Chu Yun woke up with a scream lodged in his throat.
His eyes snapped open with the fire consuming his lower body. He looked down at his legs expecting to find them gone. Instead they were propped up from the ceiling by the ankle in a sort of cloth harness. His robes had been tied above his knees in the same way fishermen did when they needed to wade into water. His knees were covered in a thick dark salve, hiding the skin beneath.
Chu Yun tried to move, and free his legs from the contraption, but bending his legs sent a soaring pain through his spine.
"If I was you I wouldn't do that," said a wizened voice from behind him.
He tried to crane his neck to get a look at the speaker but she did him the favour of moving into his line of sight.
