Chapter 255: Chapter 164: "Honey Trap
Chu Chengfeng didn’t move. He frowned, looking at the girl following behind Zheng Xiu.
With his sharp eyes, he could naturally tell from the way she walked that she was no martial artist. The same question that had initially puzzled Zheng Xiu now surfaced in his mind: how could a woman who seemed so out of place appear in the notoriously vicious Yunhe Village?
"Younger Brother Gongsun, this person behind you is..."
Chu Chengfeng asked.
Xiaotao curtsied gracefully and introduced herself. "This servant is Xiaotao. Under the orders of our respected lady, I am responsible for attending to the Young Master’s daily needs in the village."
Xiao Buping abruptly stopped eating. After a moment of shock, a wave of bitterness washed over his bruised and swollen face. He muttered in disbelief, "Unbelievable... Unbelievable... Unbelievable... The heavens are blind! I, Xiao Buping, am dignified and exceptionally handsome! How could I lose to a Poor Scholar!"
Chu Chengfeng beckoned to Zheng Xiu. "Younger Brother Gongsun, a word in private!"
Zheng Xiu walked closer. Just as he was about to hear what Chu Chengfeng had to say, he found himself looking at the iron cage with a strange sense of longing, wanting to crawl inside.
Once they were close, Chu Chengfeng leaned against the bars and whispered, "Younger Brother Gongsun, I never expected that wicked villain Xie would be so unguarded around you! Right now, all the villains in the village are dead drunk. This is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to escape! Younger Brother Gongsun, listen to me. All you need to do is use the cover of night to secretly find the key to this cage, or, find my treasured sword and let me try to cut through these fine iron bars!"
As Chu Chengfeng spoke, he kept glancing at Xiaotao behind Zheng Xiu, clearly wary of this "personal maid of Xie Luohe."
"I know Younger Brother Gongsun is not a man of the Martial World. You’re being treated differently because you know the secret of Nie Gong’s Treasure Vault. Even if you’re unwilling to take the risk, I can understand. But for the sake of our acquaintance, I..."
Chu Chengfeng quickly figured out the reason for Zheng Xiu’s preferential treatment in Yunhe Village.
First, the scholar was physically weak and posed no threat. Furthermore, Gongsun Mo was the only person in the world who knew the secret of Nie Gong’s Treasure Vault, and he was a descendant of the Hidden World’s Danqing Family, the Gongsun Clan. The Xie siblings were probably planning to use a soft approach before resorting to force, trying courtesy before coercion. And look, they’ve even resorted to a honey trap. Tsk.
Chu Chengfeng racked his brain, trying to think of what he could say to persuade the Poor Scholar who was lost in a tender trap.
Who wouldn’t be fond of such a gentle and graceful beauty?
Chu Chengfeng was certain the Poor Scholar had already fallen for it. Perhaps they had already done the deed, and he was just coming out for a break.
As Chu Chengfeng was thinking this and stammering, Zheng Xiu turned back with a smile. "I don’t think this is a good idea, but since Brother Chu asked..." Zheng Xiu trailed off, then turned to ask Xiaotao, "Xiaotao, where is the key to the cage kept?"
Xiaotao raised a hand and pointed in a certain direction, replying obediently, "It’s hanging on the wall in the kitchen."
The three people in the cage looked utterly astonished.
Chu Chengfeng stared at Xiaotao in shock, speechless for a moment.
Zheng Xiu spread his hands and smiled. "I think that since she went to all the trouble of escorting us here, she definitely wouldn’t let us escape so easily. I’m afraid this is a dead end."
"But if we don’t try..."
Xiao Buping’s mouth was stuffed with food, his heart filled with unwillingness. He had tried to run the whole way here, only to be caught by Xie Yunliu and pounded into the ground. He looked like he had learned his lesson, but he hadn’t. After Zheng Xiu finished speaking, Xiao Buping’s eyes darted around. He gritted his teeth, about to say that there was no harm in trying.
SWISH.
Xiao Buping felt a sudden chill on the top of his head. The spot where a chunk of his hair had already been lopped off felt even breezier.
Embedded in the wall behind him was a long arrow, its tail feathers quivering violently.
"HISS..."
Chu Chengfeng, Wen Shishan, and Xiao Buping were terrified. They all followed the angle of the fletching to look in the direction the arrow had come from.
There was only the empty, gaping hole in the sky. There was no Longbow, let alone Xie Luohe.
"A monster."
A chill ran down their spines. The same thought occurred to all three of them, and they dared not speak of escaping again.
Zheng Xiu, however, wasn’t surprised at all.
’Feng Bei, Xie Luohe... it’s perfectly normal.’
Xie Luohe had Feng Bei’s face. The more outrageous she acted, the more of a familiar connection Zheng Xiu felt.
Xiaotao led Zheng Xiu away. Before leaving, Zheng Xiu gazed reluctantly at the rusty iron cage, thinking he had to find a chance to get inside.
For some reason, he always felt that something in that cage was drawing him in.
Back in his room, Xiaotao brought Zheng Xiu hot water to rinse his mouth and wash his face. She served him without complaint, her attendance meticulous and thoughtful.
Blushing, she even thoughtfully helped Zheng Xiu remove his outer robe, pushed him to lie down on the bed, and tucked him in.
"Thank you for your hard work, Xiaotao."
Zheng Xiu said gratefully.
"Rest peacefully, Young Master."
As expected of a young lady from a noble family, every word Xiaotao spoke was so comfortable that it made Zheng Xiu feel like he was back to his life as the Richest Person.
’Honey traps may be cliché, but they sure are effective.’
Xiaotao opened her mouth and blew out the candle on the table, plunging the room into darkness.
The door closed silently. Zheng Xiu closed his eyes. Since he was already here, he might as well make the best of it. He prepared to sleep just like that.
Suddenly, the rustling sound of clothes being removed came from inside the room.
’Xiaotao hasn’t left?’
Startled, Zheng Xiu shot up in the darkness. A fragrant breeze washed over him as a soft, warm body, seemingly boneless and trembling, slipped under his covers.
"Xiaotao... Xiaotao is here to warm the Young Master’s bed."
Xiaotao curled up, her whole body shaking violently. Her trembling voice betrayed the terror in her heart, yet she forced a calm tone as she spoke that one sentence by Zheng Xiu’s ear.
"You..."
Between Zheng Xiu and Xiaotao, there were only two thin layers of undergarments—one was his, and the other was a red, gold-threaded dudou.
The dudou was warm, soft, and white.
And perhaps a little pink.
It was too dark to see clearly.
Both their hearts were pounding fiercely.
THUMP, THUMP, THUMP.
For a moment, in the darkness, a lone man and a lone woman, a maidservant and a scholar, nothing could be heard but the sound of heavy breathing.
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