Zou Zheng sat rigidly on his bed, staring blankly at the figure vaguely seated on the throne beyond the screen.

He was certain it was a person, and should be a woman, because that snow-white skirt was exceptionally wide, flowing like clouds over the jade steps. Only women would wear such cumbersome skirts.

For a moment, he thought Jing Hengbo had come, which made him break out in cold sweat all over. Then he felt something was wrong. Though far away, he could still clearly see this person’s sitting posture was too upright and straight, chin slightly raised, hands folded together and overlapped on her skirt – a noble, arrogant yet cold posture that seemed quite different from the legendary lazy and glamorous Heishui Queen.

But whoever it was, it was enough to make him nervous – his bedchamber was guarded like an iron barrel outside, with layers upon layers of guards, even his roof was full of standing guards. How had this woman gotten in?

Zou Zheng had no time to think and reached to press the handle beside his bed. His dragon bed naturally also had secret tunnel mechanisms to ensure his escape.

Across the screen, so far away, that woman seemed able to see clearly and lightly raised her hand.

“Whoosh.” A slight sound.

Zou Zheng felt his finger seemed pierced by an ice sword, cold pain penetrating to the bone. He instinctively wanted to shrink back, but somehow, as if stimulated by this coldness, suddenly a cold qi passed through his heart and lungs, rushing straight to his finger. His finger uncontrollably lifted up. With a light “pop,” his finger hurt, his body trembled slightly, and snowflakes flashed before his eyes and disappeared.

That woman seemed to lightly exclaim “oh,” then said: “Gong Yin, they all say you’re weakened, and indeed your vital energy is failing.”

Zou Zheng’s mind raced. The woman before him clearly knew the State Preceptor, and spoke familiarly, yet revealed information suggesting they hadn’t seen each other for a long time. The relationship was difficult to determine as friend or foe. But regardless, he had to play Gong Yin to the end.

He didn’t answer, slightly raising his chin, imitating Gong Yin’s cold gaze.

Having studied Gong Yin for so long, he well knew what reactions the State Preceptor would have in what situations.

While maintaining his cold arrogance, he quietly pulled the mechanism, only to discover it had become ice-cold and hard, no longer movable.

He looked up. On the gold-embroidered dragon screen opposite, the dragon’s blazing eyes had somehow become two small holes.

Through the small holes came threads of night wind, making him feel cold all over.

That woman suddenly slowly rose and walked toward him, her snow-white skirt trailing several zhang long, casting moonlight-like shadows. Her walking posture was like that of a true queen.

Zou Zheng gripped his dagger tightly under the covers, wanting to shout, but knowing in his heart that since the other party could enter silently, the guards outside were surely useless.

He was still relatively calm, able to think at this moment, considering that since the other party had such ability, she could have killed him while he was dreaming. Since she didn’t kill him, she naturally had other demands.

Though these demands were made to Gong Yin, he was Gong Yin.

The heavy four-panel folding screen suddenly flew up light as falling pear blossoms, and then that woman’s pale, clear-radiant face appeared before him.

Zou Zheng had a moment of suffocation, because he suddenly thought of Gong Yin.

Not similar appearance, but that similar frost-cold, river-like demeanor and temperament.

He wanted to retreat, wanted to stab out with the dagger from under the bedding’s cover, yet the closer the other party came, the more unable he was to move. The air all around seemed to have turned into ice gel – cold and sticky, shackling all movement.

He lowered his eyes, appearing cold but actually desperate.

Then he heard that woman say in a voice that wasn’t exactly cold, but actually had no human emotion: “You’re no match for me now. If you want to live, abdicate in exchange.”

Zou Zheng’s eyes flew open.

His gaze sharp as needles, he said coldly: “Then I’d rather die!”

The white-clothed woman seemed to smile slightly, with an expression that had expected this, her voice slightly mocking: “Death also comes in different forms.”

Before Zou Zheng could resist, she raised her hand, and Zou Zheng was suddenly in her grasp. The hand holding him was ice-cold like snow stone. Without needing to struggle, he knew resistance was futile. Zou Zheng sighed deeply in his heart, closed his eyes and waited for death.

No killing blow came, but wind whistled past, his whole body frozen ice-cold. Zou Zheng opened his eyes to see palace roof ridges flashing rapidly beneath his feet. Glazed tiles gleamed ghostly cold under the moon. Countless guards shouted and chased up, palace courtyards successively lit lamps, but the lights and pursuit speed couldn’t match this woman’s leisurely cloud-like steps. She seemed to merely step lightly, her long skirt still sweeping past like snow in everyone’s vision while she had already exited the palace gates.

Zou Zheng didn’t know where she planned to take him and could only go with the flow. In the whistling wind, he watched her exit the palace city, pass through the Imperial Capital, leave through the Imperial Capital’s most remote Xuanning Gate used only for corpses and dung carts, heading west all the way.

West was the uninhabited marshes behind the Imperial Capital…

After racing most of the night, just before he felt he would freeze into an ice man, he saw that marsh. But the marsh at this moment wasn’t the usual desolate emptiness. On the marsh and both shores, figures moved, swords rang continuously, voices shouted, trees rustled loudly, and various long screams rang out from time to time.

He was stunned – this was a battlefield.

Suddenly his back broke out in cold sweat, more fearful than when this woman had captured him.

When could marshes be crossed by people? When would a battle occur here? This was behind the Imperial Capital, only a hundred li from the Imperial Capital! This was the only place around the Imperial Capital with no defenses, because of these impassable marshes!

Yet now, a fierce battle was clearly taking place here!

He bit his teeth tightly to stop his trembling, so the other party wouldn’t discover his abnormality.

If not blocked, if this army really crossed this marsh, then in just half a day they could charge directly to beneath Xuanning Gate. Since Xuanning Gate was near this marsh, it had always had the weakest defenses. Then the Imperial Capital’s walls, known as the strongest in the Great Wilderness, solid as metal and stone, never shaken by any dynastic rebellion, would be breached in an instant!

He stared intently at that fighting area, vaguely seeing soldiers in light armor, seeing strange “people” rolling about on the marsh, seeing some figures seemingly flashing in the dark forests, but those figures’ speed and movements were completely unlike humans… He quietly shuddered again.

“This is Jing Hengbo’s army, led by Yingbai.” The emotionless voice of the woman behind him made his face pale again. “Jing Hengbo and Pei Shu led the main army south with great fanfare, attracting everyone’s attention, but no one knows her real killing stroke is here.”

“You…” Zou Zheng’s voice was dry and hoarse, wanting to ask but not daring.

“If this army successfully crosses the marsh, perfect timing – Jing Hengbo will have also reached beneath the Imperial Capital’s walls by then, attacking from both sides.” She said indifferently. “The outcome, you know.”

Zou Zheng slowly breathed deeply, reminding himself he was Gong Yin.

“This is your condition for demanding my abdication?”

“Isn’t it enough?” Xu Pingran turned to look at “Gong Yin” in the moonlight. His face was as pale as the Gong Yin in her memory. She knew he had no needles in his body, which also matched her speculation. When Gong Yin descended the mountain initially, he had borrowed the killers intercepting people to extract needles. Some said he succeeded, some said he didn’t. But she had inquired with subordinates whether Gong Yin’s brow or temples had faint yellow spots – this was a reaction to having needles in the body. Needles in that position inevitably injured kidney qi, and over time would show yellow spots somewhere vaguely on the face. The report said there weren’t any.

So the needles weren’t there, and his initial counterattack just now displayed exactly the true power of Prajna Snow, but seemed very weak, which also matched the intelligence she’d obtained – Gong Yin had exhausted himself too much when initially descending the mountain, and had blood poison in his constitution. In recent years, as the wound poison acted up, he was already at the end of his strength.

So at this moment she had no doubts in her heart, only faint certainty.

“Is it enough?” Zou Zheng smiled. He gradually regained composure, sensing the complex relationship between this woman and Gong Yin, and that she seemed to still have requests. He simply boldly refused: “One assistance in exchange for imperial throne and the realm – your ambition is quite sufficient.”

Xu Pingran smiled faintly. “Then what about your health, and your entire family’s freedom?”

Zou Zheng’s heart jolted. He quickly lowered his eyelids. For uncertain, unknown matters, silence was the best response.

“If you abdicate to me, I’ll preserve your life, return your family, and still give you the noble position of State Preceptor or Prince. If you insist on keeping this throne, I’ll go assist Jing Hengbo.” Xu Pingran smiled as she watched the slaughter over there. “I hear you once had deep feelings for Jing Hengbo, but now you’ve betrayed her to marry another and issued edicts for her death. Presumably her hatred for you now surpasses the former affection. Tell me, if she wins, will she let you continue being State Preceptor?”

Zou Zheng’s heart went cold.

He didn’t know what Jing Hengbo would do to Gong Yin, but could be certain that every word of this woman wasn’t a threat. He was more certain that once Jing Hengbo fought into the Imperial Capital, she absolutely wouldn’t be like this woman who wasn’t familiar enough with Gong Yin to immediately spot the truth. The Heishui Queen would recognize him at first glance and grind his bones to dust.

The woman beside him said nothing, her snow-white skirt lifting like magnolia petals broken by night wind.

The distant slaughter on the marsh splashed with red light and bloody qi. Zou Zheng raised his head, silently gazing at this night that seemed would never brighten.

After a long time, he said: “Fine.”

…

In the dark night, as Xu Pingran and Zou Zheng faced the marsh slaughter and negotiated, Jing Hengbo was in her own camp tent, unfolding an urgent pigeon-delivered letter.

This letter’s format was very strange, source unknown. It was something soldiers had picked up outside the camp gates. The reason they guessed it was pigeon-delivered was because bird down was stuck to the letter’s corner.

On the unremarkable common letter paper were characterless tiny words. The sender clearly didn’t want to reveal their identity.

The letter’s contents were also strange. Jing Hengbo felt like she was reading “Lord of the Rings.”

“Grass people”? “Sword people”? “Beast breeds”?

A perfectly good letter – why mention these inexplicable things? She hadn’t encountered these prehistoric human species.

She suddenly thought of Yingbai’s ambush. The soldier who came to report was from Yingbai’s army. He had been sent to report at the very beginning and didn’t know the details of what happened later, but had mentioned strange sounds and strange people suddenly appearing on the marsh.

Could it be that Yingbai encountered these half-orcs? Then this intelligence that revealed enemy troop types and weapons so clearly was invaluable beyond measure.

Who was it?

Her heart suddenly contracted. Only after a long while did she calm her mind, her gaze falling on the last line.

“If you encounter alien armies, remember – persist for three days, then descend upon the Imperial Capital’s walls.”

…

“If you want to know, abdicate in exchange.”

Gong Yin’s short sentence made the two snow mountain gate-guarding disciples retreat in alarm.

After a burst of urgent whistle sounds, first a large group of disciples came running, forming a line before the mountain gate, warily facing Gong Yin.

Naturally, others immediately ran toward the rear mountain to request instructions from elders. They weren’t qualified to meet the sect master just by wanting to.

Gong Yin wasn’t impatient either. Like a sect master returning from training, he casually leaned on his long sword and looked up at the gray eagle circling in the sky.

That eagle flew in circles, diving and soaring, its posture quite agitated, in stark contrast to his calm composure.

All along the rear mountain were buildings of various heights – tiled houses and grass sheds, palaces and stone caves, designed by various elders according to their preferences as residences.

When Xu Pingran descended the mountain, she naturally wouldn’t take all the elders. The mountain probably still had about half the inner and outer sect disciples, and ten elders responsible for snow mountain affairs.

The sharp whistle sounds continued. White-robed, hemp-clothed elders emerged – not all old men, as Xu Pingran had promoted many young people in recent years.

Hearing the gate-guarding disciples’ report, the elders were also shocked and amazed – the successor sect master Sang Tianxi had descended the snow mountain for training many years ago. In principle, he should be summoned back before the sect master emerged from seclusion and convened the great sect assembly this year. How had he suddenly returned?

The sect master’s missing son? The sect master had once had a son many years ago who died shortly after birth. This was a secret the snow mountain avoided discussing. How had a sect master’s son suddenly appeared?

Demanding the sect master’s abdication? Nine Heavens Gate had established its sect for hundreds of years – no one had ever heard such an arrogant demand.

Immediately someone rushed to the valley to report to the sect master. When the sect master’s wife left, she had strictly ordered that no affairs should disturb the sect master. But this matter was too big, actually involving the three most crucial matters of the snow mountain – no one dared neglect it.

An executive elder shouted ten times at the wooden house from the boundary line beside Green Grass Lake. The wooden house was silent with no answer.

No answer was also within everyone’s expectations – since the sect master entered seclusion, no one had heard his voice or seen him. If not for everyone’s great confidence in the sect master’s martial arts, some would even suspect whether the sect master had already been killed by his wife.

No answer sometimes could also be considered tacit consent. The elders huddled together to discuss and decided that no matter what, they first had to bring in this “future sect master” who had spoken of the snow mountain’s three key matters in one sentence, then make long-term plans.

Gong Yin was politely received by everyone. He naturally wore a mask – no one recognized that face, and no one pursued it. People on the snow mountain weren’t sure what that future sect master actually looked like. For so many years they’d only heard this person was chosen as successor sect master and had descended the mountain early. The early batch of elders on the snow mountain had now been mostly replaced by the wife.

Receiving Gong Yin, naturally they couldn’t let him enter the valley grassland. The elders’ explanation was that the sect master was in seclusion and would receive him when he emerged. They urgently wrote letters, having them delivered to the sect master’s wife who had descended the mountain.

At this time in the valley’s small wooden house, the hanging curtains moved without wind.

At this time on the front mountain path, a figure raced like lightning – Murong Zhen was running frantically toward the rear mountain.