Chapter 6

Another month has passed.

Peace and tranquility prevailed.

After a month of relaxation, Pei Jian recovered and began to think about the progress of the mission.

However, she wasn't too worried because Alo would occasionally come and wander around in front of her.

The specific reason is unknown.

Although we only exchange a few words each time, it's usually just things like, "Have you eaten?", "Where are you going?", and "Don't even think about running away."

System: [If you didn't know better, you'd think Alo was the one pursuing the enemy, and you were the one being pursued.]

Pei Jian said she hadn't found a suitable opportunity to get closer to each other.

until...

A gentle breeze was blowing, and the sky was clear and bright.

According to Alo, humans will send envoys to negotiate today.

Nearly three months have passed since Pei Jian was kidnapped, and the humans should be able to come up with a solution.

It is said that the person who came was Ze Yi's loyal subordinate, Castan.

Pei Jian had met him a few times. He was tall, though not quite as tall as A Luo, but still among the tallest humans. He always wore a mask, and people said he had a horrible scar on his face, left from battles in his early years.

At first, Castan didn't take it seriously. After scaring several children to tears, he put on the mask for convenience and never took it off again.

Pei Jian attended the meeting in the council chamber.

The meeting agenda was the same as three months ago, discussing the division of territories in detail. The only difference was that the meeting venue was no longer a human palace, and the leaders had changed from humans to dragons.

When Pei Jian saw the mysterious Castan again, he inexplicably felt that he didn't match the person in his memory. He seemed shorter and thinner, and his whole person was very restless, with his gaze repeatedly falling on him.

A bold guess formed in her mind: the person in front of them was not the so-called Castan, but Ze Yi!

That's ridiculous.

As the sole heir, he should not and cannot be here.

Pei Jian subconsciously looked at A Luo. He didn't notice anything amiss. He had never met Castan before, only heard that the man wore a mask.

Alo leaned casually against the back of the chair, looking as if he had no bones.

He said, "What? Can we talk again now?"

'Castan' nodded.

The accompanying high-ranking humans handed Alo and his group documents they had prepared earlier, saying, "These are our requirements."

“The area north of Pinghe belongs to humankind…” A Luo read aloud.

Pinghe is a large river near the Dragon Clan, and it is said that both humans and dragons originated here.

Alo quickly glanced through the list, then smiled dismissively, "No way, you've only given up so much?"

Not only Alo, but the other dragons also disagreed. "Why don't you go back and think about it again? Anyway, Duke Peder's daughter is still living here with us, eating and drinking well, so we're not in a hurry."

"Does Your Highness not wish to remove the shackles from your wrists as soon as possible?"

“As for me,” Alo raised his wrist, glanced lightly at the two metal rings on it, and then put it down again, “it doesn’t matter whether I take them off or not.”

After he finished speaking, he pulled Pei Jian away.

This is the territory of the dragons, and they have the absolute strength to deal with these few fragile humans, so Alo did not set up any defenses.

As he passed 'Castan', he suddenly reached out and stopped Pei Jian and A Luo, saying, "It's all negotiable. Why don't you think about it some more?"

"think?"

Alo scoffed, "That's what you should be doing now. Tell your prince that if you don't come up with a satisfactory solution..."

He then glanced at Pei Jian, who felt a chill run down her spine from his gaze and shrank her shoulders.

"Using her as collateral... well... I can barely accept it."

How did it suddenly turn into the tough talk segment?

“I’m leaving,” Alo said, patting Castan’s shoulder with an arrogant “what can you do to me?” attitude.

Pei Jian dared not utter a sound, but before leaving, she struggled to turn her head to look at 'Castan'.

She saw, in their blind spot, 'Castan' silently reach into his boot.

"etc!"

Pei Jian saw through 'Castan's' intention: to take advantage of everyone's inattention and plunge the dagger he had hidden into Alo's heart.

At the critical moment, Pei Jian stretched out his arms with lightning speed and stood behind A Luo.

A Luo hadn't expected this turn of events. Pei Jian's wrist was still in his grasp, and it was so red from being squeezed that it looked like it was wrapped in a red veil.

Ze Yi's heart clenched suddenly. He used all his strength to change the direction of the knife tip, but it still pierced Pei Jian's shoulder.

"Thump."

Realizing what was happening, Alo knocked the dagger out of Ze Yi's hand and glared fiercely at the arrogant Ze Yi.

He had let his guard down against humans. Who would have thought that in the territory of the dragons, a mere human would actually attempt to commit violence? This was a move with a zero success rate.

Humans are not only weak, but also stupid!

Pei Jian covered her arm with one hand and grabbed A Luo's arm with the other, stopping him as she stammered, "They're just worried about me, please let them go, okay? They're just worried about me, they're no threat to you, please let them go, okay?"

Seeing that his plan had been exposed, Ze lowered his head in frustration. He only had this dagger for self-defense and in case of emergency. Before this, he had no intention of touching A Luo. If it weren't for A Luo's repeated provocations, if it weren't for him repeatedly using A Jian as a bargaining chip, if it weren't for his underestimation of A Jian.

He won't do that.

A Luo's astonished gaze swept over Pei Jian, landing on her injured arm, where bright red blood gushed out, staining her light-colored dress.

A once vibrant garden suddenly began to decay.

How can it not be a pity?

Pei Jian was still looking at him, her hopeful eyes fixed on him, "Please."

"Beg me?"

Pei Jian nodded frantically, repeating, "Please."

Her hair brushed against Alo's arm as she shook her head, causing a slight irritation.

Alo suddenly felt extremely anxious, as if he were standing in an empty square, the scorching sun making it impossible for him to open his eyes, and sweat pouring down his face.

He took Pei Jian's uninjured hand again. "Call the doctor," he paused, "and throw these people out. We'll talk again when you've thought it through."

Pei Jian relented and obediently followed A Luo.

She glanced at him during the brief moment and could clearly sense his low spirits.

That's true. It's normal to be angry when someone openly tries to kill him.

Pei Jian only hoped that her "heroic rescue" would increase his favorability towards her.

Inside the hall.

Pei Jian sat on the sofa in the living room, while two female doctors carefully cut away the fabric stuck with blood and flesh, silently cleaning and bandaging the wound.

A Luo sat at a distant table, his expression indifferent, staring at Pei Jian with a scrutinizing gaze.

The weight of their gaze was too heavy, pressing down on me.

Pei Jian only glanced at him, keeping her eyes down and trying to minimize her presence. Who knew if A Luo would take out his anger on her after what he had suffered at Ze Yi's hands?

In life, one must be able to adapt to circumstances.

"Doesn't it hurt?"

Alo suddenly spoke up.

Like throwing a pebble into a calm, still body of water.

"fine."

The system message reads: "You need to answer that it hurts; that might make him feel guilty and he might let you go."

Pei Jian paused for a moment, then readily changed her words, saying, "Actually, it hurts a lot."

"Why did you shield me from the pain?"

This is a question that A Luo has never been able to understand: why would Pei Jian take that hit for him? She could have easily pretended not to know.

If she succeeds, she will be able to escape her own control; if she fails, it will have nothing to do with her.

Why did she do that?

[It's because we're afraid that if you die, the mission will fail immediately.]

Pei Jian didn't bother to explain further: "I just did what I wanted to do."

From that day on, Alo started acting strangely.

Pei Jian couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong, but if he had to say, the whole dragon had become strange.

On the night Pei Jian was injured, she had a low-grade fever due to a wound infection. In her delirium, she thought she would just endure it and that she would get through it eventually.

There was no other way; her residence was far from the other palaces.

The two maids who usually take care of her are probably fast asleep now. She doesn't even have the strength to wake them up, so she just gives up and endures it, thinking that she'll be fine once she falls asleep.

But I couldn't fall asleep.

In a daze, I heard a few light footsteps coming from the doorway, which sounded unusually noisy in the quiet environment.

Then, the door was opened.

Someone touched her forehead.

Pei Jian recognized them as the two doctors who had bandaged her up that morning.

They methodically administered their medication and received intravenous drips.

Perhaps the medicine was working, because this time, Pei Jian fell asleep very quickly.

Therefore, she was unaware that Alo had come by in the middle of the night.

The next day, Pei Jian did not see the two maids who had originally been sent to take care of him; he heard that they had been replaced.

Two new people were replaced, one of whom Pei Jian remembered seeing before, next to A Luo.

last night.

A Luo lay in bed, listening to the faint chirping of insects outside the window. He got up and walked to the window. In the dim moonlight, he saw a tree by the window with a withered leaf hanging from its branch, swaying and spinning back and forth in the wind.

In a moment of realization, he thought his heart had become that withered leaf, teetering on the verge of falling.

"Send two doctors to see Pei Jian, the two who bandaged her this morning."

...

Pei Jian looked at A Luo across from her, then at the bowl of white porridge. "Why are you here?"

A Luo wiped his mouth, looked up, and his deep blue eyes, illuminated by the morning sunlight, were like two glass beads, clear and bright.

"I came whenever I wanted."

System: [What a great opportunity!]

Pei Jian scratched his head, feeling extremely embarrassed.

"Yesterday, Castan and the others..."

Alo interrupted her: "Since I promised you, I won't do anything to them."

Pei Jian nodded. "That's good."

Pei Jian: "Then you..."

Alo: "What's wrong?"

Pei Jian: Aren't you leaving yet?

Alo: "...Where do you want to go later?"

Pei Jian gestured for him to look at his hands, which were bound with white gauze. "I can't go anywhere right now, so I'll just stay here and read a book."

Alo: "Oh."

After a while.

Alo: "What book are you planning to read? I'll go get it for you."

Pei Jian: "No need, there are servants here."

Alo: "What would you like to eat?"

Pei Jian: "No need, I'm not hungry right now."

Despite Pei Jian's repeated rejections, A Luo remained seated, unmoved.

So, when will His Highness leave?