When Xia Yun and her army rushed back to the Emerald City, they were greeted by a blazing sky.
Two huge monsters were fighting among the clouds, one was a unicorn with lightning all over its body, and the other was a giant bird surrounded by flames.
"Why is Suzaku here!"
Ji Bai was the first to recognize the giant bird and was shocked. How could the guardian beast come to the Emerald City?
"It must be to stop the Qilin massacre!"
Xia Yun's face was a little surprised. The guardian beast has always been a symbol of order and justice. But she soon discovered that the various terrifying energy surges brought by the two monsters would hit the ground from time to time.
"The battle between the two of them will hurt the city, we must evacuate people!"
The battle between the two monsters would put the Emerald City in danger. Xia Yun and Ji Bai divided their forces into the city to evacuate the people. The city was already in chaos, and people looked at the two monsters in the sky and fled in panic, but fortunately the original city guards were under control
Order was maintained and no large-scale disturbances occurred.
The evacuation work was carried out in an orderly manner under the leadership of Xia Yun. Ten minutes later, a huge pillar of fire suddenly flashed across the sky, and the Kirin was shot through the body and roared away.
Suzaku was victorious, Xia Yun breathed a sigh of relief, and many soldiers who witnessed Qilin's arrogant declaration also cheered.
However, just as they were relaxing, a gust of hot wind blew by, and the Suzaku screamed ferociously, spreading its wings to block the moonlight.
The Emerald City fell into darkness.
"Mortals, it's our turn now." A burning fireball appeared under Suzaku. It spread its wings, and the flames roared across the night and shot toward the Emerald City. The fireball was small at first, but by the time it got close to the ground, it had already reached several.
Ten meters wide, the dazzling light made it difficult for everyone to open their eyes.
No one thought that Suzaku would suddenly attack the Emerald City. Only Ji Bai responded in time.
"Sword of Dawn!"
Transparent waves flew toward the fireball. Ji Bai pulled out his long sword and his figure flashed past, but the burning fireball was enveloped by countless sword energy.
"Rumble" The fireball paused strangely in the air for a second, then shattered with a rumble and turned into thousands of flames flying in all directions.
"Interesting skill." The Suzaku floating in the air widened its eyes, surprised that the fireball was physically cut into pieces, but it soon chirped loudly and happily: "But, I want to thank you for cutting it into pieces.
.”
More birdsong sounded from all directions, and the scattered flames turned into small Suzakus one by one and were reborn from the fire, screaming and flying into the distance.
The entire Emerald City was enveloped in flames in an instant.
"Hahahaha, burn...my children, burn to your heart's content!" Suzaku hovered happily in the air, while Ji Bai and Xia Yun both turned pale.
The scattered little Suzaku is not powerful, but 80% of the people in Emerald City are ordinary people.
"Destroy these Suzakus quickly!"
Resistance is futile.
In December 998 of the bilunar calendar, it was a bloody dark night: Jade City fell, and the Millennium Emerald City was also shrouded in flames. The walls of the two cities were broken one after another, and tens of thousands of old people and children fell in mourning.
Before dawn, the imperial princess Xia Yun and her army escaped from the Emerald City with less than 70% of the people. The defeated army stood on the grassland, and the soldiers' faces were red by the city's fire. In the burning imperial capital, Suzaku was still in the river of blood.
A shrill laugh: "Blood, more blood... what an exciting river of blood!"
That devilish laughter brings people deep despair.
The civilians who had lost their families lay on the ground crying, and some nobles asked Xia Yun in front of her what to do next.
Qilin escaped, the Emerald City disappeared, and the empire no longer had any hope of turning defeat into victory. Moreover, the road to the port was blocked by Suzaku, and Xia Yun seemed to have only one choice: to escape to the west.
However, if the beast tribe swarms onto the Dawn Grassland, the people who have managed to survive will be killed head-on again.
【what to do?】
Xia Yun had difficulty making a decision for a while, but her hesitation aroused the anger of some people.
"It's all your fault, you attracted those monsters!"
"The little princess has long said that there is danger, but you have always been indifferent, and the monsters have invaded!"
These few people put their anger on Xia Yun. They did not understand what happened, but in the face of disaster, helpless people can easily direct their hatred at the leader who guides everything. The restlessness is getting bigger and bigger.
Faced with this desperate situation, the majesty of the royal family seemed to disappear.
Xia Yun did not refute. She could have ordered the army to suppress these people easily, but she did not do so.
"Go west."
She calmly made the decision that Suzaku was more difficult to deal with than the beasts. However, the development of the situation was not as expected. They didn't go far when Suzaku's huge figure caught up with him, and the blood dripping from it was like rain.
Pour it on people.
"I haven't had enough fun, how can you leave?" It looked greedily at the crowds spreading on the grassland. There were hundreds of thousands of people, not a lot at all.
The last straw was crushed, fear and despair permeated the crowd, and everyone was at a loss.
"Your Highness, you go, I'll stop it!" Ji Bai stood in front, looked up at Suzaku and shouted: "The guardian beast never interferes in the affairs of mortals without authorization, why do you want to break the rules."
"Rules?" Suzaku sneered a few times: "Whatever the rules are, I am free to do whatever I want!"
It fixed its sights on Xia Yun, and narrowed its bloody eyes: "Actually, you can let me go, as long as you dedicate the king."
Ji Bai's face changed drastically, and then he burst into anger: "What do you mean!"
"That's what it means!" Suzaku made a sharp cry, and pillars of fire rose from the surrounding grasslands, surrounding everyone inside the flame world: "Hand her over!"
The flames in the sky also raged, and a large number of small Suzakus appeared and swooped down towards the grassland.
"don't want!!"
"We pay, we pay!!"
The scene was in chaos. Several young nobles were so frightened that they wet their butts and knelt in front of Xia Yun: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty, please come over!"
"laugh"
The next moment, the heads of these people fell to the ground.
"Don't be rude to His Highness!" Several knights stood in front of Xia Yun with cold expressions, and the other soldiers also took out their swords and pointed them at the people around them.
However, although the army clearly sided with Xia Yun, the faces of other nobles and civilians were obviously shaken.
"Your Highness, please protect us."
"Your Highness, the lives of hundreds of thousands of people here depend on you."
Some people knelt down from a distance, while more people looked at Xia Yun in fear. Huge eyes were fixed on her, and apart from some sympathy, they were more or less begging her to sacrifice themselves.
Save others.
Xia Yun was shocked and took a step back. She even changed her soul for these people, but she didn't expect that they wanted to sacrifice her in such a desperate situation.
Such people - do not deserve to be her people!
Xia Yun opened his mouth full of anger, but was interrupted.
"Let me come!" A familiar voice, a small body walked out from the crowd, lifted his cloak, Xia Han said with a smile: "I am the king, right?"
As soon as these words came out, the entire grassland fell into silence.
Xia Yun was the first to react. She reached out to grab Xia Han with anger: "Didn't I tell you to leave? Why did you..." But before she could finish her words, she fainted and fell down.
A maid immediately stepped forward to hug her, while the man in a cloak quickly walked forward and knelt down: "Yes, you are our king."
In this state, whoever becomes the king will die, so naturally they cannot let Xia Yun die.
"Little princess..." "Why is the little princess here?"
The crowd started to get restless. Ji Bai slowly walked to Xia Han and looked at him with complicated eyes: "Have you decided?"
"Yes." Xia Han nodded and looked up at Suzaku: "This is the best time to succeed, isn't it?"
There was no time more suitable to be a king than now - anyway, he was not afraid of this fake Suzaku, and it couldn't hurt him.
Ji Bai was silent, then nodded: "You are right..."
He took the crown from one side, without ritual music or blessing, and just put it on Xia Han's head with guilt - no new king would have such a simple ceremony.
Ji Bai didn't know what kind of mood he had when he knelt down, but he lowered his head to Xia Han and condensed many words into one sentence.
"I have met His Majesty!"
The wind blew across the grassland, and under the light of the flames, the crown on Xia Han's head shone brightly.
The nobles and soldiers looked at each other, and then they knelt down, and everyone else knelt down. They didn't understand why such a thing happened, but everyone knew... As long as Xia Han becomes the king, they can leave.
With complicated emotions, people sacrificed Xia Han to the monster.
"Look, that's it." Xia Han straightened the crown with his hand to make it more stable. He turned around and looked up at Suzaku: "The king you want is me!"
Zhuque looked down at Xia Han.
"You are not qualified..." its voice was cold, but its gaze suddenly stopped on Xia Han's head, as if it had discovered something: "His blessing was given to you."
It nodded: "Forget it, you can do it too... I should say you are more suitable than her!"
Suzaku laughed loudly, and the huge pillars of fire in all directions disappeared.
"Gone!" "We are saved..."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and the team immediately set off outside. Few people greeted Xia Han, but when Ji Bai turned around occasionally, he could still see Xia Han smiling, and the little figure waved to everyone.
bid farewell.
【Is it right to do this?】
Ji Bai looked around the team and found that many civilians were weeping silently, and some children were crying loudly in their parents' arms.
Human beings are selfish, and everyone is afraid of death, but they are not a race that can truly become ruthless. They may not understand why things have reached this state, but they also know that... they abandoned a person in order to survive.
.
A quarrel broke out at the front of the team. When Ji Bai walked to the front, he saw an angry child.
"Why... why did you give the crown to him!" Bai Yue, who had just come from the west, spotted Ji Bai. She raised her head and asked him: "You knew he would die, why did you give it to him!"
"That's his choice." Ji Bai replied: "He has the responsibility to bear this obligation."
"Besides..."
He lowered his eyebrows: "He is a half-elf...half-elves can't live to be 50 years old."
Bai Yue's face began to turn pale, and she suddenly realized that adults in this world are so strange. If he can't live to be 50, should he sacrifice for others?
Xia Han is obviously a prince, why was he abandoned like this?
--abandon...
Bai Yue understood. She understood why the prince turned into a princess, why Xia Han couldn't live in the palace, and why he turned into a singer and wandered around day after day.
Because he was abandoned...
Just like her father when he was a child... They were both people who were played by fate since childhood, so Wu Jing asked Bai Yue to follow him.
【Mother...】
Bai Yue's eyes turned red. She seemed to be able to understand Bai Ya's love. In their fragile eyes... people who can live strong in loneliness are too dazzling.
"..."
Something seemed to be broken in her heart, and Bai Yue felt a little sad in her chest: "No...I can't let him die..."
She ran away, ignoring Ji Bai, and walked straight through the team, heading towards the fiery world...
【Why did you lie to me!】
Tears rolled down from Bai Yue's eyes. She wiped her eyes, bit her lip and ran forward. Her little legs seemed to have infinite power. There were still many things she didn't understand, but...if she didn't chase, she would never catch up.
You will understand.
On the fiery red grassland, the shadows of the army had disappeared into the darkness. Xia Han turned around and walked slowly towards Suzaku.
"Don't go there!!"
There seemed to be a voice coming. Xia Han turned around and looked at Bai Yue running over the grassland.
For a moment, he thought she was Wu Jian. However... that was an illusion after all...
"You can't stop me." Xia Han shook his head and turned to leave.
A fiery red light beam fell from the sky and fell on him. Bai Yue stared blankly at the figure disappearing in the flames, and scenes flashed through her mind like a slideshow.
She seemed to see a knight kneeling on one knee in front of the king to accept the seal. In the blink of an eye, she saw a maid holding a boy and escaping from the blood-red palace. Soon after, a burly warrior stood up in the flames to protect the queen who was expecting childbirth.
That's memory - the memory of the Guardians for thousands of years.
Then Bai Yue saw the last guardian and Xia Han's life.
This child plays alone in the secret room, runs with the female elves on the grassland, and sings happily in the slums... He always has a smile on his face, no pain...
However, fate did not give him preferential treatment because of his smile. For countless days and nights...he could only curl up and sleep on the rickety carriage, living a life where he never knew whether there would be another day.
Why...the prince of the empire, who has suffered all kinds of unfair treatment, now still sacrifices everything for others?
He is clearly gentler than anyone Bai Yue has ever seen.
Bai Yue couldn't tolerate such an ending. She clenched her sword and stood up, running towards the huge light beam.
"It turns out...he is the most suitable king..."
A voice rang in Bai Yue's ears, and the masked thief appeared beside her strangely, running with her. He squinted his eyes, and then put his transparent hand on Bai Yue's head: "Thank you... thank you
Solve my doubts... The new guardian will be left to you from now on..."
"He is your king, and his royal power is the royal power you have to protect!"
At this moment, a huge white light rose from the ground, and the white moon turned into a mark and disappeared.
"Crackling"
In the distant team, the marks on several people were broken into pieces.
The man in cloak who was following Xia Yun's carriage on horseback looked at his chest blankly, while Ji Bai, who was leading the team forward, had a huge change of expression.
