Crowned by the Treacherous Big Shot

"Ugh—"

King Qi let out a heart-wrenching scream.

The already grim dungeon became even more terrifying, and the smell of blood mingled instantly with the scent of burning flesh.

Prince Rui and the four prison guards were too stunned by the brutal scene unfolding before them to react.

What is Purgatory?

He belongs to Yama.

Lu Yuan's face, once smiling with malice, was now filled with a thick killing intent, a coldness that chilled to the bone.

King Qi was in unbearable pain, struggling desperately.

Lu Yuan lifted him up and said coldly, "Does it hurt already? Uncle, it's not enough. Since you love branding so much, as your nephew, I must indulge you."

With that said, he again pressed King Qi's burnt and disfigured face down.

"Which hand did you use to hurt my father? This one?"

He grabbed King Qi's left hand.

"Or this one?"

He then grabbed King Qi's right hand.

King Qi couldn't make a sound.

Despair and pain drowned him.

"Not speaking, then I'll assume you used both."

Lu Yuan pulled King Qi's head out and shoved his hands into the furnace.

"Stop!"

Prince Rui finally snapped out of his shock.

If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he would never believe he could be stunned by a junior.

How could such a cruel person exist in the world?

He was doing the most terrible thing yet maintained the calmest expression, as if he were branding a piece of soulless wood, not a living person.

Prince Rui recalled the rumors about Lu Yuan, the First Rank Grand Commander, in charge of the Jinyi Guard, notorious for his brutal methods. There wasn't a torture device he couldn't conceive nor a person he couldn't extract a confession from.

His ways of tormenting people were endless; death at his hands was the best relief.

Prince Rui didn't want to admit it, but this Lu Yuan before him gave him a spine-chilling feeling.

His rationality suppressed his fear, and he shouted, "What are you standing around for? Arrest the assassin!"

A prison guard said, "But he is... the Imperial Grandson..."

Though the Crown Prince was guilty, the Imperial Grandson was the Guardian Qilin.

The people were superstitious; who dared to harm him? Were they not afraid of divine retribution?

Prince Rui, in a fit of rage, seized an iron hook from the table and swung it fiercely at the back of Lu Yuan's head while Lu Yuan was too occupied torturing King Qi.

In what felt like a heartbeat, a slender figure appeared like a ghost.

With a powerful slap, Prince Rui was sent flying against the wall.

Before he hit the ground, another slap sent him crashing heavily onto the table full of torture devices.

The tools clattered to the floor, the sound echoing ominously in the dungeon.

Prince Rui's left arm dislocated; he forced it back into place and reached for the iron hook beside him.

A flower-embroidered shoe mercilessly stepped on his wrist.

"Even I wouldn't harm him a single hair, how dare you?"

Liu Qingyun's eyes blazed ferociously, "Three thousand steps, each one stained with my blood; the life I snatched back from Yama Hall was not for you to bully and torment!"

She stomped and broke Prince Rui's hand bone.

Prince Rui let out an inhuman scream.

Liu Qingyun kicked him furiously, "He's under my protection! How dare you bully him! How dare you be blind! How dare you seek death! How dare you—"

"Enough, Bai, enough."

Lu Zhaoyan gently held her hand.

Liu Qingyun angrily said, "He bullied you!"

The fierce look in her eyes was just like years ago.

Back when he was nearly assassinated, she had stood in front of him like that, warning those assassins.

"He's under my protection! Whoever dares to touch him, answer to Bai Liu's blade first!"

Years have passed, but his Bai remained the same.

"Killing him would dirty your foot."

Lu Zhaoyan said softly.

Liu Qingyun landed another kick before letting Lu Zhaoyan lead her aside.

She looked at his injuries, her brows deeply furrowed, "Let me see."

"It's nothing, just superficial wounds."

Lu Zhaoyan refused to let her see.

Liu Qingyun insisted on examining them.

In the tussle, Prince Rui seized a knife from the ground and violently stabbed towards Liu Qingyun's back.

Yet, at that very moment, something unbelievable happened.

As his dagger was less than half a foot from Liu Qingyun, he froze.

He lowered his head, staring blankly at the long sword piercing through his chest, and then up at Lu Zhaoyan, who had run him through with it.

"You..."

Black blood oozed from the corner of his mouth.

His eyes were filled with shock.

It wasn't the shock of when Lu Zhaoyan had gotten a sword, but the realization that he might have never truly known Lu Zhaoyan.