Xue Nu cut him off at once. "I am honored by your favor, my lord. However, if you insist on seeing Lingbo Feiyan, there is one difficulty…"
"And what would that be?"
"I once swore an oath: in this life I shall never perform that dance before others. If I break that vow, blood will be shed."
"Blood will be shed? Heh… interesting."
Yan Chunjun remained utterly at ease, tapping his fingers in a steady rhythm upon the air.
"You vowed never to perform it in public. That is not hard to solve. My princely residence is elegant, suitable, and shielded from prying eyes. Since you cannot present Lingbo Feiyan openly, performing it for me in my residence is most fitting. Xue Nu, will you honor me?"
Xue Nu stood poised upon the platform, unsure how to respond.
"Attend me. Escort Xue Nu back to my residence," Yan Chunjun said with a lazy flick of his hand.
Two guards stepped out at once, saluted, and advanced on Xue Nu, crowding her step by step. "Please, honored lady… please, this way. We humbly request Xue Nu's presence…"
"Hey. You're Yan Chunjun, right?"
A calm voice drifted across the hall. Heads turned toward a man standing on a side balcony, surprise on many faces. Is this fool trying to play the hero?
Gao Jianli, who had been about to act, frowned, then settled back into stillness.
Goku leapt from the balcony. A few light steps and he stood before Xue Nu, blocking the guards. He looked past them toward Yan Chunjun. "Interrupting a dance this beautiful is one thing, but trying to abduct a famed beauty right in front of me? Believe it or not, I'll slap you with the bottom of my shoe."
The hall went dead silent. People stared at Goku in disbelief. Did he have a death wish?.
"Sigh… another would-be hero. Pity he chose the wrong opponent…"
"Impudence!" a guard barked. Swords rasped free all around. One command, and they would rush Goku as one.
"Heh. Interesting, interesting. Slap me with a shoe? No one in this world has dared say that to me," Yan Chunjun mused. He didn't rage; he sounded perfectly calm—
which somehow felt more dangerous.
"Interesting? Truly?"
Goku's eyes stayed on him. His figure blurred; the two men blocking his way flew backward and crashed into the crowd. One hit the floor barefoot—his shoe had vanished who-knew-where.
In the same instant, Goku stood inside the palanquin before Yan Chunjun. A crisp smack rang in every ear.
Mouths fell open. They had just watched a man actually pick up a shoe and slap Yan Chunjun across the left cheek. That sound seemed to strike every heart. Someone had not merely slapped Yan Chunjun—he had slapped the royal house of Yan.
"My lord!"
The elite bodyguard at Yan Chunjun's side lunged, twin blades stabbing for Goku's back.
Guards surged in, surrounding Goku with bared steel.
"Trash. Seeking death?"
Goku's robe sleeve flicked. Scarlet light flashed; an ancient sword wreathed in eerie red glow appeared. One gleam—blood sprayed.
The so-called master looked down in shock at the hole in his chest. He had not even had time to react. With bitter disbelief, he toppled and was still.
The surrounding guards' pupils shrank. That man had been Yan Chunjun's First Killer—Jue Ying—felled in a single stroke? Impossible. Cold sweat broke across their backs, yet, forced by duty, they steeled themselves to save their lord.
They barely moved before the red-lit sword turned in the air like a living thing and streaked past them in flashing arcs. Screams ripped through the hall; blood fountained. In the space of a breath, every guard Yan Chunjun had brought collapsed.
A clear sound rang out as the demon sword returned of its own accord and buried itself in the floor at Goku's side, that sinister glow making every onlooker's heart go cold.
"Wh-who are you?"
Trembling, Yan Chunjun stared in naked terror. The composure was gone; he shook uncontrollably. Death pressed cold fingers against his neck.
"In my eyes, you are unworthy to know my name."
Goku looked at him as if at an insect. "Right now, I only want to slap you. I've disliked your face since the moment I saw it."
Smack. "That's for strutting."
Smack. "That's for preening."
Smack. "That's for trying to steal a decent girl."
Smack. Smack. Smack. Smack.
The sharp rhythm of blows echoed through the hall.
People watched, dumbstruck, as Goku laid into Yan Chunjun with increasing enthusiasm. Shock froze their faces; throats worked as they swallowed hard. Words failed them.
It was vicious. It was brazen. Someone was beating a prince of Yan with a shoe—without the slightest scruple.
Alongside the shock, a feverish thrill spread through the spectators. To see a royal, and such a loathsome one, humiliated—some found their blood racing in spite of themselves.
In moments, Yan Chunjun's face had swollen grotesquely. Now everyone understood the phrase "pig's head." Dazed and senseless, he could no longer think at all.
Goku finally stopped. He flickered forward, hauled the "pig-headed" prince over to Xue Nu, and added one last ringing slap—then sighed in satisfaction. Holding out the blood-stained cloth shoe to her, he asked, "Care to try a couple yourself? It's very cathartic."
A faint, unnatural color rose to Xue Nu's flawless cheeks. She shook her head lightly.
Goku grinned. "Don't worry—I'm here. No one will touch you. Go on—hit him hard. If you beat him to death, it's on me. Don't stand on ceremony."
Xue Nu could only laugh and cry at once. You want a lady to slap a man with a shoe in front of everyone? Absurd—
and yet… oddly tempting.
Tempted though she was, Xue Nu mastered her feelings. Since the moment Yan Chunjun mentioned Lingbo Feiyan, she had harbored the urge to kill him. But to strike a man with a shoe, here, before all—no. That she could not do.
Once her heart had steadied, her usual poise and grace returned. "You should leave at once. Yan Yi ran out in a panic just now. It won't be long before this place is surrounded by Yan's soldiers. By then, even you may find it hard to get away."
"Then come with me. This started because of you—they won't spare you either."
Goku met the peerless beauty's gaze; his eyes were steadfast. He had liked her in the animation; after seeing her dance with his own eyes, he was genuinely moved. For her, what was destroying Yan?
"Go? Where could we go?"
Xue Nu's tone was calm; there was no fear in it.
The nobles had already begun to slip away from the scene, knowing the pavilion would soon be a battlefield.
In moments, the hall stood empty. Only three remained. Gao Jianli still sat at the musicians' dais, unmoving.
Oh, and one more: a "pig-headed" man—Yan Chunjun—lay senseless on the floor.
Goku and Xue Nu faced one another.
"With me, anywhere is possible," Goku said quietly, absolute confidence in his voice.
"Oh? You want to save me?"
"Didn't I just do exactly that?"
"You like me?"
Xue Nu suddenly lifted her eyes to his, a teasing glint within.
"Yes."
Goku nodded without flinching, gaze steady and sincere. He truly had been captivated—by everything about her.
"You help me only to get close. In the end, you are the same as they are."
Her voice cooled; she turned her head away, no longer looking at him.