Chapter 238: Princess, Willing to Be My Running Dog?

"You don't even know how to say thanks?" Li Cheng narrowed his eyes. "Want me to just take your head off and put it back on again?"

"Li Cheng!" The Abyssal Eye Witch hadn't expected Li Cheng to suddenly say something like this either, and hurriedly gave him frantic looks.

But Li Cheng completely ignored her, only looking at this Third Princess whose body had been swapped.

"I, I..." You Fei bit her lip, face red, unable to even make a sound.

Her expression was somewhat complex, tension revealing no small amount of humiliation.

If Li Cheng were simply blaming her for not thanking him, she wouldn't have minded much.

But now, he was threatening her... threatening to kill her.

A princess born of the Royal Family, from childhood to adulthood, where had she ever received such a threat? For a moment, she completely panicked.

But the pride in her bones still wouldn't let her just admit defeat like this.

For the dignity of the Royal Family, she absolutely could not yield because of a threat.

She forced herself to lift her head, gritted her teeth: "Helping the Tianming Imperial Court's Royal Family is the duty every Tianming Citizen should fulfill; this is written in the law code."

"You Fei..." Hearing this, the Abyssal Eye Witch frowned and hurriedly said: "You don't know at all, Li Cheng saved you—"

"I already said, this is duty, this is the duty every citizen must bear." You Fei forced herself to say.

"You Fei, you can't say that." The Witch lady also got angry.

"You're quoting the law code at me?" Li Cheng sneered, interrupting the Witch's explanation: "Princess You Fei, you mean saving you is what I should do, you don't need to thank me at all, is that it?"

"I, I didn't say that." You Fei clutched the bedsheet: "Wh-whatever reward you want, just say it, I'll bestow it all on you."

"Reward?" Li Cheng raised an eyebrow, held out his hand: "Alright then, I'll just take ten thousand gold coins, give them to me."

"Heh, hehe, just ten thousand gold coins..."

You Fei had originally thought Li Cheng would demand an exorbitant price; hearing this, she relaxed.

With just this amount, she wouldn't even need to ask Father Emperor.

He actually wants to make things difficult for me with this kind of sum...

Indeed, a commoner's horizon differs greatly from royalty's.

"Once back in the Imperial Capital, I'll give you the money right away." She said with a cold hum.

"Then how will you return to the Imperial Capital?" Li Cheng wasn't angry either, just looking at her with amusement: "This is inside the Abyss, you know; it's not just a little bit far from the Imperial Capital."

"Also, how will you enter the Royal Capital, see your Father Emperor? Have you thought it through?"

"I, I..." You Fei's face tightened, the panic on her face increasing.

These things, she indeed hadn't considered a single bit just now.

"Don't tell me you have no plan at all." Li Cheng crossed his legs.

"No, it's not like there's still you guys..." You Fei bit her lip.

"No way, no way, my Princess, you're not saying that on the condition of not giving a single coin of reward money, you still want us to deliver you into the Royal Capital, are you?" Li Cheng smiled very splendidly.

"I, I... w-wait, once back in the Royal Capital, I'll give it to you, not just ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a million, however much I'll give you." You Fei's voice was trembling.

"Mm, after returning to the Royal Capital, heh." Li Cheng tapped the table: "Then, Princess, I have a better proposal, want to hear it?"

"Wh-what proposal?"

"I tie you up, deliver you straight to that 'fake' princess inside the Royal Palace, use your head to exchange for inexhaustible gold coins, and power second only to one, above ten thousand, how about that?"

"I..."

This sentence was like a bolt from the blue, exploding directly in You Fei's head.

In an instant, she couldn't say another word.

Just stared blankly at Li Cheng, tears flowing continuously from the corners of her eyes.

The shadow of death enveloped her once again; only at this moment did she truly realize she was no longer some high-and-mighty princess.

If she died inexplicably outside, no one would care.

She didn't dare look at Li Cheng's gaze, only clutched the bedsheet with all her might.

A few seconds later, she took a deep breath and said humiliated: "Th-thank you for saving me."

"Heh, so the high-and-mighty Princess Adult knows how to say thanks after all." Li Cheng was a real old yin-yang master, adept at sarcasm: "That thing, don't thank me, I should thank you, hey, I gotta thank you for delivering your head to me to exchange for a reward."

"I... I..."

The Princess's heart turned cold; she already knew she had made a huge mistake.

The killing intent on the man before her was not fake; if she couldn't satisfy him, she would immediately become a headless beautiful corpse.

So she lowered her head in utmost humiliation, gritted her teeth, and prostrated herself on the bed: "S-sorry, this Adult, I shouldn't have said those words just now."

"I apologize."

Li Cheng raised an eyebrow; he hadn't expected this Princess to yield so quickly.

"Sorry, this Adult, I, I really can't die yet." You Fei continued: "I must tell Father Emperor about this matter, otherwise the King's Court, the King's Court will..."

"Your father has nothing to do with me?" Li Cheng interrupted her: "Your Imperial Court's business, what's it got to do with me? If you want to live, show your sincerity."

"I... I..." You Fei's heart jumped extremely fast, almost bursting from her chest.

She also suddenly realized at this moment that without this layer of Princess identity, actually, she was nothing.

No strength to gallop on the battlefield, no confidence to defy fate.

Her everything was brought by this Princess identity; without it, she was no different from a weak ant.

At this very moment, she had no wealth, no secret treasures, no power, nothing at all...

How could she possibly satisfy the youth before her?

She hung her head in a daze; the only thing of value left on her was probably this body of beautiful flesh.

Even if this is the Blood Rose's body, its looks aren't much inferior to her original body.

Such a flesh body, no matter where placed, could count as a high-quality resource.

But……

She looked again at the Abyssal Eye Witch beside her; this woman's features and figure were in no way inferior to her own.

With such a woman as company, how much value could her flesh possibly hold for Li Cheng?

"Hehe."

Thinking of this, You Fei laughed in self-mockery.

She had not expected that her sole value would truly be using her head to help this man claim a bounty.

No, that's wrong, You Fei, it hasn't reached the moment of despair yet……

You've persisted this long without yielding to the Abyss's erosion; how can you give up over just a couple of sentences?

"Hah…… Adult, to you, my value alive is greater than my value dead." You Fei slowly lifted her head, vigorously wiping away the lingering tears on her face.

Without realizing it, the way she addressed Li Cheng had already shifted to the honorific "You".

"Oh? How so?"

"If you use my head to claim the bounty……" You Fei struggled to organize her words: "Th-that fake goods absolutely won't let you go. To her, only the dead won't leak secrets."

"Mm, continue." Li Cheng expressed neither agreement nor disagreement.

"You can of course kill me, pretend this never happened, stay out of these matters, but if you do that, the Empire's……"

You Fei originally wanted to say something like the Empire's future, but she caught sight of Li Cheng's playful gaze.

She hurriedly corrected herself: "But if you do that, you likewise get nothing; better to spare my life. If I ever have the chance to return to the King's Court, I will surely repay you — whether titles, wealth, power, whatever you desire, you will absolutely obtain."

"I can swear to you, sign a contract, and absolutely will not go back on my word."

After saying this, You Fei nervously clenched her fists tight.

She knew her words were pale and powerless.

But this was already the limit of what she could do.

She was not the sort of smooth politician who knows how to win hearts.

Life and death lay in the whim of the youth before her; besides pleading, she could do nothing.

A dignified imperial princess, the power of life and death, yet held in another's grasp.

This humiliated her to the extreme.

Yet she did not dare give birth to a single thought of resistance.

"Heh, interesting, truly interesting." Li Cheng laughed aloud: "Princess, your analysis satisfies me; as for a contract or the like, let's skip it."

"What?" Hearing this, You Fei's heart leapt with joy, but this newly risen joy plunged into the Deep Abyss the very next second.

"Because you fundamentally cannot defy me, Princess You Fei; everything of yours belongs to me." Li Cheng casually pointed at the princess's body.

You Fei lowered her head, her pupils dilating bit by bit.

She finally realized her body had long since turned into gray metal, flashing with cold light.

And all of this, she had not noticed in the slightest just now.

As if having such a body was only right and proper.

Even in her cognition, she believed she ought to have grown into this form.

"I, I, this is……"

She lifted her head in horror, looking at Li Cheng with a shudder.

"Just as you see, your body was molded by me." Li Cheng smiled gently and brightly, extending his right hand; liquid metal flowed above it.

"Meaning, if I wish, I can force you to do anything, just like this……" As he spoke, he slowly walked toward the princess, the smile on his face growing ever brighter.

"You, what are you doing? What do you want to do?"

"You, you can't be like this!"

The princess was terrified beyond measure, both hands covering her chest, a pair of jade feet kicking wildly on the bed.

Yet deep down there was a faint, indescribable expectation.

The Abyssal Eye Witch also swallowed her saliva, looking at Li Cheng with some fear.

Cheng, Cheng Ge, do you like this sort of tune……

Next second.

Only to see, under the cold incandescent light, the Empire's Third Princess flipping backward nonstop on the bed.

Her mouth muttered strange lines, her face covered in sweat, exuding youthful hormones.

"Ignore, ignore, ignore!"

One flip, two flips, three flips…… speed increasing, her metal body nearly sparking from friction.

"You stop, you stop!"

"I was wrong, I was wrong!"

You Fei wailed and wept loudly.

At first she thought her life was forfeit today; later she thought her chastity was forfeit.

Now she discovered she was wrong.

What she couldn't hold onto

was the art style belonging to the Princess! "Stop, you TM stop right now!"

Abyssal Eye Witch: "6."

Lilith: "9."

Just like that, after flipping for five minutes, You Fei finally stopped.

Not because Li Cheng had played enough, mainly because the Princess had already rolled her eyes back and was foaming at the mouth.

If it went on any longer, she'd likely be played to death.

"I think you should be able to see your current situation clearly now, right?" Li Cheng squatted down and patted her face.

"Mm..." You Fei turned her head away in humiliation, nodding resentfully.

She finally understood that she had been in Li Cheng's clutches from the very beginning.

Thinking back on her own lofty attitude from before, she felt humiliated to the extreme.

What royal dignity, what legal code stipulating civilians must protect the royal family...

I'm afraid that when she was saying these things, this youth was looking at her like a clown? Meanwhile, You Fei also realized another thing——

This guy with bad taste had been toying with her from the start! He could have controlled her right away, made her face reality, yet he insisted on using this method, tormenting her in every way!

He did it on purpose!

He just wanted to watch her make a fool of herself!!!

Wu wu wu! Just you wait, just you wait, this Imperial Princess, this Imperial Princess will never be a slave, one day I'll turn the tables, step on you and trample you! "That Imperial Princess, there's something I want to tell you." Li Cheng spread his hands: "Everything you're thinking in your heart, I know it all. In front of me, you have no secrets."

"Eh?" You Fei froze, looking at Li Cheng in horror, the corner of her mouth twitching continuously: "R-really?"

"Of course it's fake." Li Cheng patted her face kindly: "But your thoughts just now were all written on your face."

"No, I, I... I actually..."

"You were just thinking, sooner or later I'll turn the tables, ride you under me, right?"

"I, I didn't..." You Fei defended herself powerlessly.

Heaven and earth as witness, she really didn't think that.

She was thinking of stepping on him...

"Tsk tsk tsk, truly a disobedient Imperial Princess." Li Cheng smiled, pulling a collar from his crotch and throwing it in front of her: "Put it on."

"You, what did you say?" You Fei looked at the collar in disbelief.

Metal clasp, leather material, and a long, long chain that could be used to lead her.

Even a princess ignorant of worldly affairs knew very well what such a collar meant.

Her face flushed red in an instant.

"I won't repeat a second time. If you're unwilling, then I'll just have to control you into putting it on."

"I... I understand..."

In the end, the Imperial Princess's desire to live still won over her shame.

She bit her lip, trembling as she looped the collar around her neck.

Click.

The collar vanished without a trace, leaving only a ring of marks like runes.

It happened to encircle the junction of her head and metal body, looking quite good.

Immediately after, the Imperial Princess lifted her head, the disgust in her eyes flashing for less than a second, but still caught by Li Cheng.

Something like this: Not a bad look——Li Cheng evaluated.

"You don't seem to like my gift?"

Gift, you call this thing a gift? You Fei was furious, but she still plastered on a smile: "How could that be? Adult, any gift you give me, I like them all..."

Wu wu wu, I don't want this either, but if I don't, who knows what this bad-taste man will pull out to deal with me...

"Good that you like it. Change into this, we'll be leaving here in a bit." Li Cheng smiled, pulling out a black bodysuit and tossing it over.

"Okay..." You Fei took the clothes in humiliation, obediently walking to the side.

The Abyssal Eye Witch looked at her, then at Li Cheng, tilting her head: "Mm, actually you didn't need to do all this."

"Uh..." Li Cheng blinked.

Bad, forgot that in her eyes, I'm not a Rising Dong Xi.

What I just did seems to have broken character.

Just as Li Cheng was thinking how to ex(plain) (perfunct) the Witch, she spoke:

"Li Cheng, you scared her on purpose just now, just to calm her down, right? Otherwise there's no persuading her."

Li Cheng: "Ah..."

"And you deliberately humiliated her just now, saying she can't go home, can't pay the bounty, also to remind her, make her realize her situation is extremely dangerous, right?"

Li Cheng: "Ah..."

"And lastly, that collar you gave her has no restrictive function at all, its only use is communication and tracking. You're afraid she'll get lost again and we won't find her, right?"

"Ah..." Li Cheng's throat moved, breaking into a smile: "Heh, truly nothing escapes you, Xiao Ye."

"Hmph, Jiang Ke sends fa ga ga ge (we're soulmates)." Xiao Ye puffed out her chest proudly: "Li Cheng, you've always been so reserved and gentle... but doing good deeds, you can't hide them from others."

"Cough cough, I don't care about that." Li Cheng was a bit embarrassed.

"But I care!" Yuan Ye declared firmly: "I don't want your painstaking efforts to be misunderstood. Don't worry, I'll explain properly to the Imperial Princess."

Saying that, she ran off in a puff of smoke to find You Fei.

Li Cheng watched her retreating figure, raised his hand, but ultimately said nothing.

Indeed, this world is just like that.

You just do your thing.

Free Confucians will interpret the classics for me.

Actually, his reason for keeping You Fei by his side wasn't complicated at all, purely because he felt she was a usable chess piece for the future.

She might be able to help him topple the King's Court even faster.

After all, an outsider usurping the country, and the Princess's husband usurping the country, the difficulty cannot be spoken of in the same breath.

As for the intimidation before, on one hand he wanted to teach this lofty Imperial Princess a lesson, let her know her status,

On the other hand, he also wanted to see if she still had any treasures hidden on her.

But such threats produced no treasure... apparently there was none left.

What a poor princess...

Big Boss smiled, and licked his lips at the same time.

It seemed that besides the witch's flavor, there was also a princess waiting for him to savor.

But before that, he still had to think about how to deal with the furious Father God.

After leaving here, he feared he would be subject to his suspicion and targeting...

Thinking of this, he took out that Abyssal Divine Artifact Death and Rebirth ring again.

The effect of this ring was that after dying at the hands of a certain target, he could copy one of that target's abilities.

But it could only be used once.

Who should he use it on? The furious...

Or that little bitch, the True Mother Goddess? PS: Too much going on today, haven't gone home, only updated 5000 words and it's typed on a phone, will resume tomorrow.

Chapter Complete