For Meng Duo’er’s confidential letter to arrive at this exact critical moment was enough to make anyone’s heart clench with worry!

But recalling that Meng Duo’er hadn’t returned to the Meng clan at all, having gone ahead with Lady Jinjiao to scout the path instead, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Jun Beiyue hurriedly opened the letter and read it together with Ziqing. The couple’s expressions shifted repeatedly — whether from joy or worry, it was hard to say. In any case, their feelings were thoroughly mixed and complicated.

“What’s going on!” Baili Weisheng asked impatiently.

“That place — we can go there now,” Ziqing said flatly. The final location marked on the musician’s ancient map — that dangerous, unpredictable place — wasn’t somewhere one could simply visit whenever one pleased.

“We can go now… right now?” Baili Weisheng was startled too. At this exact critical juncture, being able to go there felt like far too convenient a coincidence!

Before finding Meng Wanyue, he’d felt it safer to stay well away from that place.

After all, it wasn’t their territory — who knew whether Meng Wanyue might have already set a trap there, waiting for them to walk right into it?

That place… was Nanzhao, after all!

The final location on the musician’s ancient map was precisely the site of the last remaining missing note they sought — the Jade Water Nectar Heavenly Lake, jointly managed by the Herb Clan and Beast Clan of Nanzhao.

It was a place closed to outsiders, used by the Herb Clan for alchemy and by the Beast Clan for raising and feeding creatures. Except during joint ceremonies of the two clans, outsiders needed not only approval from both clan leaders to enter, but also the consent of the Nanzhao king himself.

And even during such ceremonies, without an invitation, no one could enter regardless!

The letter stated that in ten days’ time, there would be a grand ceremony — the succession ceremony for the new Beast Clan leader, where the new leader would receive the submission of the guardian poison beasts within the Jade Water Nectar Heavenly Lake. For this occasion, the lake would be fully opened.

Ten days wasn’t very long at all, and so far, Jun Beiyue hadn’t received any invitation whatsoever — clearly, neither the Beast Clan, the Herb Clan, nor the Nanzhao royal house had any intention of inviting him!

This was entirely reasonable, of course — typically, only royal celebrations extended invitations to foreign guests; individual clan ceremonies had no standing to invite outsiders at all.

Even if the Jade Water Nectar Heavenly Lake were to open, they still had no opportunity to go!

Ziqing looked at Baili Weisheng, understanding his concerns. “Even if we could go now, it would be far too dangerous.”

Meng Wanyue had seized control of the Meng clan — heaven only knew whether that reckless, consequence-be-damned woman might reveal every secret the moment they arrived in Nanzhao.

Yet Baili Weisheng had another layer of concern entirely. “As far as I know, the Jade Water Nectar Heavenly Lake only fully opens during the leadership succession ceremony — under any other circumstances, no matter what, it’s rarely opened completely.”

The moment Baili Weisheng said this, Jun Beiyue immediately looked over — no wonder Meng Duo’er’s letter had stressed that this chance was not to be missed, and wouldn’t come again.

Waiting for the next succession ceremony could mean waiting another ten-odd years.

If they didn’t go this time, and the Jade Water Nectar Heavenly Lake never fully opened again, what if they could never find that natural sound?

They couldn’t afford to wait that long, nor could they risk it.

“We go!” Ziqing decided at once.

Jun Beiyue nodded in agreement. Baili Weisheng glanced at the resolute couple and asked quite seriously, “Without an invitation, how exactly do you plan to get in?”

Ziqing smiled, pulling Baili Xiaosheng close beside her. “We’ll go seek medicine. The Jade Water Nectar Heavenly Lake has plenty of that — we’ll personally bring our adopted daughter along to seek treatment. Surely the Nanzhao king and the two clan leaders will grant us that much face.”

Baili Xiaosheng’s lips twitched, yet behind her mask, her bright eyes couldn’t help but flicker with hope!

Seeking medicine.

She thought, if they could find a remedy to restore her appearance, she would never again disguise herself as a boy. She would tell everyone — she was actually a girl!

Before Baili Weisheng could even react, Xiong Xiaobao was already overjoyed, grabbing Ziqing’s hand and draping it over his shoulder. “Mommy, I’m coming too!”

Yelu Qianqian knew Ziqing and the others had their own matters to attend to — in truth, throughout this entire journey, they’d already helped enormously.

Without Ziqing and Jun Beiyue, she and Situ Haonan would probably still be stuck on the Xiliang battlefield right now.

Though there was no need to voice thanks for this debt of gratitude, she knew she couldn’t burden them any further!

“Ziqing, go ahead without worry. Haonan and I will keep searching for Xuanyuan Lige and Meng Wanyue. As long as they’re still somewhere on the Longyuan mainland, we’ll find them eventually!” Yelu Qianqian said earnestly.

Yet Ziqing said, “Qianqian, Xi Jing needs you two. The chaos after war is often worse than the war itself. Don’t worry — I’ll definitely help find Xuanyuan Lige for you.”

At this point, Ziqing herself couldn’t quite say with what feelings she made this promise to Yelu Qianqian.

The bitterness and heartache within it — only she herself truly knew.

Yelu Qianqian was her friend. Xuanyuan Lige had once been too.

Yelu Qianqian’s wound would never fully heal, while Ziqing’s heart continued to quietly ache in secret.

Yet, no matter how much it hurt, she remained resolute, clear-headed, and ruthless when it came to right and wrong.

Yelu Qianqian truly listened to Ziqing’s words. Though a hundred parts of her heart resisted, she still nodded — she herself understood well enough that the war-torn aftermath in Xi Jing and Xiliang both needed her and Situ Haonan to return and handle.

In truth, the battlefronts across the northern wastes, the Xiongnu territories, Dong Qin, and Xi Chu all needed aftermath management too, especially the northwestern region of Xi Chu, where Minhan Mude’er was still locked in combat with the Tiger Army.

Yet Jun Beiyue possessed precisely this rare ability — even while away, his armies remained orderly, his nation stable.

But Situ Haonan and Yelu Qianqian truly had to return — Yelu Qianqian had also promised her father the emperor that she would succeed to the throne and become Xi Jing’s first ever female sovereign!

“Ziqing, once you find Xuanyuan Lige, you don’t need to do anything else — just let me know,” Situ Haonan said very earnestly.

These words clearly took Ziqing’s feelings into consideration.

Ziqing nodded earnestly as well. The couple then said their farewells, heading straight west.

“Just ten days — we must set out immediately.”

As Jun Beiyue spoke, he instructed Yingzi to send a letter requesting medicine access to the Jade Water Nectar Heavenly Lake from the Nanzhao king.

Just as Yingzi was about to leave, Ziqing stopped him, hesitating a moment before saying in a low voice, “Bring all the mining craftsmen from the western frontier to Flame Mountain.”

Yingzi was startled at this, but Ziqing only smiled. “Shh!”

They had previously mined sulfur, saltpeter, and other gunpowder-related minerals in Xi Jing, though the yield there had been quite limited, since that region’s volcanic remnants had lain dormant for a thousand years.

Flame Mountain, on the other hand, was an entirely different matter — with the volcano’s presumed recent eruption, the mineral deposits left behind would surely be countless, and remarkably easy to extract!

Ziqing had been quietly calculating the timing — by now, the air pollution from the eruption and the cooling of the magma should have long since settled.

Jun Beiyue simply smiled without a word. This trip to Nanzhao was indeed extremely risky, but without absolute confidence, would the two of them really be so resolute about it?

Baili Weisheng watched Ziqing and Jun Beiyue in silence, and after a long moment finally muttered, “You two… don’t plan on sending me off to find Xuanyuan Lige and Meng Wanyue, do you?”