Chapter 64

Qingwu observed Qin Susu’s expression all the way. Seeing her earnest tone and the indescribable expectation in her eyes at this moment, she seemed to have truly turned over a new leaf, wishing to mend their stiff relationship and become close, amicable sisters.

"What do you mean by this?"

Qingwu was not easily deceived by her soft words and even failed to guess what she was plotting next.

Earlier, seeing the two guards obey her every command, she figured Qin Susu’s status here could not be too low. Besides, with the Chariot-Riding General defecting to the enemy on the eve of the capital's fall, Qin Susu had no business appearing in this remote tribe.

Connecting this to Qi Yu’s fearless expression when he was ambushed and hijacked, it was easy to figure out the connections behind it.

Yet, after wandering around the tribal gathering place just now, she didn't seem to catch even a glimpse of the Chariot-Riding General.

Having gone to such great lengths to rescue his daughter from the chaos of the capital, would he really bear to leave her alone among a pack of tigers and wolves of an alien race?

"Why is sister pondering so much? Without me leading the way, you wouldn't be able to move an inch here, let alone eavesdrop on the conversation in the main tent. The two of us are merely taking what we need from each other. You don't need to be so guarded against me."

Both attempted to guess each other's thoughts, falling into a pin-drop silence for a moment.

A strange sound suddenly came from the low tent behind them.

Qin Susu’s face instantly turned pale.

Conversely, it took Qingwu a few seconds to react and distinguish what was being cursed in the woman's shrill screams, mingled with incomprehensible, vulgar obscenities spoken in various hoarse, rough male voices.

"You people—" She wrinkled her nose, her feet feeling almost too scalded to stand steadily.

Qin Susu quickly recovered from her shock and said with customary indifference, "These are camp prostitutes kept by the tribe. It's always like this."

Soldiers who had marched afar to war were wild cards; once they survived intact, they wanted to find a place to vent. The military camp usually kept a fixed group of criminal slaves. Such isolated camp prostitutes had a status even lower than horses, and no one would ask questions even if they were worn to death.

Hearing the woman's ear-piercing shrieks, Qingwu silently clenched her fists.

"Let's go. We're heading to the Great King's side." Qin Susu suppressed her inner discomfort, turned around, and led Qingwu away. "However, I can only help you as far as the periphery. You can judge for yourself what you want to listen to."

As she approached the central tent, her footsteps also noticeably grew heavier.

Qingwu had no time to ponder the source of Qin Susu's abnormal fear of this tribe. The moment they slipped out of the guards' line of sight, she seized the opportunity to skirt around to the back inner chamber, crouched down, and pressed her ear against the fabric.

The people inside were speaking in a harsh local dialect that she could not understand at all, so she beckoned Qin Susu to come closer and help.

Qin Susu was unwilling to get involved. Ignoring Qingwu's gestures, she refused to budge and even voiced her rejection.

"!"

Several guards wearing beast skulls spotted the two of them. Regardless of Qin Susu's explanations, they grabbed them without a word, dragged them inside, and muttered a few words in the Great King's ear.

Pushed and shoved into the tent, Qingwu, under the pressing circumstances, had no choice but to stand alongside Qi Yu while silently cursing Qin Susu in her heart.

She was truly the same as before—acting without thinking, utterly and hopelessly stupid.

The Great King's eyes were cold as ice, fixed squarely on the stunning woman below the steps as he irritably smashed his fist against the table with loud thuds.

"This woman was eavesdropping on our conversation. How should she be dealt with?"

Clearly, two women had entered; why did he only mention Qingwu?

Qi Yu stared discontentedly at the man on the higher seat, believing he lacked sincerity in cooperation and was deliberately making things difficult.

The Great King pulled Qin Susu into his embrace. "My woman naturally wouldn't leak secrets, but who is this?"

"Not yet wedded, but we will be a family soon enough." Qi Yu's local dialect was surprisingly fluent.

Qingwu cursed Qi Yu a thousand times over in her heart and even mapped out the most gruesome death for him, yet under these circumstances, she had no choice but to go along with the flow.

The Great King appeared bold and rough, but his mind was exceptionally meticulous.

"Is that so?"

The matters just discussed were strictly confidential. The guards outside reported that this woman had been sneaking around eavesdropping for a long time; he needed to know her true identity.

With that, he pinched Qin Susu's chin with his thumb and forefinger, pulled her close, and performed a very lewd gesture while casting a suspicious, suggestive glance at Qi Yu.

"Then prove it to me so I can see."

---

When Qi Yu's wolf-like gaze locked onto a certain spot, Qingwu turned to leave, but he clamped a hand firmly around her slender waist.

Her protruding ribs were squeezed hard by his powerful grip, suddenly bringing on a wave of nausea.

"What madness are you up to!" Qingwu executed a reverse grab, seized his shoulder blade, and forced him down toward the floor.

She hadn't put up much resistance along the way, so Qi Yu hadn't expected her to still have this trick up her sleeve.

"The Great King and the others are right outside. If you don't finish what we started with me, not only will you not walk out of here alive, but even I will be suspected of having ulterior motives." He had thought Qingwu would be a sensible person, yet who could have imagined she was audacious enough to hide outside the tent and eavesdrop.

He had no idea how much she had actually heard, or if she would ruin his grand plan.

"Where did you dredge up so many high-sounding justifications?" Qingwu sneered contemptuously.

The look he had cast earlier clearly harbored malicious intentions; did he really expect to persuade her with such a lame excuse?

During their tussle, a teasing voice suddenly came from beyond the screen.

"Does Master Qi need to negotiate with his own wife before doing business?"

Qin Susu translated the Great King's words for the people inside the tent, naturally editing out many of the crude profanities.

"See?" Enduring the piercing pain in his shoulder, Qi Yu struck swiftly and accurately toward the heaving softness before him.

Qingwu blocked his insidious move, failing to anticipate that his ultimate goal wasn't just to take advantage, but to seize the opportune moment when her attention was diverted to swiftly press the *Shimen* acupoint, located about two finger-widths below her navel.

Her body instantly felt as though the numbing tendon beside her shoulder blade had been pinned down.

The Great King nodded in satisfaction, half-reclining on his lounge chair, and beckoned to the trembling figure standing before him.

Qin Susu walked over apprehensively, not daring to utter another extra syllable.

Qi Yu freed one hand.

"Let go of me!" Qingwu felt as though her wrist was about to be wrung off.

Having no other choice, she could only pretend to submit first to make him lower his guard.

Yet she had to admit—aside from someone like Du Jin, who understood her thoroughly, others simply could not resist her tear-drenched eyes.

True to form, Qi Yu loosened his grip, even leaning down to coax her with forced patience: "If you had agreed to marry me for the alliance back then, you and I would have been husband and wife long ago. Although current circumstances force this, I will be gentler."

Qingwu slumped against the cold couch, the soft flesh of her cheek doubling over from the tight press.

Qi Yu cared little for her feelings; as long as he could fool the people outside, there would be plenty of opportunities for him to assert himself later. Sooner or later, he would change her opinion of him.

"Be a good girl." Qi Yu lifted the hem of his robe.

Qingwu flipped over, leveraging the height of the table, and kicked fiercely toward his lower abdomen.

Her heel, infused with all her strength, struck dead center.

"Ah—" Qi Yu cried out in panic, his roar laced with abrupt humiliation.

Realizing the situation was amiss, the Great King beyond the screen quickly released the woman beneath his fingers, decisively kicked over the partition screen, and caught sight of Qi Yu curled up in the corner of the table, his voice warped with pain.

Qingwu sat atop the table with an indifferent expression. Seeing outsiders enter, her face instantly bloomed with a smile. "Great King, this is just some playful affection between husband and wife; you needn't mind it."

Her voice was laced with a boneless, melting seductiveness. Even without understanding her exact words, one could glean hints of what had transpired from her flushed cheeks.

The Great King's expression turned ugly. He strode over, hauled Qi Yu up by his collar, seemingly disgusted by the loss of masculine dignity.

This barbarian was nearly nine feet tall, with a thick waist and bulging muscles plastered across every inch of exposed skin, possessing the oppressive presence of a moving wall.

He took a few turns and stood before Qingwu with an unkind expression.

Perhaps remembering she still had a favor to ask of Qingwu, Qin Susu hurriedly tidied her disheveled garments and stepped forward to translate Qingwu's words for the Great King.

"Slap!" Before she even finished speaking, five clear fingerprints bloomed across her face.

Even Qingwu was momentarily stunned, though she quickly regained her wits, silently analyzing the relationship between the two and the vulnerabilities she could exploit.

The Great King showed no mercy as he struck Qin Susu, sending her stumbling and falling to the ground, where she trembled like a quail. Yet the Great King did not let her off, angrily cursing her with heavy, severe insults.

"And you said you two don't know each other? Are two bitches trying to turn the heavens upside down?"

Let alone the fact that these two unworldly women had stood outside the tent attempting to pry into state secrets and his ambitions—if they wanted him to let this matter slide and spare their lives, there was only one way.

They must both become his women at the same time!

He loved delicate Han Chinese women with fine skin and tender flesh; otherwise, he wouldn't have elevated Qin Susu to a principal wife among his many concubines.

Besides, the one before him possessed snow-white skin, a translucent rosy blush, and moist, plump lips beneath a pert nose—a softness he had never tasted before.

Knowing that stepping out of the tent meant certain death, Qingwu stealthily felt around the sand table for a small flag, ripped off its base, and gripped the sharp point in her palm, bracing herself for a final strike.

To her dismay, she had no opportunity to land a blow; her delicate wrist was nearly crushed beneath the Great King's unrefined, brutal strength.

"What's the use of these soft, weak Central Plains men? You'd be better off following me—I guarantee you'll be happy!"

Unable to understand his irritatingly fast, humiliating insults, Qingwu could only hear the grating laughter echoing in her ears. Despite her burning anger, she forced herself to remain as calm as possible.

Yet the language barrier was absolute; she didn't even know what method to use to stall for time.

The Great King spoke little. After briefly expressing his desires with a few words, he quickly put his intentions into action.

Looking at the fleshy, grimacing face looming right before her, Qingwu kept leaning back to avoid him until she lay flat on the table with nowhere left to retreat.

The pungent odor of livestock clinging to the Great King washed over her in a wave. His thick lips beneath a heavy beard seemed to press against the corner of her mouth with his every breath, filling the air between them with a nauseating, repulsive stench.

Qingwu felt violently nauseous, but he pushed his advantage further.

Holding Han martial arts in utter disdain, the Great King didn't even bother to pin Qingwu down, leaving her to scratch and claw as she pleased; such feeble force felt to him like mere scratching.

Qi Yu recovered his breath and stood aside with a gloomy expression, coldly watching the Great King use sheer physical dominance to suppress her every clever maneuver.

"Get lost!" Qingwu whipped her neck aside, struggling desperately to evade his provocation.

The Great King's gaze was like that of a spectator, relishing the futile struggle of the weak trapped in his palm.

With great difficulty, Qingwu managed to clamp down on his elbow joint, but he remained completely unbothered, directly pinning her jaw with one hand while kneeling his other knee squarely onto her thigh.

A piercing wave of agony shot through her, and she couldn't help letting out a muffled groan.

Devoid of any tenderness toward the fairer sex, the Great King made Qingwu understand the origin of the screams she had heard from the camp prostitutes earlier.

She rarely experienced such a sense of total despair, feeling as though the only path left to her was taking her own life to find release.