The Attack of the Wastrel

Finally resolving the issue that was bugging him, Rong Yuan felt much lighter and free.

Without his supposed fiancée now, Gu Lingzhi shouldn’t have a reason to avoid him? Right…?

He had an impulse to quickly inform Gu Lingzhi about this news and found an excuse to leave even before the banquet ended. After all, this was a banquet that was held frequently to check up and ensure that all the higher-ranking officials were doing well. His early departure would not have too big of an impact on the banquet.

In Chengnan, Gu Lingzhi was severely injured in a small alley as she limped towards the inn.

An hour ago, under the assassination attempt by a masked man, Gu Lingzhi finally broke through to a Level Six Martial Student. Facing Gu Lingzhi, whose strength had suddenly increased significantly, the assassin retreated knowing that he would not be able to take her life.

Not knowing whether the assassin would return with back-up, Gu Lingzhi struggled to hurry back to the inn. As long as she entered the inn, she would be protected.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, she finally walked out of the small alley that seemed endless. Gu Lingzhi’s stumbling figure appeared under the neon glow of the setting sun in the Red Sun City.

Not being able to find Gu Lingzhi at the inn, Rong Yuan came out to look for her and happened to see the bloody sight of Gu Lingzhi as she stumbled out of the alley. His heart clenched as he quickened his footsteps.

“What happened to you?”

Gu Lingzhi rolled her eyes as she said, “I was attacked.”

Just as her words left her, her body gave way and Rong Yuan ended up having to carry her to the inn.

“Let’s take care of your wounds first! You can tell me the details later.”

Gu Lingzhi wanted to reject but was no match for Rong Yuan in her injured state. She attempted to push him twice before being hugged tightly by Rong Yuan and warned, “Stop moving!”

Rong Yuan’s rough actions pressed onto the wound in her shin, causing Gu Lingzhi to pant and faint from the pain.

Before she lost consciousness, she gathered her energy to spit out one word, “Jinx…” Meeting him never resulted in anything good.

What? Jinx?

Rong Yuan became rigid as he could not believe what he had just heard. Perhaps Gu Lingzhi was spewing nonsense before she went unconscious.

Yuan Zheng who was following behind, was however able to see everything clearly. He looked at the area where Rong Yuan was pressing onto Gu Lingzhi’s leg wound and saw a large patch of blood pooling. He went up to Rong Yuan and said, “Your Highness, I think her leg is injured…and you are pressing pretty hard on it.”

Rong Yuan immediately glanced down and realise that he was indeed pressing on her wound. Mixed feelings ran through him as he felt his heart ache and blamed himself.

The inn’s shopkeeper recognised Rong Yuan as he saw him carry Gu Lingzhi in. He did not hesitate to guide him into Gu Lingzhi’s room.

Once Rong Yuan laid the unconscious Gu Lingzhi on the bed, he immediately retrieved Spiritual Medicine from his Storage Ring and fed it to her. Looking at Gu Lingzhi’s blood-stained dress, he glanced backwards. Yuan Zheng immediately got the hint and turned around.

“Your Highness, I’ll go investigate what happened tonight while you help Lady Xiao Hei tend to her injuries.”

He then left the room without turning back.

Not bad. Rong Yuan liked how quick-witted Yuan Zheng was.

After making sure no one else was going to enter the room, Rong Yuan turned his attention to Gu Lingzhi.

Sweeping his gaze over her long dress, he started to help her undress.

It was an action that would normally excite someone, but in that moment, Rong Yuan did not think about that at all.

He observed quite a number of tears on her dress, indicating that she would have…numerous wounds on her body as well.

Carefully, he tried his best not to cause any pain to Gu Lingzhi as he removed her clothes gently.

When a spotless, curvy and delicate body appeared in front of Rong Yuan, even despite his worry for Gu Lingzhi, he could not help but feel a tug in his heart as his breathing got heavier. Silently, he scolded himself, “Pervert.”

Even at a moment like this, he could not help but think of other things.

Trying his best not to let his gaze fall on her most attractive parts, Rong Yuan forced himself to concentrate on her injuries.

It was really quite useful as once he saw the hole in Gu Lingzhi’s calf and it looked like it was about to fall off, he felt as if someone had thrown ice cold water onto him.

“Who… dares to be so cruel!” With an injury like this and the numerous other wounds on Gu Lingzhi’s body, it was obvious that the attacker was trying to kill her.

What if he had not appeared tonight? Or…what if Gu Lingzhi wasn’t able to defend against the assassination? 

At this point, a sharp pain pierced Rong Yuan’s heart. It was the first time he had felt so afraid of such a possibility.

“I am sorry…I have implicated you.” After tending to Gu Lingzhi’s wounds, Rong Yuan placed an affectionate kiss on her forehead guiltily.

Gu Lingzhi’s current identity was like a blank sheet. If not for that chance encounter on the first day where she had yet to use the voice-changing pill, with the obvious forceful deepening of her voice and familiar figure, he would not have been able to guess her true identity so quickly. He had only confirmed it later after he investigated into it.

However, others did not know Gu Lingzhi’s true identity and Gu Lingzhi had only been either challenging at the Town of the Brave or hiding in her inn to train. She had no opportunity to create enemies, much less cause someone to want to kill her.

The only possibility was that they had attacked her to get at him.

This whole time, he had only been focused on how to make Gu Lingzhi happy and collecting information on Tianfeng Wei. He had completely neglected considering how his actions might cause trouble for her. In the past, he would never have made a mistake like this.

It seems like what Yuan Zheng said is true, a person in love is a fool…

Laughing at himself, Rong Yuan’s eyes were cold.

When he finds out the person behind did this, he would make sure that they would regret everything they had ever done.

At this moment, Gu Lingzhi stirred.

Before she opened her eyes, she already felt something off. As she lifted her arm to touch the areas on her body that were injured, all she felt was her own bare skin.

Where were her clothes?

With this realisation, the fog in Gu Lingzhi’s mind immediately cleared and she opened her eyes in alarmed. She stared at Rong Yuan’s worried face.

“You are awake? How do you feel? Are you still hurting? Don’t be scared, I have applied the best medicinal oil on your injuries so that it will not leave a scar after it heals.”

Who cares if there was going to be a scar? Gu Lingzhi grinded her teeth as she stared at him.

“Your Highness, where- are- my- clothes?”