He's Gone

"The Bai army?"

Manchu's expression immediately changed.

How did they find them?

An Sun rose unsteadily to his feet. "It's about time they showed up."

Manchu frowned and walked over to prevent the man from getting up.

"Hey! Where are you going? Sun, you're still injured you shouldn't…"

An Sun's expression was as cool as ever, like an icy mountain. His tone was calm as he said: "I need to go."

Manchu looked over at the man's pale yet serious expression and sighed.

"Honestly, you're asking for death at this point."

Manchu helped An Sun out of the bed and draped a coat over his exposed, white back. His long black hair fell onto his sturdy, ramrod-straight back. The ink colored hair and white skin added to his strong oppressing power.

An Sun raised his eyes expressionlessly. "Let's go."

…

In front of An Sun's camp, the Tuhan troops stood guard by the entrance. The bitter stench of blood filled the air from the previous bodies, stains of blood still visible in the snow.

A few feet away, they saw the cavalry of fully armored men with a lion emblem, joined by an oppressive presence, and ferocious eyes from each soldier.

It was the Bai Army!

In the front of the ranks, was a silver-haired man mounted on a white horse, his polished silver armor with a lion emblem on it. Mounted beside him was a gruff, large man, his biting cold eyes piercing through the Tuhan troops.

They all looked on coldly, without uttering a single word. The whole scene caused the air to feel heavy.

Bai Han narrowed his eyes and glanced at the elite Tuhan troops. Unexpectedly, even under their oppressing presence, they did not cower nor retreat in fear.

These were the fearless bastards who kidnapped his precious granddaughter!

When Bai Han's thoughts veered off in that direction, killing intent flashed in his eyes as he mounted off his horse and gripped his sword.

He'll kill every single one of them!

At that moment, he heard the sound of footsteps walking in the snowfield. Bai Han raised his eyes, the murderous malice within them flowed unrestrained.

It was him!

A young man draped in a collard furred brown cloak walked out. Under the cloak, his broad shoulders, pale muscled chest, wrapped in bandages were visible. His black long hair flowing behind him, displaying his white, glowing skin. His dead eyes set ahead.

Stepping forward without hesitation, An Sun stopped until he was a few feet in front of the Bai Army.

An Sun disregarded the Bai Army's deathly stares toward him and asked in a clear voice. "I take it you're Bai Han?"

Bai Han narrowed his eyes and looked at the solitary figure before him.

"Where's my grandson?"

An Sun had no expression. The look in Bai Han's eyes darkened.

"I asked you, where is he? Where is my grandson, Bai Lan?" He repeated coldly.

After a brief period of dazed silence, An Sun finally said: "He's gone."

The air turned stiff. Bai Han emitted a low laugh; his eyes glinted coldly as his mouth curled up slightly into a sneer.

"You're lying."

An Sun didn't retort but simply continued to blink at the old commander with a dead expression. General Guo mounted on the side could not help but crease his brows in a deep frown.

Something in the air felt wrong.

General Guo shot up a wintry glance toward An Sun, his eyes colder than ice over a frozen lake. An Sun gave him a faint glimpse that held no emotional fluctuations at all.

However, for a brief period, a flash of affliction surfaced on his face before he averted his eyes.

This look was enough to make General Guo's heart stiffen.

Bai Han had not seemed to notice General Guo's turmoil and strode toward An Sun, his eyes blazing with killing.

He withdrew his sword from his waist. "Let me ask you again, where did you Tuhan scum hide him?"

An Sun maintained his impassive gaze and did not seem to be affected in the least by the old man's abrupt actions. Before Bai Han could vent his anger toward the young man's silence, An Sun blankly turned to look at the cliff.

In a dark voice, he said, "We were recently ambushed. During the attack, an archer shot and Bai Lan…He protected me before falling down the cliff."

An Sun's eyelashes trembled, his heart felt blocked, bringing an extremely uncomfortable feeling. He turned to look back at Bai Han and slowly, his controlled expression cracked, revealing a twisted, pained expression.

"He's gone."

At that moment the quiet had become like icy drips onto already cold skin. Bai Han remained motionless; he stared at An Sun with a searching, penetrating gaze.

He did not dare believe the words he spoke.

After a period of silence, he heard An Sun's low voice whisper.

"I'm sorry."

Following those words, Bai Han snapped. His chest felt heavy and his eyes deepened. An unknown twisted restlessness seized his senses and made him feel incomparably unpleasant.

Bai Han marched closer to An Sun and gripped his collar, his sword up to the man's pale neck. The Tuhan soldiers' behind An Sun gripped the hilts of their swords, but An Sun quickly flashed them a cold glance.

Reluctantly, they stepped back and stared nervously at the two men. An Sun redirected his gaze toward Bai Han, who was looking at him with unrestrained madness.

"You bastard! What are you sorry for? Don't lie! Do you think I'd believe for a second?"

Bai Han's fingers trembled and almost couldn't hold back the anguish in his voice. "Why would my grandson protect scum like you?"

An Sun looked into Bai Han's silver eyes emanated with merciless murder. An Sun's lips curled into a smile; it was dark and gorgeous.

His voice was hoarse as he said: "You think I'm not asking myself that question? After all, since the day we met, I've treated him poorly and yet, he chose to stay beside me. Going as far as to use his life to protect me...even now, I still don't know why he did it."

At that moment, all traces of his sneer disappeared from Bai Han's face. He saw the turmoil of emotions in An Sun and felt uncomfortable.

A sudden realization dawned on him.

If she trusted anyone enough, she would fight with life to protect the ones she cared for. Since a child, this trait of Rin's scared Bai Han the most.

If it came down to it, she wouldn't hesitate to protect the ones she loved with her life.

Bai Han slowly stumbled back from An Sun, his expression numb. In that instant, Bai Han's eyes reddened, his eyes frantically surveying the ground as if searching for something, the sword held in his hand trembling.

"No…no…"

Why did things turn out like this?

Why?

Why couldn't she be selfish and spoiled for once?

General Guo stood frozen and felt his breath become heavy.

The Bai troops looked at the scene before them and very clearly heard An Sun's words. Their bodies were frozen in shock. A tightness wrapped around their chest and throats.

The young miss…was dead.

Bai Han clenched his teeth. He struggled to stay up before his muscles reached their limit, his body bent, and his back was shaking.

His words choked the breath from his lungs, "Bai…Lan…"

His knees sunk into the frosty ground. In a low whispered voice, only he could hear he murmured hoarsely.

"Rin…Rin…"

__________

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