"You dare take my life?" The Black Water Snake's vertical pupils held icy mockery, as though she did not believe Su Jiu would dare.
Su Jiu suddenly laughed. "Why wouldn't I take your life?"
The snake began writhing again, laughing as she twisted her body. "If I die, Jiao Zhu dies too. Do you think the Queen would agree to that?"
A strange feeling flashed through Su Jiu's heart, but it slipped away so quickly that before she could fully grasp it, the snake continued, "Besides, with me here in this prison, how would any of you have the ability to kill me?
"Have you still not figured it out? As long as Jiao Zhu lives, the Queen cannot possibly let me die."
Su Jiu smiled instead. "The contract between you and Jiao Zhu is not impossible to undo. Forcibly dissolving it might come at a cost, but if it meant severing all ties with you, do you think the Queen would be willing to pay that price?"
Su Jiu knew a little about that price. Dissolving a life-binding contract required the blood of a close relative and a certain Cultivation Level.
The Eldest Princess had lost all her Cultivation Level and no longer met that condition, but the Queen could still do it.
The only question was when she would act.
At that thought, Su Jiu could not help frowning again. She kept feeling as though she had overlooked something important.
The sound of the snake dragging her body grew louder. The chains clattered with her movements, adding an inexplicable edge of irritation.
Only after a long while did the snake finally stop struggling. With a note of lingering doubt, she asked, "If I tell you the truth, will you really stop trying to take my life?"
Su Jiu's