Chapter 3: The smoke of wolves rises, so the country is far away (Part 3)

Amidst the exclamations of the crowd, a white figure pounced directly at the cornerless city wall and leaped down.

In mid-air, her clear voice echoed, "I, Li Luoyao, swear that I will never reincarnate under the Yellow Springs. I will curse all those who betray, leave, and deceive me for eternity, and they will follow me to eternal damnation in the underworld, hahaha..."

The wind blew fiercely around her, lifting her long black hair and snow-white robe.

She laughed heartily, not like someone going to their death, but rather like someone heading to paradise.

It's great, everything is without regret. As she rapidly descended, she gently closed her eyes, smiling as she sighed, "Qier, sister is coming..."

...

The atmosphere was tense, and amidst the billowing smoke, she fell like the last white butterfly of summer. Everyone seemed stunned by her joyous laughter, staring blankly at the snowy figure on the dilapidated city wall.

Suddenly, a golden light burst forth and headed towards the white figure.

"Ah!" The crowd exclaimed.

The golden light was so swift that it almost instantly pinned down the white figure.

With a muffled sound, the white figure was pinned to the city wall, but the tremendous force couldn't stop her from slowly descending vertically.

This time, it was even more urgent.

At that moment, a dark figure, like a rolling phantom, almost in an instant, leaped up and embraced the snow-white figure.

A loud bang. The black figure, along with the white figure, fell down, and a huge rock beneath them was shattered by the force.

Dust filled the air, obscuring their figures.

It was only then that the people on the city wall snapped out of their daze. They rushed forward, anxiously peering down below from the city wall.

As the dust slowly dissipated, a towering figure gradually appeared before their eyes.

With long hair cascading down his shoulders, he wore a black battle robe embroidered with golden auspicious cloud and dragon patterns. His feet were firmly planted on the shattered rock in a pair of dragon-patterned boots.

He had caught the woman falling from a dozen zhang high city wall. In just a moment.

The battlefield seemed to quiet down all at once.

He slowly raised his head, and everyone held their breath. The man wore a half-golden wolf king mask, revealing only the sharp contours of his lower face. Yet, this half-face was enough to send chills down one's spine.

High nose bridge, sharp jawline, and a pair of eyes hidden within the fierce mask, like stars in the sky. In the blink of an eye, his arrogance was chilling.

He coldly looked up at the people on the city wall, his gaze full of killing intent, making everyone on the city wall too frightened to look at him again.

"I said, I want to live." His voice was neither loud nor soft, but it made everyone on the city wall shudder, and the timid ones even knelt down.

After saying this, the man didn't look at them again, only at the woman in his arms.

She was extremely pale, her long ink-black hair casually scattered over his arm, like floating ink silk. Her long eyelashes lightly closed, casting a small shadow on her palm-sized face.

Her features were exquisite, just one glance made people feel that the woman in his arms was a ray of celestial light fallen into the mortal world. But at this moment, her eyes were tightly shut, dimming that otherworldly light.

Suddenly, he smirked, "Princess Qingyuan, truly beautiful."

He said, holding her, and walked towards the smoky battlefield as if no one else was there.

"King Lie! They have surrendered the city." A general hurriedly approached.

Without looking back, he coldly dropped a sentence, "Kill."

"But... they have all surrendered the city."

The general said in distress. Apart from the loyal soldiers of the Tang Kingdom who were still resisting on the battlefield, the famous bustling capital of the Tang Kingdom had opened its gates to welcome them.

Who to kill at this moment? And why kill?

The man's footsteps paused, and he suddenly smiled, gently wiping away the blood on the woman's face. She was truly the most beautiful woman in the world, her face was absolutely the most beautiful and stubborn he had ever seen.

He curved his lips, lazily saying, "Since they have surrendered, they are useless. General Wu, tell me, what's the use of keeping useless people?"

With the last sentence, the general broke out in a cold sweat. He shouted to the soldiers, "King Lie has ordered! Those who surrendered from the Tang Kingdom, no mercy—"

The once somewhat quiet battlefield suddenly boiled over.

"Kill—"

The black dragon once again stirred up a tide of blood, and this time, this tide of blood engulfed the city in the billowing smoke, along with the hopes of those who harbored a glimmer of hope and sought to survive.

"Green, green collar, my heart is at ease, even if I don't go, will you not send a message..."

"Green, green pendant, my heart is at ease, even if I don't go, will you not go..."

"Choosing and reaching, at the city gate. A day without seeing you is like three months!"

"..."

Darkness enveloped her. In the dream-like purgatory, she repeatedly sang this ancient poem, as if singing it could bring peace to her soul. But the next moment, a pair of small bloody hands grabbed her hand.

"Sister, I'm scared." Qier's big eyes were filled with fear.

She held his icy little hand, tears streaming down as she desperately comforted him, "Don't be afraid, Qier, don't be afraid, sister is here, sister will take you to reunite with father."

"Sister is lying to me." Qier's eyes gradually turned ashen, and he looked at her coldly, muttering, "Sister is lying to me. Sister wants me to die so she can live. You are all liars, all liars..."

"No, how could sister lie to you? Sister will follow you too. You have to believe sister..." She explained in vain.

But the Qier before her gradually turned bloody, and that blood stained her world.

"Ah!" she exclaimed, suddenly opening her eyes. Before her was a dim yellowish light, as if she were still in the hellish dream, and the flickering in front of her was nothing but the dim and obscure hellfire.

"Awake?" came a pleasant male voice from beside her, sounding lazy.

His voice was like thunder exploding in her ears, jolting her soul back to reality.

Struggling, Qingyuan looked towards the source of the voice, and a dark figure was reflected on the bed curtain by the candlelight. The silhouette was like a paper-cut, holding a book and seemingly engrossed in it, not even bothering to turn around.

Who was he? Qingyuan's eyes narrowed.

Although she couldn't see the man's face, she could sense an extremely domineering aura quietly emanating from the tent. And this aura came from this man.

Flipping a page of the book, the man lazily said, "You're lucky. If I had come a step later, you would have almost turned into a pile of bones. My expedition to the Tang Kingdom would have been in vain."

Lying on the bed, Qingyuan looked at the large and ancient character "Lìe" on the bed curtain and suddenly understood everything.

She chuckled, "So I didn't die after all."

"Is the princess disappointed?" The man's voice was very pleasant, like a mix of gold and jade.

"Not disappointed. Being alive is naturally a good thing." Qingyuan raised her pale red lips and smiled again. "Your Highness Lìe, it's a pleasure to meet you."