Literary Scholars and Martial Gall Warriors had keener hearing than ordinary people. Every word exchanged between Shen Tang and Gongxi Chou reached both sides' ears.
For a moment, everyone wore a different expression.
There was no ambiguity in what Gongxi Chou had said. Threatening to take someone's head counted as making a death threat, but Shen Tang's reply... left plenty to the imagination. Gu Chi even raised his sleeve to cover his face. Liao Jia, not understanding, asked outright, "What is the relationship between our lord and this man?"
Gu Chi said darkly, "The two of them are birds of a feather, in cahoots with each other. Our lord envies Gongxi Chou's fine physique and has wanted to take over his body for years, then put her own head on it... What kind of relationship? Shao Mei, you can figure it out for yourself."
Liao Jia: "..."
Xun Zhen: "..."
Jiang Sheng: "..."
It would have been better if she'd simply been lusting after his body in the literal sense.
Their lord's tastes were as baffling as ever.
Shen Tang was baffled too. She had no idea which of Gongxi Chou's boundaries she'd crossed to make him turn hostile at the drop of a hat. But it didn't matter much. Either way, they were going to fight to the death today. Whether he was angry or not wouldn't make much difference.
But Shen Tang soon had to revise her judgment.
It made a huge difference!
Gongxi Chou raised a hand, and the ball of green mist shot back into his palm like lightning, turning into a long snake-headed whip covered in sharp, backward-pointing barbs. The whip hung down, but its head lifted slightly, as though a spirit snake were guarding Gongxi Chou's side. Its mouth gaped wide, revealing venomous fangs.