Chapter 638: Those Who Seek Death Shall Live, Those Who Pray for Life Shall Perish

"I know that in that situation at the time, I would have surely died if I had jumped out, but I have my own stance. No matter how much friction there is between Dai Mubai and me, I am ultimately a child of the Zhu Family, a maternal relative of the Star Luo imperial house. I have the responsibility to protect Dai Mubai. From the moment I stepped out, I had long since cast life and death aside," Zhu Zhuqing said in a low voice.

Her life had long been a mess. During the time she returned home, she had actually learned many secrets.

Her elder sister, Zhu Zhuyun, had been carrying things on her shoulders that were, in fact, no less than her own.

She still remembered that when she was very young, her sister had actually been quite doting toward her. Later, it suddenly changed, which made her very sad.

It was not until she saw the diary Zhu Zhuyun had left at home—written to vent negative emotions because the pressure was too great—that she understood everything.

Her sister had her own hidden bitterness. She loved Dai Weisi, so after learning of her responsibilities, she had to assist Dai Weisi in defeating herself and Dai Mubai. But she also loved her younger sister, so she had always wanted to find a way for her to survive.

On her way to the Heaven Dou Empire, she had experienced several assassination attempts.

At that time, she was only a Great Soul Master of the twentieth rank or so. With Zhu Zhuyun's status then, it would not have been difficult at all to mobilize a few experts above the level of Soul Ancestor or Soul King to intercept and kill her. She would have absolutely had no chance of survival.

Yet she had escaped the pursuit time and time again. She had originally thought it was her own luck, until she saw Zhu Zhuyun's diary and discovered the records from those years.

The pursuit that day was more of a formality. Her sister might have indeed harbored murderous intent toward her, but that was only for self-preservation; the murderous intent was definitely not heavy.

In fact, Zhu Zhuyun's murderous intent toward Zhu Zhuqing was much like Poseidon's toward Lv Lingqi: to survive, one would try if the opportunity arose, but it didn't matter if it failed. Zhu Zhuyun even felt a sense of relief instead.

The passage she wrote at the end of her diary that day was as follows.

"Run, little sister. Do not look back. Keep running forward, and never return to Star Luo again!"

Only after seeing this did Zhu Zhuqing realize she had done one thing wrong. After leaving Star Luo back then, she perhaps should not have gone to find Dai Mubai, thinking of uniting his strength to launch a resistance.

Instead, she should have hidden her name and gone into hiding in Heaven Dou. No matter how strong Star Luo was, the Douluo Continent was not to the extent that they could cover the sky with one hand.

As long as she hid in some remote corner of Heaven Dou, it would have been impossible for Star Luo to send people over for a large-scale search; otherwise, how would that be any different from invading Heaven Dou? And Heaven Dou was so vast; if they only sent a few people to look for a needle in a haystack, whether they could find her would still be a question.

As long as she waited until she cultivated to above the level of Spirit Douluo before coming out, Star Luo would no longer be able to do anything to her. After all, the Star Luo Empire did not have any Title Douluo under their command at that time.

Yet her mind was full of returning to contend with Zhu Zhuyun, which instead created the later uncontrollable situation where her sister died tragically under Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer.

It was precisely because she knew the truth of the past that Zhu Zhuqing chose not to help Dai Mubai seize the throne after returning, choosing to stay out of it.

But today the situation was different. Internal succession struggles within a country were her own business, but to them, Feihuang was always an invader. Zhu Zhuqing understood one thing very clearly: no matter what happened, she was still Zhu Zhuqing of the Zhu Family of the Star Luo Empire.

If she died in battle, it would be just right to go down and say that "sorry" to her sister.

After listening to Zhu Zhuqing's words, Feihuang sighed silently. In all fairness, he did not want to kill Zhu Zhuqing, but he could not let her go now either. After all, since she had stepped onto the battlefield to help Dai Mubai, she was his enemy—she had to be killed!

Just at this moment, Ning Rongrong stepped forward to plead for mercy. It was not just her; Xiao Wu, who was inside his sea of soul, was the same.

"Crown Prince, please spare Zhuqing's life. After she arrived at the battlefield, she only grabbed Dai Mubai and used her speed to escape; she did not attack our country's soldiers. Her crime does not warrant death!" "Master, Zhuqing has had a pitiful life. I also request that you spare her life."

Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu pleaded at the same time.

Just as Feihuang was considering it, Oscar knelt before Nan Feihuang and said, "Crown Prince, I am willing to use all the merits I have earned in this war to trade for Zhuqing's life!"

His merits in this war were not small, especially the forced march at the beginning. The reason they were able to travel so light was precisely because they had brought him, this mobile granary.

Although Ning Rongrong was willful, Xiao Wu was foolish, and Oscar was a sycophant, the three of them were not heartless or unrighteous people. Their former friendship with Zhu Zhuqing as classmates prompted them to try and see if they could save her.

Ning Rongrong and Oscar might even have deeper thoughts; Zhu Zhuqing was, after all, a Spirit Master with decent aptitude.

In the future, when Star Luo perished, she would have nowhere to go. They could just use this life-saving grace to absorb her into the new Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, just as Nan Tianchen had used his grace to propose to Lan Xue back then.

As for the title, one Duke in Ning Rongrong was actually enough. Trading a Marquis title for a Spirit Master with not-weak aptitude was not a loss.

Feihuang glanced at Xun Yu, and Xun Yu nodded. "She didn't kill no one, but those she killed were all soldiers I summoned to surround Dai Mubai. It is indeed no different from not killing anyone."

"Very well. Since Zhu Zhuqing did not target our country's soldiers, and with your pleas, I will spare her life. Third Sister, I leave Zhuqing to you to guard. Before the war ends, she is not allowed to step out of your tent," Nan Feihuang said.

"Understood!" Nan Feiling immediately accepted the order and took Zhu Zhuqing away. If it weren't for the fact that she and Zhu Zhuqing were not close, given her personality, she likely would have also pleaded for mercy upon learning of Zhu Zhuqing's past.

Feihuang looked at Dai Mubai again, but he did not pass judgment immediately, instead continuing, "Wenruo, bring Ma Hongjun, Titan, and Bai He up as well."

"Understood!" Xun Yu received the order, and soon a few soldiers came over, escorting the three of them.

As soon as Ma Hongjun saw Nan Feihuang, he immediately knelt before him. "General Fei, Crown Prince, Wushuang Crown Prince, your imperial grace is vast. Please, you must spare my life. I am willing to join the Gulei Empire, atone for my crimes with service, and swear to serve you to the death, Your Highness!"

This fellow had completely lost all integrity; his mind was filled only with wanting to survive.

Feihuang kicked him away and looked at Bai He. "Bai He, back then the Tang Sect used poison to kill the royal families of the Tianshuang Principality and the Hagen Dazs Kingdom, framing the Spirit Hall in an attempt to incite a war between our country and the Spirit Hall. It was your Min Clan who did it, right?"

Bai He spoke bluntly, "I personally did the deed for the Tianshuang Principality, but as for who did it for the Hagen Dazs Kingdom, I believe Wushuang Crown Prince knows it in his heart."

"You... personally did it?" Feihuang smiled helplessly. He didn't care at all about the Hagen Dazs royal family, as he had no relatives there, but the Tianshuang Principality... the person who moved to poison his second sister and nephew was actually Bai He himself. If Xun Yu hadn't seen through the scheme and let the Old Poison act in advance, his second sister and nephew would likely be dead already.

Suddenly, Feihuang's expression turned fierce. "Men, take Ma Hongjun, Titan, and Bai He out and behead them!"

"No... don't... Your Highness, spare my life... spare me, I am willing to use my life to serve you!!!" Ma Hongjun was so scared he lost control of his bowels, kowtowing repeatedly to Nan Feihuang. "Rongrong, Little Ao, why are you still standing there? Hurry and plead for me!"

"Hmph, plead for you?" Ning Rongrong gave a cold laugh, looked at Nan Feihuang, and said, "Your Highness, do not trust this person. Have you not seen my Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect!"

(End of chapter)