In truth, they were once priestesses from a wandering tribe in the desert, pure and innocent. But when their people were slaughtered mercilessly by the Mad Yellow Army of Heaven, their bodies left scattered across the wasteland, Ruo Wen appeared like a demon from the heavens. His eyes burned with the flames of the underworld, and in that instant, he broke their spirits and claimed their souls. Looking at the two broken women, he showed no emotion. Apart from a single figure from his past, no woman had ever retained her sense of self in his presence.
"What are your names?" His raspy voice was as cold as ice.
"Jiao Ting."
"Hua Yu."
Their responses trembled with fear, their voices shaking uncontrollably.
The two girls looked at the man in front of them, a beast-like predator, through the long lashes that shielded their wide eyes.
With a sudden motion, Ruo Wen's large hands gripped their heads, pressing his thumbs hard against their smooth foreheads.
A searing pain shot through them, as if their very souls were being torn apart.
“Ah!” The girls collapsed to the ground, clutching their heads as bright red blood seeped from their foreheads, trickling down the sides of their noses. The pain was so intense that they didn’t dare frown. The source of the agony was deep within their skulls.
Looking at each other through blurry vision, they realized with shock that Ruo Wen had embedded red and blue gems into their foreheads, the jewels glowing wickedly with a mix of light and blood.
"From now on, you," he pointed, "are Ruo Lan. And you," he pointed to the other, "are Fei Wen. You’ll sleep only with me!"
As he spoke, his hand instinctively caressed the weapons at his waist, especially the golden spear with a repaired section that seemed to hold his attention. Moments later, he disappeared into the darkness.
Cheng Xiang, who was responsible for managing the logistics of the Mad Yellow Army of Heaven, arranged for Ruo Lan and Fei Wen to serve the chief. No one questioned their presence.
From that day on, the red and blue dancers became the spirit of their victory celebrations, their intertwined figures forever chasing after Ruo Wen’s domineering presence, falling deeper and deeper into an inescapable, seductive nightmare.
* * *
Ma Sui Palace.
“Is there still no word from Gu He?” A tense voice filled the air, brimming with anxiety. It was the voice of Ma Sui's king, Ge Er Jin Qin, a man who appeared to be around fifty years old. His beard had turned gray, and his face betrayed his exhaustion. His narrow eyes squinted in suspicion, as if trying to discern the intentions of the neighboring country. His fists clenched, knuckles cracking loudly. Gu He's inaction was a devastating blow to Ma Sui.
"Foolish! Foolish! Has Gu Cha lost his mind? If Ma Sui falls to bandits, Gu He will be the next feast! If they don’t act quickly and join forces to crush this Yellow Plague, how will there be peace in the future?" He ranted in frustration, pacing on his throne.
“Your Majesty! We can hold the gates for three more days at most! The reinforcements from Tian Du will take at least seven days to arrive, and it’s uncertain whether Yunpei will intervene. Since we lost contact with Princess Yu Qiang after she entered the palace, if Gu He doesn’t send aid, our only option is to help you escape and regroup for a future restoration!” Several old ministers knelt on the ground, assessing their grim situation.
The room fell silent. No one could imagine a different outcome—just as no one had imagined that they could be trapped by a mere four thousand bandits. In ten days, the kingdom’s outer defenses had fallen, leaving only the central capital, He Yan.
Ma Sui had been designed with a concentric layout: the highest authority was in the center, while the lower classes lived on the outer rings. The kingdom was divided into four layers, each successively inward, but now this structure had backfired, placing the highest authority of He Yan at the center of a deadly whirlpool. Surrounded on all sides, the seat of power had become a target, vulnerable to destruction from every direction.
The Mad Yellow Army of Heaven had started their assault from the outermost layer of the city, using vast amounts of gold and jewels to tempt the lower-class citizens into revolting against the upper class. Within ten days, like a torrential storm, they had already reached the city gates, with a massive force pressuring the city from all sides.
Ma Sui, located in the heart of the desert, guarded seven oases, with He Yan being the largest and most resource-rich. These seven oases were interconnected by both visible waterways and hidden streams. The kingdom was home to 43 different tribes, with the Rain Tribe ruling as kings, while the Dai Tribe was the most lowly. The kingdom's population exceeded half a million, with a massive disparity between the wealthy and the poor. Slave trading thrived in Ma Sui, and the greed of the nobles knew no bounds. While military might remained stagnant, their indulgence and luxury continued to grow. Now, they found themselves overthrown by the very slaves and peasants they had oppressed—it was their own doing, and they had only themselves to blame.
But in the hall, the faces of the gathered officials were knotted with worry, their gazes wandering, as if they might faint at any moment. King Ge Er Jin Qin was lost in his own world, spiraling into despair.
And yet—what was so terrifying about a slave revolt? What was there to fear from a peasant uprising? But as they glanced outside the gates, they could still sense the lingering, inescapable stench of blood in the air.
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