Today's second update: Chapter 3490! 2/4!
Perhaps the logic behind this aligned with the interplay of certain emotions in the world: blindly rushing to please and flatter someone often led to being undervalued and seeming cheap. Yet sometimes, a seemingly cold "suppression" and "denial" could shatter the other party's ingrained pride and perception, forcing them to step outside their original mindset and reassess themselves from the perspective of someone being denied. This often stirred the unwillingness to lose buried deep within them, even giving rise to a powerful obsession: I have to prove to you that I'm not what you say I am.
Women were mostly emotional creatures. Even one as noble as Heaven's Mandate Black Bird could not entirely escape this.
Perhaps Xu Buwan's state of mind at this moment was exactly like that.
"Oh?" Xu Kun finally turned fully around and faced her. His brow rose slightly, while the faint curve at the corner of his lips made it impossible to tell whether he was mocking her or something else.
"Not leaving anymore? What are you staying in my Huang Clan for? This little temple of ours cannot afford to house a proud princess like you."
"Am I not a captive? A hostage you are using for negotiations?"
Xu Buwan retorted. Her voice had regained its calm, even carrying a frost-like edge. "According to the agreement you reached with my Phoenix Race, keeping me here is precisely to use this as leverage to restrain the Phoenix Race's military movements in the coming Third Tier War, isn't it?"
Before Xu Kun arrived, Yanran and the others responsible for looking after them had already roughly explained the framework of the temporary agreement reached between the Huang Clan and the various rescue factions. Thus, the two women understood the apparent