Chereads / A lazy Emperor's Rise / Chapter 8 - A duel of words

Chapter 8 - A duel of words

Kai looked down at Xu Yurong, who was restrained by a glowing rope of profound energy. Her icy glare hadn't softened, even after her defeat. Despite her flawless beauty—her snow-white skin and piercing blueish eyes—there was an air of sorrow masked beneath her defiant expression.

"You can keep glaring at me all you want, but that won't change the fact that you lost," Kai said, his tone calm but sharp.

"Kill me if you must, I won't bow to you," the silver-white-haired woman hissed, her voice as cold as the wind.

"I am not some crazy lunatic who kills everyone," Kai spoke with an expression of what a hassle.

Kai said after a moment, tilting his head to study her. "What's your name?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Why? Planning to carve it into my gravestone?"

"Wow," he said, mock hurt in his tone. "And here I thought we were bonding."

"We're not," she said.

Kai muttered, shaking his head. "Fine, if you won't tell me, I'll just have to guess."

She sighed. "Don't bother."

He ignored her. "Hmm... You look like a... Mei? No, too sweet. Maybe a Xue? Nah, too cool for someone so hot-headed."

Yue Xin's lips twitched, but she quickly masked it with a scowl. "Stop talking."

"Ah, I've got it!" Kai snapped his fingers. "Xu..... Definitely a Xu Yurong."

Her eyes widened for the briefest moment before narrowing again. "How did you know that?"

He grinned, leaning back smugly. "Lucky guess. Or maybe I'm just that good."

"You're impossible," she muttered, but the faintest hint of a smile betrayed her frustration.

"Now you shall answer some questions truthfully, why do you guys keep attacking the Scarlet Phoenix Dynasty?"

"I don't know the exact reason, but someone ordered the emperor to catch the empress," she said with an unchanging expression.

"And who's this someone? And why does he want to capture the empress?" Kai sighed inwardly.

DING!

[Host, maybe it's because of the empress's physique.]

"As for details, I don't know who he is, but he is quite powerful."

"You didn't look like you were with them. Why were you helping them?"

She stammered. "Because… he had something I wanted, and in return, I would protect him."

"And what might that be?"

"Nine Life Rejuvenation Pill," she admitted reluctantly.

"Looks like I have to take a trip to the Xianwu Dynasty myself," Kai mused.

As Kai was having a conversation back and forth, the empress was listening calmly.

...

The fire had burned low, casting flickering shadows across the walls of the cave. Xu Yurong leaned back against the cold stone, her wrists still bound but her defiance as sharp as ever. Across from her, kai was perched on a boulder, idly poking at the dying embers with a stick.

"You know," Xu Yurong said, her tone dry, "for someone who supposedly defeated me, you don't seem very... competent."

Kai blinked at her, feigning offense. "Excuse me? I'll have you know, I'm extremely competent—at being lazy. Takes real skill to avoid working this efficiently."

She snorted. "So that's your grand strategy? Bore your enemies into submission?"

"Works better than you'd think." He leaned back, balancing precariously on the edge of the rock. "Case in point: You're still here."

"Because I'm tied up," she snapped, shaking her bound wrists.

"Details, details." Kai waved dismissively, the corner of his mouth quirking up in a smirk. "Admit it, you're having fun."

Xu Yurong's glare could have melted steel. "Yes, being kidnapped by a self-proclaimed slacker is exactly how I envisioned my life. Truly, a dream come true."

Kai chuckled, his voice warm and unbothered. "You say that, but I see through you. Beneath all that anger is a woman deeply impressed by my charm."

"Charm?" Xu Yurong arched an eyebrow. "Is that what you call this? I've seen more charm in a soggy rice dumpling."

Kai placed a hand over his chest as if wounded. "Ouch. Soggy dumpling? That's low, even for you."

By the time the sun began creeping over the horizon, Kai was already rummaging through his satchel, pulling out a bundle of dried meat and some hard biscuits.

"Breakfast of champions," he declared, holding the items aloft like a prize.

Xu Yurong wrinkled her nose. "That's not food. That's punishment."

"Hey, don't knock it till you try it." He tossed a biscuit toward her, and it landed awkwardly in her lap. "Best survival rations money can buy."

"If this is survival, I'd rather starve," she muttered, taking a reluctant bite. The biscuit was as hard as a rock, and her jaw ached with the effort.

Kai smirked. "See? Builds character."

"It's building my dental bills," she shot back.

"Fair," he conceded, biting into his own with exaggerated effort. "But look at the bright side—no one's ever died from bad biscuits."

"That's because they die trying to chew them," she retorted.

Kai laughed, the sound unguarded and surprisingly warm. "You're not wrong."

As the morning wore on, the tension between them seemed to ease—not entirely, but enough that the air felt less suffocating. Kai leaned against the cave wall, his eyes half-lidded as he watched Xu Yurong.

"You're a lot less terrifying when you're eating biscuits," he remarked.

She glanced at him, her expression unreadable. "And you're a lot more annoying when you're awake."

"Aw, thanks," he said, flashing a lazy grin. "Means a lot coming from you."

Xu Yurong rolled her eyes but didn't respond. For the first time, she wasn't entirely sure whether her annoyance was genuine—or if it was just easier than admitting she didn't hate his company as much as she wanted to.