Self-harm 1000

"Iron-walled prison cells?!"

Changfeng gasped. That was the most terrifying and heavily guarded place in the Jingzhao Prefecture, a place of impenetrable walls and utter darkness, where only the most dangerous or important death row inmates were imprisoned!

Xiao Chengyan continued, his voice cold and ruthless:

"Double the manpower to guard the area, with three shifts inside and outside, both visible and hidden, ensuring no blind spots. Except for my personal presence, no one—including Prefect Li himself, officials of various departments, or even imperial envoys—is allowed to visit. Anyone who disobeys this order, regardless of who they are, will be immediately arrested and treated as an accomplice."

Changfeng was terrified.

This was no longer a simple imprisonment, but rather a complete and utter isolation of Xie Yan, so that not even a fly could get in.

"Your Highness, what is this...?" Changfeng still didn't quite understand how this was supposed to "protect" Gu Jinghong.

A cold glint flashed in Xiao Chengyan's eyes as he explained:

"Xie Yan is a strange and unpredictable person, and we don't know what kind of power is behind him. Completely isolating him will firstly allow us to investigate his connection with the outside world and lure him out. Secondly, if Jing Hong really goes to the dungeon, she will find it difficult to break through this impenetrable blockade."

"...Once she discovers that it's a den of dragons and tigers, with not even a crack, she'll naturally understand that there's no need to argue with Xie Yan, nor is it necessary for her to risk getting close. This is the 'protection' I've set up for her—cutting off her hopes and eliminating the risk altogether."

Changfeng nodded thoughtfully—So, the prince is trying to protect Gu Jinghong without making Gu Jinghong feel like she's being protected by the prince?

Immediately, admiration shone in Changfeng's eyes: "Your Highness is wise, I will take care of it right away!"

"Hmm." Xiao Chengyan responded lightly and waved his hand.

Changfeng accepted the order and quickly disappeared outside the door.

Xiao Chengyan stood alone in the study as dusk deepened, his figure motionless, like a stone statue that had lost its soul.

The cold, piercing gaze and resolute figure of Gu Jinghong as she left were like invisible, chilling spikes, piercing his unwavering control.

He slowly closed his eyes, a feeling of unprecedented stagnation churning in his chest.

On the battlefield, he commanded troops with great skill and strategy. Even if thousands of soldiers blocked his way, he could still cut off the flow of the enemy, kill generals and seize flags. He was willing to sacrifice even mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

In the power struggles of the imperial court, he could manipulate events with ease. Even amidst the treacherous intrigues of the imperial palace, he could foresee the future, skillfully navigate complex situations, and subdue his enemies without a fight.

It seems that there is no place in the world that cannot be a chessboard, and no person that cannot be a chess piece.

But there was only one Gu Jinghong...

She was not an enemy leader, not a political foe, not a pawn to be executed, imprisoned, or manipulated.

She was an obstacle standing between him and his iron-fisted laws, a problem he couldn't solve even after searching through countless military treatises and strategies.

A profound sense of powerlessness, almost consuming him, washed over the heart of the shrewd King of Ashes for the first time with such clarity, like an icy tide.

He was completely helpless when it came to her.

...

Hai Shi Chu

His tightly bound dark blue night clothes blended into the thick, impenetrable shadows outside the Jingzhao Prefecture.

Gu Jinghong stood like a lifeless statue, pressed against the leeward side of the cold roof. The biting wind, carrying fine snowflakes, stung her face, but did nothing to cool the icy flames burning in her eyes.

Below, the high walls of the Jingzhao Prefecture stood like a lurking beast, the torchlight flickering in the wind, casting ghostly shadows of the patrolling soldiers, sometimes long, sometimes short. The air was thick with the scent of rust, dampness, and a oppressive, deathly stillness—the very essence of a dungeon.

She could sense that the guards here were unusual.

Three shifts of guards, both visible and hidden, formed an almost impenetrable network. Footsteps were heavy and rhythmic, and the torchlight swept across virtually every angle. It was several times more fortified than the ordinary dungeons of the Jingzhao Prefecture.

"drum?"

Gu Jinghong sneered inwardly—the Jingzhao Prefecture was always making a mountain out of a molehill; did the people brought by the Prince of Jin really need this level of guards?

She held her breath, capturing the movement of each guard, the intervals between shifts, and even the fleeting reflections of the torchlight as it swept across the ground.

Time was precisely calculated in her mind, and the pace of the patrol was broken down into numbers.

An hour passed quietly in the biting cold wind.

Opportunity is fleeting.

A wax pellet the size of a fingernail was silently ejected from her fingertip and landed precisely in a corner filled with clutter, downwind of the target area.

With a soft, almost imperceptible "poof," a thin wisp of colorless and odorless smoke rose like night dew. The smoke was so small, yet it was enough to make two nearby sentries and a passing patrol instinctively look toward the source of the disturbance, their vision momentarily blurred.

Gu Jinghong moved.

Without a sound of wind, without a fleeting shadow, she seemed to instantly merge into the shadows at the base of the wall, like a weightless ghost, moving along a pre-calculated route through blind spots where the guards' vision overlapped...

...In the end, Gu Jinghong appeared in the water dungeon where Xie Yan was imprisoned, with a knife wound on his hand.

Xie Yan leaned against the cold stone wall, his crimson brocade robe looking somewhat disheveled under the dim oil lamp, but his eyes still gleamed with a sinister light like a venomous snake.

When the faint, almost inaudible footsteps sounded outside the cell door, a wicked smile, as expected, curled at the corner of his mouth.

Gu Jinghong appeared outside the prison door like a ghost, dressed in black, with a cold and stern face and icy eyes.

"Oh," Xie Yan's voice, filled with exaggerated surprise, sounded particularly jarring in the silent prison. "I knew it! My dear little sister Hong couldn't bear to see me suffer in this filthy place, so she specially came to see her brother before curfew. What, is it that the soft couch in the Prince Jin's mansion can't compare to what you care about here?"

Gu Jinghong stared at him coldly, as if he were an inanimate object: "Xie Yan, this place may not be able to hold you. Why don't you leave?" She knew Xie Yan's abilities all too well. Although the water dungeon in the capital was like an impregnable fortress, if she, Gu Jinghong, could get in, Xie Yan could certainly get out. He must have some ulterior motive for staying here.

Xie Yan chuckled softly, his voice echoing in the narrow space, carrying a chilling ambiguity: "Of course... I'm waiting for my little sister Ah Hong to 'save' me."

He stood up, dragging his shackles, and slowly moved to the fence. Through the cold iron bars, he stared greedily at Gu Jinghong's face. "Tell your brother, what kind of bewitching potion did you give that King Jin? Hmm? He actually protected you so much, even tolerating the theft of the Nine-Turn Resurrection Grass? He even locked up and imprisoned his 'sworn brother' in the street for your sake?"

“My affairs are none of your concern.” Gu Jinghong’s voice was as cold as ice. “Watch your tongue, or I won’t hesitate to keep it under control for you forever.”

"Heh," Xie Yan scoffed, his eyes growing even more sinister. "What, feeling sorry for you? Afraid I'll expose your shameful secrets..."

With a "whoosh" sound!

Gu Jinghong made a decisive move, refusing to waste any more words.

A cold light pierced straight at Xie Yan's face. It was fast and at a tricky angle. If it were anyone else, this nail, even if it couldn't kill them, would at least cripple them.

But the person in front of him is Xie Yan, a guy who ranks in the top three on the list of experts in the Great Yong Dynasty. How could he be an ordinary person? If the Grand Secretary of the Quanzuo Pavilion didn't have the ability, how could he have controlled all those experts?

Xie Yan's figure flashed, and with a strange twist of his waist, he easily dodged the nail.

A hint of disdain flashed in Xie Yan's eyes. He even calmly brushed his black hair, which had fallen onto his robe, with his shackled hand, and spoke with a tone full of contempt.

"Is that all you've got? Ah Hong, I've known your kung fu for ten years. You can't kill me now... Or how about this, try a different strategy, like... a honey trap. I, Xie Yan, have always liked pretty things, and maybe I'll fall for it like Xiao Chengyan, hahaha."

He licked his lips, his smile lewd and provocative.

Gu Jinghong's eyes were icy cold. Without uttering a word, she charged forward again. Her moves were fierce, each strike aimed at vital points, carrying an intense killing intent.

Xie Yan, however, moved about in the narrow cell like a cat toying with a mouse, his movements unpredictable and erratic.

He didn't rush to retaliate, but simply parried and dodged with ease, while continuously uttering vicious words:

"Tsk tsk, getting impatient?"

"Your fancy footwork isn't even enough to tickle your brother!"

"Is life in the Prince Jin's mansion too comfortable, making you feel weak and muscular?"

"Or... do you actually not want to hurt your brother? Hmm?"

The more ferocious Gu Jinghong's moves, the more triumphant Xie Yan's mockery became.

Gu Jinghong knew that his martial arts skills were indeed inferior to Xie Yan's, and the other party's current ease was a blatant humiliation. A huge surge of anger and the humiliation of being toyed with welled up in his chest.

Just as Xie Yan easily dodged another of her palm strikes, a mocking smile on his face, preparing to humiliate her again—

A near-mad, all-consuming light suddenly burst forth in Gu Jinghong's eyes—a resolute determination to "injure a thousand of oneself rather than harm eight hundred of the enemy!"

Instead of backing down, she suddenly increased her speed to the extreme, completely abandoning her own defense!

Ignoring Xie Yan's palm strike aimed at her ribs, she shot forward like an arrow, crashing into Xie Yan's arms. At the same time, her right hand, with its hooked fingers and eerie blue nail polish, aimed fiercely at Xie Yan's eyes with a suicidal intent.

It's a fight where you risk your life for another!

She used her own body as bait and shield, just to get a chance to severely injure Xie Yan.

The mockery on Xie Yan's face froze instantly.

He never expected Gu Jinghong to use such a crazy and reckless fighting style.

In that instant, he saw the mad flames burning in her eyes and the icy killing intent like mountains of corpses and seas of blood—the eyes of a true desperado!

An indescribable palpitation and fear gripped Xie Yan without warning.

His palm strike aimed at Gu Jinghong's ribs, inexplicably, withdrew three-tenths of its force, and his hand, meant to block the poisonous claw, also slowed down by half a beat. He wanted to avoid vital points, yet also wanted to neutralize the frenzied impact…

In a battle between masters, even the slightest hesitation is a weakness.

"Swoosh!" The poisonous claw suddenly turned, leaving three deep, bone-revealing bloodstains on Xie Yan's hastily parried arm, the dark blue color spreading rapidly.

"Ugh—!" Xie Yan let out a painful roar, his face quickly filled with shock, anger, and disbelief!