The man in brocade was a master at manipulating people’s hearts. He understood human nature deeply and knew exactly how to strike at vulnerabilities.

Two choices—it seemed like no thought was required. The man in brocade had even selected her excuse and escape route for her. She could convince herself she had done her best and could leave without any burden. She would no longer owe Pei Shu any favor, and she had made an effort for his life.

One path was open, free, and bright; the other was eternal burden and darkness.

Really, no need to think about it.

She slowly stood up. Behind her, the man in brocade’s lips curved in a mocking smile.

All people were like this—every sacrifice was built on the premise of considering one’s own interests first.

Meng Potian walked to the door. The man in brocade’s smile deepened.

Meng Potian suddenly slammed the door shut with force.

“Bang!” The door nearly broke the noses of the man in brocade and his guards…

The man in brocade stepped back, touching his nose, staring at the door with some surprise.

Zhongwen couldn’t help but say, “Hey, what do you mean by that?”

The door was yanked open again with force, revealing Meng Potian’s fierce expression, “Warm water! Clean white cloth! The best wound medicine, quickly!”

Smack—the door slammed shut again, breaking Zhongwen’s nose. Zhongwen wiped the blood from his nose and said angrily, “Who are you? Why should we listen to you…”

The man in brocade waved his hand, and he immediately fell silent.

“Give her whatever she wants.” The man in brocade returned to his room with an inexplicable smile, sitting on his couch. He didn’t eat sunflower seeds, just stroked his knees, thinking for a while, smiling for a bit, smiling for a bit, then sighing.

He found it very interesting.

After a long while, he said to the space behind him, “What do you think? Touching, isn’t it?”

Behind him came Pei Shu’s muffled grunt.

“Didn’t realize you were so popular with women. Does it hurt your heart?”

Pei Shu emerged from behind the screen—tall and imposing in simple black clothes, but with furrowed brows. “I want to see her.”

“If you go see her, I’ll kill her.”

Pei Shu glared at him furiously.

“Don’t be like that, why spoil the mood?” the man in brocade said softly. “To witness someone willing to sacrifice for you, to suffer for you, to give everything for you—such opportunities are rare. Don’t ruin it, just take the time to be moved. No matter how dark life becomes in the future, remembering this will warm you. Really, you’ll thank me for this.”

“I think all the women in the world have grudges against you,” Pei Shu pointed at his nose. “Making Jing Hengbo heartbroken, making Meng Potian suffer. What did they do to you? In your past life or this one, were you betrayed and killed by a woman?”

The man in brocade, who had been casually smiling and eating sunflower seeds, suddenly made a “crack” sound with his mouth, as if he had bitten through the seeds.

The sound was quiet, but appearing here seemed wrong. Pei Shu stopped his movements, and the atmosphere in the room instantly froze.

But it was only for a moment—then the man in brocade smiled again.

“I think your injury hasn’t healed, you talk too much, time to sleep.” Without allowing argument, he flicked his sleeve, and with a thunderous sound, an iron grate descended, separating Pei Shu inside.

Pei Shu didn’t try to shake the grate—he had failed many times before.

He only cast his gaze toward that dark, damp, cold little room. After a long while, he lowered his head and roughly tousled his hair.

…

On the long yellow earth road, a long convoy meandered along. Each ox cart left deep ruts, clearly loaded with goods.

These convoys didn’t pass through any cities or towns, taking convenient small roads, but they didn’t appear furtive. When encountered by government patrol soldiers for inspection, they could produce the highest-level travel permits.

The convoy passed a swamp surrounded by vast expanses of reed marshes.

The person in front suddenly felt his eyes brighten. Instinctively raising his head to shield his eyes from the sky, he saw a bright white light in his raised palm.

Reflected blade light!

The experienced leader immediately shouted, “Enemy attack! Prepare for battle!”

But it was already a step too late. Several broken stones rolled out, blocking the cart wheels. Dozens of black shadows swept out from the reed marshes, blades flashing, a flurry of slashing and killing.

Moments later, corpses littered the ground. The black-clad men gathered together, stripping the dead of their clothes and various tokens and documents, taking the drivers’ positions. At the same time, they eagerly opened the cart compartments—every cart was full of bags of grain.

These people tore open the bags and wolfed down the dry rations, wiping their mouths and laughing, “Damn, what a good job—we can kill people and eat our fill!”

Someone smiled bitterly though, “When did we Kanglong Army fall to such a state? The mighty Imperial Song Army, searching for food like hungry dogs everywhere, finally coming out to rob mountain bandits’ dry rations?”

“Made mistakes, deserve the punishment,” someone replied in a drawn-out voice.

“Enough. Say less,” a man who looked like a leader said grimly.

Everyone returned to quiet, driving this convoy northward.

The leader frowned, feeling vaguely uneasy.

This was naturally a Kanglong Army team out robbing grain. Cheng Gumo certainly wouldn’t tell the soldiers they were robbing their own colleagues’ grain carts. He only said they were out of food, there were mountain bandits along this route, go rob the grain and head north to carry out a military mission.

Though the soldiers had doubts, they wouldn’t say anything. People who had been hungry would agree to anything as long as there was food.

This leader knew some inside information. He knew they were going to Daimao. Thinking that the general would actually use public position for private revenge, ordering the Kanglong Army to openly disobey commands, leave the battlefield, and make a special trip north to attack the queen made his heart feel cold and incredulous.

This was rebellion!

Looking up at the blinding sunlight, he only felt his heart grow cold. However, orders from above could not be disobeyed. He could only shout once, commanding his subordinates to pick up the pace.

Such events were continuously unfolding on various small roads around Xiang Kingdom, among the Huangjin Tribe, and around Daimao…

…

Jing Hengbo had recently moved out of the inn into an estate that had originally been the private property of the local Lingxiao Sect hall master. The estate was not small and could be considered a small royal palace.

As for the Shangyuan Palace under construction, that couldn’t be completed overnight. Moreover, relying solely on the strength of three counties to build such a large palace was simply impossible. When Jing Hengbo had marked out such a large area initially, it was purely a psychological tactic. Her main target was naturally the existing Shangyuan Palace.

After learning that Pei Shu was safe, she naturally wanted to find a way to get him out. But at this time she received a letter from Pei Shu saying he was fine with the man in brocade but temporarily couldn’t return, telling her not to worry, and so on.

Jing Hengbo understood this to mean that Pei Shu, having suffered such a great loss, must want to find a way to get revenge. She let him be.

Pei Shu had used carrier pigeons to send her the letter. There was also another letter on the pigeon—the man in brocade demanding that strange umbrella from her.

The two had made an agreement that day: after the three riddles ended, they would make an exchange for the Thousand Gold Umbrella. But later the man in brocade fled in disgrace and didn’t have time for it.

Jing Hengbo replied, “If you want it, bring all your treasures and come outside the city to get it.”

…

“Want to trap me like a turtle in a jar?” The man in brocade read the letter and pursed his lips. His eyes wandered, and he said, “Bring me my male-female love double coffin.”

The bundle that had once tormented Pei Shu and Meng Potian to death was brought over.

The man in brocade didn’t reassemble it. He just knocked and tapped on those components for a while, then called Zhongwen over. “Send this to Jing Hengbo. Tell her, take it or leave it.” He also gave Zhongwen a few instructions and casually wrote a few words for him. “If she makes trouble unreasonably, show her this.”

Zhongwen felt this was a very difficult task, because Her Majesty the Queen seemed as difficult to deal with as his own master. Could one double coffin really satisfy her? However, they never had the habit of questioning their master. He shouldered the bundle and headed for the outskirts of the city.

Jing Hengbo and the man in brocade agreed to meet at Fairy Bridge Valley of Fairy Bridge Mountain. Daimao had many mountains, and counties were often named after landmark peaks. Fairy Bridge Mountain was aptly named—clouds and mist swirled like fairy aura, and the mountain’s shape was flat and curved like a bridge. The sunken part formed a valley with flat terrain.

The appointed time was a sunny morning. Jing Hengbo waited alone in the valley. Of course, the surrounding mountains were already full of people eager to witness the man in brocade’s character.

Ying Bai was curious about how the man in brocade had captured Pei Shu. Qisha claimed that this person could make Jing Hengbo and others so embarrassed purely because they were too weak—when the masters took action, they would naturally beat him to a pulp. Tian Qi was curious about the man in brocade’s appearance. According to Zirui, this person was quite handsome, no less than the two great state preceptors. He really wanted to see for himself.

They waited from morning until noon, then from noon until afternoon. Jing Hengbo grew irritable, Ying Bai was already drunk, Tian Qi had fallen asleep, and Qisha had started fighting each other and wandered off to who knows which mountain peak. Only then did a figure carrying a huge bundle appear on the other side of the valley.

Jing Hengbo looked and saw it was actually Zhongwen. She immediately deflated and gestured for everyone to quickly disperse. The other side only sent a guard—if her side still surrounded them with great fanfare, the man in brocade would laugh her to death.

Before Zhongwen could say anything to her, she was already scowling, “What does your master mean? Not coming himself? Is this an attitude for negotiations?” After thinking, she looked at the sky and suddenly understood, “Oh, it’s windy today. Is he afraid the wind will blow off his wig? It’s fine, we’re so close—we’ve even seen his bare thighs, why worry about a bald head?”

Zhongwen could only smile bitterly, not daring to respond. He felt this Queen was on the same level as his master and the Literary Demon King—equally tiresome and shameless. If he wanted to live longer, he absolutely couldn’t argue with them.

But he also felt that his master’s not coming personally definitely wasn’t because he feared anyone. It might really be what the Queen said…

“My master asked me to bring this to Your Majesty,” he said respectfully. “Master said Your Majesty would definitely be satisfied with this item.”

“What?” Jing Hengbo’s eyes blazed.

“It’s the human-shaped coffin that trapped Young Marshal Pei last time.”

“Hah, what do I want this for?” Jing Hengbo sneered. “I’m not as perverted as your master.”

Zhongwen thought, no need to be polite—you’re actually about the same. But on his face he said honestly, “My master said this coffin has various wonderful uses and can transform into one hundred and eight different styles. It can be used for martial arts practice, dance practice, body flexibility training to achieve various difficult poses. In critical moments it can save your life. The coffin has three internal layers—it can serve as a boat or bed. The innermost layer’s Tianxin lotus soft gel also has beautifying and body-shaping effects…”

Jing Hengbo felt like she was watching TV commercials from her modern world…

“No, no, these functions are boring.” She still shook her head like a rattle drum.

Bargaining was like this—even if already tempted, one had to act completely uninterested.

“My master also said…” Zhongwen unhurriedly stepped forward, and on his dignified, honest face suddenly appeared an expression that was hard to tell if it was shy or lewd. “This thing was originally made to enhance bedroom pleasures. Only in this aspect can its truly exquisite functions be displayed. When Your Majesty marries in the future, you’ll know this thing’s benefits…”

“Huh?” Jing Hengbo blinked. “Sex toy?”

Zhongwen thought Her Majesty was really bold with such precise terminology—just like their Literary Demon King. Could they be from the same place? They were oddly similar.

“Indeed,” he said shyly.

Jing Hengbo spat, “What do you mean? What do you mean? Do I look like someone who needs sex toys to get excited? Or are you cursing my future husband, that he’d need sex toys to be creative?”

“Of course not, Your Majesty is vigorous as a dragon and tiger, your future king consort has varied techniques…” Zhongwen’s forehead broke out in layers of sweat, his adjectives all mixed up.

Jing Hengbo refused to trade one item for another. The key was she wouldn’t give up the Thousand Gold Umbrella. She had arranged to meet the man in brocade to ask clearly where the umbrella’s motor power came from. This was clearly something beyond this era.

Seeing she wouldn’t release the rabbit without seeing the hawk, Zhongwen had no choice but to use his trump card, handing over the letter.

Jing Hengbo looked—just a few words on the letter: “Want to know the Thousand Gold Umbrella’s secret? Then trade. Otherwise kill this fool—I don’t keep useless people.”

On the back was another line. Jing Hengbo flipped it over, her eyes flashing. She cursed, “Beautiful writing, ugly heart,” crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it away, then held out her hand, “Hand it over.”

Zhongwen was overjoyed—indeed when master made a move, one was worth ten thousand. A few words and he’d handled the difficult queen.

He didn’t know his master had just sold his life…

That fellow who understood human nature so well had seen through Jing Hengbo’s essential kindness, knowing she wouldn’t want someone to die because of her, and shamelessly used his own guard’s life as leverage.

Jing Hengbo threw over the Thousand Gold Umbrella and eagerly asked, “Tell me, who is the Thousand Gold Umbrella’s real owner? Where are they?”

“My master said,” Zhongwen replied respectfully, “the umbrella was made from raw materials provided by a woman.”

“Excellent, excellent, continue.” Jing Hengbo’s eyes lit up.

“That woman is in Dong Tang.”

This matched Jing Hengbo’s guess. She became even more excited, urging, “Yes, yes, continue.”

“He knows her.”

“Obviously, continue.”

“But she left.”

“Continue… huh?”

“Now he’s not quite sure where she went,” Zhongwen shrugged. “But my master can provide a clue.”

“Speak quickly.”

“She seems to have been abducted by a female general from Nan Qi,” Zhongwen said. “This woman is cruel and vicious by nature. She used schemes to abduct that person, and now their whereabouts are unknown.”

Zhongwen remembered his master’s expression when instructing these few words—seemingly kind but actually sinister… Casually making an enemy for Taishi Lan, master was still holding grudges about that incident…

“Nan Qi female general?” Jing Hengbo was busy every day just staying alive and grabbing territory. Dahuang was particularly isolated, and she couldn’t even handle her own affairs, let alone know about external developments in various kingdoms.

But to become a female general, she must be a fierce and formidable person.

“Who is this female general?”

Mentioning female generals, Jing Hengbo inexplicably thought of Taishi Lan, feeling this was a very suitable profession for her. She remembered once asking a hypothetical question about what you’d want to do if you transmigrated. Jun Ke said she wanted to be a doctor, Cake Girl said she wanted to be a godly chef. Taishi Lan couldn’t be bothered with her, but when pressed, just said two words: “Fight wars.”

However, Zhongwen’s answer immediately shattered her fantasy. “Master said he can provide you with a clue—this female general has a son and daughter.”

Jing Hengbo laughed, thinking it was an old woman then. This clue was quite clear—she could find out with a little inquiry.

As for whether this female general with a son and daughter had any connection to Taishi Lan? Jing Hengbo felt, did this even need thinking? Of course… no!

How long had it been? Two years. She was still struggling bitterly on her royal path, being confused by people, and hadn’t even hooked a steady benefactor yet. How could Taishi Lan, that stone who was unloved by grandma and uncle alike, possibly find a man, get married and have children? Did she want to anger the beautiful and charming Queen Jing to death?

Besides, Taishi Lan would definitely marry a husband. In this male-dominated society, what man would be willing to marry her? Hehe, if Taishi Lan didn’t rely on her to solve the husband problem, she’d walk on her head for the rest of her life!

Jing Hengbo snorted through her nose, thinking about who around her would be suitable for Taishi while also asking, “Who was the one in Dong Tang who provided you with the motor?”

“Your Majesty, I don’t know what a motor is,” Zhongwen said honestly. “And master said, supposedly one item gets one answer—he’s already been generous in answering many questions for you. If you want to know anything else, remember to bring something to trade.”

“Tell him to go die!” Jing Hengbo smashed the coffin out. “If he dares hide in Shangyuan for the rest of his life without coming out! If I let him return to Dong Tang in one piece, I’ll take his surname!”

…

Zhongwen fled in panic carrying the Thousand Gold Umbrella. When the queen’s murderous aura erupted, idle people should stay away.

After driving away the idle people, Jing Hengbo squatted in the mountain valley studying her new toy.

Actually, she was quite curious about this thing and felt that in terms of functionality, it was definitely more tempting to her than that umbrella.

Unfortunately, the man in brocade was too shrewd, determined not to let her take advantage.

She assembled it according to the diagrams. This coffin was somewhat like an Egyptian mummy sarcophagus, even the painted patterns were similar in style. This made her more convinced that the man in brocade must know one of Jun Ke, Wen Zhen, or Taishi Lan. There was no ancient Egyptian style on this continent.

But she couldn’t deduce whose handiwork it might be, because all four of them had seen the three Mummy movies.

This thing had many slots that could accommodate tubes of the same material that could move. It looked like a coffin extending many limbs, which could be adjusted and moved to any position. The coffin back could also be adjusted. It looked extremely eerie. The coffin could be split in half, one person on each side. The coffin had three layers—the innermost layer was indeed soft gel that could be peeled off and worn on the body. The second and outermost layers were hard, made of indeterminate material.

Each joint had small clasps. After being damaged by Jing Hengbo last time, they had been repaired and looked more refined. Jing Hengbo tried opening and closing them several times without problems.

She was very interested in this design that could adjust various angles, thinking it could be used for yoga practice to fix body positions. She also wondered if these outer shell layers could be considered a type of armor.

Seeing no one around—everyone had been chased to other mountain peaks—she enthusiastically took off her outer clothes to try it personally.

Not daring to try too unusual positions, she just randomly chose a pose with limbs spread, first putting on her arms, then her legs. Looking at her reflection in the river, she felt like a giant female mantis.

After all, this was in the wilderness. She didn’t fasten the clasps and planned to take it off after trying. As soon as her right hand touched her left arm, “click”—the clasp locked.

Startled, she hurriedly tried to remove her right hand’s casing. Click—the right hand clasp also automatically locked.

She urgently tried to remove the leg casings. Click click—both legs locked too.

Jing Hengbo didn’t seem very panicked yet because what was locked were her arms and legs, but her legs were on the ground and could still move, just with more effort.

But then the coffin on her back suddenly creaked, followed by a shock to her back as two chain sections shot out, swooshing twice to wrap around a tree behind her. After a crossover, she was immediately dragged up the tree. The coffin on her back extended something unknown that drove into the tree trunk with a thud, immediately trapping her there too.

Just as Jing Hengbo was about to call out for nearby subordinates to rescue her, snap—a crystal cover dropped from the coffin, covering her face.

Now her shouts couldn’t travel far either. Jing Hengbo’s martial arts weren’t sufficient for voice projection. She could only stare anxiously.

As dusk fell and darkness approached.

Her ladyship was still trapped in the tree, unable to move. The tree behind her was quite thick—she didn’t have the ability to uproot it.

That group of damned unreliable subordinates had wandered off to who knows where.

Mountain songs drifted from the mountain path, rough and melodious. A man carrying a bundle of firewood came down the mountain.

He didn’t notice Jing Hengbo and walked straight past. Jing Hengbo hesitated and didn’t call out.

But the man suddenly tripped over the chains on the ground. As he got up, he wondered, “Where did these chains come from…” Looking up and seeing Jing Hengbo’s bizarre appearance, his eyes went wide. “Ghost!”

Jing Hengbo: “Hehe.”

The man scrambled away a few steps, and seeing no pursuit, stopped and hid behind rocks to look carefully. Finding that Jing Hengbo seemed to have no threatening power, and looking at what she had on her back and hands—a complete S&M appearance—he immediately became excited.

He slowly approached, stopping every three steps, making sure Jing Hengbo had no way out before coming forward to circle around her, clearly seeing her predicament, and chuckling.

Growing bolder, he lifted Jing Hengbo’s crystal face mask and immediately his eyes went straight, hissing as he sucked in cold air.

Jing Hengbo frowned and turned her head, avoiding his yellow teeth and the garlic smell spraying on her face.

“My heavens…” This guy stood dazed for a long while, then suddenly turned and kowtowed to the sky. “Thank you, Heaven, thank you, Heaven! You must have heard my daily prayers and sent me a wife… and such a beautiful one too… I’ll definitely burn incense for you daily from now on!”

Jing Hengbo sniffed. What kind of scenario was this? Hm?

The old bachelor went to move the board on Jing Hengbo, couldn’t move it, thought for a moment, then ran behind the tree. After studying it for a while and figuring out the mechanism, he used his wood axe to chop down the part of the tree connected to the board, chopping until he was drenched in sweat.

When he got Jing Hengbo’s board down from the tree, she staggered and nearly fell to the ground. So heavy.

But somehow the old bachelor found the strength to drag Jing Hengbo toward the village. The valley wasn’t far from the main road, and there was a small village of about ten households by the roadside.

Someone on the road saw them. It was too dark to see clearly, so they called out, “Big Tooth, what are you dragging? A coffin board?”

“Yep,” Bachelor Big Tooth replied happily. “Picked it up to burn at home!” He chuckled low, “Perfect for burning my old dry wood, hehehe…”

The person who asked didn’t hear the last sentence. After he passed, they sneered and muttered, “Gone crazy from poverty, daring to pick up coffin boards to burn, not afraid of bad luck…”

The person muttered, and looking up, suddenly felt a white shadow flash in the distance. He rubbed his eyes and looked again—the white shadow was gone. He shivered and thought coffin boards really were unlucky—now he was seeing ghosts…

Big Tooth proudly returned home to two grass huts with low courtyard walls. He couldn’t be bothered to light a lamp, and couldn’t even drag Jing Hengbo onto the bed—that shape really wouldn’t fit anyway. Before he could even steady himself, he spread his arms with a lewd smile and pounced toward Jing Hengbo. “Little lady… you and I, this is what they call a match made in heaven… here I come…”

Jing Hengbo struggled to dodge and raised her hand to strike down. Her hands and legs were encased in shells, but the joints could still move, so it didn’t hinder her movement much. It was just the board behind her connected to half a tree—that weight was truly heavy and affected her actions.

That Big Tooth was used to moving in the mountains and was quite agile. He dodged with a flash, moved to Jing Hengbo’s back, grinning to show his big teeth, raised his hand to push and said, “Little lady isn’t obedient—don’t blame your husband for not cherishing you.”

Jing Hengbo hadn’t completely mastered her balance yet. With this push she fell over, her limbs flailing as she struggled to get up, like a turtle on its back.

Big Tooth grinned and, with great effort, flipped her over. When Jing Hengbo tried to get up, Big Tooth stepped on the back board. The board tilted and she immediately couldn’t move.

Seeing this trick worked, Big Tooth was very excited. Standing on that board between Jing Hengbo’s legs, he first made an obscene gesture, then slowly bent down, rubbing his hands while squinting and smiling. “Little lady, this pose is so enticing. Don’t know which rich man has such wild tastes but didn’t get to enjoy it himself—lucky for me, Big Tooth… Oh my, this skin, this chest… let big brother warm you up…” His hands reached toward Jing Hengbo’s chest.

His face leaned down, joyful and intoxicated, when he suddenly met Jing Hengbo’s gaze.

Slightly cold, disgusted, seemingly smiling but not smiling, looking through his face as if toward somewhere else.

He startled, somewhat frightened, but seeing Jing Hengbo completely motionless, he grew bold again. Looking at the woman’s strange yet alluring posture in the darkness, her torn clothing revealing skin like moonlight, her face brilliant and incomparably beautiful—for a moment he felt all the good fortune in the world had come to him…

His fingers were only half an inch from Jing Hengbo’s body.

Suddenly there was a soft “swoosh.” The sound was light as a needle dropping to the ground.

He felt as if a needle had suddenly been inserted into his body—cold, painful, the pain reaching his heart.

All the blood in his body seemed to freeze into ice in an instant. He collapsed silently, clearly facing Jing Hengbo but somehow didn’t fall on her, instead heavily crashing to the side. His whole body seemed to turn to ice internally, and there was a cracking sound.

The room was quiet and dark. Wind swept past the window, and Jing Hengbo suddenly cried out in pain.

The wind outside immediately drifted in, a white shadow sweeping directly inside, rushing toward Jing Hengbo and bending to check her condition.

Pop pop pop pop sounds suddenly came from Jing Hengbo’s body, dense as exploding beans.

The white shadow paused, seeming to realize something, and flashed to retreat.

Jing Hengbo suddenly sprang up like a tiger pouncing on prey, fiercely knocking him down.

She still had half a board attached, making her body heavy. When she pressed down, there was a bang.

The white shadow pushed her away. She rolled to the wall corner and raised her hand to throw half the coffin board, which still had two leg casings attached. The clasps on the leg casings somehow fell off and clicked, locking around his ankle.

He leaped to rise, and chains rattled.

He stopped.

In the corner, Jing Hengbo held up a section of chain, the end connected to the clasp binding his ankle.

She smiled like a fox that had finally caught a flying dragon.

His eyes seemed surprised and helpless, but ignoring the chain in her hand, he still leaped toward the window. She looped the chain around a pillar in the room and pounced over like a hungry tiger, hugging his legs tight and pressing him firmly to the ground. She raised her hand to feel around his face and with a rip, sure enough tore off a mask.

In the moonlight he turned back—a strange face. She wasn’t moved, sneered once and threw away the mask, reaching to tear at his ear again.

He raised his hand to stop her. His ankle was chained but his hands were free. When his hand rose there seemed to be sounds of wind and thunder. She neither dodged nor yielded, instead bringing her head closer, sneering, “Come on, come hit me, if you dare, smash my head!”

The hand stopped, the wind and thunder sounds ceased. Jing Hengbo unhesitatingly tore again.

Another light “rip,” and in her hand was another layer of thinner, softer mask. She chuckled, her laughter containing both triumph and anger. But he had already quickly turned his head again, showing her the back of his head.

Jing Hengbo slapped the back of his head once, saying hatefully, “Turn around, turn around! Why won’t you turn around now!”

He simply lay face down on the ground without making a sound.

“If you dare, burrow into the mud!” Jing Hengbo crumpled up the second mask and threw it away too. “If you dare, wear a third layer!”