“If I lose, I’ll submit to any punishment without a word of complaint. But what if I win?”
“If you win, I’ll let you go today.”
“No! If I win, you’ll not only let me go today but also never trouble me again. We’ll be strangers.”
Hu Yannan looked at the confident Shan Xiaoya, saying with interest: “Such big talk. Do you think you can win?”
Shan Xiaoya confidently replied: “If you don’t use internal energy, and we just compare our martial skills, I don’t think I’ll lose. But if you lack confidence and must use internal energy or point-striking techniques, I think our fight would be meaningless, as the result would be predetermined.”
Hu Yannan was momentarily stunned. “Okay, as you wish. Let me see if your fighting skills are as impressive as your words.” He threw the rope away…
Shan Xiaoya freed her hands from the rope, rubbing her reddened wrists. Her eyes darted around, thinking about how to defeat this burly man…
Hu Yannan raised his hand and struck towards Shan Xiaoya’s face without warning. Shan Xiaoya nimbly dodged back and kicked horizontally towards Hu Yannan’s head. Hu Yannan, surprised, stepped back and caught her kicking foot. Shan Xiaoya calmly used his grip to lift her other leg and kick at his head again. Hu Yannan blocked her second attack with his other hand and threw her foot away. Shan Xiaoya lost her balance and rolled, but unexpectedly, she rolled and stood up again, facing him with a defiant look and a defensive stance.
Shan Xiaoya stared at his cold eyes, swallowing nervously. Her pride told her not to retreat, so she charged forward and threw a straight punch. Hu Yannan didn’t dodge and met her punch with a palm strike.
Shan Xiaoya withdrew her punch and switched to a side attack, which Hu Yannan easily deflected.
Shan Xiaoya was agile and precise. Hu Yannan initially didn’t use his full strength, mainly wanting to see the capabilities of the woman who had been challenging him. The two engaged in battle.
Hu Yannan greatly appreciated her increasing courage and resilience. This was his first time fighting a woman for so long. If he used his full strength, he could take her life with one palm. But today, he wanted to play with her, enjoying her unwilling expression and her desire to defeat him. However, he had indeed underestimated her before. With her skills, if she hadn’t met a master like himself, she would be a formidable opponent for most.
Her body was as flexible as a monkey’s, with lightning-fast reflexes and quick strikes. She was filled with anger and vigor, yet without any lethal intent, showing she had never truly killed anyone. Thinking of her youthfulness, he had been fighting for so long and was still unwilling to give up. Clearly not his match, yet insisting on competing for victory. Glancing at the sky, it was getting late. He had played with her long enough; it was time to make her admit defeat. With this thought, he accelerated his strikes toward her.
After fighting for so long, Dan Xiaoya’s body had just recovered, and her exhausted self was gasping for breath. Her strikes were no longer as fast as before, slowing down. Hu Yannan noticed her weakening and seized the opportunity, kicking her mercilessly and sending her flying until she crashed into a large tree behind her.
This kick landed squarely on her chest. Dan Xiaoya struggled to get up, covering her aching chest with her hand. A salty taste rose in her throat, and she spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. Frowning, she lifted her head defiantly, staring at Hu Yannan.
Hu Yannan raised an eyebrow, staring at Dan Xiaoya with a terrifying gaze, approaching her step by step. His bloodthirsty eyes made her involuntarily shiver. She retreated until her back was against the tree trunk, with nowhere else to go.
Hu Yannan extended his right hand, gripping her chin and lifting her head to look directly into her clear eyes. His demonic voice rang clearly in her ears. “You lost!”
Dan Xiaoya swallowed. “What… what do you want?”
Hu Yannan said evilly, “What do I want? What do you think I want?”
Dan Xiaoya shook her head.
Hu Yannan released her chin and waved a rope in front of her eyes. “I’ll tie up your disobedient hands first, then I’ll make your ‘feet’ that want to leave the General’s mansion understand what it means to be too tired to take another step. Understood?”
“What exactly do you want?”
Dan Xiaoya turned her head, ignoring Hu Yannan. Hu Yannan looked at her proud demeanor and said nothing, directly tying her hands more tightly than before.
Hu Yannan pulled the other end of the rope and mounted his horse. After settling in the saddle, he squeezed the horse’s sides and struck its rear, causing it to sprint forward.
Dan Xiaoya, pulled by the rope, had to run behind the horse to avoid being dragged on the ground. Hu Yannan, seeing her full of anger and unwillingness yet silent, was delighted. He didn’t believe she wouldn’t beg for mercy. He wanted to see how stubborn she could be – a human could never outrun a horse. He squeezed the horse’s sides, increasing its pace.
Dan Xiaoya collapsed in the middle of the road, completely exhausted. Hu Yannan sat on horseback, looking at Dan Xiaoya on the ground with a complex expression. At this moment, Dan Xiaoya looked like she had been fished out from somewhere, her entire body wet, sweat seeping into the ground, outlining her collapsed figure.
The shoeless foot was already a bloody mess, while the foot with a shoe was oozing blood-red liquid from the shoe’s edge. Dan Xiaoya’s clothes, torn and dragged by the horse’s rapid movement, were now indistinguishable from the mud, barely covering her body. Her wrists bore two blood-colored marks from the rope, still seeping blood, almost exposing bone. Her hair, wet with sweat and covered in mud, hung in strands over her face. After being tortured all night, she was now almost unrecognizable, her skin in tatters.
Hu Yannan’s gaze turned sinister. He would never feel heartache for his enemy’s sister. This pain was far less than one ten-thousandth of his loss of Sisi. Her wounds would heal one day, but he would never walk out of the pain of losing Sisi. Hu Yannan sat on horseback, motionless, waiting for her to wake up.
Warm sunlight bathed Shan Xiaoya, like a mother’s hand caressing her cold cheek. Her eyelashes fluttered. She wanted to cry out, “Mom, don’t go!” But her burning throat couldn’t make a sound.
Anxiously reaching out to grab her gentle mother, she moved her wounded wrist, a piercing pain causing her to furrow her brow, awakening her lost consciousness…
Shan Xiaoya opened her eyes in confusion, difficultly lifting her head. What came into view was the enlarged, bleeding wound on her wrist and the thick, blood-stained rope. Memories from last night flooded back. All the pain on her body awakened… A heart-wrenching pain transformed the confusion in her eyes to hatred…
Hu Yannan was not human; he was a demon, a cold-blooded one at that. She had no grudge against him, so why was he so cruel? Since meeting him, nothing good had happened – she was either injured or beaten, all because of him. She would escape at any opportunity, far away, just to avoid suffering by his side. Thinking this, she glared hatefully at Hu Yannan on horseback…
Chapter 34
Hu Yannan did not bother with the five people lying on the ground. He walked worriedly to Shan Xiaoya’s side. Looking at her constantly trembling body, a feeling of pity welled up in his heart… He reached out, wanting to hold her in his arms and tell her everything was over…
A fallen black-clothed man stood up with a twisted expression, his bloodshot eyes revealing a terrifying and calculating light. Holding a knife, he silently approached Hu Yannan and swung the knife towards Shan Xiaoya.
