Chapter 238: Chapter 212: To Be Reborn from a Deadly Predicament (Part 2)

For a moment, Gao Neng couldn’t maintain control.

He’d always considered himself a decent swimmer. Growing up in the Forgotten Land, he’d spent countless hours in its water holes.

But the Seventh Princess was obviously far more familiar with this cold pool.

In fact, after swallowing several mouthfuls of water, the Seventh Princess’s face had actually turned a healthy shade of red. Not only did she show no signs of drowning, but she seemed to grow more invigorated with each gulp.

Gao Neng tried to hold the Seventh Princess down and force more water on her.

But she twisted free of his grasp in an instant. She followed up with a backward kick, trying to escape him completely.

’I can’t let her surface!’ Gao Neng’s plan had been to tackle the Princess into the water, subdue her, then find an opportunity to snatch her dagger and toss it into the pool. That would foil her entire scheme.

But now she was about to escape?

There was no way he could let her go!

In his desperation...

Gao Neng cast aside all thoughts of propriety!

With a mental ROAR, he kicked hard through the water, surging forward and clamping both hands around the Seventh Princess’s thighs. Simultaneously, he activated his Iron Life Form transformation.

Iron!

’It’s very heavy!’

With Gao Neng latched onto her thighs, the Seventh Princess was dragged down no matter how hard she tried to swim up, as if her legs were shackled with hundreds of pounds of pig iron.

GLUG! GLUG!

The Seventh Princess was an excellent swimmer, but she hadn’t taken a breath before being pulled under. In an instant, she swallowed several more mouthfuls of the cold pool’s water.

Worse, Gao Neng’s hands, wrapped around her thighs, were not staying put.

They began to slide up from her calves.

!!! The Seventh Princess grew frantic, cursing inwardly, ’Vile beast, let go of me!’

Her movements, however, showed no hesitation. She curled her body, bringing her hand extremely close to Gao Neng, and the dagger in her hand flashed into view.

But she didn’t strike.

She just kept waving it in front of Gao Neng.

Her meaning was clear...

’Grab the dagger! Come on, grab the dagger!’

And Gao Neng did exactly that. He not only snatched the dagger from her hand, but his own hands continued their journey up her thighs to her waist.

Then, he suddenly pulled her close!

Their bodies were pressed tightly together, with no space between them.

The Seventh Princess’s expression changed drastically. She fought desperately to push him away, but Gao Neng gave her no such chance. Instead, he took the opportunity to give her rear a firm grab.

"Ah! You beast! I’ll kill you!" the Seventh Princess shrieked in a panic.

The crucial part was...

...her voice actually rang out loud and clear.

Because at the exact moment Gao Neng grabbed her, she had broken through the surface of the water.

Immediately after, Gao Neng’s body was also flung from the water. He traced an arc through the air before slamming onto the wooden platform beside the cold pool.

Fresh blood streamed from his left arm.

It wasn’t a sword wound.

The dagger had already been tossed into the cold pool.

An arrow was embedded in Gao Neng’s left arm—an Elf Arrow, unique to the Elf Race. It was buried deep in the muscle, staining his arm red with blood.

And in his right hand, he held a high-grade oak bow.

The watching Princes were momentarily stunned.

The Thirteenth Prince was injured!

’What in the world did they do underwater? What happened?!’

Just as they were wondering...

Gao Neng was the first to speak. "Seventh Princess, what a vicious heart! You thought I slighted you by rejecting you, so... so you tried to shoot me dead?!"

"What?! You claim I shot you? You were the one who...!" The Seventh Princess’s eyes went cold, but when she saw the arrow in Gao Neng’s arm, the words caught in her throat.

She was beginning to understand.

She finally understood why Gao Neng had tackled her into the cold pool.

’So that’s what this was all about!’

’He was trying to turn the tables and frame me! But could a single arrow... really convince the other Princes?’

Evidently, the other Princes were not convinced.

They were all looking at Gao Neng.

But Gao Neng was prepared. He immediately raised the longbow in his right hand. "I snatched this bow from the Seventh Princess! Everyone, take a look!"

"That’s not my bow at all!" the Seventh Princess said scornfully. "You think you can stick an Elf Arrow in your own arm and then frame me for murder? Ridiculous! Elf Arrows can be bought anywhere. On what grounds do you claim I was the one who shot this?"

"Is that so? Arrows might be easy to come by, but I doubt a bow like this can be bought by just any Elf, right? My fellow Princes, please take a look. This is a high-grade longbow, and what’s more, it has the Seventh Princess’s name on it!" Gao Neng made a show of inspecting it before pointing to the words engraved on the bow. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Wu Dingxiang!

They were perfectly clear.

The Princes all had astonishing eyesight, so of course they could see it.

"It really is the Seventh Princess’s bow!"

"How is that possible?!"

"But that’s definitely the Seventh Princess’s name! Besides, a high-grade bow like this isn’t something a common Elf could wield, is it?"

The Princes found it hard to believe, yet they couldn’t help but feel a sliver of conviction.

"That bow is..." the Great Elf presiding over the event began to say.

"Silence!" the Elf Queen roared. How could she not know that bow was the betrothal gift intended for the Seventh Princess? But she couldn’t possibly say that out loud.

To admit it would be to reveal their entire scheme was a sham. At that point, the Dark Night Elf Clan would face the wrath of more than twenty different races.

’Damn it!’ the Great Elf fumed internally.

Meanwhile, the other members of the Elf Race erupted in curses.

"Frame-up!"

"The Seventh Princess would never try to kill that dandy Prince!"

"Drive him out of Elf City!"

The Elf Race People were furious.

The Seventh Princess was grinding her teeth in hatred. She had been utterly humiliated—not just physically, but mentally as well.

She couldn’t accept this!

She absolutely refused to let this man get away with it!

’This man killed one of the Dark Night Elf Clan’s Great Elves and ruined our carefully orchestrated recruitment ceremony. I can’t possibly let him go.’

Just as she was thinking this, Gao Neng, not far away, turned beet-red.

As if provoked by the angry shouts of the surrounding Elf Race People, his chest heaved violently.

PFFT! Gao Neng spat out a mouthful of blood. "Your Dark Night Elf Clan has gone too far! Or are all the other Princes here cowards? What did the Seventh Princess say when she burst out of the water just now? She said she was going to kill me!"

"Thirteenth Prince!" Seeing this, the other Princes were now convinced. The Thirteenth Prince was seriously injured.

Moreover, they now recalled it.

When the Seventh Princess had burst from the water, she really had screamed that she would kill the Thirteenth Prince!

The evidence was ironclad, leaving no room for denial.

"Seventh Princess, did you really try to kill the Thirteenth Prince?!" one of the Princes couldn’t help but ask.

"I did not!" The Seventh Princess bit out, her teeth clenched.

Gao Neng immediately collapsed, his face contorted in a mask of unbearable pain. "Dark Night Elf Clan, I, Jami, will remember this forced marriage today! Third Prince of the Beast Race, my Wood Elf Race is willing to sign an alliance with the Beast Race in exchange for temporary sanctuary! Once I return to my people, I will certainly send a handsome gift. I wonder, Prince, would you be willing to help?"

"This..." The Third Prince of the Beast Race hesitated.

"Is there no one willing to save me? From the moment I set foot in this Elf Royal City, I’ve been pressured into marriage. You all saw it! I have no desire to marry the Seventh Princess, but... they’re trying to force me! They insist I marry her, and when I refuse, they try to kill me! This is a blatant provocation against the Wood Elf Race!" Gao Neng yelled. "I, Jami, Thirteenth Prince of the Wood Elf Race, hereby promise that if I can return to the lands of the Wood Elves, I will reward each and every Prince handsomely! In the future, whatever you may require, my Wood Elf Race will be at your beck and call!"