The sky was filled with yellow sand, whipped by a strong wind, making sounds like a death knell.
"Heh, suffer. Your current expression is truly pleasing to behold. Alright, your condition, I accept." The City Lord gripped the Wuji Blade in one hand and added, "To die by your own long blade, it's a decent end for a warrior. Farewell, trash."
He raised the blade high. Perhaps lost in extreme excitement, he failed to notice a frail silhouette, like a raging inferno, charging towards him with madness!
"Die!"
The moment the blade slashed down, Ren Yuanhao had already prepared himself for what he believed would be his demise in seven years. Images of several women and his parents flashed through his mind. But just as he resigned himself to death, he suddenly felt a soft body shield him. The Wuji Blade pierced through, splattering blood onto his face!
"S-Snake Woman~!"
It was as if a bomb had detonated in his mind. Logically, Snake Woman, who was also affected by the ultrasonic instruments, couldn't have desperately appeared before him in such a short instant to block the damned blade for him!
"Why!" Ren Yuanhao, with a strength he didn't know he possessed, clutched the rapidly weakening Snake Woman and retreated, his posture mirroring the morning when he brought her to the grassland. However, while the instructor's saber could grant her rebirth, the City Lord's, Lü Yehe·Zuo Bo's, strike would only bring death and eternal slumber.
"Foolish, foolish person, because I will protect you too~"
Snake Woman raised her bloodied hand, then, as if remembering something, slowly lowered it. Ren Yuanhao understood her thoughts and clasped her bloodied hand, pressing it to his face. His heart jolted violently, as if a force within him was frantically devouring his will.
"No, don't fight, run quickly~ Promise me, live well from now on~ If only you were my boyfriend~"
At this moment, the system that should have activated remained silent. The violent aura that had been suppressed in his heart completely devoured Ren Yuanhao's sanity after Snake Woman's life signs ceased.
"Heh, boring romantic affections. Do you know why I only treat women as playthings? Because once you care too much about a woman, consider her the other half of your life, you gain a weakness. A true strong person should have no weaknesses!"
The City Lord held Baipi in his left hand and Wuji in his right, appearing majestic as a heavenly god.
Ren Yuanhao carefully placed the Snake Woman, who would never miraculously awaken again, behind him. Then, he slowly turned, his head bowed, his entire body trembling from the violent aura!
"Do you know why swords have sheaths? Because when a sword is unsheathed, it is time to kill. Returning the sword to its sheath reminds us when to restrain ourselves, not to be consumed by arrogance and greed. Similarly, everyone has a cage. Happiness, joy, including the romantic affections you speak of, can become this cage, a restraint. But when someone breaks someone's cage, the despairing person will become invincible!"
As his words fell, a pure white long sword instantly appeared in Ren Yuanhao's hand. He suddenly looked up, his golden pupils stained with bloodlust. He vanished from everyone's sight like a phantom!
No, it wasn't vanishing. It was pushing his power to the extreme with true qi, causing even the air to wail under the Cuncue Blade's energy. The swirling sand, like falling white snow, caused everyone to wrap their clothes tighter, their breaths visible, exhaling white mist that defied physical laws!
One sword! Flying snow!
The City Lord, Lü Yehe·Zuo Bo, this man who symbolized the jackal god's avatar, didn't even have time to swing his blade. He knelt halfway behind Ren Yuanhao. The blood on the Cuncue Blade dripped like raindrops, unable to linger on the blade, scattering like broken jade in the wind.
Everyone was struck silent, frozen in place. Even the City Lord's subordinates forgot to help.
No, they hadn't forgotten. They simply dared not step forward. If their City Lord's killing intent was like a tiger's, then this man's killing intent was like a desperate devil.
The City Lord used his twin blades to support himself, barely able to stand from the ground. However, after taking only two steps, blood gushed from his mouth like a spring.
It was then that everyone finally saw the extent of his injuries.
His chest bones had been cleanly split open by the blade. His heart had been cut in half. With such injuries, survival was impossible. He forced himself to take two more steps, finally falling into a pool of blood with a bitter smile, his breath and heartbeat gone.
"Hey~ Hey, the City Lord seems to be dead."
The man in black on the left could no longer stand steady.
"I'm not blind." The man in black on the right addressed the executioner and the other four, "It seems we no longer have to live under this guy's shadow."
As soon as he finished speaking, those civilian warriors threw away their fire-baked knives and surged towards Ren Yuanhao like madmen. He was their hero, a warrior who could drink eight pots of fire-baked knife!
However, before they could get close to Ren Yuanhao, he spat out a mouthful of blood and fell backward.
The scorching sun still hung high, but its light brought him only the feeling of falling into an ice cave.
...
That day, night.
Ren Yuanhao awoke amidst cheers. He was covered with a thick wool blanket.
His injuries had been treated exceptionally well, or perhaps he had been smeared with extremely precious medicinal ingredients, as the pain had significantly lessened.
Outside the window, bonfires blazed. The desert night was still chilling, but colder still were the human hearts.
He could still vaguely see Snake Woman's alluring figure swaying in the firelight, even seeing himself reflected in her gentle eyes.
He had only known this woman for two days, yet at the brink of life and death, she had erupted with inexplicable strength, sacrificing her life to save him.
She had also said she wanted to protect him...
He snuggled deeper into the blanket, a bone-chilling cold rolling back. He thought of Cheng Li, of the little girl with pigtails, who, like Snake Woman today, had pouted her lips by the riverbank and spoken that innocent yet incredibly warm sentence:
"Big brother will protect you from now on~"
But that sentence felt like a curse. History was so similar, so similar that it scared him a little.
"Brother Bao, are you awake?"
The one speaking was naturally Mu Yunyan, holding a cup of hot mare's milk.
"Eat some of this to ward off the cold."
Although Mu Yunyan had not personally witnessed the earth-shattering battle that had already spread throughout the entire Sand Kingdom, she could vaguely imagine the ferocity of the fight from the expression on Ren Yuanhao's face.