World-Ending Demon Emperor-Chapter 70 - 67 Returning Home The Bloodstained Pouch

70: Chapter 67: Returning Home, The Bloodstained Pouch

70 -67: Returning Home, The Bloodstained Pouch

Royal City, at the residence of the Earl.

At this moment, only a day and a half remained until the graduation exam.

Suo Ningbing had not slept for three whole days, sitting behind the door of the Earl’s residence waiting.

The moment Lanling returned, she would see him first.

Her body was frail, and at this time she was even thinner than a withering flower, so haggard that a gust of wind could blow her over.

The servants of the Earl’s residence had advised her numerous times, but she was unwilling to go back.

Whenever food was brought to her, she only drank a few sips of porridge.

Each time the sound of horse hooves echoed from outside the gate, she would stand up in alarm, yet each time ended in disappointment.

Her heart grew more and more fearful, more and more anxious, and then she prayed to the heavens incessantly for Lanling’s safety.

Another day passed, and less than a day remained until the graduation exam.

By now, Suo Ningbing’s entire body was utterly cold, virtually without a hint of warmth.

It was not the graduation exam that worried her, but the dread that Lanling might never return.

In her mind, she repeatedly envisioned Lanling meeting his death at the hands of monsters or villains at the Southern Barbarian Border.

Following that, she felt an overwhelming regret for having agreed to let Lanling go to the Southern Border.

At that moment, the sound of horse hooves arose from the outside.

Suo Ningbing leaped up in surprise, her frail body moving with astonishing agility as she rushed to open the door.

At the door stood a coach, snowy white, both elegant and understated.

Then, descending gracefully from it, was the person she most feared and loathed to see, Princess Zhining.

“Your Highness, the Commandery Princess, we do not welcome you here,” Suo Ningbing said in a tone rarer than her usual.

“Waiting for Suo Lun to return?” Princess Zhining asked with a smile.

“It’s none of your business,” Suo Ningbing replied, but she was too gentle, and even her displeasure carried no hostility.

Without waiting for permission, Princess Zhining walked straight into the Earl of Tianshui’s residence.

Strictly speaking, any part of Royal City belonged to the royal family, including the residence of the Earl of Tianshui.

The Tianshui City Territory belonged to the Suo Family, but the Earl’s residence was bestowed by the royal family.

After entering the residence, Zhi Ning lightly tugged at her cloak and said, “No need to wait.

Suo Lun won’t be coming back.”

At these words, Suo Ningbing’s delicate body trembled violently, and she said, “You, you’re spouting nonsense.”

“Suo Lun is already dead,” Zhi Ning said flatly.

Suo Ningbing staggered, her mind roaring, barely able to stand and almost collapsing to the ground.

“No, no, you’re talking nonsense, talking nonsense…” Suo Ningbing felt as if she could see nothing, engulfed in darkness, and it took a good while before she slowly regained some light in her vision.

Zhi Ning did not reply, only gazing at Suo Ningbing with a pitiful look.

This silent response drove Suo Ningbing further into despair, and she slowly said, “Was it you, did you kill Suo Lun?”

Zhi Ning shook her head, “Of course not.

Have you heard of the Black Widow of the Poison Snake Tribe?

They take particular pleasure in torturing handsome men.

Your Suo Lun fell into her hands, had his blood drained, and then was minced into mush and made into pies for the Barbarian Tribes to eat.”

Then, Zhi Ning took out a fragrance sachet embroidered with an adorable kitten, the workmanship exquisite, and it was stained with dark red blood.

The sachet was hand-made by Suo Ningbing, containing a peace talisman she had obtained.

The night before Suo Lun left, it was Suo Ningbing who personally hung it around his neck.

“This belonged to Suo Lun, didn’t it?

It was sent by the Black Widow; there’s no head of Suo Lun because it’s been chopped up, so they only sent this,” Zhi Ning said.

Staring blankly at the blood-stained sachet, Suo Ningbing completely despaired.

She could no longer hold on, and the light that had just returned to her eyes went utterly dark.

Her delicate frame hit the floor, and she fainted, unconscious.

…

Two hours later, under the acupuncture of a female physician, Suo Ningbing slowly came to.

Her eyes filled with bloodshot threads, she could only make out hazy shapes and noticed that Zhi Ning was still there, which filled her with sorrow and resentment, “Why haven’t you left?

You are not welcome here.”

Zhi Ning said, “Suo Ningbing, you have to accept the reality.

Suo Lun is dead.

Your last hope has also vanished.

From now on, if you wish to see the Suo Family legacy continue, it all depends on you.”

Suo Ningbing seemed not to have heard it, merely looking up at the ceiling, her mind filled with Lanling’s face, his smile, and the way he sneakily glanced at her chest.

Zhi Ning continued, “Becoming the woman of Zhi Li His Highness, and having your son become the new City Lord of Tianshui City in twenty years, this is the only chance for your Suo Family.”

Suo Ningbing still paid her no attention.

Zhi Ning said, “You are very beautiful, but what Zhi Li His Highness values is not your beauty, but your intelligence.

To be seen as valuable by him is to be the luckiest woman in the world.”

“Get out…” Suo Ningbing said coldly.

“You will succumb,” Zhi Ning said with a pursed smile, “A woman has a name called ‘weakness.’ I am waiting for the day when you kneel and serve Zhi Li His Highness.

When that time comes, I definitely won’t mock you.”

Having said that, Princess Zhining gracefully took her leave.

Afterward, the room was silent.

Suo Ningbing lay quietly on the bed.

“Miss, have a bowl of ginseng soup,” the maidservant said worriedly.

They, as servants, had to keep their distance when Zhi Ning announced Suo Lun’s death and thus hadn’t heard it, or else they would have been heartbroken as well.

The maidservants in the residence all knew Suo Lun was disappointing, but they all liked him because as long as there was a beautiful maidservant, he had had his way with her.

Suo Ningbing opened her mouth slightly, sipping the ginseng soup bit by bit.

“That’s enough, I’m tired.

You may leave.

I want to get a good sleep,” Suo Ningbing said softly, and then curled up, nestling into the corner of the bed.

“Mm.” The maid said, “Miss, we’ll sleep outside, if anything happens, call us immediately.”

The two maids went to their beds and soon fell deep asleep, for they were completely exhausted from the past few days.

If the young Miss couldn’t sleep, neither could they.

Once the maids outside had fallen asleep, Suo Ningbing quietly got out of bed, walked to a corner of the room, and opened a chest, where a jade bottle lay within.

The jade bottle contained poison, which she had prepared a long time ago.

If it hadn’t been for Lanling’s arrival, she might have already drunk it.

This poison wouldn’t cause any pain after ingesting, making one feel as if falling asleep, and then one would die.

Taking a deep breath, she truly felt there was nothing left to live for at this moment.

The father she had looked after for many years was gone, and then, without warning, her own brother, Suo Lun, had passed away too.

She could no longer hold on at that moment.

Afterwards, a lovely boy entered her life, filling the void in her heart.

Perhaps it was fate, or maybe, in a past life, the two of them were truly lovers or siblings.

With almost no barriers, they became the closest people to each other.

This boy became all her hope, the hope of her entire family.

He was so adorable, so outstanding, and so very good to her.

Now he was gone too, all hope was lost, and there was no reason for her to live in this world anymore.

“Ling, don’t be afraid, your sister is coming to join you.” Suo Ningbing whispered softly, then opened the jade bottle and slowly poured the poison into her mouth.

…

The southern border was more than three thousand miles from the Royal City.

Lanling and Ye Jingyu were traveling without rest, day and night, at breakneck speed.

Almost every two hundred miles, Lanling and Ye Jingyu would switch their steeds, making sure their warhorses were always in a full gallop.

After traversing a distance of over three thousand seven hundred miles, they finally arrived in only three days, reaching the city gates of Zhi Du at midnight.

“Finally, we are back.” Lanling let out a long sigh.

But at this time, the majestic city gates were tightly closed, except in cases of emergency military intelligence or a royal decree, no one was allowed to enter or exit the Royal City.

Of course, although the city walls of Zhi Du were very tall, over ten meters high, they couldn’t stop an expert like Ye Jingyu, who could easily scale them with the right tools.

However, every few hundred meters, there would be a spiritual power martial artist on the wall.

If anyone climbed onto the wall, they would immediately be discovered.

Trespassing on the city wall at midnight was a serious crime.

“Let’s go to the southeast gate.” Lanling said.

Then, the two of them raced toward the southeast gate.

As they galloped, Lanling prayed that Ye Feidie would be on gate duty.

Ye Feidie, one of Suo Lun’s former lovers, was the daughter of a house honored by the gates, and her father a Viscount.

She was Suo Lun’s first archery instructor and dated him for a few months.

However, she only stayed in the Royal City Academy for half a year, finding the life there boring and so transferred to the military, becoming a centurion of the City Defense Army.

The two quickly arrived outside the southeast city gate, and Lanling called out in a low voice from outside the gate, “Teacher Ye, Teacher Ye…”

Moments later, a face peered down from the city wall – it was Ye Feidie, a woman with an attractive and rugged appearance, her hair cut at shoulder length, possessing extraordinary beauty.

Seeing the beautiful and familiar face, Ye Feidie’s heart trembled, and she said, “What’s the matter?”

“I have an urgent matter and need to enter the city overnight,” Lanling said.

Ye Feidie said, “Do you have a royal decree?

Is it urgent military intelligence?”

“No,” Lanling replied.

Ye Feidie said, “Without it, no one can enter the city.”

She spoke very seriously, but winked at Lanling, thankfully he was alert enough to catch it.

Moments later, Ye Feidie walked down from the wall with a flask in hand, offering it to the nearby spiritual power warrior, “Here, have a drink to warm up.”

The spiritual power guardian, who had been pursuing Ye Feidie but never received any encouraging signs from her, was overjoyed when she came forward to offer him wine.

He hurriedly accepted the flask, took big gulps, deactivated his spiritual power, and stopped monitoring that section of the wall.

“The spiritual power lock is disengaged, let’s enter the city,” Ye Jingyu said.

Then, she took out climbing claws, fitted them on her hands and feet, and said to Lanling, “Climb onto my back.”

Lanling stepped forward, lying on her toned and curvaceous body.

With sharp climbing claws, Ye Jingyu quickly scaled the more than ten-meter-high city wall in less than a minute, silently slipping into the city.

Once inside, Lanling immediately sprinted in the direction of the Earl Tianshui’s residence.

Consequently, he collided into the stout peaks of a woman.

“You scoundrel, how many times have you looked for me since I left the academy?” Ye Feidie grabbed Lanling by the ear, opened her mouth wide, and fiercely kissed Lanling’s lips, then thrust her tongue in, wildly and passionately kissing him.

This rugged, short-haired woman was truly wild.

“You’re not forcing me to marry you, so what are you afraid of?” After the kiss, Ye Feidie whispered in Lanling’s ear, “If you fail your graduation exam, come to me immediately, got it?

I’m being transferred to the frontier army, it’s been more than a year since I’ve done ‘it,’ and this time I’m going to dry you out.”

Her wild words nearly made Lanling’s heart leap out of his chest.

But just then, Lanling’s heart suddenly clenched, his body turned ice-cold, as if something terrifying had just happened.

“I have to handle an emergency at home first, I must go,” Lanling said, then ran towards the Earl’s residence.

Ye Feidie snapped irritably, “Suo Lun, remember this, four days from now, in the Jinzi Room of the Xiangfeng Building, I’ll be waiting for you.

Try not coming if you dare.”

Lanling heard nothing, running wildly to the Earl’s residence like a madman.