Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Countless swords shot through the air, falling like rain just outside the city. When Kui Lin looked outside, he saw numerous injured, bandaged figures hovering outside.
Despite their injuries, their eyes showed no sides of cowardice. They looked willing to die.
General Ning looked outside, then recalled what Kui Lin had said. The armor in his hands suddenly seemed as weighty as a mountain.
He gingerly placed it onto the ground, then took several steps back. “Your Excellency, I’ll be sure to return victorious!”
“Stay where you are!” shouted Kui Lin, eyes read. “Can’t you hear what I’m saying?”
“I’m sure you’re tired, Your Excellency, so I’m having a hard time understanding you. All I can say is, I guarantee the third demon god won’t take even half a step into this city. Please stay here and focus on your recovery in peace. When you awake, I’ll be right there by your side.”
“Didn’t you see your brothers’ wounds?”
“Their injuries are their glory!”
“You….” Kui Lin pointed at General Ning, his hands trembling. “I know. I know you’re unwilling to accept this. I know you must think me cowardly. But think of our brothers in arms. Can you, on their behalf…”
“I can!” Suddenly, a silver longsword flashing with cold light appeared in General Ning’s hands. “If any of them are afraid, I’ll use this blame of mine to teach them the consequences. My warriors have always advanced; we never retreat.”
With that, General Ning said no more. He simply turned and shot into the sky.
The group gathered outside the manor wasn’t the entirety of Kui Lin’s remaining forces; they were just General Ning’s subordinates.
But honestly, calling them injured soldiers and beaten generals was more than apt.
Practically every last one of them had varying degrees of injuries on their bodies. Since their leader was General Ning, they’d led the vanguard as its main force when they broke through their foes’ attempts to surround them. They’d gotten their injuries helping Kui Lin escape.
“General! The Emperor, he….” The speaker was General Ning’s deputy. Of those present, his wounds were among the most severe. He’d lost his left leg below the knee, as well as his right arm, and a long cut went from his left eye all the way to his ears. His body was covered in white bandages, but should you remove the gauze, you’d see wounds so deep, even his bones were visible.
Yet he’d come anyway, despite wounds of this severity. He knew that even if General Ning’s soldiers died, they’d do it on the battlefield!
“His Highness is tired, but he left the most glorious mission to us. A hundred miles from the city, the third demon god is leading his warriors against us. Our mission is to slaughter every last one of them before they even lay eyes upon Baina City. Do you have confidence?!?” General Ning’s fierce gaze swept across his soldiers, and no matter the severity of their injuries, one look at their eyes, and he could tell their blood was boiling.
“We do!”
“I know you’re injured. This time, when we go out to meet the enemy, it’s possible all of us will meet our ends. Are you afraid?” roared General Ning.
“Heh, one way or another, we’ll die anyway. In that case, I might as well take a few of our enemies down with us!”
“Only a coward would fear death now!”
“That’s right! If anyone’s scared, they’re a coward!”
The warriors roared one after another. General Ning nodded in satisfaction. These were Kui Ning’s soldiers, the troops he led personally.
With one last glance at Kui Lin, Kui Ning’s eyes flashed with staunch determination.
“Your Excellency, Kui Ning will return in triumph!” Then, Kui Ning looked away. His longsword pointed beyond the city walls.
“Advance!”
……
……
……
“Kui Ning, get back here!” Eyes red, Kui Lin roared from within the city lord’s manor. He never would have guessed it, but just before he left, General Ning left a barrier around the manor.
Kui Lin had lost much of his cultivation to Blood Explosion, and Kui Ning was an elite even among imperial lords. Kui Lin wouldn’t be able to break this barrier so easily.
He knew that when he roared, both Kui Ning and his subordinates would hear every word. However, they all acted as if they hadn’t heard his orders, departing like a rain of swords.
The third demon god’s army didn’t stay in place. They were advancing. When the scout came in and gave his report, they were indeed a hundred miles away, but a hundred miles was far too short for diviners and rulers.
Just during the time Kui Lin and Kui Lin spent talking, plus the time Kui Ning spent rallying his troops…
The enemy had advanced far, far closer to Baina City.
Less than a hundred breaths of time after General Ning’s departure, explosions resounded outside the manor.
The sound of slaughter and infuriating roars rang out nonstop. The people of Baina City hid and quivered, unsure of what to do. Many of those conscripted into Kui Lin’s army stood around the city walls, clutching their weapons and trembling.
In this part of the Upper Three Realms, everyone was at least a supreme, but that didn’t mean they’d experienced warfare or anything comparable. In fact, quite a few of them had never seen bloodshed at all.
“You! Hold your weapons properly!” Quite a few officers stood atop the walls, and when they saw the shaking new soldiers, they kicked them. “Take a good hard look at General Ning! Look carefully!”
“General Ning and his soldiers are undefeated! Just stay there, watch, and wait for General Ning to return in glorious triumph!”
“If General Ning is defeated, you… had best be prepared to offer me your heads!”
“No one is to be allowed into the city! If any of you dare retreat, I’ll cut off your heads myself!”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Outside, explosions rang out, one after another. The inside of the city lord’s estate was no different.
Kui Lin waved his fists nonstop above the barrier. Although General Ning’s barrier was sturdy, against Kui Lin’s all out attack, cracks still formed on its surface.
An hour passed…
Kui Lin had been frantic this whole time.
The sounds of slaughter outside stuck into him like barbs to the chest. He didn’t want the fighting to go on any longer. He didn’t want to watch as his subordinates died.
The one Han Tan wanted to kill was him, wasn’t it?
Kui Lin was prepared to let him!
Crunch!
Beneath Kui Lin’s non stop attacks, the barrier around the city lord’s manor finally broke.
Kui Lin rushed out without another thought, but as soon as he did, four figures shot out of nowhere and appeared beside him. “Your Highness, General Ning ordered us to watch over you.”
All four were imperial lords. Of Kui Lin’s long-time finals, they were the last of his remaining generals.
Their demonic power surged, enveloping Kui Lin within. He stared at them, his eyes red…
“Is this a rebellion?”
“Emperor, please calm your fury,” said one who was a bit plumper than the others. “You are our sovereign, and we are your subordinates. Before we die in battle, we absolutely cannot allow you to endanger yourself. You know General Ning’s prowess and his soldiers’ strength. We have faith that he can return in triumph. Please, sir, believe in him too!”
“General Baili is right. Please, Your Highness, return to the manor and rest. Leave everything to us!”
“Please, Your Highness, go back and rest inside!”
As he looked at his long-time followers, Kui Lin’s hands quivered nonstop.
“You…. I don’t want to fight them any longer. I’m the one Han Tan wants. I’ll just go back with him. All of you are immortal lords. There’s no need for you to fret about your futures; your prospects are sure to be bright.”
“Your Highness, I’m afraid we don’t quite understand what you’re saying.” The generals gestured toward the manor. “Please return to the manor and await our good news.”
Suddenly, a scout came rushing in from outside. He looked flustered, and he whispered in an imperial lord’s ear. The imperial lord in question frowned, then signaled for the scout to leave. Finally, he had a conversation with the other imperial lords through a divine sense transmission.
Just a few breaths of time later, Kui Lin saw a group of shadowy figures, an army of demons, charging outside of the city.
“What’s going on? What’s happened outside?” roared Kui Lin.
“Your Highness, please relax. Everything is going well. Please return to your quarters and await our good news.” With that, another imperial lord took his leave, and a few breaths later, a group of shadowy demonic troops shot out of the city.
For some reason, although more and more soldiers left, the sounds of slaughter only grew quieter. This only increased Kui Lin’s sense of foreboding, but two imperial lords remained at his side, keeping him under close watch. He couldn’t take even half a step outside.
Suddenly, the sword of sword rain came once more, and someone flew towards the manor.
Kui Lin suddenly looked up at the sky. This new arrival wasn’t one of the imperial lords who’d led his troops into battle. It was the third demon god!
“Kui Lin, oh, Kui Lin, you sure know how to hide. To think you’d hidden yourself in such a remote place! You sure made yourself difficult to find. Baina City? If not for the fact that one of my subordinates once dwelt here, I wouldn’t have even known this place existed.”
The third demon god was a hawk-nosed elder, and despite the ferocious sounds of battle earlier, he didn’t have any injuries whatsoever.
The two imperial lords who’d remained behind each took a sudden step forward. They whistled, and another group of dark demonic forces emerged.
“Oh? You still had so many people? It seems you haven’t occupied the throne for ten thousand years in vain. To think you still had so many loyal soldiers!”
“What happened to Kui Ning? And to Bai Li?”
That the third demon god and his men had made it here meant that General Ning’s army had been defeated.
It didn’t matter if they’d been defeated. So long as they were alive, even if they’d been captured, Kui Lin could accept it. Even though he understood Kui Ning’s temperament and knew he’d want to die in battle, even though he knew Kui Ning would never let himself be captured, he still held onto this last thread of hope.
He stared at the third demon god hopefully…
“Them?”
The third demon god flipped his hand over and took out three heads. He casually flung them at Kui Lin, who caught them carefully….
“Xiao Ning, Baili, Old Devil…”
These three heads belonged to none other than General Ning and the two imperial lords who’d just led their forces out of the city. Even after death, their eyes were still opened… Especially Kui Ning’s.
His heart breaking, Kui Lin looked at the three heads, his tears flowing uncontrollably.
He tenderly closed Kui Ning’s eyes. Then, he heard the third demon god laugh. “These generals of yours did well. They died leading a charge. Honestly, they were far braver and more heroic than you, a Demon Emperor who only knows to hide away like a turtle.”
