Chapter 51

Chapter 51: You Took Her for a Benefactor

Sheng Zhi Wan did not flinch. Sheng Zhi Wan said, “Not just them. My bodyguards too.”

The leader laughed. “Fine. Since the beauty is so loyal, letting these cowards go won’t hurt anything!”

The leader waved, and the other bandits, still unwilling, shoved away the people they had pinned down.

Zhang Da clutched his leg and fell to the ground. For the first time in his life, Zhang Da hated himself for being lazy and not training hard. If Zhang Da had not slackened off, Zhang Da would not have lost in a single move.

Sheng Zhi Wan glanced at Zhang Da and the others and said, “What are you still standing around for? Thin arms and thin legs, are you waiting to be buried with me?”

Zhang Da gritted his teeth. Zhang Da knew Sheng Zhi Wan was right.

At this point, Zhang Da could not put hope in Shang Xing Yu’s group of playboys. Maybe those people, just to keep things quiet, would even silence them.

They had to stay alive. Only then could they send the news back, and only then could they go find the Heir Apparent to rescue the Heir’s Wife.

Zhang Da turned and ran. The other bodyguards, eyes red, followed after Zhang Da.

An Zhi and Ting Lan jumped down from the carriage and tried to leave too. But the leader barked, “Women stay! Damn it, my brothers are all waiting to be grooms. If you all run, your master alone won’t be enough, hahaha!”

That filthy laugh made An Zhi and Ting Lan tremble.

The scar-faced man laughed a few times and strode up to yank Ting Lan to his side. The scar-faced man asked, “Boss, this little lady is nice. Later, can I sleep with her first?”

The leader answered carelessly, “Do whatever you want.”

The leader kicked the still-fallen Ye Rong with his foot and shouted, “Kid, why aren’t you gone yet?!”

Shang Xing Yu grabbed Ye Rong and said, “We’re going, we’re going. We’ll get lost right now.”

Supported by their bodyguards, the young masters limped away in miserable shape.

Sheng Zhi Wan’s gaze stayed on Zhang Da and the others, who stumbled as they fled. It was good that they were hurt, but it was not like the previous life…

Sheng Zhi Wan remembered Zhang Da in the previous life, holding the scar-faced man’s leg, blood all over his mouth and body, gasping as he told Sheng Zhi Wan to run. Sheng Zhi Wan’s fingers tightened inside her sleeve little by little.

Only when their figures disappeared did Sheng Zhi Wan finally let the dagger fall with a loud clatter.

Sheng Zhi Wan, of course, did not truly believe the bandits would spare Zhang Da and the others. [But as long as they got away, someone would meet them. The people sent to intercept and kill them would be dealt with quietly, then replaced.]

Sheng Zhi Wan swallowed down her nausea and let the men stuff cloth into her mouth. They tied Sheng Zhi Wan’s hands and feet tightly. An Zhi and Ting Lan were bound the same way.

They threw them back into the carriage. Sheng Zhi Wan’s head slammed hard against the carriage wall, and it swelled up almost at once.

Sheng Zhi Wan did not make a sound, as if Sheng Zhi Wan could not feel the pain.

No one knew how much time passed. The jolting road, mixed with the tight ropes, left Sheng Zhi Wan almost numb. At last, someone lifted the curtain, grabbed the hemp rope, and dragged all three of them out.

The sky was already fully dark. Inside the mountain stronghold, layers of tree shadows covered everything.

Sheng Zhi Wan had never seen the man standing in front of them, but when Sheng Zhi Wan noticed he only had one arm, Sheng Zhi Wan narrowed her eyes.

While Sheng Zhi Wan studied him, Zhang Da Hu also stared at Sheng Zhi Wan.

Zhang Da Hu was used to the battlefield, used to killing and licking blood. Zhang Da Hu had killed not less than a hundred people, maybe even a thousand. Even bandit chiefs who killed without blinking sometimes got shaken by his presence and looked away.

But now Zhang Da Hu saw no fear at all in Sheng Zhi Wan’s eyes.

That extreme calm made Zhang Da Hu squint.

After a moment, Zhang Da Hu sneered and said, “So you’re that damn Princess Qing Ning? Pretty, yes, but your heart is vicious! You even dared to harm my benefactor. Princess or not, once you’re here, you’re just something to be used by a thousand men and ridden by ten thousand!”

The moment Zhang Da Hu finished, lewd laughter rose around him.

One man said, “Haha, we haven’t played with a princess yet!”

Another said, “Look how delicate this princess is. Tsk, tsk. If we whip her, will she be like those noblewomen and break after just one lash? Then we’ll make her crawl on the ground and beg us.”

Sheng Zhi Wan listened to their shameless words, and her lips curved.

At the same time, a scream came from behind, along with the wet sound of a blade cutting into flesh.

Zhang Da Hu froze and turned his head.

Bodies were already scattered across the ground behind him. The two maids who had been trembling just moments ago now moved with quick, sharp motions, and each motion ended with someone screaming and collapsing.

Zhang Da Hu stammered, “You-you…”

Zhang Da Hu did not even finish before something icy and sharp pressed against his throat. Zhang Da Hu swallowed hard and said, “If you kill me, you think you can escape? There are more than two hundred men in this stronghold! Can you kill them all?”

Zhang Da Hu had thought he stopped fearing death long ago. But when death truly arrived in front of Zhang Da Hu, Zhang Da Hu’s heart still clenched.

Sheng Zhi Wan ignored the threat and asked, “Your name is Zhang Da Hu?”

An Zhi cut the ropes off Sheng Zhi Wan, and Zhang Da Hu froze. Zhang Da Hu clearly did not expect Sheng Zhi Wan to know him.

But what shocked Zhang Da Hu more was what Sheng Zhi Wan said next.

Sheng Zhi Wan said, “You treated Meng Yang as a benefactor and wanted to kill me for her, but you never knew that if it weren’t for her, your brother would not have died, and you wouldn’t have become half-crippled like this.”

The curve of Sheng Zhi Wan’s lips was mocking to the bone.

Zhang Da Hu went stiff and asked, “What did you mean?”