Seeing the culprit finally appear before him, Ye Li’s heart ached with hatred! All his years of planning had been ruined at the most vital point, and the youth in front of him had truly contributed to its catastrophe greatly!
He sneered before suddenly rushing forward to attack Mo Linyuan in rage.
When Yan Xu naturally saw this, he was taken aback. If something were to happen to Mo Linyuan in the Yue Country, it naturally won’t be a good thing if they were to ally the two countries. Yan Xu hurriedly shouted when he saw ye Li rush blindly, “Ye Li! If you resist any further, I’ll have to give the order to kill you!”
Slaughter them all?
It was a frightening command, yet Yan Xu’s words did not faze the irrational Ye Li one bit. Nevertheless, his hasty attack was futile as he was blocked by the expert guarding Mo Linyuan. So, he took two steps back and suddenly sniggered.
Afterwards, without preamble for all the arrows pointed at them, he amplified his voice with his inner strength, giving the chilling command, “Ye army, listen up! Kill him! Even if we die, we will not be cowards!”
He completely disregarded Yan Xu’s threat, even if he clearly knew he was no match for him; that his defeat was looming just around the corner. In his unacceptance of everything, did Ye Li want everyone to die here together with him?
Seeing that the other party was stubbornly adamant to resist, Yan xu could not give the order to shoot. Despite, he had shouted earlier that if Ye Li left him with no choice, he would be forced to rain the arrows on them all. At the growing complicated situation, the Second Prince finally intervened, raising his voice to exclaim, “Every one of you, listen! You have already lost this battle. Surrender and refrain from killing! What I want is Ye Li’s head! I, Qi Lian, swear upon the will of the gods and spirits that I will let you surrender without bloodshed!”
The Second Orince’s words were like a clap of thunder that fell on the people’s ears, causing the hearts of the Ye family army, who were originally determined to die for a cause, to waver. At this moment, the expansive battlefield suddenly quieted down, and other than Ye Li’s loyal old subordinates, no one else became willing to follow Ye Li’s command to a fight to death—rather, it was suicide at this point.
As expected, after those people stopped their attacks, Ye Li’s taut nerves finally broke…these people were once attached to him, his cause, and now, they actually dared to disobey his orders?
With a single slash of Ye Li’s sword, a few of his retreating soldiers were killed on the spot. As his fellow comrade’s blood splashed across the ground, the surrounding people could only see Ye Li finally succumbing to insanity. Everyone instantly avoided him like plagued, more convinced to leave.
But although they had finally refrained from attacking, they also didn’t dare to retreat completely…
“Stop! General, please stop!” An old general with a scarred face instantly cried out and rushed towards Ye Li.
“For us to have reached this point, we no longer have any regrets left… General, so what if we lose? These old comrades of yours will forever serve you; the rest—just let them live…”
The outcome of the current battle was clear as day; they had soundly lost. Rather than commit an act of genocide, it would be better if they committed suicide willingly so that the remaining people could have a chance of survival.
Ye Li clenched his fists and looked at him maliciously, “You mean you want me to die so that these cowards can live?”
The veteran shook his head multiple times, wiping away the tears that fell from his eyes, and seriously said, “These former comrades will cross the River Styx with you. We will all go with you!”
After he finished speaking, over a hundred people behind Ye Li kneeled down, and they all proclaimed one promise: “We are willing to die for the general!”
Ye Li’s cursory glance brushed among them and then towards the thousands of Black Army soldiers beside him. They didn’t kneel, and it was obvious that they refused to die for his cause anymore.
“Alright, alright…!”
Ye Li’s tall body staggered, as his face had a strange expression. “Good! You are willing to die for me—want me to commit suicide…”
Just when everyone thought that Ye Li was swayed and will finally follow the moral path, letting his other soldiers go, he suddenly stretched forth a muscly hand and grabbed the neck of the soldier closest to him.
“Since…you are not willing to die for me, then to the underworld you go!”
This unexpected twist in the battlefield stunned everyone present! Ye Li’s entire face abnormally grew red, as if he was sucking the life out of the soldier he had caught. The soldier’s entire body shook like a leaf, his eyes wide open in horror and disbelief.
A strong invisible gust blew from Ye Li’s body menacingly as the eyes of the soldier at the end of his arm became dimmer by the minute. Yet, the fear in his own soldier’s eyes couldn’t help but intensify!
Why…why would the general do this? He could only think in his last moments. Even if he had his mouth opened wide, he could not utter a single soon. Shortly, he felt his consciousness leaving him—death had claimed him at the most unexpected person.
“This is…this is—it’s the Divine Terminator Technique! The inner martial arts cultivation method that Ye Li had practiced is actually the Destructive Arts!”
It was unknown who said it, but at this outburst, everyone suddenly understood the fiasco and quickly distanced themselves from Ye Li.
It was no wonder Ye Li was able to fight against a hundred. Being able to absorb other people’s inner force is tantamount to one’s cultivation to go berserk. If they might escape madness, then they would still possess a violent temperament; be bloodthirsty and vile…so it was like this!
In just a short moment, Ye Li had already drained the life out of all of his trusted aides. None of his men expected Ye Li to be so insane to be able to do such a vile act, so in the face of death they could only continuously escape!
But this was not the end to their woes. As Ye Li easily discarded the corpse to the side, his sinister and terrifying gaze landed on another person. That person immediately wanted to run, but he was effortlessly seized by Ye Li.
“General! General! What are you doing?! I am Ah Zhou!” He shouted in fear, but no matter how much he struggled, he could not break free from ye Li’s iron grip.
When Ye Li saw that he was afraid, he released a cold laugh, and his long hair behind him fluttered even with the absence of wind.
“Weren’t you willing to die for me? Now it’s your turn! Keep your promise!”
After he finished speaking, he crazily devoured the other party’s inner force.
Ye Li completely forgot how majestic and awe-inspiring he had been when he said uttered his just speech before. There was this itchy feeling in his heart that wanted him to die.
They wanted him to commit suicide? Dream on! Even if everyone dies, he, Ye Li, must live!
At the face of this madness, everyone could finally see his true colors. And no one dared to go forward, knowing how powerful the Divine Terminator Technique was.
Just when everyone was hesitating and looking between themselves, Ye Mu made her move. Her body was small and lithe; if her inner Qi happens to burst out to maximize her movement, no one would be able to stop her.
At this moment, Ye Li had completely become bedeviled. As he laughed and his hair fluttered in the wind, his eyes were full of ferociousness, as if there he was driven by madness at this point.
“I, Ye Li, will never surrender! If you want to kill me, then go ahead and die!” He kept repeating.
But just as his words fell, he hated! Because a sharp hairpin was ruthlessly stabbed into his leg, striking an artery within. In reflex, he threw away the ‘food’ in his hand and retreated a few steps while clutching his leg and roaring in pain.
After he she was able to take him by surprise, Ye Mu dragged Ah Zhou’s weak body away with great effort. Her eyes were gloomy and chilly as she said, “You should wake up now! You. Have. Already. Lost!” she uttered every single syllable forcefully.
When Ye Mu had gone forward to the devil herself, Mo Linyuan was shaken from his stupor and hurriedly sent Wen Feng to protect her. Consequently, when Ye Li heard Ye Mu’s words, his expression became even more crazed!
“How could I lose? How could I lose?!” He wailed, almost miserably. With that, his eyes finally turned completely blood-red, as he continued questioning, “How could I lose?!”
“Heavens! Ye Li has been consumed by his rampant inner Qi. Hurry up and work together to subdue him!”
For an inner Qi expert at Ye Li’s level, ordinary arrows were already useless. There had to be a joint effort of fierce attacks from martial artist with inner Qi as well. After Ye Li let out a loud roar, he also began to fight without distinction between friend and foe.
Anyone caught by him, whether they were his own people or his enemies, would be sucked dry of their internal energy and brutally killed. And as he drained them of their life force one by one, the pressure on his body increased at a frightening rate.
Ultimately, no one dared to get close to him.
“Wen Feng!” Mo Linyuan suddenly shouted, “Send Ye Mu away immediately. The further the better!”
The current situation was proving to be far from dangerous.
“Yes sir!” Wen Feng hurriedly stepped forward towards Ye Mu. But who knew that before he could move, Ye Li’s blood-red eyes suddenly locked onto Mo Linyuan and reached out to grab him!
When Wen Feng saw that Ye Li was about to grab the Mo crown prince, he instantly retraced his steps. However, it turns out Ye Li was only trying to mislead him. In the next second, he had already captured Ye Mu in his arms.
“Ye Mu!”
The instant Ye Mu was captured, Mo Linyuan’s body subconsciously moved forward to save her. But he was heavily knocked to the ground by Ye Li. Roughly grabbing Ye Mu, he leaped onto the nearest wall and laughed maniacally.
“Mu’er, since you are my daughter. If I have to die, then we’ll die together!”
After he finished speaking, he turned around and ran off to the opposite direction. Yan Xu and his men hurriedly gave chase after Ye Li. And after travelling some distance, he noticed that Ye Li was heading towards the inner palace, where the deceased Emperor lived.
Wen Feng tried to protect Mo Linyuan, but after Mo Linyuan spat out a mouthful of blood, he forced himself to say, “Don’t worry about me, I will definitely…we have to rescue her and bring her back! ”
Wen Feng listened to this brash order and could only hand the injured Mo Linyuan over to his other subordinates so he could go stop Ye Li. But at this moment, Ye Li had absorbed too much inner strength and his body was being pushed to its limit, so he wasn’t far from being destroyed.
He was chased until he reached the inner palace, which happened to be the palace where the emperor resided, the Hidden Dragon Palace. He then brought Ye Mu inside the emperor’s sleeping quarters.
During this time, there was not a single soul in the chamber. Since after the wounded Ye Li had rushed into the palace, he directly smashed open the outer hall entrance with a single palm strike, and as the debris fell down, it sealed the entire inner hall!
After the others caught up, they didn’t dare act rashly because Ye Mu was still in Ye Li’s hands. Most importantly, he had absorbed too much of Ye Mu’s inner force.
After the door was sealed, Ye Li released Ye Mu, who fell to the ground, coughing continuously. Ye Li also seemed to have lost all his strength, and knelt down on one knee, but he thought of something and stood up while gritting his teeth. Step by step, he walked towards the dragon bed situated in the room.
Ye Li, who already knew that the Emperor was dead, didn’t have a single expression on his face as he looked down at his corpse. Suddenly, in the next second, he tore the emperor’s head off with his bare hands!
Icy, cold blood dripped down. And if it were anyone else who had witnessed this crazy scene, they would definitely have cried out in alarm. However, Ye Mu only briefly closed her eyes before opening them wide.
“Why not?” Ye Li grabbed the head as he staggered step by step towards the stairs beside her and sat down. In the next second, the emperor’s head knocked against the ground in front of Ye Mu.
“Watch! This is what happens when a person tries to deceive me!”
Ye Mu stared at the bloody, decapitated head on the ground and her burning gaze slowly landed on Ye Li. At this moment, Ye Li’s body was covered in gruesome wounds, dripping blood. He looked none of the human is nor a ghost.
“So… only you can lie, but no one else can lie to you?”
Ye Mu’s voice was a bit hoarse, and her neck was already swollen from Ye Li’s hold. Her entire body was bathed with blood, and the stench was enough to drive a grown man to nausea.
Ye Li merely laughed in reply, “That’s right! They would rather… I will betray the world! I won’t let anyone look down on me nor play tricks on me!”
How could Ye Mu not clearly understand now? Ye Li’s brutal methods had been out of her wildest imaginations, but there was miniscule part of her that expected this from him.
“So… So those old sects of yours are actually tools for you to ascend to the throne? And if necessary, you won’t think twice about having them killed? Then all your generosity and righteousness from before was for them to blindly place their trust in you? A sham?”
“So what?” Ye Li fiercely stared at her, “If an uprising is in the plans, who wouldn’t give themselves for an honorable reason? Furthermore, once I ascend to the throne, I will truly promote everyone to become a Martial Disciple. This is because a Martial Disciple is much easier to cheat than a scholar!”
These words were truly cruel to those who had finally decided to speak of him. Ye Mu clenched her fist. “You took advantage of their trust and faith! They–aren’t they your comrades?”
When Ye Li heard this, he stared fixedly at Ye Mu and suddenly smiled…
“Then I’ll teach you another lesson.” As he said this, his chilling gaze was exactly the same as when he had killed the advisor by his side inside the treasure trove.
“…There were many ways people could be used as well. They could be used to intimidate others, be used as a bargaining chip, or the best part…can become my fuel!”
His hoarse voice was filled with pride, despite his severe injuries, “Only when you are willing to use these tactics will you be able to burst forth with the strongest power! Hope? Faith? Bah! If you want to achieve your goals, you have to use whatever you can. That’s why Mu’er, you still have a lot to learn.”
“Don’t you feel ashamed?”
“Shame?” Ye Li fixed her with a withering gaze, “Since you feel that I’m a shameless man, why then did you allow me to capture you?”
Earlier, Ye Li wanted to escape because he had absorbed too much inner strength that caused his body to almost reach its breaking point. That was why he wanted to grab Mo Linyuan to use as scapegoat, but Wen Feng’s reaction was too fast and therefore, he did not have the chance. Suddenly, he saw Ye Mu take a few steps towards him.
And after he captured Ye Mu, the people around him really did not dare to act rashly. Only then did he have the chance to run over here.
Thinking of this, Ye Li’s manic mood gradually calmed down as he stared at Ye Mu with his bell-like eyes.
“You clearly know that I’m danger, but you still dare to do such a thing. Are you not afraid of death?”
Ye Mu looked at him, as if she wanted to say something, and her next words stunned Ye Li, “Only with me here can you leave this place alive. You can’t kill me now.”
Her answer caused the inner palace to be submerged in a deathly silence.
Ye Li really did not expect that at this time, she would actually…there was someone else who wanted to help him?
Some scholars wanted to help him because he had riches and brawn. The soldiers of the Ye Army were loyal to him because he had used their faith to deceive them. What about Ye Mu? For what reason was she helping him? With everything that has happened, he clearly had already lost and had nothing left. What could she possibly gain from saving him?
After tormenting herself for so long, Ye Mu was also weary. She sat on the ground and used a piece of silk to wipe her blood-stained face, but she suddenly heard Ye Li speak with a forlorn voice.
“Just wait until I successfully escape. I will definitely kill you.”
Ye Mu’s actions paused for a moment. “Oh,” she merely muttered.
Ye Li wasn’t willing to accept it and said, “I’m speaking the truth! Even if I kill you a hundred times, I still wouldn’t regret it one bit!”
Ye Mu continued to wipe her face. “That’s up to you.”
“You!”
Ye Li glared and was just about to say something when a small hand covered in blood and sand extended over. Her fingertips held bread she had hidden in her robe before, and her expression was indifferent as she held them towards him.
“It’s almost dark. Aren’t you hungry?”
Due to Ye Mu’s instinctual survival habits from being a soldier, she always had three things on her body: weapons, medicine, and food.
However, the bottle of medicine she had secured had fallen earlier. Now, she only had two breads left on her body…
Ye Li stared at her, as if he was hoping to find a trace of fear on her face. But he didn’t. The hand that she extended towards him didn’t move at all, her expression still unfazed. The bread was like a joke thrown at his face.
Seeing that Ye Li wasn’t willing to receive it, Ye Mu directly stuffed it into his hand, and then took another piece from her own to gnaw on.
Ye Li, who was nearly two meters tall, had an inexplicable feeling when he opened his palm to look at that small piece of bread inside. This kind of feeling was truly unprecedented.
“Why?”
Ye Li asked in a stern voice, but even he didn’t notice that his voice had an uncertain slight tremble.
“How can there be so many reasons…” Ye Mu was really beyond tired. Her current body was only six years old, and the physical activities today had far exceeded the norm, leaving a toll on her body.
“Then why did you save me?!”
Ye Li grabbed Ye Mu’s shoulder to force her to look at him. Ye Mu tiredly raised her head, and then he saw her eyes, which were devoid of confusion as they have always been, silently look at him. Her eyes were always solemn, even for a child her age. Whenever she looked at someone, she scrutinized them wholly, not giving them a mere fleeting glance.
When Ye Mu saw his miserable state, a trace of pity flashed in the depths of her eyes.
In a deep voice, Ye Li bellowed, “What do you still keep getting involved with me? You should have seen it today–if you place your trust in me, I will only repay you by using you to the point where not even your bones remain!”
Ye Mu forehead creased to a frown and she said without hesitation, “Even if you were able to betray the world, you didn’t. Why can’t I save you?”
Her childish voice was calm and very natural to the ears, if it had been anyone else. But to Ye Li, it was no less than a thunderbolt!
He suddenly clutched his chest and groaned. Seeing this, Ye Mu hurriedly stood up to inspect her surroundings. Yet, even if she stood up, she would only be able to sit on Ye Li’s shoulder. With her short stature, there was nothing she could do…
The wounds on his chest were badly mutilated. Although Ye Li’s martial arts was high, if he absorbed too much inner energy and was not able to properly digest it, it would break his meridians from inside out. Plus, those who surrounded him before were all experts.
Ye Mu sighed. She wanted to use a cloth strip to give him a clean, simple bandage, but Ye Li refused. She suddenly said in a hoarse voice, “Why did you anxiously decide to storm the palace?”
Ye Mu shook her head. This was a decision of his that she didn’t understand because she felt that if Ye Li had waited a few more days for the situation to become clear before forcing his way through, everything that had happened today would have ceased to exist.
“It should be heaven’s will.” Ye Li sneered. “The only reason I advanced so rashly is because the Emperor died in the early hours of this morning. Although it was kept a secret, I still knew about it.”
Ye Mu frowned, “If he’s dead, then so be it. Why did you have to go put so much risk?”
When Ye Li heard this, his gaze fell on the decapitated head of the person at the side. When the emperor of Yue died, his face looked ghostly, as if it were a corpse dried of blood. He scoffed, “It seems like you don’t know.”
He paused, clutching his heart as said uncomfortably.
“… Two hundred years ago, the Empire was divided into seven countries. At that time, the Empire had left behind a treasure trove, hoping that the later generations would be able to use it to return to their respective countries. In the end, that descendant died, and the treasure map, more known as the city boundary map was taken away by people who want to use it for their selfish gains.”
The three words, city boundary map, caused Ye Mu to be immensely shocked! Her eyes widened, and her fingers subconsciously clenched into a fist. However, Ye Li, who currently had his head weakly lowered, did not notice this abnormality.
“When the Emperor and I were trying to take back our territory, we were able to seize the city boundary map. Unfortunately, before we could search for the treasure, there was an attack from men in black, and more than half of the map was taken away. The Emperor was afraid that the remaining parts of the map would be taken away as well, so he invited the best embroidery master at that time to place the remaining parts of the city boundary map to be engraved on on his back and finally set the map on fire.
Normally, he wouldn’t be able to see the map of the world tattooed on his back. Only by smearing his own blood on it, would the map appear, and once he died… After 24 hours, the map will also completely disappear. ”
At this moment, Ye Mu didn’t know what expression to make when faced with this dilemma. The now headless body of the emperor was still lying on the bed in the ruined inner hall for 24 hours… No wonder Ye Li would take the risk!
Ye Li laughed bitterly, “If the Imperial Guards didn’t join hands with the Prince–if they didn’t capture Prince Zhao and force him to help… The one who should have won today is me!”
Unfortunately, how could there be so many strokes of luck that could happen in one’s life?
Even if Ye Li were to maximize all his cunning calculations, he would never have thought that there was another thing–plot, that dictated the fate of people. Even Mo Linyuan didn’t even know that the Emperor had the map of an elusive treasure on his back. He had only killed him to force the Imperial Army to cooperate with them, but this action had forced Ye Li to take the risk and lose the initiative that he had in his hands.
If Ye Li did not want the treasure that was said to be able to revive the empire–if he were already satisfied with simply conquering the Yue Country, today’s ending might have been different.