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Chapter 21 - Xiao Nong: It is you?
Chapter 21 - Xiao Nong: It is you?
The moment he saw those four big words clearly, Zhong Yansheng froze in place. His heart sank and he slowly retracted his half-extended toes.
But before he could completely retract his arms, the force on his waist suddenly tightened and his feet were lifted off the ground.
Zhong Yansheng was still dazed, but the next moment his feet touched solid ground.
Xiao Wenlan picked him up and placed him on the ground easily and steadily.
"Young Master Zhong, don't be shy."
Although Xiao Wenlan was very fond of beautiful people, he always liked to admire them and firmly believed that good-looking people could do anything right, so he helped them without any evil thoughts in his eyes. He said frankly, "It's not shameful to be afraid to get off the carriage. It's a big problem if you force yourself and fall."
Zhong Yansheng looked at him blankly: "..."
Although Xiao Wenlan's behavior was very kind, Zhong Yansheng still felt like he had seen a devil at that moment.
The surrounding scenes were so familiar that Zhong Yansheng's scalp felt tingling.
He once thought that he would never get close to this place again in his life, but he was brought back just after taking a nap.
Zhong Yansheng opened his mouth with difficulty: "I am suddenly..."
Not feeling well.
He spoke in a small voice, and before he could finish his words, a noisy voice came from behind, interrupting him: "Oh, this villa is so lively, Xiao Wenlan, you have such a place, why didn't you tell us earlier?"
In addition to Zhong Yansheng, Xiao Wenlan also invited a lot of people to come together. The others came on their own or followed in their own carriages. When they saw Xiao Wenlan stop, they also stopped and came over one after another. Suddenly, the quiet Changliu Villa became as lively as a vegetable market. A group of young masters from aristocratic families stopped by the bamboo forest, looking at the solemn gate of the villa and discussing things.
"You don't know this. Changliu Villa is not Mr. Xiao's territory, but His Royal Highness Prince Ding's."
"Huh? This is the residence of His Royal Highness Prince Ding? Brother Xiao, you, you, you, this, this, this...how dare you bring us to a place like this."
"Master Xiao, why don't you tell us first, what are you going to show us? You haven't revealed a single word in the past two days, it's so secretive."
"Are you going to take us to see His Royal Highness Prince Ding?"
As soon as this amazing guess came out, everyone's scalps tightened, and they all took a deep breath, with goose bumps trembling wildly: "Ha... this, Master Xiao, even if you dare to invite us, we dare not enter, we don't want to have our fingers cut off."
Two days ago in Jinghua Garden, the usually arrogant and domineering Young Master Meng San somehow offended Prince Ding, and Prince Ding ordered someone to cut off one of his fingers without blinking an eye, leaving a bloody mark.
According to people who were present, Prince Ding still said this with a smile.
This matter caused a big fuss.
Meng Qiping is the grandson of the Duke of Pei, and is doted on by his family, especially the Duke's wife, who dotes on Meng Qiping to no end. Who would have thought that their beloved child was fine when he left home, but was carried into the house when he came back, looking half dead, and with a broken finger.
The Duke's wife couldn't catch her breath and fainted immediately.
His Majesty finally came to court yesterday. The Duke of Pei impeached Xiao Nong in court, and Prince De followed suit and echoed him.
The Duke of Pei was an old fox all his life. He knew that his grandson had done some bad things outside and had a bad reputation. Most of the civil and military officials in the court laughed at him. So he did not directly seek justice for Meng Qiping, but said, "Under the feet of the emperor, Prince Ding is so arrogant and domineering. He hurt people in public and is so wanton. What will happen to him in the future?" Every word was tearful.
Who would have thought that Xiao Nong, who had been specially granted permission not to attend court unless necessary and therefore rarely attended court, actually came yesterday.
While all the officials were discussing, His Highness Prince Ding, dressed in a dragon robe, arrived late. He just happened to hear the last sentence. He walked into the Hall of Supreme Harmony at a leisurely pace, glanced at the Duke of Pei, and asked with a half-smile, "What should I do?"
The whole court was silent.
No one knew whether he had heard the previous words, but the Duke of Pei's expression changed, and he did not dare to cry as he did before.
Even Prince De, who had joined in the action, looked away. It was unclear whether he was afraid or felt guilty.
Yesterday's court meeting was so exciting, and His Royal Highness Prince Ding was indeed a special person. Everyone was afraid of him, but everyone was curious about him. Even Zhong Yansheng, who was hiding in the room, heard people whispering about the matter.
—The Duke of Pei went to ask His Majesty to give justice to the Meng family early this morning. I heard that Meng Qiping's mother was also making a big fuss in the harem, but His Majesty has not made his attitude clear.
Zhong Yansheng was a little worried that Xiao Nong would be punished.
Although he was very afraid of being found by Xiao Nong...but Meng Qiping was a bad guy. He drugged him, bullied him, and scolded His Royal Highness Prince Ding. Xiao Wenlan was right. He deserved to have his fingers cut off.
Xiao Wenlan had invited more than a dozen people, and they were all here. Zhong Yansheng couldn't retreat back into the carriage in front of everyone. Listening to their tense discussion, his eyes couldn't help but drift towards the direction of the villa.
The more he looks at this vermilion gate, the more he feels it is unfathomable.
How on earth had he dared to climb that wall in the first place?
Zhong Yansheng could only pray in his heart that such outsiders would not dare to invade the private residence of His Royal Highness Prince Ding.
I hope Xiao Wenlan was just joking.
Obviously Xiao Wenlan was not joking.
Seeing everyone panicking, Xiao Wenlan smiled complacently: "What are you afraid of? This is my cousin's private residence. It's nice, but my cousin returned to the capital a few days ago and doesn't live here anymore. In the past, when he returned to the capital, he basically never returned to this house. Don't worry, don't worry."
Xiao Nong's return to the capital made too much noise. First, he caused a huge uproar in the city looking for someone, and then he cut off one of Meng Qiping's fingers. Almost everyone knew about it.
As everyone thought along these lines, their tense spirits relaxed. They were all people who only cared about eating, drinking and having fun, and they were so eager that they could not bear Xiao Wenlan's suspense. They began to waver: "Then tell me first, what are you going to show us? Let's see if it's worth it for us to risk our lives in this dangerous place."
"Could it be some priceless antique painting? That's meaningless, because everyone in our family has a few such things."
Xiao Wenlan shook his finger mysteriously, "No, no, it's certainly not that kind of vulgar thing. I can guarantee that none of you have ever seen that thing."
After he said this, everyone became even more curious.
Seeing that no one objected to going in, Zhong Yansheng held on to a glimmer of hope and struggled for a while: "But this is the residence of His Royal Highness Prince Ding after all. Without His Royal Highness Prince Ding's consent, wouldn't we be trespassing? Second Young Master Xiao, can this thing you mentioned be viewed elsewhere?"
"Haha." Xiao Wenlan laughed loudly, then suddenly stopped laughing, "No."
Zhong Yansheng: “…”
This man's strange and unpredictable mental state is quite similar to that of his cousin.
Finally, I can see a hint of brotherhood.
"This house actually belongs to our Xiao family, so naturally I have a share of it. I am considered half the owner." Xiao Wenlan patted his chest with a shameless face, "It's not considered trespassing if I bring you in. I must let you see that good thing today!"
Except Zhong Yansheng, everyone else was convinced.
Zhong Yansheng was a thin-skinned man and was rarely good at refusing others, especially when so many people were in high spirits and had already followed Xiao Wenlan forward. He was left alone and stood out.
Xiao Nong is in the capital. He should have been looking for him and entangled with the Duke of Pei these past two days.
Really, he doesn't have time to come here no matter how much I think about it.
As soon as this thought flashed through Zhong Yansheng's mind, he remembered that he had the same thought last time in Jinghua Garden.
As a result, Xiao Nong happened to come in from the side door of Jinghua Garden, and just passed by the path. He stood behind the bushes behind him and listened to his nonsense.
Zhong Yansheng thought it over again and again, walked to Xiao Wenlan, and gently tugged at his sleeve.
Xiao Wenlan was chatting and laughing with others when his sleeve was pulled. He felt that this handsome young master was like a pretty bird pecking at someone's sleeve. His voice softened a few degrees: "What's wrong?"
"Second Young Master Xiao," Zhong Yansheng asked hesitantly, "Are you really sure that His Royal Highness Prince Ding will not come back here?"
Xiao Wenlan thought it was something serious, but he couldn't help laughing when he heard it. He lowered his voice and asked, "Young Master Zhong, why are you more afraid of my brother than I am?"
I'm afraid it might scare you if I tell you this, because I slept with your brother.
Zhong Yansheng thought with a serious face, how could I not be afraid?
Moreover, Xiao Wenlan was obviously much more afraid than him. At least he wouldn't be so frightened that he couldn't even move his tongue when he saw Xiao Nong.
Xiao Wenlan felt very sorry for the weak little beauty. He patted Zhong Yansheng on the shoulder and coaxed him: "Don't worry, my brother is very busy, and it's impossible for him to come. Believe me, no one knows my brother better than me. If he shows up at Changliu Villa today, I'll take off my head and let you kick it like a ball, okay?"
Although Zhong Yansheng had no interest in kicking Xiao Wenlan's head as if it were a ball, since Xiao Wenlan had already said this, he hesitated for a moment, but still nodded.
"I told you last time, my brother just asked a few questions, he really didn't have any murderous intent." Xiao Wenlan kindly continued to comfort, "You have never seen my brother have murderous intent towards others."
Zhong Yansheng choked with sorrow and said nothing.
If Xiao Nong had lifted his veil last time, he would probably have seen it.
Having said so much, Zhong Yansheng walked to the gate of Changliu Villa, looked up at the familiar plaque and sighed.
Forget it, I'm here anyway.
Anyway, Xiao Nong is not around, and Zhan Rong is always by his side.
Moreover, he wrapped himself so thickly, wore a veil and a hat, and disguised himself, that no one could recognize that he was Yuan Yuan.
Xiao Wenlan was not just bragging. He walked to the gate and knocked, and sure enough, someone opened the door.
He was an expressionless young man who ignored everyone except Xiao Wenlan and bowed: "Second Young Master."
As long as he wasn't in front of Xiao Nong, Xiao Wenlan would be a man of few words, with his hands behind his back, and raised his chin towards the man: "Go down, I'll bring my friends to play."
The young man looked at him quietly without moving.
Xiao Wenlan glared: "Get down!"
The young man slowly glanced at the dozen or so people gathered behind him, remained silent for a moment, and then moved away.
Everyone held their breath and walked past the man into the courtyard. When they could no longer see him, they wiped their sweat and asked, "Shouldn't we have come in?"
"As expected of His Royal Highness Prince Ding, even his subordinate scared me to death..."
As I stepped through the gate, a familiar scene came into view. Just like the last time I left, Changliu Villa was still quiet and secluded, and it was indeed a suitable place to recuperate.
When he thought of this, Zhong Yansheng felt very upset and thought of some other things.
He was puzzled. The Marquis of Huai'an had always been upright and austere, so how could he quietly covet such a large house, and the things in the study... When he recalled the scene of him advising the Marquis of Huai'an to be an honest official, his toes couldn't help but curl up.
The Marquis of Huai'an didn't hit him that day!
Xiao Wenlan had just sent the people away, and he actually thought that no one would come again. It seemed that they were the only ones left in such a big house.
He led a group of people and walked towards the inner courtyard in a mighty manner. As he walked, he suddenly stopped and began to worry.
Although he spoke very confidently, Xiao Wenlan actually came to Changliu Villa very rarely.
The layout of Changliu Villa is extremely complicated, and the scenery in many places is almost exactly the same. If you don't come here often, it is easy to get lost.
For example, at the fork in the road in front of him, he suddenly didn't know which choice to make.
Xiao Wenlan stood still and began to regret calling away the person who opened the door.
He hesitated and wandered at the intersection of two almost identical roads. Everyone walked along, smacking their lips and looking left and right. After waiting for a while, they realized something was wrong and asked hesitantly, "Master Xiao, you don't know the way, do you?"
Xiao Wenlan pretended to be calm: "How is that possible! I was just... thinking about which way to go to get closer."
Zhong Yansheng was standing next to Xiao Wenlan. He noticed that his neck had turned red and blinked suspiciously.
Could it be that you really don't know the way?
The atmosphere remained awkward for a while, Xiao Wenlan was still wandering around, everyone fell silent, looking at him with gradually increasing disbelief.
Zhong Yansheng felt so embarrassed for him that he couldn't bear to watch anymore. He coughed softly, his ears burning, and whispered, "Second Young Master Xiao, I know a little about Feng Shui. I feel that based on the layout we've walked through, we should go to the right now."
Xiao Wenlan wanted to pull his hair out, and was overjoyed when he heard the voice: "You can do this? Okay, then let's go to the right!"
There was no doubt at all.
Everyone didn't know where to go. This was Prince Ding's territory, so even though the owner was not there, they didn't dare to run around and just followed Xiao Wenlan obediently.
After walking for a while, Xiao Wenlan found the surroundings familiar and gradually remembered the way. He couldn't help but praise: "This road is right! Young Master Zhong, you are really effective!"
Zhong Yansheng smiled dryly under his veil.
Of course, it worked.
How could it not work?
Zhan Rong had taken him on this road many times, and he could be said to be able to come and go freely and was much more familiar with it than Xiao Wenlan.
Others had already guessed who Zhong Yansheng was, but with the recent rumors in the capital about the Huai'an Marquis' Mansion, they had not been able to speak to him rashly. What's more, this former young master had such weird tastes, the fragrance on his body was so dizzying, and he was wearing a veil hat, so it was difficult to see what he looked like.
After everyone looked at each other, their eyes suddenly lit up, and they all started praising him: "So Feng Shui can be viewed this way? I never knew that."
"What do you know? This is the art of Qimen Dunjia!"
“Awesome, awesome!”
Including Xiao Wenlan, no one had even the slightest suspicion towards Zhong Yansheng.
After all, this is the territory of His Royal Highness Prince Ding. Even Prince Ding's cousin is not familiar with the road. How could Zhong Yansheng have been here and know the way?
Zhong Yansheng had come up with such an unreliable excuse at the last minute. Seeing that they all believed it, he secretly pinched the tip of his ear which was burning and tried to remain calm: "Thank you, thank you."
After entering the inner courtyard, the surrounding roads became more and more familiar.
Walk to the end on the left and you will see Uncle Wang's garden. Continue walking forward, and you will see Xiao Nong's bedroom and study.
Zhong Yansheng was worried that Xiao Wenlan would take them to these two places.
Fortunately, Xiao Wenlan was not that brave and led them directly to the other end.
As they walked, he pointed to a place that Zhong Yansheng was very familiar with and said, "By the way, you must not go over there. It's where my cousin lives and works. My cousin doesn't like to be disturbed. If you go over there, you might get beaten."
Zhong Yansheng: “…”
Not only did he go in, he was so bold as to sleep in Xiao Nong's study.
Zhong Yansheng was in a daze and didn't quite understand how he had survived until now.
Thinking about it now, when he fell into the garden and landed in front of Xiao Nong that day when they first met, Xiao Nong probably wanted to kill him. The sword was even at his neck, but he stopped for some reason.
Think about Xiao Nong's attitude towards him during their time together...
Zhong Yansheng guessed hesitantly, maybe His Royal Highness Prince Ding thought he was like a little animal at first, which was fun?
As he was thinking silently, Xiao Wenlan paused and stopped in front of a courtyard gate: "We're here."
This yard seemed quite remote, with high walls and a locked gate. I didn't know what was inside.
Xiao Wenlan kept everyone in suspense the whole time, and everyone was so curious: "Hurry up, Master Xiao, if you keep us in suspense, I won't bring you along for the drink next time!"
Xiao Wenlan enjoyed the pleasure of keeping people in suspense and said with a chuckle, "I just discovered my cousin has such a treasure by accident. While he is away, I brought you here to see it for yourself. Come in."
After he finished speaking, he pulled the bolt and walked in slowly.
Zhong Yansheng followed him into the yard. His eyes passed over Xiao Wenlan's back and when he saw what was inside, his eyes suddenly widened in shock.
Xiao Wenlan is not exaggerating.
It is indeed the case that "you can't see it anywhere else but here".
There are dense shades of trees in the yard, and under the shade of the trees, there is a huge iron cage.
And in the iron cage, there was a leopard with gray fur and black stripes all over its body. Its fur was very smooth and beautiful. It was lying in the iron cage with its eyes closed. It seemed to be asleep, and its chest was slightly heaving.
Even when it is lying down, you can see that it has a strong and agile posture. Just lying there, it looks majestic and handsome.
Everyone was shocked and stood at the gate, holding their breath. After a long while, they came to their senses, their hearts pounding. "This, this is... His Royal Highness Prince Ding's pet?"
"Oh my god, Master Xiao, the big surprise you mentioned couldn't be this big 'pet', right?"
"Will it jump out of the cage?"
Seeing their reactions, Xiao Wenlan laughed triumphantly, waved his fan, and boasted: "Yes, it's my cousin's pet. He picked it up in Xifan before and brought it back to Beijing for the first time. How is it? Have you ever seen it? Is it powerful enough?"
The capital city was prosperous, and there were often monkey and even tiger trainers on the streets, but those tigers were either tamed after their teeth were pulled out, or were sick and skinny. No one had ever seen such a majestic and beautiful big cat, with white fur, which made it more elegant than ordinary leopards.
It's really rare.
"Can we get a closer look?" Everyone was curious and timid, "Will it eat people?"
Xiao Wenlan deliberately said: "I heard that he and my cousin went to the battlefield, what do you think?"
His deliberately scary expression was so obvious that except for the person asking, everyone else laughed: "You are amazing, Master Xiao, you dare to bring us to see it."
Zhong Yansheng didn't pay attention to what they were saying. He stared at the big snow-white cat.
When he came to Changliu Villa before, he didn't know that such a beautiful creature was imprisoned in the yard.
Everyone was teasing each other and no one moved forward for a long time. After watching for a while, Zhong Yansheng slowly moved a few steps towards the iron cage.
Seeing that Zhong Yansheng dared to take the lead, the others looked at each other in surprise, and then followed.
As he got closer to the iron cage, he could even seem to hear the heavy breathing of the beast.
Zhong Yansheng approached the iron cage cautiously. When he walked over, he felt something was wrong, but the beautiful big cat was too eye-catching. He did not pay attention to it. He slowly squatted down, staring at the Artemisia leopard with his eyes wide open.
The big snow-white cat must have heard their footsteps a long time ago, but was too lazy to pay attention. Now, it noticed someone approaching it without knowing the danger, and its nose moved, and it opened its eyes lazily.
Those were a pair of gray-blue animal eyes. Under the shade of the tree, the color tended to be dark blue. The moment they looked at each other through the veil, Zhong Yansheng suddenly thought of Xiao Nong's eyes.
The big cat was in a very stable mood. Even when a group of people came and there was a person squatting in front of it, it just looked at Zhong Yansheng lazily, with its fluffy and soft tail sweeping back and forth behind it. It didn't roar, nor did it stand up to protest. It looked quite calm.
More like His Royal Highness Prince Ding...
Zhong Yansheng looked at the big cat in amazement, almost suspecting that it was Xiao Nong's incarnation.
The moment this thought came to his mind, Zhong Yansheng silently got goosebumps and felt that he was a little too brave.
His gaze shifted to the leopard's round, fluffy ears, and then to the big tail that was sweeping back and forth. His palms suddenly felt itchy.
It looks soft, I really want to touch it.
Zhong Yansheng squatted in front of it and asked in a low voice: "Can I touch your ears?"
The big cat's ears twitched, as if it understood, and its gray-blue eyes half-narrowed.
The man and the beast were looking at each other. Perhaps because the big cat seemed very docile, someone suddenly got carried away and raised his fan to knock on the iron bars.
With a "clang" sound, the iron bars began to vibrate continuously.
The Artemisia leopard, which had been lying on the ground and staring at Zhong Yansheng, suddenly raised its ears and its pupils became sharp. It jumped up abruptly, its whole body tense, and growled threateningly towards the outside of the railing, obviously angry.
The roar was low and deep, penetrating into the eardrums without any obstruction, and the sound was shocking.
Everyone was shocked. The person who had hit the target just now was also panicked and quickly stepped back. Xiao Wenlan couldn't help but scold: "Your hands are so cheap that you have to hit it?"
Zhong Yansheng was also frightened and stepped back subconsciously. As he stepped back, the Artemisia leopard seemed to become even more agitated and slammed into the cage, making the heavy iron bars clang loudly, which was frightening.
The man knocking on the cage turned pale with fear: "The cage is so strong, this beast shouldn't be able to get out, right?"
After hearing his words, Zhong Yansheng finally remembered what he felt was wrong just now. He turned around and took a closer look, then paused in his action of standing up.
Xiao Wenlan came over and tried to help him: "Young Master Zhong, what's wrong?"
Zhong Yansheng opened his eyes wide, looked at the place carefully again, and whispered: "Second Young Master Xiao, this cage seems to be not closed?"
After the words were spoken, the whole place fell silent.
Everyone was stunned for a moment, and looked in unison at the iron cage door that should have been locked.
Just as Zhong Yansheng said, there was no bolt on it at all!
The atmosphere was dead silent for a moment, and everyone managed to squeeze out a smile that was uglier than crying: "It shouldn't understand human language, right?"
The Artemisia leopard, who had been staring at Zhong Yansheng as he rammed the iron cage, suddenly stopped and looked at him, as if to confirm what he said, then walked towards the cage door and gently rammed it.
The big cat leaned out with an elegant gait.
"…Oh my god! The leopard is coming out to eat people!"
Don't know who shouted first, but everyone was in chaos in an instant. A group of people cried and ran in the direction they came from. People who usually felt tired even riding in a sedan chair were now running faster than rabbits.
Zhong Yansheng was not that scared at first, but when they led him out, he ran along in a daze.
But the one chasing them was a ferocious beast known for its swiftness.
Zhong Yansheng was dragged by Xiao Wenlan to run. He could not keep up with the pace and his vision was obstructed. After running a few steps, he suddenly felt heavy behind him. Xiao Wenlan pulled him by the sleeve and let out a sharp scream for him.
The heavy cat easily knocked him to the ground, and the hot breath of the animal passed by his ears.
Zhong Yansheng's breathing stopped for a few moments, his mind was buzzing and blank. Through the gauze of the veil, he saw with horror that the Artemisia leopard was... sniffing him.
The big cat seemed to find the smell on him very strange. There was a hint of confusion in its gray-blue eyes. Its nose twitched, but it continued to follow his chest and gradually approached his neck.
Zhong Yansheng's rapid breathing stopped, his thin white neck tensed, and his Adam's apple rolled slightly a few times.
Is... is he going to bite his neck off?
The travel notes he had read said that wild beasts hunt by biting their prey by the neck and killing them with one blow.
Before he was bitten by Xiao Nong, his neck was bitten off by Xiao Nong's pet.
His eyes suddenly turned red and misty. Seeing that the big cat hadn't taken the first step yet, he suppressed his fear and said in a hoarse voice, "Please, please don't eat me..."
A group of people who fled to the gate of the courtyard in panic found that something was wrong, stopped, looked back and saw this scene, and were horrified.
Xiao Wenlan was so frightened that his face turned pale. He looked at the big cat that was holding Zhong Yansheng down and sniffing deeply. He trembled and shouted with courage: "Taxue! My cousin doesn't allow you to hurt or eat people at will, so he locked you up here. You, you quickly let him go! I know you can understand human words!"
The big cat seemed to really understand. It raised its head and stared at Xiao Wenlan coldly with its gray-blue eyes, as if it disliked his noisiness.
Xiao Wenlan felt a chill down his spine when he was looked at, and couldn't help but shiver again: "If you dare to eat him, I'll ask my cousin to beat you to death..."
The leopard was too lazy to pay attention to him and lowered his head again, as if Zhong Yansheng was a piece of very sweet meat, and he had to smell his true flavor from the choking smell of perfume.
Perhaps it felt that it could not detect the true scent of the prey in front of it by smelling, so it changed its approach and opened its mouth.
A few timid ones had already covered their eyes, not daring to watch the blood splattering on the spot.
At that moment, a cold voice came from the gate of the courtyard: "Taxue, come back."
Zhong Yansheng's vision was blurred by tears. He looked past the big cat and saw a tall figure appearing at the gate of the courtyard in the shadows. He was wearing a red python robe and had a cold and imposing aura. Xiao Wenlan's group of friends looked like they had seen a ghost. They were more frightened than seeing the Artemisia leopard out of the cage. They were so scared that they retreated back into the courtyard.
At this moment, Xiao Wenlan was more moved than meeting his biological father. His legs softened, and he slid to his knees, almost crying: "Brother! Please save Young Master Zhong!"
Zhong Yansheng's pupils shrank. At this moment, he actually overcame the fear of being pounced on by the beast and tried hard to pull down the veil that was about to fall down.
Unexpectedly, a piece of gauze happened to be caught on the fangs of the Artemisia leopard. He pulled it, and with a "swish" sound, half of it fell off, revealing the neck and lower jaw in the bright sunlight.
Zhong Yansheng felt a chill in his heart.
When he pulled it like this, the Artemisia leopard probably felt that its prey was not well-behaved and was unhappy. Instead of listening to its master's order and going back, it stuck out its tongue and licked his exposed neck.
The big cat's tongue had barbs that scraped against his skin, causing both pain and itchiness. Zhong Yansheng almost thought he was going to be eaten. He was stunned for a few moments, then tears welled up in his eyes and he couldn't help sobbing.
The Artemisia leopard excitedly wagged its tail, as if it felt that this would allow it to taste Zhong Yansheng's true scent hidden beneath the strong floral fragrance. It excitedly licked his neck again, its thick, rough tongue scraping across the tender skin, leaving a red mark where it licked.
The thin boy was pressed to the ground by the beast, with the vaguely exposed lines of his neck looking white and thin, trembling slightly, delicate and fragile.
Xiao Nong drew out his sword expressionlessly.
With a swish, the big cat, which was about to continue licking Zhong Yansheng, paused, but then sensed the murderous intent and its tail slowly drooped. It reluctantly let go of the prey in front of it, and walked towards Xiao Nong dejectedly with its tail between its legs.
Zhong Yansheng's neck still felt like it had been licked, his thin chest was heaving violently, his hands and feet were weak, and he was unable to stand up for a moment, so he tried in vain to pull at the veil that had a hole in it.
As soon as he raised my hand, he heard footsteps approaching.
Immediately, the scene before his eyes darkened, and a tall shadow came over him, covering him completely.
Xiao Nong's face appeared in sight, looking handsome and cold in the backlight. His deep blue eyes drooped, his gaze fell on his thin and slender neck, and the corners of his lips curled up meaningfully: "It's you again."
Zhong Yansheng's scalp suddenly felt numb.