The moment the barrier vanished, Ziqing immediately tried to flee. But the Great Gu Master’s speed was completely beyond anything she’d expected—before she could even take a second step, the Great Gu Master was already right in front of her.

Even as a spirit, she was terrifyingly powerful!

Yet Ziqing didn’t react the way an ordinary person would—instinctively retreating. Instead, reacting with lightning speed, she pressed forward rather than backward, drawing her dagger in a flash of light and slashing viciously at the Great Gu Master’s neck.

But it was utterly useless—the Great Gu Master simply vanished into thin air, only to reappear behind her the next instant. Ziqing twisted aside just in time, narrowly avoiding being seized!

“Little girl, your skills aren’t bad at all,” the Great Gu Master sneered coldly.

“I’m already a mother—not a little girl. You misjudged me,” Ziqing said coldly. Rather than dodging, she met the Great Gu Master’s attack head-on, seizing the opportunity to search for an opening!

Of course, her goal wasn’t to defeat the Great Gu Master—that was impossible—but to find a better chance to escape, because the Great Gu Master simply could not be destroyed!

A spirit might, someday, grow weak like the Nanzhao musician had. But the Great Gu Master, as a self-cultivated human gu, possessed an extraordinarily powerful spirit!

Ziqing’s fighting style caught the Great Gu Master off guard, and in that moment of surprise, Ziqing found her opening, buying herself enough time to pull back and put real distance between them, securing herself a moment of safety.

“You’re a clever one!” The Great Gu Master’s voice turned venomous—clearly, she’d been outmaneuvered.

Ziqing narrowed her eyes at her, while glancing sidelong at the gate of the forbidden palace nearby. She no longer had any hope in Xinyun—her only remaining hope now was Nangong Jun, trapped within that palace!

Only Nangong Jun could persuade Xinyun, and if Xinyun could be persuaded, perhaps they could find a way to escape and bring back reinforcements!

Ziqing simply refused to believe that she, Jun Beiyue, Xuanyuan Lige, and Baili Weisheng together couldn’t handle the Great Gu Master somehow!

Even if they couldn’t kill her, they could still escape together!

If they all fled together to the isolated island, the Great Gu Master would be powerless against them there!

Xinyun really was hopelessly foolish!

At this point, Ziqing had no time to think further. Glancing at the palace gate, then back at the Great Gu Master, she reached for something hidden in her sleeve, and a plan suddenly came to her.

Facing the Great Gu Master’s oncoming attack, she stood completely still.

The Great Gu Master couldn’t figure out what Ziqing was up to, but disdained her all the same, closing in on her quickly. Yet, strangely, this time, before the Great Gu Master could even seize her, Ziqing instead grabbed hold of her black robe and yanked it upward in an instant!

In that split second, Ziqing had clearly hidden something wrapped inside the black robe—something the Great Gu Master hadn’t noticed.

Having her robe torn away, the Great Gu Master flew into a rage, her blood-red eyes fixed on Ziqing, letting her flee far away.

Without her black robe, the Great Gu Master’s true face was revealed—her features utterly ruined, her body severely deformed. Without looking closely, it would be hard to even tell male from female; judging solely by her build, one would take her for a man!

The intense poison within a human gu’s body, given enough time, naturally causes the body to transform—even into something monstrous.

Having self-cultivated as a human gu for so long, how could she possibly not have changed!

Holding the black robe, Ziqing looked at her coldly and laughed loudly. “So ugly!”

“You—!” The Great Gu Master was clearly deeply sensitive about her appearance—otherwise, she wouldn’t have kept herself covered head to toe in black all this time. “Truly hideous!” Ziqing said provocatively, then flung the black robe hard back at her. Furious as she was, the Great Gu Master immediately seized it, fumbling in her haste to put it back on—but just then, a small black sphere suddenly dropped from within the robe and landed at her feet.

The Great Gu Master looked down, suspicious. A flash of coldness crossed Ziqing’s eyes, and without warning, she grabbed Xinyun beside her and instantly flashed to the front of the forbidden palace gate. Almost simultaneously, a deafening “boom” rang out—the bomb had exploded.

Being a spirit, the explosion couldn’t kill her, but it could buy Ziqing the time she needed.

This bomb was one she’d always kept on her person for emergency self-defense. Back when surrounded by poison corpses, Jun Beiyue had been so panicked his mind had gone completely blank, forgetting entirely that she carried such a useful item on her. This time, she’d managed to stay calm enough not to forget!

The blast didn’t kill the Great Gu Master, but it did leave her dazed. Ziqing dragged the stunned Xinyun along, shouting urgently, “Tell me, how do I open this door!”

Xinyun truly was stunned—she never could have imagined Han Ziqing had such tremendous ability—no, such cleverness. For a moment, she couldn’t even manage to answer.

But there was no time to spare for her to collect herself. Ziqing, growing desperate, pinched Xinyun’s cheek hard, finally snapping her out of it. “What did you say?”

But it was already too late. As the white smoke cleared, the Great Gu Master, seemingly gone mad, came charging at them furiously.

Ziqing had no time to worry about anything else. She grabbed hold of the seventy-seven-hole lock on the forbidden palace gate and yanked at it with all her strength. Almost simultaneously, Xinyun suddenly turned and charged straight at the Great Gu Master, shouting as she went, “Han Ziqing, save him—consider it my debt to you!”

If she’d known this all along, why hadn’t she done it sooner?

At that moment, Ziqing truly wanted to curse her out, but she had no time for that either. Gripping the seventy-seven-hole lock, she yanked at it with all her might!

Sure enough—she truly was the exception, the real exception!

The moment she pulled, the seventy-seven-hole lock simply snapped, and instantly, the gate of the forbidden palace swung open.

Yet Ziqing didn’t step inside. Instead, she spun around to look at Xinyun—only to find Xinyun dangling in midair, throat clenched in the Great Gu Master’s grip!

She couldn’t die, couldn’t even lose her breath completely, yet she had to endure this sensation of being on the very brink of suffocation—a fate worse than death!

Yet even so, Xinyun still struggled desperately to turn her head, straining with the corner of her eye to look toward the forbidden palace, hoping to see the person she’d waited so many years for finally appear!

Tears clearly streamed from the corners of her eyes, and Ziqing knew—if she could, Xinyun would surely be smiling right now!

A foolish woman who lived only for love could never truly be blamed! She would always be someone to feel for, someone to ache for!

“Let her go! Come at me if you dare!” Ziqing—perhaps she’d simply been born with the bearing of a fierce elder sister—could never stand to see another woman bullied, especially one she genuinely respected.

With that, she charged forward. In truth, when it came to the Great Gu Master, all she really knew how to do was dodge—she had no idea what she’d actually do once she charged in. If it were a poison corpse, she could fight it down, but the Great Gu Master was a human gu! Ziqing had always been confident, but she wasn’t arrogant—she knew perfectly well she couldn’t defeat this woman.

But she charged forward anyway.

Seeing Ziqing charging at her, the Great Gu Master, rather than releasing Xinyun, lashed out at Ziqing with her free hand—clearly, Ziqing had thoroughly infuriated her.

But just then, a streak of blue suddenly flashed past from behind Ziqing. Before Ziqing could even make out who it was, Xinyun, throat still clenched in the Great Gu Master’s grip, somehow found the strength from who knew where to wrench herself free, collapsing to the ground before scrambling up like a madwoman and charging straight toward the figure in blue!

Yet when she finally reached him, she did nothing at all—not even an embrace. She simply stopped short, gasping for breath, her face deathly pale, and broke into a foolish, helpless smile…