Chapter 374: Gain Jun Huang, Gain The World (1/2)

Ji Bo laughed for a long time before he stopped. There were tears at the corners of his eyes. He stood atop the wall and looked around. His failure was just setting in. He felt lost.

Nan Xun kept an eye on him in case he did something drastic and hurt someone, but Ji Bo simply stood there. The thirty-year-old man seemed old beyond his time. His messy grey hair flew in the air. He looked frail in that turquoise robe of his.

He turned around and walked toward the other side of the wall. Nan Xun wasn't sure what he was going to do.

Ji Bo looked down and saw Northern Qi's soldiers cleaning up the battlefields. He looked up at the cliff and saw soldiers who hadn't grappled down standing atop. That was how Northern Qi had broken into the city.

He knew Nan Xun couldn't have entered simply with the help of Nan Jihan. He'd filled the city with his men. They wouldn't listen to Nan Jihan's order. Nan Xun must have dropped down from the cliff and killed the guards before letting the rest of his troops in.

Ji Bo laughed. Then his laughter turned into a wounded howl. He didn't expect this to be his end. He knew Nan Xun and the others wouldn't let him go. He was done. There was no way back.

He sighed and closed his eyes.

He jumped off.

Before anyone could react, the tail of his robe had disappeared from their sight. Jun Huang was the first to move. She ran downstairs.

On the ground was a mess of dead bodies and blood. Eastern Wu soldiers tried futilely to run away, while Northern Qi soldiers quickly captured them. The resistant ones, they killed. There was no piece of land left untouched by death, and the smell of blood was pungent.

Jun Huang soon found the dying Ji Bo. She ran toward him, ignoring the blood tainting her dress. Hearing her footsteps, Ji Bo stared at her, his bright eyes filled with a mix of resentment, sorrow, and regret.

Jun Huang stopped three steps away from Ji Bo. Finally, she asked quietly, “Where is Jun Hao?”

“Can you… call me uncle once?” Ji Bo struggled to say. Blood rushed out of his mouth. He couldn't move. He knew his lungs had been damaged beyond recovery, and he would soon pa.s.s away. He stared at Jun Huang, pleading.

The smoke permeating the air reminded him of the day Tianyu was destroyed. His sister held a younger him in her arms, avoiding the danger, avoiding the swords and weapons. She'd kept him alive when he should've died.

He almost mistook Jun Huang as his sister when she ran to him. His heart squeezed painfully. He opened his mouth, but the word “sister” failed to take shape.

Jun Huang took in his expressions. She pitied him, but she would never forgive him. Ji Bo knew that as well. He laughed bitterly and said with a sigh, “I've hidden Jun Hao at a… a safe place. Someone would be teaching him the way to rebuild a nation. If he doesn't want to do that, he can live a good life… I've left him with an abundance of...”

Ji Bo closed his eyes. The last of his life had left him. Everything seemed to have fallen silent. Jun Huang could only hear a faint, rustling sound.

Nan Xun's throat tightened when he saw Jun Huang staring at Ji Bo's body with unfocused eyes. He wrapped his arms around her cold body. “It's alright. We'll find Jun Hao even without him.”

“He said...”

Jun Huang told him what Ji Bo had said to her. Without a word, Nan Xun went off to tell his men to look for Jun Hao.

His lead shadowguard came up to him and said respectfully, “Your Highness, Ji Bo's shadowguard died from the torture.”

Nan Xun patted Jun Huang's back comfortingly. “What has he said?”

“He said the House of Heavenly Fiends is a secret organization Tianyu used to gather information and do the dirty work. After Tianyu's destruction, the organization went underground. It was run by the former royal clan members.”

“Your Highness and Miss Jun were able to take over because of Ji Bo's instruction and Miss Jun's ident.i.ty. The organization is mainly composed of Tianyu's descendents. They all should've died a long time ago.”

Nan Xun's expression darkened. “Who is the one in charge of the organization? What's his relations.h.i.+p with Ji Bo?”

“It was Ji Bo.”

Nan Xun raised an eyebrow. He didn't antic.i.p.ate the length Ji Bo would go to for his plan to rebuild his country. The man had put in everything. If the shadowguard hadn't told the truth under torture, Nan Xun would've suspected someone else being involved.