novelraw Chapter 426 - 320: Infuriated (Part 2)
Chapter 426 - 320: Infuriated (Part 2)
Rong Jing took over the fan, carefully examining the ink painting on it, his gaze deep and inscrutable, leaving one to wonder what he was thinking.
This folding fan was gifted to her by Zhou Wanqing...
Gu Lan buried his face in his chest, his expression turning colder, his dark eyes tinged with a gloomy blood hue, forcefully suppressing the impulse to kill.
She knew that the fan was not the issue; the real infusion of the herbal essence came from the string of the jade pendant given to her by Rong Heng.
It was the rubbing of this string against the folding fan that caused it to pick up the scent, and since the string was the same color as her clothes, it seemed like a frayed thread gone unnoticed by both Zhang Fengcai and Rong Jing.
However, even if the herbs were effective, this bit was so faint that it was insignificant in soothing the effects of the Heart-devouring Incense.
"Dingyuan Marquis Mansion? Heh, Gu Chengzhao and Madam Zhou are truly good to you," Rong Jing said softly, his eyes filled with envy, "I truly envy you, having such caring parents, while I have nothing..."
As he spoke, he suddenly exerted force with his hands clutching the fan, tearing the fan into pieces!
"Rong Jing, how dare you!"
Gu Lan’s suppressed roar, with eyes red, seemed as though she wanted to stand up.
Rong Jing took a few steps back, leisurely watching Gu Lan’s outstretched hand fall powerlessly before even touching his clothes, saying: "I am the Emperor, is there anything I dare not do? Speak."
Zhang Fengcai stood alert in front of Rong Jing, only to see the boy’s face turn pale as paper, the redness in his lips gone, as if using all his strength to throw a punch, yet his body uncontrollably collapsed again.
He exhaled a sigh of relief... it seemed the Heart-devouring Incense was indeed effective on Gu Lan.
Seeing the previously handsome and unyielding young man now in utter agony, Zhang Fengcai suddenly shivered, not because of her, but remembering himself.
The first time he encountered the Heart-devouring Incense, his reaction was exactly the same as Gu Lan’s; his whole body was in so much pain that he couldn’t move, and his muscles and nerves were in unbearable spasms, wishing he could end it himself. Forget about using Inner Strength, even if someone stabbed him now, he probably wouldn’t feel it.
——The pain from the Heart-devouring Incense seeped out from the very bones.
If someone under the effects of the Heart-devouring Incense received other injuries, it would be like pouring a basin of ice water on those trudging through ice and snow, their bodies frozen stiff; they couldn’t even feel that it was ice water, perhaps even finding the blood warm, the water heated.
Just like Gu Lan at present, who might have smashed her knee upon falling, yet now was clinging to her head in low moans of pain.
"Young Master Gu, you’d better stop struggling, no matter how skilled you are in martial arts, in the face of Heart-devouring Incense, you are but a cripple," Zhang Fengcai taunted, "Even if Your Majesty and I wanted to kill you, you wouldn’t be able to resist, so why get worked up over a mere fan."
In a moment, Gu Lan’s lips regained their redness, yet her lip corner was bitten through, leaving it a mess, the fresh blood soaked through her thin lips.
Rong Jing raised his hand slightly, letting the shattered pieces of the fan fall onto Gu Lan, his tone both inquisitive and a bit manic:
"Angry, are you? Want to kill me? In fact, I’ve always wondered if one day, someone might manage to kill me, but that person couldn’t possibly be you, not when you can’t even make a fist; how would I ever die at the hands of a fool like you... I truly don’t understand why Rong Heng likes you."
Gu Lan gripped a fan fragment tightly, the veins on her hand bulging, her tattered hair obscuring her face.
It seemed Rong Jing had assumed she was already with Rong Heng. But how was he so sure? Even if he found out about her connection to the Crow Building and her secret dealings with Rong Heng... couldn’t they have simply sworn brotherhood?
Cold sweat soaked the hair on Gu Lan’s forehead, making it hard to discern the emotions in her eyes.
"Kill me?" Her sharp black eyes gleamed through her stray locks, her voice dripping with irony and disdain despite its tremor, "Do you dare? Even to hurt me, you wouldn’t dare, perhaps."
Rong Jing’s expression shifted, and again he raised his hand, smashing the dark green Xiu jade hanging from the fan onto the ground.
The shattered jade splattered, crisp and melodious.
"Trying to provoke me?" Rong Jing asked, suppressing his anger, then he looked at Gu Lan’s unbearable state and laughed aloud, "I merely wanted to see you suffer initially, but now it suddenly occurs to me... when a beast appears, of course it’s up to the hunter to tame it."
Gu Lan tugged at the corner of her mouth, thinking that if this didn’t anger him, Rong Jing’s thought process is truly bizarre... However, he made one mistake: the use of Heart-devouring Incense or any methods to inflict pain doesn’t work on someone who has undergone such pain training like her.