If anyone told her she was going to die by choking to death on a piece of snack, she would turn up her nose and nod as she replied that she was Su City’s two-time competitive eating champion! A piece of snack was nothing and would barely fill her mouth!
Since she was in the trade, it was a known job hazard.
When the gong for the third and final round of Su City’s highly popular eating competition sounded, the host said excitedly, “We still have three minutes on the clock! Three more minutes to go! Look at our hot favorite, Lu Yao, as she gets embroiled in an intense battle with the two-time champion Cheng Xiaoxiao! Lu Yao is down to less than five pastry snacks, and Cheng Xiaoxiao sadly still has seven to go! Will contestant Cheng Xiaoxiao emerge as the glorious three-time reigning champion? Or will the up-and-coming competitive eating rookie win? Let’s wait and see!”
As Cheng Xiaoxiao struggled to swallow the snack, she glanced at Lu Yao and clenched her fists tightly. This year’s rookie was as fierce as a tiger. But she was still too green to usurp her crown so quickly!
“One more minute! One more minute to go! Let’s turn our eyes to this final battle! Lu Yao is down to two pieces of snacks while Cheng Xiaoxiao has… three more to go! Tsk! If this goes on, I think the rookie is going to outdo her!”
Did she want to outdo her?!
Outdo her ass! She was Su City’s number one Champion of Eating! Did she think it was nothing but a joke?
Cheng Xiaoxiao suddenly swallowed the snacks. Then she grabbed the last three pieces of snacks.
The crowd was uproarious. The commentator stood up on the table excitedly as he pointed at the ring nearby and yelled, “Look at what Cheng Xiaoxiao is trying to do! She’s trying to stuff all three pieces of snakes into her mouth! Three at the same time! She already stuffed two of them into her mouth! Will she manage to put the last one in? Ah! She almost managed to put everything in!”
“Hurry up! Take a close-up of her cheeks! Cameraman, aim all the cameras at Cheng Xiaoxiao! Both her cheeks and her chin! I don’t care if there aren’t enough cameras! Use Lu Yao’s cameras instead! I want a 360-degree shot so that the entire country can see when the miracle is born!”
The director was equally excited as the host. He almost wanted to run over and personally operate the camera because this was such a rare shot! The competition was no longer of any significance. And all that mattered now was this woman as she challenged her limits!
No woman would disregard her image to win. That was the crux here!
Cheng Xiaoxiao was on the brink of tearing. Her throat felt as though it was about to burst. Even without looking, she was aware of how hideous she looked now. It was a live national broadcast no less. But she had to defend her veteran’s dignity and honor!
Just as she was about to swallow the snacks, she suddenly felt a piercing pain coming from her feet. It was so painful that she almost spat the food out. As she willed herself hard not to spit, the food suddenly got stuck very badly in her throat.
She went stunned. Then she started going breathless as the snacks weighed heavily on her chest like a slab of concrete. While they cut off her air supply, she toppled and fell to the ground suddenly. As she gradually lost consciousness, she spotted a stiletto getting off the back of her foot calmly.
“Lu Yao, that bitch! How dare she use underhanded means!”
But could someone save her, please?
Could this man over here please stop pouring water into her mouth? She almost could not breathe!
Could this lady stop pressing on her chest? She had not gone into shock yet!
Why did no one use the Heimlich maneuver to save her?!
In her heart, Cheng Xiaoxiao swore in grief right before she died. She must haunt these people as a vengeful spirit after death!
In a daze, she thought she heard the metallic clanging of weapons next to her. When she opened her eyes absent-mindedly, she felt like she could breathe once more. But what was going on with this intense scent of blood that wafted into her nose?
The moment she opened her eyes, she saw a woman covered with blood glaring at her angrily.
Cheng Xiaoxiao choked in shock. She raised her eyes and saw a sword-wielding man standing before her. He had tapered eyebrows, bright eyes, and appeared stunning while his long hair scattered behind him lazily. Then he calmly removed a handkerchief from his black coat to wipe the bloodstains off his sword.
He killed someone! He was a murderer!
Cheng Xiaoxiao was petrified. Then she glanced to the side and saw rows of guards dressed in ancient style garments standing motionlessly with swords hanging from the waists. Every one of them was dressed neatly in ancient clothing.
“…”
He tossed the handkerchief. Then a guard standing on his side said, “Do you think His Highness is clueless about the scheme that Wu is plotting? How can Wu have the gall to send a spy to assassinate him? You’re simply too bold!”
The man who was tied up trembled hard. Then he said coldly, “Break his legs and send him back to Wu. Tell the King of Wu he has three days to decide whether to surrender or be a national martyr.”
“Yes, we’ll do it right away,” said the guards respectfully before dragging the man away.
“Your Highness, what about the things that Wu sent?” the other guard turned to ask the prince. He seemed to be of higher status than the rest of the guards.
“Dump the dancing girl’s body along with the stuff into the ravine.”
“Then what about this cat?”
The man flung his sleeves and turned towards Cheng Xiaoxiao.
It was a classic opening followed by a familiar routine. So did she die and transmigrate?
How could that be, hahaha? It wasn’t like she was dreaming, right? She raised her hand and suddenly saw a furry paw.
It seemed she must be dreaming.
She used her paw to slap herself on the face.
When she raised her eyes, the man continued staring at her coldly.
It looked like she was in a particularly deep sleep.
She raised her paw yet again and slapped herself.
This time, she slapped herself so hard that she saw stars.
Even after the stars disappeared, she did not understand why this man continued to be visible! And why a mild smile suddenly surfaced on his icy-cold face?
He was undoubtedly handsome. But he just murdered someone, and her corpse was still lying next to her! How about paying attention to that fact instead?
“This cat looks interesting. What was it doing just now? Did it just slap itself?” Xiaowu stared at her curiously. “I heard it’s a lion cat that was sent as tribute from the Western Region. Its eyes are unusual and colored differently. But I didn’t expect it to have such a strange temperament as well.”
Chu Yunshen picked the cat in front of him up by its neck to scrutinize it. Then he asked as he looked down at her, “Aren’t you going to hit yourself anymore?”
Cheng Xiaoxiao, “…”
Did the man get a kick out of seeing her slap herself?
Since it was a dream and she did not know who he was, if hitting herself did not work, perhaps hitting him would.
Cheng Xiaoxiao caterwauled and lunged to scratch his face. The guard did not expect the cat to attack and swiftly drew his knife at her. Chu Yunshen held the blade down with his fingers instead, so he quickly moved back. The little thing had its claws on his belt. As it was loosely tied, it could not withstand the weight. So it finally came completely undone.
Chu Yunshen had one hand on Xiaowu’s sword while he held his sword with the other. The accident happened so quickly that even he was incapable of reacting in time.
The belt fell onto Cheng Xiaoxiao without warning and covered her eyes. When she struggled to look up, she caught sight of a pair of hairy legs in front of her.
As she continued to look up, her mind was overwhelmed as if there was an elephant trumpeting aloud.
Xiaowu, “Pfft…”
Chu Yunshen, “…”
The culprit stared dumbfounded at him. Chu Yunshen then felt a rare sense of awkwardness. Even if it was a cat and might not have meant it, he felt as though it had just taken liberties with him!
Xiaowu watched as Chu Yunshen threw his sword to the ground and picked his pants up. Despite the situation, his master appeared outstanding and was still the decisive killer that he was. Even as he put on his pants and straightened out his clothes, he looked elegant. Yet why was there a shred of panic in his actions?
“Don’t worry, Master. I’ll take care of the cat immediately,” said Xiaowu.
“…”
Did he say he would take care of her?
Did he mean he wanted to kill her just like all these people here? Was she going to die again after she just choked to death?
Could they at least let her take her breath?
She wailed and scampered away. As she was rather eager to escape, she disappeared in a blink of an eye.
“Master, I’ll go after it.” Xiaowu was anxious.
“That’s unnecessary,” said Chu Yunshen as he stopped him, “It’s even more dangerous out there. Since it decided to escape, then let’s see if it’s able to make it alive.”
Cheng Xiaoxiao used every bit of strength she had. When she got exhausted, she came to herself and realized she had darted into another compound. And she did not understand why she had yet to wake up.
Where on earth was she?!
She suddenly heard a dog howling. So she glanced behind to see that a huge black dog had appeared beside the rockery. The minute it saw her, it became so excited that its ears stood erect hard. Then it stared at her as it slobbered.
“…”
She was sorry for disturbing the dog, but she had to leave!
Then the black dog howled before suddenly charging towards her!
Calm down, calm down! She was only lost!
Cheng Xiaoxiao scampered for her life again. But the big black dog was swift and agile and got very close to her. So she hastily darted up a tree.
Fortunately, she was a cat, and they were excellent at climbing trees.
As the big black dog barked wildly at Cheng Xiaoxiao nonstop, she felt a deep sense of satisfaction from escaping the jaws of death. While the dog circled the tree incessantly, she waved her paws at the dog and said, “Bite me if you can, you brat! I’m just worried that I might end up hurting you!”
After the big black dog heard her provocation, it suddenly leaped up.
It jumped a few feet high before biting straight towards Cheng Xiaoxiao with its sharp teeth. She was frightened out of her wits, so she clawed it. Her blow fell squarely on its face. Then it howled as it fled with its tail between its legs.
“I’m too awesome!”
After giving the awful dog a good beating, Cheng Xiaoxiao could not help developing a greater sense of confidence, so she ran onto the ground. But before she went far, she heard the big black dog again. It was surprisingly still chasing her!
Cheng Xiaoxiao darted up the tree again before flashing her claws out.
“Daxian! Daxian! Don’t so quickly. What’s gotten into you?” came a woman’s voice.
Cheng Xiaoxiao was stunned. How dare the dog run back to ask for help!
