Outside the fire scene, it was another spectacle altogether.

The great fire continued burning, and no one could approach. At first, everyone waited for Gong Yin to emerge carrying Jing Hengbo. They all felt that with their abilities, no matter how large the fire, it wouldn’t amount to much. Even if Gong Yin was drained of strength, Jing Hengbo still had her instant teleportation.

However, the longer they waited, the more anxious and desperate they became. Such a massive fire, such a long time without emerging—even bones would have turned to ash.

Yi Qi had long been crying and screaming, wanting to rush into the fire scene, but was knocked unconscious by his fellow disciples with a punch. The others circled the fire scene, trying to find spots from various angles where the fire was smaller to enter, but this hall seemed to have been tampered with originally—it burned extremely fiercely and was completely surrounded by flames.

Tian Qi stared at the fire scene, covered in sweat, muttering to himself, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Zirui remained unconscious, saving everyone a lot of trouble. Tie Xing Ze held her tightly, sitting on the ground before the fire scene, his eyes desolate.

Ying Bai had stopped drinking, continuously frowning. He remained relatively calm, not paying much attention to the fire scene but arranging the surrender of the soldiers.

Regarding surrender, everyone felt resistant. Many officers expressed they would rather commit suicide, and the soldiers wept bitterly, cursing their queen for being reckless. Only Ying Bai, who at this moment didn’t seem like a commander but rather like a strategist prioritizing the greater good, used his authority as commander to order everyone to lay down their weapons and accept reorganization.

Some were disappointed, some cursed loudly, some had tears in their eyes—youthful pride suffered unprecedented major setbacks at this Sinking Iron.

In defeat, there was no hierarchy. Many times Ying Bai was also subject to angry curses, but he only smiled.

Only at this moment did he fully understand why Jing Hengbo hadn’t immediately recalled Pei Shu but had made him commander with Pei Shu’s troops.

If Pei Shu were here now, he wouldn’t care what orders the queen had left—he would definitely have the soldiers fight to the death and throw himself into the fire scene.

Only someone like himself, whose temperament was more profound and steady, who always considered the greater picture, was more suitable for such a task.

He had a vague feeling in his heart that things wouldn’t end this way. The queen had already calculated everyone’s reactions—how could she truly lead everyone into a dead end?

What he needed to do was follow the situation and wait for the turning point.

Outside the fire scene, Cheng Gumo’s loud laughter rang out. Although the attack at the city gates forced him to deploy more military force for resistance, the news of the Crossbar Army’s surrender and the queen and Gong Yin falling into the fire scene still filled him with wild joy. He hurried over to personally witness his enemies’ great defeat and execution.

Before the fire scene, Cheng Gumo in black armor looked up and laughed loudly. His laughter was both anguished and exhilarating, and the fire seemed to burn three times fiercer in such laughter.

Risking everything, attacking from a thousand miles away, he had finally completely eliminated his son’s killer here at Sinking Iron Royal City!

Heaven did not fail him!

Hearing such laughter, the Crossbar soldiers felt their hearts pierced. Many frequently looked back at the fire scene with reddened eyes, feeling they had suffered the greatest humiliation of their lives.

At this moment, if they had weapons at hand, if someone shouted “Fight,” they would definitely rush forward regardless of everything, preferring to die in battle!

…

At the city gates, Yelu Qi launched his third attack. Although Gong Yin’s cavalry was disadvantageous for siege warfare, the temporarily combined Kanglong-Sinking Iron forces hadn’t formed a good understanding either. Their cooperation against enemies resulted in various command errors, especially with Cheng Gumo absent. More and more soldiers were visibly climbing onto the city walls.

The city walls were sending flag signals into the city for warning, requesting more reinforcements. But part of the army had to accept surrenders and reorganize the Crossbar Army, unable to spare forces.

Cheng Gumo’s army was tied up in two places, while on the open field before the city gates, a black cloud suddenly rolled in.

The black cloud moved extremely fast. As the cloud rapidly approached, rumbling sounds arose from the earth, grass tips trembled, dust flew, the entire ground seemed to shake slightly, and all manner of things on the city walls emitted fine trembling sounds.

The city wall guards looked at each other in dismay—this was clearly an approaching army, and judging by the speed of approach, it was the kind that moved extremely fast with fierce momentum.

Friend or foe?

Before their questions could settle, they heard a thunderous roar. A black wind swept across the horizon, passing over hills and plains, suddenly arriving nearby.

At the very front, white light flashed as a small beast spread its fluffy large tail in mid-air, waving a blood-red “Yan Sha” banner.

Under the banner were officers who bared their chests in the dead of winter, exposing chests of black hair, as well as clear, beautiful young ladies with serious expressions.

The Jade Shine Dragon Cavalry showed wariness—who would have thought the infamous Yan Sha Army would actually come!

Here to take advantage of the chaos? To pick up bargains?

Yelu Qi’s eyes flashed, seeming both pleased and surprised.

She indeed had backup plans!

Back then before the gates of Dige City, Yan Sha had agreed with her to provide assistance three times. Was this finally using one of those times?

There truly couldn’t be a more appropriate opportunity!

The Yan Sha Army galloped wildly over, still with that “we’re number one in the world” attitude, completely ignoring the Jade Shine Dragon Cavalry. The leading officer grinned at Yelu Qi: “Young Master, long time no see.”

Yelu Qi felt he should be angry—when had his subordinates become someone else’s errand boys? But he couldn’t help smiling anyway.

“You seem to have arrived a bit late. I think this shouldn’t count as helping the queen once—how about half a time?” He smiled as he negotiated.

“Bah.” That officer glanced at him and wiped his face. “Wait until you become the royal consort, then you can represent her and bargain with us!” He waved his massive golden hammer. “Brothers, charge! Don’t let those Jade Shine pretty boys climb faster than us!”

Under the angry glares of the Jade Shine Dragon Cavalry, the Yan Sha Army didn’t even pause, wildly shouting and screaming as they charged up.

The city walls had long been in chaos, with soldiers running frantically, banners waving wildly, and people constantly shouting: “Request reinforcements! Request reinforcements from the city! Request reinforcements from surrounding garrisons!”

Yelu Qi looked up to see a pigeon suddenly take flight from the corner tower on the city wall, flying toward the city.

He raised his hand, and a bow and arrow from a nearby officer was already in his hands. Drawing the bow and notching the arrow, one arrow shot like a meteor.

“Swoosh.” With a sound, the pigeon fell to the ground. The Yan Sha Army roared in approval, but Yelu Qi showed no pride, putting down the bow and arrow, his eyes thoughtful.

To whom was this message being sent?

And were Jing Hengbo and Gong Yin safe?

…

The situation at Sinking Iron City walls attracted the attention of various tribes and nations around.

The latest military reports continuously reached the desk of Meng Kingdom’s ruler. Ministers crowded together, their green high hats colliding with each other like a pile of thriving lettuce.

The lettuces studied this seemingly simple but actually treacherous local battle, speculating what kind of structural changes and far-reaching impacts this war would bring, and expressed great admiration for the strategic essence of “mantis catches cicada while sparrow waits behind” and “killing three birds with one stone by luring the enemy from afar” displayed in the entire battle situation.

However, most people felt this was just a local war that, while ingenious and interesting, wouldn’t affect the overall situation of Dahuang. Only one fellow with an insufficiently tall hat loudly declared: “Not so! Not so! The several armies appearing in this battle situation are extraordinary. I predict this battle will definitely be recorded in Dahuang’s war annals and completely change Dahuang’s political structure for the next fifty years…”

“Nonsense!” A group of tall green hat ministers slapped down the short green hat…

…

The ruler and ministers of Shang Kingdom were also studying the battle situation. They didn’t care who would be remembered in history—they only thought about how, with the queen absent, Demon King Pei managing the three key counties of Dai Mo with his rough methods, constantly expanding troops for war, had caused many criminals from their own country to disappear. Thinking of these things, Shang Kingdom’s ruler’s “biu biu” sounds became increasingly intense. He said furiously: “BIUBIUBIU, when will the queen finish fighting and return? That Pei Shu… BIU… actually issued a crime immunity protection decree… BIU… allowing all military recruits to need no guarantors and not report their origins or household registration… BIU… and also said he could protect all those with military merit, protect all those who contribute to the army… BIU… this is clearly providing protection for unlawful merchants and wandering thieves from my country… BIU… protection… BIU… when the queen returns, I’ll settle accounts with her… BIU… how does she manage her subordinates… BIUBIUBIU!”

…

Yi Kingdom’s ruler wasn’t looking at military reports at all. He stared blankly at another letter sealed with fire wax on his desk. After a long while, he shouted: “Someone come!”

Someone quickly appeared from behind the screen. He tossed out the letter, and that person first showed joy upon seeing the contents, then shock.

“Imperial Uncle has been located… but how could he be in…”

“It only says he might be by Gong Yin’s side,” Yi Kingdom’s ruler said irritably. “The agents have searched for so many years, and now they vaguely give such a sentence! By the State Preceptor’s side—is he a servant, guard, or soldier? The Jade Shine Dragon Cavalry also counts as being by the State Preceptor’s side! What’s even more damn weird is how he mixed his way to the State Preceptor’s side? By the State Preceptor’s side—how do we get him back!”

“So we still need to go to Dige?”

“Who told you Gong Yin is in Dige?” Yi Kingdom’s ruler revealed a sly smile, stroking his face. That handsome young man’s face immediately transformed into a woman’s gorgeous countenance, and his voice became delicately sweet: “Didn’t you notice that the cavalry participating in the Sinking Iron war is the Jade Shine Dragon Cavalry? The Jade Shine Dragon Cavalry only accepts Gong Yin’s personal command—Gong Yin must be nearby!”

“Then Dige…” That person gasped—they hadn’t heard news of the State Preceptor leaving Dige. Could the State Preceptor in Dige be fake?

That would be an enormous secret!

“Gong Yin should have arrangements in Dige, or he’ll rush back quickly. That’s not for us to worry about.” Yi Kingdom’s ruler sneered. “What we need to do is take advantage of Gong Yin still being in Sinking Iron to quickly find an opportunity to infiltrate and find our great Imperial Uncle!”

…

At the moment when Sinking Iron Royal City and various nations were engaged in mutual deception and dramatic changes, the brocade-clad man had already traveled far from Dai Mo.

Following the directions in the silk pouch all the way forward, he gradually approached a small village near the border of the Feicui Tribe.

The journey had taken him nearly three days.

For the first three days, he had maintained Gong Yin’s mask and disguise. Although he believed someone was manipulating things behind the scenes, the number of people shouldn’t be many—possibly the work of one person. This person naturally needed subordinates to help, but he himself would definitely be in the most important place, where the target was located.

Such as where Gong Yin was, where Jing Hengbo was.

Since that person could set up such a scheme, he was definitely no ordinary person. Even if he and Gong Yin had switched this time, that person would eventually guess that Gong Yin had still gone to Sinking Iron. Without saying much, once Gong Yin arrived at Sinking Iron Royal City, that person should know.

In other words, the others responsible for control, arrangement, and message transmission were just this person’s subordinates. Like those on his route.

So those monitoring him wouldn’t have the ability to figure out he wasn’t Gong Yin for a while, couldn’t provide timely information to their master, and there would be a two-day buffer period.

He calculated the time—once Gong Yin reached Sinking Iron, he could be himself. Even if those tracking and monitoring him discovered he wasn’t Gong Yin and reported it, it would be meaningless.

So on the third day, in the county town of the Feicui Tribe closest to that small town, he almost joyfully threw off those ash-like white clothes, thoroughly enjoyed a bath. Of course, he didn’t sleep well that night because the bed in the inn’s best room was actually broken at one corner!

Unacceptable!

So when he got up the next day, he was in a very bad mood.

It was said that people in the Eastern Hall Imperial Capital most feared the Third Prince being in a bad mood. When he was in a bad mood, he was most coldly murderous, and inevitably a large group of people would suffer.

So although he originally hadn’t planned to deal with that monitoring person, this time he picked him out. Half an hour later, that person was crying while telling him where the real destination was, how to enter, then committed suicide.

The brocade-clad man didn’t even glance at him, going directly to that small village according to what the man had said—as for whether the person would deceive him? Who dared lie to his face?

Of course, Little Cake was an exception, and perhaps he’d have to add the queen.

The village had long been ruined. It was said that there had been a plague in the past where the sick would go mad at midnight, rushing into people’s homes to bite them. Later, the remaining residents had all moved away, leaving only a few widows and orphans living in ancestral halls and ruined temples.

The brocade-clad man didn’t go to those ancestral halls and ruined temples, heading straight to the only tiled house in the village center… behind the pigpen.

The pigpen was naturally dirty and messy, even without pigs. In the past, the brocade-clad man would have found such a place too dirty to even look at from afar, but he had one advantage—once his interest was piqued, he feared no difficulty to have some fun.

So he naturally walked over, only unwilling to step on those straw mixed with manure despite expending true qi. With a wave of his sleeve, the straw flew to the roof, and he walked over virtually, his boots three inches from the ground.

Brushing away the straw, there were indeed traces of a mechanism on the ground. This mechanism was too obvious—a stone slab protruding with knee impressions on it. There was a line of text on the stone slab.

“Gong Yin, beneath this place lies your elder; this mark fits only your knee measurements. Kowtow three times to enter. If replaced with other objects arbitrarily, you will be forever cut off from the truth.”

The brocade-clad man snorted with mocking laughter.

Was this meant to humiliate Gong Yin, or was it mystification to confuse him?

Only fit Gong Yin’s knees?

If the real Gong Yin had come here, given the gravity of the matter and his cautious nature, he might actually try it. But the brocade-clad man didn’t care at all.

He raised his foot to kick the stone slab.

Not far behind him came a sharp sound. He had already heard it, quickly withdrawing his foot, identifying the direction, and reaching out to grab.

“Ah!” With a loud cry, a person was grabbed by him from mid-air, struggling in his grasp. Without looking, the brocade-clad man held that person in front of him, kicked his knees, making him kneel on the knee marks on the stone slab.

There was a vague muffled “thud,” but the stone slab didn’t move. Instead, the entire pigpen moved back three feet. Looking back, he saw stairs revealed beneath where the pigpen door had been.

He curled his lip, threw that person onto the stairs. No mechanism was triggered, so he went over, kicked the person aside, and descended into the tunnel himself.

That gray-clothed man didn’t dare make a sound, trembling as he shrank to one side, not daring to harbor the slightest thought of resistance.

The brocade-clad man had no intention of taking him down into the tunnel either. He didn’t believe this person would know the layout below. The person arranging this scheme was obviously a formidable character. Looking at his arrangements along the way, different people were responsible for monitoring him at each segment. The advantage of this was that no one would know too many secrets; the disadvantage was also that no one knew very much, making message transmission prone to errors.

Someone who would do this must be very suspicious by nature. How could he let a subordinate know important secrets?

This gray-clad man at most only knew that forcibly opening the stone slab would trigger mechanisms. So when he made to lift the stone slab, the man couldn’t help being startled, his breathing slightly disordered, allowing him to pinpoint his location and grab him out to kneel as a substitute.

The brocade-clad man didn’t look at that person. As he stepped down one level, he suddenly pointed to seal the person’s pressure points, stuffing him between the first step and the ground. This way, if he triggered something below, the entrance above couldn’t completely close.

His cold robe hem brushed across that person’s face. He casually wiped the mud from his boots on the person’s face and calmly descended the stairs.

The underground chamber was crude—just digging another pit under the pigpen. There were no mechanisms either. The opponent knew that for someone like Gong Yin, this would be a waste.

Under the pigpen, there was indeed someone.

A gaunt middle-aged man sat cross-legged on the ground at the other end of the chamber. Seeing the newcomer, he opened his eyes.

For an instant, the brocade-clad man felt as if his face had been slashed by a knife, feeling bone-deep cold and chill.

Being able to give such a feeling with just a gaze—among the people the brocade-clad man had encountered before, only Gong Yin could do this.

That man’s breathing was long and steady with a peculiar rhythm. The brocade-clad man knew that all hidden renowned sects had unique breathing techniques, each bearing distinct family characteristics. This person’s breathing and aura were very similar to Gong Yin’s.

That man stared at the brocade-clad man with cold, sharp eyes. Though his appearance was wretched, his bearing was extraordinary. Even sitting on the muddy ground under a pigpen, he seemed to be sitting in a magnificent hall, dignified and noble.

This person gave the immediate impression: definitely not an ordinary man.

The brocade-clad man thought that if Gong Yin were here, he would definitely feel familiar. Therefore, this person’s demeanor, bearing, aura, and behavior would give him a sense of kinship.

This sense of kinship would create illusions.

Unfortunately, it was he who had come.

Unfortunately, he wouldn’t feel any kinship.

The brocade-clad man smiled coldly in his heart.

The two faced each other across the chamber, neither speaking. Whoever spoke first would seem to lose.

That man stared at the brocade-clad man, seeming to expect he should speak first. Who knew he would smile while looking around at everything except him, appearing not at all anxious.

A trace of surprise flashed in the gaunt man’s eyes. He extended his hand, pointing at the brocade-clad man.

With crackling sounds, snow-white qi shot from his fingertips. A section of the ground froze instantly, then melted away.

The brocade-clad man stared at that section of ice flowers, thinking that if Gong Yin had come, he would probably step forward.

Then he stepped backward.

The gaunt man suddenly became excited, reaching out both hands toward him from afar, his voice hoarse: “Go… go…”

“Why should I go?”

The gaunt man’s body moved, and the faint sound of chains could be heard. Looking carefully, two chains could be seen passing through his shoulders, each nailed to the walls on either side.

“These chains… connect to explosive mechanisms. If only one side is pulled, it will ignite…”

He seemed to have been confined too long, having even forgotten how to speak. Each word came very slowly.

The brocade-clad man glanced at those chains, seeing they could be removed, but both locks had to be pressed simultaneously. It wasn’t difficult though—one person could stand before the locks, spread both arms to press simultaneously. The length was sufficient.

“Who are you?” the brocade-clad man asked.

But that person urgently slapped the ground, loudly saying: “Go… go!” He seemed very anxious.

With his movements, the chain sounds grew more urgent.

“I won’t go.” The brocade-clad man smiled. “You must tell me who you are. Then, how you got here, where you’ve been all these years, and where the others are.”

The man mumbled something low. The brocade-clad man couldn’t hear clearly and stepped forward two paces. That person suddenly began breathing heavily, coughed violently several times, and spat out a mouthful of purple blood. When the blood hit the ground, it immediately formed a layer of frost.

Then his eyes rolled back, his body went limp, and he fainted.

The brocade-clad man quietly watched him faint without expression, slowly walking forward to examine the locks.

Then he spread both arms, preparing to press the locks on both sides to rescue the man.

Many questions needed to be asked after rescuing the person. If Gong Yin had come, he would definitely handle it this way.

The man on the ground lay quietly unconscious, breathing rapidly with a pale face.

The brocade-clad man stood before him, spreading both arms to press the locks on both sides.

Suddenly “click”—a slight sound. Two golden lights suddenly flashed from the ground, swiftly wrapping around the brocade-clad man’s ankles!

And those locks on both sides each shot two golden lights, swooshing to wrap around the brocade-clad man’s wrists.

At this moment, the brocade-clad man’s feet were trapped, both arms spread and bound, completely exposed with his whole body restrained!

Behind him came the sharp sound of wind—a heavy arrow spinning directly toward the brocade-clad man’s back!

At this moment, the “unconscious” man suddenly opened his eyes!

Killing intent flashed in the brocade-clad man’s eyes.

But the gaunt man made no move, staring blankly at the brocade-clad man, then reacting, hoarsely saying: “You… fell into the trap…”

In an instant, cold qi flashed at his brow, misty white vapor appeared above his head. Then he opened his mouth, and an ice sword shot out electrically, with a clang passing by the brocade-clad man’s waist, striking the heavy arrow that was attacking his back.

Ice flowers scattered, the ice sword shattered and fell to the ground in pieces, and the heavy arrow also paused, sliding off along the brocade-clad man’s clothing.

That man “wah” and spat out another mouthful of purple blood.

At this time, because the brocade-clad man had already pressed both locks, with grinding sounds, the chains fell off, and the gaunt man gained freedom. He immediately reached out to untie the golden wire around the brocade-clad man’s ankles.

The brocade-clad man looked down at him and finally smiled: “Thank you. I was still suspicious of you earlier…”

The gaunt man panted, struggling to untie the golden wire for him. He quickly freed his ankles, then went to untie his wrists.

The brocade-clad man waited for him to help remove the wrist restraints, while comparing his arms to see if the binding marks were asymmetrical, and said kindly: “You’re really quite good. By the way, to show my gratitude, let me show you something.”

He suddenly lowered his head.

Something fell from his head.

The gaunt man had just freed him from the ropes and was panting weakly. Hearing these words, he looked up and suddenly saw a dark mass falling down, landing right on his face, immediately blocking his vision.

Startled, he leaned back, then felt the thing was soft and fragrant, completely harmless. Immediately relieved, he reached up to grab the thing off.

When his hand reached the top of his head, he suddenly touched something ice-cold.

That feeling was too familiar, causing his fingers to freeze.

The next instant, sharp pain pierced through his skull, through his brain, shooting straight into his throat. He opened his mouth wide, wanting to cry out in shock, wanting to scream, wanting to voice his questions.

But he would never have the chance again.

“Splurt”—fresh blood shot forward as the body fell backward.

The brocade-clad man smiled, taking his fake hair from the man’s face and casually destroying it. He put on another one while flicking his fingers: “I hadn’t finished speaking. Thank you for the good performance, so I’m showing you my head—isn’t it very round and good-looking?”

“Thud.” The sound of the body hitting the ground was dull. Blood pooled quietly, and the person lying in the blood had wide-open eyes, shock and incomprehension scattered until death.

He must never have understood until death why, when everything was fine and he had even saved the other person, he was suddenly killed.

Forget about life-saving grace—didn’t the other person want to know the truth?

He went to the underworld carrying a belly full of unresolved questions, not knowing that his misfortune was simply due to encountering one of the world’s rarest oddballs.

The brocade-clad man stared at the corpse, suddenly took out a pair of gloves to wear, crouched down, and made a cut in the air with his finger. The corpse’s chest was silently split open.

The chest presented a strange state: with the heart as the boundary, the upper half had enlarged blood vessels with fine traces of ice and snow, while the lower half had blackened blood, even the bones were black.

“As expected.” The brocade-clad man murmured, very satisfied that his guess was accurate.

This person still had problems.

The ice and snow true qi in his body had been forcibly implanted by another person, not his original true power, and couldn’t be maintained for many uses.

And inside his body, poison had long been planted. This poison had first hidden in his internal organs, now had penetrated to the bones. The next step would be to the skin and breathing, when anyone who had contact with him would surely die.

Strictly speaking, this was a poison man.

The brocade-clad man stood up, surveying the crude chamber once around, developing three parts respect for Gong Yin’s enemy for the first time.

What a formidable character.

Surprising at every turn, not playing by conventional rules.

The so-called lock-opening mechanism wasn’t meant to kill him at all, only to make him drop his suspicions about this gaunt man. After all, someone like Gong Yin who had weathered many storms couldn’t possibly trust just anyone casually.

When this man could have killed but didn’t strike, instead saving him, and with a body full of ice and snow martial arts, any slightly rational person would choose to take him away first. Even if still harboring doubts, for the sake of his family’s whereabouts, Gong Yin couldn’t possibly so decisively kill this person and cut off the clues.

Normal people, those with vested interests, wouldn’t do this.

This move against Gong Yin was actually quite powerful. Gong Yin’s obsession with this matter was too deep—he couldn’t bear to give up.

But unfortunately, it was the brocade-clad man who came. He was indifferent to life, acted without restraint, and had no constraints or scruples. When he suspected, he directly killed, using the corpse’s truth to prove his suspicions.

As for whether he might be wrong, killing the wrong person—he didn’t care.

But he couldn’t help but view that hidden person with new respect. Obviously, this was also an expert in psychology who was skilled at attacking people’s weak points. If Gong Yin had come today, the consequences would have been hard to predict.

The brocade-clad man looked at the corpse again, thought about it, and cut off a section of blood vessel that contained hidden ice and snow qi.

Regardless, the true qi transplanted into that person was related to Gong Yin—it couldn’t have deceived Gong Yin otherwise. This itself was a clue. How this true qi was transplanted, how the opponent acted, whether there was any relationship to Gong Yin’s family—all could be deduced from this.

He suddenly noticed something wrong, cutting downward with his finger to explore the corpse’s lower abdomen. Separating flesh and blood, he saw clearly a needle in the lower part of the abdomen.

He was stunned for a while, then became interested, crouching down to carefully examine the man’s abdominal condition. Light gradually appeared in his eyes as he murmured: “Such a clever position… ruthless enough… oh, it entered from here… can move like this…”

He didn’t mind the corpse’s foul smell, poking around for a long time, finally extracting the needle and wrapping it separately to put away. Only then did he leave the underground chamber. When climbing the last step, he pulled out the person blocking the chamber entrance, quickly flashed out of the pigpen. Sure enough, there was immediately a muffled sound from underground, the entire pigpen collapsed downward, and smoke and dust billowed out.

Without looking, he knew that everything underground had been erased.

If Gong Yin had come, this would have been the final mechanism when he took the hostage away—not to kill Gong Yin, but to create a sense of danger to make Gong Yin believe more in this hostage’s authenticity.

“Quite the master strategist…” The brocade-clad man watched the rustling smoke and dust, flicking his fingers with schadenfreude.

…

Jing Hengbo had been sleeping soundly—she was truly too tired.

She was dreaming. In the dream, great fire rushed toward her face, scorching waves burning the sky. A figure slowly walked through the fire, never showing its face clearly. She was extremely curious and couldn’t help chasing all the way, rushing into the fire. Suddenly there was no more burning heat, and a wave crashed toward her, immediately wetting her face…

She suddenly opened her eyes to complete darkness. The firelight above had either been extinguished or blocked—completely gone.

Her face was wet. No wonder she had dreamed of great water splashing her face. She wondered where the water came from—had she sweated in her sleep? Drooled? Moving slightly, she suddenly felt her face was against something very slippery, like being pressed against wet jade…

She paused, then remembered her sleeping position. This, this… what her face was pressed against—it couldn’t be Gong Yin, could it…

Thinking again of his state before sleep, she broke into another sweat. This, this—Gong Yin couldn’t have slept holding her without even wearing clothes, could he?

Sleeping naked?

This wasn’t like Gong Yin’s style. Of course, not the latter part, but the former.

The breath at her nose was cool—confirming it was Gong Yin. He seemed not yet awake, but his breathing wasn’t very steady. She gently pushed, and indeed her hand touched his smooth chest muscles, while half of her clothing had slipped from her shoulder.

He maintained the position of holding her shoulder with one arm, seeming to sleep soundly too, his eyelashes quietly lowered.

She removed his hand, sat up, and pulled her clothing back in place, then spent some time in a daze.

Things seemed to have been explained.

So the question arose:

Should she stay with lingering resentments in her heart, or leave full of regret?