"I choose to defect..." Veins bulged on his neck as he choked out the words.
"Your Majesty!" Bai Yang could barely believe his ears.
"Your Majesty, you cannot!"
"Yes! Vermilion Bird Kingdom will fight to the death!"
...
Not long before, a group of them arrived above Vermilion Bird Kingdom.
The sight before them made Fang Tianhui flinch away, unable to bear it, while Qin Mu Bai's anger surged.
The soil was already stained blood-red, the blood refusing to congeal. Gloom hung heavy in the sky, and broken branches occasionally bore the severed limbs of the unknown.
The city gates were breached, the city a sea of corpses, blood flowing like rivers, a scene of chilling horror.
The sounds of fighting and wails echoed across the land. As dusk fell, it was impossible to distinguish from afar whether the sky was reddened by the setting sun or by blood.
"Sister Bai..." Fang Tianhui clutched Bai Ran's sleeve, her heart filled with unease.
Bai Ran clenched her fists, silent, but the killing intent churning in her eyes was impossible to hide.
"Look! What is that!" Qin Mu Bai pointed at a tiny figure below.
It was Dean Xuan Yuan!
Vermilion Bird swooped down, landing in an inconspicuous corner.
"Dean!" Fang Tianhui hurried over.
Xuan Yuan lay unconscious by a doorway, his numerous wounds bleeding profusely, his arm dislocated.
Bai Ran produced a pill and fed it to him, her Nine-Curving Life-Taking Needles falling in rapid succession.
With a 'crack', his arm was reset.
"Lay him down," Bai Ran instructed.
The two of them moved Xuan Yuan to a safe spot.
"He will wake up soon."
Watching Xuan Yuan breathe steadily, Bai Ran's heart felt uneasy.
"Three gates have fallen, has the front line been breached?" Qin Mu Bai's brow furrowed deeply.
While on Vermilion Bird's back, only the West Gate was still fiercely resisting; the other three had been conquered by White Tiger Kingdom soldiers.
White Tiger Kingdom had indeed played their cards well. Bai Ran instantly saw through their strategy.
She turned: "I'm going to the front line first."
If the White Tiger Emperor himself had come, he would surely be at the front.
To catch the king, you must first catch the thief.
"If you are worried about your homes, you can split up first."
Bai Ran took out two signal flares and handed them to the two men.
"Fire these if anything happens, and reinforcements will come."
The two men nodded, accepting the flares, and headed their separate ways towards Stargazing Academy and the Qin family.
Although Fang Tianhui had lost her family, she now considered Stargazing Academy her home.
As for Qin Mu Bai, his father, despite his gruff words, had always deeply cared for him.
"Xiao Bai," Bai Ran summoned the White Tiger.
She commanded it to transform into its true form. The handsome figure slowly shifted, becoming a massive, snow-white tiger.
"Master, aren't you going to check on the Bai family?"
"No need." Bai Ran knew the Bai family. They were generations of loyal subjects; if enemies attacked, would they sit idly by?
If she went to the Bai family, it would be a wasted effort.
Bai Ran mounted the White Tiger's back. "To the front line."
Though the White Tiger lacked Vermilion Bird's speed, it was still extremely fast. Soon, the person and beast arrived at the front line.
When Bai Ran arrived, she witnessed the scene of Kang Liang and Mu Rong Chen conversing.
"Your Majesty, think twice!"
"Indeed! The citizens of Vermilion Bird Kingdom surely would not wish for you to choose this path!"
"Your Majesty!"
...
The remaining soldiers around constantly advised Mu Rong Chen, but he paid them no heed.
"I have already decided! Do you expect me to watch tens of thousands of my people slaughtered?" he roared, his shoulders trembling.
There was no other choice...
It had to be this way...
"Hahaha! Little Vermilion Bird Kingdom, sacrificing one to save ten thousand is good, isn't it?"
Kang Liang's slender eyes were filled with mockery and disdain.
"The Emperor of Vermilion Bird Kingdom is nothing special."
"Vermilion Bird Kingdom is no big deal."
"So arrogant during the Four Kingdoms Tournament, and now like a stray dog."
"Hahahaha!"
The White Tiger Kingdom soldiers also joined in the taunts.
The Vermilion Bird soldiers' expressions were furious, their hands clenched until blood ran, yet they were powerless, forced to glare at Kang Liang.
"This commoner also thinks it's a good idea. Your Majesty, what do you think?" a smiling female voice chimed in.
Mu Rong Chen's heart pounded at the sound of that voice.
He jerked his head up, his eyes fixated on the fiery red figure.
Bai Ran! She was here!
She had arrived!
A vibrant fiery figure, riding on the back of a snow-white tiger, approached slowly. The Vermilion Bird Kingdom soldiers made way for her.
The White Tiger was eye-catching, but its charm was not a fraction of that of the person on its back.
Exquisite, unadorned features, fair skin, unbound raven hair cascading down her shoulders, and her deadly, beautiful eyes – everything was unrealistically beautiful.
"It's Bai Ran!" a White Tiger Kingdom soldier shouted, pointing at her.
"Bai Ran?"
"Is that the arrogant woman from the Four Kingdoms Tournament?"
"It's her?"
Kang Liang, however, first noticed the pure white tiger.
A White Tiger! It was actually a White Tiger!
The one he had painstakingly sent people to capture, now in the hands of a mere girl?
What kind of a disgrace is this?
"Little girl, there are no dolls here. This is a battlefield."
Kang Liang finally looked Bai Ran up and down, calculating how to seize the White Tiger.
Besides, what was a mere girl doing on a battlefield? Coming to die?
The White Tiger Kingdom soldiers showed disdain.
Bai Ran ignored them, jumped off the White Tiger's back, and walked before Mu Rong Chen.
She performed a slow bow.
"Your Majesty, this commoner is late. I beg Your Majesty's punishment."
Mu Rong Chen was stunned, instantly understanding Bai Ran's intention: "I punish you with guarding Vermilion Bird Kingdom! Not a single enemy left!"
She slowly turned, looking at Kang Liang, a breathtaking smile gracing her lips.
"This commoner... accepts the order..."
But Kang Liang saw a trace of...
excitement?
Kang Liang swallowed. He, the dignified ruler of a nation, was instantly stunned by a mere girl?
Kang Liang was furious. Just as he was about to speak.
"Bad news! Bad news!" a White Tiger Kingdom soldier ran over in a panic.
"The armies of Azure Dragon Kingdom and Black Tortoise Kingdom have arrived!" he stammered.
"Let them come! Why are you so panicked? Maybe they're just passing by?" another soldier asked, confused.
"No! They are here to reinforce Vermilion Bird Kingdom!"
What! Kang Liang almost fell off his horse in shock.
"What did you say! Say it again!"
"Azure Dragon Kingdom and Black Tortoise Kingdom have come to support Vermilion Bird Kingdom!" the soldier shouted, panting.
Why would Azure Dragon Kingdom and Black Tortoise Kingdom help Vermilion Bird Kingdom?
Kang Liang bit his lower lip, his heart in a frenzy. The relationship between the three kingdoms had been terrible not long ago, how could this happen?
He looked up and his eyes met Bai Ran's.
What kind of eyes were those?
They held the excitement of a predator ensnaring its prey, and a hint of playful amusement...
It was her! It was all her doing!
Kang Liang suddenly realized. It was all because of this woman before him!
"Bad news! Vermilion Bird Kingdom's East, South, and North Gates have all been recaptured!" another soldier ran up to report.
The White Tiger Kingdom soldiers fell into disarray.
"Bai Ran..." Kang Liang gritted his teeth, trembling with rage.