The Double
Chapter 232 - 232 101 Blooming_5

232: Chapter 101 Blooming_5 232: Chapter 101 Blooming_5 His hand faintly supported Jiang Li’s back, and since Jiang Li was not as tall as him, from a distance, it looked like he had wrapped his arms around her, and if he leaned down, his chin would rest atop her head.

However, he did not glance at Jiang Li at all, but his long, narrow phoenix eyes were full of a shallow smile, brimming with endless ripples of color, watching Little Peach Red intently.

Jiang Li turned to look at Little Peach Red.

The woman’s face, covered in ink, concealed her expression, leaving only her eyes, cold and hard as iron, a far cry from the melodious and charming visage she’d offered while singing moments before.

“Who sent you?” Jih Heng asked softly.

His voice was gentle as well, as if addressing a friend or reluctant to startle a breathtaking beauty, filled with boundless pity.

Little Peach Red did not speak.

“Even if you don’t speak, I already know,” he said, the smile at the corner of his mouth faint and seductive, with a strange enticement, “If you speak up, I will make your end a swift one.”

A chill ran through Jiang Li’s heart, hearing such a terrifying statement uttered with such an intimate tone.

This person was truly frightening.

At that moment, with the actors closing in around her, Jiang Li suddenly realized something.

How could such a large mansion have not a single guard in sight?

She absolutely did not believe that Jih Heng had no guards.

As she pondered this, Little Peach Red snorted coldly and, along with the other actors, rushed at Jih Heng in unison!

They were surrounded by formidable enemies on all sides.

Neither fleeing nor staying was an option.

Jiang Li steeled her heart and lunged toward Jih Heng’s side.

She believed that a cunning man like Jih Heng would definitely not just wait to die.

There must be a way out, but she also couldn’t just cling to Jih Heng and leave her back exposed to Little Peach Red, lest she be pushed out as a human shield, which would be too unjust!

In a daze, Jiang Li heard Jih Heng chuckle, and then she felt her body move with him.

She saw an actor in white face paint behind Jih Heng raising his sword and plunging it toward his back.

“Be careful!” Jiang Li cried out in alarm.

It wasn’t because she was tender-hearted and couldn’t bear to see bloodshed, but rather for her own sake.

If Jih Heng died here, she could not survive either.

Just as she thought to reach into her sleeve again, she saw the white-faced swordsman suddenly pause, as if stricken by an acupoint, a stream of crimson blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, slowly falling backward.

A silver arrow had pierced through his chest.

“Swoosh swoosh,” Jiang Li looked up following the direction of the sounds and saw black-clad guards stationed on the corners of the mansion’s roof, with bows and arrows in hands, their faces expressionless as they continuously shot arrows.

Screams rose and fell in the courtyard.

Yet these screams were quieter than those of ordinary folks, going unnoticed by the neighbors.

Jiang Li guessed that the people from Golden Mansion were death warriors, specially trained to die quietly.

Little Peach Red was single-mindedly focused on assassinating Jih Heng, never imagining Jih Heng had already arranged for his guards on the outside.

Watching her companions fall one by one, she grew uneasy, yet her eyes reddened with the carnage, recklessly charging at Jih Heng.

Jiang Li sighed inwardly.

She couldn’t see Little Peach Red’s expression, but her erratic movements betrayed her disturbed state.

No one could have expected that the people from Golden Mansion were here to assassinate Jih Heng, nor could they have anticipated Jih Heng’s prepared ambush.

Little Peach Red’s performance was exquisite, but she hadn’t counted on Jih Heng having seen enough plays to distinguish genuine from feigned emotions all too clearly.

The people from Golden Mansion thought they were putting on a show for Jih Heng, while Jih Heng truly treated Golden Mansion as just another play.

The beautiful, lethargic, and charming young man moved with exceptional grace.

His movements weren’t as fast or fierce as Little Peach Red’s, but he was like a predatory beast leisurely advancing on his prey.

Jiang Li could hardly perceive the fight between them, just that Jih Heng effortlessly sliced through Little Peach Red’s dagger with his golden silk folding fan.

Without hesitation, he broke Little Peach Red’s limbs and dislocated her jaw.

Jiang Li felt a chill run through her entire body.

Even though she had died once and been tortured by Princess Yongning and Shen Yurong, there was something chilling about Jih Heng’s indifference and even enjoyment of such a bloody scene that Jiang Li could not comprehend.

She yearned to get away.

With Little Peach Red subdued, the once graceful beauty now lay on the ground, devoid of any dignity, like an animal ready for slaughter.

In her current state, she couldn’t even commit suicide.

Jih Heng took two steps forward, coming to stand before Little Peach Red.

Although Little Peach Red was covered in blood and filth, not a single speck of dust clung to Jih Heng’s ornate robe.

He remained lofty, an observer untouched by worldly concerns.

“I gave you a chance,” Jih Heng said, bending forward as if filled with commiseration, “but you rejected it.”

A flash of fear streaked through Little Peach Red’s eyes, seen clearly by Jiang Li.

Even as death warriors, their final reliance was their fearlessness toward death.

But being fearless of death did not mean they were unafraid of what lay beyond it.

Once deprived of that final card—the ability to end their own lives at will—they faced something a thousand times more terrifying than death itself.

This was an eternal truth.

Jiang Li recognized the guard named Wen Ji, who approached Jih Heng and said, “My lord, we have left ten alive.”

The fear in Little Peach Red’s eyes intensified.

With the scene before her, the fact that Jih Heng could still preserve ten captives was horrifying.

Most importantly, those ten captives meant more opportunities.

Man’s nature cannot withstand trials.

Ten death warriors entering a private prison could pry out much more truth than just one.

Jih Heng would not let this chance slip by.

“Your play was well performed,” Jih Heng smiled, “what a pity.”

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