For a cat, toying with a mouse is merely a game.
To the poor little mouse, however, it is an exhausting torment from which there is no escape—a cruel, predetermined fate filled with a profound and crushing despair.
Ye Xuan looked at Xiao Wu with keen interest.
His gaze naturally caught the trace of resolute tenderness in her eyes.
What was she planning to do, then? Was she perhaps going to throw caution to the wind and offer a soul sacrifice right on the spot? Surely she wasn't that foolish. If she were to perform a sacrifice now, any typical Title Douluo would logically cut their losses and kill Tang San immediately, ensuring at the very least that they obtained a fresh hundred-thousand-year spirit bone.
So what, precisely, did Xiao Wu intend to do?
What could she possibly do?
Ye Xuan walked toward Xiao Wu step by step. His footsteps sounded like the bell of destiny hanging high in the heavens, every closing step a toll of judgment.
"Your name is Xiao Wu? Just now, you looked at me with such utter disgust."
"As far as I know, we've never met before."
"To feel such indignation simply because of Ning Rongrong's biased words—you really do have a strong sense of justice... Heh."
Ye Xuan stopped right in front of Xiao Wu and reached out, gently lifting her chin.
Xiao Wu obediently raised her head, her eyes filled with entreaty.
Ye Xuan stroked her cheek for a moment. The texture was unexpectedly smooth and tender, full of youthful vitality.
His hand slid down, coming to rest upon her swan-like, slender, and fair neck. As he gently closed his fingers around it, he could feel how fragile she was, like a sheet of paper.
With just a tiny bit of pressure and a sharp snap, he could harvest a top-tier head.
Guaranteed fresh, guaranteed intact.
A flash of nostalgia crossed Ye Xuan's eyes. Back in Slaughter City, in his pursuit to comprehend the Dao of slaughter, he had killed over a million people, and his methods of execution were nothing short of art.
Just for snapping necks, he knew one hundred and sixty-seven different techniques.
The so-called King of Slaughter back then had been nothing more than a coward, trembling before him like a frightened quail, kneeling and begging for nothing more than to survive a little longer.
It had ruined his appetite for killing, so he hadn't bothered in the end.
Slaughter City certainly served a purpose of its own.
Ye Xuan had no wish to destroy it. Who knew? When the population grew large enough again, he might occasionally drop in to satisfy his cravings! Xiao Wu felt a chill run through her entire body.
Ye Xuan's hand actually had a pleasant warmth to it, free of calluses, delicate and well-shaped. To be gently caressed by such a hand should not have inspired terror.
Yet, Xiao Wu clearly felt it.
The hand Ye Xuan had placed on her neck kept shifting, probing for different joints, pressure points, and the connecting pathways of her cervical tendons...
In the span of just a few dozen seconds, he had changed his grip over a hundred times.
It was as though he had already rehearsed a hundred different ways to snap her neck! How could Xiao Wu not be terrified? This person was far more horrifying and cruel than she could ever have imagined!
"What are you doing!"
An angry voice rang out.
The heavy silence was shattered.
The Shrek members, who had previously kept their heads down out of shame or fear, dared not look at Ye Xuan.
Drawn by the voice, they turned to look.
Though fear lingered in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes, bravery predominated.
Her gaze burned with anger as she stared at the hand Ye Xuan had resting and stroking on Xiao Wu's neck.
To Zhu Zhuqing, this was no different from sexual assault!
"You are a dignified Title Douluo, yet you bully a young girl like Xiao Wu? Where is your dignity as a Title Douluo!"
Ning Rongrong turned her head as well, only to see Ye Xuan intimately fondling Xiao Wu's neck.
Trembling with rage, she shouted:
"Ye Xuan! Even if you are a Title Douluo! This is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan! This isn't a place where you can do whatever you please! Take your filthy hands off Xiao Wu right now!"
With his head buried deep in the ground, Tang San could see nothing of the outside world, and anxiety burned like fire within him. The way his backside was stuck high up in the air and twisting frantically exposed his current state of agitation.
"Xiao Wu, what's wrong? Bastard, if you dare bully Xiao Wu, I'll never forgive you!"
Tang San's backside twisted and turned, but he couldn't see a damn thing happening! It was driving Third Brother to distraction!
Ye Xuan chuckled softly and squatted down slightly.
He whispered right into Xiao Wu's ear, using a voice only she could hear.
"They say my hands are filthy. What do you think, you hundred-thousand-year-old rabbit?"
The hope in Xiao Wu's heart completely died!
Indeed!
Her true identity had already been exposed! *Farewell, Third Brother. Don't worry, I won't drag you down with me.*
With a desolate look in her eyes, Xiao Wu bit her lip and whispered, "I beg you, please don't harm my companions."
"None of them know my true identity. I'm sure you don't want news of a hundred-thousand-year spirit beast leaking out and sparking a scramble among other Title Douluo, do you?"
"I can cooperate with you..."
Ye Xuan chuckled lightly. "Who would have guessed, little rabbit, that you're quite the sentimental one."
"I'll play with you later."
Standing up, Ye Xuan turned his gaze to Zhu Zhuqing.
That stubborn little cat was glaring at him defiantly.
Even kneeling on the ground in front of a Title Douluo, she refused to submit.
"Little kitty cat, why are you glaring at me?"
Ye Xuan walked toward Zhu Zhuqing...
*No, stop!*
Dai Mubai, who had been keeping his eyes tightly shut in agony to avoid looking at Xiao Wu, could no longer hold back. He let out a furious roar.
"Stop! Ye Xuan! Do you think being a Title Douluo makes you invincible under heaven?"
"If a massive army presses the borders, what use is it even if you are a Title Douluo!"
"I am the Third Prince of the Star Luo Empire! Zhu Zhuqing is my fiancée. If you dare touch her, Dai Mubai will fight you to the bitter end!"
Ye Xuan paused slightly in his tracks.
Dai Mubai let out a breath of relief. It seemed the status of the Third Prince of the Star Luo Empire had indeed managed to deter Ye Xuan.
Even a Title Douluo wouldn't dare make an enemy of an empire!
A flash of light crossed Dai Mubai's eyes, and confidence instantly surged back into him.
"I originally had no wish to reveal my identity, but for a Title Douluo to bully a weak Spirit Master shows a complete lack of a powerhouse's pride!"
"Isn't it shameful to use your might to bully the weak?"
Having said all this, Dai Mubai felt as though his moral standing had grown quite a bit loftier. He puffed out his chest, his words ringing with conviction.
However.
The next moment, Ye Xuan raised his hand.
*Smack!* Right across the air, he dealt Dai Mubai a heavy blow to the face!
"Is using your might to bully the weak shameful? I don't think so."
"I do think, however, being as small as you is truly quite shameful."
*Smack, smack, smack, smack, smack, smack...*
Attacking from left and right, Ye Xuan helped Dai Mubai with a bit of plastic surgery.
Under Ye Xuan's considerate and meticulous modifications, Dai Mubai's formerly handsome face was successfully remodeled into a giant pig's head!
"The Third Prince of the Star Luo Empire? Judging by your overinflated confidence, anyone who didn't know better would think you were the Crown Prince!"
Ye Xuan sneered.
His gaze turned mocking as he looked at Dai Mubai.
"As for your talk of an army pressing the borders—leaving aside whether I'd even be afraid—do you really think trash like you is worth the Star Luo Empire dispatching an army to hunt me down?"
"Do you believe that if I carried your head to the Star Luo Empire, your good brother Dai Davis would be so overjoyed he'd invite me for a drink?"
It felt as though a basin of ice-cold water had been dumped over him from head to toe.
Dai Mubai froze through and through in an instant.
Yes.
He had merely been putting on a brave face.
The Star Luo Empire would never mobilize troops on his account. Right in the middle of the struggle for imperial succession, he had played the deserter and fled the empire.
All these years, he had lived in terror of being hunted down by Dai Davis.
How could he dare expose his identity so casually?
Even if it were exposed, with Dai Davis recognized as the rightful heir, his so-called imperial prince status was nothing more than that of a pathetic, pitiful wretch.
Feeling the burning, throbbing pain on his face,
alongside a deep sense of shame,
terror surged back into his heart.
Dai Mubai's knees went weak, and he felt a sudden, irresistible urge to beg for mercy.