The cold gleam rose from below, indicating that someone was drawing their sword.

At this moment, Wang Xiaole held the sword at the neck of the duke, clearly stating:

"Even if I kill you, no one will know that it was done by the royal husband of Dibiles!"

Since the duke could insist on emphasizing his loyalty and refuse to acknowledge betrayal;

then he and Qiuyan could also shift the blame for the murder to other countries, absolving themselves of guilt.

To deal with an old scoundrel, one must become a scoundrel oneself;

in this regard, the duke did not realize that he had met his match, and his opponent was much more ruthless than him.

"Do you dare to kill me?"

At the beginning of the threat to his life, the duke used these four words to express his doubt.

"What do I, a small fry like you, have to fear killing you?"

Because he worried that the other party might not believe him, Wang Xiaole deliberately slid the blade across the duke's neck, leaving a shallow cut.

Immediately, a string of blood beads rolled down from the tip of the sword, decorating the floor with a different color upon falling.

The taste of pain, the duke had not felt for decades;

the last time he tasted this kind of pain was when he was plotting against his brothers and sisters, back when he was just a nobody.

Since reaching the pinnacle of the dukedom, he thought he could thereafter do as he pleased, never having to feel pain again.

However, this notion could never become reality.

He mistakenly believed he had already become a powerful figure, but in reality, it was just a wishful illusion.

Even though he issued commands within the country and had tens of thousands of soldiers to deploy, the person standing in front of him could still effortlessly kill him.

It was not surprising to end up like this, for the duke, even after living for decades, was still a weakling;

Whether endowed with cleverness or wisdom, it was of no use at this moment.

The duke had been wrong since he was very young.

He thought his father had power, so he used the favor he received to alienate his siblings;

but that kind of power, in fact, was nothing remarkable;

a firefly alighting on a person's finger to illuminate it, but in the face of the light that could dispel the darkness of night, it was nothing.

He thought the throne could bring him power, so he tried in every way to ascend to that position, but what was the result?

A frog crowned itself king in the well, trapping itself in a narrow world, ignorant of the vastness of the sky, thinking that the view it could encompass with its eyes was all there was in the world;

yet even so, the true sky was still vast, and at any time and place, it could crush the frog through the well.

The duke had never understood power, and thus had never truly gained it.

Therefore, he now felt fear, despite his refusal to admit it and his continued self-aggrandizement, he could not change the fact that he had always been weak.

"Didn't your teachers ever tell you to respect your elders?"

What was he still talking about now? As the ruler of a country, saying such things was already absurd;

since he had made himself a clown, he couldn't blame others for mocking him.

"Sorry, none of my teachers from kindergarten to high school ever taught me to respect scum."

Wang Xiaole turned the sword and made a sharp cut from the duke's shoulder, stopping just short to wound his shoulder.

As Wang Xiaole did this, the feeling of impending death became stronger for the duke;

the taste of death mingled with blood, flowing out from within him.

Now, his stubbornness somewhat softened as he spoke:

"I can't die yet. I still have value, killing me won't benefit you in any way!"

"Does every action without benefit have to be avoided then?"

As he replied like this, Wang Xiaole was about to strike again.

"Hold on! Let me live, I can still contribute to Dibiles."

"A traitor who plans to betray by practical actions, trying to gain favor with the Inran Empire by handing over important figures from the vassal country, what value does he have to our country?"

"There must be value, let me think about it, give me a little time to think..."

"No need to think!"

Wang Xiaole raised the sword and lightly stabbed forward.

Crack!

The sword tip rapidly enlarged in the duke's eyes and pierced through the side of his cheek, creating a hole in the wall that started spreading cracks.

At that moment, the distance between the duke and the Grim Reaper was closer than ever before.

"Old man, don't bother thinking anymore, I can give you a way out."

Before entering the bedroom, Wang Xiaole had prepared two paths for the duke.

One path, needless to say, led to death;

the other path was somewhat different, at least until the duke's remaining value was squeezed dry, he didn't have to worry about his life being threatened.

"Old man, since you're planning to betray, you must have already established contact with Inran, right?

Well then, tonight use the communication crystal to contact someone important on Inran's side."

"Contact? What should I say to those people?"

"Tell them that the royal husband of Dibiles, after being teleported here, was ambushed and caught by soldiers from your country;

this important figure you've finally captured can definitely play a role in future wars, so ask Inran to send someone to take him away."

"Is that all?"

"Of course not. After saying that, tell the people from Inran:

that after the royal husband is captured, the people of Dibiles will surely take action, and the Mu Lan Duchy is limited in strength, so request Inran's army to officially enter and garrison in the country to protect it."

Upon hearing Wang Xiaole's words, the duke grew unhappy.

"Are you kidding me? I joined Inran to protect my country, how can I actively allow another country's army to be stationed within our borders? Won't that simply be handing over the dukedom on a silver platter?"

Smack!

Seeing that the duke didn't understand his position, Wang Xiaole raised his hand and gave him a slap.

Perhaps the duke should feel honored, because in the Beastkin Kingdom, there were many young Beastkin in their adolescence dreaming of receiving a "reward" from this black-haired beauty.

After silencing the duke with a slap, Wang Xiaole continued:

"Do you think I'll benefit Inran? I just want you to lead their military here, and then we can ambush and wipe them out;

by the way, to achieve this, the soldiers from your country are essential;

you need to cooperate, arrange the soldiers according to my requirements, or face the consequences."

"Are you crazy? Inran has around fifteen thousand troops stationed at the border, even if we set an ambush, it won't result in significant casualties."

"Well, fifteen thousand people are something I could handle on my own... it's just a waste of effort, so I want to use the forces of this old man."

Listening to these words, Qiuyan, observing the situation, understood that it was not the time for eating.

So, having eaten her fill, she stood up again, drew a pair of short swords, pointing them at the duke's heart and neck respectively.

Qiuyan's intention was clear, that as long as the duke dared to say a single "no," she would immediately send him to an early grave.

Faced with the dual threat of death, the duke could no longer hesitate, only express cooperation.

As he pondered on how to secretly pass a message to Inran's people during the communication, Qiuyan suddenly punched him in the stomach and then inserted a dart into his mouth, forcing him to swallow it.

To his surprise, the dart was somewhat special;

as the duke swallowed it, he didn't feel it was hard, but rather soft, like candy.

"What did you make me swallow?"

Qiuyan calmly told him:

"Nothing, just some poison in the shape of a dart, sweet to eat; however, once the poison takes effect, it will make you regret being born before death..."

"Are you a demon?"

Slap!

This slap was delivered by Qiuyan, her temper not particularly good.

After hitting the duke's cheeks symmetrically, Qiuyan gave him some bad news:

"The antidote is with me, if you plan to betray, then mark this month next year on your calendar as your death day!"

Since Qiuyan's former master was Charley, she was quite knowledgeable about certain methods and knew how to make unreliable people behave.

After being pre-warned with poison, the duke's little scheme could only go as far as this.

As a coward fearing death, he had no choice but to obediently become a pawn to survive, as there was no other way to live.

Feeling utterly dejected, the duke had no choice but to initiate contact using the crystal.

At the same time, Wang Xiaole began his exploration.

Taking advantage of the time available, he searched for the royal treasury to make his wallet a bit fuller.

After searching for over a dozen minutes, he found some odd treasures and discovered a very ancient-looking mural.

The painting had an abstract style, with a large dragon and a small figure standing beside it, snowflakes falling from the sky.

"I wonder if this painting can be sold for a good price?"

Wang Xiaole asked himself.

"It probably can fetch a good sum, after all, it's a famous painting."

At that moment, Qiuyan stood by and looked at the mural, providing an explanation:

"Don't you know, Master? This painting is very famous in the Eastern Continent, it's called 'The Dragon Maiden's Sigh'."

"Why is it called that?"

"It seems Master really doesn't know. This painting was created by a famous artist based on a legend."

"Is the legend related to the Mu Lan Duchy in the Western Continent?"

"Although the Mu Lan Duchy is a country located in the Western Continent, it gave rise to a well-known legend in the Eastern Continent; in other words, the origin of the legend is from this country."

"What is the content of that legend?"

As he asked, Wang Xiaole's gaze was fixed on Qiuyan, for a reason even he wasn't sure of.

At that moment, Qiuyan was like a storyteller, using a steady pace to tell her master:

"The love story between a half-dragon and half-human girl and a human boy; it might sound complicated to say it like that, but put differently, it's much easier to remember."