Yan Mo pointed at his wife Hai Die’er in disbelief, his voice hoarse as he said, “You, you poisoned the wine?”
Hai Die’er nodded and said, “That is correct.”
“No, impossible.” Yan Mo’s voice had completely changed, becoming incredibly aged and raspy. “Any poison carries a very negative and dark energy aura. I can sense it. Every time you poured me wine, I would confirm it was poison-free before drinking.”
Hai Die’er said, “Knowing how formidable you are, I dared not poison you directly. But there are many things in this world that are not poison when consumed separately, yet become fatal toxins when mixed together. Over these past dozen or so days, in the wine you drank, I administered three mysterious medicinal substances. These appeared to be nothing more than expensive spices, even possessing nourishing effects, completely non-toxic. And in that cup of wine I just gave you, I added the Tuoluo Yin from the Demon Continent. It is also not a poison, but once inside your body and mixed with the previous three mysterious medicinal substances, it becomes a fatal toxin. That is why you naturally could not detect it.”
Such deep scheming, such ruthless heart!
Yan Mo’s veins began to twist and contort throughout his body. He appeared to be in unbearable agony.
“Why, why?” Yan Mo roared. “Was I not good enough to you?”
Hai Die’er said, “You were neither particularly good nor particularly bad to me. But at least you were somewhat better than my father, and you brought me supreme glory and power, which I was utterly infatuated with. But now, you can no longer bring me glory and power. I once thought to share weal and woe with you, but I discovered that in bed you are merely a beast. After suffering setbacks, you would only vent your frustration upon my body. So I thought it over, and decided to poison you to death.”
Upon receiving this answer, Yan Mo’s heart was filled with unbearable pain!
He had never expected that he would not die at Suo Lun’s hands, nor at the hands of the rebellious Yan Pirates.
Just moments ago, he had single-handedly killed over three hundred men, appearing invincibly brave.
He had never expected that in the end, he would die at a woman’s hands, and at the hands of his own wife at that.
“Haha… hahaha…” Yan Mo let out a mocking laugh.
His voice was filled with desolation, filled with absurdity.
His dream was to become the founding monarch of the Yan Clan, to forge a kingdom and establish hegemony.
The moment the Sea God of the Yan Clan was destroyed, Yan Mo knew that the Yan Clan as a distinct people had come to an end. He had to lead the Yan Clan to change their traditions and conquer the mainland. Only then would the Yan Clan have a future.
Suo Lun was the first stepping stone for his kingdom and hegemony. Hai Gang was the second.
Once, he had been so close to the dream in his heart, almost within reach, yet as distant as the horizon.
Then, a very absurd thought suddenly arose in Yan Mo’s mind.
This world is filled with irony. When a person is at their most magnificent, when their prestige reaches its peak, that is the moment they are about to be destroyed.
Suo Hanyi, the son of a mere serf, had ultimately become the acting city lord of Tianshui City, with tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of thousands of subjects under his command.
That was his highest moment. Yet not long after, he was beheaded and died a violent death.
Tuli Wen, the city lord of Luanyang City, as the allied forces commander, had led over a hundred thousand troops in the second war to destroy Suo Lun. He was merely a feudal lord. Where would he have the opportunity to command over a hundred thousand troops? How magnificent and imposing he was. It was similarly his highest moment.
And merely a few days later, Tuli Wen’s over a hundred thousand troops were burned clean by Suo Lun with a single fire. He himself became a prisoner, and recently there were even rumours that he was killed by Suo Lun.
Gui Xingfu had commanded forty thousand allied forces, marching south in grand array, leading the third war to destroy Suo Lun. Similarly, his might shook the world. Yet a few days later, his entire army was annihilated, and he was captured in defeat.
Now it was his turn, Yan Mo. That day, he had led a hundred thousand naval troops south, in grand and mighty array, blotting out the sky and covering the sun.
He was on the verge of destroying Suo Lun and changing the格局 of the Furious Wave Kingdom. Undoubtedly, this was also Yan Mo’s highest moment.
Yet similarly, a few days later, he was nearly annihilated, abandoned by all, and finally died at his own wife’s hands.
Next, it should be Zhi Li’s turn!
At this moment, Zhi Li was at his highest peak. All the feudal lords and nobles in the world were completely prostrate at his feet. At his call, the world besieged Suo Lun, and eight hundred thousand troops were about to attack Tianshui City.
At this moment, Zhi Li was not a monarch, yet he surpassed a monarch.
But Yan Mo believed that Zhi Li would also soon fall from his supreme peak. The higher one climbs, the harder one falls.
There is only one path to the pinnacle of power. Once one person walks that path, all others can only serve as stepping stones.
After Zhi Li falls from his peak, whose turn will it be?
At this moment, Yan Mo’s mind held no resentment, only a string of meaningless reveries.
Just as he was lost in reverie, a burst of incomparable pain suddenly interrupted his thoughts. He let out an utterly mournful, piercing scream.
Because his body was twisting, withering.
His entire being was growing shorter inch by inch, compressing and collapsing.
Originally, he stood at a full height of one metre ninety. Now his veins were twisting, and his body was growing shorter and shorter, curling into a ball.
Shrinking to one metre eighty, one metre seventy, one metre sixty, one metre fifty…
His body could not endure such compression. Bones fractured and shattered, muscles tore, blood vessels burst.
Boundless, endless pain. Boundless, endless screaming.
This pain was a hundred times worse than death.
“Ah… ah… ah…”
Yan Mo screamed desperately, shrieked desperately, blood spurting from his entire body.
He withered from a tall, strikingly handsome man into a monster even shorter than Tuli Yang.
Countless streams of blood, countless shreds of muscle, countless fragments of bone burst forth.
Even Hai Die’er beside him was terrified by this monster. It was simply too horrifying, too nauseating.
Just now, Yan Mo had single-handedly killed over three hundred men, blood soaring to the heavens, corpses flying about. Hai Die’er had not found it nauseating. On the contrary, she had felt an inexplicable excitement.
Now, seeing Yan Mo transformed into such a monster, she found it truly terrifying, truly nauseating!
“Ah, ah, ah!”
The monster-like Yan Mo, unable to endure this boundless, endless pain, desperately ran madly outward, ran madly.
Before the eyes of countless people, he ran out of the palace, ran out of the square, ran madly toward the edge of the cliff, and directly charged off the cliff’s edge.
Then…
The ugly, twisted Yan Mo, like a ball of flesh, fell from a cliff hundreds of metres high.
“Ah… ah…”
In mid-air, his body continued to wither.
Finally, his entire body could not endure such tremendous pressure. After repeatedly colliding with the cliff face…
“Bang…” His body suddenly exploded, transforming into a shower of flesh and blood, dancing in the air.
For a full several seconds after…
“Thud, thud, thud, thud…” The exploded pieces of Yan Mo’s body continuously fell into the sea.
Countless large fish swarmed forward to devour them!
And Suo Lun, riding a griffin beast, watched this scene from thousands of metres away.
A generation’s formidable hero, the King of the Yan Pirates, thus fell.
Had he not encountered Suo Lun, or rather, had he not encountered Suo Lun’s cannons, Yan Mo would truly have been invincible. His ambitions would certainly have been realised. He truly could have led the Yan Clan toward revival and become a founding monarch.
In the end, he failed at the brink of success and died so tragically!
Yan Mo’s defeat was not a crime of war, but truly the will of heaven!
And Hai Gang, standing at the bow of the ship, also witnessed this scene. A violent shiver ran through his body.
He shivered not because of Yan Mo’s tragic death, but because his own daughter Hai Die’er had actually carried out such a ruthless act.
Although Hai Die’er poisoning Yan Mo was done at Hai Gang’s instruction, when it truly happened, it still filled him with an inexplicable chill.
Moreover, as his once greatest enemy, Yan Mo was now dead. This also caused Hai Gang to sigh endlessly.
…
After Yan Mo’s death, Hai Die’er did not rush out. Instead, she tore off the bed sheet from her body, walked into the bathing tub, and immersed herself in the prepared petal bath to cleanse herself.
She carefully washed her entire body inside and out until it was spotless, then changed into a brand new, magnificent dress and applied expensive, enchanting rose essential oil.
Finally, she walked out of the Yan King Palace with graceful bearing and breathtaking beauty, descending step by step down the stairs from the peak of the main island.
Behind her, several hundred Yan Pirate warriors emerged.
As she walked down the stairs, from the bastions on either side, countless Yan Pirates and Yan commoners appeared. Some Yan Pirates even drew their bows and aimed at her.
In the eyes of the Yan commoners, the Lord of Black Reef Island had the right to use force to impeach and drive Yan Mo from power. Even numerous Yan Pirate warriors could surround and kill Yan Mo.
But… Hai Die’er could not!
She was an outsider, and moreover, Yan Mo’s wife!
The people of the Yan Clan could only be killed by the Yan Clan. It was not for outsiders to do so.
A wife killing her husband was an even greater betrayal.
Hai Die’er looked at the numerous Yan Pirates around her and sneered, “What? You want to kill me?”
No one spoke, but the gazes directed at Hai Die’er were filled with cold indifference.
“Yes, it was I who poisoned Yan Mo.” Hai Die’er said, “According to the traditions of the Yan Pirates, I deserve to die. But if we follow the traditions of the Yan Pirates, you should not have left Yan Island, nor should you have come to my family Thunder Archipelago. From the moment Yan Island completely sank, the Yan Clan no longer had traditions.”
The crowd was speechless.
“I killed Yan Mo and found a path of survival for your entire Yan Clan. Otherwise, according to your stubborn traditions, no one could have driven Yan Mo from power. You would only have been surrounded and starved to death by Suo Lun.” Hai Die’er sneered, “Abandon your laughable pride. Abandon your laughable traditions. The moment Yan Island sank, the Yan Clan already had no traditions.”
Hai Die’er repeated her final sentence.
Then, without waiting for the other Yan commoners to react, she directly walked down, all the way to the dock.
At this moment, Suo Lun was riding a griffin beast, floating above the sea surface.
Hai Die’er knelt on the dock ground with her lovely figure and said, “Hai Die’er pays respects to His Majesty Suo Lun!”
Suo Lun did not quibble over her form of address, but asked indifferently, “Yan Mo was killed by you?”
“Yes,” Hai Die’er said.
Suo Lun said, “I keep my word. I reward you with thirty thousand gold coins, one hundred servants, and enfeoff you as a commander of ten thousand.”
Hai Die’er said in a delicate voice, “As a woman, I cannot be a commander of ten thousand. Money is also useless to me. I have only one request.”
“Speak,” Suo Lun said.
Hai Die’er said, “I am willing to marry His Majesty Suo Lun as a concubine.”
Upon hearing these words, Suo Lun could not help but shiver.
You just used such vicious means to kill your husband, and now you want to marry me as a concubine? Do I find my life too long?
Hai Die’er said, “Your Majesty Suo Lun must be thinking, I just killed my own husband, and now I want to remarry you. Who knows whether I might poison you in the future?”
Suo Lun nodded.
Hai Die’er said, “I can swear to you that before you reach a dead end, I will certainly not betray you.”
These words were spoken with such stark realism!
And just at this moment, Hai Gang on the magnificent great ship also bowed respectfully and said, “The Hai Family is willing to pledge loyalty to His Majesty Suo Lun. Please grant your approval.”
When Hai Gang spoke of loyalty, he said pledge loyalty, not form an alliance!
In his eyes, although a marriage alliance might not be reliable, not forming a marriage alliance was certainly unreliable.
So did Suo Lun need the Hai Family? Did he need Yingzhou Island?
He needed them!
For the great decisive battle with Zhi Li, Suo Lun did not particularly need the Hai Family.
But in the future, when he completely fell out with the Divine Dragon Temple, Suo Lun would need an overseas place as a retreat.
The other islands were too small. Only Yingzhou Island, stretching for thousands of li, was sufficient to serve as an overseas retreat.
Even if one day Suo Lun went to war with the Divine Dragon Temple and became enemies with the entire human kingdom, he could still use Yingzhou Island as a great rear base.
But marrying a viper like Hai Die’er truly made one’s blood run cold.
Actually, he had another choice. Marry Hai Na’er! This woman had been with A Shi Luo, and she was very irritable and impulsive, rather foolish.
Whereas Hai Die’er was clever, with the heart of a serpent and a scorpion.
So for Suo Lun, was a foolish woman better, or a ruthless woman better?
A foolish woman could ruin things at any moment.
Whereas a ruthless woman would only ruin things at critical moments.
Without receiving Suo Lun’s reply, Hai Die’er remained kneeling on the ground, motionless.
Even intentionally or unintentionally, she displayed her devilish curves to their fullest, especially the curve of her waist and hips, simply soul-stirring.
“Very well, I agree!” Suo Lun said. “But I cannot keep you in Tianshui City. I will have you reside at Pirate Harbour and appear at the Maritime Guild on my behalf.”
“Your concubine obeys the decree,” Hai Die’er said.
Suo Lun continued, “Before I deem it necessary, I will not sleep with you, nor will I touch your body.”
“Your concubine obeys the decree,” Hai Die’er replied with the same alluring compliance.
…
After Yan Mo’s death, the entire Yan Clan still gripped their weapons tightly. All the Yan commoners still guarded the various strategic points of the Thunder Archipelago.
Although Suo Lun had said he would only pursue Yan Mo’s individual guilt and that the other Yan commoners were guiltless, not a single Yan commoner showed any intention of surrendering!
Suo Lun understood this mentality very clearly.
These Yan Pirates and Yan commoners had actually already given up resisting, but they were holding fast to their final pride.
Moreover, although they lacked morale, they did not lack the courage to fight. If Suo Lun truly wished to fight, they would certainly fight to the end, even if they died to the last man.
Yan Mo had been despised by all Yan commoners for abandoning his clansmen to flee. So the Yan commoners on the Thunder Archipelago would use their own actions to wash away the shame brought by Yan Mo.
Suo Lun did not step forward to offer surrender terms, nor did he dispatch troops to press in. He simply waited quietly!
Now, only one person could persuade the Yan commoners to surrender, and that was the former Yan Queen, Yan Chuo’er!
Suo Lun had led his troops north. She had not followed, but remained on the battlefield to comfort the Yan Pirate captives and reorganise them.
By now, roughly twenty-some days had passed. The reorganisation should have been completed.
Once the reorganisation was complete, he would ride a griffin north!
…
Time passed quietly!
Suo Lun and Hai Gang’s fleet still besieged and blockaded the Thunder Archipelago.
And the Yan commoners within the Thunder Archipelago still held firm at their respective combat posts.
The next day, the Yan Queen still had not come.
On the third day after Yan Mo’s death, the setting sun hung in the west.
The beauty of the sunset at sea was simply intoxicating!
And just at this moment, a griffin beast appeared in everyone’s field of vision. Upon the griffin was the graceful and elegant Yan Queen!
She had finally come!
Not long after she appeared, from within the castles of the Thunder Archipelago, from the various bastions, countless Yan commoners and countless Yan Pirates walked out, set down their weapons, and knelt toward the Yan Queen in the sky.
Suo Lun rode a griffin beast to meet her. Gazing at Yan Chuo’er incomparably beautiful face, he took a deep breath, then said gently, “Aunt, Yan Mo is dead!”