Free Web NovelChapter 56: Chapter 54: This Is the Person You Were Determined to Protect
Su Mo hadn’t expected Lan Ling, a dragon, to be so hopelessly love-brained.
For that female, Ah Yun, he had truly thrown everything away.
For a moment, she didn’t know whether to call him too naive or just incredibly stupid!
The Think Tank’s expression was grim as he looked at Lan Ling, who was forced to kneel on the ground.
Long Yan’s expression was also dark, his deep eyes filled with disappointment.
When Su Mo first told him about her plan, she had made it clear that Mo Xiao was not under the influence of any love poison.
A lie like that could only deceive someone with a guilty conscience.
At the time, Long Yan had doubted whether her method would work.
But she had said, "Lord Major General, you should never underestimate the darkness and fragility of a person’s heart. There are some things where outsiders see clearly while those involved are lost in a fog. A lie that sounds absurd to us may be something the person at the center of it believes without a doubt. If we set a trap, we’ll find out the truth."
Long Yan never imagined that before the three-day deadline was even up, the true culprit would actually walk right into the trap himself.
Lan Ling knelt there, staring at Su Mo in the crowd, his eyes filled with resentment.
He gritted his teeth and said, "I’ve lost. A bet’s a bet, and I’ll honor it. Miss Su, just take my life!"
The Think Tank, watching Lan Ling act as if he were ready to die, said with bitter disappointment, "Commander, you are being utterly foolish!"
Lan Ling didn’t dare to meet the old Think Tank’s disappointed gaze. He lowered his head and said, "Lan Ling has erred and will willingly accept his punishment! Please, Lord Major General, strip me of my title as Commander!"
His heart had died the moment Ah Yun came to him in tears, begging him to contact people on the black market to buy an antidote.
He was unwilling to believe that the person he had cherished for so many years had actually betrayed him.
Refusing to give up hope, he asked her if she had been the one to seduce Mo Xiao that day. When she knelt at his feet, crying as she confessed, he truly felt like he was going insane.
Though Lan Ling was disappointed, the bond they shared from growing up together meant he was ultimately unwilling to see Ah Yun face the slightest danger.
That was why he’d walked into it, even if it was a trap.
He had originally planned to confess his sins to the Lord Major General once the subsidiary poison was removed from Ah Yun. But now, it seemed everything had long been part of that female, Su Mo’s, plan.
Su Mo narrowed her eyes at the kneeling man and asked in a cold voice, "Commander, your devotion in going through fire and water for your beloved is truly touching. However, this all-or-nothing approach is far too foolish! Since you wish to trade your life for hers, then I shall..."
"Miss Su!" freeωebnovēl.c૦m
The Think Tank spoke up just in time. "Might I have a word with you in private?"
Lan Ling’s expression flickered. He looked at the Think Tank and Long Yan. "Lan Ling has failed the trust of the Think Tank and the Lord Major General! I can never repay the debt I owe you both for raising me! Taking responsibility for Ah Yun is my personal decision. Please, Think Tank, say no more!"
The Think Tank shot him a cold, annoyed glance before bowing slightly to Su Mo. "Miss Su, please."
Su Mo glanced at the stubbornly unrepentant Lan Ling, then followed the old Think Tank to the side.
Nearby, Cang Lan narrowed his eyes at Lan Ling on the ground. ’I should just finish him right now!’
Fei Yan quietly shot him a look, warning him not to act rashly.
A moment later, Su Mo and the Think Tank returned.
Lan Ling looked at Su Mo coldly. "No matter what the Think Tank said to you, I stand by our original bet! I am willing to bear the consequences for Ah Yun!"
Su Mo sneered. "Commander Lan Ling, such gall. You’re actually willing to trade a life for a life. It’s a shame the one you’re willing to die for might not appreciate the gesture!"
"Whether she appreciates it or not, I accept this outcome. We loved each other once; as long as I don’t owe her a debt, that’s enough."
"Foolish!" Su Mo snapped. "Of course you don’t owe her anything. But you owe the people of the Dragon Clan! You owe the Think Tank! You owe the Lord Major General! Let me ask you, for one Ah Yun, what kind of position have you put the entire Dragon Clan in?!"
"And don’t you dare play the part of the tragic hero who’d ’rather forsake the world than forsake his love’! You think this is some heroic feat, saving a damsel in distress? To everyone else, it’s just childish and reckless theatrics!"
"A true Beastman, one who stands tall and proud, should prioritize the greater good, protect those he is sworn to protect, and bear the responsibilities he is meant to bear! If all of the Lord Major General’s subordinates were like you, casting aside their duties over a personal whim, then I say the Dragon Clan doesn’t need defending. You might as well just disband."
Lan Ling’s eyes flickered. Her words hit him like a bomb, like a bucket of cold water dumped over his head.
He stared at Su Mo in disbelief. A flash of humiliation crossed his eyes, but the earlier resentment was gone.
"Think it over carefully, Commander. If your initial resolve remains unchanged, then I am, of course, willing to help you fulfill your wish!"
Just then, a guard from the prison came to report that someone had tried to poison the Young Master Snake, but fortunately, they were discovered in time.
As he spoke, Ah Yun was brought over, her hands bound.
Mo Xiao was also led out of the prison by the guards. After exchanging a look with Su Mo, he stood quietly to the side.
A guard shoved Ah Yun, sending her sprawling next to Lan Ling.
She looked at the man beside her and sobbed, "Commander, save me! Save Ah Yun!"
Lan Ling looked at her with a complex expression, a mix of disappointment and pain. "Didn’t I tell you not to do anything else foolish? Why didn’t you listen!"
"I... I!" Ah Yun stammered, trembling so much she couldn’t form a complete sentence.
With two streams of tears running down her face, she looked utterly pitiable. "Commander, didn’t you say you’d definitely help me find a way to remove the poison? Ah Yun doesn’t want to die... Commander, I’m begging you to help me!"
The Think Tank’s face was livid as he glared at the reckless female. "You incited Lan Ling to commit such a grave error!" he roared. "And you still don’t realize your mistake!"
Su Mo cut in smoothly, "I’ve just discussed this with the old Think Tank. Every injustice has a source, every debt a debtor. Whoever made the mistake should be the one to bear the consequences. As for the mastermind behind it all..."
Her meaningful gaze swept over Ah Yun on the ground.
"...they, of course, will be drawn and quartered, torn to pieces... But Commander Lan Ling has already confessed. He said he was just momentarily confused, that he only did such a foolish thing because you incited him. Even now, you won’t admit your fault!" freewebnovel.cσ๓
Beside her, Lan Ling frowned slightly. ’I didn’t say that at all,’ he thought. ’This Miss Su...’
Before he could speak, the terror in Ah Yun’s eyes was instantly replaced by a vicious glint.
She had completely bought Su Mo’s story, and the look she gave Lan Ling was venomous.
’So his talk about being willing to die for me was all a lie!’
’In that case, I have nothing left to hold me back!’
Ah Yun’s tone suddenly shifted. "It wasn’t me! The Commander forced me to do it! He was the one who made me seduce the Young Master Snake, and he was the one who made me try to poison him! It was all his idea! He’s the one who wants to start a war between the two clans! Ah Yun is innocent."
"Ah Yun, you..." Lan Ling looked at the person beside him, now utterly and completely disappointed.
After a brief, sharp pain pierced his heart, all that was left was a desolate emptiness...
Ah Yun crawled before the Think Tank and Long Yan, weeping and wailing her confession. "I’m truly innocent! How could a weak female like me dare to do such a thing? Please, Lord Major General, and you, Think Tank, see the truth!"
The Think Tank was beside himself with rage. "Commander, this is the beloved you were so determined to protect!"
Lan Ling’s hands at his sides clenched into tight fists, his nails digging so deeply into his flesh that his palms were a bloody mess, yet he felt no pain at all.
Su Mo bent down, grabbed Ah Yun’s chin, and sneered, "Actually... Commander Lan Ling didn’t say a single bad word about you just now. I was just bluffing. On the contrary, he was more than willing to die for you. A pity you were too impatient."
"You! You!" Ah Yun glared at Su Mo with venomous hatred.
She struggled, wanting to kill the person before her!
Su Mo violently shoved her aside, then looked at Lan Ling and asked in a calm voice, "Have you thought it through, Commander? Are you still willing to die for a beloved like that?"
Ah Yun saw the utter disappointment in Lan Ling’s eyes and knew in her heart that there was no chance of survival left for her.
’I can’t die alone,’ she thought. ’I have to kill that damn female!’
The ropes on her hands came loose. Ah Yun pulled a sharp blade from her sleeve, scrambled to her feet, and lunged toward Su Mo.
Su Mo’s brow tightened. She took an instinctive step back, her hand moving toward the knockout powder hidden at her waist.
At the same moment, Cang Lan, who was closest to Su Mo, struck out with a vicious palm strike!
In an instant, a savage aura exploded from his body, and he moved to shield Su Mo, looking like a veritable Hell Asura.
