humane."
Yue Mei laughed so hard she fell off her chair.
Li Wei stared at the ceiling of the laboratory, bound to a table, his hair sticking straight up from static, about to be experimented on seventeen more times.
One day at a time, he told himself. Just survive one day at a time.
At least he'd broken through to Stage 6.
Silver linings.
Very small, very terrifying silver linings.
Three Hours Later
Li Wei stumbled out of the laboratory, hair singed, clothes smoking slightly, but miraculously alive.
Experiment results:
- 3 successful breakthroughs (minor)
- 2 near-death experiences
- 1 accidental formation that turned his left hand invisible for ten minutes
- 7 different types of mild electrocution
Worth it? Debatable.
Xiao Yun handed him a jade slip as he left. "Come back tomorrow. 4 AM. Don't be late."
"Can I refuse?"
"No. You're my husband. And my test subject. And academy law protects you only if I approve." She smiled sweetly. "So unless you want me to revoke sanctuary..."
"I'll be here," Li Wei said quickly.
"Good boy." She turned back to her lab. "Oh, and Li Wei?"
"Yes?"
"Everyone knows you lost your power. That's why your wives aren't afraid of you anymore. They think you're weak. Pathetic." She looked at him over her shoulder. "Use that. Let them underestimate you."
Then she closed the door.
Li Wei stood there, processing.
She's... actually trying to help me?
║ AFFECTION UPDATE!
║ Xiao Yun: 45 → 48
║
║ Status: Reluctant Ally
║ She sees you as: Useful + Harmless
║
║ Keep being her guinea pig!
Yue Mei linked her arm through his. "That was fun! Let's do it again tomorrow!"
"You're insane."
"And you're married to a hundred women. We're both crazy."
Fair point.
They walked back toward the dorms as the sun set over Frozen Moon Villa Academy.
Li Wei had survived another day.
He had two allies now: a yandere assassin and a mad scientist.
Ninety-eight wives to go.
And somewhere in the shadows, Lin Xue watched with narrowed eyes, her suspicions growing.
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