Chapter 32 Silent Treatment

“Focus, Yuxi, focus.”
Dark smoke surrounded them as she complied with Zhan Peng’s instructions. The man held his sword in his right hand and her hand in his left. Together, they charged towards the groups of unsuspecting bandits.
The sudden assault scattered their minds and rendered them confused, breaking their guard.
But the smoke and ensulting darkness was not something she had expected. She just trusted him and went with his lead.
After all, the bandits had deserved it. Especially their leader, her nemesis Booyeong. In the midst of getting to him, they struck down Bearded Mouse, the man who administered the whippings on Yuxi.
Upon realising who they were, Bearded Mouse’s face was as pale as if he had seen a ghost. Zhan Peng left it to Yuxi for her to make the decision on whether to spare him or kill him. She chose the former. She didn’t need another enmity from Booyeong’s army.
Who knows, the man might have a successor that would come after them for revenge. Booyeong was the villain and they were just his minions. She determined that going after their leader was the main goal right now. And then, she hoped that it would be all over.
Zhan Peng squeezed her hand harder.
“Booyeong’s tent is up ahead. You can’t be merciful with him.”
“I won’t,” she answered lightly, although she knew deep in her heart, she wouldn’t be able to kill him. Booyeong’s words flashed clearly in her mind.
If she didn’t end his sorry existence, then one day he would definitely come back for her. It was either she or him who would die. They were the bane of each other’s existence, and leaving the other party alive would just threaten her life.
Even knowing this, Yuxi hadn’t wanted to kill him. If there was a way, she wanted to deactivate his powers eternally, so he wouldn’t cause her or anyone any harm.
But she took a glance at Zhan Peng and he just nodded.
“He has to die for the greater good.”
She looked back at the trail of injured bandits behind her, minus Bearded Mouse, who scurried away from the camp like a scared rabbit, and she knew they were already victorious.
It was now the matter of taking down Booyeong and ending his threat to the peace of the island.
“I’ll do it.”
Zhan Peng swiftly cut through the front of the tent with a few skilful swings of his sword. Yuxi held tightly to his hand still as she followed him into the tent.
A few books were lying scattered on the floor of the tent, and a tall and despicable-looking man was sitting behind a table. In his hands were a few scrolls. Black ink coloured the dark brown of the wood.
“Hahahaha!”
Instead of being frightened, Booyeong was laughing madly. His arms and shoulders were relaxed, as if welcoming his death.
Yuxi froze.
“Zhan Peng, we-”
“It’s all over.”
She watched the tip of Zhan Peng’s sword pierce the man’s robe, penetrating an inch into his chest. Instead of crying in pain, the man laughed again as blood smeared the iron of the sword.
“She was a fresh one. When I touched her, she wanted more. She wanted me to take her, but that would be the end of her. So I sent my guards instead to enjoy her.”
“You!” Zhan Peng’s eyes widened in rage. She had never encountered him so angry before, and when he released her hand to place both hands in a grip around Booyeong’s neck, she quickly stopped him.
“Don’t listen to him, Zhan Peng. They did nothing of the sort to me…”
Zhan Peng wasn’t listening. His hands tightened around her nemesis’ neck, but Booyeong wasn’t afflicted.
“She enjoyed it. I made sure. I even had her drugged for that reason. How she survived it all, is a wonder.”
“You’re courting death!” Zhan Peng hollered in a deafening yell, so loudly that the porcelain cup on the table vibrated beside them. Releasing the man’s neck, he lifted his weapon.
“Even if you wipe out my entire men, you won’t be able to kill me! Because soon, my reinforcements will arrive and kill you!” Booyeong said viciously, before erupting into laughter.
“Zhan Peng?”
He had stabbed the man so hard that a stream of blood had spurted out in the air. The devil still continued to laugh, instilling fear in Yuxi when Zhan Peng repeatedly stabbed Booyeong.
Whatever was in him, Yuxi didn’t know, because the man was certainly not dying albeit that his blood was spilling all over the floor of the tent. The laughter continued, rather hysterically.
“Stop, Zhan Peng! Something’s not right,” her voice trailed off as she glanced towards Booyeong’s direction.
‘Kill him, and you’ll be free of his threats.’ A maleficent voice resounded in her ears. She turned around, but nobody, other than the three of them, was present.
Just who was talking to her?
A shiver descended her back as she sensed the coldness of metal in her open hand. A dagger, with her name on it, slowly manifested. On a closer look, it had a jewelled pommel and in one split second, she felt an affinity with this weapon that she saw for the first time.
‘Finish him off.’
She closed on to her nemesis dazedly. Booyeong was laughing, his eyes emitting a crimson glare like he had been possessed. Hesitantly, she plunged the dagger into Booyeong’s chest and watched blankly as dark-black blood poured from his wound. Booyeong collapsed to the ground almost instantly, and those endless laughs died down. Flashes of red light sparked over the space where Booyeong’s corpse was.
Finally, they had eliminated the bane of her existence. She found herself growing stronger, but Zhan Peng hadn’t said anything. They cleared the rest of the camp relatively quickly, descending down into the dungeons and releasing Booyeong’s prisoners. During the entire time, Zhan Peng had not uttered a single word to her. This was so unlike him; the playful and teasy prince surely had a few silly jokes to lighten the mood between them. Even if he was acting serious, this didn’t seem like him at all to not say a word to her.
But she told herself, until they got back to Erlu, they wouldn’t be considered safe. Before his death, Booyeong had muttered something about reinforcements. The question was, what reinforcements did he have?
In the absence of the jailors, Zhan Peng just utilised his martial arts to fling open the doors of each cell with a gust of wind. When they arrived at the last cell, he slashed his sword over the heavy lock to free the final prisoner. That prisoner, she noticed, had a shady look over him. He seemed a bit suspicious, and the part that his cell was secured by that bulky lock made her think twice about freeing him.
“Zhan Peng…” she called, but received no response. Ignoring her, Zhan Peng just forced open the door of the cell.
The prisoner ran out of the cell like a maniac, reminding her of Bearded Mouse.
Not long after the prisoner escaped, they heard the loud sound of signal fireworks being let out into the air. The sky sparkled with a myriad of bright colours. If the prisoner made the signal probably intended to call for help, who was he calling?
And why?
Yuxi heard heavy footsteps and the galloping of horses. There was no way that reinforcement forces could have arrived so quickly in just minutes after they had signalled for help.
She had no formal experience with direct battle. In the end, it was Zhan Peng who had dragged her out of the camp and hastily descended the hills, heading back towards where they had come from.
After they had hurried a considerable distance, Zhan Peng released his hold on her and leaning against a large tree, took a sip from his waterskin.
“Zhan Peng,” she called his name, and he just treated her like air.
What.. What did she do wrong to deserve this silent treatment?
Finally, he just opened his mouth, and spoke coldly. In fact, his voice sounded the iciest she had ever heard from him.
“My dear employer, no words until we return to Erlu.”
Employer?
What was just on his mind right now? Yuxi questioned, but no answer came. Zhan Peng had suddenly transformed into a cold creature.
And there was nothing she could do.