Chapter 17: Watch It in Your Next Life
Lu Yanzhi stepped forward: "The Princess must be tired after walking for so long. There is a teahouse ahead; let's go there to rest our feet."
"Sure." Xiao Li agreed readily, then pointed casually: "Shopkeeper, wrap all of these up. This Princess will take them back and choose slowly."
Looking at that pile of translucent, lustrous white jade, Lu Shu nearly coughed up blood. How much would that cost?
Seeing their pained expressions, Xiao Li was delighted.
Coming back with an ulterior motive, acting as if we could just make up and be friends—there's no such thing as a free lunch. One must pay a price, right?
If you're feeling miserable, keep it to yourself!
Originally, Lu Yanzhi had been in a half-dead mood, but to prevent Xiao Li from sweeping the Lu family's wealth clean, he had to pull himself together to deal with her, attempting to divert her attention.
The effect was, of course, excellent.
Not only was Xiao Li's attention diverted, but her entire person was freaking diverted.
The moment she sensed danger, she had already prepared herself, but the opponent's martial arts were clearly extremely high. She couldn't defend at all and was knocked unconscious in a few moves.
Xiao Li was woken up by a splash of water. As her consciousness returned, she snapped her eyes open, seeing through blurred vision that she seemed to be in the courtyard of a household.
Her body was tightly bound to a pillar. Beside her was a well, and someone was slowly drawing water up.
Even seeing that Xiao Li had woken up, he did not stop; instead, he directly poured another bucket of water over her head.
F*ck!!!!
As the curtain of water receded, Xiao Li was finally able to open her eyes clearly, looking at the man standing before her with a face full of malice.
"Gu Ling!" Xiao Li gritted her teeth.
Gu Ling was very satisfied that Xiao Li recognized him: "The Princess has finally woken up. You didn't expect to fall into my hands, did you? But none of that matters. You only need to remember that it was I, Gu, who sent you on your path to the Yellow Springs."
Xiao Li stared at him for a long while, then suddenly burst into laughter: "Remember, I'll definitely remember. Then why don't you kill me right now?"
Did she look like someone afraid of death? If he had the guts, he should let her die here.
Gu Ling's expression turned extremely ugly as he viciously grabbed Xiao Li by the throat: "You think I wouldn't dare kill you?"
Xiao Li sneered: "You even dared to assassinate me, what is there that you wouldn't dare? You want me dead, and I want you dead too. Right now, it's just that I lost by a single move in a game of chess."
"You certainly have a lot of self-awareness." Gu Ling suddenly applied force, wishing he could strangle her to death: "I was the one who assassinated you. If you have the guts, come at me! Why bully Xueyin and make her miscarry? How can you be so vicious?"
Xiao Li was utterly exasperated. Enduring the pain of her throat nearly being crushed, she continued to mock him.
"Gu Ling, you pathetic worm. You like Liu Xueyin, but you don't dare confess. You can only watch helplessly as she marries Prince Chen and is tormented by him. Ha... I made her miscarry? Do you want to go see exactly how she miscarried?"
"Prince Chen ignored her wishes and raped her over and over again until she miscarried. What does that have to do with me?"
"You didn't see the scars all over her body at all. Prince Chen abused and humiliated her every single time. Are you f*cking blind?"
"You like her, you adore her, and you'd fight the world for her. Then why don't you dare go and assassinate Prince Chen?"
"If Prince Chen dies, wouldn't Liu Xueyin be free? Wouldn't you be able to live and die together with her?"
"But you don't dare. Prince Chen has high martial arts and great power. You're a f*cking bully who only dares to swing a blade at women. You coward!"
She had truly had enough of these trashy male supporting characters. Talking about love—it was sheer madness.
Gu Ling was so angry that the veins on the back of his hands bulged; his grip on her was so forceful that his hands trembled.
"You are seeking death!"
Xiao Li truly felt like she was dying. The suffocation caused her brain to go blank from lack of oxygen; she couldn't breathe at all, nor could she utter a single word.
However, just as she was about to pass out, Gu Ling let go.
"Letting you die like this would be too easy for you."
Gu Ling's hands trembled as he slowly backed away, staring at her with hatred: "I should pull out your tongue, gouge out your eyes, and break your limbs, so that you can neither live nor die!"
Would Xiao Li be afraid?
She smiled, her voice torn and raspy, sounding as low and seductive as a mountain demon: "Then make sure your handiwork is beautiful when you do it. Because once I become a ghost, I will definitely haunt Liu Xueyin. Don't go scaring your sweetheart!"
Gu Ling felt that Xiao Li was a lunatic.
She wasn't afraid of death, and she didn't seem to fear pain either.
Looking at her, one would never doubt that she would definitely become a vengeful spirit to haunt others after death.
Gu Ling slowly retreated and then drew his long sword.
He shouldn't have said anything more to Xiao Li. If he just killed her, everything would be over.
Xiao Li watched him bring the sword over, her eyes narrowing slightly. Her expression held no fear; she seemed quite pleased, welcoming her death with immense joy.
"To prevent me from dying without anyone to clear up your confusion, I'll tell you in advance: Quzhou is my fief. When your family goes there, they will be robbed by bandits and relegated to the status of low-borns to build city walls, never to rise again."
"Of course, I know you don't care about that trashy father of yours, and you even resent your biological mother who abused you everywhere. But that's not important. I'm dealing with them just to ensure you can never rely on the Gu family to make a comeback."
"And I have also left letters for my Imperial Brother and Brother Chen. As soon as I die, they will know the connection between you and Princess Consort Chen—the love, the hate, and the grievances will be laid bare. And your sweetheart, Liu Xueyin—she will know just how cruel and evil a murderer you are. Tell me, do you think she will ever want to be near you again?"
Gu Ling's eyes nearly burst with rage, his killing intent overwhelming: "Xiao Xuanyang, you deserve to die!"
The long sword in Gu Ling's hand flashed with a cold light as he stabbed fiercely toward Xiao Li.
But at that moment, Xiao Li, who had been tied to the pillar, suddenly leaned her body to dodge his sword while simultaneously lunging into his arms.
She took the opportunity to roll onto the ground, dodging Gu Ling's downward strike. Gu Ling froze in place, looking down in disbelief at the golden hairpin stuck in his heart.
It had pierced directly into his heart without the slightest deviation.
Since he wasn't dead yet, Xiao Li didn't dare get close. She could catch him off guard to ambush him, but if he counterattacked, she was no match for him.
She slowly retreated to a safe distance, waiting for his death, and of course, she didn't forget to throw in a few more insults.
"Villains die because they talk too much. Watch it in your next life."
Gu Ling was indeed a rare martial arts expert; even with a golden hairpin in his heart, he didn't die immediately. He only stunned for a moment before suddenly lunging at Xiao Li again to kill her.
Although Xiao Li was acting tough, she had been on guard against him all along.
This kind of male supporting character who can survive until the end is not so easy to kill.
She had already retreated a certain distance, so she was able to react quickly and run to dodge.
Suddenly, someone grabbed her by the waist and pulled her to the side. A long blade blocked Gu Ling's sword, and then a strike pierced into Gu Ling's heart.
This strike finally took Gu Ling's life.
*Puchi!*
The long blade was withdrawn, and blood splattered.
Gu Ling's long sword propped against the ground as he slowly knelt. He looked straight at Xiao Li, but ultimately could not resist the loss of life, falling to the ground with a thud.
The first male supporting character has exited the stage: Throwing flowers~~...
Haha, I don't know why, but my ability to curse people has improved lately.
^_^
(End of Chapter)