Chapter 374: Long Xiaotian’s Trump Card

Chapter 374: Chapter 374: Long Xiaotian’s Trump Card

Long Ao stared at Long Xiaotian and said coldly, "Long Xiaotian, even now, what tricks do you think you can pull?"

But Long Xiaotian didn’t even spare Long Ao a glance. He turned to Ye Feng beside him and sneered.

"If you don’t want your woman to die at my hands, you’d better have these people back down. Now."

Wei Huang chuckled at Long Xiaotian. "Long Xiaotian, I already told you, Ye Feng’s women are all at the Prince Consort’s Manor, making dumplings for him!"

Long Xiaotian said nothing. He simply put his phone on speaker and held it out.

A woman’s sharp voice cried out from the phone, "Don’t you touch me, or I swear I’ll kill myself!"

"Qin Nuannuan!" Ye Feng’s pupils constricted.

Long Xiaotian sneered at Ye Feng. "Don’t blame anyone but yourself, Ye Feng. You’re such a womanizer, with so many of them running around. I bet you never imagined I’d go after *this* one, did you?"

Ye Feng stared at Long Xiaotian, speaking each word with venom. "If you dare touch a single hair on Qin Nuannuan’s head, I will flay you, piece by piece."

"Hahaha..." Long Xiaotian burst into a wild laugh. "Ye Feng, you don’t seem to understand who has the upper hand here! I do. If I suffer so much as a scratch, your woman will die with me!"

Just then, one of the Royal Guards shouted, "Qin Nuannuan? Isn’t she just one of the women from the Hundred Flowers Building? A prostitute? And you think she can be used as a threat against our Prince? You’re overthinking this. A woman like that is less than nothing to His Highness..."

Before he could finish, Ye Feng whirled around and fixed him with a death glare. "Speak another word of nonsense," he said coldly, "and you die."

The Royal Guard was so terrified the hairs on his arms stood on end. He snapped his mouth shut, not daring to utter another peep.

Long Xiaotian clapped his hands, roaring with laughter. "See? I said our Prince was a man driven by sentiment. Looks like I was right!"

Ye Feng whipped his head back toward Long Xiaotian, his gaze piercing. He spoke through clenched teeth:

"Name your terms."

Long Xiaotian chuckled. "My safety for hers."

With that, he turned and started walking out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation, his smug voice echoing behind him.

"In one hour, come to the Town-Guarding Prince’s Manor to get your woman!"

"If you stay here, I won’t have to worry about the hostage exchange at all!" Long Ao called out coldly to Long Xiaotian’s retreating back.

The moment he spoke, a unit of Royal Guards flashed into position, blocking Long Xiaotian’s path.

Long Xiaotian turned, a sly smile playing on his lips as he looked at Ye Feng. "I’m prepared to trade my life for hers. Are you?"

Ye Feng stared daggers at Long Xiaotian, the murderous intent in his eyes completely undisguised. But a moment later, he took a deep breath, turned to Long Ao, and said, "Royal Father, let him go!"

Long Ao hesitated for a moment before giving a firm nod.

The Commander of the Royal Guard looked at Long Ao and cried out, "Your Majesty, you mustn’t! Letting him go would be like releasing a tiger back into the wild!"

"Let him go," Long Ao repeated, his voice heavy.

The commander didn’t dare protest further. He led the Royal Guards and swiftly moved aside.

With his hands clasped behind his back, Long Xiaotian departed, laughing boisterously.

Ye Feng looked at Long Ao with gratitude. "Thank you for indulging me, Royal Father. Rest assured, just as he has walked out of here, so too will I drag him back. I still have a score to settle with him."

Having already reached the doorway, Long Xiaotian turned back, a chuckle on his lips as he looked at Ye Feng.

"I extend a warm welcome to the Town-Guarding Prince’s Manor. I’ll be sure to give you a proper reception, haha..."

He then pointed to Wei Huang and shook his head. "I can’t stand this old codger, so he’s not welcome at the Manor. You’d best come alone. Otherwise, I can’t promise what might happen to your woman if I get... agitated. I’ll leave it at that. You understand. Hahaha..."

With another loud laugh, he was gone.

Wei Huang was seething with rage. "Ye Feng, don’t stop me," he said through gritted teeth. "I’m going to slaughter him right now!"

Ye Feng held up a hand to stop Wei Huang, shaking his head. His voice was raw as he spoke.

"Sister Nuannuan was entrusted to me by my Sixth Master. To me, she’s like my own flesh and blood. How could I ever let any harm come to her?"

Just then, Xuanyuan Cheng, who was standing nearby, looked at Ye Feng with concern.

"Your Highness, that Long Xiaotian is devious beyond measure. He’s luring you to the Town-Guarding Prince’s Manor, where he’s undoubtedly laid an inescapable trap. It’s too dangerous for you to go alone!"

Ye Feng looked at Xuanyuan Cheng, his voice firm as steel. "Even if it’s a dragon’s lake and a tiger’s den, even if it costs me my life, I will go and rescue Sister Nuannuan."

A cold, sneering laugh escaped him. "Besides, who’s to say they even have what it takes to keep me there?"

With that, he turned and strode out of the Hall of Mental Cultivation like a shooting star. His nonchalant voice drifted back:

"Besides, I’m rather curious to see what other tricks this Long Xiaotian has up his sleeve."

A moment later, his figure flickered and vanished.

Xuanyuan Cheng looked at Long Ao, his face fraught with worry. "Your Majesty, it’s too dangerous for the Prince to go alone!"

Long Ao settled back onto the Dragon Throne, his expression confident. "I have faith in how the Prince handles things. However, I have my own part to play."

He looked at Xuanyuan Cheng. "Dragon Guardian, take your men to the Town-Guarding Prince’s Manor at once and surround it. Support the Prince! And mark my words: at the Manor, people may enter, but no one is to be allowed out!"

"As you command!" Xuanyuan Cheng acknowledged the order and swiftly departed, disappearing from sight.

...

「Town-Guarding Prince’s Manor」

A Bentley came roaring up to the gates and screeched to a halt. The door opened, and a man in rich robes stepped out. His face was grim as he strode toward the Town-Guarding Prince’s Manor.

Long Xiaotian.

The butler waiting at the entrance hurried forward to greet him. He was about to speak, but seeing the dark look on Long Xiaotian’s face, he asked cautiously,

"Your Highness, did things not go as planned?"

Long Xiaotian’s face was livid. "That bastard Ye Feng interfered! He made my whole plan fall apart at the last second!"

The butler’s expression instantly turned grim. "That bastard again!"

He looked at Long Xiaotian and said through clenched teeth, "We have Qin Nuannuan. We can threaten him, force him to back out. If he dares to disobey, we kill her!"

Long Xiaotian shook his head. "The man is too cunning. If I don’t eliminate him now, he’ll forever be a thorn in my side. This time, it’s not about forcing him out of the game. It’s about making him disappear from my world... permanently."

The butler nodded eagerly. "Excellent. I’ll notify Commander Xiong right away!"

He turned to leave.

"There’s no need," Long Xiaotian said, his expression grim. "Xiong Hai and his Blood Guards were all wiped out at the palace."

"Ye Feng... is that terrifying?" The butler’s face drained of color.

Long Xiaotian shook his head. "It wasn’t Ye Feng. It was that bald donkey, Jue Yuan, from the Shaolin Temple."

The butler’s face turned cold as ice. "The Shaolin Temple dares to interfere? I’ll arrange for a team to go and bathe that temple in blood!"

Long Xiaotian waved a dismissive hand. "The Shaolin Temple will be dealt with, but not now. The priority is to eliminate Ye Feng and seize control of the situation."

The butler frowned. "Your Highness, that Ye Feng fellow is quite skilled himself, and he has many allies. Our Martial Arts Association has been destroyed, the Blood Guard is gone... Our strength has been drastically reduced. Taking him down now will be no small feat."

Long Xiaotian looked at his butler and gave a chilling smile. "And what if the Underworld itself steps in?"