Chapter 1780: How It's Different from What I Imagined

The scarred leader's eyelid twitched. The man before him was the mercenary group's vice-leader, whose cultivation and prestige were in no way inferior to his own. He had deliberately transferred him away due to some apprehension, never expecting him to return at precisely this moment.

"Thanks to the timely arrival of the second-in-command! This wretch killed many of our brothers. We must capture her today and make her pay dearly!" The mercenaries who were usually close to the vice-leader clamored.

Though the scarred leader was annoyed by the vice-leader's veiled jab at his incompetence, this was not the time for an outburst. He said in a deep voice, "Second-in-command, you've arrived just in time. This woman is cunning and her cultivation is extremely high. Everyone, attack together; do not give her a single chance."

"Alright, let's see who can capture her first." The effeminate man observed Chu Chuyan, clicking his tongue. "What a pitiful beauty! I almost can't bear to lay a hand on her."

Despite his words, he showed no mercy in his actions, immediately striking at her vital points.

The scarred leader snorted and lunged forward, unwilling to be outdone. Having already lost face, he naturally couldn't let the second-in-command subdue the opponent first.

Chu Chuyan was immediately in dire straits. These two men's cultivation was even higher than hers, and the other mercenaries, disregarding any martial code, also joined the encirclement. A barrage of offensive techniques overwhelmed her, and she was hit several times in quick succession.

Had it not been for the exquisite mastery of her Snowflake Divine Sword and her quick adaptability, she would likely have been dead on the spot.

Despite this, she had already spewed blood several times, her entire being like a small boat in a raging sea, liable to capsize at any moment.

A hint of despair flickered in her eyes. She hadn't expected to fall in this bizarre mystic realm, and feared she would never get to see Ah Zu again in this life.

Just then, an angry shout rang out: "How outrageous! So many grown men in broad daylight ganging up on a weak woman! Have you no shame?"

A graceful young master in white robes flew down from mid-air, holding a fan, exuding an air of romantic nonchalance.

Chu Chuyan was startled to see the newcomer. "Prince Lieyang?"

"Oh, so it's Miss Chu. How dare these people bully you! This is simply intolerable!" The flamboyant young master in white was, of course, Prince Lieyang.

He had been waiting for his imagined opportunity. When he saw Chu Chuyan almost break out of the encirclement on her own, his heart leaped into his throat.

Fortunately, the second-in-command appeared and stopped her.

He saw Chu Chuyan was in a desperate situation, but he still couldn't find the imagined opportunity where she would be sent flying, allowing him to soar into the air, catch her, and twirl around. However, Protector Sun was anxiously urging him, saying that if they waited any longer, Miss Chu would lose all her combat ability, making the situation even more uncontrollable.

Left with no choice, he had to appear to "rescue" her. To make this rescue more legendary and fated, he deliberately pretended not to recognize Chu Chuyan, acting as if he were just a passerby intervening out of righteousness. Only when Chu Chuyan called out his identity did he "wake up from a dream" and recognize her.

At this moment, the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group had tightly surrounded Chu Chuyan in the center. For a moment, they ceased their attack and stared at the uninvited guest.

"Where did this flamboyant fella in white clothes come from?"

"By their tone, they seem to know him, and he's some kind of prince?"

"Pah, it's not like we haven't kidnapped princes before. We've even killed kings."

"This guy's clothes are quite expensive. He must be worth something."

Prince Lieyang's eyelids twitched. He couldn't help but yell in anger, "Bastards! Ganging up on others, what kind of heroes are you? If you have the guts, send out two men to fight me and Miss Chu one-on-one!"

He couldn't help but feel clever about his plan. In a desperate situation, with two swords combined, shoulder-to-shoulder, back-to-back against strong enemies, their feelings were sure to quickly intensify.

To his surprise, the mercenaries burst into laughter. "Is your brain kicked by a donkey? In this world, winning is the only truth. Why would we give up ganging up when it works, and fight you one-on-one?"

Hearing the mockery around him, Prince Lieyang's face turned ashen. "Fine! I originally intended to fight you as an ordinary person, but you force my hand. So what if you have more people?"

With that, he clapped his hands. "Everyone, come out!"

As soon as his words fell, a group of people emerged from all directions, subtly encircling the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group.

Seeing the slight change in the mercenaries' expressions, Prince Lieyang felt a surge of delight. "Aren't you just relying on numbers? Well, now it's our turn to have more people!"

At this, the effeminate second-in-command sneered, "If the quality isn't there, no matter how many you have, they're just a flock of sheep."

The moment he finished speaking, he moved like a ghost, his figure swiftly darting around. Almost instantly, Prince Lieyang's subordinates shrieked repeatedly. In the blink of an eye, more than a dozen men had fallen in pools of blood, each with a large hole ripped in their chest, their hearts directly torn out.

The second-in-command's hands had transformed into long, sharp claws, dripping with bloody hearts.

He then opened his mouth wide and swallowed the hearts in his hands in one gulp, followed by a chilling sound of chewing.

As a gulping sound echoed, the second-in-command wore an expression of satisfaction. "Ah, how delicious fresh hearts are."

Prince Lieyang's faction involuntarily recoiled a step. Was this guy a monster? He was terrifying.

The members of the Gray Wolf Mercenary Group grinned menacingly. They were all seasoned veterans and needed no reminder. Their mutual understanding allowed them to seize the moment their opponents' morale faltered and pounce.

Soon, they were all wielding their weapons, harvesting lives in swathes.

Prince Lieyang's face drastically changed. How was this possible? How had these people suddenly become so powerful?

Just moments ago, Chu Chuyan alone had been toying with them. His own cultivation wasn't far from hers, and his team even had several strong individuals. How could the battle become so one-sided?

At that moment, the scarred leader, who had just crushed two guards' heads with his bare hands, seemed to see through his thoughts and laughed cruelly. "It seems you truly are a pampered prince. You think similar cultivation levels mean similar combat power. With the same cultivation, this little girl is far stronger than any of you."

"Besides, earlier, we simply found this girl too beautiful, so we held back from using our big killing moves. As for you ugly men, we're not interested in men, so why would we show you any mercy?"

He wasn't deliberately showing off; rather, he didn't miss any opportunity to crush the opponent's morale. After all, there were still some well-cultivated individuals among Prince Lieyang's group, and their numbers were considerable. If it came to a full-scale battle, the mercenaries would certainly suffer significant losses.

As expected, Prince Lieyang's side, already on the verge of fear, had their morale completely shattered by these words. Their usual full strength could at best muster half its power, and everyone was only thinking about how to save their lives and find an opportunity to escape.

Although a few, like Protector Sun, fought fiercely, and Chu Chuyan also lent support, it couldn't stem the tide of the others' collapsed morale.

Soon, the battlefield devolved into a one-sided massacre, filled with the arrogant and cruel laughter of the Gray Wolf mercenaries and the terrified screams of Prince Lieyang's faction.

Witnessing the unfolding scenes, Prince Lieyang was utterly dumbstruck. How could this be so different from what he had imagined?

Shouldn't these mercenary groups have retreated in fear upon realizing their numerical disadvantage, then been beaten back in disarray, allowing him to heroically rescue the beauty and win her affection?

He looked towards the battlefield. The only thing that comforted him was that Protector Sun was incredibly brave and had already killed several mercenaries.

Just then, a gigantic ethereal gray wolf appeared behind Protector Sun, who was still fending off enemies. It suddenly opened its massive, blood-red maw and bit off Protector Sun's head in one gulp.

Protector Sun's body instinctively continued to swing his weapon, trying to kill the surrounding enemies. But his head was gone, and he ultimately stumbled a few steps before collapsing heavily to the ground.

The gray wolf apparition then transformed back into the scarred leader, who spat a mouthful of bloody foam at the headless corpse on the ground. "Hmph, that son of a bitch killed several of our brothers. He was a good fighter, glad he's dealt with."

Prince Lieyang: "???"

He never imagined that their strongest expert would die so carelessly.

He felt some regret. He should have fought alongside Protector Sun, protecting his back so he wouldn't have been so easily ambushed.

"Be careful, Your Highness!" In that brief moment of distraction, the attendant Xiaosha's alarmed cry reached his ears. Xiaosha had thrown himself in front of Prince Lieyang.

Then, with a dull thud, Xiaosha was cleaved into two.

A large mass of brain matter and intestines splattered onto Prince Lieyang.

Witnessing this scene, he finally completely broke down. He let out a shriek, spun around, and fled, yelling, "Miss Chu, hold on a little longer! I'll go find people to rescue you!"

With his flight, his subordinates completely disintegrated. No longer caring about anything else, they desperately scattered and fled, with Xiaozhu leading the charge.

Chu Chuyan's face was frosty. In fact, when these people joined the battle, she had had an opportunity to escape amidst the chaos.

But since these people had come to save her, how could she abandon them?

Who would have thought that Prince Lieyang would be so useless? Both sides clearly had the strength to fight, but his weakness led to a one-sided situation.

Now, even if she wanted to leave, she couldn't.