Chapter 2835 The Substitute Was Forcibly Taken by the Bandit's Wife 40

Wu Zhengchu fell to the bottom of the pit, covered in mud and looking disheveled. He struggled to get up, but the pit walls were slippery, and he slipped back down every time he tried.

Jin Chen stood at the edge of the pit, looking down at him with a lazy gaze, as if he were looking at something interesting.

"Your Highness," he began, his voice light and airy, "didn't you want to be with Ruan Shutong forever?"

Wu Zhengchu was taken aback.

Jin Chen raised his chin, gesturing for him to look down into the pit. "Look down."

Wu Zhengchu lowered his head in bewilderment.

The bottom of the pit was covered with a thick layer of straw, and under the straw... there seemed to be something else.

With trembling hands, he parted the straw to reveal what was wrapped in a straw mat underneath.

The straw mat was already somewhat rotten, revealing a corner of a human hand, pale and stiff.

Wu Zhengchu froze.

He suddenly ripped off the straw mat.

Three corpses.

Three corpses were crammed together at the bottom of a small pit, like a bizarre joint burial.

Wu Zhengchu staggered backward, his back slamming against the pit wall. He trembled all over and couldn't even speak.

At the edge of the pit, Jin Chen gently put his arm around Gu Fanghe's waist, rested his head on his shoulder, looked down at Wu Zhengchu's disheveled appearance, and said in a lazy, amused voice, "What's wrong? Are you so unhappy to see your Shu Tong?"

"Oh, but... there's a pair of brothers in there too, your love is quite crowded."

Wu Zhengchu: "..."

He trembled even more violently, his lips moved but no sound came out.

He finally understood.

All the plans, all the luring, all the pincer attack... it was all a lie. From the very beginning, it was a trap.

And he was that fool who walked right into the trap.

No, he can't die here! He's a prince! The future emperor! How dare they?!

"I am a prince..." he murmured, his voice hoarse, "I am a prince... How dare you..."

He struggled to climb up.

The pit walls were slippery. After several attempts, Wu Zheng finally managed to grab a protruding rock and slowly, laboriously, began to move upwards.

Just as he was about to climb up, Gu Fanghe suddenly pressed down on the top of his head.

Wu Zhengchu felt a sudden weight on his head, as if his face had been pressed into the cold, wet soil.

A feeling of suffocation instantly overwhelmed me.

He struggled desperately, kicking and flailing his arms and legs, but his hand was as if cast in iron, remaining completely still.

The mud got into his nasal cavity and blocked his throat. His vision went black. Just when Wu Zhengchu thought he was going to die, the hand let go.

Wu Zhengchu was panting heavily, his face covered in tears, snot, and dirt, looking as pathetic as a stray dog.

But before he could recover, the hand pressed down again.

Repeat this three times.

When Gu Fanghe released his grip again, Wu Zhengchu no longer had the strength to struggle.

He lay paralyzed at the bottom of the pit, trembling all over, his eyes unfocused, only able to mutter repeatedly, "Don't kill me...don't kill me...please...don't kill me..."

Gu Fanghe squatted down, looking at him with bloodthirsty hatred, "Did my younger brother beg you like this back in the mansion?"

"Your Highness... the Prince."

Wu Zhengchu shuddered, terrified by the hatred in his eyes, his whole body trembling like a leaf.

He wanted to deny it, to say that he was unaware of it and that his subordinates had acted on their own... but he didn't even have the courage to lie, and could only let out more desperate cries.

Gu Fanghe stopped looking at Wu Zhengchu, released his grip on Wu's hair, and let him slump down by the pit like a lump of mud.

Jin Chen walked to the edge of the cliff and reached out to push aside the dense bamboo leaves.

In the narrow canyon, Wu Zhengchu's elite troops were routed.

The accompanying officials, the prefect of Nanzhou, the sub-prefect, and several of Wu Zhengchu's confidants were all tightly bound and kneeling by the mountain road, watching all of this unfold.

They also saw Wu Zhengchu by the pit.

They saw that once high and mighty prince now lying like a dog at the bottom of the pit, his face covered in mud and trembling.

I also saw Gu Fanghe and Jin Chen.

Seeing Gu Fanghe stand up, grab Wu Zhengchu by the hair, and drag him out of the pit.

Seeing Jin Chen walk to the edge of the cliff, smile slightly at Wu Zhengchu, and then...

She reached out and pushed him down.

Wu Zhengchu's screams echoed through the valley, growing farther and farther away, until they were finally drowned out by the sound of falling rocks.

The officials turned pale, and several even fainted on the spot.

It’s over.

The third prince is dead.

He died in Black Mountain Village, right in front of them.

They... are finished too.

The surviving soldiers all abandoned their armor and surrendered.

[The villain's darkening value is detected -20, totaling 25! 】

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"Report!"

A spy, panting heavily, rushed up the mountainside and collapsed in front of Gu Fanghe.

"Boss! Something's wrong! Down the mountain... down the mountain, a large number of soldiers have arrived again! Judging by their banners, they're the Crown Prince's men! They... they've captured the Fourth Boss!!"

Gu Fanghe's expression changed drastically.

"Prince?!"

...Yes, when the snipe and the clam fight, the fisherman benefits.

Wu Zhengchu and the Crown Prince were locked in a struggle, and the Crown Prince wanted to be the fisherman. He wanted to eliminate Wu Zhengchu, his rival, and also use the pretext of suppressing bandits to wipe out Gu Fanghe and the Black Mountain Village. Returning home would be a great achievement.

"Order! Everyone! Immediately move towards the mountain stronghold and consolidate your defenses! Prepare to engage the enemy!"

"Yes!"

"Get ready to meet the enemy!"

Commands echoed through the mountains and forests.

Behind the Crown Prince, the royal soldiers who had once been trained by Gu Fanghe felt a mix of emotions upon hearing the familiar commands.

There was a time when they too charged into battle at this command, and they once revered this man as a god of war.

But now, they have become enemies.

Fighting in the mountains and fields is the most unpredictable. Jin Chen scanned the mountains and fields with his divine sense to identify Gu Fanghe's location. He saw two figures blocking him, as if they wanted to capture him alive and hand him over to the Crown Prince.

Jin Chen's thoughts shifted, and he decided to turn the tables on the plan.

At the same time, Gu Fanghe also heard the soldiers on the Crown Prince's side shouting to him that Jin Chen had been captured alive in the forest. However, Gu Fanghe and Shi Meng, who should have been in a state of panic, looked at each other.

Kidnapping Jin Chen in this place naturally involves the help of the Mountain Lord.

"The sons of the Gu family army!" Chen Xiaoshan turned around and faced the mountain bandits behind him with firm and fierce eyes, the former Gu family army.

"Why were we here seven years ago? It was because the court was unjust and treacherous officials were in power. It was because we were loyal to the country but ended up with our families destroyed and us forced to wander aimlessly!"

"Today, one of our enemies has been killed! But there is still that high and mighty Crown Prince, and that emperor on the dragon throne, who see us as worthless weeds and want to exterminate us all!"

"They captured our men! They're trying to use our brothers and Young Master Jin to blackmail us!"

"Do you think we can agree to that?"

"cannot!!!"

"Kill! Rescue Young Master Jin! Slaughter all these lackeys of the imperial court!!"