Humanity has always harbored an instinctive fear of the vast, unknowable sea, and at the cry of “sea monster,” panic spread rapidly through the ranks. Yet Eastern Qin’s navy remained, after all, one of the best-trained and most fiercely loyal forces in existence!

Xuanyuan Zhaoxi’s main vessel was retreating with all its strength, while the ships to its left and right advanced one after another from both sides, positioning themselves in front of the main ship to shield it!

Yet even so, Jun Beiyue’s ship maintained its blistering speed, charging forward without pause!

He stood alone at the very front, on the highest point of the deck—just one ship, one man—yet his presence carried the weight of a thousand armies charging forward, utterly unstoppable.

The reinforcing warships not only moved to intercept him but quickly began firing flaming arrows at Jun Beiyue’s ship from both sides. Amid the firelight and the storm of arrows, Jun Beiyue, alone with his sword, cut through every attack with blades of sword energy sharp as knives, deflecting every single one without exception!

Soon, the massive dragon-headed prow of his ship was on the very verge of collision—and at that very moment, exactly as before, the Eastern Qin ship suddenly and inexplicably split apart at its midsection. Something beneath the water seemed to drag the two broken halves down into the depths at astonishing speed, leaving no one aboard any chance of escape!

This was already the third ship destroyed!

By now, the nearly ten ships still trailing behind had begun to panic in earnest, while Jun Beiyue’s ship pressed onward, even accelerating further, far exceeding the speed of any ordinary warship.

Facing such overwhelming, one-sided victory, Jun Beiyue’s face showed not the faintest trace of a smile, not the slightest hint of satisfaction.

His harsh, handsome face was chillingly grim, his cold eyes seeming to have absorbed every trace of malice in the world, a faint crimson shadow flickering within them. His dark, menacing gaze, sharp as an arrow, pierced through layer upon layer of warships, fixed unblinkingly on the main flagship.

As the speed increased, as the ship charged forward, collided, and split apart, the Eastern Qin navy hadn’t even had time to recover their wits enough to flee or take cover before four or five more ships were lost!

Meanwhile, Xuanyuan Zhaoxi was rushing toward the prison cell as though her very life depended on it.

Everything had unfolded exactly as Xuanyuan Lige had foreseen. She deeply regretted not having listened to him sooner—after all, what was happening now was nothing less than open war between Eastern Qin and Da Zhou. Given how things stood, should she lose this battle, she wouldn’t even have a chance to flee.

She would be taken prisoner, and with Eastern Qin and Da Zhou already bitter enemies, capture would spell the utter ruin of her entire life!

She no longer had room to worry about the consequences of Jun Beiyue deploying the Jiaoren—all she could think of now was her own survival. Her mind was a complete blank; all she wanted was to find Xuanyuan Lige. Surely Xuanyuan Lige would have a way to help her!

Ship after ship split apart and sank, churning the waters into violent swells. The sea’s surface was anything but calm now, every vessel pitching and rolling violently—including this massive main ship.

Xuanyuan Zhaoxi fled in complete disarray, stumbling and lurching from side to side. She finally managed to reach the far end of the third deck when the ship suddenly lurched violently backward, her grip slipping, sending her sliding right back the way she’d come!

Nearly driven mad with panic, she couldn’t help but scream out, “Xuanyuan Lige!” But it was precisely this violent lurch that sent Xuanyuan Lige, who had been struggling to crawl toward Ziqing, sliding back as well, slamming heavily into a pillar—a great mouthful of black blood spurting from his lips with a wet, choking sound!

Unexpectedly, before he could even steady his breath, the figure ahead of him—even more fragile than he was—slid straight into him, colliding with his body!

“Ngh!”

He let out a muffled groan of pain, blood spraying directly onto her back.

Her purple robes were tattered, her long hair disheveled, her entire body reeking of decay and blood, utterly devoid of any strength, collapsing limply against him—had he not known better, he might have mistaken her for nothing more than a corpse.

She leaned against his shoulder, his own head slumping weakly into the crook of her neck, the two of them looking like nothing so much as two wounded young beasts huddled together for comfort in their misery.

At last, so achingly close.

And yet, it might as well have been worlds apart.

He didn’t dare look at her—or perhaps, he simply could never bring himself to.

Yet at this very moment, his cold, blood-soaked hand gently reached up to caress her face, her features, her hideousness.

He caressed her gently, and even without looking, he knew exactly what she looked like now—yet in his mind at this moment, all that surfaced were images of her at her most beautiful.

Their first meeting in the imperial palace of Da Zhou—the Tenth Prince had mistaken her for a mere servant girl, yet he had recognized her at a single glance as the renowned Consort of Prince Yao!

In truth, he had first taken notice of her the very day she’d caused that scene outside Guose Tianxiang and stormed into Prime Minister Han’s residence—that cold, aloof little face, so stubbornly determined once she set her mind to something.

Then, their literary duel with Chu Feiyan—she had been breathtaking that day. When she’d sat across from him, matching him note for note on the zither, he had to admit, he could never forget her calm, composed expression.

What a pity he’d never seen her at her most beautiful—how radiant she must have looked at the Flower Queen Gathering.

Gently, he caressed every trace of hideousness marring her face, his gaze fixed on the iron-barred doorway ahead, where a poisonous lion had already stepped one paw through the gate.

The poisonous beasts had woken. These creatures, which Yanzi intended to use to cultivate the human Gu, felt an uncontrollable pull toward the scent now clinging to Ziqing’s body—no matter how violently the ship pitched, they would charge toward her without hesitation.

The poisonous lion was about to lunge—in a single instant, the moment it fully broke free of the iron gate.

Xuanyuan Lige knew he had no other choice left.

“I would rather remain forever at Jun Beiyue’s side than have you become a Gu, fighting for the world on my behalf.”

He murmured this softly, not entirely certain whether he spoke it to himself or to Ziqing.

His voice was so weak, so tender, and even now his hand moved gently, tenderly caressing away all the pain and hideousness upon her face.

Ahead, the poisonous lion had now fully stepped both paws through the gate. The dark, blackened blood at the corner of his lips curved into the shape of a strange, beautiful flower—perhaps even a smile that radiant could look no different than this.

At last, his hand left her face, gripping her arms instead. With a fierce roar, summoning every last ounce of strength he had left, he hurled himself and Ziqing together straight into the railing beside them!

“Crash…”

The railing shattered, and the two of them were flung out into the open air in an instant. At that very moment, the poisonous lion also burst free, standing beside the broken railing, roaring furiously at the churning waves below—yet never once leaping down after them!

At that moment, Xuanyuan Zhaoxi finally arrived, and at the sight of the poisonous lion, froze in her tracks, her mind going utterly blank, completely forgetting who she’d even come looking for.

“Raaargh…” Suddenly, another roar echoed from the iron cell, and a poisonous leopard came bursting out as well. Xuanyuan Zhaoxi screamed and immediately turned to flee!

The two poisonous beasts, which had originally been about to fight each other, immediately gave chase after her instead!

Meanwhile, the sea nearby remained wild and turbulent, with no sign of anyone at all—yet upon closer inspection, one might just make out a single head bobbing at the water’s surface, rising and falling with the waves.

Beneath the water, Xuanyuan Lige held his breath, gripping Ziqing’s arms tightly with both hands, keeping her steady so she wouldn’t choke on seawater.

How exhausting, how nearly impossible this effort truly was—only he himself would ever know.

His long, silver hair drifted freely in the seawater, his purple robes billowing around him. His eyes were tightly shut, his lips pressed firmly together, his deathly pale face utterly still and serene—beautiful as a sleeping immortal beneath the waves, so lovely that no one could bear to disturb him, nor dare to try.

Yet even as he lay there, the blood covering his body gradually spread through the water, more and more of it, redder and redder, swirling with the waves, his face growing more and more indistinct with every passing moment…

Could he hold on?