Chapter 517 – Shrink Back  

Yingchun curled her lip and remarked in worry, “Will the young miss be in danger? Earlier Bodyguard Dong said that he needed the young miss to save someone...if even Royal Prince Yang is unable to handle this, how could the young miss be any different? This is not okay. Let’s go find some skilled bodyguards and send them over to protect her.”

“Do you know where the young miss is now though?” Wutong was also worried about her mistress’s safety but she was quite helpless in this situation.

When Yingchun heard this, she burst into fury and cursed, “That wretched Dong Dali! He couldn’t say things more clearly. If even a single hair on the young miss’s head is harmed, just watch as I shave him bald!!”

Dong Dali, who was currently bolting down the streets, suddenly felt an icy coldness go down his scalp. It was so sudden that he shivered and a bad premonition settled into his heart.

By the time Yu Xiaocao arrived at the Wu Residence, the entire inner and outer courtyard of the estate had turned into rubble. If it weren’t for Head Steward Liu doing his best to draw things out, then there would be dozens of casualties among the Wu Family and their servants. The Wu Family’s maidservants and senior servants were all cowering in the back of the residence in fear.

At this time, Jiang Meiyi had already woken up from her faint. When she saw the rampaging Zhu Junyang, however, she almost fell into a dead faint again. As Wu Junling watched her older cousin, who resembled an evil monster, with increasing horror, she realized that she was no longer interested in him anymore. She could only pray now that there was someone out there who was able to stop this out of control fiend.

Apparently, the bad rumors regarding her older cousin weren’t just a result of those who maliciously resented his status and skills. If she had known this earlier, then she would have never tried to seduce her older cousin, the royal prince, even if she had ten times the courage she had now. Clawing her way up the social ladder was definitely something she desperately wanted to do. However, compared with her life, anyone with half a brain would know what to choose first.

As the mother and daughter pair stared at Zhu Junyang, who had lost all reasoning and was currently a ‘residence destroying fiend’, their hearts filled with utmost regret. Why did they have to provoke this calamitous star? Why did they have to infuriate him? Wu Junling continuously thought back to their interaction, trying to figure out exactly what she said to cause her older cousin to transform into a monster.

When the Capital’s Militia received the Wu Family’s cry for help, they arrived at the scene just moments before Xiaocao did. The commander of the militia was an old fox, so when he saw Head Steward Liu being pushed back continuously by Royal Prince Yang, he felt his scalp turn numb. Even the highly skilled Head Steward Liu was helpless in front of this madman. If he and his men rushed to help, they would only become cannon fodder.

Many of the officials within the Capital Militia had illustrious backgrounds. In fact, if you randomly picked someone from the ranks, they were probably the descendants of second ranked and third ranked military officials. Many of these people used the Capital Militia as a springboard for their future career so that in the future they could enter the emperor’s personal bodyguards or become future generals in training. If these people encountered something bad, the commander of the militia was very sure that his position would no longer be his anymore!

Without the commander’s orders, the officials within the militia could only stare blankly from horseback. They watched as the out of control Royal Prince Yang rampaged fiercely and they felt their hearts tremble at the sight. Head Steward Liu was now decorated with many wounds all over his body and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that he looked quite dismal now. This was only because he had never tried to confront his master and instead did his best to avoid the prince’s attacks. He was doing his best to stall for time and hoped that he could hold on to his old life by the time Miss Yu came over.

“Let us through! Those who can’t help should disperse!” The sound of Dong Dali’s voice seemed like it had come from the heavens. Although there was still some distance between them, it gave Head Steward Liu some hope and extra energy to hold on.

The men from the Capital’s Militia had pretty much plugged the streets until they were full. Outsiders were not able to go in. Dong Dali was worried that his master and his good friend Head Steward Liu were in danger, so he was so rushed that he started to curse. When Yu Xiaocao saw this, she quickly said a few words into the bodyguard’s ear.

Bodyguard Dong’s eyes lit up and he raised his voice to holler towards the Wu Residence, “Head Steward Liu, Miss Yu and I can’t cross over. Can you bring the master over here...”

When Head Steward Liu heard this, he leapt up onto one of the remaining side buildings in the Wu Residence. Before he could steady himself, the thundering sound of brick and tile collapsing could be heard and half of the building had turned into rubble. Broken pieces of brick and tile flew out of the residence and the alleyway became chaotic. Many of the officials standing there were injured by the flying rubble.

“Retreat...let’s first retreat out of here!” The commander of the militia noticed that the battle was about to occur in the streets and hurriedly hollered out his commands. The soldiers and guards in the alleyway quickly fled out of the offending street. Before long, the street became empty and quiet and only the sounds of Zhu Junyang fighting with Head Steward Liu could be heard.

Dong Dali could tell that Head Steward Liu wouldn’t be able to hold for much longer so he rushed forward to give a helping hand. He had been born and raised at Imperial Prince JIng’s estate and had trained since he was young with the master in martial arts. Since he was clearly talented in this area, he was able to become well known in the estate. Thus, he was selected by Head Steward Liu to personally serve the master. Although he could be considered a top-level expert, compared to Zhu Junyang and Head Steward Liu, he was only a small fish in the end.

This fellow wasn’t as nimble as Head Steward Liu. As soon as he stepped forward, the wind coming off of Zhu Junyang’s strikes ended up hitting him in the chest and pushing him away until he hit a nearby wall with a thud. A burst of blood came out of his mouth.

Yu Xiaocao was completely shocked by this. A complete expert seemed to have no defenses against the prince. Every strike Zhu Junyang threw out seemed to be covered by an aura that billowed, causing a destructive power that was astonishing. In fact, that one simple and elegant looking punch seemed to have completely subdued Bodyguard Dong in a jiffy. Even the extremely skilled Head Steward Liu could only retreat repeatedly in front of the prince. He was truly an expert among experts!

While she was mesmerized by the scene in front of her, Head Steward Liu had also been struck by his master and couldn’t get up from the ground. In the blink of an eye, two experts had both been subdued. This was truly a sign of how powerful the prince was in battle ah!

Head Steward Liu, ‘My little ancestor, please stop sighing over this! If you don’t come out now, this old servant will have to eat a lunchbox from hell ah!!’

The current Zhu Junyang was like a puppet being completely controlled by his heart devil. He felt like every blade of grass, every tree, every tile, and every brick was imbued with the heavy aura of malice. This type of malice entwined around him and fettered him so tightly that he almost couldn’t breathe. His heart only had one thought: destroy everything! He needed to tear down everything that was around him in order to eliminate all of the sources of malice that were shackling him down.

“AHHHH——” A scream ripped from his throat as if it was a voice coming from hell. It couldn’t be described as a human sound and more resembled the anguished cry of a beast. Everyone that heard it trembled in fear.

Yu Xiaocao could hear the pain and despair that Zhu Junyang felt within that cry and a flood of tears involuntarily came to her eyes. Just as Zhu Juyang was lifting a stone lion about the height of a grown man in the direction of Head Steward Liu, who was no longer able to move, a heavenly voice seemed to have cut through the darkness with him, lighting up the dense dimness around him. The voice seemed to dispel some of the thick malice around him and it flittered into his ear brightly, “Zhu Junyang——”

Who? Who was calling his name? Zhu Junyang slowly turned around with the stone lion still high above his head. A flicker of reason seemed to shine through his bloodshot phoenix eyes.

“Zhu Junyang, the stone lion must be very heavy. Isn’t it tiring for you to raise it up so high ah? Quickly put it down!’ Yu Xiaocao wasn’t the least bit frightened by the malevolent expression on the prince’s face. Instead, she slightly frowned and looked at the stone lion in his hands with an expression full of pity and worry.

The sound of that voice seemed incredibly familiar and pleasing. It was as if the coldest spring water was currently being poured onto his head. His muddled mind somewhat regained a bit of logic, ‘Who? Just who was calling his name in that manner?’

The elders who were close to him would all call him ‘Yang’er’, whereas those of the same generation who had a good relationship with him would call him ‘Junyang’. Those who were a bit more distant would call him ‘Royal Prince Yang’. It seemed like there was only one person in this world who always boldly called him by his entire name. He had resisted many times as he wanted her to call him ‘Older Brother Yang’ but he had never succeeded in convincing her to do so.

Zhu Junyang continued to have a perplexed expression on his face as he shuffled a few steps in the direction of the voice while he still held the stone lion high above his head.

Dong Dali, who was in slightly better shape, had already sneaked by and gotten to the place where Head Steward Liu was lying. He wanted to bring the eunuch someplace safe. When he saw the scene in front of him, Dong Dali remarked in worry, “Head Steward Liu, will the master harm Miss Yu ah? If that happens, once the master regains his senses, he will feel so regretful.”

At first, Head Steward Liu was also quite anxious about something like that happening. However, once he saw his master stop rampaging as soon he heard Miss Yu’s voice, he felt that his decision in bringing her over was one of the wisest ideas he ever had. He fished out a pill to heal internal injuries from his clothes and popped it into his mouth. After coughing up a lot of clotted blood, his chest felt a lot more comfortable. The medicine that Miss Yu personally made herself was truly very excellent.

“Don’t worry, even when he’s rampaging, the master couldn’t bear to harm even a single strand of Miss Yu’s hair. Let’s just watch and see ah!” Head Steward Liu managed to slowly sit up with Dong Dali’s help. He leaned against the damaged wall and gradually caught his breath.

“Zhu Junyang, snap out of it and come back to reality. I’m so worried about you!” Yu Xiaocao’s voice seemed a bit choked with emotion as she slowly headed towards Zhu Junyang. Despite her roiling emotions, she kept that smile he liked so much on her face. He had once told her that her smile was his savior. Even though tears continued to drip down her face, her smile never wavered.

Zhu Junyang cocked his head to the side and the stone lion in his hands fell with a thud to the ground, leaving behind a deep crevice. The malevolent expression on his face slowly disappeared and he felt like his head was becoming clearer. It was his little lass! Darn it! How did he forget his little lass? The sound of her voice, the smile on her face, and her way of directly calling him by his given name had already been deeply engraved within his heart and soul.

“Xiao...cao?” Zhu Junyang still felt a bit muddled inside but the darkness around him seemed to be dissipating. That delicate and skinny little figure in front of him was becoming more and more clear. A sweet aroma seemed to be wafting off her body and all of that malice surrounding him was rapidly being eradicated by that smell.

The smile on Yu Xiaocao’s face deepened and she went forward two steps and stretched out her pale little hands. The tears in her large eyes made them seem even more limpid and clear as she said, “That’s right! It’s me——Yu Xiaocao! Come, I’m going to bring you home!”

Home was that safe harbor without the glint of knives or swords. There was no scheming or cheating, no backyard tricks and no overflowing malice. Because there was her, he could relax...

“Don’t...don’t come over! I...will hurt you...” Zhu Junyang suddenly stopped reaching towards her hands when he saw a red line cutting across Xiaocao’s white and tender little face. He forced himself to retreat a few steps. As he distanced himself from his savior, the heart devil within him started to stir again.

Yu Xiaocao wiped a hand in the direction that he was looking at and felt a twinge of pain. This must have happened during the battle earlier as she probably got cut by a piece of rubble flying in the area. She secretly dripped a few drops of highly-concentrated mystic-stone essence onto her hand and rubbed that area clean. The small cut instantaneously healed and the scab also fell off, leaving behind only a faint pink line.