Chapter 182 – Ambushed

The Attack of the Wastrel

Upon returning to the Royal School, Gu Lingzhi told Rong Yuan about Xiao Wu.

After listening to Gu Lingzhi, Rong Yuan tapped on the table with one knuckle as his mind raced. He suddenly exclaimed, “Lingzhi, did you know that today as I was accompanying Pan Yue to roam around the city, he suddenly told me that his stomach hurt and wanted to return early? This happened about 2 hours ago.”

“I didn’t know,” Gu Lingzhi failed to comprehend what he was saying, “Do you suspect me of poisoning him?”

The corner of Rong Yuan’s mouth twitched. Gu Lingzhi was usually very intelligent but why was she dumb when it came to crucial moments?

“On the day that you had first met him, the Fifth Prince had also returned early and a few days later, his left arm was slightly injured.”

With this, no matter how slow Gu Lingzhi was, it was impossible for her to not get what Rong Yuan was trying to say.

“Are you saying that… Xiao Wu is actually the Fifth Prince?”

Rong Yuan raised a brow, “Is that so difficult to guess? Didn’t he tell you who he was?”

Xiao Wu… Fifth Prince. Pan Yue did not even intend to hide his identity. If Gu Lingzhi were to think about it, she would definitely have been able to guess his identity.

“But they don’t look the same.” Immediately after saying this, Gu Lingzhi wanted to hit herself. If there was medicine that could change your voice, why would there not be medicine that could alter your appearance? As one of the slaves left behind by the Deity King on the Tianyuan continent, he was also the prince of the strongest kingdom in Tianyuan Continent, what medicine would he not be able to get?

“You realise what you said was dumb right?” Rong Yuan ruffled her hair affectionately and commented, “At least we now know that we can believe 90 percent of what Pan Yue says. Our guesses before were right.”

The way Pan Yue behaved was to prevent people from wondering about him and the reason he did so was clear now.

Who would assign someone with such a bad reputation to handle official matters? In addition, who would suspect someone that only knew how to create trouble to actually be so involved in official matters?

Wouldn’t it be laughable for someone like him to be the one that actually helped the Spirit Tribe go against the Deity God?

But this was what made Rong Yuan respect him slightly. From what Gu Lingzhi said, when Pan Yue ambushed her, he was actually her match. However, in order to hide his identity, he purposely behaved like a clown in order to make others laugh. This required a lot of endurance and he admitted that he would not have been able to do it.

Once the both of them had confirmed Xiao Wu’s identity, in the following times when they met with Pan Yue, they did not behave in a more amicable manner nor did they make things difficult for him. When they saw him act as per normal and tease girls, they even felt slightly sorry.

How helpless must he have felt that he would choose this method of self-destruction just to hide himself?

On the other hand, Pan Yue did not seem to realise that his ‘partner’, the Black Thorn was just beside him. After she had guessed his identity, she felt herself sympathising with him but ridiculed his ways of getting girls. No one else in the city teased ladies to get their attention. Boys would usually start with complimenting the lady they were interested in. It was only once they formed a good impression would they then start their despicable ways.

With Pan Yue’s simple and brash teasing, even if all the girl wanted was to marry into the North Qiu Kingdom’s Royal Family, his demeaning and insulting ways were too much. It is no wonder that even after being in the Xia Kingdom for so long, he had yet to be successful in attracting a girl. It was not that he had no substance, but his methods were simply terrible.

Hearing Gu Lingzhi explain her thoughts as if she was telling a joke, Rong Yuan’s face was strange as he told her about the most recent news he had heard, “Apparently, Pan Yue has numerous concubines back in the North Qiu Kingdom but he never favors anyone. Do you think he is doing this on purpose to create hope in them but never allowing them to gain an advantage?”

In order to seem like a complete wastrel, Pan Yue had sacrificed a lot. Gu Lingzhi clicked her tongue and refrained from judging whatever Pan Yue did anymore.

Gu Lingzhi did not know if she was mistaken, but she felt like there were numerous new faces at the battle arena in the past few days. Of which, it seemed like they came to fight her specifically as the way they fought her was as if their lives depended on it. This resulted in her using almost all the moves she knew.

This very night as Gu Lingzhi was on her way back to the Royal School from the battle arena, she was stopped by a group of men wearing black.

“Who are all of you? I don’t have many enemies,” Gu Lingzhi declared coldly. Her hand had already grasped the hilt of her Qingfeng Sword.

“Kill her!” The leader had no intentions of wasting time by talking to Gu Lingzhi and went directly for her. Luckily, Gu Lingzhi was already prepared and had gotten numerous protective talismans from Rong Yuan. With one hand on her sword, she used the other to throw out a Spiritual Talisman as she retreated backwards.

Before she could run far, she was met by more people on the other side.

Seeing how they were coordinated, she guessed that they were prepared to kill her.

Gu Lingzhi cursed under her breath as she retrieved yet another Talisman. However, it was like her attackers were not at all affected by the threat of the Spiritual Talisman and would rather be exposed to the effects of the Talisman than allow her to escape.

With an ambush in front of her and people chasing from behind, the longer she dragged this out, the more unlikely she was to escape!

Gu Lingzhi’s eyes suddenly flashed.

She also knew how to suffer a little and return with a bigger attack!

Her attackers all did not care to defend themselves. As a result, Gu Lingzhi stabbed randomly with her Qingfeng Sword. She managed to draw her enemies’ blood with every hit. However, she also suffered a few attacks in the process.

“Hmph.” With a flying kick towards the man in black, Gu Lingzhi snorted as her shoulder was cut. However, she did not even give her injury a second glance before she flew towards another person.

Before long, her entire body was covered in numerous cuts and she was about to escape the ambush.

“Don’t let her escape!” the leader shouted as he chased Gu Lingzhi and ordered his men to stop her.

“I can go if I want. Who are you to stop me?” Gu Lingzhi sneered as she flicked her hand and a black marble the size of a finger appeared in her hand.

“Thunder Vortex Marble?” the leader suddenly exclaimed as he stilled.

Making use of this opportunity, she threw the marble onto the floor, “If you want to kill me, we can all die together!”

Her voice sounded determined and no one doubted her. Within a second, everyone around her took a few steps back.

The Thunder Vortex Marble was a special marble formed by accumulating thunder and lightning by a high-level Master Weapon Forger. It was extremely strong and could completely destroy an unguarded Martial Lord. Although they were not afraid of death, they had to die for a reason. Until they were sure that they could kill Gu Lingzhi, they were not going to risk their lives.

However, there was something wrong with the item in Gu Lingzhi’s hand.

As they saw the “Thunder Vortex Marble” hit the floor, the explosion they had expected to see did not appear. Instead, a yellow fog rose up from the ground. It was a confusion potion that Gu Lingzhi had personally made in order to cause her opponents to temporarily lose their ability to fight.

“Damn, we were tricked!” By the time the leader reacted, it was too late. He had breathed in a breath of the fog and his actions immediately slowed.

Standing outside the fog, Gu Lingzhi watched calmly as her attackers started to lie down on the floor. She retrieved a Healing Pill from her Storage Ring and took it.

When she was first ambushed, Gu Lingzhi had already planned for this outcome. The power of the Thunder Vortex Marble was extremely strong and valuable. No one would bear to use it unless absolutely necessary. Gu Lingzhi had fought with them and sustained a few injuries in order to not make it suspicious when she took out her “Thunder Vortex Marble”.

Alas, it was not a wasted effort as she had managed to trick them into thinking that she was desperate.

After resting for a while, Gu Lingzhi released a Signal Shot to contact Rong Yuan. This was something that she had agreed beforehand with him that whenever she met with one of the Deity King’s men, she would release this signal. Once the signal was released, Rong Yuan would rush to her immediately.

What Gu Lingzhi did not expect was that the first person to arrive was not Rong Yuan, but Pan Yue’s men.

The second she released the signal, the group of burly men that had once ambushed her rushed over. They saw the men lying on the floor and paused. One of the men then bowed towards Gu Lingzhi and retreated the way he came. It was obvious they did not want people to know about them.

When Rong Yuan came, the group had just left. Completely ignoring the mess of people on the floor, Rong Yuan rushed to grab Gu Lingzhi as he looked at her injuries in distress.

“I should never have agreed to let you be a bait!”

Every wound on Gu Lingzhi’s body was like a cut on his heart, causing him immense pain. He could not help but blame himself.

“Every Martial Artist is bound to sustain wounds. These are just small injuries, it is nothing.” Gu Lingzhi was slightly awkward as she pushed him away. She whispered in his ear, “Your Highness, please do not forget that you have a fiancée, I do not want to be the target of your admirers.”

Rong Yuan’s status prevented anyone from finding trouble with Gu Lingzhi, but the Black Thorn was different.

“Who dares to comment on who I can care for?” Rolling his eyes impatiently at Gu Lingzhi, Rong Yuan ignored her protests as he grabbed her by the waist and hugged her. He instructed Yuan Zheng to deal with the men on the floor and carried Gu Lingzhi. In this manner, he jumped through the capital city from roof to roof. Before long, they had reached the dorms of the Royal School.

Without any outsiders, Rong Yuan no longer had any apprehension as he placed Gu Lingzhi on his bed. With a pull, he tore Gu Lingzhi’s long dress into rags, which dangled off her body in pieces.

Letting out a cold breath, Gu Lingzhi quickly covered her chest area as she glared sharply at Rong Yuan, “What are you doing?”

“Of course I am applying medicine for you.” As he said this, a white jade bottle appeared in Rong Yuan’s hands. He raised his eyebrows at her, “What are you covering up for? What have I not seen before?”