“Terrible news — they’ve broken through! Terrible news — they’ve come in!”

The guard had not yet reached Lei Shenbao’s side when he dismounted, stumbling and half-running to close the distance, dropping to his knees on the ground.

“Sir, the guards on the mountain were ambushed. Their people have come inside.”

“Without any resistance at all — they just came straight in.”

“At which point?” Lei Shenbao’s heavy brows drew together, and he asked in a low, measured voice.

“Tianji Mountain — they came in through Tianji Mountain.” The guard replied.

“If my guess is right, those armies must have converged outside Tianji Mountain through the night. Yet just yesterday…”

“Useless!” Lei Shenbao’s tone grew even colder.

“So many men were dispatched, and still you cannot even manage something so simple?”

“My lord, as of yesterday, the brothers’ reports still showed no signs of anything amiss. We simply do not know how this happened — every single one of the brothers stationed on Tianji Mountain was ambushed.”

The guard glanced up at Lei Shenbao, and with a hard gulp, swallowed nervously.

“Sir, everyone is saying that Long Jiu’er has an almost supernatural ability to anticipate events — that she is like a celestial immortal. Do you think she truly is one?”

“Otherwise, how did they get up the mountain? How did they eliminate our brothers without making a single sound? How did they…”

“What of the sentries? Were they all killed?” Chen Hong was genuinely at a loss.

The older one had lost his mind, and now the younger one had lost his too. She had handpicked them through a painstaking search, and this was what she had ended up with.

“The… the sentries…” The guard looked at the woman dressed entirely in black from head to toe, and began to tremble visibly.

This woman — apart from the small patches of exposed skin, she was draped in black from head to foot, as though even her heart were black. How could anyone not be afraid?

If Long Jiu’er was an immortal, then this woman was surely a demon — one glance at her was enough to send a cold sweat down your spine.

“Who was the person in charge of guarding Tianji Mountain?” Lei Shenbao’s voice sank yet another degree.

“It… it was Chen Tang.” The guard thought for a moment, then nodded vigorously. “Yes — Chen Tang.”

“Chen Tang?” The crease between Lei Shenbao’s brows deepened further.

Chen Tang and Yang Sheng had always been on good terms.

Shortly after the battle had begun, Yang the Steward and his wife went missing — and from that moment, Lei Shenbao had suspected that Yang Sheng had changed sides.

Yet he had not expected that now even Chen Tang would…

“Where is Chen Tang? Has anyone found him?” Lei Shenbao roared.

“No.” The guard buried his head lower still. “We received word and came straight back. We…”

“Utterly foolish!” Chen Hong’s gaze swept outward. “Coming back right now — weren’t you worried about being followed?”

“How could you come directly to your master? If this were to…”

“No need to wonder — we’ve already caught up with you.” Suddenly, from within the plum blossom grove, a voice rang out, carrying with it deep inner force.

The voice had barely carried through the air when a young woman of immortal beauty came riding forward on a white horse, moving unhurriedly toward them.

The guard turned to look, and was so frightened he forgot to breathe.

“I… I did not know the master was in the grove — I did not know the master was… was…”

Before the guard’s words were finished, Chen Hong raised her hand, and with a sweep of palm wind carrying black energy, the guard who had still been speaking was hurled from his feet and flung into a tree.

A cry rang out. The guard spat blood, crumpled to the ground, and went still.

The formation was dismantled. Enemy forces had broken through. The guards originally stationed around the perimeter of the plum blossom grove came charging in from every direction with fierce momentum.

Feng Jiu’er, Jian Yi, Qiao Mu, Yu Jingfeng, and the married couple Yue Jianfei and Tang Xiaohua all sat on horseback, arrayed in a single line.

Behind them stood dozens of ranks of soldiers in orderly formation.

As the guards from all sides surged toward this group of several dozen, the people within that enclosure sat unmoved, their expressions calm, heads held high atop their horses.

“Jiu’er.” Seeing Feng Jiu’er again, the light in Lei Shenbao’s eyes grew even brighter.

Such beauty. Such heroic grace. Even the tender plum blossoms in full bloom could not compare to this woman by even half.

She had come. She had finally come.

Lei Shenbao urged his horse forward a step, and at once Yu Jingfeng and Jian Yi — who had been flanking Feng Jiu’er on either side — drew their swords simultaneously.

Two sharp rings rang out through the grove, clear and resonant.

“Jianfei — we meet again.” Chen Hong looked at Yue Jianfei and with a flick of her long finger, lifted away the black veil covering her face.

Chen Hong had always known that one day they would meet again.

To keep herself from aging too quickly, she had made a habit of covering her face with hats and veils whenever she appeared before others.

It had to be said — the method was quite effective.

The face beneath the veil was nothing short of unexpected.

Skin so pale and translucent that, were it not for the faint traces of time etched into it, no one would have been able to guess her age.

Perhaps because she had spent so long out of direct sunlight, her skin — while undeniably pale — carried a slightly unhealthy quality to it.

Feng Jiu’er looked at this woman, then glanced back at Yue Jianfei and Tang Xiaohua.

Could this be Chen Hong — Hua-jie’s senior martial sister?

Her figure seemed passable enough. Though — dressing all in head-to-toe black in broad daylight, what was the meaning of that?

Her skin was paler than Hua-jie’s, yes — but overly so, and no matter how you looked at her, something about it was distinctly off.

As for her face — other than being somewhat paler, there was nothing about it that could hold a candle to their beloved Hua-jie.

Most notably of all, this woman carried an air of wickedness through and through — the exact opposite of Hua-jie’s upright and wholesome presence.

If she were to choose, she would choose Hua-jie every time. She would not choose this woman.

“Chen Hong — is it truly you?” Tang Xiaohua fixed her gaze on Chen Hong, her delicate brows drawing together.

“When our master died, were you there?”

Tang Xiaohua tightened her grip on her silver spear, and with a sharp ring of metal, extended it to its full length, leveling it directly at Chen Hong.

“Speak! Was our master killed by you?”

As she had suspected — it truly was her.

Feng Jiu’er fixed her gaze on Chen Hong, her expression equally unwelcoming.

Whether or not she had killed Hua-jie’s master was one matter — but she had certainly killed one of Hua-jie’s children.

Feng Jiu’er had made a promise: she would personally take this woman’s life, to avenge Hua-jie’s little one.

The faint smile Chen Hong had been wearing faded the instant her gaze landed on Tang Xiaohua, her eyes sinking to the depths.

“Tang Xiaohua — on what grounds do you claim our master was killed by me?”

“I could just as well suspect that you were the one who killed our master. Speak! Why would you kill our master?”

“You stole my betrothed first, then killed our master afterward. Tang Xiaohua — you are truly vile!”

“Jianfei.” Chen Hong’s gaze shifted back to Yue Jianfei.

“The misunderstanding between us all those years ago was entirely of Tang Xiaohua’s making. Why have you never given me a chance to explain?”

“And our master — she was harmed to death by this woman. She is utterly ruthless. Why do you still trust her? Protect her?”

“Chen Hong — I do not know what misunderstanding you speak of.” Yue Jianfei reached out and placed his hand on Tang Xiaohua’s arm that was gripping the silver spear.

“Xiaohua is my wife. I ask that you refrain from slandering her.”

“Otherwise — do not blame me for being less than courteous.”

“Yue-dage — this woman was the cause of your second child’s death. Do you still plan to be courteous with her?” Feng Jiu’er glanced at Yue Jianfei.

Just one glance — and her gaze returned at once to Chen Hong.

“Chen Hong — today, I will avenge Hua-jie’s infant who never had the chance to live. Prepare to meet your end!”

The moment those words fell, Feng Jiu’er gripped her short blade in hand and leaped into the air.

Blade in hand, she closed in on Chen Hong with swift precision.

Was this woman trying to stall for time? How could she possibly allow that?