In an atmosphere nearly frozen with oppression, Lan Ling and Ninian each rode a horse out of the tribe.
And Suo Mo took Dina and the little girl into the castle hall once more.
After seeing Suo Mo, Constantine only asked one question, “How is your martial arts recovery?”
“Barely sixty percent.” Suo Mo said.
Constantine said, “Over twenty days ago, you publicly disobeyed my orders on the battlefield and spared the Mustang Tribe Chieftain Duo Duo. What crime does this deserve?”
Suo Mo said, “Everything is for the Chieftain to decide!”
Then, the two fell into silence.
At the same time, over a dozen experts of the Chimera Tribe slowly entered the castle hall, faintly surrounding Suo Mo and Dina.
The entire hall was deathly silent, oppressive to the point of making one unable to breathe.
Only the Second Madam Si Si beckoned from behind the curtain, “Ya Ya, come here quickly, let aunty hug you.”
Dina was reluctant, but still released the little girl. If things truly completely fell apart, the little girl would only be safe enough by the Second Madam’s side.
“Go.” Dina said to the little girl.
The chubby little girl opened her big eyes and looked at Dina for a good while.
Today she was dressed very beautifully. Lan Ling’s Head Merits had been exchanged for many gold coins, and a portion of them had been used to buy pretty clothes for the little girl.
Of course, in the barbarian tribes, most pretty clothes were made of fur. Silk was unavailable, though there were some cloth ones.
Her delicately carved little pink face stared at Dina for a while, then stared at Suo Mo for a while, then walked towards the Second Madam Si Si.
Behind her small body followed a waddling little griffin. It grew very fast. When first caught, it was as big as a chick. Now it was as big as a cat, though its two wings were still fluffy.
“Good baby…” The Second Madam hugged the little girl into her arms and said, “Oh, Dina has truly raised you well. You’ve actually gained quite a bit of weight.”
Her tone was full of doting. Of course, she was fulfilling her promise to Lan Ling. Even if things ultimately fell apart, Constantine would spare the little girl for her sake.
Then, apart from the Second Madam teasing the child, the entire hall was silent.
They were waiting. Once the message Ninian sent back was: kill!
Then the fate awaiting Suo Mo and Dina would be death! And it would be a public execution!
…
“No one move, no one make a sound!” Du Yan shouted, “Rest assured, the sky won’t fall, and the Foreign Army won’t fall either. If the sky falls, I will hold it up.”
The entire Foreign Army camp was also completely silent, with only Du Yan’s voice.
The Chimera Tribe’s army sealed off every entrance and exit, every sentry post, every high ground of the Foreign Army.
A full three thousand troops surrounded the Foreign Army camp.
As long as the Foreign Army caused unrest, at Constantine’s command, these three thousand troops would immediately charge in and exterminate the Foreign Army.
And all the Foreign Army also quietly remained in their caves. They had received Suo Mo’s order: no one was permitted to move.
Everything was waiting for the final showdown result between Lan Ling and Ninian.
If Lan Ling did not compromise, death! Suo Mo dies, Dina dies!
And once Suo Mo and Dina died, could Du Yan suppress the Foreign Army? Would these Foreign Army members rebel? All were unknowns. It was very likely they would cook up trouble.
And once they rebelled, the only outcome would be being slaughtered clean.
So, they were only waiting for the final showdown result!
…
Ninian’s martial arts were far higher than Lan Ling’s, so she didn’t need anyone to protect her.
Most crucially, Lan Ling simply could not harm Ninian. One must know that Suo Mo, Dina, and the little girl were all in the castle as hostages. Lan Ling would have to be mad to harm Ninian.
Neither of them spoke, riding aimlessly the whole time.
Ninian gazed at Lan Ling’s back with complex emotions. She faintly sensed that Lan Ling still would not compromise.
But did he not care about Suo Mo and Dina’s lives, even if he didn’t care about his own?
Suddenly, Lan Ling’s war horse accelerated, heading towards the Chimera Volcano, and Ninian followed behind.
Climbing halfway, the war horses could go no further, so the two dismounted and walked, climbing to the volcano’s summit.
Lan Ling came to that stone platform at the volcano’s crater and sat down facing the crater!
“Duo Ning came to find you, didn’t she?” Ninian suddenly asked.
Lan Ling nodded.
“What conditions did she offer you?” Ninian asked.
“She would marry me, treat the Foreign Army equally, uncle would become an elder of the Mustang Tribe, and I would command most of the Mustang Tribe’s army.” Lan Ling said, “And in the future, Duo Ning would become the female chieftain.”
Ninian’s beautiful eyes trembled. “Why didn’t you agree?”
If Lan Ling were shallow enough, he would certainly say, I only love you, I don’t love her.
But he only shook his head, his gaze continuing to look at the magma below.
Ninian naturally filled in the blanks herself: this was because Lan Ling did not love Duo Ning, but loved her, Ninian.
“Do you like Dina?” Ninian asked.
“I like her.” Lan Ling said, “She is a good woman, a good woman who cannot be let down, unlike you who are a bad woman.”
“What about Ali?” Ninian asked.
Lan Ling shrugged his shoulders and said nothing.
But this movement made Ninian feel it was especially genuine.
She felt that Lan Ling sought out Ali merely to resolve physiological needs. Towards Dina, it was only because of responsibility, because he couldn’t let her down. What he truly longed for was her, Ninian.
Although Ninian knew she was a bad woman, she felt that a man like Lan Ling would only love a bad woman.
“The moment of final showdown has arrived. Have you considered it?” Ninian asked.
“I have never considered it.” Lan Ling said, “It is impossible for me to break with my uncle.”
Ninian said, “Don’t you know that your stubbornness will not only kill yourself, but also kill Dina and Suo Mo?”
Lan Ling sighed and said, “Then let’s all die together! A magnificent death is far better than betraying each other, and then living a lifetime of guilt and pain.”
Ninian looked at Lan Ling in disbelief.
He actually said such words. Die together!
Lan Ling smiled and said, “These past days I have already prepared. My uncle and Dina have also prepared. So just now, when your father notified them to go to the Chieftain’s castle, uncle and Dina knew clearly they were going to their deaths, yet they remained very calm, because we have all prepared.”
Instantly, Ninian was about to go mad.
There were actually people like this in the world. The three of them would rather die together than tear apart and betray each other.
She didn’t believe it! But the facts left her no choice but to believe.
Because Suo Mo did not flee. Dina did not flee. Lan Ling did not flee.
At a single command, all three would certainly die.
“Since you are going to your death so generously, why did you train so frantically these past dozen or so days?” Ninian said, “Your desperate martial arts training shows you are unwilling to die.”
“Hehe…” Lan Ling said, “You were being intimate with Du Yan all day long. Did you expect me to keep staring at it? Haven’t you experienced the feeling of being unable to sit still, of painful anxiety? Without finding some things to do, without desperately tormenting my own body, I couldn’t have endured it.”
These words made Ninian’s heart tremble. The resentment and anger of the past dozen or so days completely dissipated.
So his desperate training was to torment himself. Otherwise, he probably couldn’t have resisted coming to find her in a servile manner. Moreover, her pretending to be intimate with Du Yan made Lan Ling very uncomfortable, so it made Lan Ling not want to be in the tribe at all, desperately training outside all day long.
“What about the Foreign Army?” Dina asked, “Isn’t Suo Mo most concerned about his Foreign Army? If he dies, if you all die, what happens to the Foreign Army?”
Lan Ling said, “Uncle swore he would protect the Foreign Army until the day he died! Later, he said let me inherit the Foreign Army, and I also swore to protect the Foreign Army until the day I died. So we haven’t really broken our vows. And when uncle left, he had already ordered: no rebellion, no unrest. No matter what happens, the Foreign Army must maintain the status quo.”
“Madman, you madman, all three of you are madmen!” Ninian shouted, “I simply cannot imagine. Wouldn’t it be good for you to marry me? Wouldn’t it be good for you to pledge loyalty to my father? Even in the future when I become the female chieftain, you would be second to one person and above ten thousand people. Wouldn’t that be good? Am I not more beautiful than Dina?”
“You are more beautiful than her. You are ten times worse than her, a hundred times more alluring.” Lan Ling said.
“Then why don’t you marry me? We didn’t ask you to kill Suo Mo, only to break with him, to break with the Foreign Army.” Ninian said loudly, “Between me and Dina, you should choose me. Between father and Suo Mo, you should choose my father. This is a road of infinite brightness. This completely aligns with your interests. Why won’t you walk it? I completely don’t understand.”
Lan Ling looked at Ninian, word by word, “I don’t understand why you insist on making me betray my uncle. If I can betray my uncle for profit today, tomorrow I can betray your father for profit. Killing people I can do. Seducing women I can do. Even stealing other people’s wives I can do. But betraying family, betraying vows, betraying loved ones, these things I cannot do. I cannot do them even if I die!”
Ninian’s chest heaved continuously, looking at Lan Ling with anger at his refusing to make good.
But Lan Ling’s plain words gave her an enormous inner shock.
She was a despicable woman who only sought profit. But towards this kind of unyielding even in death, this nobility that wealth and rank could not corrupt, she still felt her heart sway.
Especially since Lan Ling was a bad person, an incomparably handsome monstrous bad person, yet he possessed such noble qualities.
This was completely the kind of man women most desperately dreamed of.
Compared to Du Yan’s greed for vanity, Lan Ling truly appeared dazzlingly radiant.
But she absolutely would not change her stance, just as her father Constantine would not change his stance.
Between Suo Mo and Constantine, Lan Ling could only choose one side.
Between Dina and Ninian, Lan Ling could also only choose one side.
Either kneel, or die!
“Then go die.” Ninian said coldly, as if the colder her voice, the more it could show how hard her heart was.
Lan Ling drew a sword and handed it to Ninian, then stretched out his neck and said, “Chop down hard, directly sever the head. This way my body will fall into the magma and burn to ashes. You take my head back.”
Then, Lan Ling directly stretched out his long neck, waiting for Ninian to chop.
The entire process, he was very calm. Even describing it as facing death with equanimity was insufficient.
Ninian took the great sword, gasping for breath in large gulps.
She felt very uncomfortable, almost as if she were suffocating.
“This is my demonic obstacle. I must cross it. I must cross it…” Ninian told herself again and again.
To become a king, one must be ruthless.
She forcefully adjusted her breathing, letting her trembling body quiet down, letting her sword-holding hand stabilize, letting her chaotic heart turn cold.
“Sorry Lan Ling, I absolutely will not compromise.” Ninian said, then the great sword in her hand chopped down violently!
“Boom…”
Suddenly, a loud noise!
The rock behind suddenly split open violently, and then a terrifying fire-red giant snake drilled out, opening its hideous, terrifying maw towards Lan Ling and Ninian.
This giant snake had countless legs.
In its opened maw were countless teeth.
“Rot Demon Giant Snake…” Ninian exclaimed in shock.
This kind of snake was very rare, very terrifying.
First, it was extremely hard, almost invulnerable to swords and spears.
And even if you had boundless strength and severed it, it would still live. Cut into two segments, it would become two snakes.
And even more disgusting, its saliva and blood were both terrifying concentrated acid. Once sprayed on a person, it would directly corrode through.
“Roar…”
This terrifying demon snake opened its maw towards the two, hissing wildly.
A sky full of saliva sprayed towards Ninian.
This was terrifyingly strong acid. Ninian was also a demon descendant. After being hit by strong acid, even if she didn’t die, she would be completely disfigured, her body ruined, becoming an ugly monster.
She wanted to flee, but how could her speed match the monster’s sprayed saliva?
She wanted to swing her sword to block, but how could she block this sky full of acidic saliva?
Thus, she could only watch helplessly as she was disfigured, her body ruined, letting out terrified screams.
And at this moment, Lan Ling suddenly pounced on her fiercely, using his tall body to block the strong acid from the demon snake for Ninian.
“Pfft…”
Instantly, the terrifying strong acid sprayed all over Lan Ling’s back.
“Ahh…” Lan Ling let out an incomparably miserable scream, his entire body’s flesh and blood corroded, riddled with holes!
To protect her, Lan Ling was corroded by strong acid until riddled with holes.
“Roar, roar…” And at this time, this seven to eight metre long Rot Demon Giant Snake rapidly slithered over, slithering onto this stone platform at the volcano’s crater, spraying saliva wildly, biting frantically.
Everywhere its saliva sprayed, anything was corroded until riddled with holes, whether stone slabs or Lan Ling’s body.
Under the protection of Lan Ling’s body, Ninian continuously let out terrified screams.
Because this thing was too terrifying. Once sprayed by its saliva and blood, her flower-like face and beautiful figure would be completely ruined.
“Crack, crack…” This stone platform jutting out into space could not withstand the corrosion, and actually gradually began to break.
Once it broke, Ninian would fall into the magma, burned alive to death.
Demon descendants and demon descendants were also different. Even with Dina’s demon descendant bloodline, back then if not for her parents lifting her away from the magma, she would have died too.
And at this time, this terrifying giant snake once again opened its enormous maw, about to swallow both Lan Ling and Ninian whole.
“Ahh… ahh… ahh…” Ninian screamed desperately, wailing and crying.
Suddenly, Lan Ling violently snatched the great sword from her hand and pounced towards this enormous Rot Demon Giant Snake.
His other hand grabbed Ninian’s arm and fiercely threw her out beyond the volcano’s crater.
“Ahh…” Amidst screams, Ninian flew through the air as if riding mist, landing on the hillside beside.
Then, she watched with her own eyes as Lan Ling wielded his precious sword and pounced towards the giant snake.
The stone platform completely broke.
This giant snake frantically coiled around Lan Ling’s body. One man and one snake, perishing together, plummeted towards the abyss!
“No… Lan Ling!” Ninian let out a piercing scream, throwing herself to the edge of the volcano’s crater.
But she could no longer see Lan Ling’s figure, as if he had been swallowed by the giant snake.
“Boom!” A loud noise.
This Rot Demon Giant Snake violently fell into the magma.
An explosion, and the magma below sprayed dozens of metres high.
“Roar… hiss…” This Rot Demon Snake screamed desperately, struggling, then was burned alive by the magma.
And Lan Ling, long since without a trace!
“Lan Ling, Lan Ling…” Ninian lay prone at the volcano’s crater, desperately shouting, desperately looking!
…
Everything happened too fast!
But it brought Ninian an unprecedented spiritual shock, an unprecedented mental impact!
At the most critical moment, Lan Ling actually sacrificed himself to protect her.
Du Yan, Yang Gu, and Qiu Ju all declared their love for her with their mouths, saying they were willing to give their lives for Ninian.
Yet in reality, they didn’t even dare participate in the cavalry charge and decisive kill for Ninian’s sake!
Although Ninian repeatedly deceived herself saying that Du Yan and the others loved her very much and were willing to give their lives for her, she knew it was all false.
Yet Lan Ling had never said how much he loved her, let alone said he was willing to give his life.
But at the critical moment, to protect her, he was willing to give his life.
And it was precisely this kind of person who would rather die than betray his family.
Ninian’s heart truly received an unprecedented shock and impact!
She lay prone at the volcano’s crater, shouting loudly!
At this moment, she desperately hoped Lan Ling could once again create a miracle, could once again appear alive before her.
Yet after shouting for a full two quarters of an hour, the magma showed no movement.
She lay on the ground crying desperately, shedding tears desperately.
Who knew how much time passed!
Suddenly, Ninian heard a laugh.
Opening her eyes, she saw Lan Ling. He was completely naked from head to toe, his clothes all gone, covered with countless wounds.
His face was still incomparably handsome, only with an additional hideous wound.
At this moment, he was smiling at her, a very bad smile.
“I, am I not dreaming?” Ninian suddenly pounced on him, hugging Lan Ling tightly.
She was not dreaming. Lan Ling’s body was covered with wounds, yet burning hot as fire.
Immediately after, she completely involuntarily kissed Lan Ling’s lips.
The two of them kissed deeply and wildly.
Lan Ling lightly bit through the aphrodisiac hidden in his mouth, turning it into colourless, tasteless water that entered Ninian’s mouth, entering her body.
Instantly, Ninian felt as if her entire body was completely set ablaze.
The desire from the depths of her heart blazed like fierce flames, instantly burning away her reason.
And Lan Ling seemed to act even more frantically!
Ninian’s skirt was torn off. Amidst a scream, her pure and flawless body was completely conquered by Lan Ling!