Supreme Tamer

Chapter 827: Chapter 694: Prisoner Princess, Jinrou

Several multi-cornered leaves drifted down, slowly landing on the surface of the lake, stirring up slight ripples. The rising wind swept over the water, lifting shimmering waves of light.

Such a clean and beautiful forest lake should be a very tranquil and gentle place. Yet it is located within an enclosed prison, just like the mountain in Prison Island, shrouded in mist, ethereal and illusory, but also a realm of death.

“Why are you here?” Chu Mu stared at the veiled woman with a calm voice.

The veiled woman stood there but did not utter a word. She gently turned her body and began to walk slowly along the lakefront.

Chu Mu followed her, but she still remained silent.

The lake waves were not big, and before long, the two had walked a quarter of the way around the lake, and the veiled woman still did not speak.

“From princess to criminal, do you have nothing worth saying? You have been missing for so long, is there nothing you want to share?” Finally, Chu Mu broke the silence.

Princess Jinrou stopped. Her beautiful eyes were no longer as clear as before, as if countless hardships, helplessness, and sorrow mingled in her eyes. Her gaze, however, remained firm, devoid of the look of despair and confusion that often haunted the defeated.

“I’ve always been a criminal.” Princess Jinrou spoke, her voice still as gentle and pleasant, but with an added note of indifference.

At first, Chu Mu did not understand Princess Jinrou’s words but soon came to realize their meaning and said, “I heard about your story from Qian Qin.”

Princess Jinrou quickly guessed what Qian Qin had told Chu Mu and went silent again, continuing to walk forward.

Chu Mu, not good at communicating with others, walked in silence as well.

“Do you really have nothing to say to me?” Chu Mu finally broke the strange atmosphere again.

Though the princess had become a criminal, Chu Mu could still sense the pride in her bones, which was unique to her royal upbringing. This pride had nothing to do with her changed status but was a result of being raised in an imperial household.

Had she appeared in public in such a manner in the past, Chu Mu would have shown her respect from a distance. On the one hand, he did not like the feeling of being looked down upon by a haughty woman. On the other hand, the experience of communicating with someone using a hypocritical social mask was highly uncomfortable for someone who already disliked communication.

However, Chu Mu now understood that even while imprisoned, the pride Princess Jinrou displayed was not derived from her haughty status, but from her innate sense of self-esteem and pride.

“No, thank you for visiting me,” Princess Jinrou shook her head and uttered a sentence that felt strangely distant.

“…” Chu Mu didn’t know what to say for a moment, so he said, “Actually, I didn’t even know you were here. I always thought you had disappeared. I’m the inspector here, inquiring about Zhang Siyuan’s prison break.”

After Chu Mu finished speaking, there was a fleeting change in Princess Jinrou’s eyes, but he did not notice it.

“How long have you been imprisoned?” Chu Mu asked.

“Twenty years.” Princess Jinrou replied.

Twenty years would cause aging for a young woman who had not reached the Soul Emperor-level. Especially in a prison that seemed peaceful but had an atmosphere different from the normal world, twenty years later, Princess Jinrou might become unrecognizable.

To force Chu Mu to watch Princess Jinrou being imprisoned here for twenty years would be hard for him to bear. After all, she was also the first woman who had touched Chu Mu’s heart…

“Well, I’ll go first.” Chu Mu noticed that Princess Jinrou didn’t want to say much, and staying here wouldn’t make much sense, so he relented.

“Yeah.” Princess Jinrou nodded, maintaining her original position facing the lake.

Chu Mu glanced at the silhouette of Princess Jinrou a few more times, and as he turned to leave, he left a word of warning, “If you don’t say anything, I can’t help you. Be careful with Zhang Siyuan’s matter… take care of yourself.”@@novelbin@@

After saying that, Chu Mu did not linger and walked straight towards the area where Huang Lianying was waiting.

Seeing Chu Mu coming, Huang Lianying immediately showed a flattering smile and said, “Sir Chu, any clues?”

“She didn’t say much, no clues.” Chu Mu shook his head.

…

At the lakeshore, the words Chu Mu left behind when he turned to leave caused ripples in Princess Jinrou’s eyes. She had the urge to call out to Chu Mu but stopped herself at the last moment.

“You can’t help me, and you don’t have to. Just keep my secret for me.” Princess Jinrou murmured to herself.

Princess Jinrou slowly removed her veil, half-sat by the lake, and let her lusterless hair hang down. Using the ever-rippling water surface, she gazed at her own reflection.

This princess was indeed very beautiful, with the kind of exquisite beauty that could take one’s breath away when she removed her veil. However, now it was only her admiring herself, admiring her strong self-disguise.

In fact, when Princess Jinrou saw Chu Mu’s arrival, she was indeed quite surprised and happy, as she had been imprisoned here for nearly a year. During that time, she was lonely, so lonely that she could only stand by the lake with her own shadow as her companion every day.

Chu Mu’s arrival surprised and delighted her. She was unwilling to tell Chu Mu her secret because she knew that telling him would do no good, but she still hoped that he would stay here a little longer. After all, this kind of closed-off loneliness was a painful torment for a woman.

Princess Jinrou just wanted to chat casually with Chu Mu, but he always brought up “serious matters.” Every time the conversation got more serious, she didn’t want to talk.

Princess Jinrou could see that Chu Mu felt he was being boring, and she wanted to explain, but upon thinking carefully, there was no need for it. He was not even a friend to her yet, and neither did he treat her as a friend. As a woman, it was not easy to ask a man who was not even a friend to stay here just to ease her own loneliness and desolation.

…

After leaving Mysterious Tracks Prison, Chu Mu went to find the prison warden in order to learn the reason for Princess Jinrou’s imprisonment from their records.

However, the records of Mysterious Tracks Prison didn’t even mention Princess Jinrou’s name, let alone the reasons, which had restricted access.

This restriction was not due to any unforgivable crime committed by the princess; it was to protect the reputation of Nightmare Demon Palace and Princess Jinrou herself.

Obviously, the disappearance of Princess Jinrou was just a public propaganda. Someone didn’t want the world to know that the well-known Princess Jinrou had become a prisoner.

Unable to find the answer, Chu Mu returned to Soul Hall and could only ask Elder Ting, Zhuo Nong, Lord Yu, and others. However, they seemed to be unaware of the details either.

So Chu Mu went to Liu Binglan, hoping to use her position to gain the power to read the charges against Princess Jinrou.

“I’m afraid I have no special privileges in this matter. Mysterious Tracks Prison is controlled by Soul Pet Palace and guarded by all the major powers. No one has any special privileges unless they can present a valid reason for inspection,” Liu Binglan explained.

“…Is it possible to release her from prison?” Chu Mu asked, not wanting Princess Jinrou to be trapped in Mysterious Tracks Prison for twenty years.

“There are many ways to reduce her sentence, depending on the crime. Why the sudden concern for a prisoner?” Liu Binglan questioned.

Chu Mu told Liu Binglan about Princess Jinrou being imprisoned in Mysterious Tracks Prison.

“Princess Jinrou? The Little Princess of Nightmare Demon Palace who knows one of your secrets?” Liu Binglan asked.

“Yes, her,” Chu Mu nodded.

“I’ve met her a few times before. She’s always veiled, but you can tell she’s very beautiful with a good temperament. It’s a pity for such a girl to be locked up in prison…” As Liu Binglan spoke, she noticed Chu Mu’s facial expressions, as if trying to read something from them.

“Tell your mother about your conversation with her,” Liu Binglan continued to ask.

Chu Mu described the conversation briefly, not mentioning much detail since the content was simple.

“She kept not talking, so I had to leave,” Chu Mu concluded in the end.

“Fool, you could have just talked about something else with her. What girl likes to talk about her own disgraceful affairs? Since you said she has a secret, how can she tell you easily?” Liu Binglan said with a smile, revealing a sense of affection for Chu Mu’s misunderstanding of a girl’s thoughts.

“Besides, she has been imprisoned for a year. With her nature, she would never interact with other prisoners. She’s very lonely there by herself. Why don’t you spend more time with her?”

“…” Chu Mu scratched his head awkwardly. He hadn’t thought about this aspect, but it seemed that he was just too straightforward.

“If you really care about her, go visit her more often. Maybe one day she will treat you as someone she trusts, and she’ll naturally tell you,” Liu Binglan, as a mother, had the duty to teach Chu Mu how to understand a girl’s thoughts.

“Alright, I’ve got plenty of time to adjust anyway,” Chu Mu agreed.

“…” Liu Binglan was somewhat speechless, rolling her eyes at Chu Mu. “So if you were busy cultivating, you wouldn’t care about her?”

“Well…” Chu Mu hesitated for a long time before finally replying, “I don’t know. I hope she can be free, but she’s been imprisoned for twenty years, and I can’t stay here forever. I have my own things to do.”

“What if it was Ye Qingzi who was imprisoned?” Liu Binglan seemed to enjoy talking with Chu Mu about girls, and her previously cold and reticent demeanor changed with more questions.

“I would definitely try to find a way to save her,” Chu Mu answered.

Hearing this, Liu Binglan smiled with relief and continued, “As for Princess Jinrou’s case, it was actually mentioned to me by an elder of Soul Pet Palace. At that time, I didn’t pay much attention to it because the matter had already been contained…”

“However, since the elder of Soul Pet Palace went through the trouble to report the matter to me, it means that Princess Jinrou’s case has a serious impact, which might pose a threat to World City. My position as ‘Star Extreme’ in Soul Covenant means I’ll only intervene when there’s unrest in the border cities.” (