As he spoke, Shi Minglong half - crouched inside the cage. He grabbed the bars with both hands and sneered at Xia Mian. "Kill me? Do you dare?"
There was already a hint of madness in Shi Minglong's eyes. "Didn't I give you a chance last time? I gave you the knife, but you didn't even dare to move. Now that I'm trapped here like an animal, you think you have the guts to kill me?"
As he spoke, Shi Minglong spat and said contemptuously, "You're just a whore from a brothel. Do you really think you're a chaste and heroic woman? Seeking revenge after all these years? Do you have the courage? Why don't you let me out now? When I make a comeback, I'll live a loving life with you."
Shi Minglong had completely provoked Xia Mian. Finally, Xia Mian walked up to him and looked down at his ugly face.
Xia Mian closed her eyes tightly and then forced out a cold smile. There was no trace of warmth in that smile. It was as cold as the wind in the night.
Shi Minglong keenly sensed that something had changed about Xia Mian, but his arrogance still made him say in a deep voice, "What? Are you going to attack me? Then come on. Anyway, there's not much difference between my current state and being dead. Killing me would give me a quick end."
As he spoke, Shi Minglong actually closed his eyes and spread out his hands, looking as if he was waiting for Xia Mian.
Xia Mian's face was ashen. She clenched and unclenched her fists. After a long time, Xia Mian turned to look at Su Mingyu.
The determination in that look made Su Mingyu raise her eyebrows and give her an encouraging look.
Receiving the warmth from Su Mingyu, Xia Mian half - crouched on the ground and looked Shi Minglong in the eye. "Do you know that in order to avoid you, I disfigured my own face, the face that was my means of survival?"
Shi Minglong looked at her fair and tender face and then realized. "Weren't you disfigured before?"
Xia Mian didn't answer him. She just continued, "Do you know that I was really scared of you, truly scared. You were my nightmare when I woke up from midnight dreams."
Hearing her words, Shi Minglong raised his eyebrows proudly. "You're just a low - class whore. It's your fortune that I took a fancy to you. How could you be scared? Serving two customers must be a bit more difficult than serving one. Look, after you served me, didn't you not need to serve others for a long time?"
Shi Minglong's words were so shameless that even Su Mingyu, with her calm nature, wanted to tear his mouth apart.
But Xia Mian wasn't angry. She just looked at Shi Minglong coldly and said, "Should I thank you then?"
Shi Minglong naturally knew that Xia Mian was being sarcastic, but now he was a man with nothing to lose. He had a worthless life, so he dared to say anything. "There's no need for thanks. If you're really sincere, just let me out now."
Su Mingyu had seen many shameless people, but this was the first time she had met someone as shameless as Shi Minglong, who didn't even care about his own dignity.
So she looked at Gu Ruobai. "Has Shi Minglong gone crazy after being in prison?"
"He probably knows he can't escape, so he's deliberately trying to provoke Xia Mian like this." Gu Ruobai's voice was very soft.
But Shi Minglong still heard it. He looked at Gu Ruobai in surprise and asked in disbelief, "You're the Prince Ruixian! Xia Mian, you're really something. You've even got involved with the Prince Ruixian. The master you just called is the Prince Ruixian, right?"
"No." Shi Minglong suddenly realized. "Prince Ruixian, your leg injury... was fake? You're deceiving the emperor."
Suddenly, Shi Minglong's eyes lit up again. "How about we make a deal? I'll tell you who plotted against you and caused your serious leg injury. Then you let me go. How about it?"
When Su Mingyu heard this, her face darkened.
But Gu Ruobai put his hand on Su Mingyu's shoulder, signaling her not to act rashly.
"I'm not the Prince Ruixian. I'm just a thug who takes money for doing things. This young lady is the master." As he spoke, Gu Ruobai pointed at Su Mingyu beside him. "Of course, she's also my wife. My wife is a kind - hearted person. After hearing about Xia Mian's story, she felt indignant for her, so she took Xia Mian's order to catch you."
When Gu Ruobai said this, his tone was obviously higher than usual. If one didn't pay careful attention, they might not be able to tell the difference between this voice and his normal voice, but the tone was definitely different.
Shi Minglong slumped back to the ground. After a long time, he looked up at Xia Mian. "Kill me to avenge yourself."
Looking at his dull eyes, Xia Mian felt ruthless in her heart. She waved at the guard on the side. "Do you have any boiling hot water here?"
The guard was about to shake his head when he noticed Gu Ruobai's gaze. So he immediately nodded. "Yes! I'll go and prepare it right away."
Watching the guard's back as he left, Xia Mian's face was as gloomy as ink. "Shi Minglong, I won't let you off so easily."
Shi Minglong looked at Xia Mian and sneered. "What can you do to me? It's just death anyway."
Xia Mian didn't answer him immediately. Instead, she turned to look at Su Mingyu and said, "Someone once told me that there might really be people who aren't afraid of death, but there's no one who isn't afraid of pain."
As she spoke, Xia Mian drew out the sword from another guard's waist and suddenly stabbed it into the cage. Shi Minglong subconsciously stepped back and dodged Xia Mian's sword.
Looking at the missed sword, Xia Mian snorted coldly. "Look, you're not as fearless of death as you thought you were."
Shi Minglong looked into Xia Mian's dark eyes. His heart sank. Just as he was about to say something, the guard came in carrying a bucket of hot water.
Xia Mian looked at the steaming hot water, stood up, picked up the bucket, and poured it directly at Shi Minglong.
Shi Minglong howled in pain. The curses poured out of his mouth like they were free. "You bitch! Xia Mian, you slut!"
As if she didn't hear him, Xia Mian gave the empty bucket to the guard. "Bring me another bucket."
Xia Mian poured a total of three buckets of hot water, almost soaking Shi Minglong from head to toe. The water was scalding hot. Shi Minglong's face and body were all red and burning with pain.
Shi Minglong lay on the ground painfully and begged for mercy. "Give me a quick end! Please!"
"What did you say when I begged you to spare me?" Xia Mian slowly approached Shi Minglong. "You said my low - class life was yours and you could do whatever you wanted with it. Now your dog's life is mine, and I can do whatever I want with it too."