Chapter 234
Chapter 234
Tang Lun roared.
“My three thousand private soldiers? Where are my soldiers?”
The Count of Xuanwu, Jin Zhuo, said.
“Your family’s soldiers were wearing heavy armor, so they sank first. They’re at the bottom now, unable to surface.”
Tang Lun wanted to scream, but no sound came out. He wanted to cry, but no tears would fall.
“How did it come to this? How? We clearly gathered over thirty thousand soldiers, so how did we lose? How did they all die?”
The Count of Xuanwu said nothing. Tang Lun turned and asked.
“Was this all Shen Lang’s scheme?”
“It was. There was never any ancient gold vein. It was all a trap to lure the Pirate King, Qiu Tianwei, to his death. But we never expected you, the Count of Jinhai, to be unable to resist jumping to your own doom as well.”
“I… I… I…”
Tears finally streamed madly from Tang Lun's eyes. Along with the tears and snot came pain, sorrow, and regret.
“Aaaargh!”
In the past, Tang Lun would have been on the verge of exploding with boundless irritation and fury. But now, all that remained was cold despair and endless misery. He had already suffered two fatal blows: once during the Gold Mountain Island dispute, and again when the Count of Xuanwu's Estate repaid its debt to the Hidden Yuan Society. Despite these two major setbacks, Tang Lun had managed to endure, mustering all his strength to mobilize three thousand private soldiers to attack the Jin Clan on Sorrow's End Island.
Tang Lun had used all his power to try and eliminate the Count of Xuanwu's Estate. He was a man who, even when knocked down, would not stay down. But this time, convinced he would seize the ancient gold vein, filled with the fantasy that everything was within his grasp, he had plummeted from heaven straight into the eighteenth level of hell, never to rise again.
*I, Tang Lun, am finished. My Tang Clan is completely finished.*
“Ancestors, your descendant has been unfilial.”
Tang Lun’s vision went black, and he collapsed backward. He wished he could just die.
***
Raging Tide City.
Xu Qianqian was originally under confinement, but at her words, Qiu Yao'er's female warrior had no choice but to bring her here.
“Quickly, come with me to save your master. Otherwise, something terrible might happen. It will be too late for regrets!”
Just then, she rushed in front of Qiu Yao'er, spread her arms wide, and looked down from the battlements, crying out.
“Shen Lang, please, don’t do it! Don’t kill Qiu Yao'er! She’s truly carrying your child in her womb. She hasn’t had her period in over a month. Qiu Yao'er can’t die. She must not die!”
Shen Lang’s handsome face twitched, and behind him, the faces of Jin Hui, Thirteen, and Jin Shiying trembled as well.
*My god! My lord… What is she saying? As amazing as you are, how could you have slept with a woman like Qiu Yao'er? But isn't that… cheating?*
Shen Lang glared at the tear-streaked Xu Qianqian and shouted.
“If Qiu Yao'er is someone who must not die, then does that mean I, Shen Lang, can die? That the two thousand brothers behind me can die?”
Xu Qianqian wailed, and Shen Lang yelled at her.
“You know that Zhang Jin and his thousands of troops are right behind me, ready to attack and slaughter all our warriors at any moment. If I can’t take Raging Tide City, my Jin Clan is finished. My wife, my parents, my brother, my father-in-law and mother-in-law—my entire family will be finished! If she is someone who must not die, are we people who can just be killed?
Xu Qianqian, I knew you had come to admire Qiu Yao'er. You’ve taken her side, just as I expected. But it doesn’t matter! You and I have always held a deep grudge against each other! Prepare!”
Shen Lang roared. At that, Xu Qianqian dropped to her knees, wrapped her arms around Qiu Yao'er’s legs, and begged through her tears.
“General, I've never met a woman like you in my entire life. I truly don't want to see you die! You said you don't like children, but if you live and raise this child, you will surely come to love them. As time passes, you'll love them more and more, and in the end, that child will become your everything.
Shen Lang will kill you. He really can kill you. Everyone he's ever said he would kill is now dead. Your adoptive father, Qiu Tianwei, is already dead, and his thirty thousand pirates are likely dead too. But neither you nor Shen Lang should die! Can't you two just talk? Please.”
Qiu Yao'er looked at Xu Qianqian with an ice-cold expression. If it had been anyone else, she would have scoffed and said, *I, Qiu Yao'er, am invincible. Do you think a mere insect like you can kill me?* But she didn’t. She could feel Shen Lang’s killing intent, his resolve, and his capability to carry it out. She looked at Xu Qianqian with a rare, gentle gaze and said.
“I appreciate your sincere concern. But… I am not afraid of death!”
Despair showed on the face of the peerless beauty, Xu Qianqian.
“Then… fine! The two most important people to me are trying to kill each other, and my revenge is now hopeless. I'll just die in front of you all!”
With those words, she leaped forward forcefully, jumping straight from the wall, which was over twenty meters high. She intended to sway Qiu Yao'er’s heart with her death.
“No…!”
Qiu Yao'er shot out her hand like lightning and caught Xu Qianqian. She didn't care if others died, she didn't care if women died, but she couldn't bear to see someone die for her sake. Xu Qianqian's body was left dangling in mid-air, caught by the hair by Qiu Yao'er.
“General, can't you talk? Please, I don't want you to die. Perhaps Shen Lang can persuade you? Give yourself, him, and me… a chance.”
Then, Xu Qianqian shouted down at Shen Lang below.
“Shen Lang, you're a man, and you've even slept with Qiu Yao'er. Can't you two just talk?”
Shen Lang bellowed.
“I didn’t sleep with her, I was taken by her! What damn talk? If you keep spouting such nonsense, I'll kill you right now.”
“Fine, I'll die after you talk!”
“Damn it, damn it, damn it!”
Shen Lang cursed, then raised his right hand and said.
“You, of the Qiu clan, I will come up and talk. I will come alone. Kill me or spare me, do as you please. If our talks fail, we will fight again and kill each other!”
Qiu Yao'er looked at Shen Lang and nodded. Then, a basket was lowered from the battlements. Shen Lang stepped into it, and Jin Hui and Thirteen rushed over.
“My lord!”
“Master.”
“Do you have to do this? Really?”
Shen Lang nodded.
“I have to. There's no other way.”
As if riding clouds and mist, Shen Lang was hoisted up to the battlements. Qiu Yao'er pulled him up with one hand, then lifted him onto the wall top as easily as if he were a chick. Shen Lang shot a glance at Xu Qianqian and said in a cold voice.
“Wicked woman.”
“Scumbag.”
Shen Lang looked at Qiu Yao'er's abdomen. From this close, he could see inside her womb with his X-ray vision mode.
*She's... she's really pregnant. Qiu Yao'er, are you even human? Your blood is still full of heavy metals. How could you have sex intense enough to lose your mind in that condition, and on top of that, get pregnant?*
The important thing was that the fetus in her womb was also very healthy. Though it had been just over a month and the fetus was only two centimeters in size, its heartbeat was very distinct.
*Damn it! Qiu Yao'er, what kind of body do you have that, despite such a high concentration of heavy metals in your blood, your organs are completely fine, and the fetus is normal too? Is your innate bloodline that incredible?*
After a long moment, Shen Lang spoke.
“Qiu Yao'er, I can kill you. I already did something to your body when I was treating your illness.”
Qiu Yao'er nodded.
“I believe you!”
Was that all he did? Under the pretext of treatment, Shen Lang had implanted several tiny pellets inside her body. What was inside those pellets? Deadly cyanide, the most toxic substance in the world. It was a substance extracted from a large quantity of almonds; hundreds of pounds of almonds yielded only a minuscule amount. Shen Lang had wrapped it in an extremely thin metal film and inserted it into Qiu Yao'er's body.
The trebuchets Shen Lang had brought were loaded with projectiles made from meteorite magnets ground into powder and solidified into balls with a natural adhesive. He had planned to launch them at Qiu Yao'er. She would then swing her great blade to shatter these magnetic balls, and the magnetic powder would cling to the surface of her body. Qiu Yao'er would struggle to break free, unleashing qi from her entire body.
When the qi erupted from her body, her entire form would contract, generating immense pressure in all her blood vessels and muscles. At that moment, the thin metal spheres would rupture, releasing the cyanide within into her bloodstream. In a matter of seconds, at most, Qiu Yao'er would lose her life!
Shen Lang had hidden five such metal spheres in her body. If even one of them ruptured, Qiu Yao'er's death was certain.
That was right! When Shen Lang had come to save her, he had already planned to kill her. He had prepared a method to kill her with a single blow at a critical moment. If Qiu Yao'er died, the soldiers on the battlements would be without a leader. Although the Taoist An Jae-cheon did not have a high position in the City Lord’s Manor, he was fortunately an elder who had served Qiu Tianwei. Leveraging his qualifications, experience, and prestige, he would be able to assert some influence and stabilize the chaotic situation. If he could step up, he would cooperate with Shen Lang, immediately poison the wells, and poison the entire garrison on the battlements. That was how Shen Lang would have seized the City Lord’s Manor.
But now, the situation had become much more complicated. With Zhang Jin’s six thousand elite soldiers at his back, they could be attacked at any moment. In such a situation, a better option than an all-out battle had presented itself to Shen Lang. Of course, the fact that he had slept with Qiu Yao'er and she had gotten pregnant was completely unexpected. Who could have predicted such a thing?
***
Qiu Yao'er said.
“Shen Lang, I believe you can kill me. But as you know, I do not fear death. Life brings me no joy, so what is there to fear in dying?”
Shen Lang pinched the bridge of his nose.
*Damn it, this again?*
Qiu Yao'er asked.
“Am I really pregnant?”
“Yes! And whose fault is that? Besides, I was the victim, so I can't be held responsible for this.”
“Then you can just pretend this child doesn't exist. It's only been a little over a month. It hasn't even taken human form yet.”