One man, not yet dead, bloodied and crawling towards her, had his carotid artery cut, blood spurting out. He reached towards Mao Anan with a bloodied hand, saying something unintelligible.
Mao An’an didn’t understand and pulled out her translator to find out he was saying ‘save me’. However, Mao An’an didn’t know what to do; she just kept backing away in fright. Anyone would be unnerved by a bloodied figure crawling towards them, leaving a wide trail of blood behind. Suddenly, the man mustered his strength and lunged at Mao An’an! Mao An’an screamed and dodged, but the next moment, the man grabbed her by the neck! The warm liquid from his hands stained her clothes, the pungent smell almost making her retch. Mao An’an was so scared she couldn’t even scream. The man tightened his grip, trying to choke her. Due to excessive blood loss, his fingers were weak, and the blood made it slippery, so he couldn’t maintain his grip on Mao An’an’s slender neck. Finally, he raised a dagger full of notches. Mao An’an grabbed his hand with all her might to prevent the dagger from descending, but even with both her hands, she couldn’t resist the man’s arm strength. The dagger was getting closer, about to pierce into Mao An’an’s chest. Li Erben slashed deeply into Ai Li’s arm, causing Ai Li to retreat while clutching his wound. His men swarmed forward, not giving Li Erben a moment to breathe. Li Erben dodged an attack, seized an underling’s arm, broke it, and swiftly cut the artery in the wrist. Blood spurted out. Another person charged at him; Li Erben turned and slashed under his ribs, and the man fell without a sound. The dagger was getting closer; Mao An’an gritted her teeth and held on. Just a little longer, a person with a severed carotid artery wouldn’t last long, just a few minutes until unconsciousness, but the dagger had already pierced through her clothes, its tip even breaking the skin… “Ah!” Mao An’an felt her arm loosen as the man fell to the ground with a short blade protruding from his chest! Mao An’an quickly turned to look at Li Erben; it was indeed him who had thrown it with such force that even the handle was almost buried in the man’s chest. But now he had no weapon! Ai Li charged again, and Li Erben, now unarmed, fought him bare-handed. Mao An’an tried to pull out the blade but couldn’t; she crawled out of the room and picked up a dagger from one of the bodies outside. “Hey!” She quickly threw the dagger to Li Erben during a brief moment when the two separated. Li Erben caught it mid-air and threw it at Ai Li, who couldn’t dodge in time and was hit in the shoulder. Li Erben rushed over to subdue him, but Ai Li suddenly pulled the dagger from his shoulder and threw it at Mao An’an. With Mao An’an’s reflexes, she couldn’t dodge, forcing Li Erben to deflect the dagger mid-air. Ai Li escaped in the chaos. Mao An’an sat down heavily, and Li Erben checked her over; she was unharmed. Not pursuing the fleeing enemy, Li Erben calmed his killing intent, picked up someone’s clothes from the ground to wipe his hands, and then lifted Mao An’an, “Let’s go, he’ll come back.” Mao An’an nodded, hugging Li Erben’s neck and pressing close to his chest. She was terrified. Unlike before, when she saw Li Erben dismembering creatures and eating them, his aura now was filled with lethal intent, chilling to the bone. Back on Li Erben’s warship, Mao An’an, after calming down, noticed he had only brought this one ship. Logically, a prince should travel with a guard, at least with Ivan’s ship accompanying. “Is something wrong?” Mao An’an asked with concern. “Nothing,” Li Erben said lightly, “Duke George staged a rebellion a few days ago; the guard is all fighting in Austin.” Mao An’an was shocked, “You left Austin to save me?!” Li Erben glanced at Mao An’an, “There’s Mir there.” “Mir is back?” Mao An’an was overjoyed, “I thought he hadn’t found you. Is he okay?” Li Erben’s expression was odd, as if he wanted to say something but hesitated. Under Mao An’an’s anxious gaze, he finally said, “He should be fine. His abilities are more than enough to handle Duke George, especially with Ivan’s assistance.” Mao An’an was suspicious; hadn’t Mir told Li Erben about his situation? Probably when Mir reached Austin, the rebellion was in full swing, leaving no time to mention it. Mao An’an understood and headed to the bathroom to wash off the blood. Suddenly, her arm was grabbed; Li Erben’s cold face seemed a bit uneasy, “Are you still mad at me?” Mao An’an was surprised, “Why would I be?” Li Erben didn’t speak, his face dark, still holding onto Mao An’an’s hand. Mao An’an suddenly understood, quickly tugging at her dirty clothes, explaining, “I thought it was rude to speak to you in this state, so I wanted to clean up first before thanking you.” Li Erben’s expression softened slightly, “No need for thanks. Go wash up. Call me if you need help.” When Mao An’an came out clean, Li Erben had just emerged from the bathroom, his sleek black hair wet and draped over his shoulders, dampening his shirt. Mao An’an, drying her hair, naturally removed the towel and helped him dry his still-dripping hair. Li Erben looked at her with a complex expression, his eyes filled with unconcealed joy. Mao An’an suddenly realized she wasn’t in Austin, nor was she in that period of captivity. Was it habit, or just an instinctive action… “I… I’m sorry…” Mao An’an quickly apologized, “I should have asked for your permission first…” Li Erben averted his gaze, his icy demeanor returning, “It’s nothing.” Mao An’an cautiously observed Li Erben, asking, “Earlier… you weren’t injured, right?” Li Erben looked up at her, uttering two words, “I wasn’t.” Mao An’an whispered, “I know your healing abilities are strong, but I saw your back was all scratched up…” Li Erben’s expression turned cold. Mao An’an hurried to explain, “I didn’t mean to mock you; I was just worried you couldn’t reach the wounds. If you need…” “I don’t need it,” Li Erben cut her off, heading to the cockpit, “We must hurry back to Austin. Hopefully, Mir has already won.” Mao An’an muttered to herself, wondering why Li Erben was so eager to save her yet changed his attitude so quickly afterward. They returned to Austin in silence, where Mir, piloting a pure white warship, greeted Li Erben’s return. Mao An’an stood at the hatch, smiling brightly.
Here is the of the provided Chinese text into English:
Mier welcomed Earl down from the battleship and respectfully saluted, “Father, all the troubles have been dealt with, please review.” Earl nodded and went to inspect the troops with Ivan. Mier spread his arms, and Mao Anan rushed into his embrace. Mier’s voice was slightly choked, “I thought I’d never see you again. Don’t do this again.” Mao Anan buried her face in Mier’s chest, “Mm.” Mier carried Mao Anan back to the royal palace, carefully checking her limbs, “Are you injured?” Mao Anan shook her head, “No, but Earl seems to have been slashed many times.” Mier was shocked, “What, wasn’t he supposed to have negotiated your release?!” “What negotiation? Earl secretly sneaked onto the spaceship to take me away, got discovered, and there was a fierce battle,” Mao Anan said with lingering fear, “How could someone like Eli agree to negotiate? Letting me go means losing his leverage; he would be doomed.” “Father deceived me, saying he was going for a negotiation, he actually went alone…” Mier’s expression changed, “So, Father loves you so deeply…” “You’re overthinking; how could he…” “No, Father made me temporarily take his place to suppress the rebellion… I’ve always wondered why Duke George would rebel, yet it was suppressed so easily… Turns out, Father secretly incited Duke George to rebel so that I could make achievements. He did this… he was even ready to sacrifice himself!”
