Chapter 59 Bloodbath: He Slaughtered His Own Flesh and Blood
When Jialuolin carried the jade seal, which seemed to weigh a thousand pounds, out of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, Fengwu City was already on the verge of collapse. Outside the palace walls, shouts of battle, the clash of weapons, and the screams of the dying could be clearly heard.
Although the Northern Di army suffered heavy losses in Luoyang, it still had enough troops to break through the outer city's multiple ambushes and arrive at Fengwu City, where it was launching a fierce attack on the imperial city.
Amidst shouts and cheers, the massive battering ram pounded against the heavy palace gates again and again, each impact causing the bolts to clang loudly.
"Your Highness! The palace gates are about to fall!" Covered in blood, Bai Lian broke free from the melee and rushed to Jia Luolin. Her silver armor was covered with sword and blade marks.
Just now, she was leading the Tiger Guard in a valiant fight against the enemy at the foot of Phoenix Dance City. However, with all the Northern Di troops attacking at once, the Tiger Guard was outnumbered and outmatched. Seeing that the palace gates were about to fall, she rushed over and said, "I'll lead the Imperial Guards to repel the enemy. You hurry and leave through the secret passage behind the Imperial Ancestral Temple!"
"No!" Galorin looked at Bai Lian. After several hours of all-out fighting, even the God of War was nearly exhausted. How could he let her remain in danger while he himself sought to survive?!
Just as Jialuolin was about to refuse, Bailian placed her hand on the jade seal he was holding. She said, word by word, "The Phoenix Kingdom cannot do without you. I have already arranged for people to meet you at the end of the secret passage. You go first, and I will protect His Majesty."
Looking at the piercing gaze of the white lotus before her, Galorin felt as if her heart was being torn apart.
On one side is her biological father, and on the other is the country she has just entrusted with her life. This choice is too cruel and too painful.
Just then, a calm yet undeniable voice rang out from behind:
"Protect the Imperial Seal! Remember your oath!"
Jia Luolin turned his head sharply and saw Jia Fengtian walking out of the ancestral temple, holding a long sword. His face was calm as he looked at him intently. In his eyes, there was no longer the majesty and calculation of the past, only a sense of complete relief and an indescribable expectation.
"Phoenix Dance City still has me." Jia Fengtian resolutely took his sword and walked towards the crumbling palace gate.
"Father!" Galo Lin cried out in alarm, trying to rush forward.
But then he saw Bai Lian leap past him and run towards Jia Fengtian without looking back.
Galo Rin couldn't help but reach out, trying to grab her beloved, but she couldn't hold onto anything.
Inside the palace gate, Bai Ziyuan led the last few dozen personal guards, forming a crumbling human wall to desperately protect the entrance to the secret passage in the direction of the Imperial Ancestral Temple.
His body was covered with deep, bone-revealing wounds, and blood almost turned him into a blood-soaked figure, but he still stood firm like a rock.
"Your Highness! Hurry! It will be too late if we don't leave now!" He turned around and let out a final roar at Galorin, his voice so hoarse that it was almost indistinguishable.
Jia Luolin took one last look in the direction Jia Fengtian and Bai Lian had left, then looked at the heavy jade seal in her arms. Finally, she hardened her heart and, under the protection of several Imperial Guards, ran towards the secret passage.
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"Boom—!"
With a deafening roar, the heavy palace gates were finally smashed open by the battering ram, sending splinters of wood flying everywhere. The Northern Di soldiers, who had been waiting outside, surged in like a flood bursting its banks, howling with excitement!
The Imperial Guards defending the city rushed forward to fight the enemy. Jia Fengtian ascended the palace tower and personally beat the war drum. The drumbeats were like thunder, greatly boosting the morale of the Imperial Guards. Under Bai Lian's command, they charged forward bravely.
The surging Northern Di soldiers were stunned by the sudden momentum and couldn't help but pause. Behind the chaotic enemy army, the Third Prince Jia Xuanyu, clad in black armor and surrounded by his personal guards, stepped out from the crowd.
He looked at Jia Fengtian standing atop the palace tower, and then at Bai Lian standing alone before the palace gate, sword in hand. A complex and unreadable expression appeared on his face, a mixture of hatred, pleasure, and a hint of barely perceptible fear.
"My good father!" Jia Xuanyu's voice was somewhat shrill with excitement, "You've finally decided to step forward in person? No longer hiding in your magnificent palace, strategizing from behind the scenes?"
Jia Fengtian looked down at him calmly, as if looking at an ignorant child: "Xuanyu, you have invited foreign enemies, brought chaos to the country, and caused widespread suffering. Do you know your crime?"
"Crime?" Jia Xuanyu burst into wild laughter. "The victor is king, the loser is villain. What crime is there? Today I have won, and you are now my prisoner!"
"Win?" Jia Fengtian's lips curled into a faint, mocking smile. "You think that conquering Fengwu City means you've won? Let me tell you, the roots of the Feng Kingdom have never been in this city or this place!"
Enraged by these words, Jia Xuanyu's last trace of complex emotion vanished, replaced by a ferocious expression: "You're about to die, and you still dare to talk back! Seize him!"
Dozens of elite Northern Di soldiers rushed towards the palace tower, while Bai Lian blocked the palace gate. The leading soldier knew Bai Lian's fighting strength. He hesitated for a while at first, but then, relying on his superior numbers, he still charged forward.
Bai Lian moved with ghostly speed and precision, dodging the first few curved blades that slashed down in the narrow space.
Her longsword transformed into a deadly silver light, piercing precisely into the throat of an enemy soldier. With a flick of her wrist, a trail of blood appeared. She then parried another incoming sword with a backhand motion, slicing open the opponent's chest.
This sword technique is agile and graceful, yet ruthless, cunning, and extremely efficient. Every move goes straight for the vital points, with no superfluous movements, and is filled with a cold-bloodedness born purely for killing!
Seeing that several elite troops had been defeated in an instant, Jia Xuanyu gritted his teeth and personally led his troops to take advantage of the chaos to ascend the palace tower.
Jia Fengtian brandished his sword to meet the enemy, displaying remarkable martial arts skills. He seemed to have returned to his youth, the prince who fought amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, stepping over countless bones to ascend the throne.
Blood splattered onto his bright yellow dragon robe, blooming into tragically beautiful blood flowers, but he seemed oblivious, his eyes cold, like a grim reaper reaping lives.
As Jia Xuanyu watched his father stand as firm as a rock, with Northern Di soldiers falling one after another under his sword, his face grew increasingly grim. He had never imagined that his father, whom he remembered as always preoccupied with balancing power and neglecting military affairs, would retain such terrifying skill.
"A bunch of useless trash!" Jia Xuanyu cursed, finally unable to contain himself, drawing his sword and charging forward! "Old bastard, prepare to die!"
Jia Xuanyu was originally a skilled martial artist, but now that he was fighting with only one arm, his sword strikes were much weaker. The Northern Di soldiers around him wanted to come forward to help, but he drove them away.
Jia Fengtian raised his sword to meet the attack, and the swords clashed with a piercing clang. The two were instantly locked in combat.
Jia Fengtian was getting old and was already exhausted from fighting against several Northern Di soldiers.
Facing the vigorous and aggressive Jia Xuanyu, he quickly found himself at a disadvantage. His dragon robe was ripped open in several places by the blade, blood gushing out, and his steps began to falter.
"Old man! You're getting old!" Jia Xuanyu pressed his advantage relentlessly, his face revealing a sinister grin as if victory was in sight.
Jia Fengtian seemed to be exhausted, and his feet suddenly staggered and fell to the side, just avoiding the powerful knife, but his chest and abdomen were completely exposed!
"Die!" A look of wild joy flashed in Jia Xuanyu's eyes. Without hesitation, he thrust his sword straight at Jia Fengtian, intending to pierce through his chest.
Just as Jia Xuanyu's blade was about to reach his body, Jia Fengtian's staggering figure twisted at an incredible angle, like a slippery fish, narrowly missing the blade.
At the same time, the longsword in his hand, which had been waiting to be used, suddenly appeared like a venomous snake in the darkness, and with speed and power far exceeding the previous strikes, it thrust out from an extremely tricky angle!
"Pfft—!"
The sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh was dull yet clear.
Jia Xuanyu's forward momentum came to an abrupt halt. The sinister smile on his face froze instantly, replaced by extreme shock, bewilderment, and disbelief.
He lowered his head, looking at the magnificent longsword that had pierced through the joint of his armor at his side, precisely penetrating his heart, and with half of its tip protruding from his back.
"You...you..." He opened his mouth, but blood gushed out, silencing his words.
Jia Fengtian gripped the sword hilt tightly, pressed his ear to Jia Xuanyu's, and said coldly in a voice only the two of them could hear, "My good son, go to the Yellow Springs... and repent to your mother."
He suddenly drew his longsword.
The light in Jia Xuanyu's eyes quickly dimmed, his body swayed, and filled with endless regret and resentment, he fell heavily backward, kicking up a cloud of dust.
He had killed his own flesh and blood… Jia Fengtian, leaning on his longsword, gasped for breath. His dragon robe was completely soaked in blood. He looked around at the Northern Di soldiers who were stunned by this sudden turn of events, and then burst into laughter, a desolate and tragic laugh:
"In my life, I have killed my brothers, imprisoned my uncles, and betrayed my loved ones... but I have never failed this Phoenix Kingdom! You barbarians, how dare you lay your hands on my land?! Hahaha..."
Before the laughter subsided, the Northern Di soldiers, realizing what had happened, surged forward in a rage, their countless weapons instantly engulfing him.
Just then, a silver figure crashed into the battle like a meteor.
It was Bai Lian! She was so fast she was just a blur; in the very first encounter, three fierce Northern Di soldiers clutched their throats and fell to the ground. Her movements were as agile as a ghost, weaving through the flashing blades, and single-handedly disrupting the enemy formation besieging Jia Fengtian in an instant!
More enemy troops surged forward, focusing their attack on Jia Fengtian. Bai Lian pushed her movement technique to its limit, like a tireless and fearless war god, always firmly protecting Jia Fengtian half a step in front of her.
New wounds kept appearing on her silver armor, some even shocking, but her movements did not slow down at all. On the contrary, she became more and more courageous in battle. Her longsword was like the sigh of death. Under the shadow of her battle power, enemy soldiers fell in droves.
With her near-immortal tenacity and terrifying fighting power, she managed to create a small safe zone for Jia Fengtian.
When Bai Ziyuan looked up, he saw Bai Lian, covered in blood and with tattered armor, fiercely planting the tattered Phoenix Kingdom flag on the highest crenellation of the palace tower.
The battle flag fluttered stubbornly amidst the raging flames and thick smoke, like a white lotus, supporting the last unyielding backbone of this dying city with its immortal body.
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