Upon hearing this, Fu Qi’s face twisted into a sneer and he coldly laughed, "Fine, if you’re seeking death, I can’t stop you. Just go ahead and accompany the Suo Family in burial!"
Then, he led the BaiHuo City Cavalry away at a brisk pace.
Suo Ningbing stepped forward, lovingly embracing Qin Qin in her arms, pressing her face against the little one’s with attachment, and then turned to Fu Yan’er, "I’ve already sent a message to the Ashi Liren, the Rouran City Lord, asking her to send someone to take you and your daughter away. Although she doesn’t get along with Zhi Li, after all, she is the most powerful lord in the world, and Zhi Li won’t be able to do anything to her for the time being."
Fu Yan’er’s heart filled with sorrow; she had only left Rouran City not long ago and now she had to return.
Suo Ningbing continued, "Qin Qin is the only flesh and blood of our Suo Family now, and I can’t let our lineage truly end. You are Qin Qin’s mother, and you must take good care of her in the future. We can’t really let you die in a funeral sacrifice with our Suo Family."
"Sister..." Fu Yan’er could no longer hold back her tears and, embracing Ning Bing, she wept, "Is there really no hope left for our Suo Family?"
Suo Ningbing shook her head, "Hopeless, with no leader and the enemy outnumbering us tenfold, our annihilation is sealed."
Then, with great reluctance, she handed Qin Qin back to Fu Yan’er, "Be ready at all times, my message for help to Ashi Liren has been sent out for over twenty days now, she might send troops to take you away at any moment."
Afterward, Suo Ningbing walked into another room within the City Lord’s mansion.
Yang Hongyi, the adopted daughter of Count Suo Long and wife of Suo Hanyi, was holding a little over one-year-old baby boy, carefully feeding him a meaty paste.
This was Suo Hanyi’s illegitimate child, secretly fathered during an intrigue with one of Duke Zhi Ting’s concubines.
Yang Hongyi had been severely injured by Suo Hanyi, becoming a vegetative state. After Suo Lun brought her back to consciousness, he promised to ensure Suo Hanyi’s illegitimate child would be safely handed over to her.
Later, Suo Lun kept his word, found the child, and named him Suo Yu, who was now a year and a half old.
Since Suo Hanyi’s death, Yang Hongyi had been taking care of the child within the City Lord’s mansion, barely ever leaving the house.
The child bore a striking resemblance to Suo Hanyi, with a chubby and adorable tiger-like face, now gobbling down the meaty paste.
As she fed him, Yang Hongyi couldn’t help but shed tears.
"Baby, let auntie hold you..." Suo Ningbing stretched out her arms.
"Auntie... Auntie..." Suo Yu called out in his milky voice, arms chubby like small birds’, flinging himself into the embrace of Suo Ningbing.
With a soft voice, Suo Ningbing spoke, "Sister, if the forces from Rouran City come to take Qin Qin and Fu Yan’er, you and Suo Yu should leave with them."
Yang Hongyi continued to shed tears unabated, drops falling into the meaty paste.
Her original intention was to stay and fight to the death against the enemy.
But she knew that she couldn’t die; the little Suo Yu in front of her was only over a year old and needed her care and protection.
The Suo bloodline was too thin, and now Suo Yu could be considered a part of the Suo lineage.
With the Suo Family facing extinction, they had to desperately ensure that Suo Yu and Qin Qin, the two children, survived so that there might be hope for the Suo Family to rise again someday in the future.
"All right, sister will listen to you," Yang Hongyi said.
Two hundred li away from Linhai City, in the Donghai Sea Area!
The fleets from Hai Clan of Yingzhou Island, Luan Yang City, Archipelagos of Rock, and Linhai City began to assemble from four directions.
A total of four hundred ships, forty thousand naval troops.
As the commander of the fleet set to annihilate the Suo, Gui Xingfu looked out over the dense and overwhelming array of ships, his heart unsure whether to feel exuberant or to sneer coldly.
He had just received a flying pigeon message from Zhi Li, with just a few words: Stop the act, kill!
For some reason, Zhi Li did not mention Gui Qinshao in the message at all.
Gui Xingfu immediately ceased posturing and gathered the forty thousand-strong fleet entirely.
Standing on the deck of the tall flagship, looking out at the fleet stretching beyond the horizon, Gui Xingfu declared loudly, "This battle has two objectives. The first, to take back Chaos Stone Island. The second, to annihilate the Suo naval forces, cutting off the Suo’s escape route by sea."
"Set sail, march, take back Chaos Stone Island, and obliterate the Suo navy!"
At his command, four hundred ships unfurled their sails, while forty thousand naval soldiers, in a grand and mighty procession, surged toward the Tian Shui City maritime area.
Inside the Tian Shui City Lord’s mansion.
"The flying pigeon from the king’s city brings news: Duke Turing Tuo’s two hundred thousand-strong army has begun to mobilize, and it’s predicted that they will arrive at Tian Shui City in half a month."
"Duke Zhi Wei’s one hundred and fifty thousand-strong army has also started breaking camp, and they will be able to reach the border of Tian Shui City in two days."
"Gui Xingfu’s forty thousand naval troops have completed their assembly in the East Sea, and within a day and a half, they will enter the maritime area of Tian Shui City."
Dreadful news came one after another.
These hundreds of thousands of soldiers, like a towering wall of waves, assailed Tian Shui City from every direction.
And at this moment, Tian Shui City felt like a frail boat that could be shattered to pieces at any moment.
Suo Ningbing looked toward Queen Yanchuo and Yan Nai’er.
"Aunt, as the commander of the navy, do we fight or retreat?" Ning Bing asked.
Queen Yanchuo replied decisively, "Fight, we have nowhere left to retreat. The entire sea is controlled by Yan Mo and Hai Gang; without Tian Shui City, we have no foothold at sea."
Suo Ningbing hesitated, ultimately not voicing her question.
Queen Yanchuo continued, "There’s no winning this, we can only die fighting. There are only Yan civilians who die in battle, none who surrender."
In Queen Yanchuo’s words, there was resolution and also despair.
The miracle of burning tens of thousands of the Allied Army last time would not be possible to repeat.