They Don't Want You, But 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 few drinks and saw the Zhang family's young lady on my way back."

"So I harbored ill intent."

"I forced myself on her."

After saying that, Ye Yuan felt his entire body lighten, as though a heavy burden had been lifted.

The Star Luo Empire's emperor rose to his feet and roared, "How could you be so foolish?!"

"She is Duke Zhang's daughter! How dare you?!"

"Do you think that because of your meager contributions to the Empire over the years, you can do whatever you please?!"

"Guards, drag him away and behead him!"

The emperor was somewhat anxious.

Now that someone had taken the blame, he wanted to wrap this up quickly in case anything else went wrong.

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

The emperor, Zhu Zhuqing, and the others instantly turned toward the duke.

Dai Mubai's good mood from earlier vanished.

Could it still not be enough?!

He was truly afraid now.

He did not want to become a lowly commoner. He was a lofty prince, one of the Empire's chosen!

How could he possibly live alongside ordinary people?!

The emperor asked, "My dear minister, are you dissatisfied with this punishment?"

Duke Zhang considered it for a moment.

Then he let out a long sigh.

"Ye Yuan once saved my life."

"This... let him be spared from death, Your Majesty."

"But he cannot escape punishment while alive!"

Ye Yuan sneered inwardly, too lazy to expose the duke's lie.

The duke appeared to be repaying Ye Yuan for saving his life.

But in truth, he simply did not want to ruin his own reputation.

If word got out that he had killed his savior, it would not reflect well on him.

After all, nobles like them valued their reputations immensely.

"Mm, you are still merciful, my dear minister."

"Very well, I shall spare your life."

"But you will not escape punishment!"

"I hereby announce that Ye Yuan is stripped of his position as Royal Knight Commander. His martial soul shall be destroyed, and his soul rings removed."

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

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

A martial soul was equivalent to one's second life. Destroying it could leave one crippled in all four limbs at best, or turn one into a mindless, inhuman wreck at worst!

Having one's soul rings stripped away was an even greater blow to the mind.

Its suffering was no less than physical pain!

By chance, Ye Yuan glanced in Zhu Zhuqing's direction.

The tension on Zhu Zhuqing's face had vanished.

Instead, she was filled with the joy of having survived a catastrophe.

Zhu Zhuqing helped Dai Mubai to his feet and asked 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 tightly into his arms.

With his left hand, he secretly gave the soft white flesh on Zhu Zhuqing's chest a hard squeeze.

He looked at Ye Yuan with a provocative gaze.

Dai Mubai felt an inexplicable thrill in his heart.

He had long noticed that Ye Yuan had designs on his fiancée.

But now that Zhu Zhuqing's entire body and heart belonged to Dai Mubai, he could not help feeling satisfied.

"Hmph, a worthless commoner like you wants to covet my fiancée? Take a look at what you are first."

"Now that you're crippled, I'll let you see the woman you protected so dearly."

"And how she delights beneath me!"

"Consider it your reward for taking the blame for me."

Ye Yuan no longer felt anything in response to Dai Mubai's provocation.

He simply allowed the soldiers to support him.

A level-sixty soul master stepped in front of him and placed a hand on his head.

In an instant, Ye Yuan's soul rings appeared.

"Two yellow and one purple!"

"A Soul Elder!"

"Is that really possible at his age?!"

At such a young age, he already possessed a thousand-year soul ring!

Ye Yuan's soul rings exploded one after another, from the outermost inward.

"Ah! Ah—" Ye Yuan let out a howl.

Zhu Zhuqing was somewhat worried, but that concern was instantly scattered by Dai Mubai's little movements against her body.

Not long after.

Ye Yuan's three soul rings were stripped away.

Next came the destruction of his martial soul.

The level-sixty Soul Emperor instantly condensed his Soul Power and attacked 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 had been destroyed.

He had already fainted. The level-sixty Soul Emperor stepped forward to examine him.

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

"Mm, good." The emperor was extremely satisfied with this outcome.

"Drag him out. Have someone send him beyond the city walls."

"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 handing Ye Yuan a death sentence.

Given his current condition, even if he had not become an idiot, there was absolutely no way he could crawl out of the Empire.

The emperor's reason for doing this was simple.

Only the dead could keep secrets.

He did not want unfavorable rumors about the Empire spreading among the people because of Ye Yuan in the future.

Ye Yuan woke up groggily.

All he felt was soreness throughout his body.

There was not a trace of Soul Power left within him.

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

What hurt him most was that Zhu Zhuqing had not shown even the slightest sympathy for him.

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

"His Majesty has given the order."

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

Ye Yuan no longer even had the strength to stand.

He was outside the imperial city.

Crawling out of the Empire in three days was nothing more than a fool's dream!

But he could not simply give up his only hope, could he?

He used all the strength in his body to turn over.

He fell from the man's handcart.

Then he began crawling outward.

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

Ye Yuan merely paused for a moment.

Then he continued crawling.

He knew that voice all too well. It was Zhu Zhuqing.

Dai Mubai had come as well.

He deliberately pulled Zhu Zhuqing and ran ahead 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 did we come to see him?"

To Zhu Zhuqing, she felt she no longer had any connection with Ye Yuan.

After all, he had taken the blame for Mubai. They were even now.

Dai Mubai shot Ye Yuan a provocative glance.

Then he gave Zhu Zhuqing a lecherous smile. "I want to eat big steamed buns..."

Zhu Zhuqing saw Dai Mubai staring at her chest.

Her cheeks immediately flushed red.

"There are people here."

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

Ignoring Zhu Zhuqing's refusal.

Dai Mubai directly lifted the cloth covering the steamed buns...

Just as Ye Yuan was about to crawl past him.

Dai Mubai stomped on Ye Yuan's knee.

Crack!

Ye Yuan was only an ordinary person now. He had no martial soul and no Soul Power.

Both of his legs were crushed beneath that stomp.

Ye Yuan let out a muffled groan and held back his scream.

His hatred for Dai Mubai continued to grow.

Dai Mubai had taken Zhu Zhuqing away from him.

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

He was unwilling to accept it. He struggled to crawl onward, though he was much slower than before.

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

Dai Mubai felt much better.

Then he said to Zhu Zhuqing, whose face was flushed red, "Go wait for me in the restaurant in the city."

"I'll have another chat with our Royal Knight Commander."

Zhu Zhuqing now obeyed Dai Mubai without question.

"Mm..." She left their sight with light steps.

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

He crouched beside Ye Yuan and said, "Ye Yuan, Ye Yuan, what can you do even if you try your hardest?"

"Isn't Zhu Zhuqing still mine?"

"Do you know that Zhu Zhuqing and I already... on the third day after we met? I want to tell you, she was very smooth."

Ye Yuan ignored Dai Mubai.

He only kept crawling.

Seeing that Ye Yuan ignored him.

Dai Mubai grew somewhat annoyed.

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

"I wonder if you'll still be able to endure after hearing what I'm about to say?"

"You remember Qin Yan'er, don't you?"

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

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

They were not far apart in age.

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

He had cared for this younger sister with utmost devotion.

The little girl had been very clingy with him too.

Dai Mubai saw that Ye Yuan had finally reacted.

Then he shouted, "Yesterday, while you were unconscious, my friends and I went to visit her."

"This prince saw how lonely she was all by herself, so my brothers and I showed her plenty of affection."

"Do you know?"

"At the time, she was crying and kept calling out, 'Brother Ye, Brother Ye.'"

"I never expected your so-called little sister to like you too."

"She and my little cat, Zhu Zhuqing, each have their own charms. Hahaha!"

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

But he still did not stop.

Live! Live! he silently repeated to himself.

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

After laughing a few times, he slowly turned and left.

In his eyes, Ye Yuan would not survive.

After all, anyone who failed to leave the empire within three days would be executed.

Qin Yan'er's despairing expression kept appearing in Ye Yuan's mind.

He had to live.

Only by living could he take revenge.

He would destroy this ugly empire.

He would make them accompany his Yan'er in death!

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

Those fragments continuously gathered together, and his martial spirit seemed to be recovering.

The fluctuations of his Soul Power were even stronger than before!

And his Soul Power was gradually increasing, bit by bit!

"Hahahahaha!"

"Hahaha!" Ye Yuan laughed out loud.

His martial spirit was recovering. He still had a chance to take revenge.

"Star Luo Empire, I'll be back..."

Dai Mubai, who had walked some distance away, turned to look at the figure on the ground.

He muttered, "He's fucking crazy."

An hour later.

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

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

Is this really the end?

Am I going to die before avenging Yan'er?

His consciousness was gradually growing hazy.

Everything before his eyes had become blurred.

Just as he was about to pass out,

a pure white figure appeared before him.

The person slowly walked toward him.

She said gently, "Ye Yuan, it's so good to see you again."

"They don't want you, but I do."