Chapter 138
Chapter 138
Shengsheng Zhou held her breath and approached them without a sound.
She had no idea why a cave would exist in a place like this, let alone one divided into upper and lower levels.
Shengsheng had stumbled inside by accident. The echoes here were powerful, and even from a fair distance, she could clearly hear what they were saying.
Lying at the mouth of a naturally formed opening, Shengsheng listened to the activity below.
Fusheng Duan was there, and the sight of him hurt her eyes now. Besides, Jierge already looked wretched enough. She planned to wait until their negotiations ended, then sneak over at the last moment to land the final blow and let her dark-skinned brother experience what it meant to say, “Whoever breaks one of my wings, I shall destroy their entire heaven!”
She would have to trouble him to briefly die for her.
“You can have the antidote if you release my subordinates,” Jierge said through clenched teeth.
Interest entered Fusheng’s eyes, though contempt remained far stronger. “Are you threatening me?” He sounded as though he had just heard a joke.
Shengsheng wondered if this antidote could cure whatever had scrambled her memories.
It was impressive that Fusheng could endure staying somewhere so filthy for this long.
At his words, Jierge said coldly, “The antidote in exchange for my subordinates’ lives. Isn’t that a fair bargain?”
A man behind Fusheng hurriedly lowered his voice. “My lord, you mustn’t! We can capture the rebels and torture them. There’s no reason we won’t force the antidote out of him. But we cannot spare these people. Who knows what chaos they’ll create if we let them go?”
Fusheng thought, *What the hell does that have to do with me?*
He indeed did not want these people left alive, but what enraged him most was that this man still dared bargain with him at death’s door.
“Kill them.” The single word came coldly, a trace of disdain entering Fusheng’s eyes.
The group behind him received the order and charged forward with swift, ruthless decisiveness.
Jierge’s eyes nearly split with rage. “If you dare touch them, you’ll never obtain the antidote in this lifetime! Her muddled memories will turn her into a complete madwoman!!”
The screams from across the cavern sounded exceedingly pleasant to Fusheng. Qingbai, perched on his shoulder, disliked the stench of blood and flew away in disgust.
Jierge was restrained and forced to watch as his subordinates died beneath the blades, one after another.
Until–
“My lord, we found her.”
One of Fusheng’s subordinates dragged over a black-clad prisoner. Compared with the burly barbarian men, the captive was far too slender, and the wrist exposed in the struggle was remarkably delicate.
A woman’s muffled whimper escaped. Then someone tore the veiled hat from her head.
Black hair spilled down, framing a palm-sized face set with a pair of alluring, catlike eyes.
The woman was directly opposite Shengsheng. Beneath the bright flames of the torches, her face was illuminated with perfect clarity.
Shengsheng sucked in a breath, disbelief filling her eyes.
Fusheng showed no surprise at the familiar face.
But the woman shrank from him and kept her head lowered.
Fusheng gave a scoffing laugh and shook his head. His smooth, silken black hair swayed gently with the motion. He strolled with perfect composure to Jierge, whom his men held fast, and slid the small knife along his neck before finally using it to tip up his chin.
Tsk. He wasn’t even that handsome.
Fusheng looked down at him. Firelight flickered in his eyes but illuminated only cool indifference, and naked malice colored his voice. “You didn’t truly think I came looking for you because of the antidote, did you?”
Jierge’s lips began to tremble as an unbelievable possibility flashed through his mind.
“You… You knew who she was, yet kept her right under your nose?”
The sharp blade left Jierge’s chin. With a turn of his wrist, Fusheng Duan drove the knife viciously into his shoulder, drawing a muffled grunt.
Fusheng withdrew his hand with a weary expression. “Naturally, I didn’t know her exact identity. At first, I only took her for a spy you’d sent. But now that it’s been confirmed, I owe you my thanks. Not only did you find the key for me, you also delivered the person I’ve sought for so many years straight into my hands.”
Jierge nearly ground his teeth to dust, his eyes red and savage. “You did it deliberately… You knew something was wrong with the Jiang family, yet let them take the Dai Luan Bird’s blood at will. You deliberately let us succeed in Dazhang City to lower our guard, then allowed us inside so we would take the person and obtain the key, letting you catch us all in one net. Two birds with one stone!!”
Fusheng’s fingers twitched.
No. He had not known…
“What brilliant scheming, descendant of the phoenix bloodline. You’d sacrifice an entire city–even the woman you love–just to kill us! Worthy of Qing Kingdom’s royal blood. Filthy and despicable to the bone!!”
“I wonder what our esteemed Divine Envoy would think if she knew. The man she loves approached her deliberately for another woman, and for the sake of his final prize, he was even willing to sacrifice her life!”
Only then did the woman everyone had ignored raise her head and look directly at Fusheng for the first time. Her lips trembled. “Did you get together with Shengsheng just to keep watch over me?”
She had always stayed beside Shengsheng Zhou, especially after they entered the palace. Whenever Shengsheng returned from Fusheng’s side, large marks would appear beneath her collar. Zhiyu Jiang might not have understood such things, but after Meiren Liu glimpsed the marks once, she knew immediately that a man had left them.
After probing indirectly and seeing the springtime glow in Shengsheng’s eyes despite her refusal to say anything, Meiren inferred that the two of them were probably together.
A noble consort and a palace maid.
It sounded absurd, even laughable.
Yet when that person was Shengsheng, nothing about it seemed wrong.
But had this man truly deceived Shengsheng into being with him merely so he could monitor her?
For once, Fusheng found himself at a loss for words.
He could not understand whether these people had all contracted Weiqing Song Syndrome. Every last one of them conjured up far too much drama.
“Too much nonsense.” What right did someone who had been a spy from the beginning have to question him?
Tears fell from Meiren Liu’s eyes, her expression devastated. “You actually deceived Shengsheng… Your affection for her was nothing but exploitation!! Do you even have a heart? Fusheng Duan, she followed you for five years. Raise a turtle for five years and even it would know you! You can’t simply cast her aside!!”
But Fusheng had already walked away. Before leaving, he did not forget to order his men to slash Jierge’s face before tying him up.
Soon, both firelight and voices had disappeared. Only the stagnant reek of blood remained in the air, a reminder of what had just happened here.
Shengsheng and A-Pang had heard every single word.
A-Pang did not dare say anything. *Shengsheng…*
He did not dare defend Fusheng. They had stayed beside that man for almost five years–nearly six now–and knew very well this seemingly indolent yet savage, ruthless, and unfathomable man.
This truly did sound like something he would do.