Despite being very cautious, she caught the eyes of her enemies.
Although the mechanisms were brutal, some vigilant men still managed to escape from the snares.
Lin Mengya pressed up against the door. The still shaking hilt of the sword seemed to tell her that she might not be as lucky next time.
The men in black, now covered in blood, glared at her with eyes like that of wild beasts.
Instinctively, Lin Mengya had the urge to just up and run, however, the only way of escape was the exit right behind the group of men in black.
Fortunately, her enemies were almost all injured and this would affect their accuracy and speed when they strike.
This was why Lin Mengya was still able to go round in circles around the men in black.
Nevertheless, despite the fading of the sounds coming from the activated mechanisms, the number of men in black who had infiltrated the front yard increased steadily.
While Lin Mengya was intelligent, the men in black were not stupid.
They knew that they should not create a stir in the front yard, so they allocated two men to guard the main gate carefully.
The remaining four to five men, on the other hand, tried all means to chase Lin Mengya into the backyard.
“Men! Help!”
As Lin Mengya kept as calm as she could, she also tried her best, at this moment, to attract the attention of the people outside.
At this moment, rays of light from the sky penetrated the darkness. The first light of dawn brought more hope to Lin Mengya.
Long Tianyu and Zuo Qiuyu had surely received news about her. Someone ought to have tried to stop them if they had not arrived by now.
Lin Mengya knew she had guessed correctly when she saw the increasing frustration in the eyes of those men in black.
Nevertheless, the hope in her heart was gradually overcome by her body that was becoming increasingly burdensome.
At this moment, Lin Mengya, who had been running around, felt her as if her legs were turning into lead.
It was also becoming increasingly strenuous for her to dodge the attacks from those men.
Fortunately, all they wanted was to catch her alive. If not for the fact that they had scruples about hurting her, she would have been dead by now.
“Open up! Open the door!”
All of a sudden, they could hear the sound of someone knocking hurriedly on the door.
The men in black hesitated for a moment, then they inched closer to Lin Mengya as they continued to surround her.
“I’m right here! Save me!”
Her voice, which had become a little hoarse, suddenly became penetratingly loud as she cried out for help.
The second Lin Mengya stopped crying out, her throat burned with pain. It felt as if she had been going without water for a few days.
Nevertheless, her loud cry brought about the desired effect.
The knocking on the door turned into banging.
On top of that, a few figures then nimbly leaped over the wall and entered the courtyard with ease.
Lin Mengya’s spirit lifted at the sight of these men.
There were Liu Xuan, Ling Ye as well as a few highly skilled guards sent to her by Cousin Chen.
Lin Mengya was glad to see these familiar faces.
However, it was also because of this that Lin Mengya had let down her guard all of a sudden.
By now, the men in black, who knew that their situation was hopeless, had stepped up the attacks so that they were even more vicious than before.
They seized the opportunity when Lin Mengya let down her guard to put a dagger by her neck.
Just as Lin Mengya’s pupils constricted from the realization that she had messed up, a figure appeared and she was instantly taken out of the circle of man surrounding her.
Coincidentally, the red-brown main gate had been badly broken by this time.
Well-trained soldiers in their full armor poured into the courtyard.
“Strike them! Don’t leave any alive!”
Suddenly, a low, angry voice bellowed from behind them.
Immediately, Lin Mengya felt a familiar embrace.
The soothing fragrance from Long Tianyu’s body entered her nostrils.
It was only at this moment that Lin Mengya regained her consciousness suddenly.
“It’s alright, I’m here.”
Long Tianyu held her tightly in his arms. He had seen how Lin Mengya escaped death the moment the gate was broken down.
If not for the skillful and agile Ling Ye, the dagger would have easily made a slit in her throat.
“You’ve… you’ve come, Long Tianyu!”
It would be a lie to say that Lin Mengya was not frightened, despite having been through many difficulties and hardships.
She was gripped with fear every time she came face to face with death.
She fully understood that she would not be so lucky to escape death every time.
“Erm, remain here and don’t run around.”
After making sure that Lin Mengya was unscathed, Long Tianyu’s tone of voice, as well as his facial expression, turned chilling and furious.
Lin Mengya knew she had committed a mistake when she saw Long Tianyu’s chilling expression.
Her face fell instantly and she stood obediently behind Long Tianyu.
What happened today was a lesson for her. If she continued in her willfulness, she would commit greater mistakes than this.
Long Tianyu felt relieved having Lin Mengya behind him.
As he draped his large coat over Lin Mengya’s slender shoulders, he could not bear to show his displeasure on her.
The men in black, who were injured a while back, retreated again and again in defeat.
The phantom-like Ling Ye began reaping their lives noiselessly.
For the first time, Lin Mengya saw how Liu Xuan went against those men, while she hid behind Long Tianyu, safely under his protection.
Liu Xuan wielded his long sword at lightning speed and in an instant, the lives of the men in black were taken away from them.
The two men fought silently in their respective territories.
Without getting extra reinforcements from other soldiers and guards, the two were able to strike fear in these men in black so much so that they retreated repeatedly in defeat.
Lin Mengya imitated Long Tianyu slavishly while standing behind him. She had truly learned her lesson today.
The Candle Dragon Cult as mentioned by Zhu Yun was not an organization she could fight against given her current capability.
In the past, she had always relied on her petty tricks and the Shen Nung system to score lucky hits.
If not for the protection from Long Tianyu and Qinghu along the way, she would not be living such a free and unfettered life.
She ought to reflect carefully after what happened today. If she continued to act impulsively, she would implicate Qinghu and Zhu Yun, not to mention eradicating Candle Dragon Cult.
“Alas, my lass, did you know that my brother, the emperor, and Long Tianyu were almost thrown into confusion because of you?”
Even the usually happy-go-lucky Zuo Qiuyu was becoming serious at this moment.
Although he was not trying to blame Lin Mengya, they could not deny the fact that they might not be able to reach here in time to save Lin Mengya if Long Tianyu and Zuo Qiuchen had not fixed things up prior to this.
Be it Long Tianyu or Zuo Qiuyu, they would end up being remorseful for the rest of their lives if something bad happened to her.
“I… I know I’m to be blamed for this.”
Lin Mengya wriggled her nose, aware that she had not been wronged.
It was her fault after all, but Long Tianyu did not bear to lose his temper at her. Instead, he kept his anger to himself.
She was keenly aware of his deep concern for her.
“Actually, you’re not entirely to be blamed. If my brother, the emperor, had dealt with their disobedience earlier, you wouldn’t have met with any danger.”
In the end, Zuo Qiuyu still did not bear to say harsh words to Lin Mengya.
However, he thought it was good that his little cousin still lacked the capability notwithstanding the fact that she was smart.
It was good for her to have a taste of defeat occasionally so that she could always bear that experience in mind.
“Zhu Yan is still in the dungeon. You should get him out of there first. Moreover, there is also a pleasant surprise for you in the dungeon.”
Lin Mengya secretly tugged at Long Tianyu’s sleeve as she spoke quietly.
Long Tianyu nodded. He gazed at her as she hung her head and sighed in his heart.
She was too daring. She always resorted to methods that put her life on the line.
She was unaware that there were many highly skilled and bold people in this world.
Having a dose of her own medicine this time, she almost lost her life.
“Let’s go to the dungeon. Will you lead the way?”
Long Tianyu instructed as he held her tightly in his arms.
In the backyard where many mechanisms and snares were activated, the corpses of many men in black were all over the ground.
Together with the slaughter by the two men, there were only a handful of the men in black who survived.
Lin Mengya had wanted to keep some of them alive, but Zuo Qiuyu stopped her. He casually pulled down the black mask of one of the men in black.
At the sight of the man, Lin Mengya covered her mouth with her hand with a look of shock in her eyes.
The man’s mouth… no it was not even a mouth anymore. It was a black hole to be precise.
There was the absence of any teeth and tongue in the black hole where his mouth should be.
“They are spree killers whose lives are kept and groomed. They won’t be of any use to use even if we spare their lives. Moreover, they will try to pursue your life if they didn’t die.”
As Zuo Qiuyu spoke, he sighed simultaneously.
It appeared that Zuo Qiuyu had some understanding of these men from earlier.
Lin Mengya seemed to suddenly come to a realization and she turned to look at Long Tianyu.
Did they know about the existence of Candle Dragon Cult all along?
Why then did they keep this from her?
“Why—?”
Lin Mengya’s heart jolted the moment she blurted out.
All the things everyone had done for her since the beginning came flooding into her heart.
Her mother had fled her homeland, kept her identity a secret, and became Mrs. Lin in Jin State all because she wanted to elude Candle Dragon Cult.
Qinghu had found out a long time back that Candle Dragon Cult had eyes on her, so he had prepared the way of escape for her long ago. He supported her in setting up Sanjue Hall and finally used Zhu Yun as the last resort.
Long Tianyu had put down everything else to follow her to the Nation of Lintian to look for medicinal herbs. He tried to protect her in all ways because he knew that Candle Dragon Cult would try to harm her.
Cousin Chen and Cousin Yu had refrained from asking her to return the music score for the green stringed instrument. They only restored her status of being Princess Anle and planted well-trained guards around her to protect her.
All of them did many things quietly in order to protect her.
She, on the other hand, had acted rashly so that she could ‘find out the truth’ and had therefore put her life on the line on many occasions.
Not only did she make those people who were concerned about her very anxious, but she had also wasted all their hard work and effort.
Likely, those plans and setups in secret had incurred much loss.
Lin Mengya suddenly realized that up to now, her willfulness had indeed caused much harm to other people’s well intentions.
She always thought that she was able to shoulder everything by herself and to carry out everything independently.
Unbeknownst to her, she was in reality, the little lass who was the spoilt brat.
“Mengya, Mengya, what’s happened? Where are you hurt?”
Long Tianyu lowered his head and asked Lin Mengya with a tender voice.
Long Tianyu could not help but feel anxious when he saw that her eyes had become dull all of a sudden.
