Situ Haonan pulled Qianqian along, turning to head for the cave entrance. Wanyan Lie immediately hurled his twin-bladed dagger at them. Fortunately, Situ Haonan turned his head just in time, and instead of piercing his neck, the dagger struck the wall hard.

Unexpectedly, the dagger sprang back on its own, its hilt shooting straight at him without warning!

Wanyan Lie was no pushover, and Situ Haonan was no ordinary soldier either—the two were evenly matched. By rights, Situ Haonan was already right at the entrance, and leaving should have been easy enough, but unfortunately he had the clumsy Yelu Qianqian in tow.

With a twist of his body, he yanked Yelu Qianqian hard out of the way, forced to draw his own sword.

He had no idea what was happening with Jun Beiyue outside. At the very least, having provoked Wanyan Lie, nothing good could possibly come of it—and with only half an hour before the Grand Sand Sacrifice Ceremony began, if Yelu Chenyi couldn’t find her, they’d be in even worse trouble.

Of course, Situ Haonan had thought of all this trouble, but wasn’t particularly worried about it. Whatever happened, Jun Beiyue was here!

This whole mess had been stirred up by that man in the first place—as long as he was around, Situ Haonan could stay at ease, unafraid of anything.

Surely, that man had already arranged for everything.

Perhaps, right at this very moment, Jun Beiyue, or Yingzi and the other shadow guards, were already waiting outside to come to their aid.

Thinking this over, Situ Haonan felt increasingly confident. He set Yelu Qianqian down and thrust his sword at Wanyan Lie in swift succession—within moments, the two were locked in fierce, evenly matched combat.

Yelu Qianqian watched from the side, her mind still completely blank!

What was she going to do now? She’d caused a huge disaster. If her brother found out, if her father found out, what would she do?

If Wanyan Lie went out and told her father, she’d be finished for sure—no, not just her, the entire future of Xijing would be finished too!

Xijing had always been held back by Xiliang throughout its history, unable to advance into the Central Plains because of it!

Now, at long last, there had been a chance for marriage alliance with Xiliang, and she’d gone and ruined it—she truly was Xijing’s greatest sinner!

If she talked to Wanyan Lie properly now, was there still some chance to salvage things?

Wasn’t Wanyan Lie deeply infatuated with her? Could she find some way to persuade him not to break off relations with Xijing?

Fearful, anxious, Yelu Qianqian thought and thought, and was just about to speak up—

Just then, Situ Haonan clearly gained the upper hand, pulling back and grabbing her to leave. Yelu Qianqian, still dazed, was dragged along a few steps, and was just about to exit the cave when Wanyan Lie, who had been knocked down, suddenly sprang back up, dagger in hand, and lunged straight at them!

He looked so fierce, so vicious, so terrifying!

He meant to kill Situ Haonan!

Seeing this, Yelu Qianqian was overcome with fury. Just as Situ Haonan’s sword met Wanyan Lie’s dagger in a brief standoff, she abandoned any thought of “talking things through” and, without hesitation, kicked Wanyan Lie hard between the legs. “How dare you hurt Situ—go die!”

Situ Haonan froze…

Wanyan Lie froze too… then let out a muffled groan and collapsed to his knees, clutching himself. Situ Haonan was still stunned when Yelu Qianqian, without another word, grabbed his hand instead. “Let’s go!”

But the moment they stepped out of Mingsha Grotto, both of them froze.

Outside the cave, the sand’s song roared like thunder, like thundering hoofbeats, as if a thousand cavalry were charging through the clouds, ready to break through the sky and come crashing down upon Mingsha Mountain at any moment!

The time had come!

Yelu Qianqian knew this sound all too well. The hour of the Sand Sacrifice had arrived!

She hadn’t gone back. Neither had Wanyan Lie. This was serious trouble.

Situ Haonan glanced around, growing more and more uneasy, more and more unsettled, and suddenly shouted, “Jun Beiyue! Shadow guards!”

But his voice was swallowed up in the roar of the singing sands, and no answer came.

Where was everyone?

Surely Jun Beiyue wouldn’t be so unreliable—setting a trap for him to fall into without any plan to pull him back out?

“Where’s Yanzi?” Yelu Qianqian murmured timidly. “Where did Yanzi go?”

The two of them looked at each other, and Situ Haonan asked timidly, “What do we do?”

Yelu Qianqian shook her head—she had no idea either. She wanted to run, to escape this prison of Akbaru forever. But though this place had been her prison, kept under house arrest, it was also home to a mother who loved her, a father who doted on her beyond reason, and a brother who cherished her most of all.

In other royal families, brothers fought to the death over succession, and even sisters schemed against one another mercilessly—but not in her family, not like that.

Her brother was simply too powerful, and had always protected her. There were plenty of concubine-born princesses in the palace, yet no one ever dared provoke her.

Akbaru was her home too!

Her being married off far away wasn’t something her father or brother wanted—it was something they’d been forced into.

Who told her to be so unlucky as to catch Wanyan Lie’s eye?

She wanted to run, and yet she didn’t want to leave this whole mess behind and just walk away!

Yelu Qianqian’s brow furrowed in conflict, and Situ Haonan’s handsome brow was knit tight as well. Whatever had happened to Jun Beiyue, at the very least he needed to keep himself safe for now.

“Let’s go! We need to get out of the city before your brother comes looking!” Situ Haonan decided at once.

Yelu Qianqian hesitated, her tear-swollen eyes still glistening, looking at Situ Haonan pitifully. “I… I can’t leave.”

“Then stay!” Situ Haonan immediately let go of her hand.

If things went according to Jun Beiyue’s plan, the matter concerning Yelu Qianqian could actually be considered resolved already—and quite successfully at that.

Whether Yelu Qianqian stayed or fled, it wouldn’t change what Wanyan Lie had seen with his own eyes, wouldn’t change the fact that Xijing was about to face serious trouble with Xiliang.

He could, in fact, simply leave.

Bringing this woman along would only bring trouble upon himself—the Xijing royal family would hunt him to the ends of the earth, and back home, his father and mother would surely punish him severely and never allow Yelu Qianqian to marry into the family.

Taking this woman with him would cost him dearly, very dearly indeed.

Yelu Qianqian looked at Situ Haonan pitifully, bit her lip, and grabbed his hand anyway. What was the point of staying behind now, after everything?

Would Wanyan Lie really forgive her?

And even if he did, it wasn’t hard to imagine just how miserable her life would be once she married into his household.

She held onto Situ Haonan’s hand, choking back tears. “I don’t want to be Xijing’s sinner…”

“Then stay!” Situ Haonan said firmly, with no time to waste.

“No!” Yelu Qianqian said fiercely.

“Then stop crying. Let’s go!”

He honestly couldn’t understand it—how could such a simple, straightforward girl harbor such a grand, noble sentiment, wanting to sacrifice herself for the sake of all of Xijing?

Did she really think that by taking this risk on herself, Xijing would be free of war forever?

How could that possibly be true?

With so many rival powers carving up Longyuan, everyone dreamed of unifying the land, of ruling it all as one!

Every moment of peace was only ever a prelude to a greater war.

Once Xijing secured its western border, it would surely turn its ambitions eastward. And wasn’t an eastern campaign just as much a war as any other?