Saving System: Calm Down, My Fleeing Host!-Chapter 144: Nightmare

"Then... who will defend against the Great Xia? I’ve heard King Qi has a few sons! Let them inherit and continue!" Cheng Xiaoxiao pondered that no matter how, King Qi was a formidable hero of his time, and the heirs he cultivated couldn’t be very lacking.

Leng Qi stood beside her, unable to say anything.

Cheng Xiaoxiao caught sight of Leng Qi’s expression and realized that perhaps King Qi’s sons weren’t very capable.

"Then we should set off early tomorrow."

Hurry and find Xiao Li.

...

"Master, are you really not going back to see?"

Five days ago, the Great Xia cavalry launched a total assault on Lie Dong City.

After three days and nights of bloody battle, King Qi was overwhelmed and died on the high walls of Lie Dong City; eighty thousand soldiers were slaughtered, with only over ten thousand troops struggling to survive, escorting King Qi’s body back to Yanzhou County.

Lie Dong City fell, and the hundred thousand iron cavalry of Great Xia roared past the sea of blood and corpses of the warriors, burning, killing, looting in the city, acting with blatant arrogance. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

Han Yi was filled with gloom but dared not act without the master’s command.

Zhou Yanlan was surrounded by terrifying Evil Qi, his lips curled sinisterly, his eyes filled with bloodthirsty madness, "It’s time for blood to be repaid with blood!"

Han Yi was delighted that the master finally agreed to return, but the master was only going back for revenge, with no intention of seeing the Prince one last time.

"Are all escape routes blocked?"

"Yes! No matter which route they retreat from, they’ll fall into our traps."

"Excellent!"

As the man’s slender fingertips dropped a black piece, capturing a large group of white pieces, the white pieces were doomed to have no chance of overturning.

Han Yi felt the surrounding air getting colder, the master’s Evil Qi was too heavy, causing his Inner Breath to surge, and his Qi Force instinctively wanted to defend itself.

Daring not to linger, Han Yi quickly withdrew.

Han Yi broke into a cold sweat, shivering when a breeze blew over, finding it unbearably challenging.

Why are there still no news of Miss Cheng, only Miss Cheng’s matters could ease the master’s continuously spilling Evil Qi.

It was still bearable when only cold Qi was emitted, but since the Prince’s death, the master became more chilling and fierce, akin to ink turned to ice, sending shivers down one’s spine.

Alas! Those unaware would think the master didn’t care, but who knows the bitterness in the master’s heart.

These past two days, the master’s insomnia grew severe, only falling asleep in the dead of night.

He couldn’t sleep soundly, often waking abruptly, drenched in cold sweat, his face pallid.

The master, while punishing the Prince, is equally tormenting himself.

Paying a heavy price to make the Prince realize how absurd his mistakes are.

Indeed! The Prince suddenly awoke, seeing clearly the pack of wolves and tigers surrounding him.

Yet harm remains harm, time cannot rewind, nothing can compensate.

All the master’s efforts were merely to see the Prince regret to the point of heartbreak.

But at this juncture, the ominous news of Lie Dong City arrived unexpectedly.

None of them thought the Prince would die in battle so soon, expecting at least a one or two-month delay!

Even though the Prince fainted from anger previously coughing up blood, and did so again when the Great Xia invaded, dragging his ailing body onto the battlefield, it shouldn’t have resulted in such a swift defeat.

There might be considerable intrigue within, possibly spies from Great Xia hidden within the army.

The day before the battle, the Prince secretly sent a message for the master to return and ignored the opposition, directly announcing the succession by the Princely Heir.

This message probably caused unrest, leading to a backstabbing.

After arranging King Qi at the rear, he never expected, until his death, to receive no news of the Princely Heir returning.

In his heart, he probably realized after years of neglect, father and son had parted ways.

The Princely Heir was resentful and didn’t desire his throne, unwilling to take over.

Yet, even amidst his regret, the Prince didn’t cease trying to use every last bit of leverage, threatening the Princely Heir with the former princess’s maternal family to return and defend the city.

In his dying moment, the last message he sent was seeking the Princely Heir’s forgiveness, acknowledging his failures as a father, willing to go to Huangquan and confess his sins to the mother, urging to defend the land where his mother was buried.

How ironic, even in death, the Prince placed an inescapable shackle on the master.

Recall receiving the message the night before, the master awoke in the middle of the night, eyes crimson, face sullen, clad only in loose inner garments, barefooted, drawing his sword to crazily slash at the obstacles in front.

"You think saying sorry is enough, who do you think you are!"

"Dare to mention my mother, how dare you! How dare you!"

"You want me to defend, so I will defend, why should I, I refuse, I want to watch your painstakingly built legacy dissolve!"

With a wave, another row of precious ornaments shattered into dust.

"Haha! You never considered me your son, now you remember me in crisis, what a joke."

"What atonement, mother won’t accept it, won’t accept it."

"Mother will never forgive you, the traitor."

Ah!

"Let those cowards do it! Why should I bear this."

The Qi Force overturned the solid pear wood roof, creating a gale, flying tiles and wood chips, toppled candlesticks ignited the bed curtains in fragments on the ground, flames flickered up, matching the man’s ghastly face within, cold and frightening.

"Why!"

"Why!"

As the flames were about to spread, a strong gust swept through, leaving only blue smoke.

After venting thoroughly, the man slumped to the ground, muttering, "Mother, he died, died! I haven’t settled things with him, how could he die! Who allowed him to die..."

Tears clouded his bloodthirsty eyes, having loved, hated, longed but never let go; his many years of plotting were lost on a whim, why did he die so readily.

When all expectations turned to void, the inner demon lurking deeply within his heart broke free from rational constraints, completely occupying his mind, leaving only desires for carnage and destruction.

When rage consumed him, yearning to annihilate, a basin of cold water suddenly poured down.

The scene fell silent, only the man’s body dripped with the sound of water.

Hidden Guard had already been dispatched far by Han Yi, the master’s condition should never be known.

Zhou Yanlan, now clear-headed, blinked his watering eyes, surveying the mess in the room, and gazing at the kneeling Han Yi pleading for forgiveness, consciousness gradually returned.

"Please forgive me, master."

Han Yi was filled with fear and trembling, glad the master almost succumbed to his inner demons.

"Stand up! Clean up."

Zhou Yanlan rose weakly, stepping out of the debris-filled room, fists clenched, thoughts swirling; once a person dies, no amount of resentment or fury will erase, no matter how unwilling.

As the dispirited master prepared to leave sight, Han Yi couldn’t help but shout, "Master, you must take care of yourself, if Miss Cheng sees this, she might mock..."

Just as the words fell, a massive gust swept over, Han Yi immediately fled.