Afterwards, Blazing Hall’s various leaders also gathered in the study.
Each one displayed different expressions—some solemn, some anxious, some fearful, and some, deep within their eyes, harbored a trace of delight.
The leader’s death is naturally unwelcome... yet it also means reshuffling, a change of power, possibly a brighter future.
Their discussions are left aside for now.
Moved to the main hall, near Beitang Lie’s body.
Once everyone had left, two figures descended from the beams above.
These two people appeared bizarre, vastly different from normal human beings, with slender limbs, emaciated bodies, shriveled skin, and not a hue a human should possess.
Their descent occurred in a peculiar manner... not by leaping down.
Rather, they climbed along the stone pillars, head down and feet up, slowly coiling down the column.
Most strikingly, each bore a character on their foreheads—"Soldier"!
This character is no longer a token, nor carved; it seemed to be growing naturally from the skin and flesh.
These two circled around Beitang Lie’s body, looking at each other repeatedly.
One of them spread his hands:
"Dead."
"The two armies have yet to clash, and our ’Grand Marshal’ is dead!"
"He’s not yet a Grand Marshal... merely a provisional ’Grand Marshal’, this is bad news, the Prince loves playing chess, but how can this game continue now?"
"Are we going to die too?"
Saying this, the two looked at each other and suddenly began to wail!
"Wailing, I’m going to die."
"What to do, I don’t want to die!"
"Celestial Kill, who is it, who did this?"
"Who will offer memorials for you and me today next year?"
Yet after a bout of crying, one suddenly stood up:
"No! Absolutely not! We’ve come this far, having seen heaps of bodies and seas of blood, how can we die in this small Ghost God Gorge?"
"You dare to run?"
The other’s pupils shone with fear.
With a sway, his figure flickered as if a blur, through the crowded shadows in the hall faster than anyone can imagine.
Landing, he shook his head like a rattle:
"No, no! The Prince holds the ’Life and Death Chess’, our lives and deaths are at his command, a mere thought determines life and death!
"In such circumstances, where can we escape to? If the Prince learned of our intent... the ends of the earth are but death!"