“Prime Minister! If no one steps forward, then just admit defeat and follow our agreement. Send up the beauty and the city maps. Otherwise, our great army will surely trample Yao Kingdom flat.” The Sand Kingdom leader laughed loudly. His gaze fell on Su Rong, looking at this peerlessly beautiful and coldly aloof woman. In his eyes, he could not help but reveal a lewd glint.
Being stared at like this, Su Rong’s pretty face turned deathly white. She had never imagined Yao Kingdom would lose. For so many years, Yao Kingdom had always completely crushed the Sand Kingdom. Who could have thought the younger generation of the Sand Kingdom had grown this strong this time?
“Beauty, don’t be impatient! We’ll come fetch you to the Sand Kingdom soon!” The Sand Kingdom leader laughed heartily, looking at Su Rong and Su Zhengping with provocative eyes.
The group of women around Su Rong felt their hearts sink to the bottom. Was Su Rong really going to be taken away by the people of Yao Kingdom?
“Has Yao Kingdom run out of men? No one dares come up and fight me?” Sha Shan shouted provocatively from the duel arena, insulting the men of Yao Kingdom.
Hearing the grating laughter, Zhang Su’er raised an eyebrow. Her gaze shot towards the group of men in Yao City. “Even if you can’t beat them, you can’t let them humiliate you like this!”
Being scolded by Zhang Su’er, the group exchanged glances, but in the end, no one dared step forward.
Zhang Su’er looked at the group of trembling men and felt furious. “Hu San, what did you say before? When the nation is in peril, you’d be willing to die. Right now it’s just a fight against them. What are you afraid of? You’re also at the Intent Transformation Realm!”
“I…” The man whose name was called flushed red. He gathered his courage and wanted to take a step forward, but seeing the fates of Chen Bowen and Ye Tian, he ultimately turned his head and avoided the group of women’s burning gazes.
“Wang Mu, you once said a true man knows what to do and what not to do. Can’t you stand up now and tell those Sand Kingdom beasts that Yao Kingdom has no shortage of real men!”
“Xu Da! You once said if Su Rong was in trouble, you’d go through fire and water for her. You’re all among the top ten in Yao City. None of you dare go up?”
“…”
Zhang Su’er and the group of women pointed at them and shouted, hoping they would step forward. But in the end, not a single one dared. Those pointed at all turned their heads away, not daring to meet the eyes of Zhang Su’er and the other women.
The faces of Zhang Su’er and the women turned pale. They had never imagined that the group who used to swear grand promises in front of them would turn out to be such cowards. They had actually believed them. How ridiculous!
Su Zhengping and the others also felt their hearts sink to the bottom. Losing was not the issue. But to lose in such a humiliating way was simply throwing away Yao Kingdom’s face. Not even having the courage to fight—did Yao Kingdom still have any dignity left?
“Hahaha! I said it long ago. Yao Kingdom has no men. How can it compare to the real men of our Sand Kingdom?” The Sand Kingdom leader laughed loudly, looking at Su Zhengping and the others with contempt. “Hand over the cities to us. Prime Minister Su Zhengping, I’m afraid your granddaughter will have to come with us tonight! Heh heh…”
“Hmph!” Su Zhengping snorted angrily. His sharp gaze swept towards the younger generation of Yao City.
The people of Yao City saw the young men all avoiding Su Zhengping’s gaze and felt utter despair. Was Yao Kingdom really going to hand over women and cities to them? Were they truly going to be mocked by a border petty kingdom like the Sand Kingdom?
“I’ll go!” Seeing no one step forward, Su Rong bit her teeth and said firmly.
“Su Rong! You…” Zhang Su’er cried out anxiously.
“It’s nothing!” Su Rong forced a smile at Zhang Su’er. “Even if it means death, it’s better than being humiliated by the people of the Sand Kingdom!”
Watching Su Rong about to walk towards the duel arena, Ye Tian, lying on the ground, called out, “Su Rong!”
Su Rong paused, turned to look at Ye Tian. She still held great respect for him in her heart. With effort, she squeezed out a smile on her pale face. “Brother Ye Tian, take good care of your injuries!”
Ye Tian propped himself up and shook his head at Su Rong. “Go back! This is not something a woman should do. I’ll fight!”
“Brother Ye Tian!” Not only Su Rong’s eyes turned red, but Zhang Su’er and the other women also had reddened eyes. At this moment, Ye Tian could barely stand steadily, yet he still wanted to step forward.
“Heh heh! Why are you crying? Let me do it!” Ye Tian smiled at the group of women and stepped forward, but the women blocked him, refusing to let him go.
“Move aside! We can’t let others look down on the men of Yao Kingdom!” Ye Tian shouted at them sternly. But this fierce reprimand only made the women burst into tears.
Ye Tian reached out and pushed aside the women blocking his way. His steps were somewhat unsteady as he walked forward, though faltering, they were exceptionally resolute.
Watching this not particularly robust figure walk out, the people of Yao City fell silent. Seeing Ye Tian take those staggering steps, their eyes all turned red.
Perhaps this tragic heroism touched others. Finally, someone stepped forward!
“Brother Ye Tian! Let me go instead!” Hu San stepped out and said. Although he had not dared to stand up even when scolded by Zhang Su’er earlier, seeing Ye Tian coughing up blood now, he finally could not hold back. His face showed shame.
Ye Tian smiled. On his pale face, he squeezed out a bright smile, patted Hu San’s shoulder, and said, “You’re still young! It’s not shameful to be afraid, but you can’t be afraid your whole life! I hope one day you grow up. Yao Kingdom still needs you all to support it!”
After saying that, Ye Tian stepped past him and walked towards the duel arena!
“Brother Ye Tian!” These people finally could not hold back and shouted loudly, wanting to stop Ye Tian, but he waved his hand to block them.
Ye Chu looked at Ye Tian, sighed, and ultimately stepped in front of him. “You’re already heavily injured. If you fight him now, I’m afraid you’ll truly be crippled.”
“I know!” Ye Tian smiled at Ye Chu. He felt even more curious about how Ye Chu had just expelled the baleful qi from his body, but at this moment he had no mind to dwell on it.
“Since you know, then you should focus on healing. There are so many people in Yao Kingdom. It doesn’t have to be you who steps up!” Ye Chu looked at Ye Tian and said, “Some responsibilities don’t have to be borne by you. Why force yourself to carry them?”
Ye Tian shook his head. “A person doesn’t live just to stay alive! You have to do something to prove your own worth!”
“Going to your death proves your worth?” Ye Chu stared at Ye Tian. If it were anyone else, he truly would not care, but this was his elder brother. Although he had always been cold towards him, he had fulfilled his duty as an elder brother all along.
“I once swore an oath to protect my home! To me, the Ye family is home, and Yao City is home! Dignity sometimes isn’t worth much, but sometimes it’s worth protecting with your life! I don’t want people in the future to mention Yao City and curse that this city has no men! I want to tell them that Yao City has men, and the Ye family has men!” Ye Tian stared straight at Ye Chu and said, “Move aside!”
Ye Tian’s words left many in Yao City silent, their hearts filled with sorrow. Was Ye Tian going to use his own life to defend dignity? And what about them?
Ye Chu sighed. “Go back! Throwing your life away isn’t worth it!”
Ye Chu’s words immediately made Su Rong and the others anxiously cry out, “Brother Ye Tian! Really, don’t go and throw your life away!”
“That’s right! Brother Ye Tian, I, Hu San, am willing to go and fight them!”
“…”
The group, perhaps infected by Ye Tian’s spirit, all shouted loudly to persuade him.
Ye Tian smiled. “You’re all too weak. You’re no match for him! Stop persuading. Ye Chu, move aside!”
“Go back!” Ye Chu did not know how to evaluate Ye Tian. To knowingly go to his death and still act this way could be called foolish, but that did not mean he did not respect such a person.
“I have a secret method! It can briefly suppress my injuries and allow me to fight him.” Ye Tian looked at Ye Chu and said, “Besides me, no one in Yao City can fight him!”
“I said: go back!” Ye Chu stared at Ye Tian. Suddenly he became somewhat domineering, catching even Ye Tian off guard. In front of him, Ye Chu had never shown such an attitude before.
Ye Chu’s demeanour immediately provoked dissatisfaction among the people of Yao City. Zhang Su’er and the other women shouted even louder, “You scoundrel, how dare you speak to Brother Ye Tian like that! Is he someone you can shout at?”
Ye Chu ignored the crowd’s fury. He exhaled lightly, looked at Ye Tian, and said calmly, “This battle—I’ll take your place!”
With those words, the surrounding curses instantly stopped. Everyone’s gazes focused on Ye Chu. The entire arena fell into a deathly silence.