Chapter 563 - 565: Natural Born Killer
Bai Ruozhu’s heart trembled involuntarily. What if Jiang Yichun found out she was kidnapped and came to rescue her? She finally understood the meaning behind Li Yi’s sly grin.
She pursed her lips and fell silent. With him close to her, she examined him carefully. Li Yi wasn’t poisoned; her poison was useless against him. No wonder he was so confident in kidnapping her.
This made Bai Ruozhu anxious. Her poison was her only weapon; if it was ineffective, she could only wait for a rescue. However, she never cared to put her fate in others’ hands.
She glanced at Xiaosi, who was hanging on Li Yi’s shoulder, and gritted her teeth. Following her gaze, Li Yi said in a soft voice, "That’s your younger brother, right? Interesting that your family could produce such talent. He’s a natural-born assassin; a hard-hearted man, showing no mercy towards others or himself."
Immobile due to her acupoints being sealed, Bai Ruozhu would’ve glared at Li Yi if she could. So, without her fiery gaze, her next words lacked impact.
"You’re the assassin, your whole family is full of assassins!" Bai Ruozhu gritted her teeth as she spoke.
"Ha, you’re right. I was trained as an assassin from a young age, destined to lurk in the shadows. Luckily for me, after my elder brother’s death, I was stationed in Danliang Country to carry on his mission, and two decades have just flickered by," Li Yi explained as they entered a bustling entertainment area. Bai Ruozhu took a whiff of the heavy perfume scent and heard giggles. She instantly realized that they were in a brothel.
Quickly, Li Yi revealed a secret passage beneath. There was a hidden tunnel underneath the brothel.
Bai Ruozhu’s heart raced. This must be a covert base of either Turkic Country or Li Yi’s faction in Beiyu City. The fact that Li Yi allowed her to see this place indicated his confidence that she wouldn’t leave alive to share the knowledge.
She concealed her panic, knowing she needed to prevent Li Yi from sensing her fear, which would further disadvantage her.
"I’m curious, how did a prince like you end up being an assassin?" She asked, her tone laced with sarcasm.
Li Yi let out a cold snort, "So what if I am an assassin? Unlike the thrifty lifestyle of Danliang Country’s princes, all princes in Turkic Country must survive harsh training from a young age. Only the survivors qualify to compete for the throne. You look down on assassins? Wait till your brother becomes one; then you’ll change your perspective."
The look of sick obsession flashed across Li Yi’s face, "The existence of an assassin is a brutal art. They can silently bring about death—an art of killing you will never understand."
Bai Ruozhu curled her lip, of course, she would not understand such a perverse world!
She listened to Xiaosi’s breathing and was surprised. His internal injuries had been quite severe—likely even fracturing a rib or two. But after taking the medicine from Li Yi, his condition improved remarkably. Even she didn’t possess such a potent life-saving pill.
"Don’t worry, I won’t let your brother die. He’s a promising prospect. Perhaps one day, he might become my top assassin," said Li Yi.
Bai Ruozhu would never let Xiaosi become an assassin; it was a path of no return. Xiaosi, who loved reading, writing, and painting, seemed cold on the outside but was sensitive and gentle at heart. He deserved to live a normal life under the sun, growing up happily, then getting married and having kids—enjoying the things people his age should, not living a life stained with blood!
Li Yi brought Bai Ruozhu and Xiaosi to the secret chamber within the secret passage. After walking for an unknown amount of time and taking several different paths, they arrived.
The man carrying Xiaosi unceremoniously dumped the unconscious boy on the ground. Bai Ruozhu cried out, "What are you doing? He’s just a child, aren’t you human?"
The man turned towards Bai Ruozhu and bared his teeth, "There are no women or children in my eyes. I would kill them as readily as I would anyone else. I’m not human; we’re descendants of the wolves in the grasslands."
Perverted people have perverted followers. Bai Ruozhu squinted her eyes and memorized the man’s face, swearing that she would not let him off easily.
Li Yi dumped her next to Xiaosi, she was unable to move and landed bottom-first, the pain brought her to the brink of tears.
Thankfully, Li Yi quickly left with his men, not leaving a single person to watch over them. Either there was a hidden peephole in the secret chamber, someone was monitoring them from somewhere else, or Li Yi knew that they simply couldn’t escape.
Bai Ruozhu wanted to move, but she could barely budge a single finger. She regretted not learning internal strength—if she had, she could be using it to release her acupuncture points now. She also abandoned the idea of entering the ’Space’ as she was unsure if someone was watching them—it didn’t feel safe.
Although she memorized the route they took to reach the chamber, Bai Ruozhu noticed that every once in a while, Li Yi would activate a mechanism. She speculated that either the return path had changed or a lethal trap had been activated.
The risk was too high for her to escape alone with Xiaosi. Instead, she decided to feign despair and submission to make Li Yi lower his defenses, then find a way to escape with Xiaosi when he took them out of the chamber.
Lost in her thoughts, drowsiness crept over her, and she fell into a light sleep.
For the next two days, someone came punctually to deliver meals, but Li Yi and his three subordinates didn’t show up.
After a day and night of sleep, Xiaosi woke up. Bai Ruozhu’s acupoints had gradually unsealed. She checked his condition and found that his internal injuries had significantly healed. Given the rate of his recovery, Xiaosi wouldn’t need more than a week to be back on his feet. Thankfully, Xiaosi hadn’t fractured any bones, sparing him some suffering.
This discovery cheered Bai Ruozhu up. She cleaned the blood traces from Xiaosi’s face with her sleeve and chatted with him for a while, but he was lacking spirit and fell in and out of sleep intermittently over the next two days.
Bored, Bai Ruozhu spent her time either eating, sleeping or exploring the chamber, looking for any hidden mechanisms. She found one, but it nearly shot arrows at her and Xiaosi the moment she touched it. The arrows landed less than half a meter away from them, leaving her shivering in cold sweat.
Li Yi hadn’t shown up, he was probably up to something in Beiyu City. On the third day, he returned with more men. He quickly approached Bai Ruozhu and sealed her acupoints without a word, then hoisted her onto his shoulder.
Those who hadn’t seen Bai Ruozhu use her poison were astounded. It was their first time seeing such a cautious and serious expression on their prince’s face, especially aimed towards a woman who obviously had no internal strength.
Another man picked up Xiaosi, and the group swiftly left the secret passage.
"Where are you taking us? We’re slowing you down, isn’t it inconvenient for your escape? Why are you so stubborn about this?" Bai Ruozhu whispered.
"Shut up!" Li Yi’s face was gloomy. He pointed at several spots on Bai Ruozhu’s body, and to her annoyance, she found that she had lost her voice.