Did The Young Prince’s Kingdom Get Destroyed Today? Chapter 192

Everyone was busy, and Little Butterfly that Murong Xu had taken in, sensing the tense atmosphere, remained unusually quiet.

She didn’t speak much, and on the rare occasions she did, it was only to ask, “Where did Brother Little Seven go?”

No one answered her, so it was Murong Xu who eventually told her that Brother Little Seven had gone missing.

When Little Butterfly heard this, her face was full of shock.

She stood up, volunteering to go out and find Brother Little Seven, but Murong Xu didn’t allow it.

Murong Xu patted her head, gently advising, “Better not. You couldn’t even find your own brother, let alone Little Seven.”

If it weren’t for the situation with Little Seven going missing, Murong Xu would’ve made an effort to help Little Butterfly find her family. But now, he couldn’t focus on that, so he had no choice but to let her stay here. At least while she was here, she was safe.

A young girl like her, if left to wander alone, would likely meet an uncertain fate.

“Let the adults handle finding people. You stay here and don’t wander off,” Murong Xu said, offering her some simple reassurance before leaving.

Little Butterfly watched his back, puffing up her cheeks in defiance.

Adults always thought kids couldn’t do anything, but Little Butterfly believed that sometimes, kids could help too.

“I can find my brother,” she muttered to herself. Whether it was her real brother or Little Seven, she was determined to find them both!

While Little Butterfly in the military camp was thinking about how to fly away, Ling Rui in the tribe was wishing he could fly too.

“This is absurd!”

Standing in the courtyard, dressed in freshly changed clothes, Ling Rui looked around at the people surrounding him. He tugged on the Second Young Master’s arm and whispered in protest, “Tang Er, marriage is a serious matter. How can you be so reckless and absurd about it?”

Tang Er, who was being tugged on, didn’t find it absurd at all.

“It’s been the custom here since ancient times,” Tang Er said, turning his head to glance at Ling Rui, his eyes clearly telling him—just accept it.

But Ling Rui wasn’t about to accept it. He shot Tang Er a silent look in return, clearly communicating that he would never give in.

“Ladies, I already have a madam,” Ling Rui announced to the crowd, intentionally using the more formal term “madam” to show his seriousness.

In a firm voice, he continued, “I promised my madam that we would spend our lives together, just the two of us. If I break that promise, may heaven strike me down with lightning.”

“Little Brother Little Seven, as long as you stay with us, no lightning will dare strike you,” one of the young women teased, smiling sweetly. “If lightning does come, I’ll shield you from it.”

Ling Rui: “…”

Ling Rui tensed his face and shook his head in refusal. “No need. If I betray my wife, let the lightning strike me dead!”

His resolute tone left the teasing woman momentarily speechless.

“Alright, alright, the food’s almost ready. Let’s all go eat. We can talk more after dinner,” someone interjected, sensing the tension and steering the conversation elsewhere.

The crowd dispersed to eat, leaving Ling Rui and Tang Er behind.

Tang Er glanced at him again, this time speaking in a slightly more serious tone, “They’re being very lenient with you.”

By “they,” Tang Er was referring to the women interested in marrying Ling Rui.

In the past, there had been other outsiders who came here. If they were good-looking and had a decent temperament, they would be kept to marry into the tribe. If they were ugly or had a bad personality, the women of the tribe would reject them outright. And those rejected… well, their fates were not something to speak of lightly.

The people here were not exactly known for their kindness.

Over the past two days, the women of the tribe had shown interest in Ling Rui, but every time they approached him, he would firmly declare his loyalty to his wife, refusing all their advances.

If it were anyone else—no, to be exact, if it were a different face—

Tang Er was certain that the women wouldn’t be as lenient as they were now.

“If they’re really being lenient, they should let me leave,” Ling Rui said bluntly. “Forced marriages never work. They’ll never get a sweet melon from me.”

This sweet melon was reserved only for Ah Wu.

Tang Er looked at him, his expression neutral, and said, “Whether it’s sweet or not doesn’t matter—they just want a bite.”

Ling Rui: “…”

Ling Rui was on the verge of shutting down.

The two of them continued talking for a while until someone brought over food.

The resources here were limited, nothing like the capital. However, since Ling Rui’s arrival, the meals he had been served were of the highest standard available here, with both meat and vegetables.

From the quality of the food, it was clear that Ling Rui’s face was highly favored in the tribe.

The table was laden with dishes, far too much for one person to eat alone.

Ling Rui invited Tang Er to join him, casually mentioning that meals were more enjoyable with company.

Tang Er pretended not to notice that this was just an excuse.

Ever since Tang Er had poisoned him, Ling Rui had been on high alert, constantly wary of being poisoned again.

He was especially concerned about a particular type of poison he had read about in stories—one that could strip a person of their dignity.

“Tang Er, have you ever been outside? Don’t you want to see the world beyond this place?” Ling Rui asked, making idle conversation as they ate the food that Tang Er had already touched.

Tang Er didn’t answer the first question but replied to the second, “No.”

“The outside world is amazing, full of new and exciting things,” Ling Rui said, trying to tempt Tang Er with descriptions of the bustling outside world—tall inns, long streets, and vendors selling all sorts of goods.

He painted a picture of the wonders outside, hoping to lure Tang Er into leaving.

Tang Er listened without changing his expression, and when Ling Rui finished, he calmly said, “But aside from all that, isn’t the outside world also filled with endless wars?”

“Here, there’s no war, no enemies. Everyone can live peacefully.”

“But if you stay here forever, resources will eventually run out. And as the scholars say, close kin shouldn’t marry. Even if there are no enemies, living here too long will—”

Ling Rui didn’t finish his sentence, but Tang Er knew exactly what he meant.

As they continued eating, Tang Er’s expression shifted slightly when Ling Rui mentioned the part about “close kin should not marry.”

The tribe had long noticed this issue.

It was precisely because they had observed this problem that they forcefully kept outsiders who entered the tribe for marriage. Only by producing offspring could their tribe continue to survive.

To ensure the birth of healthy descendants, the tribe specifically assigned a group of people to interact with the outside world.

This group would occasionally carry out tasks outside, exchanging goods and bringing in new people.

Tang Er didn’t share this information with Ling Rui.

He paused for a few seconds before continuing to eat his meal.

Though Ling Rui was frustrated here, he still ate heartily.

He needed to fill his belly in order to plan his next steps.

After eating his fill, Ling Rui waved Tang Er away, saying he wanted to go back to his room to rest.

Tang Er watched as Ling Rui returned to his room. Only after the door was fully closed did Tang Er look down at the table of food.

There was a cup of water on the table.

From his sleeve, Tang Er took out a small bottle of medicine. He picked up the cup, swallowed the pill with the water.

Ling Rui was very cautious, but no matter how careful he was, it wouldn’t help if someone ate poisoned food alongside him.

They had eaten the same food, but only Tang Er took the antidote.

Ling Rui had guessed right. If Tang Er dared to poison him once, he wouldn’t hesitate to poison him again.

The poison in the food this time was different from the last. This one would slowly make Ling Rui forget his past.

Only by forgetting his past could he willingly stay here.

After taking the antidote, Tang Er had the food cleared away and went off to attend to other matters.

Inside the room, Ling Rui stuffed pillows under the covers to make it look like someone was sleeping.

After arranging the pillows and carefully shaping the blanket, making sure it looked convincingly like a person was in bed, he reverted back to his small form and escaped through a hole he had dug in the corner of the wall.

He had already escaped several times, and the tribe couldn’t fully restrain him, but each time he ran out, he found it useless.

He simply couldn’t find a way out!

After wandering for a long time again and still not finding an exit, Ling Rui sat on the grass, looking a bit deflated.

He grabbed a familiar blade of dry grass with his paw and put it in his mouth, chewing as he pondered his difficult decision.

If he went back, he’d be forced into marriage.

If he didn’t go back, apple was still here.

As Ling Rui thought, his head suddenly buzzed, and for a moment, his mind went blank, as if a flash of light had passed through it.

After a moment of recovery, he sighed, “Forget it, I’ll go back and find apple first.”

He figured he could still stall for time in the tribe. When he really couldn’t delay any longer, he’d make his escape.

Ling Rui, still struggling to delay his marriage, rubbed his head, thinking that maybe he was overthinking things, since his mind felt increasingly sluggish.

Meanwhile, Ah Wu, who had come searching for him, finally arrived at the place where Ling Rui had disappeared after following his scent for several days.

He even found the trap that Ling Rui and apple had fallen into.

Ah Wu was getting closer to his little one.

Unfortunately, his little one’s mind was about to shut down.

“Little Brother Little Seven, look, aren’t these flowers I planted beautiful?”

“They are.”

“As long as you think they’re beautiful, that’s all that matters. I plan to use these flowers on the day we get married.”

“I won’t get married.”

Squatting in front of the flowers, Ling Rui shook his head, almost instinctively blurting out his refusal.

Although he no longer protested every time he saw the girls from the tribe, as soon as marriage was mentioned, he still instinctively resisted.

The girl pruning the flowers noticed this, but instead of pressing the topic, she laughed lightly and let it go.

Ling Rui continued to squat, looking at the flowers.

The girl left quietly to find Tang Er.

Tang Er had said that Little Seven had already forgotten about his wife, but if that were true, why did he still resist the idea of marriage?

Confused, the girl went to ask Tang Er about it.

Ling Rui, still squatting by the flowers, eventually felt his legs go numb. He stood up to stretch, then wandered off aimlessly.

He wandered to the place where Tang Er had first brought him, his feet leading him there without even thinking about it.

As he walked, suddenly, a loud howl echoed through the air.

The sound was deafening.

Ling Rui rubbed his ears, his face blank with surprise, and his head throbbed.

In his daze, he had the odd feeling that he recognized the howl.

“Awooo! Awooo!”

He opened his mouth and howled back.

As soon as his howl rang out, the previous sound closed in rapidly!

In the blink of an eye, a massive beast appeared, its shadow engulfing him.

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