Chарtеr 276: Тhе Firе Мoth Pаrtу 8
Sееing thаt he did not resроnd, Pan Сhi gritted his teеth аnd silеntlу сursеd a few timеs in his heart: "Hey, the imроrtant mаtter is аt hаnd, whу аre уоu bеing sо рettу?"
Zhu Yan echоеd Pаn Chi: "You should gо quickly, I'll bе fine." No mаttеr whаt, thеу must nоt lеt these twо еscаре.
Shen Du: ...
Еverуоne was trарpеd in this crampеd prison cеll, unаblе to mоve freelу. Моreоvеr, thе jаilеrs wеre numеrоus and fаmiliar with thе terrain, аnd Mо Qiаnzhi wаs well-vеrsеd in militаrу strategy, hаving led troops and fоught battles. For а moment, thе Inner Guаrds wеre rеstrained, and Mo Qianzhi and Wang Buzui actually found an opportunity. Protected by the jailers, they headed toward the prison entrance.
Zhu Yan grabbed Shen Du's arm and said anxiously:
"Shen Du..."
"Hmm?"
"Husband," Zhu Yan corrected herself, "don't let them escape."
Letting the tiger return to the mountains would only nurture future trouble.
Shen Du's dark eyes narrowed slightly, the corners of his lips downturned with a hint of pleasure as he gently patted Zhu Yan's hand: "It's fine."
It's fine?
"But they..."
Before Zhu Yan could finish, Jing Lin leaped up and blocked Mo Qianzhi and Wang Buzui just as they were about to step out of the prison. The sword gleamed, pointing directly at their faces.
At that moment, a sudden change occurred. A black-clad figure emerged from nowhere, deflected Jing Lin's sword, and lifted Wang Buzui and Mo Qianzhi on either side, attempting to fly out of the prison.
Shen Du had been waiting for this moment. He drew his sword and leaped into the air.
"Stay put!"
Zhu Yan nodded, her eyes fixed on Shen Du.
The attacker had originally targeted Jing Lin but did not expect Shen Du to move so quickly. Forced to twist his body, he hastily turned and launched a series of attacks toward Shen Du. Meanwhile, Jing Lin entangled him, tossing Wang Buzui and Mo Qianzhi to the jailers on either side and charging straight toward Zhu Yan, only to be blocked by Pan Chi's desperate defense.
In just a few moves, Pan Chi was defeated. The black-clad figure reached out to grab Zhu Yan, who frantically stabbed with her Corpse-Dissecting Knife. The attacker kicked her aside, and she fell to the ground.
"Hahaha!" The black-clad figure let out a muffled, eerie laugh.
"Zhu Yan!"
The laughter abruptly ceased as Shen Du placed his sword horizontally between the black-clad figure's eyes, mere inches away.
For a moment, Mo Qianzhi and Wang Buzui forgot about escaping, stunned by this sudden turn of events.
Had Shen Du's martial arts improved to such an extent? Killing without a sound, leaving no trace.
"Ugh!"
Zhu Yan tried to get up but was in too much pain to move. She let out a muffled groan and looked up to see Shen Du gazing at her. Her face was pale, and a gleam flashed in her eyes:
"Be careful."
Another sudden change occurred. The black-clad figure seized this opening to evade Shen Du's attack range, defeated the severely injured and powerless Pan Chi, and headed toward Mo Qianzhi and Wang Buzui. Mo Qianzhi and the masked attacker together forced Jing Lin to retreat.
"Go!"
With the jailers covering their rear, the black-clad figure led Mo Qianzhi and Wang Buzui, throwing down an object that released a dense black mist, both real and illusory.
"Illusion Art?" Zhu Yan was both annoyed that she had distracted Shen Du by calling out and delighted that he cared so much for her. Seeing the black mist at the prison door, she suddenly thought of something and blurted out, "It's Illusion Art."
"Jing Lin!"
At his command, Jing Lin flipped his arm to reveal several delicate small crossbows. He fired several arrows in succession and indeed heard screams from within the black mist. Feeling a surge of joy, he charged through the mist and emerged, dragging one person with him.
"Wang Buzui."
Jing Lin bowed in apology.
"Commander, they escaped."
Shen Du's expression was inscrutable as he gently shook his head: "It's fine!" But his hand remained tightly gripping Zhu Yan's arm.
"Should we pursue them while we have the advantage?"Shaking his head again, Shen Du couldn't be bothered to explain the reason. He lowered his head to examine Zhu Yan and found only superficial injuries, so he didn’t say anything more.
“Damn it, letting Mo Qianzhi escape just like that.” Pan Chi looked at Wang Buzui’s smug expression, his face filled with anger, yet with nowhere to vent it.
Shen Du walked toward Wang Buzui, a hint of anger in his eyes. Without waiting for Wang Buzui to react, he delivered a flying kick. Wang Buzui, already bleeding from an arrow wound in his calf and struggling to move, was sent tumbling several times before crashing into the iron door of the prison cell. He fell to the ground and rolled a few more times, covered in dust and filth, his entire body in so much pain he couldn’t even speak.
Wang Buzui gritted his teeth, his face defiant: “If you have the guts, kill me.”
With that, he silently chanted an incantation, his expression turning manic.
Shen Du, known as the Cold-Faced Yama and the White King of Hell, showed no mercy to such lowly individuals. He stepped forward and stomped on Wang Buzui’s chest, grinding his foot again and again. The pain made Wang Buzui writhe, covered in cold sweat, his eyes bloodshot as he glared at Shen Du. Only then did Shen Du let out an emotionless laugh.
“You…” Wang Buzui sensed something was wrong and desperately tried to push himself backward with his feet.
“Ah!”
No one saw the movement clearly. They only saw Wang Buzui clutching one of his eyes, howling and rolling on the ground, completely ignoring the wound on his leg. Blood streamed from his right eye, dripping through his fingers onto the ground in a pool of crimson.
“Hmph!” Shen Du lightly flicked his cloak. “I’m leaving you one eye so you can see exactly how you die.”
A cold wind blew in from the prison entrance, chilling everyone’s hearts.
“Take him away!”
“Yes!”
Jing Lin led the cleanup efforts. Shen Du turned sideways and saw Zhu Yan staring blankly at him, her expression utterly dazed and adorable. Unconsciously, his tone softened:
“Shall we go?”
Zhu Yan nodded woodenly, still stuck on the moment of Shen Du’s cruel execution. She shook her head in realization—yes, Shen Du was the White King of Hell. She had nearly forgotten lately, almost thinking he was no longer that wolf.
The two walked in silence. Zhu Yan tried several times to pull her hand back but couldn’t. She stole a glance at Shen Du and noticed his brows were tightly furrowed.
“I’m sorry!”
“Hmm?” Shen Du was puzzled.
Zhu Yan lowered her head to explain: “It was all because I held you back that they got away.”
Shen Du relaxed: “It has nothing to do with you.”
But Shen Du’s words did little to convince Zhu Yan that it truly had nothing to do with her: “Shen Du.”
“…”
Zhu Yan bit her lip: “Husband.”
Only then did Shen Du turn his gaze to her face, his expression saying, “I’m listening.”
Zhu Yan silently cursed herself for being so fawning but kept her composure. “Husband, given the current situation, leaving aside their escape and jailbreak, how should we report back to the Empress about the tasks she assigned?”
The Empress had tasked Zhu Yan with investigating Mo Qianzhi’s rebellion and ordered Shen Du to look into the Half-Faced Ghost case in Gannan Circuit. Now, these two matters had become entangled…
Shen Du held Zhu Yan’s hand and gently traced her palm, his brows tightly knit: “Most likely, even the Empress’s spies haven’t uncovered this unexpected turn of events.”
Zhu Yan felt a chill run down her spine. If that were the case, wasn’t the entire Great Zhou, both inside and out, under the Empress’s surveillance?
“Why didn’t you pursue Mo Qianzhi and that black-clad man, letting them escape?” Zhu Yan finally asked, then frowned. Mentioning the black-clad man, she felt as though she had overlooked something.Seeing Shen Du in no hurry to answer, Zhu Yan sensed something: "Did you discover something?"
But Shen Du only shook his head, then nodded again.
"Ah, we finally caught the main culprit, yet one of them managed to escape."
Shen Du remained silent, his expression inscrutable, leaving Zhu Yan puzzled.
She took a step forward, blocking his line of sight: "What's wrong? Why are you smiling when one of them got away?"
"They were so coordinated, I almost thought it was a premeditated prison break plan, but..."
Zhu Yan tilted her head to look at him, then suddenly understood.
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