World-Ending Demon Emperor
Chapter 585: Two Nine Six: Fall!

Chapter 585: Two Nine Six: Fall!

After the grand army of Lan Tu completely departed.

City Lord Li Ren glanced at the desolate battlefield and then at the exhausted and shocked remnants atop the city gate.

The twenty thousand surviving soldiers paused for quite a while before realizing they were saved, Helan Pass was saved, and Rouran City was saved.

"Long live... Long live..."

"Long live City Lord Li Ren!"

The twenty thousand soldiers atop the city gate, having survived the calamity, cheered desperately.

City Lord Li Ren nodded slightly, then turned and left. Even now, she had no intention of addressing the soldiers publicly.

After returning to her tent, she rested her eyes for a moment.

Four hours later, the ten thousand troops gathered from behind took up positions at Helan Pass.

This ten thousand-strong force was the second-line militia drawn from various senior samurai domains.

Of Rouran City’s hundred thousand first-line troops, eighty thousand had been expended at Helan Pass. This included ten thousand Rouran cavalry, who abandoned their horses to fight as infantry.

The remaining twenty thousand cavalry defended another entry to Rouran from the Night Orchid Duchy. Therefore, it was no longer possible to draw even a single soldier, and they had to call on second-line militias from various places to fight.

However, fortunately, the battle was over; Rouran had been saved.

At this time, outside City Lord Li Ren’s tent, hundreds of high-ranking military officers and senior samurai lords waited quietly.

City Lord Li Ren woke up, washed up, and went out.

"We pay our respects to the City Lord..." All the military officers and high-ranking samurai lords knelt neatly.

They had knelt before Li Ren in the City Lord’s residence last time too, but this time it was with heartfelt respect.

They had been without a liege for nearly ten years, and now, although their liege was a woman, she was still a good one.

In times of crisis, the one who could stand in front of everyone was the best liege!

After pondering for a while, City Lord Li Ren said, "Do your best to treat every wounded soldier, arrange for each disabled soldier, and if there is not enough money, I will ask others for it."

"Yes," the officers below responded.

"Then I will leave," City Lord Li Ren said. "Prepare a list of honors and promotions from this battle and send it to the City Lord’s residence."

The several hundred high-ranking officers below were taken aback, then replied, "Yes."

And then, their Lord Ashi Liren left Helan Pass alone and returned to the main city of Rouran!

...

Suo Lun had been back at the Rouran City Lord’s residence for half a day already.

Because a few hours ago, he had just received a message from Helan Pass by carrier pigeon, stating that Lan Tu’s grand army had retreated and Helan Pass was safe, so he didn’t go and directly returned to the City Lord’s residence.

Meanwhile, Zhen Yan Princess stayed in Sky Sea Pavilion and didn’t enter the City Lord’s residence with Suo Lun.

In the morning, Suo Lun still taught Ashi Yuanba and Ashinan as usual,

At noon, Yuanba pleaded, "Teacher, please have lunch with us. Mother doesn’t know, we won’t tell her."

By his side, Ashinan also nodded furiously, promising she absolutely wouldn’t tell.

Taosu looked at Suo Lun earnestly with wide eyes, filled with longing.

"Your mother will be back soon, and if she sees me, I’ll be in for a beating," Suo Lun said with a laugh.

Then, he returned to his small, humble and run-down house and began to cook fried rice with eggs.

He wasn’t being pretentious; rather, this was the last time he would cook fried rice with eggs for himself.

Next, whether Ashi Liren agreed or refused, he would leave Rouran.

Suo Lun adeptly cracked the eggs, then stirred one into the rice so that every grain was coated with the egg mixture, ensuring the fried rice would be fragrant and loose.

He then cracked another two eggs without beating them.

He added pork lard and soybean oil to the pan, heated it, and then put the eggs in to fry.

Once the eggs were cooked, he poured the egg-soaked rice into the pan to stir-fry, adding nothing but a pinch of salt.

After finishing the cooking, he was about to serve it in a bowl.

Suddenly, the door was opened.

A chill breeze passed through the air, accompanied by a gentle fragrance.

The enchanting beauty with blue charm, City Lord Ashi Liren, entered and then closed the door behind her.

She glanced at Suo Lun, and as he looked back at her, they regarded each other in silence.

"Give me a bowl," Ashi Liren said.

Suo Lun replied, "There’s only one portion for me."

"Give me half," Ashi Liren said.

Then, Suo Lun divided the single portion of fried rice with eggs into two small bowls, passing one to Ashi Liren.

She scooped up a spoonful with a delicate ceramic spoon and ate a bite, followed by another, and then another...

Halfway through his meal, she had already finished hers.

"Have you never eaten these things before?" Suo Lun asked.

Ashi Liren nodded, as her Dragon Yin Absolute Vein meant she couldn’t eat most things.

From birth until now, the things she consumed most were jade milk, Solaris Flowers, and Blue Snow Lotuses.

After eating these for over twenty years, she exuded an alluring scent wherever she went, emanating from within her body.

"How did you manage this?" Ashi Liren asked.

"I killed Grand Duke Lan Shi," Suo Lun said.

"Alone?" Ashi Liren asked.

Suo Lun replied, "I had Zhen Yan Princess help with some of the legwork."

"Where is she?" Ashi Liren inquired.

"In Sky Sea Pavilion," Suo Lun said.

"Have you been eating fried rice with eggs every day for nearly two months?" Ashi Liren asked.

"Yeah," Suo Lun said.

"Is it delicious?" Ashi Liren asked.

"It’s alright," Suo Lun said. "You’ve been eating jade milk, Solaris Flowers, and Blue Snow Lotuses for twenty-odd years, every meal the same. My eating fried rice with eggs for two months is nothing in comparison. Plus, Yuanba often sneakily gives me a piece of fruit."

Then, the two fell silent again.

...

"Crown Prince Lan Tu is quite remarkable," Ashi Liren suddenly said.

"Hmm, yes," Suo Lun said. "But Snow Marquis Lan Ye is a despicable coward."

Lord Ashi Liren asked, "Then who do you think will win the civil war in Night Orchid Duchy?"

Suo Lun thought for a moment and said, "It should be Snow Marquis Lan Ye."

"Why?" asked Lord Ashi Liren.

"Because he has no bottom line and doesn’t care how badly Night Orchid Duchy suffers. Whereas Crown Prince Lan Tu loves his country too much to let go of many things," Suo Lun explained.

"That’s sad," Lord Ashi Liren remarked.

"Yes, it’s truly sad," Suo Lun agreed.

And then, the two of them fell into an awkward silence once again.

...

"Does it still hurt?" Lord Ashi Liren asked.

"It’s okay," Suo Lun replied. "Riding back on the Lion-Tiger Beast, oh, more like clinging onto its back, did not agitate the wound."

"What did you use to kill Grand Duke Lanshi?" asked Lord Ashi Liren.

"Something called a timed bomb," Suo Lun said.

"Oh..." Lord Ashi Liren said.

What on earth is a timed bomb? Ashi Liren recognized all four characters, but had never heard of them being used together.

"Have you been planning this for a while?" asked Lord Ashi Liren.

"Yes, for quite some time," Suo Lun admitted. "I had to start planning one or two months in advance. Otherwise, how could it be possible to kill a king?"

Lord Ashi Liren asked, "If you could kill Grand Duke Lanshi, why don’t you use the same method to kill Zhi Li?"

"The device is still imperfect, with errors of several minutes. I need to know in advance where Zhi Li will appear and that he will stay at a fixed point for several minutes, without any supreme experts nearby. Because during the explosion, those experts could use the Dragon Force shield to protect him. Killing him is impossible," explained Suo Lun.

Lord Ashi Liren nodded and said, "Moreover, even if we killed Zhi Li now, it wouldn’t make any difference."

"Right," Suo Lun said. "To make Zhi Yan ascend the throne, we need to seize the momentum, and even now Zhi Li still can’t die. If he does, those forces will take advantage of the King’s moment of weakness and act out of desperation."

Then, once again, the two of them fell into an embarrassing silence.

It wasn’t raining outside, but the atmosphere was filled with unease.

...

This awkward silence lasted even longer!

As the loser of the bet, Suo Lun should have been the one to break the silence, but he didn’t.

Suddenly, Lord Ashi Liren stood up abruptly, her aura fierce and chilling.

Suo Lun quickly raised his hands and said, "Okay, let’s pretend nothing happened. Women have the natural right to be cheeky and break promises."

Lord Ashi Liren’s beautiful eyes stared at him, causing the hairs on Suo Lun’s body to stand on end and his heart to race.

"Ah, I’ve just noticed that you aren’t wearing a mask," Suo Lun said.

When Lord Ashi Liren had entered, his mind had been a blank, filled only with thoughts of their bet.

And then, the air in the room grew colder.

Suo Lun felt the breath he exhaled turn into white mist.

"I, I’ll be leaving..." Suo Lun said, lowering his head and walking towards the door.

But then, Lord Ashi Liren suddenly pulled down her trousers, lay across the table, and said, "I lost the bet, go on then, hit me!"

The moment Liren pulled down her trousers, the air was instantly filled with a strong, intoxicating fragrance.

And then, the dimly lit room seemed to brighten up.

Round and snow-white, smooth as jade, like a full moon, like snow-capped mountains.

The scent was delightful, incomparably lovely.

Such beauty, such allure, was beyond description.

And then Suo Lun felt a warmth in his nose, and indeed, blood spurted out.

He had always thought that nosebleeds were a myth, an exaggeration.

But to his surprise, it really happened.

Liren felt a warmth below her waist and then saw blood continuously dripping from Suo Lun’s nose, most of it landing on her alabaster skin.

"Are you going to hit or not?" Lord Ashi Liren asked.

"I was just running my mouth off, joking," Suo Lun said.

He couldn’t bring himself to actually hit something so perfect, so delicate, so snow-white.

"If you don’t hit, I’ll kill you," Lord Ashi Liren threatened.

"Smack..." Suo Lun slapped down.

Instantly...

It was like waves rippling, like wind blowing over a field of flowers, like a winter breeze sweeping the snow.

Lord Ashi Liren stood frozen as if struck by lightning.

She remained in that position for a while.

And Suo Lun, too, remained utterly still, even forgetting to feel and reminisce.

In an instant, Lord Ashi Liren’s originally snow-white skin turned a deep red.

It happened in a flash...

As if Suo Lun’s blood had seeped directly into her skin.

She felt as though she had suddenly been thrown into a lake and kept sinking, sinking.

Not suffocating, yet incapable of moving away, she felt numb, sour.

And thus she kept sinking, drowning, bottoming out!

Not knowing how much time had passed, suddenly...

"Swoosh..." A fragrance swept through the air.

Lord Ashi Liren’s exquisite figure disappeared without a trace in front of Suo Lun; she had escaped.

The air was left only with her alluring scent.

And Suo Lun still stood there, utterly bewildered!

...

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