"You knew Feng county was already a dead city, yet you still tricked us into coming this way!"
Ma Lide gritted his teeth, struggling to twist his shoulders and break free from the constables' grip.
"You shouldn't have fooled us with ineffective medicine!"
Unable to break free, he kicked towards Song Qingchao.
"What do you take us for! We are people too!"
His final roar was so fierce he almost coughed up blood, white saliva dripping from his parted lips.
Song Qingchao stood still, accepting his criticism.
She didn't refute directly.
Because what Ma Lide said was fact, but not entirely.
"Are you finished?"
Ma Lide roared again, only to be kicked in the back of the knee by a constable behind him, forcing him to his knees with a thud.
"Firstly, I had no idea about Feng county's condition. What you heard were merely our deductions, but reality has now proven them correct."
Song Qingchao slowly walked towards him. "Secondly, in that situation, whether we moved or stayed, we would have died. We were being exiled, not going on vacation."
"Thirdly, you claim the medicine was ineffective. But the person who was coughing his lungs out, should we save him or not? Before we had a mature prescription, what was wrong with using medicine to treat the related complications?"
Song Qingchao finally stood before him and tossed him a blood-stained handkerchief. "We could have simply left. Even if we escaped, we wouldn't have been caught and brought back like you."
Ma Lide immediately raised his head, baring his teeth at Song Qingchao, as if he wanted to tear her apart. "You really think you're a saint!"
He spat at Song Qingchao. "I don't believe a murderer like you has such kindness!"
Song Qingchao stared at him expressionlessly.
"What exactly do you want!"
Ma Lide turned his head and shouted at the foolish crowd, "You all heard it, she lured us to this place! And fed us some incomprehensible medicine! She's the source of disaster, if we kill her! We can all live!"
Those who had been subdued by Song Qingchao began to stir again.
Ma Lide was not done. "We're going to die anyway! Why not drag someone down with us! Drag a sinner into hell! And we shall become immortals and ascend to heaven! Our names will be on the Investiture of the Gods!"
Song Qingchao slapped Ma Lide across the face.
Her hand trembled, and the bracelet on her wrist faintly showed crimson veins.
It's time...
Ma Lide tilted his head, fresh blood continuously streaming from his mouth, yet he laughed maniacally.
"Die, hahahaha, everyone die together!!"
He twisted his head, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Song Qingchao, as if casting the most venomous curse. "If I die, I will drag you with me. Even if we go to hell, I will hold you down, ensuring you never rise again! Hahahaha!"
Song Qingchao tried to slap him again but was abruptly pulled away by Song Qingmu.
"Let's go!"
The constables tried their best to suppress the crowd, but they couldn't control the rising unrest.
Monkey finally decided to draw his sword.
But even as people fell, the crowd didn't stop!
Ultimately outnumbered, they were suppressed by these refugees.
Monkey, brandishing his whip, yelled at Song Qingchao, "Into the city!"
Song Qingmu pulled Song Qingchao towards the city.
Song Qingchao still looked back, searching for Bai You'an's figure.
He had promised to meet her at the city gate!
But she didn't see him arrive; instead, she saw someone pick up a fallen constable's saber and prepare to strike Monkey from behind!
"No!"
Song Qingchao let go of Song Qingmu's hand.
With a swift "swish," she flung out her nine-clawed hook, nudging Monkey slightly to the side, making him evade the saber strike from behind.
But in that moment's delay,
Those rioters caught up to Song Qingchao.
Song Qingchao unleashed a left hook and a right kick. Though each blow landed true,
While defending herself, she also had to protect Song Qingmu.
Despite her superior martial arts, the surging blood and qi within her made it difficult to maintain clarity of mind.
After taking a punch, she "pfft" and spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Go quickly!" she wiped her lips with the back of her hand, pushing Song Qingmu with her other.
"Eldest Sister!"
Song Qingmu wanted to help, but he was powerless.
For every one Song Qingchao knocked down, another would swarm her. These people were like inescapable insects, crawling all over her menacingly.
Her strength was nearing its end; the bracelet was glowing red.
"Mumu, live well!"
Song Qingchao used her last ounce of strength, clearing a path for Song Qingmu, and then pushed him away fiercely. "Tell Bai You'an, I probably won't be able to make our appointment!"
Then, she seemed to fall into a man-eating swamp, continuously being swallowed by the crowd.
"Eldest Sister!"
Song Qingmu clutched his chest, scrambling to his feet in a panic.
He wanted to go, but he couldn't.
He was now his Eldest Sister's burden!
If he hadn't come out, Eldest Sister wouldn't be like this.
It's all his fault...
It's all his fault!
His voice was weak, hoarse, and filled with a soft tremor, tearing through the cold isolation that confined Song Qingmu.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was wrong before, please come back..."
Song Qingmu knelt on the ground, shouting, "Come back! If you come back, I'll tell you everything!"
He had misunderstood her all along...
When their father punished him by making him kneel in the training grounds, he saw her standing in the distance, holding an umbrella, her back as she walked away.
He thought it was mockery.
At the birthday banquet, he sat in a corner, watching everyone crowd around her. She, however, pushed them away and presented a set of calligraphy supplies.
He thought it was showing off.
He was angry at her decadence, her foolishness, her everything.
It turned out he had misunderstood her all along...
She was worried, she admired him.
The umbrella always tilted towards him. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
She risked her life to get the antidote.
She pushed him away in the most dangerous moments.
"Eldest Sister, I was wrong, please come back!"
Surrounded and escorted, Song Qingchao, in a daze, kept hearing someone call her name.
Until she neared the bonfire, the intense heat made her entire body flush.
Her thoughts were in disarray.
She seemed to be back to the day she died.
-------------------------------------
In her past life, those Northern barbarian cavalry
She was the one who stopped them.
In her past life, that endless sea of fire.
She was the one who ignited it.
Barefoot, she descended from the high throne, her tattered red veil and flickering candlelight concealing her frailty by three points.
With blood-stained delicate fingers, she swirled the luminous cup filled with grape wine, stepping over bodies, dancing gracefully in the center of the grand hall.
"The pear blossoms have shed their spring redness, too hastily. Alas, the morning's cold rain, the evening's wind. Rouge tears, lingering in intoxication, when will they be replenished..."
She recited the lyrics with a娇笑, like sprinkling water for blessings during a sacrifice, picking up red candles and throwing them into every corner.
With one person's strength, she destroyed tens of thousands of troops.
How brilliant, how brilliant.
She turned and roared, venting the unwillingness in her heart, then threw the red candle in her hand towards the high platform with all her might.
With a "bang," brilliant fireworks bloomed.
"My King, do you like my gift?"
She knelt limply beside a lifeless young man, yet dared not touch his now-pale dark hair.
Her eyes welled with tears of blood, her hands smeared the swollen, bitten red lips, but she smiled.
"Naturally, life's regrets flow like the eastern water. If there is a next life, I will make them taste the bitterness of a broken kingdom and a ruined home... Mumu, don't be afraid, Big Sister is coming for you..."