Lucius carefully stepped over the prison door and entered the cell.

Sunlight shone into the cell through a narrow window, forming a bright spot on the woman's nearly perfect waist curve. Along the undulating muscles, it drew deep and shallow shadows on the pure white torso.

He held his breath.

Without the barrier of the iron bars, he found that one side of her body that was facing away from the light was like a snowfield bathed in cool moonlight, while the side facing the light was like a bright and moist riverbank jade.

"They shouldn't call you the 'silver-white mother lioness,' " he said with wide eyes and a dry throat. "It should be 'ivory mother lioness' that's right."

The tall figure stood there firmly, motionless.

She turned her head slightly and looked at him calmly, as if waiting or inviting.

Feeling encouraged, he stepped towards her, mesmerized. He raised his arm and reached towards her upper abdomen, like Xena did in the living room.

He didn't realize that the pair of yellow-jade-like eyes above his head had almost turned into two blood-red gems.

The woman was too lazy to act submissively and decided to take action.

This angle was good, just one move, and she could snap the soft and fragile neck of this southern man... no, she changed her mind, she would first twist his arm and force him to ask some information about here.

"I have sent someone to inquire."

Just then, the southern man who seemed to be out of his mind suddenly spoke, "About the person who abducted your sister."

She was slightly shocked.

"That person is named Massayer, the most notorious Akkadian mercenary and the shrewdest scout."

Massayer...

She repeated the name twice in her heart, determined to remember it firmly.

But she suddenly realized that the speaker's palm had somehow climbed up her belly, and the warm feeling was gently moving upward...

Lucius took a deep breath.

"One good news, one bad news," he said to himself.

The good news was that her skin, as white as snow, was smooth and full of elasticity and the feel was so beautiful that he was addicted and unable to extricate himself.

As for the bad news...

Lucius took a deep breath.

At the moment when his hand touched her upper abdomen, he suddenly realized that the "ivory mother lion's shackles" were just decorations on her wrist and were not even fastened!

And his own hand was still on the mother lion's belly, unconsciously touching her soft spot...

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Sweat beads poured out of his forehead.

Lucius felt like his heart was about to stop.

However, he neither dared to wipe the sweat nor dared to look at her face.

At this moment, he noticed that under the fake wrist cuff, those fair hands that could crack lions and tigers, were clenched into two fists. The blue blood vessels on the back of his hands were bulging because of his exertion.

Sweat soaked through Lucien's clothes and heart.

"Masayes..." He quickly licked his lips and said.

Just when she was about to raise her hand and punch him, causing his skull to fracture, his whisper drilled into her ear.

"Masayes's men always acted as eyes and pioneers for the empire's army, killing, setting fire, robbing, and selling women and children as slaves along the way.

"It was also his orders, under his deputy's command, to search for northern women and attack your village."

Her gaze was blank.

The sword that was hung on the neck of her younger sister after she killed her mother and younger brother.

She closed her eyes, and her chest rose and fell unsteadily.

Horrible images swirled in her mind, as if with just one glance, she would see the bodies of her loved ones lying close by.

Lucius exhaled softly.

Taking advantage of her distracted state, he continued to lightly manipulate his hands on the ivory lion.

In fact, he just wanted to stop immediately and run as far as he could.

At this moment, he was sweating profusely, his legs were weak, and he was struggling to stay upright and not collapse like a puppet.

The little bit of glamour he had when he first entered prison had long since disappeared. Now he just wanted to survive.

But he had to be consistent with his previous foolish actions.

If anything was different, she would suspect that he had noticed the secret of the handcuffs and would kill immediately.

He continued to touch her slowly, while quietly shifting the direction of his hand's movement, sliding down along her tight, firm abdominal muscles, touching her navel, and slowly reaching down to the ugly slave brand below her belly.

At the moment when his fingertips touched the brand, he felt that her body slightly twitched, and her skin and flesh tightened slightly.

--The lion woke up.

He withdrew his hand like an electric shock.

At this moment, Lucius seemed to have forgotten the heavy dangers he was facing and asked regretfully, "Does it still hurt?"

She was silent, as if she was hesitating.

And he could only wait for his death sentence in this silence.

After a few seconds, she opened her mouth again: "You continue to talk, where is Masayes, and where is my sister?"

Her tone couldn't show her emotions of joy or anger.

Lucius took a deep breath. He knew he had just barely managed to come back to his senses. But it wasn't enough. As he entered the cell, he raised his face to her for the first time and firmly shook his head.

"Masayes is a mercenary, he could be anywhere where there's war," he said. "Nobody knows where he is now, including me."

She looked somewhat surprised at his serious expression, but also found it appealing.

"As for your sister," Lucius said, "my men found out she and you were both sold to Anandibub, the slave trader, by a lieutenant."

Lucius let out a sigh.

He knew he had just barely returned from the underworld.

But it wasn't enough.

Upon entering the cell, he looked at her for the first time and firmly shook his head.

"Masayes is nowhere to be found, no one knows where he is. I don't know either. But he's a mercenary, wherever there's war, that's where he'll be."

His serious demeanor surprised and pleased her.

"As for your sister," Lucius said, "my people found out that the deputy sold you and your sister to Anandiyebu, the slave trader.

“But when I took over Anandiyebu’s slave market, I found out that your sister had already been resold to someone else.

"Who the buyer is, my people are still investigating… I will inform you as soon as I have news."

Her face softened.

This was indeed something she couldn't do. She wasn't like Lucius. Even if she regained her freedom, in this unfamiliar city, she was still a stranger with nothing. She couldn't speak the language and didn't know anyone. Finding her sister was like finding a needle in a haystack.

She lowered her eyes and looked at him seriously for the first time.

He looked back at her with sincerity and determination in his dark brown eyes.

The blood slowly faded from the golden irises.

"Go out and let me be quiet for a while," she whispered.

And after a moment of hesitation, "… and, thank you."

Lucius stumbled out of the slave prison. He barely remembered how he got out.

The moment he bathed in the sun again, he felt weightless.

His clothes were damp and dry, and there was a layer of white salt on them.

He felt as if he had just had a deadly fight.