34: Chapter 34 Possession, Royal Guard

Xiushan Princes Mansion, study.

A fine Duan inkstone was smashed violently onto the floor, shattering into several pieces, with ink splattering everywhere.

Prince of Xiushan, this powerful regional official, was currently pacing back and forth in the study like a furious lion.

"Trash! You are all trash!"

His eyes were blood-red as he roared at the advisors and the steward kneeling below him.

"A secret manual! It was stolen right under my nose! What are you all eating for a living?!"

The steward lowered his head even further, his body trembling like chaff.

"Your Highness, please calm your anger... The assassin... The assassin was an expert from the White Lotus Sect; the guards in the mansion were simply no match..."

"White Lotus Sect!" Prince of Xiushan kicked over the incense burner beside him, the bronze vessel rolling onto the floor, scattering ash everywhere. "It's the White Lotus Sect again!"

He stopped abruptly, another face he loathed flashing through his mind.

That bandit leader, Black Wind Demon.

The abduction of the Princess and the theft from the library both happened that night.

These two events must be related!

This was a provocation; it was a naked slap in the face to his Xiushan Princes Mansion!

His woman, the woman of the Prince of Xiushan, had been defiled by a filthy bandit. The secret manual of his Zheng Imperial Dynasty had vanished from his own mansion.

If this got out, he would become the biggest joke in the entire Great Shang Dynasty!

As for whether the Princess had truly lost her chastity, it no longer mattered.

What mattered was that everyone believed she had.

At the mere thought of possibly having been cuckolded, the murderous intent in Prince of Xiushan's heart could no longer be contained.

He didn't have the energy to deal with the Princess who had lost her purity, but he could kill that bandit leader first!

"Come here!"

A guard walked in quickly from outside the door and knelt on one knee.

"What are your orders, Your Highness?"

Prince of Xiushan didn't even look at him, but squeezed a few words out through gritted teeth.

"Go to the dungeon and kill that bandit leader called Black Wind Demon for me!"

He paused, then added another sentence, filled with endless disgust.

"Don't use the mansion's blades; they're dirty."

"Yes!"

The guard acknowledged the order, rose, and retreated.

In the backyard of the mansion, in a secluded pavilion.

Princess Li Ronger sat before the cold vanity, looking at her haggard, pale face in the bronze mirror.

She had heard the faint roars coming from outside.

For the past few days, she had been under house arrest here, unable to see anyone except for a mute maid who delivered her meals.

The Prince had not come to see her even once.

She knew she was finished.

In this world, a woman's chastity was more important than life itself.

No matter how she explained or defended herself, it was useless.

She had been found on the bandit leader's bed, disheveled.

This was the original sin.

Princess Li Ronger's fingertips traced the cold surface of the mirror, and a clear tear slid down her cheek, blooming into a small water stain on the table.

She suddenly felt that it would have been better if she had just died on Black Wind Mountain.

Dungeon.

The heavy iron door was opened from the outside, emitting a harsh, grinding sound.

A beam of light illuminated the dark cell.

Chen Fan opened his eyes from the pile of straw and looked toward the entrance.

A strange guard stood against the light, holding a common saber.

"Get up." The guard's tone carried no emotion. "Your time of death has arrived."

Chen Fan stood up unsteadily, the injury on his chest making his movements somewhat sluggish.

He was roughly dragged out of the cell by the guard, the iron chains dragging across the floor with a clattering sound.

They did not go to the execution grounds; the guard simply dragged him to a secluded corner outside the dungeon, where weeds grew in abundance—it looked like a place for executing unimportant prisoners.

"Do it." Chen Fan leaned against the wall, looking at the guard calmly.

The guard was taken aback by his calm demeanor in the face of death.

Chen Fan spoke at this moment, asking a question that left the other party dumbfounded.

"Before you kill me, let me ask you something."

The guard frowned, looking somewhat impatient.

"What is your position? What is your cultivation level?"

The guard was completely confused; he suspected that the bandit leader had been locked up until he went crazy.

Before dying, instead of begging for mercy or cursing, he was concerned about the executioner's resume?

He sneered with a hint of mockery.

"A personal guard of the Prince, a Ninth-grade Martial Artist. What, are you afraid of dying at the hands of a nobody and tarnishing your reputation as the Black Wind Demon?"

Ninth-grade.

Chen Fan sighed inwardly.

Really... a huge loss.

Dropping from the Seventh-grade Captain Li Zhong straight down to a Ninth-grade nameless guard.

This stock had crashed quite hard.

However, something was better than nothing.

The status of a mansion personal guard was still better than that of an executioner. At least he could remain at the center of the vortex that was the mansion and have the opportunity to come into contact with higher-value targets.

Forget it, no point in being picky.

"Do it." Chen Fan closed his eyes, looking resigned.

This maneuver completely baffled the guard.

He looked at the strange bandit leader before him, feeling only that the man was mentally ill.

Without further words, the guard raised the saber in his hand.

He needed to finish the task the Prince had entrusted to him as quickly as possible.

The cold blade sliced a deadly arc through the dim light.

[Host death detected]

[Target locked: Mansion Guard Lin Shou]

[Priority assessment: Direct killing, highest priority.]

[Substitution Rebirth... Initiating!]

[Beginning Possession...]

[Possessing... 1%...]

[15%...]

[58%...]

[99%...]

[100%!]

[Congratulations Host: Possession successful!]

The guard only felt a blur before his eyes, and an irresistible sense of fatigue flooded his brain.

The saber in his hand clattered to the ground.

He wanted to see what was wrong with himself, but his eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds.

Finally, his body swayed, and he fell straight forward.

A moment later.

The "guard" lying on the ground moved a finger.

Chen Fan slowly opened his eyes.

He examined these somewhat unfamiliar hands, feeling the weak Ninth-grade Internal Energy within his body, feeling somewhat helpless.

Then, he stood up and brushed the dust off his body.

He picked up the saber from the ground and tucked it back into his waist.

Next, he bent down and simply dealt with the corpse that belonged to "Black Wind Demon."

He roughly covered these things, along with the bloodstains on the ground, with the mud at his feet.

After doing all this, he straightened his guard uniform and strode out of the dungeon.

From today on, he was just an ordinary guard of the Xiushan Princes Mansion.

A new life had begun.

Just as he stepped out of that gloomy corner, he bumped into someone.

The person coming was also dressed as a guard; upon seeing him, the man clearly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Lin Shou, where did you run off to? The Prince wants you to go to the backyard for questioning!"

Lin Shou?

So this body had this name.

Before Chen Fan could speak, the guard grabbed his arm and dragged him forward in a hurry.

"Hurry up! Princess Li Ronger... seems to be trying to commit suicide!"