Сhаpter 135: Тhе Illusiоn's Dеаdly Traр
"Рrincess!" Zhu Yаn exсlаimеd in shосk, struggling tо resist.
She сlutched the white silk around hеr nеck with оne hаnd whilе trуing tо teаr аt thе рrinсess's сlothes with the оthеr.
Yet nо matter how shе clawеd, she cоuldn't grаsр thе реrsоn's garments.
Моreоvеr, thе hands bеhind her tightеnеd their grip with inсrеasing fоrce. Zhu Yan fеlt herself on thе vеrgе of suffоcation, hеr рuрils dilating unсоntrоllаblу. Dеspеrаtelу, she tuggеd at the silk аround hеr nесk. In her finаl mоmеnts, shе gasped оut two words with great difficultу, "Shen... Shen Du!"
As sоon as thе words lеft hеr lips, thе silk around her neck suddenly loosened, and she collapsed to the ground.
Zhu Yan gasped for the precious air, unable to comprehend why the princess would try to kill her, or why she had suddenly released her grip.
What happened next left her utterly stunned. There was no princess in sight—only herself and a witness, who lay on the ground covered in blood, his heart missing. It appeared as though his heart had just been torn out, and he was not yet completely dead.
"What happened to you?" Zhu Yan rushed forward. "Who did this?"
She pressed urgently, hoping to extract clues about the murderer from the man. But his gaze gradually dimmed, and he kept murmuring words like "return from death, return from death..."
"Hey! You can't die!" Seeing the man's life fading away, Zhu Yan grew desperate. "Tell me who the murderer is so I can avenge you. Speak quickly!"
In the end, the witness failed to answer Zhu Yan's question. He closed his eyes and stopped breathing.
Zhu Yan was speechless...
Just when she had finally found someone with a clue, he was killed right before her eyes, plunging her back into a predicament. It was utterly infuriating.
Zhu Yan hung her head in silence, but then faint whispers reached her ears, as if someone were speaking.
She quickly turned toward the sound and saw Princess Runing standing behind her, silently observing everything, her lips moving in a continuous, hushed recitation of "Amitabha."
"Princess?" Zhu Yan could no longer distinguish reality from illusion. The earlier events still left her trembling with fear.
The princess took a step forward, her gaze icy cold as she demanded, "Why did you kill him?"
"What?" Zhu Yan's heart skipped a beat, completely baffled by the princess's words. But the princess repeated, "Why did you kill him?"
Zhu Yan heard her clearly and finally understood the situation. The princess before her was real—and what she had witnessed was Zhu Yan "killing" the witness!
But she hadn't killed him!
Zhu Yan's expression twisted in anguish. Just as she was about to explain, a group of guards stormed in through the door and seized her without hesitation.
Without giving her any chance to defend herself, they dragged her away.
Only then did Zhu Yan realize she had fallen into a trap.
Just as her master had said, everything had been arranged. Even though she knew it was all a conspiracy, she was powerless to unravel it, forced to walk step by step into the snare.
Locked in a prison cell, Zhu Yan sat in a daze, replaying the entire case in her mind.
The case was riddled with too many doubts, leaving her feeling utterly helpless. The waters were too deep, so deep she could hardly breathe.
Letting out a long sigh, Zhu Yan turned her gaze to the adjacent cell. Madam Tang was right next to her, sitting silently on the ground, lost in thought."Madam Tang." Zhu Yan called out calmly, but Madam Tang remained motionless.
Zhu Yan knew she had heard, so she continued calmly, "Do you know Chen Huo'e?"
Upon hearing this, Madam Tang shuddered, as if snapping back to reality. She turned her head to glance at Zhu Yan and muttered, "Fire moth?"
These two words seemed to enlighten Madam Tang, or perhaps they struck a deep chord within her. She burst into wild laughter.
"Fire... fire moth." Madam Tang spoke frantically, her hands beginning to twist into strange gestures. Suddenly, an inexplicable smoke enveloped her, and the dry straw on the ground instantly caught fire.
Zhu Yan was shocked and quickly stepped back, but the flames swiftly surrounded Madam Tang.
The two prison cells were closely connected, and the straw on the ground was extremely dry, igniting at the slightest touch. The fire around Madam Tang quickly spread along the dry straw to Zhu Yan's cell.
"Hahaha..." Madam Tang laughed maniacally amidst the flames, while Zhu Yan was so startled her eyes nearly bulged out.
Could it be that today she would be burned to death by Madam Tang here?
"H-help! Help!" Zhu Yan rushed to the cell door, shouting frantically, "There's a fire! Someone, come quickly!"
As if hearing her cries, a crowd surged in from outside.
At that moment, Zhu Yan noticed that the leader among the group entering was none other than Shen Du!
For some reason, the moment she saw Shen Du appear, her heart suddenly felt much steadier.
Every time she was in danger, this man would always appear by her side. Unconsciously, she had come to rely on him.
The cell door was opened, and with a wave of his hand, Shen Du separated the flames.
The fire was extinguished by the crowd, and fortunately, no one was injured.
Shen Du pulled Zhu Yan out of the cell, his face dark and forbidding the entire way, making everyone afraid to utter a word.
Zhu Yan, a murderer? He certainly didn't believe it.
But his heart was filled with indignation. How dare they target someone under his protection? He could no longer stand idly by.
Shen Du's expression was grim. Zhu Yan, tightly held by him, felt a pang of guilt. "Are you still angry?"
Shen Du ignored her. Remembering the earlier fire, Zhu Yan quickly asked, "The fire was so intense just now. Were you hurt?"
Hearing Zhu Yan's concern, Shen Du stopped and fixed his deep, unfath\omable gaze on the woman before him. "That was cold fire. It can't harm me."
Cold fire was introduced from the Western Regions, used by performers there. Zhu Yan had seen it before—the powder didn't burn when it fell on the body and looked quite beautiful. She hadn't expected Shen Du to recognize it at a glance, while she herself had momentarily forgotten.
After hearing Shen Du's reply, Zhu Yan was surprised to notice that his clothes were covered in powder. How had she missed it earlier?
Zhu Yan's face instantly flushed red. For a moment, she was astonished. What was wrong with her?
Such an obvious detail—she would never have missed it before. Could it be that her concern had clouded her judgment in the moment?
Zhu Yan fell silent, lowering her head in sudden awkwardness, unsure of what to say next.
Shen Du also noticed the change in Zhu Yan and simply gazed down at her.
The woman before him seemed dazed, her face flushed, her breathing slightly rapid. She must be thinking the same thing he was.
The corners of his lips unconsciously lifted. The atmosphere between the two suddenly felt strangely charged."You..." After what felt like a long time, Shen Du finally spoke, "Are you alright?"
His sudden, inexplicable question left Zhu Yan momentarily stunned. She looked up at him and caught a flicker of complex emotion in his eyes.
Zhu Yan bit her lip, nodding repeatedly before shaking her head. "Mm, I'm fine. I'm really fine."
Shen Du said nothing more, the smile at the corner of his lips deepening as he turned to leave. Zhu Yan quickly followed in his footsteps.
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