Chapter 27 Why are you only arriving now?

"What are you doing?!"

A low shout rang out from outside the house.

Shen Panyan's tense heart relaxed slightly.

"What I want to do, Miss Qiu, don't you know?"

"Heh, Boss, aren't you afraid of angering the higher-ups?"

"Look at what you're saying. If the adults were really angry, would they send such a pampered noblewoman to a place like ours?"

"Don't ruin the adults' plans, she absolutely cannot be defiled!"

"Hehe! Miss Qiu, don't be angry. I didn't intend to deflower her. I just wanted to play around. It's nothing."

"no!"

Seeing Qiu Shuang's repeated obstruction, the chief became angry.

Even if she's some kind of princess, once she enters his den of bandits, she becomes one of his people.

If you're so capable, don't send people into his den. You want him to surrender and bear the infamy of defiling the princess, but you also don't want him to gain anything. There's no such thing as a free lunch.

He had been with many women in his life, but he had never touched a delicate and frail noblewoman like her.

He had been thinking about her ever since the first day she arrived, but he hesitated to act because someone from that side had come. Now that person was gone, did a mere maidservant think she could stop him?

Don't even think about it.

The leader slapped him hard across the face and shouted, "If you obstruct me again, I'll take care of you right now."

"Where's the key? Give it to me!"

Qiu Shuang fell to the ground, gritting her teeth, "No!"

The leader sneered, "Who are you trying to fool with your feigned loyalty now? If you're going to be a dog, then be a dog properly."

"My lord, you knew my nature all along. You still sent this princess to my bandit den. You probably didn't mean you didn't want me to have my way with her. Hurry up and hand over the key. I'm going in today!"

After saying that, the leader grabbed the purse from her waist; the key was inside.

He chuckled, "I've been watching you for days. Even if you don't tell me, I know where your key is."

Qiu Shuang struggled to her feet. "Aren't you afraid that the princess will tell everyone about this after she leaves?"

"Even if you surrender at that time, His Majesty will never tolerate you!"

"Hey! If this place doesn't want me, there are plenty of other places that will. At worst, I'll just quit this place. Besides, if I give her a bowl of mute medicine, she won't be able to say anything."

"This beauty was just given to me to play with. Otherwise, why would I be working for him here?"

"Get out of my way and don't disturb me while I'm doing my business!"

After saying that, the head of the gang kicked her aside and strode towards the door. Shen Panyan listened to the commotion outside and trembled uncontrollably.

No...no, she didn't want to be insulted by such a person...

Shen Panyan's face was deathly pale, her hand trembling as she held the dagger. If that person dared to come, she...she would...

With a click, the door lock opened, a cool breeze blew in, and a tall, burly man with a full beard walked in.

He chuckled, "You really are a beauty. I took a liking to you the day you arrived. After all this time, I finally have the chance to kiss you..."

Shen Panyan felt nauseous uncontrollably, her breathing rapid and unsteady, and she involuntarily shrank back. "You...you get away from me!!"

"Hey! She's got a fiery temper, that's the kind of woman I like, she's awesome!"

As he spoke, he walked towards her, and Shen Panyan's hands, hidden under the covers, clenched tightly. She swallowed hard. Now, no one would help her, and no one could help her. The only person she could rely on was herself.

"You, you mustn't come any closer!" Tears streamed down her face, her voice like the whimpering of a small animal before its death.

The leader was getting closer and closer to her, and with each step, it felt like a mountain was pressing down on her heart, making her tremble with uncontrollable fear.

"Princess, don't be afraid. Although I'm a rough man, I know how to be gentle with women. As long as you cooperate, I promise I won't hurt you, hehe!"

The leader stopped in front of her and began to pull at her bedding. In her panic, Shen Panyan could barely hold onto the dagger. She bit her lip, tears streaming down her face.

No, she doesn't want to!

The moment the blankets were pulled back, Shen Panyan suddenly clenched her teeth.

The worst that could happen is death; she absolutely refuses to fall into the hands of such a person and be humiliated by him.

As the blankets were pulled back, a dagger suddenly appeared and stabbed fiercely at the leader.

The leader never expected that she was hiding a dagger. Fortunately, he dodged in time and was not stabbed in the chest. The sharp dagger immediately cut his arm, leaving bright red blood.

"Smack!"

A hand as large as a fan slapped Shen Panyan hard across the face, causing her to fall uncontrollably onto the bed, leaving a very obvious red mark with five fingers on her pale cheek.

"You bitch, you've come all the way to my den of bandits, and you're still pretending to be a chaste and virtuous woman? Do you really think you're some kind of princess, daring to act wildly in front of me!" The leader was furious. He reached out and lifted Shen Panyan up, then slapped her hard across the face.

Shen Panyan's face was numb with pain, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably, her lip was cut and bleeding, and her mouth tasted of rust.

Her earlier resistance had taken all her courage, but now that she was being held by the big man, she had lost all her courage.

The dagger had already been thrown away by the leader, falling to the ground with a crisp tinkling sound. Now, even if she wanted to die, she had no weapon to kill herself.

"No, no, don't come any closer..." Shen Panyan's eyes were filled with tears as she shook her head and backed away.

The leader cursed and swore, and seeing that she was still not behaving herself, he slapped her again.

"Damn it, behave yourself!"

Shen Panyan covered her face, tears streaming down her face.

The leader reached for the sash at her waist, and Shen Panyan trembled, "No...no..."

She tried to smash her head against the wall to die, but the head of the gang discovered her intention and pulled her back forcefully.

"You don't want her? I'll take her anyway. It's only fun with a noblewoman like you..."

In that instant, a sharp gust of wind suddenly swept in, and the leader's alarm bells rang. He hurriedly turned around, but it was too late.

Pfft!

The sound of a blade piercing flesh rang out, and the leader staggered, about to fall forward and land on top of her. Shen Panyan's pupils constricted, and she instinctively screamed, "Ah!!!"

However, an arm moved faster than the leader's body to fall, pulling her into its embrace.

Shen Panyan was momentarily stunned. When she saw the clothes of the person in front of her, she froze, tilted her head back, and looked at his face. The familiar mask came into view.

Almost instantly, all the panic and fear surged into her heart. She gripped his clothes with her knuckles until they turned white, and she cried out loudly.

"Lin Xiao! Why are you only arriving now?!"

"I almost thought, I almost thought I... I'm so scared, Lin Xiao, I'm so scared!!"

"Why are you so late...?"

"It is my incompetence that I failed to find the princess in time. I will ask for punishment when I return." Lin Xiao's voice was hoarse and cold. The large hand holding her waist showed blue veins due to the force, and his breathing was rapid and unsteady.

Lin Xiao dared not imagine what would have happened to the princess if... if he had arrived a moment later.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, Princess, your subordinate is here..."

Shen Panyan clutched his clothes tightly, sobbing uncontrollably, repeatedly calling his name, "Lin Xiao, Lin Xiao...".

“Princess, I am here, I have always been here,” Lin Xiao replied patiently.

"Heh... So gentle, you wouldn't happen to be her lover, would you..." The leader, lying on the bed, spat out a mouthful upon seeing this scene.

Lin Xiao turned his head, and his gaze toward the leader instantly turned as cold as a knife.

The leader did not die. After witnessing what had just happened, Lin Xiao had no intention of killing him; it would have been too easy for him to die.

He will make him wish he were dead!

Seeing him struggle to get up from the bed, Lin Xiao pulled out the dagger from his waist and ruthlessly nailed his hand into the bed board.

"Did I tell you to get up?" Lin Xiao looked down at him, his voice indifferent and cold.

"How dare you act so arrogantly in front of me..." The leader gritted his teeth, sweat beading on his forehead, but he refused to back down.

This person wears a mask and acts even more ruthlessly than him; he's no pushover!

The leader immediately tried to call for people outside to come in and take him down, but Lin Xiao saw through his intention and kicked him, sending him crashing to the ground and knocking out several of his teeth.

The leader winced in pain, his face contorted with rage. "Good for you! So angry because you didn't get to taste that beautiful woman, while I almost did..."

Before he could finish speaking, Lin Xiao kicked him hard again, his voice vicious and cruel.

"Say it again, and I'll cut out your tongue!"

Lin Xiao's eyes were fierce; if he weren't afraid of frightening the princess, he would have cut out his tongue right now.

Hearing a noise behind her, Shen Panyan stopped crying.

"Lin, Linxiao..."

"Your subordinate is here."

Seeing the princess's red eyes and the handprints all over her fair cheeks, Lin Xiao clenched his fists, making a cracking sound, but his voice was gentler than ever before.

"Princess, please wait here for me. I will take care of this man first."

Shen Panyan stood there, reluctantly letting go of his clothes, and obediently nodded, "Okay."

Lin Xiao then released her and strode towards the big man, dislocating both of his arms with a snap.

In an instant, he punched him hard in the face.

The leader tried to call for help, but Lin Xiao punched him in the face again, his expression cold and ruthless, each punch carrying extremely strong explosive power.

The gang leader couldn't resist, but he refused to back down either. "Heh, the more you beat me, the happier I am. It's just a woman, I want to sleep with her..."

Bang!

Another punch!

"You want to die? I'll grant your wish!"

The leader spat out a mouthful of bloody foam. "If you have the guts, kill me! Once you kill me, you'll never know who tried to harm her!"

Lin Xiao's hand suddenly stopped.

The gang leader became smug. "You're smart enough to release your grandpa right now, or else..."

Bang! A punch landed.

"So noisy!"

Tonight, in order to make things easier, the chief ordered the bandits not to come out to investigate no matter what noise they heard. Now that everyone heard no more noise outside, they thought the chief's plan had succeeded.

Many people gathered around, their eyes filled with envy.

She's a noblewoman from the capital, I heard she's some kind of princess. After the boss gets to sleep with her, I wonder if he can let his men have a taste too... These guys have slept with many other women, but they've never slept with a woman of such high status.

Inside the room.

Contrary to the erotic scene everyone imagined, the leader, Lin Xiao, was beaten to a miserable state.

Whenever he tried to call for help, Lin Xiao would punch him hard in the face, leaving bloodstains all over the ground. The leader of the gang no longer had many good teeth left.

He had tried to resist, but he couldn't muster any strength; his internal energy was blocked.

All the daggers on Lin Xiao's body were poisoned. From the moment he made his move, there was absolutely no way the leader could escape from this room.

At first, the leader was stubborn and refused to beg for mercy, but as Lin Xiao exerted more and more force, every punch landed squarely. When he realized that Lin Xiao intended to beat him to death, the leader became terrified and begged for mercy repeatedly.

"Grandpa, Grandpa, let me go..."

Shen Panyan stood aside, and her initial panic and fear gradually dissipated as she watched the burly man with the bushy beard being beaten so miserably and begging for mercy.

Looking at the angry black figure in the flickering lamplight, Shen Panyan had never felt so at ease.

She could tell, of course, that Lin Xiao was avenging her.

She was used to Lin Xiao's silent demeanor, and even when he occasionally sneered or mocked her, he wouldn't reveal too much of his emotions.

This was the first time she had ever seen someone so angry and so emotionally charged. It burned her eyes like a hot iron and made her nose sting.

When the leader was beaten until he was dizzy and weak all over, Lin Xiao stopped, picked him up like a dead dog, and walked towards Chen Panyan.

Bang!

The leader was thrown heavily to the ground, coughing up blood.

Shen Panyan subconsciously took two steps back. "Lin, Lin Xiao, what's wrong with you?"

Lin Xiao's gaze fell on the clear fingerprints on her fair face.

"Princess, do you want to avenge yourself?"

Shen Panyan was stunned.

Lin Xiao picked up the knife he had given her and placed it in her palm.

He pointed to several parts of the leader's body, "Princess, if you stab her here, it will hurt the most, but she will also die the slowest."

Shen Panyan gripped the dagger, her fingertips trembling as she looked at the bruised and swollen leader lying before her, utterly powerless to resist.

This is a living person, a real person. Even though... even though he just wanted to humiliate her, Shen Panyan still couldn't bring herself to stab him with a dagger and kill him.

She had resisted out of necessity before, but now that she has calmed down, she no longer has that courage.

She knew Lin Xiao meant well, but she really couldn't bring herself to harm a living person.

"I...I..."

After stammering for a while, Shen Panyan still couldn't come up with a coherent explanation. She bit her lip, somewhat afraid to look Lin Xiao in the eye, and lowered her head dejectedly. "Yes, I'm sorry, Lin Xiao, I... I can't do it."

Lin Xiao disliked her own weak appearance. When Qiu Shuang bullied her before, Lin Xiao thought she was too timid and didn't want to talk to her.

Now, she almost, almost was... but she still can't bring herself to kill the perpetrator.

Shen Panyan lowered her head further and further, completely unable to imagine what kind of disappointed look Lin Xiao would give her.

Will he start to hate me again, and distance himself from me like before?

"I...I'm sorry, Lin Xiao, I can't kill..."

"sorry......"

Shen Panyan also hated her own cowardly appearance. She didn't want Lin Xiao to hate her, but she couldn't change it. She had been like this since she was a child, and she really couldn't change it.

"I'm sorry, Lin Xiao..."

Why is the princess apologizing to me?

For the first time, Lin Xiao did not refer to himself as a subordinate.

“I am the one who should apologize. If I hadn’t fought with the Zhao family and left your side rashly, you wouldn’t have been secretly kidnapped and brought to this place.”

"It was my fault for not protecting you, so why is it that in the end you're the one apologizing to me?"

“I…” Shen Panyan looked up at him blankly.

But his face was hidden by a mask, so she couldn't tell his emotions.

"That's not true, Lin Xiao, this has nothing to do with you..."

She was kidnapped not because Lin Xiao failed to protect her; on the contrary, Lin Xiao had always protected her very well. If it weren't for Lin Xiao, she would have been kidnapped by bandits long ago at the Royal Villa, and her fate would probably have been even more tragic than it is now.

“Princess, you are a very good master. You should not be humiliated like this.” Lin Xiao ignored her words and took the dagger from her hand.

He raised his other hand and touched her bruised and swollen cheek very quickly and lightly.

He still remembered how he instinctively retaliated and scratched the princess, making her tremble with pain. How did the princess manage to hold back her tears with such a severe injury?

Moreover, the princess, a noblewoman of the imperial family, was treated like this by a bandit from the mountains... Thinking of this, Lin Xiao clenched his fists so tightly they cracked, his eyes were as cold as frost, and he stomped hard on the leader's hand bones.

The leader was already unconscious, but this kick woke him up again. He was about to scream in pain when Lin Xiao, impatient, kicked him again, knocking him unconscious.

Lin Xiao wanted to ask the princess if she was in a lot of pain, but when the words reached his lips, he didn't know how to ask them.

Shen Panyan saw through his intention and smiled at him, "Lin Xiao, don't worry, I'm not in pain."

It was just a little pain, she could bear it, as long as Lin Xiao stopped hating her.

Lin Xiao looked at her, his slow breathing unusually clear in the deep night.

It seemed as if they had made up their minds.

"Princess, from now on, with your subordinates here, you will no longer need to do anything personally!"

He will do what she cannot do.

Shen Panyan's heart trembled, and she stood there stunned, wondering what those words meant... However, before she could figure it out...

"Princess, please wait in the room for a moment. I will be right back."

Having said that, Lin Xiao picked up the chief and headed out of the house. Seeing him leave, Chen Panyan panicked and grabbed his sleeve, calling out, "Lin Xiao..."

"Princess, I will not be away for long."

Lin Xiao's voice was so soft it sounded like a promise.

“Okay…” Shen Panyan looked at him, reluctantly letting go of his clothes. “I, I will wait for you to come back here.”

"good."

Lin Xiao carried the unconscious chief out, while Shen Panyan sat inside, feeling somewhat uneasy but mostly at ease.

After being locked up, Shen Panyan never dared to take off her outer garment and always slept fully clothed.

The bed was stained with blood, and she dared not touch it again, so she lay down on the table and slowly fell asleep.

Outside at this moment.

Lin Xiao casually tossed the bandit leader to the ground, then his figure vanished like a ghost into the other rooms. Before the bandits, still asleep, could react, their necks were slashed open by the blade, blood gushing out, and they died in an instant.

The men in black, like the Grim Reaper, roamed through this mountain stronghold.

For ten whole days and nights, he worked tirelessly, traveling back and forth, searching for clues about the princess. His eyes were bloodshot, and his heart was filled with anxiety, worry, and self-blame. Finally, when he saw the princess, he reached his climax!

Lin Xiao's hands clenched so tightly they cracked.

He hated himself for arguing with Zhao Yun that day.

He was a bodyguard, the most loyal blade. His duty was to protect his master, and he should not waver no matter what others did.

But he failed to do so.

Shadow once told him that he was not a qualified sword; he had too many emotions and too many ideas, and sooner or later he would ruin things.

He scoffed at this.

They were all bodyguards; even though he was the leader, he had no right to judge whether he was a qualified sword.

He joined the secret guard camp at the age of three and rose step by step to the emperor's side. He relied on being more ruthless and intelligent than others, and he knew very well what he should and shouldn't do.

Therefore, he never took these words to heart.

But now, Lin Xiao felt that Shadow was right; he was not a qualified sword, and he couldn't even protect his own master.

If it had been another bodyguard instead of him protecting and caring for the princess, would this have prevented such an incident?

When Lin Xiao received the mission to protect the princess, he looked down on her. He thought the princess was troublesome, weak, and even stupid.

As a princess, she used her own body to shield a maid from a knife. What was the maid's status, and what was hers?

At that time, he genuinely thought she was hopelessly stupid and just wanted to finish the task and go back as soon as possible.

But he never imagined that the princess would also use this "foolish favoritism" on him.

It was clearly his dereliction of duty, yet she gave him a perfunctory punishment—a mere formality—that he must obey her in the future. How ridiculous!

As a princess, he was supposed to listen to her, and he dared not disobey her orders.

But she didn't do that.

Later, even though he repeatedly disobeyed her orders, she would only say to him: "Are you disobeying me again?"

These soft, gentle words had little effect on him, yet somehow they had become like a soft knife, binding him tightly in place, making it impossible for him to refuse or break free.

Lin Xiao no longer thought the princess was bad, no longer thought she was weak, and no longer thought she was stupid. On the contrary, he thought he was stupid.

He failed a master who treated him very well.

He failed to protect her, leaving her in fear and dread, and she was even nearly defiled by such lowly ants.

Every bandit here should not live.

Amidst the flashing blades and the pungent stench of blood, the entire village was filled with dripping blood. Under the moonlight, the sharp blades reflected his cold, ruthless eyes and fierce movements.

Screams, roars, and the clang of weapons filled the air until the smoke cleared. Lin Xiao, sword in hand, walked step by step toward the bandit leader of the stronghold.

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The author's note: This version has been revised at least 5 times. I wonder if everyone will feel that there is too much psychological description.

Today's update is early because it's a clip-up day. Tomorrow's update will still be at 10 AM.