I Was Forced To Marry The Phoenix Empress-Chapter 202: Facing the Consequences

Seeing Yi Chen’s expression darken, the two didn’t seem to care at all and continued charging forward while on guard to defend against any retaliation from his side.

’If even one of the beasts gets pulled towards him, then together with her, I’m confident in dealing with the other two,’ Leader Tian thought with an expression of seriousness.

’You must have felt pretty smug not helping us back then, right? This is a payback for that!’ the woman glared with no signs of remorse as she rushed in his direction.

The two were planning to move around Yi Chen after closing in on him in an attempt to draw at least one of the beasts’ attention towards him.

However, seeing right through their plans, Yi Chen had no intention of letting them pull this move.

Just when they were a few meters away and were ready to rush around him, he reached his hand forward.

’If his attack lands on the beasts, won’t they all only focus on him? Great! We’ll use that opportunity to escape far away.’ A glint appeared in the woman’s eyes.

A similar expression had also appeared on Leader Tian’s face.

However, the attack which they were expecting and planning to dodge was never directed towards them in the first place.

Before they could wonder why an attack hadn’t been launched, the four wolf-like beasts that were chasing after them roared in pain as their entire figure got engulfed in flames.

The ear-piercing cries forced the two of them to stop in their footsteps and turn behind only to see the beasts, which were supposed to be immune to any Qi-based attacks, being burnt to nothingness.

"This...How?!" Leader Tian’s eyes widened in disbelief as he registered the scene with apparent horror within them.

His teammate was also going through the same set of emotions.

All her previous misgivings with Yi Chen had vanished from her heart, and in its place only shock, fear and trepidation remained.

THUD!

Leader Tian fell on his knees the very next instant and begged Yi Chen for forgiveness.

"F-Forgive us! Forgive us, Esteemed Cultivator. We had eyes but were blinded by fear and panic. At the brink of death, intellect left us, and we did something we should never have done...Please show mercy and spare us!"

As he said that, he slammed his forehead several times on the ground and begged, "I beseech the Esteemed Cultivator for his leniency and benevolence!"

Seeing her team leader’s actions, fear overtook the woman’s expression as she too joined him and started begging Yi Chen for mercy in a similar manner.

"Please forgive us, Esteemed Cultivator. We were wrong! At that time, we only wanted to save ourselves so-"

Before the woman could finish her words, Yi Chen cut her off with a glare.

"So, you tried to get me killed instead." He snorted hatefully.

Seeing Yi Chen’s merciless glare, fear and panic overwhelmed her being as tears welled up in her eyes.

The image of her being engulfed by the very flames that killed those four beasts flashed in her mind as her whole body started shivering in fright.

She wanted to refuse Yi Chen’s words, but whatever he had said was the truth!

Denying it at this moment would only end up infuriating him further, which was the last thing she wanted. As a result, she could only purse her lips with a guilty expression as fear and anxiety overwhelmed her being.

Seeing her state, Yi Chen snorted and ignored her. The next second, he directed his gaze towards the middle-aged man next to her.

He was still banging his head on the ground, not caring the least about how bloodied and disfigured his forehead had become.

"That’s enough. Stop banging your head," Yi Chen said the next instant.

Hearing those words, Leader Tian immediately stopped his actions and glanced towards Yi Chen, gratitude apparent in his eyes.

"Thank you! Thank you for your benevolence, Esteemed Cultivator. We’ll forever be grateful for your kindne-"

"Stop talking crap. When did I forgive you?" Yi Chen glared at the man who tried to put words in his mouth and continued, "All actions have consequences. It’s the same with this one.

Since the two of you tried to kill me just now, it’s only natural for you to pay an appropriate compensation if you don’t want me to take your lives."

When Yi Chen finished his words, his eyes fell on the storage pouches which were hung around their waists.

"Please tell us what it is that you want, Esteemed Cultivator. We’ll do our best to fulfil it." Leader Tian exclaimed when he heard those words.

"Your storage pouches. Hand them over." Yi Chen stretched out his hand and spoke.

"This..."

A momentary hesitation appeared in both their eyes, the very next instant as they met each other’s eyes.

In such places, a storage artefact was like an additional lifeline for cultivators and without it, it would become very difficult for them to survive.

"You don’t want to? That’s alright as well. Pay for it with your lives instead." Yi Chen snorted, seeing their hesitancy and the next instant, a large ball of fire formed above his head, ready to engulf the two of them with a snap of his fingers.

"Wait! Esteemed Cultivator, you misunderstand! You misunderstand!" Leader Tian immediately waved his hand in panic when he saw this sight, and the next instant, he handed over his storage pouch to Yi Chen.

The man’s eyes then fell on his teammate, who, despite Yi Chen’s earlier show of might, had hesitation clearly written on her face.

’Isn’t giving my storage pouch the same as dying at this place...if it’s like that, then what’s the point of giving it to him...’ the woman thought with a deep frown.

’Does this bitch want to get both of us killed?’ the man thought in panic as anger and frustration rose in his heart.

The very next instant, he snatched the storage pouch from her waist and handed it to Yi Chen.

"No-"

The woman wanted to protest, but under Leader Tian’s merciless gaze, she stopped in her tracks.

"Mhmm." Yi Chen nodded and, taking the two pouches, checked them one by one.

Unlike his storage ring, they had a limited space of only one cubic meter, but still, it was enough to store many items.

Not touching the daily essentials like food and clothing, he took all the spirit stones and pills that were present inside before throwing the storage pouch towards them.

At first, he wanted to take everything with him out of spite, but his anger died down as additional Qi Nourishing and Healing pills were added to his storage ring.

"I’ve taken what I wanted. Now scram!" Yi Chen shook his hand and said with irritation. He had no intention of seeing their faces any longer and wanted to go back to eating his lunch as fast as possible.

The two caught their storage pouches in the air but didn’t leave right away.

The two of them first bowed towards Yi Chen with gratitude and thankfulness, to which Yi Chen nodded perfunctorily with irritation apparent on his face.

He was expecting them to finally leave after this, but still, they didn’t.

Instead, with a forced smile, Leader Tian said, "Esteemed Cultivator, if possible, can the two of us tag along with you in the following days? We won’t do it for free. We’ll help with all your daily essentials, like cooking and helping you fight the weaker beasts.

Moreover, if there are any special needs, then my teammate can also help you with that."

He said with an understanding smile before glancing towards his teammate.

An expression of realisation immediately appeared in the woman’s eyes as she subtly nodded.

While stretching the ends of her robes, she bowed at ninety degrees towards Yi Chen with a subservient attitude and said with a faint smile, "Y-Yes. Apart from the other tasks, I’ll make sure to satisfy every special need which the Esteemed Cultivator may have."

As she finished her words, she let go of her robe’s ends, and the robe clinging to her body loosened slightly, revealing an enticing valley underneath.

Seeing these shameless actions, Yi Chen’s face twitched in disgust.

"I prefer travelling alone. Now scram. Don’t make me repeat myself again." He glared at the two of them, particularly Leader Tian, who was even willing to degrade his teammate for survival.

Seeing this strong reaction, Leader Tian’s expression turned hesitant, but he forced himself to stay and said, "I-I beg the Esteemed Cultivator to reconsider.

With our pills and spirit stones gone, we don’t stand a chance of survival...."

"So? You should have thought about that before trying to use me as bait earlier. If you don’t leave in the next ten seconds, then the little chance of survival that you still have will also disappear."

Losing his patience, Yi Chen took out his sword from his storage ring, which was soon covered in a beaming red Qi.

Seeing this, Leader Tian finally realised that there was no way for him to convince Yi Chen.

With a bitter expression, along with his teammate, he left in the direction of the black pillar.

After they had walked for several minutes, the woman finally asked with worry apparent in her eyes.

"...What should we do now, Leader Tian? Will we even be able to reac-"

SLAP!

"Shut up, you bitch! What’s the point of your existence if you can’t even seduce a young man like that?" Leader Tian roared while seething in anger.

Panic and anxiety were welling up in his heart as he glanced at the black pillar several hundreds of kilometres away.

Meanwhile, Yi Chen snorted while glaring in the direction in which the two of them had left.

’To think someone could be shameless enough to demand protection from the very person they tried to kill earlier...’

He soon shook those thoughts out of his mind and took out his food from the storage ring to continue on with his lunch, which had been hampered because of the two of them.