Chapter 110: Dive

In the carriage below the mountain, the Empress Dowager was lifting the curtain, waiting anxiously, hoping to see them return victorious. But what she saw was Consort Hui fainting. She knew at once that this time, too, they had come back empty-handed.

"Fine then, your wife was driven off by me." Ji Yining quipped with mock seriousness, her eyes glinting, a smile at the corner of her lips betraying the calm on her face.

A trace of fear crossed Feng-ge's face; it seemed someone had once ventured to leave and had not succeeded.

Prince Chen's consideration made sense. Although it was Prince Yong who had made the move, if they were unreasonable, they might blame the whole affair on Prince Chen. After all, Prince Yong would at the very lightest be confined to house arrest for life, while Prince Chen was destined to rise to great heights. Between the two, they would naturally prefer to hate the one who ultimately came out on top.

Zizhao knew the military strength of every vassal state like the palm of his hand; Guofang was the best among them, with three thousand troops already being the most. Yet now, to rescue the Emperor, he had actually committed his entire force—such loyalty was indeed moving.

He hugged Shi Yao and hurried toward where Huike was. He left behind a crowd of monks all buzzing with discussion.

Shuangshuang had been grinning ear to ear, but now she felt the atmosphere in the hall was off, and she kept hearing her own name popping out of my lord's mouth.

Listening to Manyun's words, Xiao Yan could not contain the shock in his heart—to open up the Barbarian Domain, what level of strength must that take! "Barbarian God…" Xiao Yan silently committed this title to memory.

At these words, everyone's hearts leapt into their throats. What they had to consider now was how to open the stone coffin next.

He looked far too thin, as if one gust of autumn wind could blow that skeleton of his right over.

Ant corpses could be seen scattered along the road from time to time; Ye Feng walked past them expressionlessly.

According to Wang Rong's intention, he was to have a separate room opened for himself, but Lin Dai flatly refused. After what had happened that afternoon, Lin Dai's dependence on Wang Rong seemed to have reached its peak; she clung to Wang Rong's arm and would not let him take a single step away from her.

But with the Ming troops behind them shoving forward, turning and fleeing was simply impossible at this point; even the Ming soldiers who had stopped walking were pushed forward against their will. So the soldiers in the front rank could only watch in horror as they drew closer and closer to the chariot formation.

These words were so sincere that the Beggars' Sect disciples, moved by his earnest heart, were all deeply touched.

"Are you telling them to pull back to Shatuo, or to station troops around Dundun Mountain as a threat?" Bailuo Quan asked.

This time Wang Rong did not take Yue Jingfeng with him, but told him to stay behind and look after Xia Yang and the other two. He was certain that the other side would assume that since he was going to negotiate this time, he would take everyone with him, and that the hospital would be an empty city, so they would definitely send people to rescue Xia Yang and the other two.

The current Hongtian, by contrast, was far too weak—even though Yun Zhongzi had not joined the combined body at this moment.

"So this is how it is!" Chu Tianyi pondered for a long time, and could only heave a deep sigh in the end. He had actually touched the true meaning of the twelfth layer of Heaven Blade like this. His expression grew dim. Now his sister's breath of life was completely severed, her fragrant soul gone forever; even if he broke through to the Invincible realm, what of it? Could it bring his sister's life back?

And when the Chongzhen Emperor and the court received the battle report of the catastrophic defeat at Songshan, beyond being greatly shocked, they no longer knew how to react. After such long preparation, after mustering so many troops and supplies, after a decisive battle that had held such a great promise of victory, it had somehow inexplicably turned into a total defeat.

"You two…" Although Guo Jing was honest and simple, he was no fool; such an exaggerated performance from the two of them could not fool him.

A flustered servant boy darted back and forth, but in Yanyu's eyes, there remained only Xuan Shao, just two steps away from her.

The entire Xuan household was immersed in the joy and celebration of the New Year—mainly because that festive feeling had been absent for far too long.

"Please send a telegram to Iwasaki Yazaemon for me, thanking him very much for the invitation. I plan to visit the Mitsubishi Bank in early March; the specific itinerary will be discussed separately." Li Chen patted the invitation; perhaps this was a fine opportunity.

At this moment, Xia Haoran finally stood still in the void, hands at his sides. He let out a long howl toward the sky, then stretched lazily, and in a flash returned to the side of Ye Shanhe and the others.

"Miss Su, I'm leaving. Thank you so much for last night." Yanyu shouted toward the figure dancing with a sword.

"Hey… Dad, I'm busy here too, you know. You have to understand I'm working hard for the great cause of our Liu family." Seeing his father angry, Liu Xiaoyu hurriedly explained himself.

A scene like this, with everyone egging each other on, would have been absolutely impossible—and would never have happened—at any previous International Medical Conference.

The story's style and method of writing were very different from Feng Zhenghang's previous approach; using suspense as the main structure of the whole story, and pairing it with an emotional thread, it set off a plot very unlike the delicate, sincere emotional style of Feng Zhenghang's earlier works.

Speaking of the villa's previous owner, he really was unlucky enough. The man had been a vice-chancellor of a university, and also a rather well-known architectural master in the country, with many outstanding works in various cities. He was not that old either—just fifty, still in the prime of life.