The Enemy General is a Bondservant

Retribution

“What are you trying to…” Zhan Tianbai’s voice couldn’t help quivering in fear when he realised what it was that Duanmu Li was going to do, and his agate-red eyes shook.

“Are you afraid of me?” Duanmu Li asked. He didn’t address himself as ‘this Wang’, making their interaction seem more intimate.

Zhan Tianbai backed away instinctively, but there was nowhere he could escape to. This was Duanmu Li’s room, after all.

Zhan Tianbai clutched hard at the cloak around him, pulling it tighter.

The cloak had Duanmu Li’s scent.

“Duanmu Li, you can’t…” Zhan Tianbai said. He knew what Duanmu Li was about to do, and this was his last ditch attempt to try and stop him. “You can kill me on the battlefield, and you can kill me even now. Or, you can throw me into a brothel house… but you… you can’t…”

 Zhan Tianbai couldn’t bring himself to complete his sentence.

He really hated Duanmu Li.

Out of all of Nanchu’s military leaders, Duanmu Li was the only one who could stand on even footing with him, and perhaps have a shot at beating him before he became an invalid.

Zhan Tianbai’s chest heaved. His breath came in heavy rasps, and every nerve in his body was strung tight as a bowstring, as if the slightest bit of pressure would cause a mental breakdown.

He could endure being sullied by the Nanchu wastrel beasts, but he absolutely refused to allow himself to become Duanmu Li’s.

“Is becoming mine… so unbearable to you?” Duanmu Li asked. That mesmerising voice of his had a provocative undertone. Duanmu Li moved closer to Zhan Tianbai step by step, forcing him into a corner.

“Did you know? You were the only one in Yao Country who was not a complete waste of space. When I first saw you on the battlefield, I immediately thought… I absolutely had to ruin you.”

Two large, strong forearms trapped Zhan Tianbai’s head between them. Duanmu Li brought his thin lips next to Zhan Tianbai’s slightly quivering ears. “Zhan Tianbai, as long as Yao Country had you, my Nanchu would never win the war,” he whispered.

“So that’s… but haven’t you already ruined me?” Zhan Tianbai said, his scarlet eyes icy. 

Duanmu Li had used underhanded tactics to defeat him, but truth be told, given that both countries had been in a state of war, Duanmu Li’s actions were still understandable.

On an intellectual level, Zhan Tianbai thought quite highly of Duanmu Li.

But emotionally, he hated him!

“It’s not enough.”

These three words pierced Zhan Tianbai’s eardrums painfully the moment they left Duanmu Li’s lips, and Zhan Tianbai’s eyes widened.

“Do you not remember? There was once you came up with a scheme to ambush thirty thousand of my elite soldiers, and even personally slayed the officer I had the highest hopes for. That’s not even all of it…”

Zhan Tianbai sucked in his breath sharply, his eyes widening to the size of peach pits.

“Weren’t you the one who provoked me first?”

“Duanmu Li…”

“Ha, ha, ha,” Duanmu Li laughed. It was a deep laugh that came from the base of his throat, cold and arousing all at once.

That laugh stabbed painfully into Zhan Tianbai’s temples.

They were in a warm room, but Zhan Tianbai felt chilled to the bone. His tightly clenched fists shook violently with shame, anger and helplessness. “So… this is your revenge?”

“Oh no,” Duanmu Li said, a sadistic smile splitting his face open. His eyes flicked over Zhan Tianbai’s face, and making Zhan Tianbai feel like he was lashing his heart with his gaze. “I’m in fact rewarding you. There’s only one person in this world who could have caused me to lose my men, lose my high-ranking officers, and force my hand to the point whereby I would use underhanded tactics… and that person is you, Zhan Tianbai! That’s why I want to ruin you. The more you refuse to submit to me, the more I will make you do so!”

Suddenly, Duanmu Li pressed Zhan Tianbai’s head against the wall. Zhan Tianbai struggled fiercely to free himself, but Duanmu Li used his other hand to catch hold of Zhan Tianbai’s flailing wrists.

“You really think that you can escape from me as you are now?” Duanmu Li said, looking down and smiling at Zhan Tianbai like a cat who had cornered a mouse. Zhan Tianbai’s eyes were red, and now rims of his eyes were red with anger and helplessness as well.

“That tear mole at the corner of your eye… it’s really beautiful.”

As that magnetic voice of Duanmu Li’s filled Zhan Tianbai’s ears, he shut his eyes tight.

He was completely out of options now…

The price he had to pay for surviving after drinking the poisoned wine was his strength and martial arts ability. His body was now incredibly weak. He didn’t even have the strength to resist his greatest nemesis.

… …

Zhan Tianbai felt like he had made a trip to hell’s gate and back.

As he drifted in and out of consciousness, what Duanmu Li said earlier somehow made him recall all the things that happened between him and Duanmu Li that had brought them to this point. 

So, was all this just… retribution?