The candlelight flickered, filling the room with a sensual atmosphere.
He gazed at her bandaged body, his eyes tracing downwards inch by inch, as if he intended to devour her.
Ye Luan's expression remained unchanged. "Everything was just to survive. Has Your Highness had enough humiliation? May I leave now?"
"Ye Luan, who allowed you to bandage your wounds?"
Huh?
Ye Luan frowned, what did he mean?
Xiao Chi Zhan suddenly grabbed her by the neck, his voice chilling and slow.
"Remember this, I like seeing you bloody the most."
His grip tightened, and pain shot through her constricted neck.
Ye Luan cursed him inwardly a thousand times, but her gaze remained calm as she looked at him.
Xiao Chi Zhan narrowed his eyes slightly, observing her stubbornness. A smile touched his lips, and his thumb unconsciously caressed her neck.
"Looking like this, you almost make me reluctant to kill you."
Ye Luan remained silent, biting her lip tightly, fixing her gaze on him.
Xiao Chi Zhan chuckled softly, but the curve of his lips was like that of a demon from hell, cold and terrifying.
He used his other hand to pinch her chin, forcing her mouth open. As her tender lips parted slightly, Xiao Chi Zhan's eyes darkened involuntarily, as if burning with infernal fire.
Ye Luan sensed the shift in him. A watery sheen appeared in her foxy eyes, a mixture of defiance and fragility.
The pain in her neck intensified.
A devilish voice whispered in her ear, "Stop pretending. The more pathetic you act, the more I want to torment you."
Endure, Ye Luan, just endure.
One day, you will personally kill this beast.
She closed her eyes, adopting an air of serene acceptance of her fate.
Xiao Chi Zhan licked his lips, his魅惑 (mèihuò) red eyes fixed on her. Suddenly, he released his grip and tossed her onto the bed in the inner chamber.
Ye Luan cried out as the impact sent pain through her body.
The moment she opened her eyes, she saw Xiao Chi Zhan approaching with a whip.
This madman.
What was he going to do?
Xiao Chi Zhan saw the change in her eyes. A bloodthirsty smile lurked in his sinister gaze as he looked down at her—
*Crack—*
A whip cracked against the floor, making a sharp sound.
"Do you know how Li Bei died?"
Ye Luan flinched. Li Bei was the mastermind behind the humiliation of Xiao Chi Zhan, the heir of the Duan Yang Prince's manor.
Li Bei was exceptionally ugly. He despised Xiao Chi Zhan's appearance. When Xiao Chi Zhan was at his lowest, Li Bei, along with a group of rich second-generation individuals, forced Xiao Chi Zhan to kneel and whipped him.
"He, ah, was skinned inch by inch by the executioner of the Corpse Burying Cave, dying from excessive blood loss."
"I heard, his bones were gone, ground to dust and scattered to the winds."
Ye Luan gasped, wanting to speak.
But the specially made whip lashed out fiercely. She tried to dodge, but found her limbs weak. The intense pain made her collapse onto the bed.
Before she transmigrated, the original host had suffered severe injuries.
As the whip swung towards her again, she retreated, shouting, "Doesn't Your Highness think he's acting like a madman?"
The original host had once struck him, so he was here to retaliate.
Xiao Chi Zhan smiled cruelly. "I've been a madman since birth, Ye Luan. Today, I'll show you what a true madman is."
Pain, the agony of flesh tearing.
Ye Luan could clearly see the terrifying, blazing flames burning in his red eyes.
Another whip was swung at her. She quickly retreated, evading the blow, but the next moment, a whip struck her back.
Her smooth, jade-like skin was quickly covered in whip marks.
This whip strike was agonizing. Her already injured body could barely withstand it. Ye Luan collapsed onto the bed, her brows furrowed.
Her entire body burned with pain.
Ye Luan, you cannot yield.
Absolutely not!
She suddenly opened her eyes, grabbed the other end of the whip, and pulled with all her might.
She could feel the intense pain radiating from her body as she strained, but she couldn't afford to care. If this continued, she would be whipped to death.
Xiao Chi Zhan seemed surprised by her resistance. His grip loosened, and the whip was snatched away by Ye Luan.
As he watched with amusement, a whip whistled through the air and struck his chest directly.
This audacious woman!
A terrifying light flashed in Xiao Chi Zhan's narrowed red eyes.
He enjoyed taming beasts, and the fiercer they were, the more he liked them!
Ye Luan, unfazed, swung another whip towards him.
"Are you seeking death?!"
Xiao Chi Zhan suddenly leaped forward.
His speed was so great that in the blink of an eye, he had grabbed Ye Luan by the neck and lifted her, pinning her onto the bed.
Ye Luan kicked him forcefully, with such strength that she sent Xiao Chi Zhan sprawling to the ground.
Xiao Chi Zhan watched her fiercely straddle him with a cold laugh, his alluring red eyes glinting with a devilish smile.
"Didn't Your Highness like hitting people? You should taste this sensation too."
Ye Luan straddled him, completely unclothed. Her black hair cascaded around her waist. Her delicate face was etched with coldness, yet it made her even more captivating.
His rough fingertips brushed against her. Ye Luan felt a wave of shame and anger, and fiercely swung the whip at the man below her.
Xiao Chi Zhan, however, laughed, like a demon from hell, his laughter sinister and terrifying.
You perverted freak, laughing so lustfully even when being hit.
She finally understood. Xiao Chi Zhan was a complete masochist.
Appearing weak or trying to please him wouldn't work. Confronting him was the only way to pique his interest and prolong her survival.
One day, she vowed, she would personally drag him down from his pedestal and kill him.
"Ye Luan, does it hurt?"
A sharp pain like a blade slicing through her waist suddenly erupted.
Ye Luan gasped in pain.
"Tsk, I haven't even used much force yet, and you can't take it?"
Ye Luan ignored him, grabbed his hand, and snatched the knife away.
The moment she drew the blade, a surge of force hit her. He quickly flipped over, looking down at her warily, and sneered.
"With your skills, killing me is a dream! Ye Luan, how do you want to die? I'll grant you that."
Pinned to the ground by him, Ye Luan was so enraged she felt like spitting blood.
However, her mind remained incredibly calm. She absolutely could not die like this.
She clutched the knife tightly in her hand. "Your Highness, how about a game?"
A game?
Interesting!
This was getting more and more entertaining.
Xiao Chi Zhan's lips curved into a bloodthirsty smile.
"Your Highness, are you afraid, perhaps?"
Hearing her provocation, Xiao Chi Zhan narrowed his red eyes. He slowly squatted down, his long, strong hand gripping her neck, his voice incredibly cold and terrifying.
"Ye Luan, remember, I am the hunter, and you are merely prey. You have no right to negotiate with me."
The pain in her neck was suffocating. Ye Luan's face turned red, and she managed to gasp out.
"Could it be that Your Highness is afraid of falling for this prey?"
Love?
Hahaha.
He, Xiao Chi Zhan, would never know what love was in this lifetime.
"Let's hear it."
Ye Luan glanced uncomfortably at her strangled neck.
Xiao Chi Zhan let out a scoff and released her.
"Let me up."
She discovered that the more defiant and pampered she acted, the happier he seemed to become.