“Yueying, come sit and eat together. You haven’t eaten all day either.”
As the poorest Crown Prince, Mu Chengyan made sure to look after all of his subordinates.
“Your Highness, I will not eat; please go ahead.” Yueying cast a vigilant glance around the surroundings.
The tightly shut doors were pushed open once more, and several men carried in an unmoving body, deathly pale and lying completely limp.
The cloth draperies drifted slowly downward, fluttering in mid-air alongside the nearby gauze curtains.
“Let me go!”
The woman was dragged out as well. Several men forced her down onto the cold ground, binding her hands behind her and driving her to her knees.
Witnessing this scene, Yueying widened his eyes in shock, his grip tightening instinctively around the hilt of his sword.
Meanwhile, Mu Chengyan continued placing food into the bowl of the youth beside him.
“Ah-Xun, eat this. Eat more meat so you can grow taller.”
Jun Xun sat there obediently, satisfaction and bliss radiating from his face as he ate with relish.
Everything happening around them seemed completely disconnected from him as he quietly relished Mu Chengyan’s care and affection.
“Gege should eat too. Gege is also too thin.”
Picking up his chopsticks, Jun Xun placed a piece of meat right at Mu Chengyan’s lips, his expression a mixture of nervousness and fear that the other might reject him.
Mu Chengyan parted his lips and ate the piece of meat.
In truth, he didn’t particularly care for such heavy dishes, but… the meat Ah-Xun had picked out for him somehow tasted entirely different.
Watching the two of them eating with such relish, Yueying twitch-smiled in quiet exasperation. Wasn’t His Highness planning to rescue that woman? Why is he still sitting here without moving?
The truth was, Mu Chengyan had simply come to cadge a free meal…
Though he was the poorest Crown Prince, he refused to let the people following him go hungry.
A man dressed in black robes stepped forward in the center of the grand hall, bowing deeply to the gathered crowd.
“Thank you all for attending our master’s wedding. Everyone who has come will receive a parting gift.”
A terrifying, chilling smile curved the corners of the man’s mouth.
“Gege, what are they doing?”
“Performing the wedding ceremony.”
Mu Chengyan patiently explained to the youth.
Jun Xun raised his eyes cautiously to glance at Mu Chengyan, as if recalling something, before quickly lowering his gaze again.
He was thinking of those chaotic, messy thoughts once more…
If… if Gege were to ever find out, would he execute him with a single stroke of his sword?
Jun Xun shook his head fiercely, banishing the dark thoughts from the depths of his mind.
The woman’s head was forced down against the icy stone floor, her forehead splitting open and staining the ground with fresh blood.
Yueying gnashed his teeth in fury. He loathed nothing more than seeing others bully women, primarily because his older sister was a woman.
If anyone ever dared to bully his sister, he would hunt them down to the ends of the earth to kill them.
Mu Chengyan reached out a hand to block Yueying’s path. “Do not act rashly. Just watch quietly.”
“I refuse to bow! Even if you kill me, he will not come he will not come!”
Suddenly breaking free with the strength of madness, the woman was forced back down to her knees by several men.
Yueying drew his long sword; he could no longer hold back!
“Wait a moment longer.”
Mu Chengyan furrowed his brows slightly, a trace of reluctance flashing in his heart.
Suddenly, a violent gale rose, kicking up dust and forcing everyone to squint against the wind. The items on the tables were swept into the air, scattering across the floor and raising clouds of grey debris.
“They’ve arrived.”
A faint, fleeting smile touched the corner of Mu Chengyan’s lips. It appeared his intuition had been correct.
Jun Xun glanced sideways at a nearby tree without a single change in his expression, catching sight of a dark figure concealed within the foliage.
Even this meal refuses to let me eat in peace.
“The targets have arrived; it is time to close the net. Fall back!”
Every single person on the platform vanished from the scene in an instant. Immediately afterward, a dazzling burst of golden light erupted, forming a formidable barrier within a hundred-meter radius that enclosed everyone tightly inside.
The woman whipped her head around, her gaze locking onto a solitary figure in the distance. A man draped in a black cloak stood tall against the wind.
“Bro. Jin…”
The woman dropped to her knees, her lips trembling as she muttered his name. He came after all…
Her face flickered between elation and deep anxiety. Sensing the anomaly, the man leaped into the air, preparing to make his escape, only to be blocked by a massive golden array.
“Shen Jin, the man of a thousand faces! We will capture you today!”
The man drew the weapon from his sheath, unleashing countless razor-sharp sword beams that slashed against the barrier, causing faint cracks to splinter across the golden formation.
“He’s about to break through! Hurry, ignite the explosives! We cannot let him escape—even if we only keep his corpse, we must leave him behind!”
“What about the people trapped inside?!”
“Blow them up together!”
This had been a trap from the very beginning, and these old folks were merely pawns purchased at a high price.
Sitting quietly in their places, the elderly people showed no desire to struggle. They… had all been sold into this place by their very own biological sons.
Sold off to serve as bait to capture Shen Jin of a thousand faces. Once discarded, what difference did it make?
Jun Xun’s gaze sank. Exploxives…
Locking onto a specific direction in the distance, a subtle red glow flickered quietly across his fingertips.
Seated composedly in his spot, Mu Chengyan gave calm instructions.
“Yueying, go locate the explosives. The southeast and southwest corners are the most open areas; they must be in one of the two. Guchen, you head to the southwest corner, and Yueying, you take the southeast.”
These innocent people could not be allowed to perish here in vain.
Originally, he had only intended to grab a casual meal, only to stumble straight into such a chaotic ordeal.
“Your Highness, let Guchen escort you outside first while I search here. You cannot risk putting yourself in danger just for these people!”
Their Crown Prince was a noble of the highest order, infinitely more precious than the lives of everyone present combined!
Mu Chengyan raised a hand to reject the suggestion. “There is no need. Their lives are just as important as mine.”
Jun Xun huddled dependently against Mu Chengyan’s chest, pressing his face tight against his robes as the tips of his ears flushed a brilliant red.
“Gege… I’m scared.”
He smells so good…
It was the very first time he had ever been held this close to Gege.
Gently stroking the youth’s head, Mu Chengyan soothed, “Ah-Xun has nothing to fear. I will take you out of here shortly, so be a good boy.”
“Mn.”
Jun Xun forced down the corners of his lips, which threatened to curve upward into a smile, maintaining his helpless, panicked facade.
Gege is so gentle. He… loves it so much.
Mu Chengyan patted the youth’s back. Such a timid, pitiful creature he was almost starting to feel reluctant to part with him.
With a flash of a dark shadow, Yueying dashed off. Yet, before he even reached the corner, a muffled, tiny pop echoed out, failing to blast open even a pebble-sized hole let alone breach a barrier of this magnitude.
That… that was it?
He had foolishly imagined it possessed some terrifying destructive power.
Explosives of this caliber couldn’t even blow a hole in the ground, let alone harm a human being.
Jun Xun shuddered involuntarily, burying his entire face deeper into Mu Chengyan’s embrace as if thoroughly terrified.