The Birth of a Villainess

Qu Xing Xu wiped his bloodied hands with a handkerchief that the guardsman handed over to him. It was once a white and clean handkerchief, but once he wiped his hands on them, the white fabric soon turned red as blood stained it.

Yu Fangzhu was barely breathing. His breath turned into wheezing, and any moment now, he would meet his maker. But in his case, the prince will most probably meet the devil to answer to all his crimes.

However, it was still up to Qu Xing Xu if he wanted the prince to die now or later.

Truth to be told, Qu Xing Xu and Yu Fangzhu had a slight dislike towards each other. In the first place, the Duke didn't like the prince, who Emperor Yun almost crowned as his successor because of his character. Behind the crown prince's gentle expression, he mastered to put on his face to pull in the sympathy and like of everyone hides a darker and evil persona that the prince wanted to keep from everyone.

Of course, it was naturally ineffective to some people who could see through that glass-like mask he puts on his face. Some quick-witted people saw through his lies and promises; they tried to avoid the prince. Some knew but kept their close contact for benefits. And few are like Qu Xing Xu; people who instead did not give the prince any face and didn't give a damn about him.

Nevertheless, Yu Fangzhu still fooled most of the people in the Zheng Empire, making them believe in his character and sacrifice their lives for him as a sheep offered to the devil.

But look at him now, Qu Xing Xu mused as his eyes slowly looked at the prince's bloodied and mangled body. There was no trace of elegance and beauty coming off from the prince that could move a woman or a man's heart to be a martyr for him. All that's left of him now was death by torture.

The broad back of the Duke still blocked Lin Xiaofei's sight. She was closer to Qu Xing Xu, but it was also because of this that she had no idea what he was doing to the prince, nor could she see the prince's current state. And so, she could only stand there and feel bored by doing nothing.

Before coming to this place, she thought that she would be the one who will end Yu Fangzhu, but now, it seems that it was not the case. She had this feeling that Qu Xing Xu's actions seemed far more professional than what she and the guardsman did to Yu Fangzhu.

In the end, Lin Xiaofei grew bored and decided to step out of the room. But before she could even lift her foot to step towards the door, a hand held her wrist and stopped her from leaving.

"Where are you going?" Qu Xing Xu asked her after he was done wiping his hands.

Lin Xiaofei was not bothered that his hands were once dirtied by blood and only frowned a little before she replied, "…I felt left out."

If others heard her, they would first think that she must have felt that she had no place in a tea party that only wealthy heirs and scholars frequented. But if they were to know that she was feeling left out because Qu Xing Xu was the only one having fun in this filthy torture room, they would be so shocked that they would question their own sanity.

Don't even ask if Grandpa Lin will stay still and not criticize the Duke for letting his precious granddaughter in that place; he would die on the spot if he finds out that Lin Xiaofei captured the crown prince and even tortured him herself.

Qu Xing Xu chuckled, the vibration from his voice was felt even from his hands, and Lin Xiaofei had this indescribable sense of warmth when he patiently looks at her like she was the only thing he could see in this room. "Do you want him to die that much?"

Lin Xiaofei raised an eyebrow as if asking him if it wasn't that obvious.

Did she want Yu Fangzhu to die?

Of course. She couldn't even wait to see him gasp his last breath.

"Alright, then." Qu Xing Xu didn't let her speak as he interrupted her. "Why don't I show you some magic that will make his death burn into your memories?"

"There's no need for that." Who wants this sc.u.m of a human being's death to burn into her memories? Lin Xiaofei thought to herself.

"But I do think you need to see it." Qu Xing Xu, however, persisted. No one knows what his persistence meant, but Qu Xing Xu's d.e.s.i.r.e to sow something to her was lit aflame.

She looked into his eyes. She still didn't have the impulse to go through this magic show he was conducting.  But seeing her reflection in his eyes, Lin Xiaofei helplessly sighed and stood on one side.

But wait…

Does this mean she could finally see Yu Fangzhu's status?

Somehow, this thought elevated her boredom. She was curious to know what has happened to him and how Qu Xing Xu reduced the prince to nothingness.

She watched Qu Xing Xu stepped away from her front as he took two steps to stand to her side. Then, before her eyes could land on Yu Fangzhu, something black shot through from near her and towards the prince. It took her by surprise, and without warning, the scene before her changed to a fiery wall of black fire that seemed to crawl like snakes intertwining each other endlessly.

Smoke that smells like skin burning filled the room, the heat almost unbearable, and the screams of agonies intensified that it sounded as though hell opened its gate, and all the cries of pain and terror that were kept behind that sealed gate was released. It was truly horrifying.

But what was more terrifying and beyond her expectation was when that black snake-like fire was shot, it definitely came from the hand of the man standing beside her.

And currently, that same man had his lips forming a wicked smile as he reveled in the sight of the burning prince before them.