As soon as Sikong Zhan finished speaking, the door opened automatically, but no one came out.
He remained seated on his horse, walking slowly towards the door. When Lin Jinghan started moving, the others quickly followed.
The courtyard was quite spacious, and still empty. There was only a cage-like object in the middle, about a meter high. Facing them was a door, open, but no one was inside. The rest of the courtyard was sealed, save for a bowl-sized ventilation hole on one side. It looked like a cage.
"I'll count to three. If you still hide your head and show your tail, don't blame me for setting fire to your yard." As soon as Sikong Zhan counted "one", the secret guard took out a tinder and lit the torch.
"If you really burn down my Cangmang Villa, your sister will be burned to death." A pleasant baritone voice sounded, and the air around shook. Then, a man in red came down gracefully and slowly landed on the roof.
As soon as the man in red landed, the door in the middle opened and six women in white holding red lanterns came out one after another and stood on both sides of the cage. Although they lowered their brows and eyes, one could still tell that the six women were of good looks.
The soft moonlight shone on the man, allowing people to see his appearance clearly - a very handsome man with delicate features and fair skin. Although he had a gentle face, he did not look feminine at all.
The way the newcomer appeared was quite intimidating, but Sikong Zhan was not affected at all and said straight to the point:
"Who are you? Why did you kidnap my sister?"
"Ye Cangmang, the owner of Cangmang Villa." Ye Cangmang answered the first question straightforwardly, but did not answer Sikong Zhan's second question.
"Ye Cangmang, I should have no grudge against you." Sikong Zhan's master is a man of the martial arts world, and he himself occasionally travels around the martial arts world. He knows a little about the people and things of the martial arts world. This is the first time he has heard of Ye Cangmang.
Speaking of Cangmang, there is a Cangmang Villa in the world. The owner of the villa is like a mysterious dragon that is hard to find. Very few people in the world have seen his true appearance. I wonder if he has any connection with Ye Cangmang in front of us?
In Sikong Zhan's opinion, since they did not know each other, they should not be enemies. Therefore, this person kidnapped Sikong Ling not because of hatred, but must have some ulterior motive.
He glanced at Lin Jinghan from the corner of his eye and frowned slightly: Has this woman become better at stirring up trouble?
"Naturally, there is no hatred or grudge between you and me. However, I have been entrusted with a task, so I must be loyal to the person who entrusted me with it. Let your princess stay, and you can take your sister away." Ye Cangmang clapped his hands lightly, and two women in white came out of the room, escorting someone.
Looking closely, the person being escorted was not Sikong Ling, but someone else?
At this time, Sikong Ling looked quite miserable. Her clothes were torn in several places, and her bloody underwear was faintly visible. Her face and body were covered with wounds, and her mouth was blocked by someone. It was heartbreaking to look at her.
However, Sikong Ling was not afraid at all. His back was straight and his eyes were full of anger.
When she looked into Sikong Zhan's eyes, she did not cry or ask for help, but felt pain and shame. When she saw Lin Jinghan with wide eyes, she excitedly shook her head at Sikong Zhan and made a whimpering sound.
Lin Jinghan was struck by lightning. She turned her head mechanically and looked at Sikong Zhan beside her. Her eyes were full of shock, disbelief, and undisguised anger: It turned out that he brought her here to exchange for Sikong Ling!
He had long known that this man didn't care about her at all. Compared to his sister, she was probably nothing. But Sikong Ling was a human being, so wasn't she, Lin Jinghan, also a human being? Who was he to her? Why would he trade her for Sikong Ling?
At this point, she understood that arguing or quarreling with Sikong Zhan would only make the situation worse. At this moment, if she did not do something to save herself, she would be sacrificed without hesitation in exchange for Sikong Ling's safety.
So, she turned around and shouted at Ye Cangmang without waiting for Sikong Zhan to speak:
"Ye Cangmang, right? How can you be considered a hero for kidnapping a woman? If you have the guts, come down and fight my prince. I, Lin Jinghan, respect you as a hero! If you win, I'll go with you; if you lose, just release Ling'er. How about that?"
"Haha. What a great move to turn the tables, but what a pity..." Ye Cangmang glanced at Lin Jinghan, as if mocking her, "The hostage is in my hands, and I have the final say on how to deal with it. I just don't want to fight this one, so you have no choice but to follow me."
"As the saying goes, you can take my body away, but you can't take my heart away. There's a big difference between me being forced to follow you and following you willingly." Lin Jinghan discussed the conditions with Ye Cangmang seriously, without even looking at Sikong Zhan.
"There's something you may not know. The reason King Jingnan married me was because he was attracted by my abilities. If you can subdue me and use me for your own benefit, it will definitely be the best deal you've ever made in your life."
Feeling the atmosphere around her suddenly drop, Lin Jinghan shuddered and looked towards the source of the cold air, only to see Sikong Zhan's face as black as the bottom of a pot.
Lin Jinghan withdrew her gaze after just one glance, gathered her cloak, turned her head back and continued to stare at Ye Cangmang, completely ignoring Sikong Zhan.
"Oh? Is that so?" Ye Cangmang looked at Sikong Zhan with interest, then looked at Lin Jinghan, took out a cup of tea, and drank it leisurely.
"I don't know what the princess said, but is it what the prince meant?"
Lin Jinghan rolled her eyes: This guy is trying to alienate her and Sikong Zhan.
From the moment Sikong Zhan brought her here, the foundation of trust between them had been gone. There was no need for others to drive a wedge between them. Ye Cangmang was wasting his energy. Besides, she didn't need Sikong Zhan's trust, because sooner or later, she would leave him completely.
"Isn't it me who you want? Why bother with others?" Lin Jinghan looked at Ye Cangmang exaggeratedly, as if he had done something extremely unreasonable. After a moment, she slapped her thigh, pointed the whip at Ye Cangmang, and said with sudden enlightenment:
"Could it be that your goal is not me? Instead, you want to use this attack on me to slap my prince in the face?"
"You, dare to point at me?" Ye Cangmang's face instantly turned cold: "Go, chop off her hand!"
He raised his hand, and a maid immediately put down the red lantern, flew quickly to Lin Jinghan, drew her sword and slashed at Lin Jinghan!
Lin Jinghan didn't even blink as she watched the maid flying over. With so many secret guards and Sikong Zhan here, if they really let this maid hurt her, Sikong Zhan would lose face.
Without waiting for the secret guards to make a move, Mu Wenyao quickly dismounted and subdued the maid in a few moves, placing his sword on her neck. "Ye Cangmang, we now have a hostage in our hands."
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