EBE Chapter 194 A Deception Within a Deception
Chapter 194 A Deception Within a Deception
Such a strange event was something that everyone present had never heard of or seen before.
For a moment, everyone had different expressions and solemn faces.
The old king looked surprised, his mouth slightly open, but his eyes revealed a strange confusion; Chunyu You and the other two looked as if they had heard something strange, their faces showing both fear and surprise, as well as the eagerness of a young person's curiosity; while Luo Dalun stood behind the two, as steady as a mountain, his resolute expression as if nothing could shake his will.
The middle-aged fat man's small, triangular eyes, squeezed into his thick flesh, gleamed with shock. He walked somewhat erratically to Fei Xi and questioned her excitedly:
"Are you serious? You really saw an Iron Man, as tough as a barrel? Where is it now?"
Fei Xi was startled by the fat man and took a few steps back, her face showing displeasure.
"Sir, are you questioning me? Who could make up such a thing if they hadn't seen it with their own eyes!"
"Insolence!" The golden mace, like a golden dragon emerging from the abyss, stood between Fei Xi and the fat man.
Yu Heng and Dongfang Rui stood together in front of Fei Xi, blocking the fat man's view of Fei Xi.
The golden mace was aimed directly at the fat man; if he made the slightest move, the mace would likely cleave his head in two the next moment.
"Princess, do not be afraid. Your humble servant will not allow the thieves to harm you in the slightest."
"My lords, please forgive me. I did not mean to frighten the princess."
The fat man quickly apologized, his chubby face beaming with a humble smile, a smile that was both ingratiating and polite.
"What you said, Princess, is truly unbelievable. I never expected that Lord Tao would end up like this. This man deserved to die for offending you, but I really don't understand. If that monster was so terrifying, how did you manage to return safely?"
The fat man hit the nail on the head, and for a moment, everyone looked at Fei Xi with curiosity.
"I don't quite understand either. At the time, Lord Tao was fighting with that iron bucket monster, and Lord Tao threw me to the ground. After the iron bucket monster killed Lord Tao, it didn't even look at me before leaving."
Fei Xi's expression was solemn, perfectly conveying a look of utter bewilderment.
Others looked at her with skepticism; too many coincidences always made it difficult to convince others.
The old king, however, suddenly understood, clapping his hands and repeatedly muttering, "I understand! I understand!"
"King Baihan, what exactly is going on?" Everyone's attention was drawn to the old king's unusual behavior, and Chunyu You couldn't help but ask directly.
The old king smiled and looked at Fei Xi, explaining:
“Princess Shouguang is truly blessed. My great-grandfather once told me a legend. Sometimes, red lights suddenly appear in the desert, shooting out from who-knows-where. If a person lies down when encountering the red light, they will not be attacked by it.”
"Such a strange thing? And what exactly is that iron bucket monster?"
"I have no idea where this monster came from; I've never heard of it before. But since the princess has encountered it, perhaps the books in the Temple of the Goddess of Abundance will contain some relevant information." The old king's smile remained unchanged as he offered everyone a clue.
"All kinds of documents, historical records, and factual records of my country, Us have always been stored in the Temple of the Goddess."
“Your Majesty, may we borrow some of the books in this temple?” Fei Xi cleverly took over the king’s question.
“Alas, it is not that I am unwilling to agree. Princess, although I am the King of Us, I have no right to interfere in matters concerning the temple.”
"You are the king. With just one order, who in the Kingdom of Us would dare to disobey you?" Chunyu You asked without hesitation.
“Brother Qian, you are mistaken. Fei Xi has heard that many small countries in the West are very different from those in the Central Plains. Compared to the king, the temple holds a position above the royal family and never obeys the king’s orders.”
"Princess, you are indeed very knowledgeable."
Su Xuan smiled slightly, praising Fei Xi while quickly pulling his foolish junior brother back to his senses. His junior brother had only been in the Central Plains for a few days since leaving Tianshan, and he'd already been assimilated and forgotten where he came from!
"Brother Wei, you flatter me." Fei Xi blinked and smiled innocently yet meaningfully at the two of them.
"Then how can I borrow the books from the Temple of the Goddess?" the impatient fat man asked again.
"This matter must wait until the music and dance festival, when the high priest personally presides over the ceremony and selects the goddess. Only when the high priest is free can we go and plead with him."
"Why go through all this trouble, Your Highness? Please tell me where the thief who kidnapped you died, and which direction the iron barrel monster fled in?" Yu Heng felt utterly contemptuous of the mystical talk of this tiny little country.
Gods and Buddhas are nothing but charlatans who deceive people.
With overwhelming forces pressing in, who among these gods and Buddhas could protect them?
Princess Shouguang's words seemed to be without any problems, but he knew that the other party's appearance in the Kingdom of Us must have hidden secrets behind it.
"Lord Yu and Lord Dongfang should be outside the city gate, near the sand dunes about 5 li southwest. And that iron barrel monster fled eastward at the time."
After Fei Xi finished speaking, seeing that everyone seemed to be deep in thought, and having said what she wanted to say, she excused herself by saying she was tired and went back to her room to rest.
For the next few days, no one bothered her.
Except for the night of the questioning, when Qiu Shuying suddenly appeared in her room.
After returning to her room that day, Fei Xi slept until late at night.
When she woke up, Xiaohua was nowhere to be found; she didn't know where she had gone.
Having not eaten all day, Fei Xi suspected that she hadn't slept enough, but had been woken up by hunger.
The new room the old king had arranged for her was similar to her previous one. It was late at night, and Fei Xi didn't want to bother the servants outside.
Putting everything else aside, there's plenty of fruit in the room.
Just as Fei Xi was about to get up, a shadow blocked the moonlight from the window and quietly appeared at the head of her bed.
Fei Xi was startled and almost cried out in alarm.
The shadow seemed to anticipate her intentions and swiftly covered her mouth with its hand:
"Sister, it's me."
"Sister? Did Lord Yu find out about you?"
"Does my sister want me to be discovered?"
The figure by the bed, her face hidden in the darkness, was not visible to Fei Xi. Although she could not see Qiu Shuying's expression, she could tell that the other person was in a bad mood.
“Sister, Lord Yu says he came to capture you, but I feel that his and Dongfang Rui’s purpose in coming here is definitely not simple. I see that you are quite familiar with this desert, do you know what that iron barrel monster is?”
The person in front of her remained silent for a while, just as Fei Xi was wondering what to do and was about to get out of bed to eat something.
A pair of long, strong hands suddenly gripped her neck and pressed her firmly onto the bed.
The agony of suffocation instantly spread from my chest to my trachea. The churning pain in my chest felt like a thousand steel needles piercing me at once, and each breath felt like a knife slowly cutting through my trachea.
Fei Xi was caught off guard and was tormented by this sudden change.
Her face was flushed red from lack of oxygen, and her stomach, which had not eaten for a long time, suddenly spasmed and convulsed after such stimulation. Her body trembled involuntarily, and the excruciating pain gradually blurred her consciousness.
But the one who started it all whispered in her ear with a smile in his voice:
"My little sister is really naughty! What iron bucket monster? There's no monster at all. Who exactly is that lecher? There's no corpse at all on the sand dunes. Do you know that person and want to use him to kill me?"
Fei Xi was breathing heavily, gripping her hand tightly, but loosened his grip slightly after he finished speaking.
"Heh...heh...no...heh..."
Fei Xi was eager to defend herself, waving her hands wildly, but the discomfort in her stomach made it difficult for her to utter a single word.
Before Fei Xi could catch her breath, those hands gripped her neck tightly again.
A new round of suffering has begun.
A demonic whisper, in a daze, poured directly into her mind:
"I hate being betrayed the most. If my sister betrays me, I will peel off her skin bit by bit. Then, I will put her in the desert and dry her into a dried-up human body. That way, my sister will stay with me obediently forever."
Fei Xi had no doubt that the other party couldn't do it.
Like a cat toying with a mouse, Qiu Shuying tormented her several times before giving her some time to catch her breath and speak.
At this moment, Fei Xi was drenched in cold sweat, and her face, drained of color, was as pale as a ghost. The first thing she managed to say was to hurriedly defend herself:
"Heh...cough cough cough...I didn't...I didn't lie! That...pervert was...killed by the monster! Right...behind that sand dune...I really didn't lie...heh...how could...the body...how could it be gone???"
"Oh? Could it be that I wronged you, little sister? I will apologize to you now, little sister, please don't blame me." Qiu Shuying helped Fei Xi up with a forced smile, apologizing verbally but without any sincerity.
There was nothing behind the sand dunes, but the barrel monster the little girl had mentioned actually appeared.
Fortunately, she was far enough away that the guards who hadn't yet prostrated themselves on the ground were all sliced in two by the red light emitted from the iron barrel monster.
Just as the little girl had described, the iron bucket monster was exactly as it appeared. The young man from the mountain tribe impulsively made a move, which not only proved useless but also nearly cost him his life at the hands of the iron bucket monster.
The one-eyed old man who was with this reckless fellow was quite skilled in martial arts. To save the young brute, he unleashed a tremendous palm strike.
This palm strike was incredibly powerful, capable of destroying the heavens and the earth. Even if one were uninjured, one might not be able to withstand it. Yet, it didn't even scratch the skin of the Iron Bucket Monster.
Qiu Shuying's eyes grew brighter the more she thought about it. She knew all along that the fat pig hadn't come here out of concern for her, as he claimed.
Looking at Fei Xi again, Qiu Shuying's attitude had improved considerably.
The fat pig brought a dancer with him; could there be some mystery between the Goddess Temple and the Iron Bucket Monster?
"Little sister, take good care of yourself. I'll come to see you again in a few days. I've already asked Prince Yaro to register you for the goddess selection at the music and dance festival. Little sister, don't let your older sister down."
Fei Xi clutched her still-aching chest, staring blankly at Qiu Shuying until Qiu Shuying's patience was about to run out, before she lowered her head and softly agreed:
"it is good."