The Birth Of A Villainess

Not far from where they were, Yu Fangzhu took a few steps forward towards the cave. He took his time and cautiously looked around, squinting his eyes at the falling water and trying his best to see through it. He wanted to make sure that no one was inside the cave at the moment as he didn't want to go in there while the guards were watching somewhere behind him.

Although, he trusted them to watch his back and protect him, letting another person know his secret was not a good idea. As long as someone was alive to tell the tale to anyone whether the story was truthful or not, it would still raise some questions in his directions and people will start using what they know by threatening him.

After looking a bit more at the cave, Yu Fangzhu soon got tired. He waited for almost half an hour but no one came out to meet him. His people were also getting tired from just standing around and hiding their presence.

Could it be that that person found out that he brought some people with him? But that can't be. Yu Fangzhu thought to himself. But the possibility of it was not completely erased and that would only explain why no one appeared!

Feeling fretful at his thought, he turned around and quickly dash towards the path he first used to come there.. When he passed by his confused people, he shouted at them to get ready and return back to the city.

What he wanted to avoid now was that an announcement of his secret posted in the notice board, the wooden board where the decree of the emperor or special announcement where posted. If it comes to that, no matter how much he try to hide and deny the allegations thrown towards him and tell the people that they shouldn't believe rumors, there will still doubts that will stay inside their minds and heart.

Eventually, they will start making rumors and rumors was a fearsome enemy since nations and people have already fallen because of it.

Yu Fangzhu ran down the mountain along with his men following him and surrounding him to a protective circle as they moved along. Even when coming down, they didn't strip off their initial mindset to protect their master.

"Your highness, where should we go?" One of the men asked.

Yu Fangzhu replied slightly breathless as he was running forward, "To the heart of the city!" He told them but then, he renewed his order and hollered at them, "Go to every noticeboard you could find in the city. Sent a few more men outside the city and check if any announcements were posted by an organization or an individual that contains my name. If you find one, tear it up and burn it! And if you saw the person posting it, capture them alive and make sure not to attract anyone's attention!"

"Yes, your highness!" All the men around him simultaneously said. Their feet started to quicken after he order them.

Since they were all grown man and was quite well trained in martial arts, it didn't take much time for them to reach the foot of the mountain. The vast empty grassland that will lead them up to the mountain was already in front of them. The land that they're also standing on was also no longer a slope thus, the strain that was on their feet lessen a little bit.

And just when they all finally stepped on the flat lush ground, they didn't know that there was something waiting for them down there.

Something they never expected to happen and somewhere deeper.

When the last man in their group landed his feet on the flat ground, they heard a rustling noise from somewhere, but they couldn't pinpoint the exact location since the various noises coming from the mountain and insects became a plug to their ears and they failed to distinguish the sound.

Still, some of the few outstanding men felt that something was wrong and one of them immediately called out at the prince.

"Your highness, please be careful!"

But his warning was already too late as everyone else including the person who called out felt themselves airborne before falling down quickly to a hidden pit below where they originally stood.

"Ah!"

"Argh!"

"Ugh!"

They all groaned in pain as soon as they hit the bottom of the pit. They didn't know that the moment their feet touched the flat ground, there was a pit waiting for them. And more importantly, the pit wasn't ordinary as the bottom was filled with nail and other barbed objects that would inflict minor injuries.

Yu Fangzhu, who was at the perfect, no, bad spot in the pit rather, was bleeding profusely after falling down the pit. Both his legs, feet, and palms were now full of holes as he fell on top of several nail and blunt objects. He could feel his blood seeping through his pants and dripping down the muddy ground below him.

The pit was about five feet deep in the ground and with the force that pulled all of them down the pit, it added to the pull of force that pushed their body further down the erected nail and sharp objects lying down the pit to stab all of them.

Moreover, the pit was wide as it fit ten people and trap them.

"What are you all waiting for?! Why are you not helping this prince out of this pit! You bloody fools!" Since Yu Fangzhu was also one of the heavily injured amongst them and he was their master, the duty to get him out of this pit would eventually fall on their heads.

And as much as everyone wanted to help him and do their jobs right, the men, who fell to the put along with the prince, also suffered a few or more wounds when they fell. Thus, they were quite slow in taking actions.

"Your highness, please wait a little bit. I'll come for you now." Some of them slowly and painfully sacrificed their body and pulled themselves out from the nail that pierced their body and started to get closer to the prince.

But just as when Yu Fangzhu could find relief from the pain and humiliation of falling to someone's trap, they all heard a few footsteps coming from above.

They all looked up to see who came to look at them. Wishing that it was some of the good samaritans who will give them a hand.

Unfortunately, their wish wasn't heard as these footsteps belonged to no one else but Lin Xiaofei and Qu Xing Xu.

"Oh my… look at what we caught in the trap." The smooth and deep voice of Qu Xing Xu said.