Chapter 41: The Obsessive, Insatiable Hostage Prince x The Spoiled, Arrogant Princess (41)

Shuyao's gaze remained fixed on Shen Jingmu.

He was covered in blood, his face still familiar, yet the aura surrounding him was now worlds apart from the past.

Brutal, sinister, stepping out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

This was his true face.

All that cautiousness, that willingness to endure punishment, that careful daily existence—

It was entirely a disguise to preserve himself and make everyone lower their guard.

Even though Shuyao had known this long ago, she still felt a deep sense of dread to this day.

Her body trembled uncontrollably, and her teeth chattered.

Sweeping his gaze over the woman's pale, delicate face, Shen Jingmu curved his lips into a smile.

The bright red bridal gown made her look breathtakingly gorgeous, but only he knew that beneath this skin lay the heart of a venomous snake.

Cruel only toward him.

She was kind to everyone else, tattooing Zhaoyang and preparing jewelry for the palace maids to protect them.

Even toward those scoundrels Anle and Chu Lanqing, she was willing to sacrifice herself, all to help them attain the crown prince's throne they dreamed of!

How kind of her, reserving all her malice for him alone.

The more he thought about it, the more depressed Shen Jingmu felt. The pent-up frustration in his chest refused to dissipate, and it needed to be vented entirely.

"Vile slave, how dare you rebel!"

Shuyao forced herself to remain calm, but her trembling voice completely betrayed her.

The rain soaked her entire body, clinging damply to her skin, and the enveloping chill made her shiver.

Liao had been defeated in battle, voluntarily handing over Shen Jingmu as a hostage and becoming a vassal state of Great Chu.

This act was naturally a rebellion, and her curse was entirely accurate.

Yet, falling into his ears, why did it sound so grating?

"Audacious wretch! How dare you hurl insults at your master? You are simply courting death!"

The Liao vanguard officer, who had led the pursuit—now a deputy general—fumed with rage, his hand instinctively twitching toward the cold blade at his waist.

With a single word from his master, he would instantly rush forward and chop off this woman's head to feed the dogs!

It was one thing for her to bully their master in ordinary times, but now that the enemy was at the city gates and death was imminent, she still dared to be defiant.

Feeding her to the dogs would teach her some manners.

"Vile dog! Beast!"

Shuyao continued to hurl curses relentlessly, merely swapping them for two even harsher terms.

The deputy general grew even angrier, layering fury upon fury.

"You still dare to curse! Believe it or not, I'll split you in two with a single slash! Try saying another word?!"

***

Cen Mo, arriving belatedly, clamped a hand over the deputy general's mouth.

"Shut up!"

"Mmm-mmm-mmm! Mmm!"

The deputy general's face flushed crimson, yet his broad-shouldered, muscular frame somehow failed to break free from Cen Mo's iron grip.

Seeing the most ferocious of the Liao men locked by the throat, Shuyao raised a hand to wipe the rainwater from her face, glaring fiercely at the man before her.

Her eyes were filled with extreme disgust, wishing she could devour his flesh and drink his blood.

"If you are a man, kill me outright! Otherwise, even as a ghost, I will never let you go."

She gasped for breath, her exquisite makeup entirely washed away by the rain, and the floral motif between her brows lost its color.

Even at this juncture, she refused to yield.

He wanted even more to see her kneel, to break her wings, to shatter her proud bones, and to see her pleasing him with eyes full of tears.

Just the thought of it made Shen Jingmu's scalp tingle.

Clutching his blood-stained longsword, he stepped onto the blood-soaked stone steps.

The tip of the sword scraped against the ground, producing a harsh, grating sound.

"Don't come closer!"

Terrified, Shuyao stumbled backward in panic, her voice sharp and hoarse, like something scraping against jagged stones, mixed with a dense smell of blood.

Finally afraid?

Ignoring her warning, Shen Jingmu leisurely walked into the hall.

Blood continued to drip from his armor, leaving a trail of bloody footprints at the entrance of the hall.

Shuyao's pupils nearly split; instinctively terrified of death, she turned and tried to run.

Shen Jingmu crossed the steps in two or three strides, grabbed the back of the woman's neck, and violently spun her around!

With a loud crash, the ancestral tablets behind her scattered haphazardly onto the floor.

Her lower back collided with the altar, turning a patch of skin red. Unable to suppress her welling tears, Shuyao was paralyzed by fear, utterly speechless.

"Still want to run?"

The man's body was hard and burning hot, his scorching breath mixed with the stench of blood rushing wildly into her nostrils.

A large hand clutched the back of her neck; with just a tiny bit more force, he could easily snap it.

Shen Jingmu's eyes were bloodshot, surging with gloomy, murderous intent.

Shuyao did not dare meet his eyes; she turned her head away, her long eyelashes trembling violently.

"Kill me."

The man's gaze grew even gloomier.

He had hoped to see her yield and accept her fate, but at this moment, her single-minded desire for death only added to the frustration pent up in his heart!

***

Was she really this full of backbone?

She would rather die than utter a single plea to him?

Shen Jingmu let out an abrupt laugh, his tone chillingly cruel.

"How could this slave bear to let you die?"

"Death..." He leaned down, pressing close to the woman's ear, his voice terrifyingly chilling, "...is far too easy on you."

Shuyao frantically twisted her head away, before she could even digest the meaning behind his words, the world spun before her eyes.

He had hoisted her over his shoulder!

"Beast! What are you doing? Let me go!"

Previously, she had merely been acting out the script, but now Shuyao was genuinely panicked.

She hammered frantically against the man's shoulders, the hard armor bruising her palms.

Shen Jingmu raised an eyebrow and hefted the little figure on his back.

"A beast, naturally, does what beasts do."

In full view of everyone, he carried Shuyao away on his shoulder.

"Ooh! Ooh-ooh!"

"Master is mighty!"

"Show this bitch what you're made of!"

Seeing the scene unfold, the Liao soldiers brandished their swords to watch the spectacle, whistling excitedly.

The people of Liao were open and uninhibited, and since their soldiers had washed away their past humiliation, it was only natural to celebrate.

Only the deputy general scratched his head in confusion. "What's going on with the master?"

"Idiot."

Cen Mo curled two fingers and rapped him on the forehead.

"Hiss!"

"Didn't you hear the master tell you to capture Princess Jianning alive? And yet you scared her into such a state."

The deputy general looked even more perplexed. "The master only said to capture her alive without harming her; he didn't say anything about not scaring her."

Cen Mo sneered, finding it hard to believe that someone in this world could be even more foolish than himself.

He gave him a cold glance, his gaze dropping to the deputy general's muscular arms as he gave them a pointed pat.

"What's the use of having only muscles and no brains?"