Bai Xingluo lifted her head, her light-colored eyes narrowing. In an instant, a powerful and cold mental energy surged forth, causing Duke Lu Ting to awkwardly bend down, his pupils trembling violently as he barely managed to keep himself from collapsing onto the ground with one hand pressed against it.
A few military women accompanying Lu Ting attempted to approach, but were rooted to the spot by a mere glance from Bai Xingluo. She took a slow step forward, her gaze dark and indifferent as she looked at Lu Ting, who was struggling in pain, as if he were nothing more than a pile of lifeless matter.
“What do you want?” she asked with an extreme indifference. “It doesn’t matter to me, but how dare you garbage criticize my Lord?”
Her tone was chilling. “Do you know how we deal with prisoners of war on the battlefield? To extract information, I would peel away his flesh from his bones, piece by piece. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to experience that, would you?”
If it were spoken by another military woman, Lu Ting would not have believed it. But coming from Bai Xingluo, he understood clearly. This cold, reclusive person truly had the ability to carry out such threats.
Lu Ting managed to spit out two words with great difficulty. “Madwoman.”
“I’m mad, so you’d best not provoke me again, esteemed Duke Lu Ting,” Bai Xingluo replied coldly, turning to leave.
But Lu Ting called out after her, “Even if he truly loves you for a lifetime, your mental energy is already on the brink of collapse, isn’t it?”
Bai Xingluo hesitated for a moment.
Lu Ting laughed loud behind her, saying, “A D-class paired with an S-class military woman is just courting death!”
As Bai Xingluo departed, the two military women hurried forward, quickly helping Lu Ting up from the ground.
“Are you alright? We’ll have someone stop her,” one offered.
Lu Ting shoved them away aggressively, cursing as he leaned against the railing, “What use are you useless people? Can you really stop her?”
His eyes were deep with malice. Letting Bai Xingluo leave was of no consequence; his plan had already begun.
Bai Xingluo stumbled slightly after turning the corner of the dark corridor, leaning against the wall to steady herself.
Her light-colored eyes darkened, flickering between shades of black and red like an extremely unstable bomb buried in her body. Despite her efforts to restrain and conceal it, each significant use of her mental energy further aggravated her agitation, with each episode becoming more severe.
This backlash stemmed from her frequent use of mental power in past battles; even the slightest complacency could lead to ruin.
“Even if he really does love you for a lifetime, your mental energy is on the verge of collapse, isn’t it?”
“A D-class paired with an S-class military woman is just courting death!”
No, she wouldn’t allow that. She would keep herself contained and secure, never harming her Lord.
Images of her childhood flashed before her mind—smiling faces, pretending to be angry, expressions of anticipation—every frame etched into her memory.
A sliver of clarity finally shone in her previously frenzied eyes. The stormy mental sea began to settle down, and her clothes were soaked with sweat beneath her outer layer.
Bai Xingluo recalled that her Lord had mentioned he was waiting for her.
Steeling herself, she headed back to the banquet hall. The crystal chandelier still glimmered, accompanied by the soft melodies of the band, but as she scanned the room, she found no trace of her Lord.
Only a small dish, once held by her Lord, remained at the table laden with pastries; the sweetness lingered in her memory.
Her Lord was gone.
A sense of dread settled in Bai Xingluo’s heart.
Lu Ting had deliberately called her out to distract her, and the target was her Lord.
Her gaze darkened like a deep pool.
If anything happened to her Lord, she would make Lu Ting pay dearly.
After Tong Sui chased in the direction they had left, a shadow suddenly rushed forward and collided into him.
He barely managed to dodge, crashing into a tall figure.
“Are you alright?”
The waiter who bumped into him lowered his head, apologizing quietly.
Tong Sui was a bit dazed from the impact and hesitated for a few seconds before looking up at the surrounding darkness. The neatly trimmed flowerbeds that once basked in daylight now resembled enormous beasts consuming light.
Where could he find Bai Xingluo and the others?
Tong Sui frowned anxiously when he heard the waiter softly say, “My lord, are you looking for the two bugs who just left here? I know where they went.”
“You know?”
Tong Sui felt a strange sense of abruptness. Before he could contemplate it further, the waiter continued, “My lord, you must be a friend of that military woman. I saw him leaving here in poor condition; it seemed like his mental energy was out of control.”
“Stop talking, just take me there quickly.”
Tong Sui followed the unfamiliar waiter urgently, moving through the narrow paths of the garden, deeper and deeper into remote areas where the lights dimmed further.
“Are you sure you saw them going this way?”
The waiter didn’t look back or speak, relentlessly forging ahead.
“Hey.”
Tong Sui rushed forward, wanting to grab his shoulder, but saw a figure in a pavilion behind the bushes.
He froze momentarily as the waiter slipped into the bushes, disappearing from sight.
Tong Sui took a couple of steps forward into the dim light, whispering, “Luo Luo?”
The figure laughed shortly.
Tong Sui immediately halted, sensing something was off, and took a step back. “Who are you?”
“Are you afraid?”
The figure stood up, turning to face Tong Sui, with a greedy gaze moving over him inch by inch. “You’re quite good-looking; no wonder those military women like you so much.”
A voice in Tong Sui’s mind remarked: [Lu Yuanzhao, the current heir to the throne.]