Chapter Eighty-Seven: A Savage Battle

When Chubing woke, the room was pitch-black. She lay there in a daze for a while before suddenly remembering that she still had to slip out of this damned place under cover of night. She sprang out of bed at once.

“Wait…” The system looked at her bright, eager expression and, for a moment, could not bear to break the news.

Chubing was in high spirits and said in a lowered voice, “Wait for what? I’m too nervous right now. Don’t talk to me!”

She pressed herself to the door and peered outside. The courtyard was deathly quiet, not a soul in sight.

Liyuxi actually trusted her that much? He did not even post a guard?

Something about it felt wrong to Chubing, but the urge to escape won out. She had no time to think further. Activating her instant-movement skill, she tried at once to leave this hellhole.

Bang!

Her body seemed to slam into an invisible wall, and she crashed hard to the floor.

“Ouch!” What was going on?

“System, why isn’t the instant-movement skill working!”

Even the system could not bear to look. In a tone thick with resignation, it said, “Liyuxi probably read that book on formations and taught himself a sealing array. If no one opens the door from outside, you won’t be able to get out.”

Chubing…

Damn Liyuxi. How could he be so cunning?

Grinding her teeth, Chubing pounded the ground with a fist, only to grimace from the pain. In the end, she could only flop back onto the bed, clutching her quilt and silently wailing.

This was just too hard for her!

In the study, Liyuxi’s brows shifted slightly, and a faint curve touched his lips. “As expected, she is a little fox, already thinking of slipping away in the middle of the night.”

The moment the formation stirred, he knew.

He chuckled softly, shook his head, and returned himself to the second volume on formations.

Several days passed in a row, and Chubing remained trapped in that room. Every day, someone came on time to bring her meals, but no one would say a single unnecessary word.

She had been worn down until she had no temper left.

“It seems I’ll have to outsmart them,” she muttered.

Biting her lip, she paced back and forth in the room when she suddenly heard footsteps outside in the courtyard. It was the patrol team!

Her eyes lit up. She hurried to the crack in the door and called out, “Hey! Big brothers! Handsome big brothers, all of you!”

The black-clad man at the front stopped and called in the direction of Chubing’s voice, “Miss Chu, what are your orders?”

Chubing rolled her eyes and pinched her nose, saying weakly, “Brother, I think I’m sick. My head hurts terribly. Could you come take a look and see whether I have a fever?”

The black-clad men outside exchanged glances. The leader was highly guarded as he said, “Miss Chu, our master has ordered that we are not to open the door for you. How about this: I’ll go tell him, and have him come see you.”

“No, no need!” Chubing immediately waved him off.

She did not want to see that pervert Liyuxi!

Who knew how he would torment her next?

Chubing decisively returned to bed, pulled up the covers, and played dead.

The system sighed helplessly. “Do you dislike Liyuxi that much? Getting out now is the proper thing to do!”

Chubing huffed. “I know Liyuxi better than you do. That pervert would never let me leave. He might even mock me again. Why would I go looking for trouble?”

She let out a long breath and stared up at the ceiling. “I’ve been gone for so long. I wonder whether Limohan will be worried about me.”

Though Limohan was cold by nature, he had always treated her very well.

Chubing irritably thumped the pillow. If she had known she would end up a prisoner, she should have treated Limohan better back then.

Maybe that big shot would have tried everything in his power to save her!

The system could not help laughing at her. “You’re thinking too much. Limohan spends his days helping the chancellor handle affairs. How could he possibly have time to care about you?”

“Even if he was worried about you a few days ago, once enough time passes, he’ll definitely put you out of his mind.”

“Shut up!”

If the system had a body, Chubing would have given it a hard beating and shown it what she was made of.

The system was not afraid of her at all, and reminded her seriously, “Host, if you still don’t start thinking about completing the mission as soon as possible, I really won’t go easy on you anymore.”

Chubing snorted. “Then you’d better let me get out of here first before I can go find Liao Ran!”

The system was just about to criticize her for neglecting her duties when Chubing suddenly pricked up her ears, seeming to hear the sound of fighting.

“Shh, be quiet!” She clambered down from the bed with quick hands and feet, pressed herself against the door, and looked out. Figures kept flashing through the courtyard, most of them unfamiliar faces.

“Who are they? Why do they look unfamiliar?”

The system’s tone also turned serious. “Host, be careful!”

Before Chubing could speak, one of the black-clad men suddenly rushed into the courtyard and kicked the door open hard.

Chubing sprang aside to avoid him. Seeing the black-clad man holding sword and blade in his hands, she asked cautiously, “May I ask, sir, what do you intend to do?”

At the sound of her voice, the man spun around abruptly and, without another word, thrust his long sword straight at her.

Chubing was startled. She immediately fled into the courtyard. “Who are you? Why do you want to kill me? I have nothing to do with Liyuxi!”

The man in black gave a cold laugh. “You live in Liyuxi’s courtyard. If not one of his people, then what are you?”

“Besides, whether you belong to him or not, I don’t care! No one in this stronghold tonight gets away alive!”

Chubing nearly choked on her own breath. “Who exactly are you? How can you be so shameless? You’re just attacking indiscriminately!”

She dodged the man’s attacks in a sorry state, then flipped her wrist and snatched the long sword from his hand.

The man had not expected Chubing, who looked so small and delicate, to be so skilled. Just as he was about to call over his companions, Chubing swiftly struck the back of his neck.

He collapsed softly to the ground.

Chubing let out a breath.

“What exactly is happening?” Carefully stepping over the black-clad man on the ground, she walked out of the courtyard. Only then did she discover that thick smoke had risen all through the estate outside, and many bodies lay scattered on the ground. The dead and wounded were countless; clearly, a brutal battle had taken place.

Who could have stormed this stronghold in such a short time?

The cold corpses on the ground made Chubing’s entire body go rigid. Each one reminded her that this was the ancient world, where human lives were as worthless as grass.

Her expression grew darker and darker. Uneasy, she pressed herself to the wall and carefully picked her way past the corpses, preparing to go down the mountain.

She did not know what had happened here, nor did she intend to care. She only wanted to leave!

Just as Chubing reached the path leading out of the stronghold, she suddenly saw, not far ahead on a wide stretch of open grass, a group of armored soldiers surrounding someone in all directions. And standing in the very center of them was none other than Liyuxi, dressed in a robe of blue-green.

His complexion was like jade, a faint smile on his lips. Even in such dire straits, there remained a certain unrestrained ease between his brows, making him devastatingly captivating.

For a moment, Chubing’s heart actually surged.

She must be mad!

Forcing herself to turn her head away, Chubing did not want to concern herself with whether Liyuxi lived or died.

“Hong Xiu?” A delighted voice suddenly sounded not far away.