IRTBACIWLATCP CH 03

Chapter 3. I Saved You, and This Is How You Repay Me?

Ji-ui raised her head and saw several men dressed in black silk robes.

Embroidered across their chests with silver thread was a lifelike wolf emblem.

The wolf’s gleaming green eyes looked particularly vicious.

“Ah! Who on earth are you people? Can’t you see I’m taking a bath right now?”

Ji-ui screamed in apparent shock and hurriedly covered herself with her clothes.

“Get out, quickly!”

Although her clothes covered most of her body, her smooth, rounded shoulders and flushed nape were still exposed, making her even more eye-catching.

Besides, Ji-ui naturally had delicate features and fair skin.

With her body damp from the water, the men who had barged in were momentarily stunned.

One man stepped forward. Unlike the other wolf emblems, the wolf head embroidered on his chest had golden eyes instead of green ones.

With an expressionless face, he pulled out a token from his waist.

“I am Lu Chen, Commander of the Dragon-Scale Guard. By imperial decree, we are tracking an assassin. Miss, have you seen a man dressed in black?”

“I haven’t. Now get out. You’re going to ruin my reputation!”

Ji-ui kept urging them to leave, but her heart was pounding wildly as well.

Judging by this, the man hiding beneath the bathtub is definitely no ordinary person.

The Dragon-Scale Guard is the Imperial Family’s personal guard. Rumor has it that they are a group that stops at nothing to accomplish their missions.

If they discover that I’m hiding the culprit, they won’t care whether I was threatened or not.

Despite her words, Lu Chen paid no attention and coldly swept his gaze around the room.

After checking behind the bed and even underneath it, he walked straight toward Ji-ui.

“That bathtub is quite large. Surely you aren’t hiding someone inside it?”

His sharp gaze seemed capable of seeing straight through her thoughts.

Under his stare, Ji-ui’s heart felt as though it were about to leap out of her stomach.

Lu Chen’s rough hand, hardened from years of wielding a sword, had already grabbed the edge of her clothes.

The man inside the bathtub was also reaching his limit.

His trembling hand beneath the hot water suddenly grabbed Ji-ui’s leg.

The force of his grip made her calf sting with pain.

His other hand remained tightly wrapped around his dagger, ready to strike at any moment.

Ji-ui lightly nudged him with her toes, signaling him to stay calm.

Under the water, Gyeong-un’s face had already flushed deeply, as though he had reached the limit of his endurance.

The heat coursing through his entire body seemed to be gathering in one place.

In the middle of such a tense situation, Ji-ui accidentally nudged him with her foot in a rather sensitive spot.

Her own heart nearly jumped into her throat.

But she had no idea what she had touched.

Keeping her expression stern, she raised her hand and slapped Lu Chen’s hand away.

She glared at him sharply.

“Lord Lu, please know your boundaries. I’m still an unmarried woman. If you continue looking me over like this… are you prepared to take responsibility?”

Lu Chen replied coldly,

“I am carrying out an imperial order. When tracking an assassin, I have no time to concern myself with personal etiquette.”

Ji-ui scoffed.

“I am the lover of the heir of the Marquis of Anjing. The Young Marquis has promised to marry me. If you continue behaving this way, I’ll go straight to His Majesty tomorrow and accuse you of ruining my reputation.”

Lu Chen’s attitude was so forceful that she had no choice but to invoke the name of the Marquis of Anjing.

“You’re that woman? The one my cousin brought back?”

A trace of interest flashed through Lu Chen’s eyes.

He withdrew his hand and gave a cold laugh.

“Your cousin?”

Ji-ui’s heart sank.

She cautiously asked,

“You… are you from the Marquis of Anjing’s household?”

He couldn’t possibly already know that I’ve completely severed my relationship with the Marquis’s household, could he?

That would be troublesome.

Lu Chen looked her up and down before smiling.

“I am also a member of the Lu family. Lu Hyeong-un is my cousin.”

Only then did Ji-ui breathe a sigh of relief.

“Then all the more reason you shouldn’t make things difficult for me.”

The main branch and collateral branches of the Marquis of Anjing’s family did not interact very often.

So it wasn’t strange that Lu Chen did not yet know that her relationship with the Marquis’s household had ended.

A strange glimmer flashed through Lu Chen’s eyes. He bent slightly and gave her a courteous gesture.

“I was rude just now. Since Sister-in-law did not see the assassin, we shall take our leave.”

Recently, he had heard a rumor.

The Marquis of Anjing had not only found the missing Lu Hyeong-un, but had also brought back the woman who had cared for him for two years.

I never expected to run into her by coincidence like this.

So this woman is using Lu Hyeong-un’s name and claiming to be his woman.

Excellent. This gives me an opportunity.

After Lu Chen and the Dragon-Scale Guard withdrew, Gyeong-un finally lifted himself out of the bathtub after holding his breath for so long.

His handsome face was flushed red.

Having hidden underwater for so long, even breathing had become difficult.

The two stared at each other for a moment.

Gyeong-un’s dark eyes sank deeply as he scrutinized her.

“You’re Lu Hyeong-un’s woman?”

The woman before him had a beautiful, radiant face like peach blossoms and elegant brows shaped like crescent moons.

Her eyes were clear and deep, like starlight.

Her beauty seemed almost mysterious.

It was simply unfortunate that she was involved with Lu Hyeong-un of all people.

Ji-ui studied him as well.

He was wearing a silver mask, so she could not see his face clearly.

From the sharp features and bright eyes that were visible, however, she could tell that he was handsome.

Realizing that he was examining her, she spoke warily.

“I’m going to become a member of the Lu family. Leave right now. Otherwise, the Young Marquis will never let you off.”

The Marquis of Anjing is an earldom.

And judging from Lu Chen’s attitude just now, this assassin probably won’t dare act recklessly either.

“Are you the one who saved Lu Hyeong-un?”

So Gyeong-un asked coldly as he grabbed her around the waist.

Her waist was slender and soft, seeming so delicate that it could break with just a little force.

Ji-ui’s expression stiffened.

Could this man be someone who holds a grudge against Lu Hyeong-un?

I made the wrong move!

Ji-ui’s face turned bright red as she struggled and cursed him angrily.

“I saved you, and this is how you repay me? You beast!”

Gyeong-un glared at her fiercely.

The strength in his grip increased several times over.

“You ruined my plans, and you still dare insult me? It seems you really don’t want to live.”

Because this woman saved Lu Hyeong-un, she ruined my plans.

How infuriating!

Ji-ui’s eyes reddened, and tears welled up in their corners.

She looked at him pitifully and sobbed.

“Hero, please just listen to me once… sob… Lu Hyeong-un abandoned me. I was even driven out by the Lu family…”

As she spoke, she cautiously took a sedative from inside her ring.

This bandit said I ruined his plans. Could he be talking about the fact that I saved Lu Hyeong-un?

The person chasing him just now was Lu Chen.

Then this man must have some grudge against the Marquis of Anjing.

When Ji-ui suddenly burst into tears, Gyeong-un frowned.

But the very next moment, a thin needle shot out from beneath the water and pierced into his body.

Killing intent spread beneath So Gyeong-un’s eyes.

He shouted furiously,

“You coward! How dare you attack me from behind?”

He tried to circulate his inner energy and kill the detestable woman in front of him.

But the strength drained from his entire body, and his mind gradually became hazy.

Ji-ui’s triumphant smile seemed to grow larger before his eyes.

“Bandit, if you want to challenge me, come find me in your next life!”

“You…”

Gyeong-un desperately clung to consciousness.

I absolutely cannot lose consciousness!

This woman is far too vicious.

I should never have pitied her. I should have simply finished her off!

“You cowardly bandit! I saved your life, and this is how you repay me!”

He had not only behaved rudely but had even tried to kill her, making Ji-ui angrier and angrier.

She immediately raised her leg and kicked Gyeong-un in the side.

The kick itself was not particularly strong, but the humiliation was immense.

Gyeong-un’s anger surged to the top of his head, and the area beneath his eyes reddened.

“You and Lu Hyeong-un… I’ll kill every last one of you!”

How dare this damn woman hit me!

From childhood until now, no one had ever dared lay a finger on him.

“Hmph. You’re still holding on quite well. You haven’t even lost consciousness after taking my medicine.”

Ji-ui clicked her tongue and muttered.

But deep down, she was secretly relieved.

If I hadn’t thought quickly and pretended to be pitiful just now, I might really have died at this man’s hands tonight.

Ji-ui grabbed the nearest outer garment and draped it over his face before getting out of the bathtub.

A faint medicinal scent lingered in the room.

The candle flickered, and Ji-ui’s slender figure appeared hazily through the dim light.

She picked up a towel and calmly wiped the water from her body and hair.

“Bandit, since you repaid my kindness with hostility, I would normally be justified in killing you.”

“But thanks to the medicine you’ve already taken, you’re practically a lamp that has run out of oil.”

“So there’s no need for me to dirty my hands. You won’t live much longer anyway.”

Gyeong-un gritted his teeth.

“We don’t know yet who will die first!”

“Even when you’re about to die, your mouth is still full of bravado.”

Ji-ui looked thoughtfully at the man glaring at her from inside the bathtub.

He’s handsome and carries an air of nobility. And he’s someone the Dragon-Scale Guard is desperately trying to capture.

He definitely isn’t an ordinary bandit.

Ji-ui pulled him out of the bathtub and searched his entire body.

As expected, she found an expensive-looking jade pendant hidden inside his clothes.

Ji-ui’s eyes immediately lit up.

Without hesitation, she took it.

The jade pendant was clear and translucent.

It felt warm yet cool against her hand, smooth as though it had been polished with oil.

Delicate auspicious cloud patterns were carved across its surface, intricately intertwined with the figures of dragons and phoenixes playing among the clouds.

If she sold it outside, she could probably get at least one or two thousand nyang of silver for it.

“You stole this jade pendant, didn’t you? I’ll take it as compensation for the emotional distress you caused me.”

Gyeong-un’s pupils contracted sharply.

“You’d better return it!”

I’ve always carried this jade pendant with me. If it falls into someone else’s hands, my identity could be exposed.

Ji-ui ignored his warning.

She slipped the jade pendant into her clothes and looked at him with mocking amusement in her shimmering eyes.

“You won’t need such a fine jade pendant wherever you’re going now.”

With that, Ji-ui removed the mask he was wearing.

A deep, sharply defined face was revealed.

He had handsome, well-defined features.

Ji-ui toyed with the mask in her hand and raised the corner of her lips.

“Not bad-looking at all. What a waste that you turned out to be a bandit. This mask is made of pure silver too, so it should be worth quite a bit. This is mine too.”

Gyeong-un silently glared at her.

Clinging to the last of his consciousness, he gritted his teeth.

“Hey! What exactly are you planning to do?”

To push around me, the War God of the entire Xiao Kingdom, like this… She really has no idea how frightening the world can be.

Once I break free from the effects of this medicine, I will definitely tear that woman apart and kill her.