The next second, Gu Tao passed out. Just as he was about to collapse, Jiang Zheyu quickly reached out and pushed him aside.

Jiang Zheyu had used her 5S-rank spiritual power to knock Gu Tao unconscious.

’Kissing him was out of the question.’

’She figured she could handle a few more sleepless nights waiting for those Star Thieves to walk right into her trap.’

’Now that she possessed 5S-rank spiritual power, what was there to be afraid of?’

’Well, other than the Biorobots linked to her spiritual power, what else did she have to fear?’

Jiang Yi soon arrived with the Guard Captain to take the man away.

So far, a total of three members of the Lonely Wanderer Star Thief Group had walked into her trap and been captured.

Now, only two remained at large.

If they knew what was good for them, they wouldn’t come back. If they didn’t, Jiang Zheyu would just have to endure two more sleepless nights.

On the third night, Jiang Zheyu met her Waterloo.

One really shouldn’t be too confident. Overconfidence easily leads to a crushing defeat.

A cool breeze rustled through in the middle of the night, and the sky was dotted with countless stars. This night seemed no different from the past few.

The night wind blew in through the floor-to-ceiling windows. Jiang Zheyu heard two sets of footsteps land softly beside her.

She instantly snapped awake and tried to attack them with her spiritual power, only to find her attack miss completely.

Jiang Zheyu immediately realized what was happening. She rolled toward the door, but just as she was about to shout for help, a large hand clamped over her mouth from behind.

She didn’t even make it off the bed. Instead, her back was pressed against a firm body.

The person behind her covered her mouth, their lips brushing against her ear.

"Little female, having fun?" a mischievous voice laughed from behind her. "Capturing three members of our Lonely Wanderer Star Thief Group must give you quite a sense of accomplishment, hmm?"

Jiang Zheyu’s whole body went rigid.

Besides the person holding her, another man stood on the other side of the bed.

With Gu Sui, Gu Ying, and Gu Tao already captured, that only left Gu Yao and Gu Han.

The first time he came, Gu Yao had successfully kidnapped the original female lead.

Now he was back with Gu Han to capture her.

"Oh, I forgot I’m covering your mouth, so you can’t speak," Gu Yao chuckled. "How about I let go now? You can choose to answer my question, or you can scream for help."

As he spoke, he released the hand covering Jiang Zheyu’s mouth.

But Jiang Zheyu said nothing, her pair of tea-colored eyes simply staring at him.

The row of Bone Nails on Gu Yao’s brow glinted as he raised an eyebrow. He flipped Jiang Zheyu over to face him, his purple eyes studying her with great interest as his fingers gripped her chin. "Why aren’t you screaming? I gave you a chance to scream, so why don’t you?"

Jiang Zheyu’s lips moved, but in the end, she said nothing. He was so brazenly telling her to call for help.

’It definitely means screaming would be useless.’

’He just wants to watch her scream for help that never comes, getting some sick pleasure from toying with her.’

Just then, the Light Brain on Gu Han’s wrist chimed.

Hui’s cold voice suddenly came through: "Hurry up and go. The butler and guards here will notice something is wrong soon. I can’t distract them for much longer."

Hearing Hui’s voice, Jiang Zheyu couldn’t help but curse, "Hui! You... you villain! You filthy rat! You filthy rat! To think you’d team up with Star Thieves to harm me!"

"Jiang Zheyu, this is what you get for crossing me. Isn’t it..." Before Hui could finish, Gu Han simply shut off the Light Brain.

His cool, silver eyes looked at Gu Yao. "Alright, let’s take her and go."

Gu Yao pinched Jiang Zheyu’s mouth open and forced her to swallow something.

"What did you make me eat!" Jiang Zheyu cried out, but as she did, she began to feel her body go limp and realized she could no longer make a sound.

She opened her mouth again and tried to make a sound, only to find that her vocal cords truly wouldn’t produce a noise.

’That vicious little thing not only made her weak but also stole her voice.’

Although Gu Yao didn’t hear what Jiang Zheyu said, he had already guessed. He smirked. "Taking that is just to make you cooperate with us. This time, let’s play a grand game!"

With that, Gu Yao single-handedly wrapped an arm around Jiang Zheyu’s waist, hoisted her onto his shoulder, and walked outside with Gu Han.

When Jiang Zheyu heard Gu Yao mention a "grand game," she silently swallowed.

’She had thought they were kidnapping her to torture her for a bit.’

’After all, she had captured all the other members of their Lonely Wanderer Star Thief Group.’

’But unexpectedly, these two didn’t seem to care at all about the lives of their fellow Star Thief Gang members. They still wanted to play games!’

’Just how passionate were they about playing games?!’

Jiang Zheyu silently exchanged for a Detoxification Pill in the System Mall.

’There, the weakness and loss of her voice were gone.’

However, she didn’t dare reveal that she was back to normal just yet.

Gu Yao carried her out, going straight from the floor-to-ceiling window into a waiting Hovercar.

Jiang Zheyu could only watch as the Hovercar’s cabin door slowly closed before her eyes!

’My mind went blank!’

’How did she get kidnapped by Star Thieves again?’

’Was she about to start another bumpy, wandering journey as a Star Thief’s captive?’

’She had only just started eating Earth food again! Her days of lazing around in the Imperial Palace—sleeping, eating, and having a Beast Husband to warm her bed—hadn’t even lasted that long!’

"Little female, want to guess what game we’re going to play?" Gu Yao placed Jiang Zheyu on a seat, bracing his hands on either side of her legs. His purple eyes gazed at her as he leaned in close, a boyish, mischievous smile on his face.

The row of Bone Nails along his brow caught the light from outside, refracting it into a dazzling array of colors. The row of them in his ear and the cross-shaped one did the same, nearly blinding Jiang Zheyu.

Jiang Zheyu did not want to play. ’This doesn’t feel like a good game.’

"Oh, right, I forgot you can’t speak," Gu Yao chuckled. "No matter. You’ll find out soon enough. Besides, once you know the name of the game, you’ll be able to guess what it is."

His eyes lit up with excitement as he spoke, revealing the game’s name: "We call this game... Beauty and the Beast."

Jiang Zheyu swallowed hard. ’She’s the beauty, so the beast is probably a man-eating beast!’

Even though Jiang Zheyu said nothing, Gu Yao seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. He flashed a brilliant, boyish smile.

"That’s right. You’re the beauty, and the beast is the kind that will tear you to shreds and eat you up."

’Just as I thought,’ Jiang Zheyu mused. ’You can guess the game just by its name.’

"No need to be scared. As long as the Imperial Army finds you within two hours, maybe you won’t have to be eaten by the beast," Gu Yao said, gently patting Jiang Zheyu’s head. His arm was covered in rose tattoos, and a blooming blood-red rose was tattooed on his neck.

Jiang Zheyu: ...

’Why did the original female lead get 24 hours to be rescued, while I only get two?!’

’Unfair!’