How could she forget, how could she forget that Xiaoyao was someone the Lord favored! The Lord wouldn’t kill Xiaoyao, because Xiaoyao was his person!
She was Xiaoyao’s sworn sister. Xiaoyao wouldn’t just watch her die…
They had once cultivated together in the mountains. After entering the Beast King’s Palace, Xiaoyao had always protected her. This time, Xiaoyao would surely protect her again!
Xiaoling’s eyes were fixed tightly on Xiaoyao, like a drowning person suddenly spotting a floating piece of wood in their despair.
Xiaoyao knelt rigidly beside Xiaoling. From start to finish, even as the agonized screams of the tortured guards outside echoed in, she never trembled like Xiaoling. She knelt there, straight as a statue, deaf and blind to everything.
“Xiaoyao,” Xiaoling called in a hushed, trembling voice.
Xiaoyao slowly turned her head. Her usually calm eyes were now as still as stagnant water. She stared blankly at Xiaoling.
“Xiaoyao, you have a way, don’t you? I don’t want to die. You must have a way to make the Lord spare me, right?” Tears streamed from Xiaoling’s eyes as her body shook uncontrollably.
Xiaoyao looked at her calmly—this friend she had always protected with all her might. Why was it only now that she realized the Xiaoling she had thought so simple and guileless was actually so selfish?
She had always prided herself on being more worldly-wise than Xiaoling. But why was it only at this moment that she realized she had never truly understood Xiaoling?
Or perhaps… what she had never understood was human nature itself.
“Xiaoyao, you have a way, don’t you?” Seeing Xiaoyao remain silent, Xiaoling’s heart began to panic. She could no longer restrain herself and grabbed Xiaoyao’s sleeve. “You have a way, right?”
“I have no way!”
For the first time, Xiaoyao shook Xiaoling off, ignoring her plea for help.
“How could you not have a way?!” Xiaoling refused to give up and clutched Xiaoyao’s sleeve again. “You’re the Lord’s person—you must have a way! Xiaoyao, we’ve been sisters for so many years. You can’t abandon me now!”
Xiaoyao pulled her hand away again, smiling bitterly. “At a time like this, I can’t even protect myself. How could I save you?”
“But you’re the Lord’s person!” Xiaoling desperately clung to Xiaoyao’s hand.
Footsteps approached from afar. Still without Xiaoyao’s reassurance, Xiaoling reluctantly let go, her face twisted with unwillingness and fear, before obediently kneeling back down.
She never expected Xiaoyao, who had always taken care of her, to abandon her at such a critical moment. She wouldn’t even help her! That bitch Xiaoyao wouldn’t help her!
Cang Yan strode in with a cold expression, followed by Qing Yan, whose face was equally grave.
“Greetings, Lord.” Xiaoyao’s voice was as lifeless as her eyes—calm as stagnant water, devoid of vitality.
Cang Yan’s icy gaze swept over the two kneeling below. Xiaoyao had once been his trusted aide, which was why he had sent her to serve Yun Qingxue. The other girl had been recommended by Xiaoyao.
Now, Yun Qingxue had been taken away, her whereabouts unknown. He had ordered the interrogation of all the guards on duty that night at the Beast King’s Palace, yet spared these two maids—solely because he believed Xiaoyao would never betray him. That much confidence, Cang Yan still had.
But betrayal was one thing; negligence was another! This was the Beast King’s Palace, the residence of the ruler of the beastkin. His most beloved woman had been abducted right under his nose.
A disgrace! An absolute disgrace!
The blood of the punished guards outside was still not enough to quench the fury in his heart!
“You two failed in your duty to protect the Flower King. Do you admit your guilt?” Cang Yan’s azure eyes narrowed coldly, his entire body radiating killing intent.
“This servant admits guilt. I beg the Lord to punish me!” Xiaoyao kowtowed deeply, her expression lifeless.
“This servant admits guilt. Lord, spare me!” Xiaoling also kowtowed, her voice choked with sobs, her trembling growing more violent.
***************
Elsewhere.
News of the Flower King’s abduction the previous night had already spread like wildfire throughout the beastkin tribes. None were more delighted than the Qing family of the fox tribe.
Qing Mei’er sat before her vanity, the gloom of recent days completely gone from her face. She smiled faintly at her personal maid in the room, her enchanting eyes lifting with a mix of delight and disbelief.
“Is it true?” Qing Mei’er asked the maid.
“Second Miss, it’s absolutely true! The entire beastkin realm is talking about it! The Flower King was taken last night by remnants of the former White Tiger King’s faction. The Lord searched all night but found nothing!” the maid replied humbly.
“Hahaha—” Qing Mei’er burst into laughter, her beautiful eyes shimmering with glee. “Hahahaha! Just yesterday, the Lord fought the Dragon King over that bitch, and now, in just one night, she’s been abducted! Hahaha! Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!”
Qing Mei’er was so overjoyed she nearly lost herself. After a long while, she finally stopped laughing, her sparkling eyes turning sinister as she glared at the maid.
“Since the Flower King has been taken,” she said coldly, “I want to make sure she never comes back!”
The maid frowned but quickly replied, “Second Miss, don’t worry. The Flower King was taken by the White Tiger tribe—she’s likely doomed. Even if they don’t kill her, they’ll never let her return!”
“No!” A ruthless glint flashed in Qing Mei’er’s eyes. She smirked darkly at the maid. “Only her death guarantees absolute safety!”
Just the thought of how the Lord had punished her so harshly because of that woman made endless hatred surge in Qing Mei’er’s heart!
Before, no matter what she did, the Lord had always indulged her unconditionally. But because of that infamous fool of the Xuanling Continent—that Flower King—everything had changed the moment she arrived!
What was so great about that woman? Nothing but a pretty face! And yet, that face had bewitched the Lord’s heart!
She hated her!
During her confinement, she had fantasized countless times about storming into the Beast King’s Palace and tearing that woman’s face apart—let’s see how she’d seduce anyone then! Now that she’d been taken, it seemed even the heavens were on her side.
A dangerously alluring smile curled on Qing Mei’er’s lips. She turned her shimmering gaze to her trusted maid and issued a chilling order:
“Go. Dispatch all my personal assassins. Have them track down that foolish Flower King. The moment she’s found—”
Qing Mei’er raised her fair, delicate hand and slowly drew a line across her slender, graceful neck.
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