Chapter 181: The Nefarious Long Cheng

The atmosphere in the pink room was extremely intoxicating. Behind the pink curtains, a golden-haired woman lay sprawled upon a heap of velvet, her form extremely seductive. Sweat-dampened and possessing a pale, smooth body tinged with a faint flush, she was utterly spent, unable to even move a finger.

Long Cheng sat beside the woman. His right hand gently kneaded her ample breast while his left held a cup of wine as red as blood, from which he took small sips. Tremors wracked the woman under Long Cheng’s caresses, and sweat beaded on her skin like wine.

With clothes on, Long Cheng appeared merely tall and handsome. But stripped bare, his frame was powerfully built, like a lion or tiger. Dozens of faintly visible scars criss-crossed his body. Several lay across his chest and abdomen, clearly marks where attacks had once pierced through his powerful, demon-god-like form – wounds that had surely been lethal.

Taking a deep breath, Long Cheng smiled as he watched the woman moan and quiver under his touch. She had slipped into unconsciousness. His fierce invasion and aggressive assault, just like cities that had wailed and wept beneath the iron hooves of the armies he once commanded, had overwhelmed her defenses in mere moments.

The golden-haired girl had a very beautiful name, but Long Cheng had forgotten it. However, he remembered she had a promising young fiancé, now the Imperial Emperor of the Gaul Empire’s personal Clerk Official. Such an important post naturally meant he had to remain constantly by the emperor’s side.

Three months prior, during a secret rendezvous, the affair between Long Cheng and the woman had naturally progressed to the intimacy reserved for spouses. The past three months had been a fierce, passionate peak. The young Clerk Official sent almost daily letters back to the Imperial Capital via messenger birds, expressing tender concern and endless affection for his sweetheart.

Therefore, after seducing this blonde beauty, Long Cheng had learned quite naturally that her fiancé would return to the Imperial Capital in seven days. Naturally, the Empire’s Emperor would also return to the capital then.

“Leaving the capital to escape the cold, but really to watch the maneuvers of his sons and grandsons?”

Long Cheng sneered. He had joined the military at fifteen, become a general by eighteen, and by twenty-five commanded three hundred thousand armored warriors who butchered cities and destroyed nations, slaughtering seven enemy cities in a single day, earning him the feared title of ‘City-Slaughtering Blood-Fiend’ among the surrounding powers. But Long Cheng’s exceptional talents weren’t limited to military genius; his political intellect was scarcely inferior to those cunning old ministers.

He saw the tangled mess in Borelly with perfect clarity.

The Emperor had just departed the Imperial Capital for a tour of the warmer south, to escape the harsh winter cold, when the capital was immediately rocked by a gambling feud between two Princes. Claws of the Eldest Prince and the Third Prince subtly emerged, as they eagerly jumped into the fray.

“What a bunch of fools! With this level of stupidity, were this in my Blood Qin, they’d have been devoured alive long ago!”

“A bunch of country bumpkins, simpletons, uncouth monkeys! A wager between two imperial Princes, and the pot amounts to only a measly one million Gold Coins? One trading house? A few shops? Is this the scale befitting Princes? Those in the know would call them the noble descendants of an Empire; those who don’t would mistake them for backwoods parvenu landlords!”

“How much is a paltry million Gold Coins in actual Gold Ingots? A mere one hundred thousand Gold Ingots! Pah! Even I can sneakily sell a deputy general’s cushy post for two hundred thousand Gold Ingots! A ruthless noble in the palace, selling a few minor sixth or seventh rank hereditary noble titles? You couldn’t even touch one for less than eight hundred thousand Gold Ingots!”

“A mere one hundred thousand Gold Ingots – this is the wager offered by two imperial Princes! Uncivilized apes remain uncivilized apes! So small-minded, so minuscule! A wager between esteemed Princes, and they bet only on vulgar gold and silver? How utterly tacky. Should have thrown in three or five beauties at least.”

Chuckling coldly as he mocked Marrs and Lartus scathingly, Long Cheng leisurely drained his glass of wine.

“Then again, it’s not surprising. All the big and small nations of the Western Continent combined don’t even hold half the territory of my imperial homeland. Their entire populace adds up to less than a third of our people’s number. What kind of talent can you expect to come out in a hellhole like this? Only that kid Lin Qi catches my eye, and even he has Eastern blood! After all, he is of Eastern blood!”

“So here we are. Two Princelings raised by foolish Princes face off, and the old Emperor can’t wait to leap back. Hah! What does this prove? The young can’t stay calm, nor can the old. Why not let them fight it out to the death, let them ruin each other utterly before sweeping up the mess? Wouldn’t the court politics then be clarified and cleansed?”

“Still, you can’t entirely blame the old one. Western emperors have few offspring; they can’t afford to play the games we do in the East. Tsk, tsk. Back home, in any dynasty, ten or so dead princes seemed like nothing, who cared? But here…”

“Ah well. That old emperor returns in seven days. His Seal used for the empire’s decrees – that thing can’t be seized by force. Only by trickery, just steal it. As for that Jiang Yong… how come those fanatics from the Church haven’t shown up yet?”

While his thoughts rambled, the golden-haired woman beside him suddenly leaped up from the bed with a jolt, trembling, as if startled by a nightmare. Panicked, she looked around wildly. Seeing Long Cheng, her frightened little face instantly bloomed with joy.

Two slender arms, white like tender lotus roots and supple as spiritsnakes, coiled tightly around Long Cheng’s neck. The golden-haired beauty pressed her crimson lips to his ear. “Gods! I truly never imagined… you were this incredible. You’re ten times, a hundred times, a thousand times better than my fiancé! Gods! Take me away. Whatever your rank, wherever you go, I’ll follow you!”

Long Cheng smacked his lips. “Eloping? Intriguing!”

He pondered it for a moment, then shook his head. Were this the Eastern Lands, luring a married woman away could be considered a delightful, romantic affair. But here he was in the Gaul Empire, burdened by a wager. If he fled with this golden-haired beauty, she’d likely be hacked or shot to pieces within days.

“Forget it. Our fate, it was only for this night! But I will remember you.”

Long Cheng kissed the girl’s red lips forcefully, placed his right hand on the back of her head, and with a light tremor of his palm, knocked her unconscious.

Quickly dressing, Long Cheng drew two Gold Notes from a hidden pocket on his chest and carefully slid them into the girl’s chemise. She would find them when she woke and dressed. This was his compensation. After all, he’d pried much information from her. His future actions might very well implicate her fiancé anyhow.

Clad in the servant guise, Long Cheng silently slid the window open, slipped out, and quietly pulled it shut behind him. Like a wisp of smoke, he sped along the wall. He opened another window and slipped inside.

No one noticed Long Cheng’s movements. Like a wraith, he drifted through the corridors, finding the sitting room where Lin Qi and the others were waiting.

Lin Qi sat stiffly upright on a sofa, his gaze fixed intently upon Fat Bird Kirk, who stood humbly before Tixiang. This Fat Bird Kirk seemed utterly servile and cautious, nothing like the infamous Black Attendant who controlled the Northern Coastline smuggling operations.

Tixiang casually flipped through the ledger book Fat Bird Kirk had brought, which contained all the details of the Silver Crescent Trading House: number of shops, workers, supply channels, annual profits. The exhaustive figures pleased Tixiang greatly.

“You’re quite well-informed, knowing you’ve got a new owner?” Tixiang arched an eyebrow, looking down his nose at the round, plump figure bent low like a meaty ball.

“Of course, of course, esteemed sir. You are our new master. Naturally, we rushed here to serve you,” Fat Bird Kirk smiled with obsequious flattery. No one noticed a tiny hole in the heel of his boot from which wisps of pale pink smoke drifted out.

Lin Qi suddenly yawned. An overwhelming sleepiness crashed over him. Before he could grasp why, darkness rushed in and he collapsed to the floor. Tixiang’s body lurched; he hit the ground even faster than Lin Qi. Several male and female servants tumbled down nearby. Yulian slumped limply onto the sofa.

Fat Bird Kirk slowly straightened his back. His plump face twisted into a lewd, cold smile.

“Descendants of the gods, blessed with Divinity? And such stunning young beauties? Heheh, wouldn’t it be a shame to let others have them?”

“Let me enjoy them thoroughly first… then hang the blame on you. With ‘Black Sweet Scent’ at hand, I can alter your memories however I like! Hahaha! Earl Tixiang, losing control after too much wine, violently forcing himself upon two noble ladies? How amusing!”

Fat Bird Kirk strode eagerly towards the adjoining rest room. He slid a thin tube through the door seam. Soon, dull thuds signaled bodies hitting the floor inside. His grin turned even more disgusting as he eagerly pushed open the door, ready to seize the pleasures found within the bodies of Ya and Ling.

But a strange, sweet fragrance washed over him. Fat Bird Kirk’s vision blurred with bright spots, his body suddenly heavy. Before he could gather his Combat Qi to shake off the lethargy, Long Cheng had ghosted silently behind him. A palm landed on the back of his head.

Fat Bird Kirk rolled his eyes and collapsed. Long Cheng glanced into the restroom with a peculiar half-smile.

“These young beauties are quite delightful, stirring a bit of pity in me. However… their fate is destined to be bleak. I could devour them utterly right now and surely couldn’t leave them be afterward… truly, their plight moves me. Yet, if I did consume them, I truly couldn’t bear to abandon them here. But take them back to the Eastern Lands? The journey of ten thousand miles, fraught with countless perils… how could that be managed?”

‘Spoiled waters shouldn’t go to someone else’s field.’ Better to let someone who worries incessantly handle such messy business!”