The Little Princess's Secret Guard - Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Why Did You Just Arrive?

“What are you doing?!”

A low shout rang out, Qiu Shuang’s voice sounding from outside the room.

The tension in Shen Panyan’s heart slightly eased.

“What do I want to do, Miss Qiu, don’t you know?”

“Heh heh, Great Chief, aren’t you afraid of making the great person above angry??”

“Look at you, if the ‘great person’ was truly going to be angry, would they send such a delicate, noble person to our rough den?”

“Don’t ruin the great person’s plan. She absolutely cannot be defiled!”

“Heh heh! Miss Qiu, don’t be angry. I wasn’t planning on defiling her. Just having a little fun. It won’t hurt the plan.”

“No!”

Seeing Qiu Shuang obstruct him in every way, the Great Chief became annoyed.

Even if she was some kind of princess, once she entered his bandit den, she was his woman.

If they had the guts, they shouldn’t have sent her to his den. They wanted him to surrender and bear the infamy of defiling a princess, but they didn’t want him to get any benefits. How could there be such a good deal in this world?

He had played with many women in his life, but he had never touched such a delicate and noble person.

From the first day she arrived, he had been thinking about her, but due to the presence of the person sent from the other side, he hadn’t dared to act. Now that person was gone, and a mere little maidservant thought she could stop him?

Dream on.

The Great Chief slapped her hard and roared, “Stop blocking me, or I’ll take care of you right now.”

“The key, hand it over!”

Qiu Shuang, who had fallen to the ground, gritted her teeth, “No!”

The Great Chief sneered: “Who are you trying to show loyalty to now? Since you’re being a dog, then be a good dog.”

“The ‘great person’ knew my nature long ago, yet still sent this princess to my bandit den. It’s probably a hint that I can enjoy her beauty. Hurry up and hand over the key. I am going in today!”

With that, the Great Chief snatched the pouch from her waist. The key was inside.

He chuckled, “I’ve been watching you for several days. Even if you don’t say it, I know where your key is.”

Qiu Shuang struggled up from the ground, “Aren’t you afraid that after the princess leaves, she’ll tell everyone about this?”

“By then, even if you surrender, the Emperor will never forgive you!”

“Heh! If one place doesn’t want me, another will. At worst, I’ll find another place to run rampant. Besides, give her a bowl of mute-inducing medicine, and she won’t be able to say anything.”

“This beauty was originally given to me to play with. Why else would I work for him here?”

“Get out of the way quickly, don’t disturb my business!”

With that, the Great Chief kicked her aside and strode toward the door. Shen Panyan listened to the commotion outside, her entire body trembling uncontrollably.

No… no, she did not want to be insulted by such a person…

Shen Panyan’s face was deathly pale. She shakily held the dagger. As long as that person dared to come, she… she would…

With a click, the door lock was opened, and a cold draft rushed in. A tall, burly man with a full beard walked in.

He chuckled, “She truly is a beauty. I noticed you the day you arrived. After dragging this out for so many days, I finally have the chance to be intimate…”

Shen Panyan felt uncontrollable nausea. Her breathing was rapid and unstable, and her body kept shrinking backward, “Y-You… get out!!”

“Heh! She’s a little firecracker! I like women like this—feisty!”

Saying that, he walked towards her. Shen Panyan’s hand, clenched beneath the quilt, tightened desperately. She swallowed hard. At this point, no one would help her, and no one could help her. The only person she could rely on was herself.

“You, don’t come any closer!” Tears streamed down her face, and her voice was a pitiful whimper, like a small animal struggling before death.

The Great Chief drew closer and closer to her. Each step felt like a heavy mountain pressing on her heart, making her tremble with fear uncontrollably.

“Princess, don’t be afraid. Although I’m a crude man, I know how to cherish and protect pretty women. As long as you cooperate obediently, I definitely won’t hurt you, heh heh!”

The Great Chief stopped in front of her and reached for her quilt. In her panic, Shen Panyan could barely hold onto the dagger. She bit her lip, and tears flowed incessantly.

No, she wouldn’t!

The moment the quilt was pulled open, Shen Panyan suddenly gritted her teeth.

At worst, she would die. She absolutely would not fall into the hands of a man like this and be violated.

As the quilt was pulled away, a dagger suddenly appeared and stabbed fiercely at the Great Chief.

The Great Chief never expected her to hide a dagger in her hand. Fortunately, he managed to evade in time, thus avoiding a stab to the chest. The sharp dagger instantly slashed across his arm, leaving behind bright red bl00d.

“Slap!”

A hand as big as a palm slapped Shen Panyan’s face hard. Her body instantly fell uncontrollably onto the bed, and a very obvious five-finger red mark appeared on her pale cheek.

“You b1tch! You’re already in my bandit den, so stop pretending to be a chaste and virtuous woman! You really think you’re some damn princess, daring to run wild in front of me!” The Great Chief was furious. He immediately grabbed Shen Panyan and lifted her up, then viciously slapped her face again.

Shen Panyan’s face was numb with pain, tears kept pouring out, the corner of her mouth was split, seeping bl00d, and her mouth was full of the taste of metal.

Her resistance just now had used up all her courage. Now that she was caught by the burly man, she had no courage left.

The dagger had already been thrown away by the Great Chief, hitting the floor with a clear clink. Now, even if she wanted to seek death, she had no weapon for self-harm.

“No, no, don’t come closer…” Shen Panyan pleaded, shaking her head and shrinking back, tears welling in her eyes.

The Great Chief cursed. Seeing that she was still restless, he slapped her again.

“Damn it, behave yourself!”

Shen Panyan covered her face, tears pouring like rain.

The Great Chief reached for the tie of her waist sash. Shen Panyan’s body trembled violently, “No… no…”

She wanted to smash her head against the wall, but the Great Chief noticed her intention and violently pulled her back.

“You don’t want it, but I insist. A noblewoman like you, it’s more exciting to mess around with…”

In that instant, a fierce gust of sharp wind suddenly swept in. An alarm blared in the Great Chief’s heart, and he quickly turned around, but it was already too late.

Pfft!

The sound of a blade entering flesh and bl00d rang out. The Great Chief stumbled, about to fall forward onto her. Shen Panyan’s pupils constricted violently, and she instinctively shrieked, “Ah!!!!”

However, an arm was faster than the Great Chief’s falling body, pulling her into an embrace.

Shen Panyan was momentarily stunned. When she clearly saw the clothes of the person in front of her, she immediately froze. She tremblingly looked up at his face, and the familiar mask came into view.

Almost instantly, all the panic and fear surged into her heart. Her knuckles gripped his clothes, turning white from the effort, and she began to sob loudly.

“Lin Xiao! Why did you just arrive!!”

“I almost thought, I almost thought I… I was so scared, Lin Xiao, I was really scared!!”

“Why did you just arrive…”

“It is this subordinate’s incompetence, for failing to find the Princess in time. After returning, this subordinate will willingly accept punishment.” Lin Xiao’s voice was hoarse and cold. The large hand wrapped around her waist was straining, blue veins protruding from the force, and his breathing was quick and unsteady.

Lin Xiao dared not imagine what the Princess would have gone through if… if he had been a moment too late.

“You don’t need to be afraid anymore, you don’t need to be afraid, Princess, your subordinate is here…”

Shen Panyan desperately clung to his clothes, crying so hard she was breathless, continuously calling his name, “Lin Xiao, Lin Xiao…”

“Princess, your subordinate is here. I have always been here.” Lin Xiao patiently responded to her.

“Heh heh… so gentle. Could you be her lover…” The Great Chief, who had fallen onto the bed, spat when he saw this scene.

Lin Xiao turned his head, his gaze towards the Great Chief instantly turning cold as a blade.

The Great Chief had not died. Seeing the scene just now, Lin Xiao had no intention of letting him die. Death would be too easy for him.

He would make him wish for death!

Seeing him struggling to get up from the bed, Lin Xiao flipped the dagger from his waist and violently stabbed his hand, pinning it to the bed board.

“Did I give you permission to get up?” Lin Xiao looked down at him condescendingly, his voice indifferent and stern.

“Dare to act wildly in front of me…” The Great Chief gritted his teeth, dense beads of sweat forming on his forehead, but he refused to surrender verbally.

This person wore a mask and acted more ruthlessly than him. He was not to be trifled with!

The Great Chief immediately tried to shout for the people outside to come in and take him down, but Lin Xiao saw his intention, kicked him, sending him crashing to the floor, knocking out several teeth.

The Great Chief cried out in pain, enduring the agony, his face contorted in a sneer, “Well done. You’re so angry because you couldn’t taste the beautiful woman, and I almost did…”

Before he could finish, Lin Xiao kicked him fiercely again, his voice vicious and cold.

“Say one more word, and I’ll cut out your tongue!”

Lin Xiao’s eyes were savage. If he weren’t afraid of startling the Princess, he would cut out his tongue right now.

Hearing the commotion behind him, Shen Panyan stopped crying.

“Lin, Lin Xiao…”

“Your subordinate is here.”

Seeing the Princess’s red eyes and the distinct handprint on her fair cheek, Lin Xiao clenched his fists, which ground and cracked, yet his voice was softer than ever before.

“Princess, please wait here for a moment. Your subordinate will deal with this person first.”

Shen Panyan stood still, reluctantly letting go of his clothes, and nodded obediently, “Okay.”

Only then did Lin Xiao release her and stride towards the burly man. With a crack, he immediately dislocated both of his arms.

In a flash, he fiercely punched him in the face.

The Great Chief tried to cry for help, but Lin Xiao punched him in the face again, his expression cold and vicious, each punch carrying immense explosive force.

The Great Chief couldn’t resist but refused to bow his head, “Heh heh, the more you punch, the happier I am. It’s just a woman. I wanted to have her…”

Bang! Another punch landed.

“Looking for death! I will grant it to you!”

The Great Chief spat out a mouthful of bloody foam, “If you have the guts, kill me! As long as you kill me, you will never know who wanted to harm her!”

Lin Xiao’s hand suddenly froze.

The Great Chief became smug, “Smart of you, kid. Hurry up and release your grandfather, or else, you won’t know…”

Bang! A punch landed.

“Noisy!”

Tonight, to facilitate his actions, the Great Chief had ordered the bandits below not to come out to check no matter what noise they heard. Now, when the people outside heard no more noise, they assumed the Great Chief had succeeded.

Many people gathered around, their eyes filled with envy.

That was a noblewoman from the capital, rumored to be some kind of princess. After the Boss had his way with her, he wondered if they, the subordinates, would also get a taste… They had played with many other women, but never a high-status one.

Inside the room.

Contrary to the lustful scene the others imagined, the Great Chief was being miserably beaten by Lin Xiao.

Whenever he tried to cry for help, Lin Xiao would punch him fiercely in the face. The floor was covered in bloodstains, and the Great Chief had few good teeth left in his mouth.

He wasn’t without the thought of fighting back, but he couldn’t muster any strength, his internal energy blocked.

The dagger on Lin Xiao’s person was poisoned. From the moment he struck, there was no way the Great Chief would escape this room.

At first, the Great Chief was stubborn and refused to beg for mercy, but as Lin Xiao hit harder and harder, every punch landing square on flesh. When he realized Lin Xiao intended to beat him to death, the Great Chief finally became terrified and begged for mercy repeatedly.

“Grandpa, Grandpa, let me go…”

Shen Panyan stood to the side. Her initial panic and fear gradually dissipated as she watched the bearded man being miserably beaten, begging for mercy repeatedly. The nausea and terror in her heart also gradually vanished.

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

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

She was accustomed to Lin Xiao’s silent demeanor. Even when he occasionally sneered or mocked, his emotions rarely showed.

This was the first time she had seen him so obviously angry, his emotions so transparent, burning her eyes like a hot iron, and making her nose sting.

When the Great Chief was dizzy and completely limp from the beating, Lin Xiao finally stopped, picked him up like a dead dog, and walked towards Shen Panyan.

Bang!

The Great Chief was heavily thrown onto the ground, spitting bl00d.

Shen Panyan instinctively took two steps back, “Lin, Lin Xiao, what are you doing?”

Lin Xiao’s gaze fell on the distinct finger marks on her fair face.

“Princess, do you want to take revenge for yourself?”

Shen Panyan froze.

Lin Xiao picked up the dagger he had given her and placed it in her hand.

He pointed at several places on the Great Chief’s body, “Princess, stabbing him here will hurt the most and kill him the slowest.”

Shen Panyan held the dagger, looking at the Great Chief, who was lying bruised and swollen in front of her, completely unable to resist. Her fingers began to tremble.

This was a living person, a flesh-and-bl00d person. Even though… even though he had just tried to violate her, Shen Panyan found it difficult to plunge the dagger in and kill him.

Her resistance earlier was a necessity. Now that she had calmed down, she no longer had that kind of courage.

She knew Lin Xiao’s intention was good, but she genuinely couldn’t bring herself to harm a living person.

“I… I…”

After saying ‘I’ for a long time, Shen Panyan couldn’t articulate anything. She bit her lip, slightly afraid to meet Lin Xiao’s eyes, and hung her head in despair, “I’m, I’m sorry, Lin Xiao, I… I can’t do it.”

Lin Xiao always disliked her weak demeanor. When Qiu Shuang bullied her before, Lin Xiao thought her character was too weak and didn’t pay much attention to her.

Now, she was almost, almost… yet she still couldn’t bring herself to strike the assailant.

Shen Panyan lowered her head further, completely unable to imagine the look of disappointment Lin Xiao would give her.

Will he dislike her again, and distance himself from her, just like before?

“I… I’m sorry, Lin Xiao, I can’t kill a person…”

“I’m sorry…”

Shen Panyan also hated her own weak nature. She didn’t want Lin Xiao to dislike her, but she couldn’t change. She had been like this since she was a child. She truly couldn’t change.

“I’m sorry, Lin Xiao…”

“Why is the Princess apologizing to me?”

Lin Xiao did not refer to himself as ‘subordinate’ for the first time.

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

“I failed to protect you. Why, in the end, are you apologizing to me?”

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

But his face was covered by the mask, and she couldn’t discern his emotion.

“That’s not true, Lin Xiao, this has nothing to do with you…”

Her abduction wasn’t because Lin Xiao failed to protect her. On the contrary, Lin Xiao had always protected her very well. If not for Lin Xiao, she would have been kidnapped by bandits at the Royal Resort long ago, and her fate would probably have been even more miserable than it was now.

“Princess, you are truly a good master. You should not suffer such humiliation.” Lin Xiao didn’t listen to her words, taking the dagger from her hand.

He raised his other hand and gently and quickly touched her bruised, swollen cheek.

He remembered how, back then, his instinctive counter-attack had hurt the Princess, making her tremble with pain. How did the Princess manage to endure such severe wounds without crying?

Moreover, the Princess was a noblewoman of the imperial family, a person of gold and jade, yet was treated this way by a mere mountain bandit… Thinking of this, Lin Xiao’s fists clenched, grinding and cracking. His eyes were cold as frost, and he raised his foot and violently crushed the Great Chief’s hand bones.

The Great Chief had already passed out. This kick woke him up, and he instinctively started to scream. Lin Xiao looked impatient, kicked him again, and directly knocked him unconscious.

Lin Xiao desperately wanted to ask the Princess if it hurt, but the words reached his lips, and he didn’t know how to ask.

Shen Panyan, however, saw his intention and smiled at him, “Lin Xiao, don’t worry, it doesn’t hurt.”

It was just a little pain. She could endure it, as long as Lin Xiao didn’t dislike her anymore.

Lin Xiao looked at her, his slow breathing distinct in the bottomless darkness of the night.

He seemed to have made some kind of decision.

“Princess, from now on, with your subordinate here, you no longer need to take action yourself!”

What she couldn’t do, he would do for her.

Shen Panyan’s heart trembled, and she stood frozen. What did those words mean… But before she could figure it out.

“Princess, please wait in the room for a moment. Your subordinate will be right back.”

With that, Lin Xiao carried the Great Chief and headed out of the room. Seeing him leave, Shen Panyan immediately panicked and grabbed his clothes, “Lin Xiao…”

“Princess, your subordinate won’t be gone for too long.”

Lin Xiao’s voice was light, like a promise.

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

“Good.”

Lin Xiao left, carrying the unconscious Great Chief. Shen Panyan sat in the room. Although she was a little anxious, she felt more at ease.

Since she was locked in, Shen Panyan had never dared to take off her outer robe, always sleeping in her clothes.

Now that the bed was stained with bl00d, she dared not touch it again, so she lay down on the table and slowly fell asleep.

Outside the room at this time.

Lin Xiao casually threw the Great Chief onto the ground, then his figure ghosted into the other rooms. The bandits, still in their sleep, didn’t even have time to react before the blade slashed across their necks. Bl00d gushed out, and their lives were instantly taken.

The man in black, like the Yama King of the underworld claiming lives, moved through the mountain stronghold.

Ten days and ten nights straight, without sleep, he had rushed back and forth, searching for clues about the Princess. The bl00d-red veins in his eyes, the anxiety, worry, and self-reproach in his heart finally reached their peak the moment he saw the Princess!!

Lin Xiao’s hands clenched, grinding audibly.

He hated himself for arguing with Zhao Yun that day.

He was a secret guard, the most loyal blade. His most important duty was to protect his master. No matter what others did, he should not waver.

But he failed to do so.

Shadow once told him that he was not a qualified blade, that he had too many emotions and too much self-will, and that one day it would lead to trouble.

He had scoffed at this.

They were both secret guards. Even though Shadow was the leader, he had no right to judge whether he was a qualified blade.

He had entered the secret guard camp at the age of three and grown step by step to stand beside the Emperor, relying on the fact that he was more ruthless and smarter than others. He knew exactly what should be done and what shouldn’t.

Therefore, he had never taken those words to heart.

But now, Lin Xiao felt that Shadow was right. He was not a qualified blade. He couldn’t even protect his own master.

If it hadn’t been him, but another secret guard, who came to protect and care for the Princess, perhaps such a thing would not have happened.

When he received the mission to protect the Princess, Lin Xiao had initially disliked her. He found the Princess troublesome, weak, and even foolish.

As a Princess, she used her own body to shield a maidservant from a blade. What was the maidservant’s status, and what was hers?

At that time, he truly thought she was hopelessly stupid and only planned to finish the mission and return quickly.

But he never thought the Princess would use this “foolish favoritism” on him as well.

It was clearly his dereliction of duty, yet her punishment was a light one—a simple request that he must listen to her in the future. How ridiculous.

As the Princess, he was naturally supposed to obey her. If she had commanded him sternly, he wouldn’t dare to disobey.

But she didn’t do that.

Later, even when he repeatedly went against her orders, she would only say to him: Are you disobeying me again?

Such soft words had little deterrent power over him, yet at some unknown point, they became like a soft rope, tightly binding him in place, making it impossible for him to refuse or break free.

Lin Xiao no longer felt the Princess was bad, no longer felt the Princess was weak, and no longer felt the Princess was stupid. On the contrary, he felt he was the foolish one.

He had failed a master who was extremely good to him.

He failed to protect her, leaving her terrified, deeply anxious, and even almost defiled by a lowly ant.

Every single bandit here did not deserve to live.

Amidst the clash of blades, a thick smell of bl00d permeated the entire stronghold. Bl00d dripped steadily. Under the moonlight, the sharp blade reflected his cold eyes and ruthless movements.

Screams, roars, and the clang of metal filled the air, until the smoke of battle cleared. Lin Xiao carried his blade and walked step by step towards the Great Chief of the mountain stronghold.