Chapter 141
Chapter 141
“You…” Shengsheng Zhou stared in shock at the man behind her.
Cold armor pressed painfully into her back, and a faint scent of blood clung to him.
“Xiaoming?” she called tentatively. But when she saw eyes as frigid as a winter pool, she became uncertain again.
Siran Ming gave a quiet sound of acknowledgment. Anger flashed in his eyes before he suppressed it. “What are you doing here?”
The black horse continued to gallop. Fighting against the wind, Shengsheng slapped Siran on the head–then the pain in her hand made her question her entire existence.
Popeye’s Heir had lost its effect the moment she was swept onto the horse.
Seeing her grimace in pain while her hair whipped wildly in the wind, Siran asked helplessly, “What are you making a fuss about?”
Shengsheng sucked in a pained breath and cursed him. “Why did you mobilize your army? Do you no longer care about the treaty between the three kingdoms?!”
Siran pulled hard on the reins and stopped the horse. The black stallion, which had been enjoying its run, snorted unhappily but still submitted obediently to its master’s tyranny and came to a halt.
Not a glimmer of light reflected from his black armor. He lowered his eyes to Shengsheng and asked, one deliberate word at a time, “What if I said it was for you?”
Shengsheng: “Ha.”
“You’re a tiny brat. Why are you learning to throw away your kingdom for a beauty? Has romance rotted your brain?” Shengsheng demanded angrily. “Withdraw your troops at once!”
Siran wrapped one arm around her waist and replied in a tone that brooked no argument, “No.”
Fusheng Duan and this kingdom both had to die.
Shengsheng suddenly felt exhausted. A weariness of the spirit surged uncontrollably and gathered heavily in her chest.
“Xiaoming, why can’t you ever listen?”
Siran lowered his head and kissed her cheek, chilled by the wind. With his lips against her skin, he said, “Because I want you.”
His scorching breath tickled. Shengsheng turned her head away and rubbed the place he had kissed in embarrassed anger. “If you’re going to talk, just talk. Stop putting your mouth on me.”
*A-Pang, this is what you called mortal danger? He looks plenty alive and kicking to me!*
A-Pang replied helplessly, *Wait a little longer. The moment hasn’t arrived yet.*
When Siran saw her eyes suddenly go blank, his brow twitched.
Something was wrong. Why could he no longer hear her thoughts?
“What are you thinking about?” A faint irritation entered his voice.
Shengsheng glanced at the devastation around them and replied, “How to make you withdraw your army.”
The hoofbeats behind them suddenly grew clear. Then Shengsheng heard a deep, middle-aged voice. “Your Majesty, even now, no reinforcements have arrived from Zhu Kingdom. This subordinate suspects a trap.”
Siran narrowed his eyes. Shengsheng suddenly shifted. “I’ll sit behind you.”
Siran pinned down her squirming body, still held in his arms, and said hoarsely, “Stop moving.”
Shengsheng said anxiously, “Blades have no eyes. It’s dangerous in front. I want to sit in the back.”
After a moment’s thought, Siran decided she had a point. He grasped her waist with both hands, lifted her, and set her down behind him.
Shengsheng suddenly felt that her Popeye powers were pathetically weak.
Siran’s subordinates all stared in disbelief. They had expected the woman to be beheaded for her insolence. How had their cold-blooded, merciless emperor, famous as a tyrant, actually agreed to her demand????
Shengsheng glanced silently at the tall, powerfully built soldier beside Siran.
Afraid of falling, she wrapped her arms around Siran’s waist, pressed down slightly, and whispered, “Giddyup~”
Shengsheng thought she had spoken quietly, but every person present was a martial general with extraordinary hearing. They all heard her perfectly.
Siran Ming’s expression stiffened for an instant. Then he pretended he had heard nothing and ordered his men to scout the surrounding area without overlooking a single building.
With no time to remain surprised, the soldier departed as soon as he received the order.
He could not shake the feeling that staying here put him at risk of being silenced forever.
The man had only just left when a one-armed soldier drenched in blood staggered toward them, roaring as he ran, “Your Majesty! Your Majesty!”
Siran’s gaze shifted, and someone behind him immediately ran over. “What happened?”
Blood filled the soldier’s mouth, while more poured ceaselessly from his wound.
“The people of Zhu Kingdom used some unknown sorcery. The soldiers who advanced ahead of us went mad and started slaughtering one another! My subordinates protected me with their lives, and only then did I escape death and make it back!”
He had lost far too much blood, and his entire face was turning blue. He clearly had little time left and had forced out the report on his final breath.
As expected, the moment he finished, he spat out another mouthful of blood and collapsed weakly. Tears glimmered in his eyes as he struggled to say, “Chunniang… I can’t keep my promise…”
The soldier who knelt and caught him closed his eyes with one palm, then rose and looked grimly at Siran. “Your Majesty… this…”
Zhu Kingdom did indeed possess certain unorthodox arts. It was the weakest of the three kingdoms, and others had coveted it before. But rumor held that every nation to send troops against Zhu Kingdom had not only lost the entire force, but seen every soldier die a gruesome death.
Siran’s eyes shifted. He said in a deep voice, “Wait here. I will investigate personally.”
His subordinates refused at once and launched into a great chorus of *Your Majesty, please reconsider!* An impatient Siran finally appointed Shou Xiong as his escort, barely silencing the objections.
The blood-red sunset had faded, and darkness was falling. Siran had wanted Shengsheng Zhou to stay behind, but she adamantly refused. Left with no choice, he held her securely behind him and rode swiftly onward with only Shou Xiong.
It was truly like hell.
Red-eyed soldiers hacked at one another, refusing to stop until they had mangled each other’s limbs. Their demonlike frenzy made Shengsheng look away after a single glance and obediently stare at Siran’s back.
She was not afraid, but she wanted to vomit…
Strangely, the men acted as though they had not seen Siran and the others intrude. They simply continued slaughtering one another.
On the trunk of a dead tree that no one noticed crouched a black bird with pitch-dark feathers. Its tiny, bean-sized eyes had been fixed without blinking on the fiercest fighting.
When it glimpsed the newcomers, it paid them no mind at first. But when it saw the person behind the black-armored rider, it suddenly paused, then turned its head and resumed its work as though it had seen nothing.
Yet it did not attack them.
Siran watched his soldiers butcher one another, his face dark. But wherever he looked, there was no one except the soldiers of Yong Kingdom.
Just as he prepared to circle around and investigate ahead, Shou Xiong suddenly called out from behind him.
“Your Majesty, you should never have investigated the truth behind Yanyan Yu’s death…”
At the name, Siran’s pupils contracted sharply. But it was already too late. A vicious gust was slashing toward him from behind!
They were simply too close together.