She peeked out and saw a squad of soldiers walking quickly toward them. From their appearance, they were scouts from the Imperial Song’s escort army.

To prevent attacks from Yu Kingdom, the escort army had always sent scouts to patrol and investigate. When Jing Hengbo saw they were her own people, she breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing this group heading toward the forest, afraid they might disturb Gong Yin, she tidied the escort army soldier’s uniform she was wearing, smoothed her hair, and stepped out to meet them first, saying, “Brothers, you all…”

Before she could finish speaking, the lead scout saw her clearly and suddenly changed color, shouting, “Brothers! It’s this kid! Quickly capture him!” With his shout, he drew his long blade and chopped down at Jing Hengbo’s head.

Jing Hengbo stared in shock, never expecting her own people to suddenly attack with killing intent. Seeing the dazzling blade light and feeling the cold wind on her face, she instinctively dodged.

But this dodge didn’t succeed. Her internal organs felt empty and painful—she only moved a small step before stumbling. With a “chi” sound, cold air invaded her body. Her sleeve was torn away, blood droplets scattered with the blade wind, and a long bloody gash appeared on her shoulder.

“You all…” Before Jing Hengbo could speak, blade winds already interwove around her as all the soldiers drew their swords and pounced.

Jing Hengbo frowned, pressing her wound. At a glance, everyone’s faces were fierce and malicious, completely intent on putting her to death. Her heart jumped in alarm, thinking perhaps Yu Kingdom’s army had already attacked the escort army and changed into scout uniforms? This would spell trouble for the escort army.

With everyone attacking at once, normally she could escape with a flash of her body and easily defeat these people with a wave of her hand. But now her internal organs were empty and her body weak—she didn’t even have strength to speak. Seeing blade winds chopping down at her head again, she barely managed to dodge, flashing to a zhang away. Her feet encountered a slight slope and her legs gave way, causing her to roll down with a clatter.

Several scouts also shouted and chased down. Seeing her lying motionless in the grass, thinking she had been knocked unconscious by the fall, they all rushed over to surround her. One person crouched down to turn her body, when suddenly Jing Hengbo raised her head. Cold light flashed as a dagger sliced across that scout’s throat.

Before that man could fall, Jing Hengbo spun and thrust her blade into another man’s chest. She killed two in an instant, shocking the remaining scouts into scattering quickly. Jing Hengbo struggled to get up, thinking of ways to kill the rest and leave one alive to question what was happening, but saw those men fleeing far away. One of them pulled signal rockets from his chest and with a “whoosh,” a line of yellow light pierced the sky.

Jing Hengbo’s heart shook. She recognized this yellow signal—it meant “wanted criminal discovered, come quickly to surround and eliminate” in the army. But when had she become a wanted criminal?

The scouts had already run away. After thinking, she decided not to return to the forest. If an army truly hostile to her was drawn here, with her body weakened and Gong Yin possibly still unconscious, both would be trapped in mortal danger.

Sighing miserably and touching her face, she felt she was the most tragic woman in the world. She could clearly live by her looks, yet constantly had to fight for her life. When she wanted a man, she had to take initiative herself. Others did it in golden palaces and jade towers; she did it in desolate wilderness. Others received gentle love after; she got slashed with blades.

She really wanted heaven to send down lightning to wake up Gong Yin’s snow mountain brain…

Pressing her shoulder, she stumbled away. The morning light stretched for thousands of zhang, illuminating her solitary, thin figure.

…

In the quiet forest, flickering golden sunlight danced about, shining on Gong Yin’s face. His eyelashes trembled slightly, and after a moment, he opened his eyes.

No one was beside him. The surroundings were filled with a fresh scent—the mixed smell of pine needles and fallen leaves. There seemed to be a faint fragrance as well, but it was too subtle to capture without careful attention.

He lay quietly, but his mind was churning restlessly.

From when he fainted in the water until now, it felt like not much time had passed, but in his chaotic memories, many things seemed to have happened.

He seemed to hear sighs and whispers, someone crying intermittently. It seemed like hot currents had surged through his body, and ice water had flowed through him. It also seemed…

His expression gradually became strange.

It also seemed there had been rich fragrance, smooth and slippery friction sensations, scorching heat and torment as if in boiling water, floating and ascending as if at cloud peaks, low moans and curses that seemed like crying and laughing, hissing sounds of enduring pain and slightly indulgent low shouts, the heat of embraces and rolling undulations…

Like he’d had a spring dream, yet incredibly real. Even now, he could still feel that fragrance by his ear and the light friction sensation on his lips and teeth. It seemed that for a moment, someone had gently bitten his earlobe…

His face suddenly turned pale.

Such memories wouldn’t appear so realistically in his mind without reason. What exactly had happened before?

Also, where had Jing Hengbo gone?

He suddenly tried to get up, but forgot about his body’s rigidity. Instinctively slapping his palm down to flip himself up, he found himself sitting on a tree branch.

After settling, he frowned again.

When had his wrists become able to move?

He had just begun recovering, expending great effort to dissolve one of the needle fragments blocking his wrist meridians, allowing his fingers to move. This dissolution was unpredictable—sometimes when true energy circulated, it could break through needle fragments, freeing that area. The current situation—was it because the underwater interruption of true energy caused the needle fragments to shift, accidentally clearing the blockages in his elbow and wrist?

He still felt something was wrong somewhere.

Memory, sensations, body… everything seemed about the same as before. Even his clothes showed no changes, but his intuition told him something was amiss.

He closed his eyes and began regulating his breathing, examining the true energy within his body. Nothing seemed abnormal.

The true energy flowed toward his dantian, automatically withdrawing before reaching the deepest part. The poison in his body had always been suppressed in the depths of his dantian. Over the years, it had almost become a chronic mass. To avoid large-scale poison outbreaks, he had forcibly altered his true energy’s circulation path, never touching that poisonous tumor.

Therefore, he had no way of discovering that in the deepest part of his dantian, in that central area where black energy swirled undisturbed, a thread of white energy had now faintly appeared. Though weak, the white energy was bit by bit devouring the black energy flow…

He sat on the tree branch thinking for a long while, unable to reach an answer. The strange feeling in his heart was hard to erase, and he couldn’t help but smile bitterly—it seemed that to get answers, he really would have to ask Jing Hengbo.

He’d been determined to avoid her, but now had to chase after her for answers. Had that woman calculated this?

There was movement in the forest. He tilted his head slightly. Nan Jin stood beside a tree, looking at him with a complex expression.

The slight smile at the corner of Gong Yin’s lips faded. He turned his gaze away, not looking at her at all.

A trace of loneliness flashed in Nan Jin’s eyes. After a long moment, she said, “I won’t kill her again.” She took out a small knife, pricked her middle finger, and dotted it on her forehead, saying solemnly, “If I violate this oath, may I never enter reincarnation for all lifetimes, reduced to pigs and dogs.”

As blood dripped down, an ice blade appeared ghost-like before her with a “crack,” breaking into two pieces and falling to the ground with the blood, then disappearing.

Nan Jin’s face paled, knowing Gong Yin had already developed killing intent. If her oath had been a step slower, the ice blade would have pierced her heart.

A deep bitter taste spread through her heart.

What a person who was cruel to others and to himself…

Only thinking of ensuring Jing Hengbo’s safety, eliminating all dangers around her, not caring that she had suffered twenty years as his medicine vessel, not caring that losing this medicine vessel would cost him his own life as well.

Gong Yin finally turned his eyes to look at her, immediately noticing her slightly wet boots.

His heart stirred.

Nan Jin looked like she’d been there for a while.

Looking again at the expression on Nan Jin’s face, which held several indescribable strange elements, he rarely hesitated before finally asking, “Just now, were you nearby? Did you notice… anything unusual?”

Nan Jin’s expression remained unchanged, but her heart shook heavily.

Anything unusual?

Very unusual.

When Gong Yin was taken away by Jing Hengbo, she and Chun Shui felt it was unusual and discussed it. She would follow and track them. She had been hiding far away in the wilderness grass. Initially, because Yu Guangting had mobilized large armies to surround Gong Yin and Jing Hengbo, not knowing their intentions, she hadn’t acted. Later, when the army surrounded the reed marsh and the numbers decreased, she slowly approached, planning to secretly rescue them underwater. But those two suddenly flashed out, and after the army was startled, they discovered her approaching. After fighting, she shook off the army but lost track of the two. When she finally found that pine forest…

When she reached that pine forest…

Nan Jin felt a breath stuck in her chest, full of suppression and helplessness, plus some bewilderment and incomprehension.

The pine forest had been dim then. Afraid of being discovered, she hadn’t dared enter, only vaguely hearing some sounds. Through gaps between trees, she saw the bright, strange clothing with black background and peonies being thrown out, swaying in the gauze-like sunlight, brilliantly eye-catching.

Though raised with pure and abstinent education, she was still a woman of age. Intuiting she shouldn’t enter, she stood far outside the forest with her back turned toward it.

Facing away from the pine forest, looking at the vast wilderness ahead, mountains at the distant end, the city towering on the horizon, all things silently awaiting heaven and earth, while behind her came rustling sounds, weeping and laughing, whispering and murmuring… She stared numbly at that expanse of emptiness, her heart also blank and white, as if returning to the snow of her youth, searching everywhere but finding no trace of anyone. A blank space, a field of snow, a lifetime of waiting, a lifetime of obsession…

After a long time, she said quietly, “Nothing unusual.”

Gong Yin glanced at her back, where something was trembling—whether pine needles or her body, he couldn’t tell.

His doubts unresolved, he was about to speak when his gaze suddenly focused.

Through gaps in the trees, he could vaguely see someone on the slope ahead.

Gong Yin immediately swept over, pine needles rustling down. Nan Jin also followed. The two stopped at the bottom of the slope to discover two corpses, dead not long ago, their blood still warm. Gong Yin’s gaze fell on the wounds—such thin, fine knife marks were very much like the dagger Jing Hengbo had used when holding him hostage earlier.

He turned a questioning gaze toward Nan Jin, but she shook her head in bewilderment. She had stood outside the pine forest for a while earlier, then feeling it inappropriate and her mood troubled, had simply walked away for a time. She hadn’t seen what happened to Jing Hengbo afterward.

Gong Yin looked at the corpses’ attire—they were actually Imperial Song guards. Why would Jing Hengbo attack her own people? What had happened?

…

On a dirt path, a figure flashed back and forth like a ghost, swaying unsteadily, now to the left, now to the right.

Jing Hengbo’s breathing grew heavier and heavier.

Having lost her hard-earned Bright Moon cultivation method and just having slept with that guy, her teleportation ability was now greatly reduced. After flashing about for a long time, she hadn’t gotten very far.

She was still heading toward the escort army’s direction, because earlier Pei Shu had set off fireworks, clearly indicating he’d reached the escort army’s main camp and was waiting for her return. She had to figure out what exactly had happened.

The scouts behind her hadn’t pursued, and she was just thinking of resting when suddenly urgent horse hooves sounded ahead. This was a turning point in the road. She peeked out and saw a squad of cavalry charging toward her—from their clothing, still the escort army.

She hid her body in a rocky depression beside the road, covered in dust with her long hair hanging down.

That group of cavalry indeed didn’t notice her, their horses galloping past with raised whips. Jing Hengbo focused on the last rider, preparing to steal his horse.

Just as that last rider was about to brush past her, he suddenly seemed to sense something, twisted his head to stare at her, then his expression changed as he shouted, “She’s here!” and raised his whip to strike down.

Jing Hengbo reached out to grab the whip but forgot she no longer had true power. Her strike was weak, and the whip tip vibrated in her palm, escaping her control like a snake before snapping back. “Crack!” Her palm’s tiger mouth split open, and the long whip end even wrapped around her neck, leaving a purple-red swollen whip mark.

Jing Hengbo groaned low, stumbling. She felt her whole body burning with pain. Hearing horses neighing ahead as the cavalry reined in and turned back with shouting and cursing, they would soon surround her.

She absolutely couldn’t die here inexplicably!

A dignified queen dying inexplicably at the hands of her own army—those three would laugh at her until the next lifetime!

She flashed and was behind that cavalry man, her whole body slamming hard to knock him off his horse. Grabbing the reins with one hand, she wheeled the horse around and cracked the whip hard.

The steed cried out in pain, rearing and neighing before galloping wildly. She crouched on the horse’s back, pressing low as she heard angry pursuit and shouting behind her, feeling arrows brush past through the air beside her, tearing her shoulder clothing. Her vision darkened and the world spun as roadside trees seemed to lean and press toward her. She dared not raise her head or look back, only continuously cracking the whip, cracking it…

…

Thirty li away from Jing Hengbo’s location, in a mountain valley where the escort army was camped, the atmosphere was tense.

The assassin had left and the traitor had been rooted out, but there was still a bunch of dead and living young masters from Lin Prefecture locked in tents. Whether to send them back to Lin Prefecture or use them for negotiations needed a plan, but no one was managing this matter now.

All the large and small leaders of the escort convoy were gathered in the main tent, listening to Young Marshal Pei lose his temper.

Pei Shu had received news last night and rushed over this morning. Upon arrival, without hearing any reports, he first looked for Jing Hengbo. After searching everywhere without a trace and questioning Jiang Ya and others, they hemmed and hawed unclearly. When pressed urgently, they finally said his distant relative was a spy. Pei Shu felt both angry and amused hearing this, but without Jing Hengbo’s permission, he couldn’t conveniently reveal her identity. He could only scold Jiang Ya and the others without explanation, then personally lead people out to search.

He’d just left camp when a rider came galloping, charging straight into the escort army’s campground.

On the horse, Jing Hengbo bounced up and down, her figure swaying precariously. If not for the pursuing soldiers chasing relentlessly behind her, if not for biting her tongue hard to keep from fainting, she would have fallen from the horse long ago.

Now seeing the campground, seeing it had expanded with a large area of black tents faintly visible behind the escort army’s tents, banners flying with the Horizontal Halberd Army’s military flag, her heart relaxed as she shouted from afar, “Pei Shu! Pei Shu!”

Behind her, those persistent pursuers shouted, “The spy is breaking into camp! Quickly capture her!”

The horse hooves and shouting startled people in the camp. Jiang Ya led a group of subordinates pouring out, and seeing Jing Hengbo at a glance, they couldn’t help but be shocked.

At this time, because of the killing of Lin Prefecture’s young masters that night and Jing Hengbo’s mysterious escape and disappearance from custody, everyone in the camp regarded this distant relative of Young Marshal Pei as a spy. Seeing her, Jiang Ya immediately thought of this pile of difficult problems, anger surging to his head. Without thinking, he glared and shouted, “Capture her!”

Large numbers of soldiers poured out. Jing Hengbo shouted, “Pei Shu!”

She knew reporting her identity now would be useless—her status was too impressive, making it even less believable, and she’d die faster. Only Pei Shu could be her savior now.

“Stop shouting! Even if the Marshal were here, he couldn’t save you. Selling military intelligence, colluding with external enemies, escaping without authorization—any one of these is a capital offense!” someone scolded harshly.

Jing Hengbo’s heart sank. Pei Shu wasn’t here!

Could she really die unjustly in this place today?

A large squad of soldiers with blades and spears slowly approached. Jiang Ya shouted, “Surrender your weapons! If you dare resist, you’ll be killed without mercy!”

Jing Hengbo gasped several times and rolled off the horse.

Leaning against the horse’s body, she thought for a moment, then laughed. “Fine, I surrender.” She slowly raised both hands.

Everyone’s puzzled gazes turned to her, seeing her face covered in blood, sweat, and dirt, gasping heavily with unfocused eyes, clearly at the end of her rope. Yet even in such a wretched state, she was still smiling.

Everyone felt shocked, as if seeing a national beauty blooming in mud.

Jiang Ya was also somewhat puzzled and waved his hand to signal the soldiers to stop advancing and spread out slightly.

Everyone had just relaxed when suddenly Jing Hengbo’s figure flashed.

The next instant she appeared beside Jiang Ya, stumbling and knocking him down while grabbing signal rockets from his waist and yanking off the cover.

“Whoosh!” A line of fire shot straight up, deep red—a call for help.

The soldiers cried out in alarm and advanced with spears again. Jing Hengbo pressed her elbow against Jiang Ya’s throat. “Everyone stop!”

They all stopped, faces alarmed.

Jing Hengbo was trembling all over. Having no strength left to hold a blade, she pressed her entire body against Jiang Ya’s head and face. Jiang Ya wanted to curse and struggle, to order the soldiers to continue attacking, but his throat was pressed so tightly he could only roll his eyes, unable to speak.

Jing Hengbo spoke while coughing, coughing while laughing. She could still laugh because she found it truly absurd—this life-and-death struggle was against her own army and officers. It seemed the game of hiding one’s identity really required good character…

“Stop… stop… all of you get the hell away…”

Though her words sounded casual, she knew the situation was bad.

She felt she couldn’t hold on much longer. Her vision kept turning black and spinning, cold sweat drenched her body. Soon, maybe in the next second, she would faint.

Once she fainted, the furious Jiang Ya and soldiers would immediately kill her.

That cowardly kid Pei Shu—why hadn’t he returned yet!

She desperately pinched her own thigh, trying to keep consciousness a little longer. If she died unjustly like this, she would definitely become a vengeful ghost…

But her consciousness wouldn’t cooperate, irreversibly sinking bit by bit into darkness.

At the boundary between darkness and light, amid waves of tinnitus, she dimly seemed to hear horse neighing and rapid hoofbeats, even magically sensing distant sounds of robes fluttering in the wind, all approaching like lightning.

Who was coming…

She could no longer think.

One second before sinking into darkness, she murmured, “Gong Yin, if you come now, next time I’ll let you be on top…”

Her hand loosened and her body went limp.

Jiang Ya suddenly flipped up, sweeping her into the dust.

Rising to his feet, Jiang Ya’s face was flushed red. Being pressed down helplessly before his subordinates was tremendous humiliation. Rage made him lose reason as he shouted, “Kill her!”

With a backhand motion, he drew a blade from a nearby soldier’s waist and chopped down fiercely.

Multiple blades flashed as chaotic weapons converged.

Suddenly cold light flashed.

Then came a crisp “crack!” Jiang Ya felt sharp pain in his tiger mouth as his blade flew up, spinning in the air before reversing direction to strike the other soldiers’ descending blades. Crack-crack-crack—the crisp sounds connected as blade fragments scattered. Those chopping blades were all knocked away, blooming like white blade flowers in mid-air before clattering down, striking those soldiers on their heads.

Only then did the angry shout arrive: “Stop!”

Jiang Ya, his hands bloody, looked up in terror to see several riders approaching like angry dragons. The leader’s robes danced wildly, his eyes blazing with rage and killing intent, making him shiver with an involuntary chill.

“Marshal!” he cried out.

The mounted Pei Shu didn’t look at him at all, his gaze falling on Jing Hengbo on the ground. She looked dead, motionless, covered in blood and dust, her hair and clothes disheveled, both sleeves torn to reveal snow-white skin with large clots of blood.

Pei Shu’s mind thundered.

“Hengbo!” The next instant he had rushed over, scooping her into his arms. First checking her pulse, then exhaling in relief. Seeing her clothes disheveled and exposed, he quickly removed his outer robe to wrap her up, wearing only snow-white undergarments. After thinking, he shouted, “Your Majesty!”

Everyone who had been staring dumbfounded at his series of actions suddenly heard this cry and felt their minds explode in unison.

This shout was so loud it woke Jing Hengbo. She slightly opened her eyes, her consciousness still unclear and chaotic. In her swaying vision, she only saw a smooth chin and expanse of white.

She breathed out in relief, stretching her arms to embrace the person’s waist, pressing her face against his chest.

“You came… I’m so happy… mm… next time I’ll let you sleep with me…”

The last sentence was especially soft. Pei Shu didn’t hear it, only the first two lines.

Jing Hengbo’s rare initiative and warmth left him rigid with disbelief. After the incredulous surprise, waves of wild joy surged in his heart.

Kneeling on the ground, he crushed her into his embrace, his chin pressed tightly against her hair, wishing he could imprison her person, her fragrance, her soft words in his arms forever until the end of time, never letting go.

True feelings revealed in life-and-death moments—she was finally willing to open her heart to him. How could he ever let go after this?

His emotions were so intense that even this stalwart man couldn’t help choking up.

“Yes, I’m here. From now on, rest assured and rely on me… I swear that hereafter, even if heaven drops blades and axes, they will only fall on me and cannot harm you in the slightest!”

Jing Hengbo’s world became chaotic again. In that warm embrace, she completely relaxed, blooming a soft smile and nodding drowsily.

The wind was still, soldiers stood frozen, and in the center of the field, including heaven and earth, all seemed to gaze at that embracing pair.

…

Not far away, at the forest treetops.

A white figure that had swept over stopped there.

Also gazing for a long time.

In one moment, he had planned to rush out frantically, but in the next moment, he could no longer move his feet.