They Don't Want You, I Do!

"Your Majesty, I have failed your grace!"

"At the time, I was exhausted from training, so I went out for a walk."

"I had a bit to drink, and on the way back, I ran into Duke Zhang's daughter."

"That was when I was overcome by evil intentions."

"I forced myself upon her."

After speaking, Ye Yuan felt his entire body lighten, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

The emperor of the Star Luo Empire stood up and roared, "How could you be so foolish!"

"She is the daughter of Duke Zhang! How could you dare?!"

"Do you think that just because of your meager contributions to the empire over these years, you can act lawlessly?!"

"Guards! Drag him away and behead him!"

The emperor was somewhat impatient.

Since someone had stepped up to take the blame, he wanted to end this quickly to avoid any further complications.

"Wait!" Duke Zhang, standing beside the emperor, raised his hand.

The emperor, along with Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing, immediately looked toward the duke.

Dai Mubai's good mood from just a moment ago vanished.

Could it be that it's still not enough?! he thought to himself.

He was truly terrified now.

He did not want to become a commoner; he was a high and mighty prince! A celestial being of the empire!

How could he possibly live among those ordinary people!

The emperor asked, "My beloved subject, are you dissatisfied with this punishment?"

Duke Zhang pondered for a moment.

Then, he let out a long sigh.

"Ye Yuan once saved my life."

"So... let us spare him the death penalty, Your Majesty."

"But he cannot escape the living punishment!"

Ye Yuan sneered inwardly, not bothering to expose the duke's lie.

The duke appeared to be repaying a life-saving debt.

In reality, he simply did not want to tarnish his own reputation.

If word got out that he had killed his own savior, it would be bad for his image.

After all, these nobles valued their reputations above all else.

"Hmm, you are indeed benevolent, my subject."

"Very well, I shall spare your life."

"But the living punishment remains!"

"I hereby declare that Ye Yuan is stripped of his position as Captain of the Knights, his Martial Soul shall be crippled, and his Spirit Rings shall be stripped away."

"He is to be banished from the Star Luo Empire!"

The crowd was shocked. How was this any different from killing Ye Yuan?

A Martial Soul was equivalent to a second life; to have it crippled meant, at best, becoming a cripple, and at worst, becoming a mindless, inhuman vegetable!

Stripping away Spirit Rings was an even greater blow to the spirit.

It was far more agonizing than any physical pain!

Ye Yuan's peripheral vision inadvertently drifted toward Zhu Zhuqing.

At this moment, the tense expression on Zhu Zhuqing's face had vanished.

It was replaced by the joy of having narrowly escaped disaster.

Zhu Zhuqing helped Dai Mubai to his feet and said softly, "Mubai, are you alright?"

Dai Mubai was just about to say something when he caught Ye Yuan's gaze.

He immediately pulled Zhu Zhuqing into a tight embrace.

His left hand secretly pinched hard at the snowy-white mound on Zhu Zhuqing's chest.

He looked at Ye Yuan with a provocative glare.

Dai Mubai felt a strange sense of pleasure in his heart.

He had long since discovered that this brat Ye Yuan harbored improper intentions toward his fiancée.

But now that Zhu Zhuqing's heart and soul were entirely focused on him, he couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction.

"Hmph, a lowly commoner like you actually dares to covet my fiancée? You really don't know what kind of trash you are."

"Since you're crippled now, I'll let you get a good look at the woman you've been cherishing so dearly."

"Watch how she finds pleasure beneath me!"

"Consider it a reward for taking the fall for me."

At this moment, Ye Yuan felt nothing toward the provocations of Dai Mubai.

He simply allowed the soldiers to hold him up.

He saw a level 60 Soul Emperor walk up to him and place a hand on his head.

In an instant, the spirit rings of Ye Yuan appeared.

"Two yellow and one purple!"

"A Soul Elder!"

"Is this really something someone of this age should have?!"

At this age, he actually possessed a thousand-year spirit ring!

Ye Yuan's spirit rings began to shatter from the outside in.

"Ah! Ah--" Ye Yuan let out a roar.

Zhu Zhuqing, standing nearby, felt a flicker of worry, but that concern was instantly extinguished by the small movements Dai Mubai was making on her body at that moment.

It took only a moment.

Ye Yuan's three spirit rings were stripped away.

Next came the destruction of his martial soul.

That level 60 Soul Emperor instantly condensed his soul power and struck at Ye Yuan's martial soul.

"Ah--"

Ye Yuan's martial soul, the Bloodthirsty Sword, shattered in an instant.

It turned into countless fragments.

His martial soul was ruined.

He had already lost consciousness, and the level 60 Soul Emperor stepped forward to examine him.

He turned to the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, he is still alive."

"Mm, not bad." The emperor was very satisfied with the outcome of this matter.

"Drag him out, and have someone send him outside the city."

"Give him three days; even if he has to crawl, he must crawl out of the Star Luo Empire."

"Otherwise, have someone chop off his limbs and feed his head to the crows."

This was no different from issuing a death warrant for Ye Yuan.

After all, in his current state, even if he hadn't been reduced to an imbecile, it was absolutely impossible for him to crawl out of the empire.

The reason the emperor did this was simple.

Only the dead keep secrets.

He did not want any unfavorable rumors about the empire to spread among the common folk because of Ye Yuan's affairs later on.

Ye Yuan woke up in a daze.

He felt as if his entire body was aching.

There was no soul power left within him.

So ruthless. He never expected the emperor of the Star Luo Empire to be this cruel.

What pained him most was that Zhu Zhuqing hadn't shown even a shred of sympathy for him.

"Kid, if you're awake, hurry up and leave on your own."

"His Majesty the Emperor has given the order."

"If you don't crawl out of the empire in three days, your limbs will be chopped off and your head fed to the crows."

At this moment, Ye Yuan didn't even have the strength to stand up.

He was currently outside the imperial city.

Crawling out of the empire in three days was nothing more than a pipe dream!

But he couldn't just give up on his only hope, could he?

He used every ounce of his strength to roll over.

He fell from the man's small cart.

He began to crawl toward the outside.

"Ye Yuan..." A familiar voice rang out.

Ye Yuan only paused for a moment.

Then he continued to crawl.

He knew that voice all too well; it was Zhu Zhuqing.

Dai Mubai had come as well.

He deliberately pulled Zhu Zhuqing along to get in front of Ye Yuan.

Then he said to Zhu Zhuqing, "Little kitten, I'm hungry."

Zhu Zhuqing replied, "Then let's go get something to eat. Why come here to see him?"

As far as Zhu Zhuqing was concerned, she felt she no longer had any connection to Ye Yuan.

After all, he had taken the fall for Mubai, so the two of them were already square.

Dai Mubai cast a provocative glance at Ye Yuan.

He smirked at Zhu Zhuqing and said, "I want to eat some big steamed buns..."

Zhu Zhuqing saw Dai Mubai looking at her chest.

Her cheeks flushed red.

"There are people here."

"I don't care, I want to eat those big steamed buns right now."

Ignoring Zhu Zhuqing's refusal.

Dai Mubai reached out and pulled away the cloth covering the buns...

Seeing that Ye Yuan was about to crawl past him.

Dai Mubai stomped his foot down onto Ye Yuan's knee.

"Crack!"

Ye Yuan was just an ordinary person now, without his Martial Soul, without his soul power.

Both of his legs were snapped instantly.

Ye Yuan let out a muffled groan, forcing himself not to scream.

His hatred for Dai Mubai continued to grow.

It was Dai Mubai who had stolen his Zhu Zhuqing.

And now, he was actually being intimate with that woman right in front of him!

He was unwilling to give up, struggling to crawl forward, even though his speed was much slower than before.

Because he knew that only by surviving would he have a glimmer of hope! Only then could he take revenge!

Dai Mubai felt quite satisfied.

He said to the flushed Zhu Zhuqing, "You go ahead to the restaurant in the city and wait for me."

"I'm going to have another chat with our Royal Knight Commander."

At this moment, Zhu Zhuqing was completely obedient to Dai Mubai.

"Mm..." She walked away with light steps, disappearing from their sight.

Dai Mubai looked at Ye Yuan, who was still crawling not far away, and walked over to him again.

He squatted down and said to Ye Yuan, "Ye Yuan, oh Ye Yuan, what does it matter how hard you try?"

"Isn't Zhu Zhuqing still mine?"

"Do you know? Back when I first met Zhu Zhuqing, by the third day we were already... I want to tell you, she is very smooth."

Ye Yuan ignored Dai Mubai.

He just kept crawling blindly.

Seeing that Ye Yuan was ignoring him, Dai Mubai became somewhat annoyed.

"Hahaha! Ye Yuan, you really can endure."

"I wonder if you'll still be able to hold back after hearing what I say next?"

"You still remember Qin Yan'er, right?"

The moment Ye Yuan heard that name, his entire body trembled.

Qin Yan'er was a girl he had saved back when he became the Knight Commander.

There wasn't much of an age gap between them.

Seeing that the girl had no one to rely on, Ye Yuan had taken her in as his younger sister.

He had always protected this little sister with the utmost care.

The little girl was also very clingy toward him.

Dai Mubai saw that Ye Yuan finally had some reaction.

Then he said loudly, "Yesterday, while you were unconscious, my friends and I went to pay her a visit."

"Since I saw that she was lonely and bored, my brothers and I gave her plenty of affection."

"Do you know?"

"At the time, she was shedding tears, and her mouth kept calling out, 'Brother Ye, Brother Ye.'"

"Who would have thought that this sister of yours in name actually likes you?"

"She and my little kitten Zhu Zhuqing each have their own charms, hahaha!"

Ye Yuan could no longer hold it back, and tears streamed from the corners of his eyes.

But he still did not stop.

Live! I must live! he chanted silently in his heart.

Dai Mubai was extremely satisfied with Ye Yuan's reaction.

He let out a few loud laughs and then turned to walk away slowly.

In his eyes, Ye Yuan would not be able to survive.

After all, if he could not leave the empire within three days, he would be executed.

Ye Yuan's mind was filled with visions of Qin Yan'er's desperate expression.

He had to live.

Only by living could he take his revenge.

He would destroy this ugly empire.

He would make them pay with their lives for his Yan'er!

Suddenly, his martial soul, the Bloodthirsty Sword, appeared in his mind.

The fragments were constantly coalescing; it seemed his martial soul was recovering.

The fluctuations of soul power were stronger than ever before!

Furthermore, his own soul power was increasing bit by bit!

"Hahahaha!"

"Hahaha!" Ye Yuan laughed out loud.

His martial soul was recovering, and he still had a chance to take revenge.

"Star Luo Empire, I will be back..."

Dai Mubai, who had walked a short distance away, turned his head to look at the figure on the ground.

He muttered to himself, "What a fucking lunatic."

An hour later.

Ye Yuan was still crawling, though his speed had become almost agonizingly slow.

Even though his martial soul was recovering, if he could not leave the Star Luo Empire within three days, he would still face death.

"Is this where it ends?"

"Am I going to die before I can avenge Yan'er?"

His consciousness was gradually becoming blurred.

His vision had already grown hazy and unclear.

Just as he was about to pass out.

A pure, white figure appeared before him.

The person walked slowly toward him.

She said softly, "A-Yuan, it's so good to see you again."

"If they don't want you, I do."