No movement, silent as the moonlight.

“Don’t think my Moon-Breaking Arrow can’t shoot through this broken wall. I’ll count to three. If you don’t come out, prepare to taste what it’s like to have an arrow pierce your throat.” Yunhua sneered coldly, “When you become a new ghost in the underworld, don’t blame me.”

Wind swirled close to the ground, lifting fallen leaves with rustling sounds.

A flash of anger crossed Yunhua’s eyes. She stopped talking and said coldly, “One…”

Whoosh!

Behind the tree at her side, at waist height, a slender black shadow suddenly swept across horizontally, striking her viciously with a thud.

Buzz!

The fully drawn bow was immediately knocked away, and three arrows shot out wildly like fireworks. With three dull, powerful thuds, all three arrows embedded in the low wall. The solid blue bricks crumbled like rotten wood with gray smoke scattering, small brick fragments flying in all directions. The low wall was immediately pierced with a large hole.

Yunhua fell backward.

That black shadow, after striking Yunhua with a thud, immediately spread its arms and used all four limbs to pin her down. The left hand pressed against her ribs, the right hand gripped her back, the left leg curved up to press against her kneecap – a completely clinging yet restricting position that left her unable to move at all.

Yunhua never expected someone to burst out from that position beside her. Caught completely off guard, she was struck dizzy and before she could react, was already subdued.

Biting her lip hard and glaring at Qin Chang Ge, she said, “Good… good… you’re impressive…”

Smiling quite “bashfully,” Qin Chang Ge said, “Sorry about that. I got tired of waiting. If I waited for you to count to three, this old man’s waist would break.”

Just now, she hadn’t hidden behind the low wall at all, but had used that rolling moment to swiftly move behind the tree.

The tree trunk wasn’t thick enough to naturally conceal her form, nor had she planned to hide conventionally – that method was too old-fashioned, wasn’t it? She planted one foot on a scarred depression in the tree trunk, stretched her body diagonally, and placed her other foot on the low wall behind her. This way, she was sideways behind the tree. A person’s front and side widths are naturally different, especially with her slender build and tight black clothing. The tree trunk was positioned at a slightly skewed angle to Yunhua’s perspective, and with various interwoven shadows mottled on the ground, from Yunhua’s angle it was a blind spot. At a glance, her form couldn’t be seen at all, while the little bit of shadow that did show was perfectly concealed by the low wall’s shadow.

When Yunhua counted to three, normally she would be most alert on the third count, but most relaxed on the first. In her previous life watching television, Qin Chang Ge had always found it amusing why those people forced to reveal themselves by enemy counting always waited until the third count to come out. You should know that the first and second counts are thinking time the enemy gives you – when he thinks you’re considering, that’s when his own guard is most relaxed.

The moment the first count left his lips, she used her toes as an axis and her own body as a weapon, hurling herself in a fierce 180-degree strike!

Yunhua had been hit by a “human club.”

Qin Chang Ge, who disliked playing by conventional rules, smiled cheerfully as she stared into Yunhua’s pupils, “Beauty, why are you making things difficult for this young scholar?”

With a sneer, Yunhua said, “Young scholar? What are you pretending? You think I don’t know who you are?”

“Oh…” Qin Chang Ge knew that bookworm had indeed told Xiao Chen, or was deliberately waiting here for her. But to actually calculate which path she’d take? Quite impressive. “Who am I?”

“Little widow or great talent?” Yunhua glanced at her sideways, “Your act is quite convincing.”

“I don’t understand what you mean,” Qin Chang Ge shook her head with a smile, “No wonder you’re embracing me so intimately yet feel no shame – you think I’m a woman? A little widow? I do have some interest in little widows – ripe peaches are the most fresh and juicy. But for half-opened delicate flowers like you, this young scholar is even more eager… even more than I was eager to come to Prince Zhao’s mansion to borrow the Xuanji Jade Manual this time… Oh beauty, whether male or female, one test will reveal all… Come, come feel.”

As she spoke, she pressed her right knee against Yunhua’s Huantiao acupoint, freed one hand, and grabbed Yunhua’s hand to pull it toward her own chest.

Eyes widening, Yunhua’s usually steady face finally gradually showed terror and panic… Could the prince have been wrong? Could she have guessed wrong too? Was he really not that woman Shen Wuxin disguised as a man? If it really were a woman, would she act so boldly and brazenly?

She bit her lip and used all her remaining strength to desperately pull her hand back. Qin Chang Ge immediately let go, and with a slap, Yunhua’s momentum carried her hand back to strike her own face, immediately leaving five slender finger marks.

Smiling as she looked down at her, Qin Chang Ge shook her head, “Tsk tsk, if you don’t want to touch, don’t touch. Was it necessary to slap yourself? So protective of your virtue? Are you Prince Zhao’s chamber maid? However, this young scholar’s physique is truly robust, much better than that sickly prince. The prince only has good looks, but this young scholar has something even better than his… Beauty, you’re so charming, how can you let that invalid waste you? Really don’t want to try?”

Anger flared in her eyes, and Yunhua’s dark pupils became even more crystal bright and compelling, but instantly that anger was suppressed. She pondered for a long while, then smiled faintly, “I have no interest in touching you. You’re not worth even one finger of the prince. If I really touched you, whichever finger touched you, I’d cut off that finger.”

“Oh?” Qin Chang Ge looked her up and down, “Devoted, a devoted lover!”

While speaking frivolously and talking nonsense, trying to make Yunhua abandon her guess that she was Shen Wuxin, secretly Qin Chang Ge was also anxious. She had subdued her just now, but her internal cultivation was incomplete and she couldn’t precisely penetrate her acupoints. Gathering that pitiful bit of internal energy to try entering Yunhua’s acupoints, the other party’s internal energy was strong and strange. Her meager internal energy, encountering it, was truly like an ant hitting a wall or a mantis trying to stop a chariot – instantly neutralized. She dared not try more, afraid Yunhua would discover she had no internal energy and couldn’t actually control her vital points. Otherwise, if she counterattacked, Qin Chang Ge would be in serious trouble.

Glancing at the moon’s shadow movement, much time had already been wasted. If the mansion guards arrived later, she’d be finished.

Turning to glance at Yunhua’s expression, she saw her looking angry and frustrated, chest heaving, eyes fixed on the ground beside them, seemingly incredibly furious. She couldn’t help but be startled – hadn’t this girl always been calm and cold? How was she so angry now? What had she just said?

Devoted lover?

Suddenly moved, Qin Chang Ge immediately raised her eyebrows and smiled, “Devoted lover, with such beauty as yours, your prince must love you dearly, right? A golden house to hide his beauty? Daily pleasures? Tsk tsk, when will you be made a consort? Would this young scholar have the honor of drinking a cup of wedding wine?”

…

A blue shadow flashed, and Yunhua suddenly leaped straight up. At the same time, Qin Chang Ge’s fingers had already rapidly struck several of her major acupoints!

Yunhua, subjected to another sneak attack, was flushed red all over. In mid-air, she widened her eyes, full of hatred, and suddenly shouted, “Swift!”

Slight hissing sounds arose, and in the darkness, faint five-colored light swirled like glazed glass, spinning like silk.

The light expanded, and with a muffled grunt, Qin Chang Ge felt as if struck by a giant hammer in the chest. Blood immediately flowed from the corner of her mouth, and her fingers touching the acupoints were shocked away as if encountering resistance!

In the night’s silence, crackling sounds could be heard. The fingers Qin Chang Ge had used to strike were making strange noises, sounds like bones slowly fracturing. At the fingertips, even more bizarrely, they began slowly twisting, as if invisible demons in the darkness were grinning while wrenching her fingers.

Another muffled grunt, and Qin Chang Ge’s usually calm face showed rare distortion, while Yunhua’s eyes blazed with fierce light as she opened her mouth to shriek!

Eyes urgent, Qin Chang Ge was anxious but not panicked. Focusing on that colored silk, her gaze suddenly flashed. She quickly thrust her fingers into the ground, and the crackling stopped immediately. Then she bit her tongue tip and sprayed out a mist of blood. The faint red light met the colored qi silk, immediately entangling into a mass of black. Qin Chang Ge swiftly pulled out her hand, and her mud-covered fingers, like lightning, pierced through the black mist around Yunhua’s body and thrust into her acupoints!

All this happened in just an instant.

Bang!

The body that had leaped into mid-air immediately fell back down like a dead fish, heavily hitting the ground.

Fallen on the ground, Yunhua was covered head to face with stirred-up dust but didn’t care, her eyes showing shock beyond acceptance, “You… how did you know…”

Qin Chang Ge thrust those fingers into the muddy ground again and sneered, “I never expected that in the dignified Prince Zhao’s mansion, there would be demons from Nanmin’s Colored Voodoo Cult. Wasn’t your sect exterminated five years ago? Someone actually survived! You’ve cultivated the five colors – your status isn’t low. Are you a saint maiden or a cult aunt?”

“You actually know so clearly,” Yunhua gritted her teeth, “…I cannot let you live…”

“I cannot let you live either,” Qin Chang Ge looked down at her, her pupils reflecting deep light, “How prosperous was my Zhongchuan in the past? If not for your Colored Voodoo Cult’s chaos, using bone-gnawing seduction arts to bewitch our ruler, making him confused and ruining the country, how would Zhongchuan have been gradually devoured by your Nanmin and Xiliang, until now cowering among the nations, compromising to survive, constantly facing the danger of national destruction? You damned demons who deserve to die ten thousand times!”

“You’re not that Shen Wuxin…” Yunhua’s eyes suddenly turned deep green and demonic, like ghost fire, “You’re from Zhongchuan, who are you?”

The last sentence was low and hoarse, like night crickets singing, low and prolonged.

“Don’t use your tired sorcery on me,” Qin Chang Ge shouted low, cutting off her voice, “Shut up.”

She struck heavily at the back of Yunhua’s head with her palm, and Yunhua immediately fainted.

With a thud, Qin Chang Ge also sat down on the ground.

Sweat soaked her clothes.

After a long while, she barely managed to lift her hand to wipe the sweat, incidentally looking at her fingers whose joints had become somewhat deformed, and smiled bitterly, murmuring, “Next time, never come out to fight without martial arts…”

Earlier, she had touched Yunhua’s weak spot and used words to provoke her qi to go astray, causing her to angrily leap up. Taking advantage of that moment when all her true qi left the protective acupoints, she gathered all her strength and used internal energy to seal her major acupoints in time.

Unexpectedly, Yunhua had a final trump card – her “Glazed Colored Voodoo,” cultivated from “Glazed Dragonflies” in Nanmin’s most dangerous and mysterious valley, “Nine Netherworld Valley.” Those affected would have their bones shattered and twisted until death, dying in extreme agony.

This thing feared nothing except earth. It lived year-round in tree holes, never touching ground, and blood-soaked earth especially had restraining effects on it. This voodoo, along with the Colored Voodoo Cult, had once been powerful but extremely mysterious. Unless one was among the high-level decision-makers of various nations, few knew its details. Qin Chang Ge naturally knew of it. She had never directly faced members of this cult, but the Colored Voodoo Cult’s destruction had her handiwork in it.

But that was another story from the past.

So just now, in that instant, seeing that glazed, colorless silk, she suddenly remembered this supposedly extinct sect’s signature skill and timely thrust her fingers into earth. Otherwise, today she would inevitably have died by Yunhua’s hand.

The Colored Voodoo Cult actually hadn’t been destroyed – how many of them remained? Why had they infiltrated Xiliang? Qin Chang Ge didn’t plan to confront this sinister cult now. Zhongchuan and the Colored Voodoo were mortal enemies – she’d borrow this for now.

A wisp of floating clouds obscured the moonlight, and heaven and earth darkened. Qin Chang Ge dared not delay further and dragged Yunhua behind the low wall.

Wait to be discovered in three to five days, before you starve to death.

Clapping her hands, Qin Chang Ge abandoned the idea of killing Yunhua. First, with Glazed Colored Voodoo cultivated to five colors, those who killed the voodoo master were extremely likely to be attacked by the already spiritually aware demon voodoo breaking through the body. With her current martial arts, she dared not act rashly. Second, with the Colored Voodoo Cult lurking in the shadows, keeping Yunhua as a clue would ultimately be useful.

Moonlight shone on Yunhua’s body, showing her curvaceous, beautiful lines. Qin Chang Ge thought of the legendary Colored Voodoo beauties who had caused the downfall of nations, able to make rulers who had seen all kinds of beauty abandon their kingdoms for them. What kind of charming demeanor must they have had? Examining Yunhua’s figure, Qin Chang Ge smiled and whistled softly.

“Beauty, do you know how I discovered you behind the tree? Actually… it’s because your figure is too good…”

She smiled as she gently rubbed around Yunhua’s neck, then tore off a mask thin as cicada wings…

!!!

The treacherous and fierce Empress of Xiliang was stunned like a wooden chicken for the first time in three lifetimes, standing frozen in the darkness.

After a long moment.

“…Even transmigration can encounter bootleg versions!!!”

The hour was truly late – if she didn’t leave now, it would be too late. With a strange expression, Qin Chang Ge reluctantly let go, turned, and left. Soon reaching the pavilion area, she saw guards coming and going, maintaining normal watch.

Looking at the moonlight and calculating directions, she took out a silver needle prepared long ago and stuck it in the ground. After a brief moment, she saw the moonlight gradually move west, aligning with the needle to create a long black shadow, cold light flashing.

Qin Chang Ge immediately threw the round stones from her palm, creating a series of tapping sounds, reflecting moonlight brilliantly.

Eastern wood, southern fire, central earth, western metal, northern water.

Trees, lanterns, ground, copper wind chimes, lotus pond.

The flying pavilion as pivot, the long corridor as axis, double lines intersecting.

Five directions corresponding to five elements.

The sky suddenly darkened.

As if black mist rose from the ground, or as if a dark haze covered people’s eyes, guards who heard sounds and came to investigate suddenly felt darkness before their eyes and dizziness in their heads.

Those positioned in the west saw towering giant trees appear before them, dense forest all around. Those in the south suddenly felt flames burning their bodies, great fires pressing in. Those in the west felt cold wind striking their faces, ten thousand swords attacking together. Those in the north stared dumbfounded at suddenly surging mountainous waves.

Meanwhile, Qin Chang Ge had already flashed past the long corridor, heading straight for the pavilion center.

This was a simplified version of the “Moon Demon Array.” Qin Chang Ge actually didn’t want to use it – this formation had been used by Empress Ruiyi many years ago, and she really didn’t want people to connect her with Ruiyi. However, tonight’s unexpected defenses forced her to act.

Her figure flashed continuously, reaching the pavilion center. Without even hesitating, her gaze turned and she immediately jumped onto the pavilion railing, her fingertips hooking the higher-positioned blue and white porcelain lamp, gently pulling.

With grinding sounds, the ground suddenly split in two, revealing black stairs. If Qin Chang Ge had still been standing in the pavilion, she would have fallen in.

Frowning, Qin Chang Ge was slightly stunned. She had originally thought that with the pavilion floor raised, at most some things would be hidden in the raised area. She hadn’t expected another underground passage. Should she go down or not?

She could still retreat now, but in another moment, when the moonlight shifted, the formation would lose its effect and she wouldn’t be able to leave.

But returning empty-handed had never been Qin Chang Ge’s style. Since she had already alerted the guards, after tonight, attempting any further action would certainly be doubly difficult.

The secret door opened for a fixed time, then slowly closed again.

Just before the door closed, Qin Chang Ge flashed and entered the passage.

Standing on the stairs, Qin Chang Ge didn’t immediately go down. She closed her eyes in the darkness and began thinking about why Xiao Chen had originally chosen to host guests at Zuixin Pavilion.

Of course, when Xiao Chen hosted guests, he didn’t know her identity, but there were so many places in Prince Zhao’s mansion suitable for entertaining guests – why choose the Zuixin Pavilion which secretly contained mechanisms and hidden passages?

The other day, Qin Chang Ge had visited Wen Zhengting and learned from him that Xiao Chen didn’t host banquets for all newcomers, but whenever he did host banquets, they were always at Zuixin Pavilion.

Why?

Below Zuixin Pavilion, there was another world.

All those guests Xiao Chen found suspicious had received the honor of royal banquets at Zuixin Pavilion. The honored guests enjoying the feast would never imagine that somewhere in the pavilion, elite eyes were secretly observing their every move.

Those who didn’t pass the test probably wouldn’t remain in Prince Zhao’s mansion until the second day.

The coming and going of guests at Prince Zhao’s mansion was quite free – if someone went missing, no one would be surprised.

With her incomplete internal cultivation yet exceptional disguise skills, that night Qin Chang Ge had either avoided detection or was still under observation, awaiting her next move. It seemed after tonight, she absolutely couldn’t stay any longer.

So, in other words, where this secret passage actually led was quite worth investigating.

If she accidentally stumbled into Prince Zhao’s privately kept death warrior expert group’s stronghold, with Qin Chang Ge’s current abilities, she absolutely couldn’t escape alive.

After thinking, Qin Chang Ge used round stones to test the path, finding no traps, which further confirmed this was just a passage. She slowly walked down, stopping at the first fork.

In this moment, Prince Zhao’s mansion’s layout flowed through Qin Chang Ge’s mind.

The vast mansion’s architectural layout map slowly unfolded before her eyes: main hall, rear hall, sleeping hall, east and west courtyards, reception halls, front courtyard, inner courtyard, gardens… Zuixin Pavilion was right in the center!

Lighting a fire stick and looking left and right, based on the fork distribution, she finally determined this secret passage had a well-shaped structure, with Zuixin Pavilion as the axis, connecting four endpoints. These should be Xiao Chen’s sleeping hall, study, west courtyard servants’ quarters, and the last place Qin Chang Ge thought about for a long time – she vaguely remembered it should be empty land with some shrubs and weeds, supposedly originally a small garden that had gradually become abandoned.

These last two places probably couldn’t be visited.

With her plan decided, Qin Chang Ge headed directly toward the study.

Part of the passage should be underwater, then slanting upward. The four walls were pitch black, built with blue bricks mixed with rice paste, extremely solid.

In her previous life, though Qin Chang Ge had come to Xiao Chen’s mansion, she hadn’t carefully examined it. This secret passage didn’t seem like something that could be completed in just three to five years. Qin Chang Ge recalled that Prince Zhao’s mansion’s original site was the former Yuan Wing Prince’s residence, meaning this secret passage must have existed long ago, only discovered and renovated by Xiao Chen for his use.

But why would a wealthy prince who didn’t participate in government affairs spend such great effort on such a massive project?

In the flickering firelight, Qin Chang Ge smiled, and ahead there was no more path.

Feeling around the seemingly smooth four walls, she vaguely touched a painting beneath her palm. The outline was rough and strange, completely unlike Prince Zhao’s style, more like totemic patterns of the former Yuan royal family from the grassland Hassan. This further confirmed Qin Chang Ge’s guess. Her fingers carefully felt along – it was a woman’s face with a mole between her eyebrows. She pressed the mole, but nothing happened. Qin Chang Ge thought, then felt to the eyebrow side, finding a slight protrusion. Gently pressing it, the wall suddenly moved, revealing a sliver of light.

It was lamplight.

Shining through green gauze screens, washed by the light green bamboo-patterned gauze curtains, by the time it reached the secret passage exit below the couch, it was a pale green color. The ground reflected elegant bamboo shadows like an impressionistic floral painting with clear, handsome brushwork.

In front of the silk-embroidered bird and fish golden screen, two tall shadows were faintly visible. One person had long hair flowing loose, wide robes with large sleeves, elegant and refined bearing. Walking with sleeves flowing in the wind and clear, upright posture – solemn as wind beneath pines, bright as moon in the forest, like a noble scholar pure as snow, crystal clear and flawless.

The other was tall and straight with a slender waist and long arms, golden crown, jade belt, brocade robes, and bright pearls. His profile was distinct and handsome, every line seemingly bathed in immortal favor, having experienced creation’s caresses, brilliant as golden light in fierce fire – perfectly noble and perfect like a god.

The Xiao brothers, emperor and prince.

Qin Chang Ge’s current position was below the couch, her form completely concealed by the low couch. She shouldn’t be discovered by those two, but immediately crept quietly from under the couch, held her breath, scanned around, and silently moved behind the curtains.

She slowly controlled her breathing. Her sect’s breathing method was extremely special, almost soundless, excellent for concealed existence. Those curtains reached the ground, hanging in heavy layers, wrapping around someone with her slender frame without a trace. Though the curtains were at the inner and outer doors and looked quite conspicuous, actually according to blind spot theory, the most conspicuous places were the safest. This was the same principle as sitting at the door position yet being least likely to be seen doing something.

From the appearance of unfamiliar guards, Qin Chang Ge had already guessed Xiao Jue had come. With Xiao Chen recently ill, his secret visit was reasonable. The activation of the Zuixin Pavilion formation just now would surely be reported by guards soon. With Xiao Chen’s carefulness, he would definitely think someone had infiltrated the secret passage and would certainly send people to check all passage exits. So staying under the couch was absolutely impossible.

When they discovered no one under the couch, following habitual thinking, they definitely wouldn’t easily think she was still in this room and would assume she hadn’t taken this route. Then the most dangerous place would also be the safest.

Qin Chang Ge pressed tightly against the pillar behind her and suddenly felt something strange at her back – the area her back touched had a faint protrusion.