In the Imperial City, there was an extremely vast square made of bluestone.
It was situated in a lively district of the Imperial City. The flow of people heading in that direction was huge.
In the middle of that square, there was a bright red flight of stairs made from metal which gave a dazzling light. That flight of stairs led up to a white stage.
On that stage, there was a huge metallic pillar which had an cross symbol at the top. Chains were hanging from that cross. There were two extremely sharp hooks, the view was shocking, the purpose of these two hooks was to skewer the arms of a person attached to the cross.
That stage was the Death Sentence Stage and was used to kill those who had an ill.u.s.trious social status but had angered the imperial family. Thus, everybody could witness the execution.
After killing the criminal, the corpse would be hung from the cross by skewering his arms with the hooks. The body would then be hung there for weeks as a warning to everyone else. It let everyone know what the punishment was for angering the imperial family.
At that moment, there was an ocean of people around the Death Sentence Stage. They completely filled the huge square.
However, those directly surrounding the Death Sentence Stage were all Xue Yue soldiers, no one could get close to the stage.
“I really would never have thought that General Liu Cang Lan the Divine Arrow, who was so majestic, so ill.u.s.trious, would end up here today.”
In the crowd, some people were sighing. They were looking at the silhouette on the stage, it was precisely Liu Cang Lan. At that moment, Liu Cang Lan’s body was tied up. Even though he was considered a criminal and was going to be killed, he looked neither humble nor arrogant.
Liu Cang Lan had no regrets, he was innocent.
In front of the crowd, two beautiful eyes were watching Liu Cang Lan on the stage. Glistening teardrops were flowing down a set of bright red cheeks.
“Father, you have sacrificed your youth for Xue Yue and even devoted your entire life for it… and this is how they express their grat.i.tude…”
That beautiful person was Liu Fei. She looked more mature and more beautiful than back in the days of the Yun Hai Sect but at that moment, she was feeling lonely, desperate and hopeless. Her heart was shattering into a thousand pieces.
“Fei Fei, remember what your father told you, stay safe, live on. You will be able to avenge him only if you’re alive.”
Next to Liu Fei was a middle-aged man, he looked calm but his heart felt painful as well, especially when he saw Duan Tian Lang. He wished he could cut out his organs and bathe in his blood.
Everything happened because of Duan Tian Lang, including the death of hundreds of thousands of soldiers, but he was blaming Liu Cang Lan for all these things. He was blaming Liu Cang Lan for the kidnapping of the princess as well. It was a terrible fate for a hero like Liu Cang Lan. Everything was ridiculous.
“Mmm.”
Liu Fei nodded, but could not utter a word, her heart felt heavy. She had to avenge her father, Duan Tian Lang could not be allowed to live, either he would die or she would.
“Your father has always been convinced that Lin Feng would protect and take care of you, that nothing would happen to him. After today, we will go and look for him even if it means going to Mo Yue.” said the middle-aged man. Liu Fei remained silent. Where was Lin Feng at that moment?
She didn’t know why but at that moment, she terribly missed Lin Feng, she had never needed someone so much.
When a woman feels lonely, she always thinks about the person whom she cares for the most. Liu Fei, at that moment, felt powerless. Her father was in front of her and was about to get executed, but she couldn’t do anything to prevent it from happening. She could only calmly watch her father get killed.
Duan Tian Lang looked at the sky and had a smile of happiness on his face. Duan Tian Lang had been waiting for this day for so many years. He had always wanted to kill Liu Cang Lan and at that moment, he was about to be executed. How could Duan Tian Lang not be happy?
“The time has come, let’s get prepared.” said Duan Tian Lang sounding detached. Immediately after, four strong cultivators pulled the chains which tied Liu Cang Lan, his bindings suddenly tightened, and then, his body was pulled into the air.
Liu Cang Lan didn’t complain, his limbs were pulled in each direction and he was locked in place, he just continued gazing into the distance. He looked calm, he hated the choices he made in life, he wished he could go back in time.
“Raise your bows!” said Duan Tian Lang sounding cold and detached. On the bright red flight of stairs, many soldiers raised their bows and aimed at Liu Cang Lan. There were eighty one archers, Liu Cang Lan obviously didn’t have any chance to escape.
A sharp Qi spread through the atmosphere. Was this their way of humiliating Liu Cang Lan? His nickname was the Divine Arrow, he was an expert in archery… and they were going to execute him using archery.
However, at that moment, the crowd could feel that the ground was shaking, and it was getting more and more intense. They were surprised.
The sound of galloping horses spread through the atmosphere. The ground was shaking more and more violently. Duan Tian Lang narrowed his eyes and looked at the distance. He only saw Chi Xie cavalry approaching in a large force, they looked like they were flying through the air, they looked insanely powerful. They were really the Chi Xie troops.
“What’s going on?”
Duan Tian Lang was stupefied. How did the Chi Xie cavalry make it there? They were supposed to be blocked at the city gate. It was impossible for them to come into the Imperial City.
“Chi Xie cavalry, they came in.”
“Yes, Uncle Jiu, your army, the Chi Xie cavalry.”
Liu Fei looked moved, Jiu Chi Xie was with her and Ren Qing Kuang was leading the Chi Xie cavalry for him. When he went to the Imperial City, he thought that the Chi Xie cavalry would never be able to enter the Imperial City.
At that moment, Jiu Chi Xie saw a young and handsome man leading them.
A smile appeared on his face.
“Fei Fei, it’s Lin Feng, nothing is impossible for that boy. Surprisingly, he managed to gain entry for the Chi Xie soldiers into the Imperial City.” said Jiu Chi Xie in a low voice. Lin Feng’s determination and willpower were impressive. He had completely altered the course of events, he had then killed the kidnappers and rescued the princess and on top of that, he returned unscathed. Lin Feng had the ability to shatter everyone’s expectations.
There were tears of joy in Liu Fei’s eyes at that moment, that was perfect timing on Lin Feng’s part and besides, he had brought the powerful Chi Xie cavalry with him, he would definitely be able to protect her father.
However, they seemed to be forgetting that Duan Tian Lang was extremely determined to kill Liu Cang Lan.
“Lin Feng.”
Duan Tian Lang’s facial expression turned evil. He immediately shouted: “Get ready to kill Liu Cang Lan!”
“Roger!” shouted the archers in unison. Immediately, Liu Fei and Jiu Chi Xie’s facial expressions drastically changed.
“Duan Tian Lang, don’t you dare!” furiously shouted Jiu Chi Xie while jumping in the air across the crowd.
“Boom boom boom!” Jiu Chi Xie’s blows killed a few of the archers.
“Release the arrows!” said Duan Tian Lang with a cold smile on his face. The arrows whistled through the air moving straight towards Liu Cang Lan. At that moment, Jiu Chi Xie’s face turned deathly pale. He immediately threw himself forwards at full speed. He had dived in front of Liu Cang Lan’s body to protect him from the arrows. His entire body was releasing Qi in the form of a strong wind. His entire body was covered with a bright and resplendent Qi.
“Get away!” shouted Liu Cang Lan, his facial expression drastically changed. At that moment, Liu Cang Lan’s body was tightly tied up and he couldn’t use his cultivation. All Jiu Chi Xie could do was protect Liu Cang Lan with his body.
“Uncle Jiu!” cried Liu Fei in alarm. Immediately after, the sounds of the arrows piercing through the Qi spread in the air, the arrows then continued and pierced into Jiu Chi Xie’s body but they didn’t continue moving towards Liu Cang Lan. Jiu Chi Xie’s body was their final destination.
“Brother.” cried Liu Cang Lan. His heart felt infinitely painful. On his forehead was a pitch-black seal. That seal kept glowing, making him unable to use his strength.
“Die together!” shouted Duan Tian Lang coldly. He then started moving but at that moment, a piercingly cold energy arrived on his body, he felt as if he was going to freeze on the spot.
“Frozen Heart.”
Duan Tian Lang stopped moving. His face turned deathly pale, he turned around and saw a wave of pure Qi roll towards him. It was brutally cold. In a flash, he felt the extreme coldness on his body and was projected backwards, unable to move closer to Liu Cang Lan.
“Die!” said Lin Feng furiously. Lin Feng was brandis.h.i.+ng his sword, its light was extremely resplendent and dazzling to the eyes. The archers were unceasingly firing their arrows. Lin Feng’s expression revealed pure killing intent.
Ren Qing Kuang immediately killed the four people who were pulling the four chains which were holding Liu Cang Lan in place.
Blood was unceasingly flowing from Jiu Chi Xie’s mouth but he was smiling.
“General, I will sacrifice my life for yours, after I die, Lin Feng can become the officer of the Chi Xie troops.”
“Arghhh!” Liu Cang Lan was endlessly grieved, his eyes were filled with tears. Jiu Chi Xie had been an extremely good friend for a dozen years. They had never argued and had always regarded each other as real brothers, they considered each other family. Many times, they had fought battles shoulder to shoulder.
However, at that moment, Jiu Chi Xie had sacrificed himself.
“General, I would like to say one last thing.” Jiu Chi Xie was leaning against Liu Cang Lan, he then leant over and whispered something in Liu Cang Lan’s ear.
The intensity of Jiu Chi Xie’s voice was dropping. When he finished talking, he looked at Liu Cang Lan and smiled at him.
“General, for more than a dozen years, I have never called you anything else other than “General” when addressing you, today, I will call you my “brother”.”
The word “brother” had a deep meaning. After saying that, Jiu Chi Xie’s voice lost in intensity, his breath became weak and his vision became blurry. His vitality was quickly leaving his body and his eyes slowly closing. He was calmly lying against Liu Cang Lan’s chest with an unchanging smile on his face.
Liu Cang Lan was looking at Jiu Chi Xie and an endless stream of tears started to fall from his eyes.
Brothers, could such a simple word really describe the relations.h.i.+p that these two had over these countless years?
Jiu Chi Xie was motionless, lying against Liu Cang Lan’s chest. He would never wake again.