Somewhere in the Xilei Court
"Your Majesty, the King of Li has finished mobilizing his army," a court official announced.
Rong Tian exhaled and turned his gaze to the anxious young man beside him.
Prince Ming—known also as Feng Ming—looked like he was trying not to tremble.
Rong Tian's tone remained calm, almost tired.
> "Rong Hu... just inform me the moment they march."
Later, in Prince Ming's private palace, Rong Tian gently picked him up and carried him inside.
> "You trust me, right?" he asked softly. "Feng Ming... I will never let him take you again."
Prince Ming flushed, flustered.
> "I know... and I'll do everything I can to help you win."
Their quiet voices intertwined like silk, brushing tenderly against one another, intimate and unguarded.
From the corner, Qui San, Prince Ming's devoted maid, giggled behind her fan.
> "There is no couple under heaven more in love than our Prince and King Rong Tian."
---
Back in Suntze
Prince Yun stood before ten of his most trusted agents. Behind him, carts brimmed with supplies and cannons, and his sleek black carriage waited silently like a predator in the snow.
> "You may regret following me for the rest of your lives after today," he said.
> "But I ask you only one thing: see it through to the end."
Inside his carriage, he inspected the gun—sleek, dark, and terrible. He counted the iron spheres laid beside it.
> "One… two… three…"
His hand hesitated. Though the bullets were light, their *implications* weighed like iron against his soul.
> "Four… five… six?"
He blinked. He had only requested five.
Attached was a note from the artisan:
> *'Your Highness, you can't play kocek without six marbles.'*
Prince Yun chuckled bitterly. The artisan thought him so pure-hearted, so harmless. Someone who played with toys. Someone who wasn't about to burn down a kingdom.
He gripped the note tightly.
> "Why am I doing this?"
> "Revenge… isn't necessary."
But his path had already been chosen.
---
Arrival in Li
Prince Yun dismounted at the gates of Li's royal camp. Ruo Yan approached in full armor, gleaming and mad-eyed.
> "Did Prince Yun have a pleasant journey?" the king asked with a grin.
Yun didn't answer the question.
He had stepped too deep. There was only one thing he still wanted in this life—or the next.
> "Take me directly to Bowen."
Ruo Yan smiled wider.
Princess Rui, nearby, sighed. Her voice was almost a plea.
> "Is a sea of blood really necessary to soothe the hurt in the Prince of Suntze's heart?"
Prince Yun's eyes glinted like polished glass. No warmth left.
> "Princess Rui is right."
He stepped forward.
> "Only a sea of fire shall suffice."
---
Two Hours Later
Princess Rui stood shaking at the edge of the battlefield, clutching her cloak as the sky turned red.
The inferno was endless.
Cannons roared, drowning out the screams of men, women, and children. Every blast tore apart three to five houses, reducing streets to craters. Fire spread like a divine curse, leaping from rooftop to rooftop.
The land trembled beneath the sound of vengeance.
> "A crouching tiger," Ruo Yan howled through the smoke, "whose fangs blur the line between heaven and hell! The only judge Chenzhu deserves!"
He laughed as he followed Yun through the burning streets, where flames danced high like the fingers of wrath.
A villager, enraged and terrified, charged toward them with a rusted blade.
> "D-Devil!" he screamed. "Go die!"
Ruo Yan decapitated him without hesitation.
The villager's body collapsed, and in his final moment of consciousness, all he saw were the ice-blue eyes of Prince Yun—still, expressionless, and utterly unshaken.
Eyes cold enough to freeze a battlefield.