It was these people who conspired together to kill that young girl. Why do they still have the audacity to stand before me today, loudly questioning me?

How absurd this world is. Just because he has been hurt and deceived before, must he choose to abandon all people under heaven like a turtle?

Suspicious points everywhere, ironclad evidence like a mountain! But Chu Li, I was by your side for so long—did I ever do anything that harmed you? How could someone like me be your enemy?

Qing Xia slowly stood up, her gaze firmly fixed on the glowing red charcoal fire. She absolutely would not allow herself to be so cowardly. She had endured for too long and could no longer continue to bear it. These executioners, waving the banner of avenging the dead, so easily forgot who it was that put Zhuang Qingxia in that desperate situation where she died alone.

The one who killed that gentle young girl was not Concubine Dan, not Nanchu’s man-eating harem, and certainly not some nonsensical fate. It was those seemingly righteous, indignantly sorrowful, apparently grief-stricken close relatives.

With a swish, the tent flap was suddenly swept aside. Qing Xia turned to look and saw Mu Lian dressed entirely in black, her face snow-white, her eyes coldly stern as she stood at the entrance, asking in an icy voice: “Are you a Xiongnu person?”

Qing Xia was filled with rage. Seeing this uninvited guest suddenly arrive, her expression immediately turned cold and cruel. She glanced at her coldly, her eyes sweeping sideways over this woman who was full of hostility from their first meeting, saying in a frigid voice: “If you have nothing else to do, I advise you to leave immediately.”

Mu Lian remained unmoved, her face like frozen ice without a trace of expression. She only said coldly: “I don’t care who you are. Right now, His Highness has become enemies with three kingdoms because of you, and military conflict could break out at any time. If you truly care for His Highness, you should not continue to seek shelter in the Yan Character Camp.”

Qing Xia slowly turned her head aside, saying coldly: “What position are you in? Whether Qin Zhiyan has the ability to protect me, whether he’s willing to protect me—that’s not for you to meddle in. You can’t be so naive as to think that just a few boring angry words can drive me away.”

Mu Lian showed no anger, still maintaining her cold expression, saying slowly: “His Highness is different from Yan Hui and the others. Nanchu’s Great Emperor now holds all power, controlling all authority in the Chu Kingdom, acting without restraint. Qi’an is the Crown Prince of Eastern Qi; most of his family members are incompetent and have made no enemies. Although Yan Hui is not of Xichuan’s royal blood, he is the beloved nephew of Xichuan’s Empress and enjoys great favor. If these three unite and petition our Great Emperor, His Highness cannot protect you. Do you think the Great Emperor would agree to let His Highness bring back to the palace someone whose relationships with many people are unclear and whose identity is suspicious?”

Qing Xia laughed coldly, her eyes glancing indifferently at Mu Lian, saying in a deep voice: “You needn’t waste your breath. I will not leave alone before seeing Qin Zhiyan. Even if everything you say is true, I must hear it from his own lips before I’ll believe it. When soldiers come, generals will block them; when water comes, earth will dam it. Troubles are naturally meant to be solved—I have more confidence in this than anyone.”

Mu Lian paused slightly, looking at Qing Xia and suddenly nodding. She turned to leave, but after thinking, suddenly stopped, turned back, and said coldly: “Don’t you think it’s been a long time since you’ve seen that brother of yours with the excellent medical skills?”

The tent flap brushed closed. Qing Xia stood in place, her chest slowly rising and falling. Finally, she threw on her heavy fur coat and walked out.

Just as a great battle was about to fizzle out, Ban Bu’er and the others were sulking in their tent when Qing Xia suddenly swept aside the curtain. Her heart immediately constricted.

“Where is Xi Linchen?”

Everyone was startled. Li Xian hurriedly answered: “Xi Linchen left last night. Didn’t you know, Xia Qing?”

“Left?” Qing Xia flew into a rage, angrily demanding: “Where did he go? Who did he leave with? Why didn’t anyone tell me?”

Ban Bu’er frowned, saying gravely: “Last night you were in His Highness’s tent. Xi Linchen waited for you outside the tent for three hours, but the guards wouldn’t let him in. Later he left with people from Nanchu.”

“Nanchu?”

“Yes!” Na Keduo was the most thoughtless and didn’t notice anything wrong with Qing Xia’s expression, still answering loudly: “It turns out Xi Linchen is the young master of a wealthy Nanchu family. He never registered for military service here originally, so he just left directly without anyone stopping him.”

Qing Xia’s steps immediately staggered, and she nearly fell to the ground. Could there still be surviving members of the Xi Lin family? If this child rashly went to assassinate Chu Li, where would there be any path to survival?

“Xia Qing! Where are you going?” Several people saw Qing Xia turn and rush out of the tent, calling out loudly.

Qing Xia ran back to her tent, struggling to calm her chaotic breathing and thoughts. Right now was when she absolutely could not panic. She was currently sheltering in the Yan Character Camp, and to avoid bringing unnecessary trouble to Qin Zhiyan, every move had to be careful. Qing Xia calmed her mind and walked to a chest beside her tent, slowly opening it.

Black night clothes, face-covering veil, ink-colored armor vest similar to a bulletproof vest, soft-padded boots that made no sound when walking, a waist pouch containing twenty exquisite willow-leaf throwing knives, four cold, gleaming daggers strapped respectively under both arms and in her boots, climbing hooks and chains hanging at her waist, plus flint, steel spikes, iron wire, and a series of other small implements.

Having equipped all of this, Qing Xia slowly straightened up. The black headwrap covered her flowing long hair, and the black night clothes accentuated her curvaceous figure. Everything proceeded in complete silence. Qing Xia lifted the tent flap, and in just a flash, disappeared silently into the night. Running, leaping over tent after tent, climbing up masts, lightly springing to grab another mast, sliding down, consecutively avoiding three teams of Qin night patrols, she easily and ghostlike exited the Yan Character camp, heading toward the Nanchu camp southeast of the Yan Character camp.

The four-kingdom hunt was not warfare, so each brought only a modest number of troops. Moreover, aside from the recent incident involving Qing Xia and Nanjiang, although the four kingdoms engaged in open and covert struggles, they had not fought for nearly a hundred years. Therefore, the distance between the two camps was not very far. In half an hour, the Nanchu camp was already visible in the distance.

Chu Li was a person without any sense of security, so the Chu camp’s defenses had reached an almost flawless level. Within a hundred meters outside the camp was a stretch of wasteland with patches of white snow scattered throughout. Nanchu’s hidden sentries were concealed with extreme secrecy, but this time they encountered the ancestor of stealth. With just a general sweep, Qing Xia had already discovered approximately thirty-plus hidden sentry positions. Arrows glinted, iron armor sparkled with color, the interval between sentries was less than twenty meters, and they exchanged coded signals with each other at regular intervals. If one position had trouble, it would quickly affect the entire Nanchu camp. With such defenses, whether sneaking in stealthily or forcing entry with violence, there was no opportunity.

If the ground route wouldn’t work, she could only plan something from above.

A pair of sharp eyes swept toward the sky and noticed an ancient, towering pine tree standing majestically. Shifting her gaze, she saw that not far from the pine tree was a tall drum platform, rising high outside the Chu camp. By visual estimation, it was twelve meters high, with approximately eight meters between it and the roughly fifteen-meter giant tree. At the eight o’clock position from the drum platform were tall masts spaced five meters apart, extending all the way to the flagpole inside the camp—a total of eight poles.

Target locked. It seemed unavoidable that she would have to become an aerial acrobat.

Qing Xia crouched low and quickly reached the base of the giant tree. Her body immediately became as agile and nimble as a wildcat, swiftly climbing up with a swooshing sound. The time didn’t exceed one minute—she was truly an expert tree climber.

She tore off a piece of cloth and wrapped it around the front end of the hook and chain to prevent making noise when it landed at the target point, while also preventing the hook from slipping. Qing Xia crouched in the giant tree, quietly waiting. Suddenly, she heard a wild wind rising from the ground, with snowflakes swirling backward in the sky and grass rustling everywhere. If not now, when? Qing Xia swung the hook and chain, and the rope seemed to have eyes, precisely catching on the drum platform. The opportunity was fleeting and wouldn’t come again. Qing Xia made her decision instantly. A graceful, elegant arc suddenly glided through the air above, landing accurately on the drum platform and instantly disappearing.

The entire movement took less than two seconds. Even if someone were so unlucky as to look up at that exact moment, they would only think their eyes were playing tricks and wouldn’t investigate further. Besides, with heavy snow falling and wild wind swirling, making it impossible to keep one’s eyes open, Qing Xia had favorable weather and terrain conditions on her side—everything went very smoothly.

However, before Qing Xia could catch her breath, a beam of firelight suddenly shone in her direction. Qing Xia frowned, not expecting that even this drum platform had hidden sentries. She didn’t dare risk eliminating the guard because she couldn’t be sure whether there was some communication system between here and outside that operated every few minutes. She immediately crouched low and floated downward, grabbing the drum platform’s railing with one hand, her body flashing outward, her entire person suspended in mid-air, clinging like a gecko beneath the drum platform, separated from the guard by only a thick wooden board.

She executed this series of concealment moves with precision, her timing impeccable, her mastery of sight angles perfect. Seeing no unusual activity, the guard returned to the sheltered side of the drum platform and sat down.

Qing Xia carefully crouched and turned back onto the platform. She was only steps away from the man. Her soft-padded boots made no sound on the ground, moving like a phantom, silently approaching the eight o’clock direction.

Throwing the hook, securing it, swinging across—after five consecutive leaps, Qing Xia finally landed steadily beneath the flagpole in the very center of the Nanchu camp, with the Nanchu banner fluttering fiercely overhead. She crouched half-prone on the ground, her chest heaving violently, her arms slightly numb.

Qing Xia quietly squatted in the shadows, waiting for her strength to recover. If the outer perimeter had such tight defenses, the interior was even more imaginable. Qing Xia decided to hold her position first, observe clearly, then decide on her next move!

Inside the outward-pointing spiked fence was a field of white snow. Throughout the camp, every five steps had a huge torch, every twenty steps had a bright military lamp. All trees had been cleared away, providing an unobstructed view with complete guard posts, strict vigilance, and brilliant lighting. Directly east, one hundred steps from the flagpole, was an array of snow-white tents that all looked identical without any special decorations. The arrangement wasn’t in a star-surrounding-moon pattern either, making it difficult to determine which tent belonged to Chu Li.