The astonishing change shocked everyone present. The little princess stared wide-eyed, muttering, "How is this possible? Didn't the old man say that Hou Yi's bow could only be used once a year? I've already used it once, and even the old man can't draw it again. This scoundrel actually..."
A strong sense of unease welled up in the heart of the Third Prince Renjian. He never expected that this prisoner would actually draw the sealed Houyi Bow.
At this moment, Chen Nan fired his second arrow. The wind and thunder roared again, and golden light flashed. The other guard who was chasing Chen Nan fell into a pool of blood with a look of disbelief and terror on his face. The arrow of light exploded in his chest, creating a bloody hole the size of a bowl. Blood gushed out and blood mist spread above his body.
Chen Nan once again placed a dry branch on the bowstring. Everyone present paled. No one knew whose life this arrow would take. What was originally an insignificant character had become the master of everyone's fate.
The two arrows had nearly exhausted Chen Nan. While they had averted his death, they hadn't resolved his immediate crisis. With his skill level, he could barely manage one more arrow, but there were six others on the field besides him. Which one should he aim at?
Every time the withered branch changed direction, it startled everyone present. The small withered branch seemed as heavy as Mount Tai in their eyes.
Chen Nan finally glanced at the withered branch at the Third Prince Ren Jian. Ren Jian's expression changed slightly, but he quickly calmed down.
"Chen Nan, you'd better think this through. You're going to kill a prince of an entire nation. If you kill me, you'll offend the whole Baiyue Kingdom. Can you fight against an entire country by yourself? The world may be vast, but you'll likely find no place to hide after this." The Third Prince softened his tone and continued, "If you're willing to submit to me, I will not only overlook your disrespectful behavior today, but I will also guarantee you a meteoric rise in your career, with high-ranking positions and generous salaries."
"Do you take me for a three-year-old child? If I let you go today, you'll never have a high-ranking official position or a full salary in the future, and you won't even have a whole corpse left. I hate being threatened the most, and today I will shoot you, you lowly prince."
The little princess laughed and said, "Haha, Renjian, you 'scoundrel'."
Chen Nan took a deep breath and unleashed his third arrow with all his might. The faint golden light seemed to be divine punishment from the heavens, and it shot towards Ren Jian with a thunderous roar.
The Third Prince Renjian's expression changed drastically. He grabbed a guard beside him and pulled him to his side. Blood splattered, and the guard, his face filled with resentment, fell into a pool of blood. The golden light, though dimmed considerably after passing through the guard's chest, remained undiminished in its speed, pursuing the Third Prince.
A dazzling light flashed from the Third Prince's waist, and a foot-long short sword, gleaming brightly, rushed towards the golden light.
"A flying sword! Could he be a cultivator?!" Chen Nan exclaimed in surprise.
Every cultivator who achieves mastery of the Dao possesses several magical treasures intimately connected to their life force, primarily flying swords. Cultivators can not only remotely control their flying swords to kill enemies from a hundred paces away, but upon reaching the pinnacle of cultivation, they can also ride on their swords, soaring through the sky and traversing the earth. However, those who achieve mastery of the Dao are few and far between, and those who reach the ultimate realm are even rarer.
Although Chen Zhan didn't finish his sentence, his meaning was clear. From then on, Chen Nan diligently cultivated his skills and finally became the "number one" among his peers at the age of sixteen. However, after the age of sixteen, his cultivation regressed instead of progressing, and he fell into a low point in his life.
In a flash, Chen Nan realized that the Third Prince was indeed a cultivator, but only a beginner. It was said that the flying swords of those who had achieved mastery of cultivation were only the size of a palm and were hidden within their bodies.
The dazzling flying sword collided with the golden light, a metallic clang echoing through the air. The short sword's brilliance vanished, breaking into several pieces that fell to the ground. The Third Prince shuddered, spitting out several mouthfuls of blood, his face deathly pale.
Chen Nan understood that flying swords were closely related to cultivators; if a flying sword was damaged, the cultivator would be seriously injured even if they did not die.
Although the golden arrow had dimmed considerably, it still pursued the Third Prince. At this moment, two figures blocked the Third Prince's path; both were guards who had been thrown over by the guard commander Yang Chong after his pressure points were sealed.
Yang Chong shouted, "Your Highness, I have heard my master say that the arrows shot from the divine bow will not stop until they are stained with the blood of their target. Your Highness has offended me."
The instant the arrow pierced through the two guards, Yang Chong arrived beside the Third Prince. He scooped up the heavily injured prince, and at the same time, the withered branch, which had almost lost its golden glow, instantly pierced into the shaft of the Benevolent Sword and shattered.
"Ah..." The Third Prince Renjian let out a scream, then cursed angrily, "Yang Chong, you idiot! I've vomited so much blood, my clothes are still soaking in blood, you... just tear off a piece, that would have been enough, you..."
The Third Prince was so angry that he vomited another mouthful of blood, which terrified Yang Chong so much that he broke out in a cold sweat.
The little princess burst into laughter, "Haha... I'm dying of laughter! That wretched prince's butt is all bruised and battered, haha..."
Chen Nan had exhausted all his strength and had no strength left to fire a fourth arrow. He felt a pang of guilt. He took a deep breath, barely mustered his strength, and stood up, pretending to go a few steps away to pick up some dry branches.
The Third Prince, Yang Chong, and the Little Princess were all excited. Yang Chong picked up the Third Prince's sword and turned to flee. At that moment, his lightness skill was enough to be classified as a grandmaster. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the depths of the forest.
The little princess had exhausted herself in the fierce battle. Her back ached and her legs were weak. She had only managed to stand up and run a few steps before collapsing to the ground. Seeing that the Third Prince and Yang Chong had successfully escaped, she was so anxious that she almost cried.
Chen Nan hadn't expected his act to have such an effect. The third prince of Baiyue Kingdom fled in panic like a dog with its tail between its legs, while the little devil princess of Chu Kingdom was terrified, her face streaked with tears, looking utterly pitiful. He didn't dare to get carried away. He placed a dry branch on the bowstring, picked up the Houyi Bow, and laboriously walked towards the little princess. He wanted to strike her pressure points before she could see through his act.
As Chen Nan walked towards her step by step, the little princess was terrified, her face turning pale and her eyes filled with tears. She had not forgotten how she had treated Chen Nan before.
"You scoundrel...you filthy thief...you...you stay away!"
Chen Nan almost burst out laughing; he hadn't expected the little devil to have such a vulnerable side. But then a thought crossed his mind: She hadn't shown a hint of fear when facing the Third Prince, Ren Jian. Was he more terrifying than Ren Jian? Hmm, no!
"Little devil, take out what's in your sleeve, or I'll shoot an arrow."
The little princess reluctantly threw a short sword hidden in her sleeve onto the ground.
"Hmph, you have such a sharp eye."
Chen Nan finally managed to walk to the little princess's side, and quickly tapped her body with a dry branch, sealing seven or eight major acupoints.
"Haha, mission accomplished!" Chen Nan laughed triumphantly, then his legs gave way and he collapsed.
"Ah... you scoundrel, you filthy thief, get out of here... get out of here now..." the little princess screamed repeatedly.
Chen Nan lay down on the little princess's lap and let out a long sigh, saying, "I'm almost exhausted! Sigh! Little devil, do you still have the right to order me around?"
"You're shameless... disgusting... get out of here, you scum, you filthy thief..."
"Stop making so much noise. If you keep this up, I might do something drastic." Chen Nan glanced at the little princess's ample bosom.
"Ah... scoundrel... filthy thief... bastard..." the little princess screamed in fright, but her voice gradually lowered. At this moment, she was extremely afraid, fearing that Chen Nan would have evil thoughts.
Chen Nan was exhausted. He rested his head on the little princess's lap and said some annoying things while resting: "Ah, so comfortable. Are the legs of a royal princess really that special? They calm the mind and nourish the spirit. Could they even cure high blood pressure? Oh, I think I got it backwards."
The little princess was both ashamed and angry, her eyes brimming with tears.
"You scoundrel... let me go. If you let me go, I'll ask my father to appoint you to a high-ranking official position."
"I'm a rather lazy person and don't like being an official. Besides, I don't believe what you say. Just now, the Third Prince tried to use some tricks on me, but I shot him in the butt with an arrow. You don't want to get shot like that, do you?" Chen Nan reached out and slapped the little princess's plump buttocks. He felt very venting after being insulted by Rou Lin earlier, and now he was humiliating the little princess.
"Ah...you..." The little princess was filled with shame and indignation, and tears streamed down her face.
"You filthy thief... if you... let me go, I... I mean it, I... I will definitely give you... lots of rewards." The little princess choked out.
"Hey, even now you still call me a scumbag and a scoundrel. I really don't know if you're begging me or just trying to annoy me."
"Chen Nan...Young Master Chen, please let me go... Waaah..." The little princess burst into tears, feeling wronged. She was the most beloved youngest daughter of the Chu Emperor, and she had never been so humble before. The more she cried, the more heartbroken and aggrieved she felt. Her tears flowed like pearls from a broken string, unstoppable.
"Don't cry, don't cry."
"Waaah..." The little princess ignored him and cried even louder.
"If you cry again, I'll strip you naked right now," Chen Nan said, grabbing the little princess's sleeve.
The little princess was so frightened that she immediately stopped crying. A crystal tear clung to her long eyelashes, and her face was covered in tear stains. She looked extremely pitiful, like a fragile little angel.
Chen Nan sighed inwardly. She was still just a little girl after all. He said softly, "Sigh, don't cry." But then he suddenly noticed a hint of joy in the little princess's eyes. He realized what was happening and slapped her thigh hard, saying, "You almost fooled me."
"Ah...you..." The little princess cried out in surprise as her thigh was attacked. She clearly hadn't expected Chen Nan to change so quickly.
"Stop acting, little devil. How can a devil become an angel? You've already revealed your devilish nature along the way. Thinking about what you've done is like having a nightmare. You haven't forgotten what you've done, have you? It's too late to play the victim now. I've seen through your true nature long ago."
"Young Master Chen...you've misunderstood me. I'm actually very kind, not fierce at all. Last time...last time you were the one who told me to peep at me while I was bathing. I'm a princess, of course I have to have the dignity of a princess. I had no choice but to do that to you."
Chen Nan said, "You're not fierce, you're very kind? So kind that you almost castrated me. And every day when you're overly excited, you have to 'express' your inner 'joy' to me, often making me collapse. Is all of this out of necessity?"
The little princess pleaded pitifully, "Young Master Chen... Brother Chen... I was wrong, please forgive me, please let me go, sob sob..."
"Little devil, stop acting. Let me tell you the truth, ever since I caught you, I have no intention of letting you go."
"Brother Chennan, please let me go! Whatever you want, I'll have Father bestow upon you. I can give you lots of gold and silver jewels, and many beautiful women." After saying this, the little princess looked at him with hopeful eyes.
"Gold and silver are just external things, what use do I have for them? As for beautiful women, why should I go to such lengths for them? Hehe..." Chen Nan laughed maliciously, determined to play the villain to the end.
"Please...please, let me go."
"Give up, I will never let you get away with this."
The little princess pleaded and begged, but seeing Chen Nan's resolute expression, her face turned cold, her tone abruptly changing as she sternly said, "How dare you! Do you know who you're talking to? I am the little princess of Chu, and you are merely a commoner. Aren't you afraid of bringing death upon yourself? Aren't you afraid my father will exterminate your entire family?"
The young master's face was filled with anger, a stark contrast to his previous gentle demeanor.
"If you're afraid, you won't do it. The little devil has finally shown his true colors, hasn't he?"
The little princess's face was icy cold as she said, "Chen Nan, you'd better think this through. Under heaven, all land belongs to the king, and all people within the realm are his subjects. Today you have already offended the third prince of Baiyue Kingdom. If you continue to disrespect me, you will have offended two countries, and there will be no place for you in the world."
She glanced at Chen Nan and continued, "Don't think you can get away with it. The Third Prince Renjian has already run away. If I can't return to the palace safely, Renjian will definitely expose you. Then everything he did will be pinned on you. At that time, you... hehe."
"If I let you go back, I'll definitely die too. Sigh, it seems I'll have to find a beautiful place to live in seclusion. But having a princess by my side is barely acceptable. We can have a whole bunch of kids then. Hmm, thinking about it, that kind of life isn't bad." Chen Nan deliberately showed a look of longing.
After hearing this, the little princess turned deathly pale. Her voice trembled as she said, "You are shameless, vile, and despicable..."
Chen Nan waited quietly for her to finish cursing, then continued, "Ten or eight years from now, we'll lead a large group of children to see your father. I think he won't kill me then."
The little princess was furious and nearly went mad, cursing, "You devil!"
"Haha, I'm the devil, and you're the little devil. Aren't we a match made in heaven? It's truly fate that brought us together from afar!" With that, Chen Nan grabbed the little princess's right hand and played with her slender, jade-like fingers.
"You...you let go." The little princess was both ashamed and angry, her face flushed red.
"Even demons can be shy sometimes, that's strange. I remember you were going to personally perform castration on me back then, how come you've suddenly turned into a shy and timid little girl?"
"You... Hmph, I'll just pretend it's a cockroach crawling on my hand, and consider it disgusting." After saying that, the little princess closed her eyes and ignored him.
Chen Nan laughed and said, "Alright, since that's the case, you can sleep hugging the cockroach."
After saying that, he sat up from the ground, picked up the little princess and lay down on the ground with her.
"Ah... let go, take your filthy hands off me, ah... you bastard, you scoundrel..." The little princess was extremely ashamed and angry, staring fiercely at Chen Nan. She gritted her teeth, wishing she could bite Chen Nan right away.
Chen Nan held the little princess's soft body, gazing at her jade-like, exquisite face. He felt his heart race; undeniably, the little princess possessed a beauty that could topple kingdoms. He pulled Hou Yi away three times in succession, exhausting all his strength. Coupled with not having slept a wink all night, waves of weariness washed over him. Smelling the little princess's intoxicating fragrance, he felt lightheaded and slowly drifted into sleep.
The little princess initially cursed Chen Nan incessantly, but upon seeing him fall asleep in her arms, she quickly stopped. After all, a sleeping enemy was far safer than a conscious one. The little princess didn't know what she was feeling. She had never imagined lying in the arms of a strange man. Usually, she was the one playing pranks, but today she was being so taken advantage of by a plain-looking scoundrel. She racked her brains for a solution, from enticement to threats to sexual intimacy, but each plan was rejected. This guy seemed impervious to both soft and hard tactics.
As she pondered a solution, she continuously gathered the remaining true energy in her body to attack the sealed acupoints. However, each attack failed to loosen the sealed acupoints even slightly, and she eventually gave up in frustration.
Looking at the sleeping Chen Nan, the little princess was filled with rage. Chen Nan's arms were wrapped around her soft, slender waist, pressing her ample breasts tightly against his chest. This intimate contact drove the little princess almost mad. Feeling Chen Nan's body heat, the little princess cursed again and again: "Let the wind rise, let the clouds surge, blow down the trees and kill him; let it rain, let the thunder roar, let lightning strike him; let it get dark, let the stars appear, let a shooting star crash into him and kill him..."
Before the wind rose, before the rain fell, before the sky darkened, Chen Nan was having sweet dreams, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"That damned guy, he laughs so lewdly even in his sleep, scum, scoundrel, shameless scoundrel..." the little princess cursed inwardly again. Gradually, she couldn't hold on any longer. After a series of battles and not sleeping all night, she was even more exhausted than Chen Nan. Slowly, she closed her eyes and fell asleep on Chen Nan's chest.
At noon, Chen Nan woke up from his deep sleep. A ray of sunlight shone through the gaps in the trees, making him feel warm and comfortable.
The little princess was still fast asleep, her chin resting on his shoulder, causing him a slight pain, but he didn't move, quietly admiring her peaceful sleeping posture. Suddenly, the little princess mumbled, "You scoundrel, you filthy thief... don't run... I'm going to kill you..."
Chen Nan muttered, "You even dream of killing me, you're really ruthless."
A short while later, the little princess blinked her long eyelashes and woke up, but her eyes were still sleepy and she was a little drowsy.
Chen Nan said, "Little devil, you're sleeping so soundly!"
The little princess blinked, fully waking up. The intimate posture between the two made her extremely embarrassed, but her expression quickly turned cold.
"It's none of your business how I am, Princess."
"Why is it not my place to comment? You've drooled so much on my chest, it's almost drowning me."
"Nonsense, that's dew," the little princess blushed and awkwardly retorted.
"Haha, you're so adorable with your innocent look. If you never reveal your devilish nature and always stay like this, everyone will cherish you dearly."
The little princess angrily retorted, "You scoundrel, you filthy thief! It's none of your business how I am!"
"You'll be my wife soon, so can't a husband point out his wife's flaws? Also, stop calling me 'this princess' all the time, and I won't call you 'little devil' anymore. I'll just call you Yu'er."
"How dare you! You're disgusting! How can a commoner like you call her 'Yu'er'?" the little princess rebuked.
"What can you do to me if I'm bold?" Chen Nan said, standing up and picking up the little princess.
"How dare you! You scoundrel, you filthy thief, put me down..."
Chen Nan hoisted the little princess onto his shoulder, picked up the Houyi Bow, and strode out of the forest.
The midday sun was scorching, and the weather was exceptionally hot. The little princess felt extremely uncomfortable being carried on Chen Nan's shoulder and angrily said, "Where are you taking me, you madman? Put me down right now!"
"Let's find a beautiful place to live in seclusion, and then we'll get married," Chen Nan said with a smile.
"Ah...you shameless! Put me down! I'm in so much pain!"
Just then, the wild animals in the forest suddenly panicked. Various small animals hidden in the forest swarmed out and ran away into the distance, followed by various large carnivores. The running beasts brought with them gusts of foul wind.
Chen Nan quickly put the little princess down from his shoulder, then lifted her up and flew to a large tree. The little princess showed no fear, her big eyes curiously watching in the opposite direction as the various wild beasts fled. Suddenly, the earth trembled, and the forest began to shake. In the distance, a tall figure approached.
"My God! I've hit the jackpot! I've actually encountered an ancient giant. Isn't the chance of finding such a behemoth in this mountain range only one in ten thousand?" Chen Nan had a terrible headache.
The little princess was overjoyed, seemingly forgetting that she had lost her freedom.
"Wow, ancient giants! I not only saw flying dragons, but also ancient giants. This trip was definitely worthwhile."
"Of course your trip was worthwhile; most importantly, you found a good husband." Chen Nan's words brought the little princess back to reality.
"If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute," the little princess said angrily.
Chen Nan said, "Don't talk. Let's hide here and wait for him to pass before we move." He looked into the little princess's cunning eyes and said calmly, "If you want to alert that big guy, go ahead and scream later, but I'll throw you at his feet the moment he's done."
"Why don't you just seal my speech acupoint?"
"So that you can gradually learn to be obedient."
"You're dreaming, you damned guy!" the little princess cursed angrily.
As the ancient giant approached step by step, the entire forest shook violently, causing fallen leaves to scatter.
Chen Nan reached out and picked up the little princess from the tree branch next to him, holding her tightly around the waist with one hand, and whispered, "He'll be here soon. If you want to scream, be prepared. I'm ready to throw you out."
The little princess said angrily, "Take your filthy hands off me, or I'll really scream. Don't think I won't."
"If I don't hold you tight, you'll definitely fall! And if you do, you'll end up with a sore bottom and have to compete with the Third Prince for his attention!"
The towering ancient giant approached them from a distance, standing a dozen meters away. The giant was at least thirty meters tall, with thick, long body hair like that of an animal. Apart from its extraordinary height and dense body hair, the giant's appearance was no different from that of an ordinary human.
A strong, fishy stench wafted from the giant, almost making Chen Nan and the little princess vomit. Chen Nan quickly covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve, and seeing the little princess's pained yet hopeful eyes, he freed his hand from her waist and wrapped it around her neck to cover her mouth and nose.
The giant had been walking in an open area, but as he passed by them, his nose suddenly twitched, and he headed straight for their forest.
"He found out as expected." Chen Nan picked up the little witch and jumped down from the tree, quickly moving through the woods.
The giant's roar echoed through the air like thunder, and he caught up with them in just three steps.
Trees six or seven meters tall were felled to the ground like straw by the giant's trampling. A large tree fell towards the two people in front of them, eliciting a scream from the little princess: "You scoundrel, you big idiot! Run! He's catching up! Ah... hurry, you idiot..."