Flames soared skyward, Pingzong wept before the firelight.

Just one day before, she had still been the princess of this island, with a dignified yet gentle father, a tender and doting Aunt Xuan, and a seemingly cold mother whose gaze always followed her movements.

Then overnight, she lost everything.

And before that loss, she was forced to witness a bloody, brutal tearing apart between them all.

The facade of years of warmth and harmony was completely torn away, revealing the sordidness and stench beneath.

Tie Ci gazed at her trembling silhouette, wondering if Chi Fengli had truly entrusted her daughter to her with such confidence. After a lifetime of such hurt and humiliation, could she still place such complete trust in a complete stranger she’d met by chance? The legendary Fire Emperor was not known to be such a kind person.

Tie Ci secretly circulated her qi, searching for any irregularities, but her internal breath flowed smoothly—none of her feared consequences showed signs of manifesting yet.

She could only bury these doubts in her heart.

Three great masters had perished in an instant.

The pirates on the ship immediately lost their direction.

Someone suddenly wailed and knelt down, repeatedly kowtowing toward heaven.

Then those islanders disguised as pirates vaguely understood what had happened.

Their gods were gone.

Devoured by the heavens.

The future of Ghost Island would now be shattered and turbulent like the suddenly churning sea waves.

People on the great ship also realized the tide had turned, their spirits immediately lifted as they began to counterattack.

Someone on the ship shouted loudly, “Capture them alive! Capture these pirates alive! When we return, I’ll report to our master to see what kind of people have been causing this trouble!”

Before his words finished, with a whoosh, a cold arrow pierced through the fog and through his throat.

The man fell, clutching his gushing throat, eyes staring fixedly at the side waters.

At dawn, fog had risen over the sea. Everyone’s attention had been on the chaotic battle between the three masters, so no one had noticed when several medium-sized vessels had appeared indistinctly in the mist.

They bore no flags and looked like ordinary fishing boats, but they were packed with people. The arrow that killed the man on the great ship had been fired from these vessels.

These ships came quickly, rapidly extending gangplanks. People rushed aboard the great ship while others called to the Ghost Island people, “Why haven’t you taken control yet? Where are those masters?”

The Ghost Island people were lost and disoriented. Before they could answer, Pingzong suddenly laughed coldly, leaped up, crossed the waves in two or three steps, jumped onto the ship, grabbed the questioner and delivered more than ten slaps back and forth, saying, “The master is right here!”

The man was beaten dizzy, but he recognized Pingzong. After a long moment of bewilderment, he said, “Miss Pingzong… you… where are your parents…”

Pingzong’s answer was another dozen slaps back and forth.

Amidst the slapping sounds, a figure flashed—Tie Ci appeared, leisurely whispering in her ear, “Good niece, it’s these people who harmed your parents. Xuanqiong colluded with them, exploiting your father’s greed to rob passing merchant ships. Because she could help your father make money, he was completely subservient to her, letting her deceive you and bully your mother, ultimately creating this situation where all three perished together. But your father never spent that money on you—it all just sat in the secret chamber gathering dust. Tell me, what was the point? Material desire is like a bottomless well, and greed harms people!”

“You’re right,” Pingzong said angrily, “It’s all these people’s fault for seducing him! Don’t call me niece!”

“Very well, niece. By the way, why couldn’t your parents leave these waters? We haven’t heard news of them for years.”

“It seems many years ago they were injured and needed a special product from these waters to heal, plus many precious medicines. Sometimes merchant ships would carry these items.”

While the two conversed, Pingzong had already knocked down several people who rushed at her.

“Do you know what kind of people are on these ships?”

“I don’t know.”

“But they recognize you.”

“They often brought things to my father. My father’s subordinates—why would I need to know them?”

Tie Ci sighed.

Your mother was right.

Truly a foolish grandmaster.

Pingzong’s venting, one-sided beating finally enraged the opponents. Those people fled back to their own ship, with Pingzong chasing after to continue the beating.

The true qi she’d just received was still beyond her control, her heart filled with grief and rage, completely irrational. Like a human killing machine, she slaughtered those on the ship both inexplicably and amid continuous screams. After several failed attempts at explanation, they too were enraged.

Someone shouted, “Something’s wrong here! This woman’s gone mad! Fall back! Open fire!”

At this command, several ships retreated. Ship panels creaked open, revealing rows of openings from which dark objects emerged.

The well-traveled people on the great ship cried out in alarm, “Cannons!”

Someone angrily said, “Cannons are strictly controlled—where would pirates get cannons!”

“These pirates are in league with the Yongping Navy!”

Tie Ci chuckled.

Too simple, too naive.

This was far worse than mere collusion.

A figure flashed—Pingzong wasn’t even afraid of cannons. She leaped onto the ship’s hull, raised her hand to send a line of fire shooting directly into the dark cannon mouth. With a tremendous bang, before the cannon could fire, she made it explode in the barrel.

The ship’s hull shook violently, black smoke filled the air, people on deck fell everywhere. A huge gap was blasted beside the cannon mouth—the ship’s hull was about to split open.

Chaos erupted on the ship as people jumped into the water like dumplings. People on what should be the flagship, seeing this, immediately ordered, “Return to port! Return to port!”

Tie Ci had sharp eyes and suddenly saw several people rush out on that ship, apparently trying to capture the leader who was ordering the return from behind.

She immediately called to Pingzong, “Niece, help out—intimidate that ship, but don’t…”

Before she finished speaking, Pingzong raised her hand again, sending another streak of fire toward a cannon mouth on that ship, exploding it with another bang.

“…explode it…” Tie Ci’s last two words had just left her mouth. She nearly bit her own tongue.

Pingzong didn’t turn around: “Call me niece again and I’ll blow you up like that!”

Tie Ci: “Heh heh, very well, niece.”

The ship over there, under attack, also had people falling everywhere. The leader at the bow fell, and those behind him seized the chance to rush forward and restrain him.

With the leader controlled and the others intimidated by cannon fire, they panicked and dared not move. Tie Ci saw from afar that those few people quickly took control of the ship’s situation and ordered a return to port.

Fortunately, though this ship was also hit, Pingzong had controlled her strike—only the ship’s side was damaged, not affecting navigation.

Before returning to port, the person who had acted called out from afar to Tie Ci, “Many thanks for brother’s assistance! We’re from Yongping Prefecture. If brother ever has need of our services, please present this token to the local garrison, ask for Old Yu, and someone will appear!”

Saying this, he threw over a token. Tie Ci caught it, glanced at the token, felt moved, and called back loudly, “No special thanks needed. I happen to be heading to Yongping Prefecture anyway—why don’t you give us passage?”

After a brief hesitation, they agreed. Tie Ci had Dan Shuang remain behind to help the great ship handle the aftermath.

People on the great ship had begun counterattacking, capturing some islanders and survivors from the first exploded ship who had fallen into the water.

Those islanders frantically appealed to Pingzong for help. Having vented through fighting, Pingzong had calmed somewhat. Seeing those islanders who had raised her, she felt some reluctance and instinctively looked toward Tie Ci.

Tie Ci asked the other ship to wait while she went to the great ship. The ship’s owner who received her had considerable bearing and spoke with the refined accent of the imperial capital. From his manner of receiving people, Tie Ci could tell he was either a steward of significant position from a noble house, or a distant relative of a prominent family specifically responsible for commerce.

Even though such people had been polished smooth by years of business, when facing someone like Tie Ci with flawless background and experience, they were convinced in just a few words.

When Tie Ci arrived, he was interrogating those who had fallen from the later ships, but the other party insisted they were just pirates, together with the islanders.

These people were fairly tough—even under torture, they gritted their teeth and wouldn’t speak.

Then Feiyu came.

He dragged those few people to the rear cabin. No screams were heard, and not long after, those people came out, each covered in cold sweat with deathly pale faces, confessing everything honestly.

Tie Ci was very curious about what method Feiyu had used, but he just smiled without explaining. When pressed, he said, “You wouldn’t want to know. Don’t ask—what if you won’t marry me after finding out?”

Tie Ci snorted.

Such wishful thinking.

But she stopped asking. Some things were better left unspoken.

From among the identically dressed prisoners, Feiyu precisely picked out the leader for interrogation. The questioning was successful, but it made the knowledgeable ship owner break into a cold sweat.

This ship had originally been a joint overseas gold-seeking venture backed by various big shots. He bore the responsibility of making money, thinking such connections would make them untouchable, never imagining they’d nearly been completely wiped out in these coastal waters.

He’d thought it was just bad luck, never suspecting the scheming behind it.

It seemed someone was using the military to support pirates, then using pirates to support the military, while simultaneously stirring up murky waters to move against Commander Di of the Yongping Guard. This involved court struggles over military power.

The situation behind this sounded terrifying. As a major steward from a duke’s household, he was immediately at a loss.

The merchant ship’s robbery couldn’t go uninvestigated, but if investigated, it would implicate too many parties, possibly even the Xiao family. Who could bear such responsibility?

Only then did Tie Ci understand the intricacies, quite surprised.

She had guessed that the Yongping Navy was using the military to support pirates, then using pirates to support troops, but hadn’t expected that this exceptional robbery of a major merchant ship was actually aimed at Di Yiwei.

She negotiated with the steward ship owner, pointing out the dangerous waters ahead and suggesting they hand this matter directly to Di Yiwei for handling, which would count as selling the Yongping Guard Commander a favor.

As for the islanders, she suggested that those with blood on their hands be dealt with as seen fit, while the rest should be released and afterward left to Di Yiwei’s management and supervision to ensure they never offend again.

She could provide a guarantee, after all, the new island master was her dear niece.

The steward accepted this proposal—he had also seen Pingzong’s martial skills and dared not offend too deeply.

Fortunately, those islanders had mostly surrounded without attacking while waiting for Gui Haisheng to make decisions, and the great ship, having received Tie Ci’s advance warning and preparation, suffered no casualties.

Most islanders were released. Pingzong’s expression relaxed somewhat. When Tie Ci called her “good niece,” she pretended not to hear.

Pingzong planned to first bury her parents, then find opportunities to go out and travel.

Though her parents had no remains, a cenotaph still needed to be erected.

As for Xuanqiong, she paid no attention. However, among the islanders were some who had received Xuanqiong’s kindness—Xuanqiong routinely displayed small charities. For her it was performance, but for those in hardship, it was great kindness.

So someone moved her corpse from the ship’s ice storage. Unable to give her a grand burial, they just nailed together a thin wooden coffin and buried it in the island’s cemetery, facing the sea with its fishy smell constantly present.

Xuanqiong had loved splendor, luxury, and fragrance all her life. Her garments were like snow.

In the end, she slept beneath sandy soil by the sea, forever surrounded by fishy odors.

Fate has always been fond of irony.

Tie Ci returned to the ship to release Er Dan and San Hai, giving them some silver as compensation.

On the beach she bid farewell to Xiao Wenliu.

She was taking the later disguised pirate ship—actually a military vessel—to Yongping. If she wasn’t mistaken, Di Yiwei had already detected unusual movements in the Yongping Navy and had sent people to infiltrate, waiting for the right moment.

This time Tie Ci and Feiyu’s disruption of the robbery allowed Di Yiwei’s people to seize the opportunity to capture the Yongping Navy leaders and take their ship.

Presumably the navy admiral Xiao Bi’an was about to meet misfortune.

Naturally, Xiao Wenliu couldn’t continue forward.

In life, paths must eventually diverge.

But Xiao Wenliu wasn’t as downcast as Tie Ci had imagined. She raised a bright smile, saying, “Sister, take good care of yourself! When you return to the capital, I’ll come see you. Then, can you give me a hairpin?”

She still couldn’t forget that hairpin.

Tie Ci, whose mind was full of parting ways and meeting enemies again, couldn’t help but smile. She thought this child was broad-minded and hoped her life’s path would always be spacious.

She said, “Alright, I’ll carve you one with cherry blossoms.”

Feiyu said coolly from the side, “Don’t believe her—some people just talk without delivering.”

Xiao Wenliu said, “That’s because your character is bad. Whose fault is that?”

Feiyu looked at her darkly. Xiao Wenliu, completely unaware she’d been marked by the demon king, remained fearlessly cheerful.

She returned to her previous ship. The helmsman felt as if in a dream—Ghost Island had no ghosts, no one demanded dowries from him, pirates came and were defeated, Er Dan and San Hai weren’t Er Dan and San Hai, then Er Dan and San Hai appeared on the ship again.

But he vaguely knew that perhaps the pirate and Ghost Island nightmare that had long troubled passing merchant ships had been dispelled because of those fake Er Dan and San Hai. Grateful, he kowtowed and repeatedly promised to safely deliver Xiao Wenliu back to the patrol ship.

Tie Ci watched Lan Xian’er support Xiao Wenliu back to their ship. From afar, Xiao Wenliu kept waving while Lan Xian’er beside her had completely shed yesterday’s worldly air, looking like a well-trained servant from a wealthy household, standing properly behind Xiao Wenliu, actually pushing Xiao Wenliu’s original maid far to the back.

Tie Ci asked curiously, “When did Lan Xian’er become so close to Xiao Wenliu?”

Feiyu said, “I heard she helped kill a snake last night. During the night when Ghost Island people were playing tricks, Lan Xian’er went to fight ghosts. Also, at the beach gathering earlier, when Xiao Wenliu drank too much and hid in the woods to relieve herself, some men tried to peek but were beaten bloody by Lan Xian’er. So Xiao Wenliu took Lan Xian’er as her maid.”

Tie Ci said casually, “How do you know about such things as Xiao Wenliu relieving herself and someone peeking? Did you use your female identity to deceive again?”

Feiyu said, “Not at all—she just wasn’t smart enough.”

Before he finished speaking, he knew he’d misspoken. Before he could make amends, Tie Ci had already laughed and said, “Be a decent person, will you!”

The ocean merchant ship offered her thanks and gifts, which Tie Ci declined, saying, “If possible, please leave me a token, ship owner. I have some small business in the capital and may need your assistance in the future.”

The ship owner naturally agreed, never imagining this small business involved the entire realm, much less that Tie Ci had secretly tied up all the big shots behind the merchant ship.

Favors from court big shots weren’t easily owed—once Tie Ci grasped them, she wouldn’t let go.

The ship owner left a token and recommendation letter, stating he would certainly inform his master of today’s events and invite Tie Ci to maintain frequent contact in the capital.

Tie Ci said meaningfully, “Naturally I’ll be bothering you.”

She boarded that converted military ship, watching the pirate ship return to the island, the merchant ship set sail, and Pingzong digging in the sand on the beach, gradually becoming a small dot.

She felt quite moved.

She hadn’t expected one night’s Ghost Island journey to yield such great harvest.

She’d gained a grandmaster, annexed Ghost Island, resolved the bandit problem, sold favors to big shots, and secretly helped Di Yiwei.

The leader on the military ship was a middle-aged man who called himself Yu, not revealing his identity to them, only saying he was ordered to investigate these maritime troubles and thanking Tie Ci for her assistance.

It wasn’t until Tie Ci handed over her identity documents, saying she was here for training, that the other party accepted the papers somewhat surprised, saying, “So you’re a talent from Yueli Academy. My apologies—I’m Yu Duonian, serving under Commander Di as Guard of the Infantry Battalion. Before I left, I heard that students from Yueli Academy here for training had already arrived. Our commander has arranged positions for each of them, and because there are many training students, the commander specially assigned a vice-general to manage student training and other matters. Training is almost finished now—why are you arriving only now, young brother?”

He added, “This is troublesome—our commander most dislikes tardiness.”

Tie Ci said, “When training in Dongming, I encountered some obstacles. To investigate the truth, I was delayed. Please, Guard Yu, put in a good word for me with the commander.”

At this time, the Great Qian garrison system was hereditary, with garrison troops as the main component of border forces, plus some recruited soldiers. According to the corresponding positions between garrison officers and regular army officers, Guard Yu should be at least a Garrison Commander in the garrison system. But when Tie Ci asked, Guard Yu smiled bitterly, saying, “Shamefully, I was originally Regional Commander of the Dongning Garrison.”

Tie Ci was stunned, saying, “A Regional Commander should correspond to at least a Guerrilla General in the regular army.”

Guard Yu said, “Didn’t expect Young Master Ye to be so familiar with our court’s military system. But I transferred to regular army not long ago, haven’t established any merit, so don’t deserve the position of Guerrilla General.”

He then said happily, “This time capturing the navy’s weakness, I can be promoted when I return! The commander promised me!”

Tie Ci observed him and found he truly showed no resentment, full of anticipation and drive for the future.

This made her curious about Di Yiwei. Like herself, Di Yiwei disguised as a man, and court officials didn’t know of her disguise—she’d learned this from Shadow.

For such a woman to spend years on battlefields, making numerous male subordinates completely unaware while earning their wholehearted respect, she must be no ordinary person.

Clearly rewards and punishments were distinct—she could demote subordinates’ positions while still earning their compliance. That took skill.

Her style also seemed quite stern, because Guard Yu told her, “Young master helped us solve this great problem with the navy. The commander will surely be pleased, but the commander is strict by nature and may personally question you. Please tell everything truthfully without any concealment.”

Should Tie Ci honestly reveal her identity?

That was impossible.

Di Yiwei was said to be related to the Rong family, but the Rong family’s attitude was ambiguous. More precisely, Di Yiwei was a relative of Old Lady Rong. Previously at the academy, Tie Ci had even killed Old Lady Rong’s people—Old Lady Rong probably wanted to settle accounts with her.

Even if Di Yiwei and Old Lady Rong were said to have a poor relationship, Tie Ci didn’t dare take that risk.

She had to first understand the situation thoroughly.

So the problem arose—she’d thought helping Di Yiwei would give her a good start in Yongping.

But now it seemed this favor might actually become an obstacle.

Guard Yu hastily spoke with her briefly, then went to handle matters of escorting the ship back to Yongping and sending reports. With just a few people on his side against over a hundred soldiers on the other ship, he couldn’t maintain control through manpower alone, so he negotiated with the merchant ship to borrow some of their people.

The merchant ship naturally refused, fearing another robbery with insufficient people, but Guard Yu was forceful, boarding their ship with his men and producing Di Yiwei’s order for mandatory requisition.

When the other party produced tokens from various dukes and ministers to pressure him, Guard Yu showed respect for their position but said that since the merchant ship was near the docks and Ghost Island was pacified, such caution over valuable cargo was understandable. However, the Yongping Guard had authority to inspect goods at commercial ports, so they would fulfill their duty by registering and cataloging everything.

This statement made the other party’s faces ugly. Ocean merchant ships inevitably carried some rare but taboo items, and various families’ purchases included things that couldn’t be recorded in accounts, containing private matters. Routine inspections with proper greetings were one thing, but this person clearly had ill intent. If he actually created account books, they could become leverage for Commander Di in the future.

They cursed internally about this commander overreaching, but dared not turn hostile on her territory, so had to lend some people.

Watching from afar, Tie Ci thought subordinates’ styles mostly reflected their commanders’ influence. This Di Yiwei was clearly also a hardliner, but unlike Xiao Xueya’s steel-straight-man style, her methods were more sophisticated and ruthless.

Guard Yu assigned them all cabins, very strategically placing the cabins near where prisoners were held. Tie Ci understood but just smiled it off.

The journey to Yongping Guard would take another day’s sailing. Both went to their cabins to change out of their sailor disguises.

Tie Ci returned to her Ye Ci ensemble—elegant young master in dark robes, a gentleman scholar. When she emerged, she earned Guard Yu’s applause, who praised, “This is how our capital’s sons should look!”

A moment later, the curtain lifted and Feiyu emerged.

Guard Yu looked up and was speechless.

Before him stood a tall, slender figure with a narrow waist and long legs, wearing tight black clothing that outlined an extremely flowing and exquisite physique. The person was sharp yet languid, carrying a bag of sunflower seeds, leaning against the ship’s wall. His slender, snow-white fingers picked up seeds, drawing everyone’s gaze to follow the sunflower seeds.

But what left people speechless was that he wore a crude half-mask on his face, revealing black hair like satin, a forehead like jade, and eyes like cold stars.

The kind that was very charming and beautiful, making sure you knew he was beautiful, yet perversely maintaining distance so you couldn’t see all his beauty—the kind of wickedness that made your hands and feet itch with the urge to beat him.

Tie Ci’s gaze flowed from Feiyu’s head to toe.

That figure, height, posture…

Made her think of many things, and even more.

For that instant, her expression richly changed several times.

Author’s Note: This is a transition chapter so I was too lazy to split it. Today there’s just this one update. Though it’s one chapter, the word count isn’t much less. Recently most updates should be five to six thousand words. The reason was mentioned before—summer vacation period, insufficient saved drafts.