Chapter 183: Chapter: 182 Lust is very deficult to control.

Rizen stepped back at once. His guard shot up the moment he saw the woman.

He glared at her hard, eyes full of bloodlust. "Who are you?" he asked. Killing intent leaked into his voice.

The woman said nothing. She poured herself another drink and took her time.

Behind her, more dark-clothed figures appeared without a sound. They stood there like silent shadows, obedient and still.

She picked up the fresh glass, shook it gently, and let her gaze drift to the girl still sleeping peacefully under the thin blanket.

The sudden noise in the room had not touched her.

"Quite the slut," the woman said with a soft chuckle.

She took a slow sip, then turned her eyes back to Rizen. He stood there completely naked, but it did not bother her at all.

"Quite the performance you had there," she added softly. Her fingers tapped lightly on the side of the glass.

Rizen’s face grew even tighter. He saw the people standing behind her and felt the danger.

Even at the arcane core stage, he could not sense their power. That meant they were far stronger than him.

’How did they get in?’ The thought pounded in his head.

The whole inn was surrounded by the Valentina clan’s best spell casters. This very room had been locked down tight.

So how? And where were his guards? His face twisted with confusion. They should have burst in by now to protect him. But no one came.

He stared straight at the woman, his body tense. ’Who are they?’ He did not know,

but their sudden arrival could not mean anything good.

It was smarter not to move first. He kept his guard high... at least until help arrived. In his mind, the face of one particular man appeared, the Shadow of the Valentina. Once he gets here...

Rizen’s eyes slid over the woman’s curves and chest. He licked his lips. ’I will have something good to ea....’

The woman’s voice cut through his thoughts.

"You might be wondering how we got in here, who we are, and all the rest, right?" She stood up slowly, her gaze locked on him.

The mask hid her eyes, leaving only darkness. "And you might also be waiting for someone..." She paused and ran a finger across her lips.

"Hmm? What was his name again? Shadow... or..."

"The Shadow of Valentina!" A lean man stepped forward and answered for her.

"Ah–Right!" The woman remembered and looked back at Rizen. "He is dead."

Rizen’s eyes went wide the second the woman finished speaking. The lean man behind her snapped his fingers with a lazy little click.

Pop.

A severed head suddenly appeared in his hand like it was the most normal party trick in the world.

It was the head of an old man who looked exactly like one of those legendary xianxia powerhouses, the kind who wandered around in rags, drank like a fish, and acted like a beggar, but could supposedly flatten entire mountains with one grumpy sigh.

Yet this face was nothing like those proud old monsters. His eyes bulged in pure, hilarious terror, mouth frozen in a perfect "oh shit" scream.

Thud!

The man tossed the head forward like a dirty ball.

It rolled across the floor with a wet, squelchy sound and stopped just inches from Rizen’s bare toes.

Rizen had seen the whole thing clearly.

His body went completely numb, like someone had dumped a bucket of ice water straight into his veins.

A freezing chill crawled over his scalp, as if invisible hands were rubbing ice cubes all over his head on the coldest winter night.

Every drop of color drained from his face until he looked like a ghost who had just seen his own funeral.

His heart sank deeper and deeper.

That head belonged to the Void Core specialist at the second heavenly trial, the super strong escort specially sent to keep him safe.

A guy like that should have turned the whole inn into a battlefield if he even tried to fight back.

There should have been explosions, screams, broken walls, some kind of cool commotion at least. But nope. Just silence. The killer had ended him like swatting a sleepy fly.

Rizen stared at the head, mouth opening and closing like a fish on dry land.

The great protector, the mighty escort... reduced to a rolling ball of pure panic. How pathetic.

He didn’t know what to do right now, his most trusted protector was killed like that.....if he wanted to live then there was only one smart move left.

"Please let me go!" Rizen dropped to his knees so fast his bones cracked against the floor.

Fat tears rolled down his cheeks as he begged like his life depended on it, which it did.

"Please show mercy, Your Lordship! I don’t know what you want or who sent you, but please spare me! I’ll give you everything, money, women, riches, whatever you desire!"

He kept bowing and crying without stopping, hoping the offers would tempt them.

The lean man didn’t even twitch. Only the woman let out a soft, amused chuckle, clearly enjoying the show.

She took another slow sip of whiskey, swirling the glass like she had all the time in the world.

"Earlier," she said sweetly, "you were talking about so many people. The princess of the Holy Empire... your own sister Rosalina, who’s now Rosalina Augustus Hayes... and even the matriarch of the Hayes clan."

Her voice dripped with fake sympathy. "Such lust. You know how difficult it is to control lust?"

The woman rolled the glass in her hand, shaking the whiskey left and right with a lazy swirl.

"Lust can make a man go completely mad," she said, her voice sweet but dripping with sarcasm.

"Just take yourself as an example. You fucked that woman for a full hour, and your lust didn’t go down at all. It actually got stronger the moment you started thinking about those other women."

The side of her mask lifted slightly at the brow, showing an impressed little raise of her eyebrow, like she was watching a funny show.

’Where is she going with this?’ Rizen thought. Suspicion covered his whole face. Sure, everyone knew he was full of lust.

But why was she bringing it up right now, like this? He had no clue.

But one thing was certain, when you’re cornered like this, there’s only one smart move: keep your mouth shut until they tell you to speak. So he stayed quiet and waited.

"And I must say," the woman continued, "you really are your father’s son. Not panicking even when your life is hanging by a thread. Quite the man you are." She snapped her fingers.

"Honestly, I’m quite impressed by how well you control yourself. That’s why... I’ll give you a chance."

"Really?" Rizen’s face lit up instantly. Finally, his acting had worked! He quickly hid his excitement, but his heart was pounding like a drum.

Once he got out alive, he would make sure none of them had an easy life. ’After all, I am...’

"However, I have one condition," the woman said, cutting him off again.

"What condition, ma’am?" Rizen replied right away. Now that he finally saw a way out, how could he let it slip? He would do anything to survive.

"I’ll give you anything, riches, women, even high-rank spells from my family’s treasury. Please just let me..."

"No, no." The woman’s soft chuckle interrupted him again. Strangely, he didn’t feel annoyed.

The strong could do whatever they wanted to the weak. It was a rule he had learned and used his whole life. Even now, he was living it.

"You see," she began, "I have a small favor to ask of you."

"Anything for you, ma’am!" Rizen answered with a slave-like smile plastered on his face.

"Hohoho, is that so?" She chuckled again and snapped her fingers. From the back of the room, a huge muscular man stepped forward.

He stood seven or eight feet tall and looked like an ogre built from pure muscle.

Every heavy step made the floor creak as he stopped right in front of the kneeling Rizen.

Rizen had to crane his neck all the way back just to stare at the giant’s chest. Even then it was hard.

The big man’s shadow completely swallowed him. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

As Rizen was still sizing him up and wondering what this guy actually was, the woman spoke again.

"This little guy here has been suffering from something only you can fix."

"Gulp!"

Rizen swallowed loudly, staring at the massive figure she just called "little guy."

"He has been holding back his lust for a long time because he’s a bit... different. No one wants to spend time with him, so all that pent-up energy has nowhere to go. Which is why..."

Zip!

The big man pulled down his zipper. Something massive, something no one throughout heaven and earth had probably ever seen, swung out and slapped Rizen hard across the cheek. The look of utter shock on Rizen’s face was perfect.

"You see, he’s gay," the woman said, amusement clear in her voice. "No other man agrees to sleep with him. So I’ll let you go... once you satisfy him."