Укротитель зверей

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His ten fingers were like hooks, and I could almost see fleeting images before my eyes. I unconsciously closed my eyes, and when I opened them again, I found that Cheng Wei had already held his hands.

"No, she was entrusted to us by the Ji family. I haven't even treated her yet, how can I send her back? A man's word is his bond. Do you want to break your promise?"

"Breach of contract?" Cheng Ping sneered. "I have already fulfilled my promise to let her leave the palace. The agreement has long been completed. In yesterday's battle, our alliance suffered countless casualties for this girl. Now the capital is in chaos, and the imperial city is about to be breached. Sooner or later, not a single member of the royal family will be left. Our alliance only cares about the affairs of the martial world. What does it matter to us who becomes emperor? Let this girl go back to where she belongs."

His words were shocking; I felt as if I had been struck by lightning, and there was a voice above my head.

"You just want to use her to get Yi Xiaojin out. I'll go with you and rescue Yi Xiaojin."

Cheng Ping sneered, "You think I haven't been there?" With that, he moved swiftly and grabbed Cheng Wei's shoulder. Despite the noise outside the stone chamber, I could still faintly hear the cracking of bones, which showed how much strength he used.

Previously, Cheng Ping could carry me up and down with one hand as if walking on flat ground, while Cheng Wei always used both hands, and after jumping up and down, he would always be panting heavily. There was no doubt about the difference in their martial arts skills, but I didn't expect the gap to be so wide that I couldn't even withstand a single move.

I don't need him to protect me.

Cheng Ping let go of Cheng Wei, then turned to look at me. When I first heard about the internal strife, my heart was filled with turmoil, like a thousand horses galloping by. But in the end, an inexplicable force within me suppressed it all, preventing me from continuing to be in a state of chaos.

I know what that is. Even if this dynasty were to vanish into thin air in the next second, at this moment, I am still the eldest daughter of the royal family, and I will never allow these commoners to laugh at me.

I stood up, one hand covering my shoulder blade which was still aching from the exertion, and looked up at him.

"Weren't you going to take me back to the palace? Let's go, I'm waiting for you."

Chengping met my eyes and was slightly taken aback. I didn't care what he was thinking. I shrugged my shoulders back slightly, raised my chin a little, as if I were still in the palace, surrounded by servants who were not worth looking at, and walked out first.

Cheng Wei called to me in a hoarse voice, "Ping An!"

I didn't turn around, and only said, "Who gave you permission to call me by my name like that?" The noise at the entrance of the stone chamber disappeared at some point, and everyone looked at me in silence, but no one made way for me.

I gave them a cold, unyielding look and snorted.

"Isn't it said that chivalry is the most important thing in the martial arts world? If you want to rebel in the chaos in the capital, I am the emperor's daughter. You can kill me or torture me as you please. But no matter who is the emperor, the common people are always innocent. At this critical moment, you so-called Three Villages and Nine Schools would rather stay underground and be cowards? Don't you have the guts to come to the surface and save people from their suffering?"

The dark crowd stirred slightly. I saw a look of shock suddenly appear in some people's eyes, but then a strong force lifted me up from behind. My vision blurred, and my body flew through the air. Cheng Ping carried me and swayed as he landed at the exit of the hall. He looked back coldly, his voice like ice shards bursting from between his teeth.

"No one is allowed to make any moves before the leader arrives. Anyone who acts without authorization will be killed without mercy."

"And what about you? Damn it, why should we listen to you?" A gruff voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.

Cheng Ping didn't answer. With a flick of his hand, something flew out with a "whoosh," swirled in mid-air, and then suddenly flew back, disappearing into his palm. A scream rang out from the crowd, and someone covered their eyes with their hand—it was the same person who had just made the sound, blood flowing from between their fingers.

"The one who wields the Xuan Tie Token is as if the Alliance Leader himself is present. Is that enough?" Cheng Ping left with these last words, turned around and left with me. The heavy stone door slammed shut behind him, cutting off all sound.

The passageway was long and deep, but he sped along at an incredible speed. Hundreds of lights seemed to flash by in an instant. A cold wind swept over me, and I felt a chill run through my body, but for some reason, I didn't feel sad. I just wanted to see everything I wanted to see as soon as possible, even if it was hell.

The last stone gate opened, and Cheng Ping leaped into the air. The eaves soared high, and I opened my eyes wide to see an inky sky and blood-red flames spreading across half the city.

I was wrong. It turns out that whether I want to see it or not, this world has become hell.

...

Why hasn't the monsoon season started yet...? If there's no male protagonist in the next chapter, Hai is going to smash his laptop in frustration...

Chapter 29

Chengping darted across the rooftops, the scene a horrific spectacle. Countless houses were burned and partially collapsed, the streets were in chaos, many people clutching their last remaining belongings, running aimlessly and trampling each other. Suddenly, I saw a child weeping on a windowsill, with the burning eaves above him, about to fall. His mother was being held back from entering the building below, her hands raised in a desperate struggle, screaming in agony.

My heart clenched as I watched, and I couldn't help but grip Chengping's arm tightly with my fingers, struggling to speak through the wind, "Save him, save him..."

Cheng Ping glanced back and gave a cold snort, "You're too busy taking care of yourself to even think about saving others."

I suspected he was heartless and was about to plead again when he suddenly bent down and casually grabbed a metal lion-shaped spittoon from the eaves of a nearby building. In the darkness, the object flew out instantly, striking the windowsill beneath the child with a muffled thud. The wooden windowsill shattered instantly, and the child's body plummeted from mid-air. There were many people below, and many hands reached out, catching the child in the blink of an eye.

His movements were fluid and seamless. After throwing the object, he didn't look back and continued to fly forward with me. I was stunned and tried to turn around to make sure the child was alright, but Chengping was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, the burning house became a blurry dot in the distance.

But I knew the child was most likely saved, which put my mind at ease. Then I suddenly felt ridiculous. I tried to speak again, but my lips trembled and tears welled up in my eyes.

What else is there to say? I've saved this one, but there are millions more struggling in dire straits. Even if I have a thousand regrets, what can I do?

Upon realizing this, I suddenly felt a chill surge from the bottom of my heart, instantly soaking my entire body and forcing my jaw to clench.

Chengping glanced down at me, then suddenly stopped, leaped off the roof, and kicked open a tightly closed door. The owner had already fled, and the house was empty. He put me on the bed, and I was dizzy from being thrown around. He pressed down on my crown with one hand, and I couldn't move. I felt a warm current flowing into my head, and the chill in my body immediately dissipated.

He looked at me in the darkness, with flames shooting up behind him. His eyes were sharp, and he spoke only coldly.

"You're not going to die yet."

I felt a mix of hot and cold sensations, and I couldn't help coughing when I opened my mouth.

“I know, Chengping, take me back to the palace.”

"There's a battle going on there. Do you think it's so easy to get into the palace now?" He withdrew his hand and went to take my pulse again.

The heat subsided immediately as his hand left. I suddenly thought of Ji Feng, and how he opened his clothes and held me in his arms in that pitch-black passageway. How wonderful it was that Ji Feng's chest was burning hot.

Seeing that I didn't speak, he frowned slightly, raised his hand again and placed it on my head. I immediately snapped back to reality and stopped him, panting.

"No, I'm much better now. Save your energy, you still have to go back to the palace."

He snorted, but didn't make a move.

I caught my breath for a while, and seeing that he wasn't moving, I thought for a moment and asked again, "Chengping, can you tell me first, who is attacking the imperial city?"

“There are plenty of people who want to rebel against your family’s rule, don’t you know that?” He turned to look out the window, speaking to me with his back to me.

I gave a silent, bitter smile. I no longer had the mood to act like a princess and scold him for his blasphemous behavior. I simply said, "Tell me what you know. If I die later, I won't be a fool."

He turned to look at me, and after a moment of silence, he spoke.

"You've always been very insightful."

I tried to shrug, but my shoulder hurt so much that I gave up. Then he spoke again.

"Everything before was a setup."

I didn't expect Chengping to actually tell me the whole story, so I immediately focused my attention on him, waiting for him to continue.

“The princess will indeed be robbed on her way back to the palace, but it shouldn’t be those people.”

I nodded. "Those who came later were the ones who really wanted to kill me."

He glanced at me and continued speaking.

"Do you know that on that night, all the Imperial Guards, and our men, died under the iron hooves of Lord Li?"

"Lord Li?" I remember that man, who used his fingers to brush the tattered flowers off my face in the passageway, and then stared at me intently.

“Xiao Jin and I are going to infiltrate the palace. The man surnamed Li was originally an inside agent, but now it seems that he has been an inside agent for more than just our family. These officials may look refined on the outside, but they are very cunning inside.” Cheng Ping gritted his teeth slightly, and his voice became even colder.

"Are you saying that the rebels are actually people from the imperial court?"

"The princess was attacked on her way back to the palace. The bandits were numerous and highly skilled in martial arts. They also set fire to civilian houses, causing heavy casualties among the Imperial Guards. Heavy troops from the capital region were urgently dispatched to the capital. After crushing the rebels, they escorted the princess back to the palace. The gates of the imperial city were wide open, but before the princess could dismount, cavalry surrounded the imperial city. Guess whose flag they were flying?" He slowly spoke a long passage.

Chengping's tone of voice was not very varied, but I found it hard to breathe. I almost begged him to speak faster so that I wouldn't suffocate.

He finally uttered the last sentence, accompanied by a soft, cold laugh.

"It's the current crown prince. I'm not even dead yet, and your elder brother can't wait to become emperor. He's currently forcing me to abdicate."

My blood rushed to my head, my vision went black, and I screamed.

"This isn't true, you're lying to me, shut up, shut up!"

He ignored my shouts and reached out to seal my pressure points, rendering me speechless. I could only hear him whispering in my ear.

"Little girl, your family is all incredibly eccentric, but you're an anomaly. It wasn't for nothing that we saved you. Originally, Ji Feng only faked his death. After his family was released from the prison, the Alliance Leader would send them overseas. Actually, if you didn't return to the palace, going with them would have been a good thing. But your own brother is so ruthless that he'd use his own sister to kill their father and force the emperor to abdicate. I had no choice but to use you to exchange for Xiao Jin. Do you understand now?"

Every word he spoke was like the sharpest sword in the world, piercing my heart again and again. I stared at him, my eyes aching as if they were about to burst, and everything I saw was crimson. He was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke again, his voice no longer cold, but gentle.

“I shot Ji Feng with that arrow. It went in about an inch and three-tenths of an inch into his left rib. It looked dangerous, but it was definitely not fatal. Cheng Wei put a drug on the arrow. After being shot, he would immediately stop breathing and appear dead for twelve hours. Although his body is now missing, he must be alive. He is still alive. Does that make you feel any better?”

I wanted to speak, but I couldn't. I could only make a "hoarse" sound in my throat. He didn't release my pressure points. He grabbed me and leaped onto the roof again. He stopped looking at me and ran away.

The imperial city was now within reach, and the closer we got, the more deathly silent it became. There was none of the terrifying carnage I had imagined. However, the golden gates were wide open, and countless corpses lay outside the walls, with blood flowing like a river. Inside the city walls, heavily armored soldiers stood in formation under the firelight, facing off against the Imperial Guards on the inner city walls, bows drawn and arrows held high. The air was thick and heavy, as if a boulder was pressing down on us.

Chengping led me to the highest point of the outer city wall, where soldiers were already stationed. He kicked the first person who raised his sword at us, sending him flying down with a scream that pierced the night sky.

There was a slight commotion on and around the city wall, but then someone beat a drum. Two muffled "thump-thump" sounds, and all the soldiers immediately froze. The wind stopped, and a golden figure, surrounded by people, walked towards where we were standing. It stopped when it got close to us.

It was the Emperor, who looked at Chengping with a slight smile and said, "Indeed, you keep your word."

Chengping didn't answer, but nodded slightly and put me down. Someone was pushed over, dressed in a princess's outfit, but her face had returned to Yi Xiaojin's appearance. When she saw Chengping, she rushed over, hugged him, and just cried.

I stopped looking at them. Chengping had already released my pressure points, but I remained silent, standing there in place.

My elder brother called out to me, calling my name.

"Ping An, it's too chaotic here. You should go and rest first. Your brother will take you back to the palace later..."

My brother is truly my brother. Even on this night filled with bloodshed, he seemed to have bumped into me by chance in the Imperial Garden, still smiling radiantly.

But when I looked at him, I only felt a sense of unfamiliarity. After a long while, I finally spoke, asking in a hoarse voice.

"Brother, you're also a demon in disguise, aren't you?"

He chuckled, waved his hand, and immediately someone came over and pulled me down. I was taken to the corner tower at the end of the city wall, where the door was locked from the outside, and no one spoke to me.

The corner tower was empty. Moonlight streamed in through a skylight, making the stone floor smooth as a mirror. But I didn't want to go into that light. I stayed far away from it and sat alone in the corner, shrinking myself tightly.

The drumbeats began again, initially dull and muffled, then gradually intensifying, culminating in a final, deafening roar that seemed to shatter mountains and rivers, followed by shouts of battle, causing the earth to shake.

Everything was pitch black before my eyes, and my fingertips were cold but not numb. There was only pain, starting from my heart and spreading throughout my body. The pain made me tremble and my body spasm in waves.

Perhaps I am going to die, I thought in my confusion, so what? The assassin was right, no one in my family should have survived. It's not necessarily a bad thing that no princess will live in peace from now on.

As I thought this, I gradually felt relieved. Many blurry figures flashed before my eyes. I saw Ji Feng, who was dressing me with his eyes closed in the broken ancestral hall of his family, the light and shadow of his eyelashes trembling slightly under his eyes; then he silently watched me eat the beef in the restaurant, slowly tying my hair; he taught me to practice the Five Animal Frolics under the tree, bending down to correct my posture, his fingers gentle; and finally, there was the scene from even further back, the first time I saw him, he walked out from behind my elder brother, so radiant that the sunlight in the Imperial Garden dimmed for a moment.

These blurry lights and shadows made me slowly smile. My body felt lighter and lighter. The pain was still there, but it seemed to no longer torment me. There was a loud noise in my ears. The door was suddenly kicked open, interrupting all the sights in front of me. I was furious and was about to shout when someone suddenly picked me up from the ground.

This embrace was all too familiar to me. I suddenly opened my eyes, and Ji Feng's face was right in front of me, his eyes anxious, almost filled with fear. He had never been so flustered before, and it frightened me as well. I immediately reached out to cup his face in my hands to comfort him.

I spoke to him.

"I'm not dead, I'm not dead yet, don't be afraid, don't be scared."

Someone was speaking behind him; it was Cheng Wei, still as long-winded as ever.

"Of course! I haven't even used the knife yet, how could you die?"

Another cold voice interrupted him directly. It was Cheng Ping, who had just left earlier. He only said two words.

"Shut up."

~~ ...