Master of Nine Stars

As they spoke, a tree branch lifted the backpack Rong Taotao had left here earlier and brought it to him.

Clan Leader Bai Muqing’s voice was still trembling, but she did her best to make it gentle. “Frost Snow Incarnation, I have felt your warm heart. Do not be sad for us, and do not cry for us.

You are still growing. One day, you will represent Shuangxue and soothe the turbulent souls in this land of wind and snow…”

Amidst the rumbling explosions, Rong Taotao opened his mouth, but in the end, no sound came out.

Beside him, Gao Lingwei also stared blankly at the enormous female face. On that gray-black, bark-like human visage, she seemed to see an endless radiance.

It was a kindness that transcended species and overcame hatred.

From beginning to end, the Bailing Tree Maiden had not shown the slightest hint of hatred toward the Snow Corpses and Ghosts, or even the Snow Monk.

Even at this life-or-death moment, Clan Leader Bai Muqing was still thinking of soothing those turbulent souls, never once considering wiping out those species entirely…

Could they hold on?

Or rather… how much longer could they hold on?

“Go…” Bai Muqing didn’t finish her sentence before stopping. Immediately after, a nearby tree wall rippled, and a group of people burst in, looking utterly battered.

It was the Twelfth Squad and the Cyan Mountain Army!

Even for a special forces unit of the Snow Burning Army, they all looked thoroughly shaken.

Fu Tiance spotted Rong Taotao at a glance and barked, “Cyan Mountain Army!”

Cheng Border: “Here!”

Xu Yiyu: “Here!”

Fu Tiance shouted, “Escort Xu Dog and Pig back to Wan’an Pass! Break out from the north before the Soul Beast Army completely surrounds the Tree Castle! Those fleeing Snow Corpses and Ghosts can’t stop you. Fight your way out! Now!”

Xu Yiyu’s eyes suddenly widened. ‘What did I just hear?’

‘Escort Xu Dog and Pig back to Wan’an Pass!?’

‘She was so close to getting what she wanted. She was about to be free from the guilt and self-blame, to stop living this wretched half-life. And yet, Fu Tiance…’

‘This captain of the Twelfth Squad was leaving his own team members—Yin Hu, Ugly Ox, and Wu Ma—behind, and was actually ordering the Cyan Mountain Army to escort Rong Taotao and Gao Lingwei back!?’

Rong Taotao was immediately against it, asking hurriedly, “If we leave, what about you?”

“That’s an order!” Fu Tiance’s expression hardened. Unfortunately, his face was hidden behind a dragon-head mask, but his voice conveyed his attitude. “Execute it immediately!”

Nearby, Ugly Ox and Wu Ma glanced at each other but said nothing.

Meanwhile, Yin Hu kept his hands on the tree wall, peering through a crack at the vast, snowy expanse outside and listening to the deafening bombardment.

The trio also knew what Fu Tiance’s order meant.

More importantly, they knew that Rong Taotao was someone who absolutely could not be allowed to fall.

Rong Taotao was the hope of the Snow Realm. The potential and combat readiness he had shown at his age already led everyone to believe that he was a future star general of the northern Snow Realm!

Anyone could die, but not Rong Taotao. Absolutely not!

If you were to ask anyone in the northern Snow Realm who among the younger generation was most likely to become the next Soul General, the answer would be astonishingly unanimous.

There was only one name: Rong Taotao!

Just then, Miss Mao Rabbit’s anxious voice came through the invisible headphones: “Reinforcements are almost here! Just hold on a little longer, just a little! You all have to be okay…”

Yin Hu, Chen Bingxun, said in a heavy voice, “Pig! Soldier! Execute the order! That is the most basic quality a soldier should possess!”

But Rong Taotao didn’t respond, because he didn’t know if this farewell… would be their last.

“All of you should go, humans. Protect the Frost Snow Incarnation and return to the pass,” Bai Muqing said. “I apologize. You came to persuade us to relocate, and yet we ended up delaying you.”

Rong Taotao suddenly spoke up, “Reinforcements are almost here! I can delay the enemy.”

Fu Tiance: “Cut the crap and go!”

Rong Taotao paid him no mind and shouted, “I’ll go! I’ll go right now! I’ll leave after I use my ultimate! I’ll buy you some ti—”

“Xu Taiping.”

At some point, the Celestial Burial Snow Meteor had suddenly stopped.

Clearly, this was the calm before the storm. The main army was about to arrive. The Snow Monk didn’t care about the lives of the Snow Corpses and Ghosts, but he wouldn’t let the Celestial Burial Snow Meteor affect his real Soul Beast Army!

And because of this, Gao Lingwei’s words were exceptionally clear to everyone’s ears.

“What?” Rong Taotao whipped his head around to look at her.

Gao Lingwei stared blankly ahead, her attention completely focused on the vision provided by her Snowball Cat. She said, “I’ve kept tabs on your former classmate—the special Humanoid Soul Beast that was taken away during the last Battle of the Three Cities.

I’m certain. I saw the Ice Soul Guide, Xu Taiping.”

“I’ll go talk to him for half an hour! The Ice Soul Guide clan are the strategists of the Snow Realm; they’re definitely qualified to parley on the battlefield!” Rong Taotao strode toward the tree wall, shouting, “If that doesn’t work, I’ll fucking unleash the Lotus and slaughter the entire vanguard of the Soul Beast Army!”

Hearing this, Fu Tiance’s brow furrowed, and he subconsciously exchanged a look with Yin Hu, Chen Bingxun.

Their long years of service in the Snow Burning Army had prepared them for sacrifice; they had long ago accepted that this day might come.

A pitcher that often goes to the well is broken at last; a general can hardly avoid dying on the battlefield.

This was an immutable truth.

But… if they could live, who would willingly throw their life away?

Fu Tiance had already done enough. He was already a worthy soldier.

He had immediately chosen to cover the retreat, ordering the Cyan Mountain Army to escort Rong Taotao back to the pass while he and his squad stayed to live or die with the Bailing Tree Maiden, awaiting potential reinforcements.

But Fu Tiance was only human.

He had a family, a life of his own, and countless things he couldn’t bear to part with.

Rong Taotao’s words, “unleash the Lotus and slaughter the entire vanguard of the army,” held an immense temptation for everyone present.

That temptation was called “survival.”

Without a doubt, if Rong Taotao succeeded, it would certainly delay the Soul Beast Army and buy time for the reinforcements to arrive.

As Rong Taotao’s teammates, the members of the Twelfth Squad had of course studied his profile in detail. They knew better than anyone the destructive power of the Sinful Lotus!

For a moment, the eyes of Ugly Ox and Wu Ma lit up. But this scene, in Bai Muqing’s eyes, was unbearably sad.

‘Yes, if one could live, who would willingly choose to die…’

‘The biological nature of the Bailing Tree Maiden clan made them kind to the extreme, willing to sacrifice themselves to shelter weaker creatures. But these humans… no, these soldiers of the Snow Burning Army, did they also have their own “nature”?’

‘They do. They must.’

‘These two humans, Ugly Ox and Wu Ma, clearly wanted to live. Yet, despite Fu Tiance’s decisions, they never raised a single objection. Instead, they chose to obey, chose to stay.’

Fu Tiance clenched his fists fiercely and squeezed a sentence through his gritted teeth: “Bailing Tree Maiden, I’ll have to trouble you to guard our minds and protect us from any form of Spiritual Attack!”

Bai Muqing didn’t answer him, however. Instead, she said, “Child.”

“Huh?” Rong Taotao replied, his hands grabbing the branches of the tree wall as he squeezed his body sideways through an opening.

Actions speak louder than words.

Bai Muqing silently opened a path for him. The face within the tree wall also manifested on the outside, and she watched Rong Taotao’s determined back…

A complicated smile appeared on her face. “Don’t go too far. I will do my best to protect you.”

Behind Rong Taotao, the group of soldiers filed out.

Two soldiers from the Cyan Mountain Army, holding large, blood-red flags and wearing black masks that covered the lower half of their faces.

Four members of the Twelfth Squad, wearing fierce-looking zodiac masks.

Their outfits were different, even their armbands, but the one thing they had in common was that they all wore snow camouflage…

Ahead, Rong Taotao felt the earth tremble beneath his feet and heard the wails and shrieks of the Corpse Ghosts from all directions.

At this moment, those shrill cries sounded less like a battle and more like a dirge for all living things.

And amidst this chorus,

Rong Taotao yanked off his ferocious warthog mask and haphazardly ruffled his sweat-dampened, naturally curly hair.

He shouted into the vast, swirling snow, “XU! TAI! PING!!!”