Watching the various vessels bobbing in the sea, Liang Yu couldn’t help muttering: “What a pity.” If they had directly transformed Luofu Island into a Ji artifact and taken it away after the trial, wouldn’t all these treasures have fallen into New Xia’s possession?
That was the wealth accumulated by the Mermen tribe for over a thousand years. Those countless treasures and riches would be a substantial fortune for any power.
Even Yan Kingdom would be envious, right? Yet Her Majesty had been merciful, allowing the mermen to take everything with them.
Though his voice was low, it reached Feng Miaojun’s ears on the wind. She said coolly: “One must never push too far. Always leave room for survival.”
Liang Yu lowered his head, not daring to argue, while Fu Lingchuan gave her a deep, thoughtful look.
Others might not gain such insight after living an entire lifetime, yet how old was Changle? He felt a headache coming on—this girl clearly wouldn’t be easy to control.
During the major evacuation, two enormous cranes flew in from the horizon and gracefully landed on Luofu Island.
The smaller of the two had a wingspan of sixty feet. Fu Lingchuan’s subordinates went to greet them, feeding each bird a spirit stone.
Feng Miaojun understood: “They’re here to pick us up?”
“Yes.” Fu Lingchuan smiled, “I have some connections with the monster king of West Mountain, and made arrangements in advance. He sent these two crane spirits to carry us back. With our change in plans, we’re now heading to the southern coast, which is closer.”
No wonder Fu Lingchuan had been so confident earlier, unafraid of the sea tribe’s revenge—he had prepared his escape. Feng Miaojun couldn’t help praising him: “You’ve thought of everything.”
Among the capable people she knew, Yun was the most mysterious and unpredictable, while Fu Lingchuan before her was the most meticulous and thorough in planning.
Nearby mermen also witnessed this scene. Despite their mixture of anger and hatred, they were helpless.
Amid the tense bustle, twelve hours passed.
The white cranes carried the two of them into the sky, circling a few times. Seeing Fu Lingchuan nod in approval, Feng Miaojun softly recited an incantation. Before everyone’s eyes, the massive Luofu Island began emitting wisps of blue smoke.
In an instant, the smoke increased from sparse to dense, rising straight up and regathering in Fu Lingchuan’s outstretched palm, finally transforming into a small tripod cauldron no larger than his palm.
That cauldron’s appearance was identical to the one Yun had used before, except that what churned inside wasn’t red smoke but blue vapor.
Looking at the sea surface now, it was empty, with only endless blue waves remaining.
New Xia now had its Ji artifact, while the Forbidden Sea had lost Luofu Island.
The sudden disappearance of the island created an enormous whirlpool in the sea, almost engulfing everything nearby. Fortunately, everyone else had already left, watching this scene from more than twenty miles away, all with changed expressions.
The white cranes carried only Feng Miaojun and Fu Lingchuan. The other New Xia people were still traveling by sea, slowly heading toward the southern coast.
The sea tribes didn’t misdirect their anger. Their deep hatred was only for Fu Lingchuan, so they had no intention of making things difficult for other New Xia people. Besides, the agreement between New Xia and the Merman King still had some binding effect.
The white cranes flew higher and higher, soon piercing through the cloud layer to an altitude of ten thousand miles.
It was sunrise, with auspicious rays streaming from the east. Below, rolling clouds resembled another ocean, indescribably magnificent. The white cranes soared through this sea of clouds, their wings gilded by the sunlight.
The scenery was breathtaking.
Such a beautiful sight above the clouds, she hadn’t seen since coming to this world. Ordinary people lacked the means to fly so high, and the cutting winds here could strip flesh from bone, with temperatures low enough to cause instant frost. How could normal people without protection come up here?
The rising sun was too dazzling, making her squint slightly, reflecting on the absurdity of this journey.
When An Xia Kingdom fell, Fu Lingchuan couldn’t find her, so he employed a fake Princess Changle as a replacement. Now the fake princess was dead, and the real Princess Changle had re-entered Fu Lingchuan’s sights, once again taking up the scepter of New Xia.
Feng Miaojun had fled from Yun for freedom and to escape worldly entanglements, hoping to find a pure land where she could live a carefree life. Who would have thought that through a twist of fate, after the heart-stopping events on Luofu Island, she would be forced back onto her original path?
The true Princess Changle had inherited the New Xia throne.
If one removed the countless changes of the past eight years, at first glance, it all seemed so natural.
So naturally absurd.
After all the twists and turns, everything had returned to the starting point.
It seemed as if some force in the universe was pulling her toward a predetermined fate. No matter how she struggled, she would ultimately be drawn back.
Feng Miaojun hated this lack of control over her destiny.
But what should she do in the future?
She had exposed her identity and verified it with blood for two reasons: first, fear of death; second, coveting the Golden Branch Jade Dew.
If she hadn’t stepped forward, the heavenly punishment would have killed her. If she hadn’t revealed her identity, how could she possibly obtain the Golden Branch Jade Dew, each drop worth 8,500 spirit stones? The hope of breaking the curse, however slim, was worth trying.
But the price she paid was equally heavy: between Fu Lingchuan and herself, there was no tacit understanding, only a contract. Thus, she had also sworn before the Ji artifact to devote herself to New Xia and seek the welfare of its people.
From now on, she was no longer the free-spirited Feng Miaojun. From now on, her responsibilities extended beyond her foster mother, beyond Feng Family Business.
It was hundreds of millions of acres of land and millions of common people.
What she had taken up was exactly what she had been avoiding all along.
This thing was called responsibility.
Feng Miaojun heaved a long sigh, thinking of Yun without reason.
Had his shoulders always carried such a burden? If he had always been moving forward under such weight, how could he display such uninhibited willfulness?
Flying from Luofu Island’s original position to the southern coast would take a full four days, even at the crane spirits’ speed.
During a rest stop, Fu Lingchuan chose a green-forested island to land. While the white cranes went fishing, he went alone to the other side of the island’s small mountain.
Half an hour later, thick smoke rose from there, along with a strange smell.
That smell—she had smelled it more than once after battles.
Feng Miaojun waited for a long time before walking toward the back of the mountain, just in time to see Fu Lingchuan kneeling beside a temporary wooden platform that had been burned empty on the beach, carefully placing the ashes into a small jar.
His manner was completely solemn.
Feng Miaojun stopped, watching silently. She was never good at comforting people and didn’t know what to say.
After a while, she finally broke the silence: “What was her name?”
After the cremation, the young maiden who had replaced her had turned to ashes, yet Feng Miaojun didn’t even know her name.
This young girl, in the prime of her life, had lived only as a shadow.
“Her given name was Feiyuan, but she hadn’t used it for a long time.” Fu Lingchuan said softly. “Since she was seven, we met frequently. One was a royal illegitimate daughter, one was a distant royal relative exiled to the border—we always had things to talk about.”
More than just things to talk about? Feng Miaojun understood the way the fake Princess Changle had looked at Fu Lingchuan. If not for deep love, how could she have agreed to impersonate Princess Changle, willingly risking such great controversy for Fu Lingchuan?