On the road to the Xi Jing capital, it had been Ziqing chasing after Baili Weisheng the entire way.

Whether Jun Beiyue knew about that or not was unclear, but on the way back, he’d had Baili Weisheng chase after him and his wife at full speed the whole journey.

What should have taken several days, Jun Beiyue — carrying Ziqing — covered in a single day, leaving Baili Weisheng far behind.

Heaven only knew how this fellow’s martial arts had improved to such a monstrous degree!

In any case, by the time they’d finished packing their things and waited half a day more, Baili Weisheng finally arrived, gasping for breath.

Xiong Bao and the others all looked at him strangely, not knowing what had happened.

Baili Weisheng had originally meant to curse them out, but seeing everyone already packed and ready to go, he simply acted as if nothing had happened, shot Ziqing a glance, and climbed onto a camel.

“Let’s go!” Xiong Xiaobao shouted excitedly. None of them yet knew about what had happened to Yelu Qianqian and Situ Haonan, and everyone was in high spirits.

Ziqing and Jun Beiyue exchanged a glance, both helpless.

Their son’s temperament seemed even more cheerful than either of theirs — taking after neither his father nor his mother. Heaven only knew whether that would change as he grew older.

Soon, the group’s figures gradually vanished toward the west of the northern wastes town. It was only then that Yu Xiaomeng and Grandma Yu, who had been hiding in Xuanyuan Lige’s courtyard the whole time, finally came out.

“Girl, go report the news quickly!” Grandma Yu said, beaming.

She truly hadn’t realized just how significant Jun Beiyue and Han Ziqing’s backgrounds were, nor had she known that Xuanyuan Lishang — that is, Xuanyuan Lige — was actually the Crown Prince of Dong Qin!

Had she known earlier, how would she ever have dared offend them?

Fortunately, fortunately, Xuanyuan Lige hadn’t held it against her, and hadn’t forgotten the life-saving debt he owed to the two of them, mother and daughter.

“Mother, what exactly is Young Master Xuanyuan trying to do?” Yu Xiaomeng asked, showing none of her mother’s excitement, but more worry instead.

Not long after Jun Beiyue had stationed troops at the northern wastes town, Xuanyuan Lige had returned, buying her mother’s services with ten thousand taels of gold — clearly, the mother and daughter had become Dong Qin’s eyes and ears in the northern wastes region.

Did Dong Qin intend to compete with Great Zhou?

But looking at the world at large, Dong Qin’s power was the weakest of all!

And as for Young Master Xuanyuan, his body was still…

Yu Xiaomeng hadn’t seen Xuanyuan Lige again since that one encounter, yet she could never forget his pale face.

Everything else, she cared nothing for — only worried about his health.

“Never mind what he’s trying to do — you just behave and listen well, and you’ll surely benefit from it!” Grandma Yu whispered, reminding her.

Yu Xiaomeng let the words go in one ear and out the other, staring silently in the direction Ziqing and the others had vanished.

“Why aren’t you hurrying off!” Grandma Yu grew anxious. “You wretched girl, he did say he wanted to marry you — if you could enter the Dong Qin royal household, even if you couldn’t become his primary consort, being an attendant would still be better than spending your whole life stuck in the northern wastes!”

“Mother!” Yu Xiaomeng flared up. “What’s wrong with the northern wastes?”

“What’s good about the northern wastes? Don’t you know this place has already become Great Zhou territory? You want to rise here, want to become an elder, want to become clan leader? Not in this lifetime!” Grandma Yu scolded angrily.

Yu Xiaomeng had to admit, the northern wastes had indeed changed.

After the chaos at Longyuan, the northern wastes was no longer the peaceful, orderly place it once was, where neighbors had treated each other like family.

“Mother, what’s so good about the palace, then?” Yu Xiaomeng countered.

“Daughter, you’re accomplished in both letters and martial arts, capable both within and without, gifted beyond most — the outside world is where you could truly spread your wings and soar! Being stuck here in the northern wastes is a waste of your talent!” Grandma Yu said earnestly.

Yet Yu Xiaomeng only smiled. “Mother, out there in the wider world, there are far too many capable people — where would I even rank among them?”

As she spoke, she couldn’t help but think of that figure who had just departed — that woman.

The one and only woman who could make Xuanyuan Lige’s cold eyes soften in an instant.

That woman — so outstanding that one dared not envy her, only look up to her in admiration.

“Mother, even if I could outshine every woman in the world, as long as I lose to her — to her alone — I’ll still be the loser. Always.”

Yu Xiaomeng never said these words aloud, only spoke them silently in her heart.

Toward that woman, she felt no resentment, no jealousy — instead, she found herself unconsciously hoping that one day she might become her friend, might journey through the world alongside her.

Should this be called a total defeat, or should it be called saving herself from jealousy?

Seeing her daughter’s downcast mood, Grandma Yu was quite displeased and was about to lecture her further, but Yu Xiaomeng simply turned and walked away.

Never mind. No use dwelling on it further.

The task Xuanyuan Lige had entrusted to her — she still had to go do it.

She wished for nothing, hoped only that one day, when that man grew weary, he might return to the northern wastes town once more, and she would still be willing to think of him as Xuanyuan… Lishang!

No sooner had Ziqing and the others left the northern wastes town than they soon crossed the final stretch of the Gobi desert at the edge of Xi Jing and entered Xiliang territory!

The moment they entered Xiliang, everything around them changed entirely.

All they could see was barren, gravelly terrain stretching in every direction, utterly devoid of vegetation. Looking into the distance, one could make out bare rocky mountains, rising and falling — from afar, it hardly seemed like the Longyuan mainland at all, as if they’d stepped into an entirely different world!

“Mommy, it’s not cold here!”

Xiong Xiaobao, shrugging off his padded coat, pulled out his Qiankun poison pouch.

He wasn’t wrong — heading steadily westward, it felt as though they’d arrived in spring, nothing like the biting cold of Great Zhou or even parts of Xiliang.

It was, after all, November now, with the depths of winter fast approaching.

A flicker of worry crossed Ziqing’s eyes as she asked the young man beside her, “Mingtian, how different is the temperature in Flame Valley compared to here?”

Mingtian hesitated a moment before speaking. “Your Highness, it seems this year has been an unusually warm winter…”

A warm winter!

“What does that mean?” Baili Weisheng asked at once.

“If it’s a warm winter, the temperature in Flame Valley will be hotter than usual this year. I can’t be certain right now — we’ll only know once we get there,” Mingtian said timidly.

Jun Beiyue glanced around, then made a decisive call. “Son, summon the poison beasts — we’ll fly over. We can’t afford to waste any more time.”

Xiong Xiaobao had already been hoping for exactly this, just waiting for Jun Beiyue’s order.

In other places, the poison beasts couldn’t be used, but here, with not a soul in sight for hundreds of li, his four great poison beasts, along with Papa Bear, could freely come out and stretch their legs without any risk of being spotted and word reaching back to the Nanzhao royal court!

Xiong Xiaobao’s mastery over the Qiankun poison pouch, while not yet effortless, had become quite refined. With a single thought — not even needing to voice it — the four great poison beasts, plus one enormous foolish bear, appeared instantly out of thin air!

Mingtian hadn’t even had time to figure out what Jun Beiyue’s words meant before the five great beasts materialized out of nowhere, and he let out a startled cry, toppling right off his camel!

Xiong Xiaobao grinned, giggling, surrounded by the five great beasts, his wicked little expression making him look every bit like a mini monster himself!

“Put that bear away,” Jun Beiyue reminded him. The big foolish bear couldn’t fly, and running would never be as fast as flying.

Xiong Xiaobao patted the big bear’s head pitifully, comforting it, “There’s no use for you right now — go back for a bit.”

The moment he spoke, the entire mountain-sized bear vanished into thin air.

“Impressive, you little rascal!” Baili Weisheng exclaimed in surprise.

“Such young age, such spiritual power — if you studied barrier arts, you’d surely make quite the name for yourself!” Meng Duo’er couldn’t help chiming in either.

Xiong Xiaobao pouted, looking utterly smug. “Not interested!”

“Let’s go!” Baili Xiaosheng urged impatiently…

With the poison beasts’ help, everyone traveled much more easily along the way. Three days later, the Flame Mountains loomed ahead…

…