Farm Girl's Manor

Just in a moment of distraction, King Heng’s movements against the enemy slowed down, and the Ferocious Tiger seized the opportunity with a heavy claw strike aimed at his throat.

The claws were white and sharp, long and exceedingly lethal; with one swipe, they could easily penetrate skin and flesh, tearing open King Heng’s throat.

Sensing the danger, King Heng snapped back to attention, his body instinctively leaning back to avoid the Ferocious Tiger’s deadly attack. However, the tiger’s sharp claws still grazed his cheek, leaving from left to right, three deep and long gashes, with blood instantly spraying out, mixing with torn skin to create a blurred mess of flesh and blood.

Relieved to have narrowly escaped death, King Heng had no time to worry about the cold sweat breaking out on his forehead; the severe pain on his face caused him to groan involuntarily. Feeling a liquid trickling down his face, he reached out in shock, wiped it, and saw his hand smeared with blood, mixed with bits of flesh. Only then did he belatedly realize what had happened.

He stared at his palm as if he couldn’t believe his face had been disfigured, then hastily wiped the blood off his sword, and leaned in to see his reflection. When he caught sight of the unrecognizable face on the blade—a face not even he could identify—his whole being seemed to lose its soul, his gaze becoming hollow, a picture of utter silence.

Such severe scratches would undoubtedly leave scars impossible to erase! In the kingdom of Great Chu, they would not allow a disfigured person to inherit the throne, and likewise, a man with a ruined face would not be allowed to take that supreme position.

The scene of King Heng being disfigured by the Ferocious Tiger was clearly witnessed by Xiao Ruiyuan. He calmly slew the tiger that leapt at him, attempting to bite through King Heng’s throat, then dragged the overwhelmed King Heng, who had fainted, to lean on a stone behind him, before turning back to continue fighting off the relentless onslaught of beasts.

No one knew that at the moment when the tiger pounced on King Heng, he had the strength to save the man but didn’t make a move in time.

To avenge someone, death is not the cruelest punishment. To watch, helplessly, as all one pursues falls easily into someone else’s hands, and oneself forever barred from it—that is a fate worse than death!

Without mentioning Lin Imperial Concubine and the Lin Family’s blood feud with Chu Heng, the fact that King Heng had repeatedly attempted to harm Chu Heng in secret was unforgivable. Xiao Ruiyuan felt no injustice about his downfall.

As for Lin Imperial Concubine and the Lin Family... King Heng’s disfigurement shattered their daydream, and this round of revenge was just the beginning!

Xiao Ruiyuan rescuing King Heng from the tiger’s jaws was ultimately for his cousin Chu Heng. Whether it was King Heng or the other Princes, as long as they were not dead, even if they were injured or disabled, Emperor Huian would not harm his son, who did not have much longer to live, even if he learned that Chu Heng was behind it, no matter how furious he was.

Chu Heng himself did not care, but Xiao Ruiyuan was unwilling to let his cousin, whom he considered family, be resented by his biological father in his last days, even if the cousin also harbored resentment towards that same father.

The eerie flute music that had controlled the beasts stopped at the moment of King Heng’s disfigurement. Now, the ground was littered with the corpses of beasts, blood flowing into rivers staining the green foliage red. No longer controlled by the flute, the beasts’ ferocity was fully unleashed by the strong scent of blood, as they lunged forward with roars, heedless of their own lives.

With the disappearance of the flute’s control, no more beasts joined the fray from elsewhere. At that moment, a resounding horn sounded from below the mountain. Clearly, reinforcements had arrived at the foot of the mountain, giving the guards on the verge of despair a glimpse of hope. Fighting with their last bit of strength to hold off the beasts, they just needed to delay a little longer to be saved.