The Princess’ Shadow Guard – Chapter 38

Of course, I’m going to kill you! (Going berserk)

// Warning – Disturbing Contents

Murong Yan sat beside the campfire, a look of disgust etched on her face as she glanced over at several bandits mounted on their horses, enduring an odd headache.

The leader of the men dismounted, his splendid cape at odds with his grimy clothes. His beard looked as though it hadn’t seen a razor in ages, wildly sprawling across his cheeks.

On seeing Murong Yan alone, his eyes lit up as if stumbling upon a treasure. His voice boomed, a raspy shout breaking the silence, “Seems like it’s my lucky day! Just some time ago, big daddy here happened across a fine caravan, and today, the heavens have blessed me with a wife!”

The other men dismounted one by one, each with manners even cruder than street ruffians.

Murong Yan, pressing her forehead, tried to speak, but a tickle in her throat seized her. Even as she turned her head and covered her mouth, she couldn’t stop a bout of coughing.

The woman’s suppressed groans seemed like soft moans to the ears of the uncouth men, pumping them up with excitement.

A man with a plaited braid jeered loudly, “Hahaha, Boss! Let me have a turn with such a delicate beauty later on.”

“Shan Meng! How could you handle such a frail woman? If you break her later, where would I find another one?”

The man addressed as Boss eyed the now powerless woman before him, his mouth splitting into a grin, revealing rotten yellow teeth, and said in a sleazy tone, “Pretty lady, if you submit to me, you’ll be the bandit chief’s wife. Big Daddy won’t treat you poorly.”

Murong Yan felt her stomach churning with nausea, fighting the urge to vomit. Clinging to her composure, she spoke weakly, “You had better leave at once, before the people of this Palace return.”

The men laughed uproariously, the blades at their waists clanging loudly.

The braided man named Shan Meng taunted his companions, “This beauty calls herself ‘this Palace’! Could it be she really fancies herself a princess?”

Looking at the woman’s ordinary clothes and the dilapidated carriage behind her, he simply couldn’t believe it.

The man who held the title of chief seemed impatient, eager to advance and rip the woman’s clothing off.

Murong Yan, her face tinged with an unnatural blush, showed no sign of fear, only raising her voice sharply in response.

“Stand down.”

She lifted her drooping eyelids, and though she sat on a wooden chair, she seemed to loom from an elevated platform, looking down upon everyone.

Her ramrod straight back and sharp tone halted the men, almost as if they were swayed by her commanding aura. The leader suddenly appeared hesitant.

“Hey! Boss, don’t tell me you’ve lost your nerve!”

Seeing the man waver, the other bandits behind him jeered, “If you can’t handle it, let us have a go!”

The man’s ego was pricked, and he hesitated no longer; he rushed forward, pushed the delicate woman to the ground, and lifted her skirt, only to see a prosthetic leg shining with an unnatural, cold sheen at her right thigh.

“Whoa, a cripple?” The man sneered with a lecherous gaze.

“Not even whole, yet putting on airs!”

As he noticed a patch of red fabric under the woman’s collar, the man licked his lips with sleazy intent, his head inching downward.

But the next second, his expression froze, and he stood up clutching his throat, gasping, “Air… air… I can’t breathe!”

The bandits surrounding them looked on in horror as the man writhed in agony. They rushed forward, cutting his clothes with a knife in an attempt to help him breathe better. Unfortunately, it was all in vain. They could only watch helplessly as their leader, after a few struggling breaths, lost his life.

Struggling to sit up, Murong Yan’s disheveled hair fell to the ground. In her hand, she toyed with a small wooden box.

Despite her body trembling slightly and the men before her cursing and raging, she remained indifferent, simply observing it all.

Chongwen County Princess Murong Yan had never been a willing pawn to be slaughtered, even with a broken leg.

The man named Shan Meng was the first to turn around, his face fierce and his eyes bloodshot as he glared at the person sitting on the ground. He roared, “You wicked woman, what have you done to the boss?”

Before the woman could reply, Shan Meng reached out to grab her delicate neck, saying, “You…!”

But before he could finish his sentence, he was interrupted.

『Thunk!』

A heavy sound.

A bitterly cold wind swept through, colder than snow, as Shan Meng watched tiny drops of blood seep from his skin.

In the next second, he stared in disbelief as his hand and forearm separated, falling to the ground.

A sharp dagger was deeply embedded in the tree trunk, with only a trembling hand left behind.

“What… what do you want to do?”

A frenzy of murderous intent surged forth like raging waves.

In the distance, the figure of a woman in a black robe appeared. Her chin was stained with deep red blood, and her white garment was soaked with large bloodstains on the chest. In her arms, she cradled a tiger cub.

As she looked at the woman sitting alone on the ground, surrounded by the bandits, with her clothing disheveled, her pupils suddenly contracted.

But in just a breath’s time, she ignored Shan Meng’s wailing and rushed to Murong Yan’s side.

A surge of anger erupted from the depths of Ming Qin’s heart, leaving her mind blank. She handed the little tiger cub to Murong Yan, took off her outer robe, and gently covered the woman’s exposed skin.

Turning to face the crowd, her pupils dilated like a hunting panther. She forcefully grabbed Shan Meng’s braid and pulled him forward, then held his chin tightly.

Ming Qin’s face was expressionless, her eyes wide as she stared at Shan Meng before her, seemingly wanting to ascertain who would dare to act so recklessly towards Murong Yan.

“What do you… what are you planning to do?”

Shan Meng’s body shook as if coiled by a giant python, with his neck tightly clutched, struggling to breathe and trying to pump more air into his lungs, his face turning from red to blue.

“Do what?”

Ming Qin slightly cocked her head, seemingly puzzled as to why the man would ask such a stupid question.

The tightened fingers emitted a cracking sound as the man’s bones were squeezed. She replied in a flat tone, “Of course, I’m going to kill you.”

With that, she released her grip and landed a punch on the man’s face. The sound of teeth shattering and cheekbones breaking, accompanied by Shan Meng’s wailing, sent shivers down the spines of the remaining bandits. They quickly drew their machetes from their waists.

Ming Qin turned to the side, her black hair fluttering in the cold wind. Her eyes turned red as she grabbed the unconscious Shan Meng, the bloodstains on her body appearing even more vivid against the falling snow. She looked like a demon crawling out of hell.

Lifting the man, who was twice her size, with one hand, she forcefully threw him upward. As he plummeted, she raised her foot and viciously kicked between his legs. With a heavy impact, several bones snapped with a 『crack』, and the man’s body flew toward the other bandits like a ragdoll.

Just as the others frantically tried to catch the flying Shan Meng, Ming Qin bent her knee, drew her sword, and in the next instant, she gracefully swung her sword, severing the hands of four or five men who had just unsheathed their blades.

The wails echoed one after another, but Ming Qin showed no hint of mercy.

If anything, the sounds emitted by the men only fueled her rage.

The shadow guard raised her hand, the tip of her sword pointing upward, and with a swift motion, she pierced through the man closest to her, from chin to skull. She didn’t give her the slightest chance to beg for mercy. With a flick of Ming Qin’s wrist, the man lost half of his face, and his remaining body fell lifelessly to the ground.

Seeing that their opponent was just a woman yet possessed such terrifying strength, the remaining men’s fighting spirit vanished, and they turned to flee.

Ming Qin didn’t give them the chance to mount their horses. Without hesitation, she swung her sword and cleaved two of the men, who had their backs turned to her, at the waist. Their entrails spilled onto the ground, but she remained indifferent to it all.

Then, she flung the long sword in her hand like a slingshot, impaling another man who was about to mount his horse onto a tree trunk.

The winter trees stood bare, devoid of foliage, with only a head pierced by the sword, its eyes wide open in a deathly stare. Blood streamed down its forehead, nourishing the earth.

The last man, who had fallen to the ground, looked at the woman approaching him with trembling fear. “Stop! Don’t… come any closer… spare me!”

The bandit’s face was streaked with snot and tears, devoid of the arrogance he had shown earlier.

“Just a moment ago… when Yanyan told you to stop, did you listen to her?”

Ming Qin muttered in a low voice, her eyes icy and deep. Before the man could react, she delivered a powerful punch to his face.

Heavily.

Again and again.

The weighty impact mixed with the man’s screams stood out in the silence of the forest.

Until the end, even the heart-wrenching screams faded away, but the rain of punches continued to fall.

Blood and minced flesh splattered, but Ming Qin remained indifferent, her lowered eyes swirling with an unseen malevolence. A bloodthirsty aura enveloped her entire being.

Her mind was still blank, even more chaotic than before. Apart from the blood-red color on her fists, she seemed unable to see anything else.

“Ah Qin.”

“Ah Qin.”

A voice as clear as a spring melody reached her ears, and the familiar call halted her uncontrollable flurry of punches.

Lifting her head, Ming Qin looked at the woman not far away, who held a tiger cub and was draped in her own outer robe. With her wits not yet gathered, she simply stared blankly.

“Ah Qin, come here,” Murong Yan beckoned, sitting on the ground with a gentle look in her eyes, utterly unconcerned about the violent murderous aura and the blood-soaked figure before her.

Her scattered senses began to converge.

The sound of clashing chains echoed throughout the silent woods.

The wild beast returns to its cage.

Stepping over the scattered remains of flesh and limbs, Ming Qin got up and walked over to Murong Yan. She obediently squatted down, allowing the woman to fasten a chain around her neck. Her sinister gaze softened, and her spirit gradually regained clarity.

“…I’m sorry.”

The once arrogant shadow guard now had a slightly choked voice, hanging her head like a guilty hound awaiting its owner’s reprimand.

“I’m sorry for scaring you.”

“No need to apologize to me. I knew Ah Qin would come,” Murong Yan said with conviction, her words carrying reassurance. Then she smiled and asked, “But why did Ah Qin bring a little furball back?”

“He would not have survived long in the woods alone, not without his mother,” Ming Qin said as she wiped the blood from her hands. She then proceeded to tidy the woman’s clothes and fasten her belt, adding, “I thought about my promise of catching a tiger for you to toss around, so I brought him back.”

Murong Yan couldn’t help but feel a rising chuckle while watching Ming Qin’s serious look, but she was abruptly seized by a fit of coughing.

This prompted the shadow guard to quickly support her into the carriage, while simultaneously tossing the fluffy little bundle inside. She then changed out of her filthy clothes outside the vehicle before driving away.

The snow kept falling heavier.

Flakes upon flakes piled up into an endless white blanket, burying the scent of blood and the chaos on the ground.

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LP: Re-translated on February 22, 2024

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