One hour earlier.
In an ordinary but spacious courtyard in the eastern part of the city, someone sat by the window combing their hair.
It truly was magnificent hair, flowing like water to the ground, lustrous and jet-black from roots to tips.
The fingers holding the comb were slender and delicate, wearing an orchid-shaped ring that trembled slightly, whether from wind or some other cause.
The combing posture was elegant and unhurried.
In the distance, there seemed to be the sound of strings and bamboo instruments, providing accompaniment to the somewhat desolate and tranquil atmosphere of this snowy dusk.
Nearby came the rustling sound of snow striking bamboo leaves.
Everything appeared harmonious and leisurely.
The combing hand suddenly lifted.
The comb shot through the window like lightning, a streak of dark light piercing through the dense snowflakes, distorting the snow curtain and cleanly severing the tops of all the bamboo branches in the courtyard. Broken leaves mixed with broken snow exploded outward.
A rain of green and white fragments fell in confusion.
The next instant, a human figure appeared in the courtyard, ghostlike leaping onto the roof ridge and looking down at the chaos below, saying softly, “Inviting me here with an old friend’s keepsake, yet not even showing your shadow – what, do you think I’ve become too good-tempered in recent years?”
With each word he spoke, he took a step, each step covering seven or eight roof ridges. In just a few steps, he was about to leave this estate.
But suddenly someone sighed softly, their voice aged.
“When have you ever been good-tempered?”
The man with fluttering robes on the roof ridge suddenly turned back to look below.
The sound of wheelchair wheels echoed, carving deep tracks in the snow.
The man in the wheelchair slightly raised his head, looking at the figure on the roof ridge. Years of vicissitudes flowed through his eyes as he said, “Duanmu, have you been well?”
It took Duanmu on the roof ridge quite a while to recognize this person. “Jingxu, it really is you.”
Then he said, “How have you aged so much?” His gaze fell on the blanket covering the other’s lower body.
Medical Maniac Jingxu also looked down at his own legs, then at Duanmu, and smiled, “Worthy of you, truly worthy of being the strongest among the Three Maniacs and Five Emperors. The rest of us – dead, crippled, hiding – each living like dogs clinging to life, only you remain as radiant as ever.”
Duanmu smiled mockingly, not wanting to say much about this.
He too had barely escaped death and for years could only survive in the deep mountains of Yannan by relying on poisonous creatures.
Though indeed it was slightly better than those who had died.
He said, “Enough idle talk. Jingxu, you sent me the token from years past, asking me to wait for you in this estate, saying you had news of Sang Tang. Now you should provide an explanation.”
Jingxu patted his legs and sighed, “My apologies for making you wait several extra days. After all, with heavy snow and my disability, the journey wasn’t easy.”
Duanmu paid no heed and simply extended his palm toward him.
Jingxu then sighed and said, “You’re still the same… Come with me.”
He propelled his wheelchair toward the depths of the courtyard. Duanmu followed at a measured distance until they reached a tightly closed courtyard gate in the back. Jingxu unlocked it and pushed open the door. Inside was another ordinary-looking courtyard, but in its very center stood a grave mound.
Duanmu stopped, staring at that lone grave without monument or inscription.
In an instant, his expression became as empty as the wind and snow-filled sky.
Jingxu’s voice sounded faintly beside him.
“Over a year ago, my benefactor encountered him. At the time, he was being pursued by an army. Originally it wouldn’t have been fatal, but because the enemy used intense light against him, he suddenly fell ill and lost control, then was shot to death by arrows. My benefactor rescued him and had me treat him, but it was already too late. Before dying, he said he was the one who had been separated from you in Shengdu, that he wouldn’t leave this place and wanted to be buried here, facing the direction of the city gates, waiting for the day when… an old friend would return and enter through those gates.”
Duanmu’s silent face showed neither sorrow nor joy.
“Which army?”
“…The Crown Princess’s Nine Guards.”
Duanmu suddenly whirled around, staring at him intently.
His gaze could make ten thousand soldiers tremble, but Jingxu only smiled bitterly, “I know you have friendship with the Crown Princess and have been helping her all along. But think about it – how did she gain your trust? Wasn’t it because of Sang Tang? And why do you help her? Isn’t it because she said she could provide you with information about Sang Tang’s whereabouts?”
Duanmu remained silent.
“She must have met Sang Tang, otherwise she couldn’t have found you. But why has her attitude always been vague, refusing to tell you where Sang Tang is?”
“How did she come to have contact with Sang Tang?”
“How could the mighty Night Emperor die at the hands of ordinary soldiers? It was because someone exploited his weakness, because of that unprecedented intense light.” Jingxu said, “My benefactor said it was a black cylindrical object, somewhat like a spyglass, but capable of emitting extremely bright light that could blind anyone who looked at it. Have you ever seen such a thing?”
Duanmu’s brow suddenly twitched violently.
He had seen it.
At Tie Ci’s place.
When she came to the valley seeking medical treatment, in her strange bundle, there was exactly that object. He had seen her take it out and use it – extremely bright, unlike any earthly lamp or fire.
“Have you seen that extremely bright thing anywhere else?”
Naturally he hadn’t, which was why the impression was so deep.
“You’re saying that Tie Ci knew Sang Tang’s weakness, so her Crown Princess Nine Guards could use that intense light to kill Sang Tang.” Duanmu said coldly, “But Sang Tang was once injured by mountain snow wolves and contracted a strange illness that made him unable to bear light. Besides me, only you who treated him knew this. So why wasn’t it you who killed him and then tried to frame others?”
“Because I couldn’t possibly possess such a thing. Because that object comes from Gui Qizhai and is a secret weapon that Gui Qizhai doesn’t sell to outsiders, because Tie Ci is the disciple of Gui Qizhai’s chief proprietor.”
“As for why the Crown Princess wanted to kill Sang Tang, I can tell you: Sang Tang indeed didn’t die back then. Severely wounded, he was rescued by the current Empress Dowager. Due to his severe injuries, he spent years recuperating in the palace, sustained by rare medicines that the Xiao Family gathered from across the realm, unable to leave the palace even one step. Also because of his gratitude for the Empress Dowager’s life-saving grace, he willingly remained in the palace to protect her. The Empress Dowager Xiao and the Crown Princess are like fire and water. Before the Crown Princess gained power, she inevitably had many conflicts with Empress Dowager Xiao. In the Crown Princess’s eyes, Sang Tang’s protection of the Empress Dowager made him an accomplice to a tiger, a thorn in her side that she was eager to remove.”
“You should know what kind of person Tie Ci is – exceptionally intelligent. Having spent years in the palace and clashed repeatedly with the Empress Dowager and Sang Tang, discovering Sang Tang’s weakness and finding a weapon to deal with him wouldn’t be difficult at all.”
“And in this world, only she could accomplish this.”
Duanmu remained silent, then suddenly swept his sleeve.
With a bang, the old grave exploded, the coffin shattered to powder, and a set of bones flew out.
The moment they emerged, they seemed caught by invisible hands, floating smoothly over and settling on the ground.
Duanmu looked down at the white bones.
The ribs at the left heart position were missing, with clean, smooth fracture edges where the front and back ribs connected through a hole.
The right leg bone also had a hole, exactly matching the position where he had been bitten through by the snow wolf years ago.
His gaze finally settled on Sang Tang’s right hand.
There lay a secret known only to him and Sang Tang.
As a mischievous child, Sang Tang had once fallen from a tree and broken his little finger, so it remained slightly curved and was short by one joint.
Now the little finger bone of that hand was also curved and short.
…
The wind and snow continued as before, swirling between heaven and earth. Icicles gradually formed on the building eaves and flying cornices, extending downward like swords, as if trying to pierce the ground.
Duanmu stood before the courtyard gate. The wind was too strong, making his entire figure billow as if about to fly away, so much so that the orchid mantis on his finger could no longer stay put and was blown to his shoulder by the wind.
Then silently, it crumbled into pale pink dust.
Immediately after, the snowflakes, tree branches, courtyard gate, and surrounding walls around him began silently turning to powder. The walls disappeared section by section, countless colored powders swirled chaotically, vanishing into this tumultuous wind and snow.
Heaven and earth were already collapsing without Gonggong striking Mount Buzhou.
Finally, even the ground began slowly caving in. Even Jingxu couldn’t stay any longer and propelled his wheelchair out of the courtyard.
Half his wheelchair was buried in deep snow as he sat askew, watching Duanmu’s back, his eyes hiding deep sorrow.
He said, “If you still don’t believe it, go ask the Crown Princess yourself.”
He said, “You’ve been a hero all your life. I don’t want to see you deceived and fooled, especially not in Sang Tang’s name.”
He said, “Let him go. You have always been your own emperor.”
A gust of wind passed, snow fell like a curtain, and when the curtain slowly descended, Duanmu’s figure was no longer before the courtyard.
The overturned ground had returned to its original state, the bones had returned to the coffin, buried deep underground once more.
A lone plum branch now stood before the grave.
Jingxu gazed at that lone plum and sighed deeply.
He didn’t leave but instead entered the courtyard again, sweeping his sleeve to close the courtyard gate.
Moments later, another figure appeared beside him.
The figure was blurred in the wind and snow.
Jingxu said, “The message was delivered?”
“Yes,” the figure said. “Delivered to that young lady, and another was also sent into the palace.”
Jingxu wearily waved his hand, and the figure disappeared.
Jingxu drew a letter from his chest and examined it carefully. After a long while, he sighed, “When you asked me to move against the Crown Princess in Liaodong, I couldn’t bring myself to protect her – after all, this old teacher has received kindness and must repay it. But seeing your devoted feelings and how you plan ahead for her, this teacher will leave her a thread of hope. It depends on her luck.”
He rubbed his fingers together, and the letter dissolved with the broken snow in the wind.
He raised his head, looking at the shadow that had long vanished in the wind and snow, sighing softly.
“All devoted lovers.”
…
Half an hour earlier.
Following the guidance of poisonous creatures in her mad dash, A’kou intercepted Duanmu near the inner city gates.
She didn’t know what had happened, only receiving a letter telling her that Duanmu would harm the Crown Princess and providing his likely route.
When she saw Duanmu from afar, her heart inexplicably seized, and her tiger suddenly squeaked and withdrew its head, refusing to come out again.
In just the blink of an eye, Duanmu was like a gust of wind about to sweep past her.
A’kou couldn’t think of anything else and suddenly spread her arms wide, shouting loudly, “Grand-uncle! Wait, I have urgent matters…”
She couldn’t even finish her words before feeling a cool breeze pass through her body. When she turned around, Duanmu had already passed through the city gates.
A’kou’s mind went blank as she looked up and shouted at the city walls, “Stop him, stop him, stop him!”
Her cries were heart-rending, startling the soldiers on the city walls to look down. Seeing a young girl jumping and shouting, they all chuckled.
The great world was full of wonders, and they often saw attention-seeking people at the city gates.
The common people entering the city also scattered, saying, “Where did this madwoman come from!”
Suddenly someone approached on the city wall, asking, “What’s happening?”
The soldier quickly bowed, “Commander Di, there’s someone acting crazy below. We’ll have her driven away immediately.”
Di Yiwei looked down and saw a girl in colorful clothes continuously shouting, already being driven away by people from all sides.
She paid no attention and walked down from the city wall, preparing to continue patrolling outside the city, when she suddenly heard the girl shout, “Please, stop him! Something terrible will happen! He’s going to the imperial palace!”
Di Yiwei suddenly turned around.
…
A quarter-hour later, half of Shengdu witnessed a strange spectacle.
The falling snow kept changing shape, surging forward layer by layer like waves. Those with particularly good eyesight could vaguely see what appeared to be a human figure at the center of those snow waves, but the waves advanced too quickly. When the fierce wind swept through, people who were slow to dodge would get hit by cold snow on their necks. Countless people had their hair cut short, so much so that the edges of the snow mist were rimmed with a black line.
Behind the snow mist was a large group of soldiers in frantic pursuit, led by someone with a fat body but extremely agile movements.
Many people in Shengdu recognized this soft yet agile fat man – he was the Crown Princess’s Nine Guards Commander.
Seeing him chase so frantically through the streets on horseback, people looked at each other in alarm.
If the Nine Guards Commander was in such a panic, could something have happened to the Crown Princess?
On the inner city walls, Di Yiwei lowered her spyglass, her expression grave.
Earlier when she had come down from the city wall, she had recognized A’kou. She and Tie Ci maintained regular correspondence, and Tie Ci had told her all about her experiences in Yannan.
She knew A’kou was an honest child who wouldn’t cause trouble without reason. After a simple question, the instincts of a veteran commander told her something was wrong, so she immediately had Xiahou Chun lead men in pursuit.
No matter the cost, they must stop that person before he reached the palace!