CHAPTER 235: 235- DO YOU BLEED GOLD?

Lin Zhaoyue tilted her chin, her voice like silk laced with venom.

"You need not place your eyes on ugly pests."

Fang Yuan’s laugh rolled out, low and amused as he didn’t even try to peer past her.

Instead, his gaze lingered on her for a second, as though the rest of the battlefield had ceased to exist.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, a pair of daggers appeared in his hands.

The Blazing Fang Daggers.

Heaven-grade weapons, their edges forged from molten core-iron mined at the heart of a dead volcano.

The blades glowed faintly as though veins of living fire still coursed through them, heat shimmering around their crimson length.

The air itself warped, tinged red, as Fang Yuan casually spun them in his grip.

Fang Yuan twirled the crimson daggers once more before, with an easy smile, offering them hilt-first to Lin Zhaoyue.

"Here’s your gift."

Her eyes lit up like a child’s on the first day of spring.

Without hesitation, she darted forward and wrapped her arms around him, her excitement spilling over in a rare, unguarded hug.

But the tender moment cracked as a new voice, soft yet steady, carried across the battlefield.

"Clan Head Fang," Princess Qin Yuyan said, bowing low, her jade-white armor gleaming beneath the smoke and fire.

"I ask of you—please, spare my brother. I plead not for his safety, but for your own."

The words struck like a thrown stone upon still water.

Lin Zhaoyue froze. Her embrace loosened, her body turning with deliberate slowness toward the princess.

Then the world itself seemed to plummet into an abyss.

The battlefield dimmed, the warmth leeched away, and an unbearable chill coiled through the air.

Each word she uttered was sharp, venomous, and dripping with killing frost.

"You. Dare. Threaten. My. Husband?"

The crushing spiritual pressure rolled outward like a tidal wave of ice, and the Third Princess collapsed instantly, her breath torn from her lungs.

Her knees struck the frozen earth, her body trembling, tears spilling unbidden as her vision blurred beneath the suffocating weight.

In that moment, Fang Tian broke free of his brother’s suppression, desperation blazing in his eyes.

He rushed forward, placing himself like a shield before Qin Yuyan.

"Tian," Lin Zhaoyue’s voice was a hiss of wrath, her eyes burning with fury. "Is this rebellion?"

But before the situation escalate, Fang Yuan’s hand came to rest gently on her shoulder.

The pressure shattered, vanishing as though it had never existed.

Lin Zhaoyue blinked once, her expression softening instantly into a sweet, radiant smile.

She looked up at him with adoration, her voice honeyed and innocent.

"Husband, she threatened you."

Fang Yuan’s smile curved, amused rather than angered, his tone warm but edged with steel.

"Zhaoyue, if every barking dog was worth a massacre, our clan would drown in blood before noon."

He brushed a lock of her hair back, utterly unfazed by the abyss she had just unleashed.

"A wife as fierce as you... it makes even Heaven hesitate before pointing its finger at me. But threats?"

His gaze flicked toward the trembling princess and then back to Lin Zhaoyue.

"They only sting if you give them weight."

Lin Zhaoyue’s eyes shimmered, caught between indignation and delight. She leaned closer, her voice lowering so only he could hear.

"Husband... you always make light of it. But if anyone truly tried to harm you, I would bury kingdoms."

Fang Yuan chuckled softly, patting her hand.

"I know. That’s why I gave you the daggers."

Fang Yuan then turned his gaze, first to the princess still on her knees, then to his younger brother who stood protectively in front of her.

His eyes, cool and measured, carried no trace of the earlier warmth he had shown Lin Zhaoyue.

He clasped his hands behind his back, his presence filling the air like a mountain pressing down.

"I hope you’re both ready for the consequences," he said, his voice calm but carrying the weight of judgment. "Since you’ve both seen fit to stand against me, speak up now."

His gaze cut through the crown prince’s pale figure, before settling on Qin Yuyan and Fang Tian.

"Tell me clearly and convincingly, why I should spare this boy’s life."

The princess summoned every shred of courage left in her trembling body. Her voice was thin, but it carried.

"The Crown Prince... has a master. One whose strength is said to rival—"

Fang Yuan raised a hand, cutting her words short with a cool interjection.

"Before you say something wrong, remember this. I already won against Xiao Bai."

The words slammed into the silence. Qin Yuyan’s breath hitched, her throat working soundlessly.

Whatever retort she had crumbled before it could leave her lips.

Fang Yuan shifted his gaze to the Crown Prince. Qin Hai’s limbs trembled under the suppression, but his mouth found its freedom, spitting venom in desperation.

Qin Yuyan’s throat tightened. The words she had gathered collapsed inside her chest.

She swallowed hard, her plea falling apart before it could leave her lips.

Fang Yuan’s gaze shifted.

The Crown Prince, pinned to the ground by suppression, still twisted and snarled like a chained dog.

His eyes gleamed with defiance, a fleeting taste of freedom making him bold.

"Release me this instant!" Qin Hai roared. "My master is far stronger than that Xiao Bai! If you value your life, bow now—bow to me!"

Fang Yuan clicked his tongue softly, a sound filled with faint disgust.

His eyes narrowed, disappointment shadowing his expression.

So this is what you are now he thought. The Crown Prince I last saw was shrewd, careful... calculating. Yet here, on death’s threshold, your mask breaks, and now only a petty child remains.

He raised his hand. His fingers curved, steady, ready to end it with a single stroke.

But before the strike could fall, the prince’s head jerked downward, his body slamming into the dirt under a sudden, merciless pressure.

From where he stood, Lin Zhaoyue’s voice drifted across the battlefield, smooth, yet laced with a biting chill.

"They don’t bleed gold after all."

Her lips curved, though her eyes were cold as glaciers.

"What a disappointment."