427: Chapter 427 The Hypocritical, Dishonest Man

The Fourth Princess buried her head deeply into his back, her body trembling uncontrollably, her voice filled with heartbreaking grievances and entreaties:

"We aren't going to the Imperial Palace anymore. I don't want revenge anymore!"

"If my eldest brother wants to be the Emperor, then let him be the Emperor!"

Her hands gripped tighter and tighter, as if, should she loosen them even a little, the man before her would turn into a gust of wind and vanish completely.

She had already lost her father, who loved her most, and the familiar faces at the Princesss Mansion. In this world, she had nothing left.

If the price of revenge was to eventually watch him leave her too.

Then she would rather live in hiding under an assumed name for the rest of her life, bearing the notoriety of patricide, rather than hide in this dark, sunless cave forever like a stray dog!

She didn't want to lose anything else.

"I don't want to lose you!"

The Fourth Princess hugged Jiang You's back, using all her strength to scream out the words she had suppressed in her Heart for countless days and nights:

"Jiang You! I like you!"

This heartfelt confession, hidden behind countless tests and countless hints.

That confession she had wanted to wait for him to initiate, finally, in this dilapidated cave, accompanied by despairing tears, was thrown without reservation at the man before her.

A fierce wind poured in through the cave entrance, and the cave fell into a suffocating silence.

Time, as if in this very second, had been forcibly pressed to pause.

Jiang You let her hug him from behind.

He stood where he was, not turning around immediately, nor changing the subject as he usually did.

Deep within his eyes, which reflected the cold light from outside the cave, flashed an extremely complex undercurrent.

He could not stay, and he had no way to take her with him, so at this moment, he had to make the girl before him give up completely.

A long pain is worse than a short one; this was the most responsible cruelty he could offer both her and himself.

Jiang You raised his hand expressionlessly and ruthlessly pried open the two soft arms wrapped around his waist.

Jiang You slowly turned around, looking down at the girl before him who was crying like a rain-drenched pear blossom, her eyes filled with entreaty.

There was not a shred of pity or love in his eyes, only an abyssal calmness and detachment.

"Sorry, I don't like you."

Seven simple words, spoken with resounding force.

He didn't look for any excuses like "we aren't a good fit" or "I can't give you a future," but instead used the most direct, most decisive way to cut off all her hopes with a single stroke.

The Fourth Princess's breath hitched violently.

Her face turned instantly pale as paper, and clutching her cramping Heart, she stumbled back half a step, her sobs choked off in her throat by the sharp pain.

Watching her pale lips, Jiang You's Heart twitched slightly.

But he did not step forward to support her, nor did he retract what he had just said.

He turned around, facing the outside of the cave again, his back straight.

A heaven-shaking murderous aura, tempered in mountains of corpses and seas of blood, erupted from his body without reservation, causing the fallen leaves outside the cave to swirl wildly.

"Also, regardless of whether I help you or not, I will return, and I will kill Imperial Preceptor Wen Wangshan!"

He strode out of the cave, the black ink clouds beneath his feet churning wildly like boiling magma, shrouding half his body in a terrifying shadow of death.

"As for the others in the Imperial City, I still say the same thing."

"Whoever dares to stop me, I will kill them!"

Accompanied by this murderous declaration, Jiang You stood with his back to the cave, his back straight, the tangible black demonic energy around him rolling endlessly, like a cold-blooded demon god about to slaughter the world.

He had thought that this emotionless, cold-to-the-bone, heartless statement, plus that "I don't like you," would definitely make the other party give up completely.

After all, he also knew that what he had just said was indeed too hurtful.

However, Jiang You had no other choice; the matters in Great Zhou were not yet finished, and there were more troubles on Blue Star that needed him to resolve.

He could only force himself to be cruel and say those things to The Fourth Princess.

However, what came from behind was not the heartbreaking, wailing cry Jiang You had expected.

"Sniff..."

The Fourth Princess stood by the pile of hay, sniffing hard.

She stared fixedly at Jiang You's back, which appeared cold and heartless, but in reality, even his fingers were trembling slightly.

Having spent every day together for this past month, she had long since figured out this man's personality completely.

It's truly infuriating, this big liar!

The Fourth Princess still had tears swirling in her eyes, but her originally pale little face suddenly puffed up its cheeks.

She stomped her foot violently, like a cat with its fur standing on end, and shouted indignantly at Jiang You's back:

"Fine, I'll go, okay! Why did you have to say such hurtful things to me!"

"You hypocritical stinky man! I hate you!"

"Pretending to be cold and icy, talking as if you don't like me at all!"

This rapid-fire questioning, filled with thirty percent grievance and seventy percent coquettishness, echoed in the cave.

"..."

The black ink clouds beneath Jiang You's feet, which were churning joyfully and reeking of murderous aura, stalled eerily the moment they heard these words.

Jiang You froze in place, his back to The Fourth Princess, his eyes, which had been feigning indifference, widening suddenly, his pupils trembling violently.

He was stunned.

He was completely, utterly stunned!

This script is all wrong!

According to the tropes of normal romance novels, shouldn't she be disheartened and hopeless right now, accepting reality with tears, and ending this ill-fated relationship from now on?

Why does this girl's thought process completely defy the tropes, even seeing through at a glance that he was deliberately saying harsh things to scare her?

Jiang You stood in the wind, his Demon King aura, which was originally enough to deter thousands of troops, now showing signs of collapsing.

He opened his mouth, wanting to forcefully retort a few words.

But when the words reached his lips, meeting the resentful gaze from behind that seemed to see through everything, he couldn't squeeze out a single word.

He was awkward for a full three seconds.

Jiang You's Adam's apple bobbed, and he forcibly swallowed a mouthful of dry saliva.

He did not look back, nor did he try to explain the question of whether he liked her or not.

To resolve this damn awkwardness, he chose a hardcore operation that only a top-tier troll could pull off: a physical load-game!

"Ahem."

Jiang You tactically coughed twice, without blushing or skipping a beat, and suddenly spoke in a stiff tone, as if nothing had happened, and as if the memories of the last five minutes had been forcibly deleted:

"Also, where were we just now?"

"Oh right, later when we reach the Imperial City, if there aren't that many enemies, remember to save some spiritual energy; don't go straight for the ultimate move right from the start."

"The Time Scissors consume too much origin energy; at critical moments, I might still need to use your time ability to assist me."

Jiang You's extremely stiff, transition-less "load-game" left The Fourth Princess behind him stunned.

The Fourth Princess looked at his stiff back, the corners of her mouth unable to stop curling upward wildly; the previous sadness and grievance were instantly washed away by more than half by this sense of absurdity.

This man is actually pretending to have amnesia with her!

Even his method of changing the subject is so clumsy!