Xiao Zhou and several others immediately rushed forward to attack. This rendered the enemy’s crossbows useless, while the five masked men had clearly anticipated this and simultaneously abandoned their crossbows, drawing swords to fight everyone.

The opponents were extremely skilled in martial arts, with a lean-figured man being the most formidable. Wu Qing fought against him but was forced to retreat repeatedly. Tieshou, Zhuiming, and Lian Qin were responsible for dealing with the others. Xiao Zhou went to help Wu Qing, and saw that the man’s eyes above his face mask were like an eagle’s—sinister and cold. Just meeting his gaze once sent chills down one’s spine.

Who exactly were these people?

When this man saw Xiao Zhou attacking, a trace of disdain flashed in his eyes. He raised his sword to strike. Xiao Zhou raised her sword with full force to block, but felt her tiger’s mouth shake violently. Knowing something was wrong, Wu Qing shouted: “Retreat! You’re no match for him.”

As he spoke, he seemed to channel all his internal energy, stabbing at several vital points on the man’s chest. The man smiled coldly, countering with his palm. Wu Qing’s sword could penetrate no further, and swept by that palm wind, he was thrown backward, falling into the weeds several zhang away, unable to get up again.

However, Wu Qing’s full-strength attack wasn’t entirely without benefit. Though the man’s martial arts were superior, this strike seemed to have consumed considerable energy. He stood in place, adjusting his breathing, not immediately attacking.

Xiao Zhou temporarily escaped. Tieshou and the other two were barely holding their own against the remaining opponents. Seeing this, they were all greatly alarmed. Tieshou called out sternly: “Xiao Zhou, quickly go check on the boss’s condition.”

Xiao Zhou was also secretly alarmed. Wu Qing was a tough person—his complete silence for so long could only mean he was severely injured. She quickly nodded and was about to rush over when she suddenly saw a sinister smile in the eagle-eyed man’s gaze. While still puzzled, she heard the sound of clashing weapons breaking through the air. This heart-stopping sound made Lian Qin and others, who were in the midst of fighting, involuntarily look up to see twenty to thirty people fighting their way through the weeds ahead.

The leader was someone they knew all too well—Baihu!

As Lian Yu had predicted, the enemy had anticipated they wouldn’t submit without resistance and had set an ambush on the forward path, intercepting this group responsible for secretly protecting the Emperor.

The enemy had deliberately drawn people to this location, clearly intending to catch everyone in one net.

Fortunately, Baihu led skilled fighters who hadn’t suffered casualties at the outset like they had, so perhaps they could fight to a draw?

Xiao Zhou thought to herself that the Emperor’s safety now depended entirely on Xuanwu’s group! Fortunately, Lian Yu had made arrangements early—Baihu’s group was actually just bait, responsible for drawing the enemy away.

“By the way, let me give you a reminder—your other group is now trapped in the strange formation we’ve set up. I’m afraid they won’t be able to get out for a while.”

The eagle-eyed man landed in front of Xiao Zhou, blocking her path.

He had a pair of ageless eyes, but his voice was quite hoarse, seemingly fifty or sixty years old.

Hearing this, Baihu’s entire body shook violently. In a moment of distraction, he was actually stabbed in the shoulder by his opponent. Lian Qin and others looked as if moths had suddenly flown into their mouths and noses—their faces became extremely ugly.

At this time, Xuanwu was on the road several dozen zhang away from them.

Just a cup of tea ago, he had quietly led his men past them through the weeds. He had personally witnessed several guards being killed by random arrows and the Court of Judicial Review members encountering danger. He knew they desperately needed assistance, but his mission was to protect Lian Yu. The life and death of others could only be left to fate.

His heart burned with anxiety, yet his steps remained extremely light. Leading his men, he advanced neither hurriedly nor slowly, bending low to avoid making any sound, because no one knew whether there might be a second wave of enemies lurking in the darkness!

They couldn’t let anyone discover them.

At this moment, they were only about ten zhang from the blue figure ahead—undoubtedly Lian Yu.

However, very quickly, Lian Yu in front of them suddenly disappeared, then reappeared in the weeds several zhang to the left.

It seemed he had suddenly used lightness kung fu to leap horizontally to the left.

Though everyone felt puzzled, they quickly turned left to pursue. However, Lian Yu seemed to have discovered something and suddenly bent down to investigate, his entire body disappearing into the weeds, no longer visible.

Xuanwu was greatly alarmed, fearing Lian Yu had been attacked. He led everyone in urgent pursuit, but upon reaching that spot, where could they see anyone? Clearly Lian Yu had reached this point and moved no further forward, so why had he still vanished into thin air?

Lian Yu felt constantly uneasy. Of course, he wasn’t afraid of personal danger—his heart was troubled, mixed with great anger, all because of Feng Su Zhen’s current predicament.

He pressed his lips together and suddenly stopped.

The destination had arrived.

This was a solitary shrine situated in the wilderness. In the distance, one could see lamp light from about a hundred households beneath the dark mountains.

That lamplight was too far away, but there was clearly light streaming from within the shrine ahead.

He took a slight breath and pushed open the mottled door. What met his eyes was a courtyard, with the main room’s door unclosed. His eyesight was excellent—he could see the interior was completely dilapidated, with memorial tablets in the center of the room scattered about, and beyond that, a altar table with several dirty, dusty bowls and dishes.

A kerosene lamp was also placed on the table. Wind came from outside, causing the flame to flicker, casting shadows on the memorial tablets. Outside was nothing but luxuriant yellow weeds. For a moment, with the wind moaning, a ghostly atmosphere naturally arose.

Lian Yu’s heart jumped heavily.

These things naturally couldn’t frighten him. What moved him was a mass of black hair and soft form collapsed beneath the altar table.

That was naturally a person, lying motionless with long hair spread out, face down, wearing official robes.

His gaze warily swept the surroundings. He couldn’t hear breathing sounds—either there was no one else in this shrine besides his Li Huaisu, or one or several supreme masters were hidden in the inner hall. Only supreme masters could achieve such concealment.

He knew the person on the ground might be a trap, but at this moment he couldn’t care about such things!

He needed to confirm whether Li Huaisu was injured, whether she had fainted… or had already met with foul play! He quickly stepped inside, walking toward the person on the ground.

Before he could approach, a light laugh indeed came from the inner hall, and two figures had already landed in front of the altar table.

They were two black-clothed, masked men. One had sharp, cold, predatory eyes showing undisguised killing intent and… viciousness.

The other walked over and placed his sword horizontally against the neck of the person on the ground.

This was an extremely difficult opponent to deal with!

This thought flashed through Lian Yu’s mind again. He spoke coldly: “Who exactly are you? Is Li Huaisu dead or alive? If she’s dead, don’t expect to get anything from me.”

“Very good,” the black-clothed man clicked his tongue twice, “it seems Li Huaisu proved to be a good bait. I heard this Judge Li is indeed a good official who works for the people. Even thieves have their principles—I don’t like killing the innocent indiscriminately. Your Majesty can rest assured. As for who I am, Your Majesty needn’t be anxious. Follow me and you’ll know.”

“For me to follow you is acceptable, but I must first confirm Li Huaisu’s condition.” Lian Yu also stared at him like a hawk, his gaze sharp.

“No problem.” The man laughed lightly again. His eyes moved slightly, and the person beside him immediately bent down to grab the hair of the person on the ground. The person on the ground groaned softly, and as the black hair was lifted, revealing a pale, delicate face—it was indeed Su Zhen.

She appeared to have been drugged, with both eyes tightly closed, unconscious, but frowning, vaguely still able to sense pain.

“Did you see?” The man threw Su Zhen back to the ground. Su Zhen cried out in pain and groaned softly again.

Lian Yu’s hands clenched momentarily, but his facial expression remained relatively composed.

“Your Majesty has now inspected the goods. Can you come with me?” The man’s eyes showed a strange light, half-smiling, “Or is Your Majesty calculating how to knock me down and rescue her?”

“Though Your Majesty’s martial arts are not bad, with my abilities, I’m afraid Your Majesty couldn’t take Li Huaisu away. Your Majesty surely understands—I must have absolute confidence of victory to dare engage with you.”

Lian Yu knew this man was difficult to deal with. He didn’t say much: “Fine. Leave Li Huaisu here, and I’ll follow you immediately.”

“Good, truly straightforward enough.” The man’s eyes flashed with a smile, but it quickly condensed into a sinister gleam, “However, though Your Majesty’s martial arts aren’t as good as mine, your mind is full of strategies. If you still have martial abilities, it would make one very uneasy.”

Lian Yu’s expression turned stern as he slowly said: “Then what should be done?”

“I want to pierce through both your shoulder blades first, then sever the tendons in both your feet.” The man said coldly, “I’ll count to three. If you don’t agree, I’ll immediately kill Li Huaisu.”

With shoulder blades controlled, one couldn’t use martial arts for a period of time. If severely injured, one would never be able to practice martial arts again, no different from a cripple.

As he spoke, he drew the sword from his waist. His form shifted, and he had already landed in front of Lian Yu. The other masked man, seeing this, placed his sword at Su Zhen’s neck.

Rescue forces would arrive immediately… Lian Yu’s mind raced with countless thoughts, but he saw the other masked man drag his blade across Su Zhen’s neck. Blood beads immediately welled up on Su Zhen’s fair neck. His clenched fists slowly lowered, dropping behind his back.

“I never expected Your Majesty to be iron-blooded and ruthless, yet also an infatuated fool!” The man sneered and without hesitation thrust his sword into Lian Yu’s right shoulder blade.

This strike was a hundred times more painful than the masked man grabbing Su Zhen those two times. Lian Yu glanced at Su Zhen on the ground, didn’t even grunt, gritted his teeth, and refused to let himself bend over. However, sweat like large beans had already appeared on his forehead, and blood flowed from the wound like a torrent.

The man was also ruthless. After withdrawing the sword, he quickly thrust it deeply into Lian Yu’s ankle on the same side.

He struck with lightning speed, suddenly closing in and delivering a hand chop to the side of Lian Yu’s neck.

The man watched coldly as Lian Yu collapsed, speaking indifferently: “Your Majesty, your composure makes me uneasy. I know you must have guessed I don’t intend to kill you immediately. You’re a clever person—what if you leave some clues along the way for rescue forces to follow and save you? How would that be acceptable? Well, have a good sleep. When you reach the destination, you’ll know these sufferings are nothing. The real torment is yet to come. Oh, let me cripple your remaining limbs first.”

As soon as he finished speaking, a subtle dark wind attacked from behind. He spun around abruptly and struck out with his palm. The sneak attacker cried out in pain. He looked coldly and saw it was Feng Su Zhen, who had just been unconscious on the ground.

In front of the altar table, the other masked man was already dead, with a golden hairpin prominently stabbed through his chest.

She had succeeded in her sneak attack! His expression changed slightly as he stared coldly at the woman on the ground who was injured by his palm wind and had blood streaming from her mouth: “You’re quite something. The drug didn’t knock you out, and you let me lose a man. How did you manage it?”

“When you captured me, I happened to be removing a hairpin to put on a hat. I slipped the hairpin into my hand, stabbed my own palm, and cooperated very well without struggling. Naturally, you didn’t use much drug—just covering my mouth briefly. The small dose and the pain allowed me to wake up early.” Su Zhen also looked at him coldly.

“Clever enough, but it’s useless.” The man sneered, “I keep my word. I’ll spare your life. Get lost.”

Su Zhen laughed: “Do you think I’ll leave?”

“If you don’t want to die.” Killing intent burst from the man’s eyes like crushing waves against rocks.

Su Zhen said nothing more, pulled the sword from the corpse with her injured hand, and fiercely attacked him. Even knowing it was like an egg striking a rock, time was pressing now—she couldn’t engage in mental warfare. Unless she also died, how could she let this man take Lian Yu away?

The man’s gaze darkened, seeming angry at her overestimation of herself, and he struck with his palm to meet her attack.

However, Su Zhen’s gaze was fixed firmly on Lian Yu. When her sword tip reached the enemy, it suddenly stopped, the blade trembling.

The man also did something quite strange!

Su Zhen hadn’t made any defensive move, and that palm strike was about to hit her. His eyes flashed, and he suddenly withdrew his palm with lightning speed.

As if… reciprocating courtesy?!

At this moment, Su Zhen’s gaze returned, staring fixedly at him, suddenly saying with a trembling voice: “Is it you?”

“Brother, is it you? Feng Shaoying, is it you?”

The man trembled slightly, but his eyes immediately showed a trace of mockery: “Who is Feng Shaoying? Or does Judge Li think appealing to relationships will work?”

“Your voice has changed, true, but the sword you’re using…” Su Zhen’s eyes blazed as her gaze fell on the long sword in Lian Yu’s shoulder, murmuring: “Father said the world was treacherous and the martial world dangerous. He once gave us protective gifts. Your and Leng Xue’s gifts were swords. This is your sword—I wouldn’t mistake the carved flowers on the handle. Otherwise, tell me why this sword has a bundle of red tassels? That was tied by your beloved Hong Xiao. Because this is the sword Father gave you, you used it against Lian Yu. You didn’t know I would wake up early, so you used this sword.”

“But since you’re not dead, why don’t you acknowledge me? Brother, the one who ordered the extermination of our entire Feng family was the Late Emperor. Let me take Lian Yu away. If the Great Zhou has no emperor, the consequences will be unimaginable.”

Her voice was hoarse as she drew her long sword and threw it forcefully in front of the man.

The man’s gaze was like ink, terrifyingly deep.

He suddenly laughed, his laughter sharp and frightening.

“If I really were your brother, could I possibly spare Lian Yu?”

“Your Majesty, Lian Yu, where are you…” At this moment, a scattered voice urgently rang out outside the shrine.

Someone quickly rushed in. When six eyes met, the atmosphere suddenly froze in an eerie way!

It was a young man dressed in black martial attire, but clearly not this man’s accomplice. Under the black headband was an extremely delicate face.

“Lian Yu!” Seeing the unconscious Lian Yu on the ground, the newcomer gasped.

“Quickly, take him away!” Su Zhen shouted sternly upon seeing this, leaping to land in front of Lian Yu, then holding her sword horizontally to her own neck, saying grimly to the man: “If you insist on taking Lian Yu’s life, I can only die before your eyes.”

Both the man and the youth’s expressions changed. The latter’s eyes flashed with complexity, but his movements were extremely swift. He helped Lian Yu up, letting Lian Yu’s hand rest on his shoulder, and struggled toward the door.

“Wonderful! Another person who holds significant weight for the Emperor has arrived. Want to leave? Easier said than done!”

The man smiled predatorily, his form flickering as he moved to pursue them. Su Zhen gritted her teeth, raised her hand, and slashed her shoulder with the sword. Blood immediately spurted out.

The man’s gaze turned cold. He seemed truly not to be Feng Shaoying. He flicked his toe, picked up the sword from the ground, and spoke mockingly: “Judge Li should really commit suicide.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw a flash of white light, and a small finger was severed from Su Zhen’s left hand, rolling bloodily to his feet. The voice that reached his ears was extremely painful but carried unwavering determination:

“Yes, I don’t want to die. But if you don’t let them go, the next sword will chop off my entire palm. I can do what I say!”

The man looked at the severed finger on the ground and suddenly flew into a rage: “Very good! I’ll wait and see.”

The shocking scene just witnessed was still vivid in memory. The youth supported Lian Yu, running desperately. Not knowing how long they had been running, the night was like a demon, with half-human-height wild weeds everywhere, sudden solitary graves, black crows that suddenly sprang from the weed clusters with sharp cries that were indescribably eerie. The vast surroundings seemed to offer no way out.

His hands and feet were exhausted to the breaking point.

He was unwilling to accept this favor from Feng Su Zhen. Several times he wanted to turn back, but ultimately gave up. If Lian Yu fell into that black-clothed man’s hands again, there would only be death! Yet listening to Feng Su Zhen’s conversation with that man, they seemed to know each other, with deep feelings? Otherwise, how dare she bargain with him? Perhaps this kidnapping was a conspiracy between the two, and Feng Su Zhen was originally the descendant of a traitorous minister—what wouldn’t she do? It was just that later, she seemed to regret it? Then why should he care about righteousness!

While worrying about Lian Yu’s injuries, his heart was filled with suspicion and his thoughts surged like tides.

“Hold on, I’ll definitely get you back.” Looking at Lian Yu’s pale face, tightly closed eyes, and the two terrible wounds on his body, anger filled his chest. But when the words reached his lips, he couldn’t help but choke up.

“Chase them! They’re over there!”

A sharp shout from behind startled him nearly out of his wits. Footsteps poured in from all directions behind him. He gritted his teeth and looked back, seeing a sleeve arrow flying through the air. Under the gray sky, there were five or six pursuers carrying torches and swords.

Feng Su Zhen ultimately couldn’t hold them off—that man’s subordinates had caught up!

While thinking, he heard a “thud,” and instinctively looked down to discover a sleeve arrow had pierced through his chest. He screamed and suddenly collapsed, bringing Lian Yu down with him.

Lian Yu hit the ground with a bang, his wounds colliding, the sharp pain piercing his bones, and he immediately woke up.

The youth beside him greatly shocked him, but before he could even ask questions, he heard stern shouts from behind: “Orders from above—since we can’t capture him alive, kill him on the spot. He has someone to care for, so he can’t fight freely. Eliminate him immediately.”

Hearing this, Lian Yu frowned deeply. With both shoulders injured, he couldn’t hold the youth and dodge. In an instant, several black-clothed men had landed before them.

“Respectfully sending Your Majesty to the afterlife.” The leader was delighted and was about to strike down with his sword when he noticed joy suddenly appearing in Lian Yu’s eyes. He wasn’t even resisting, only looking behind him.

Rescue forces had arrived! He and the others tensed and turned around, only to see the dim sky and vast surroundings, but not a single person there.

At this moment, Lian Yu’s toe slightly hooked, pulling the youth on the ground into his embrace, then throwing him into the dense weeds behind them.

The entire process took only the blink of an eye.

“Crafty dog emperor!” The lead masked man roared angrily and led the others in renewed attack.

At the critical moment of life and death, Lian Yu fought viciously. Since he temporarily didn’t need to be distracted caring for the wounded, the attackers couldn’t gain advantage for a while.

“You’ll exhaust yourself eventually.” The masked man smiled coldly. Everyone’s sword light fell like rain, weaving an impenetrable net. After all, Lian Yu’s right shoulder blade was shattered and one foot was disabled. No matter how fierce he was, he couldn’t withstand this sharp sword formation. His body was soon stained with blood again, and before long his form swayed—he was at the end of his strength.

Everyone was delighted. The masked man spotted an opening and thrust his sword toward Lian Yu’s vital abdominal area. In his daze, he suddenly saw that Lian Yu’s face showed no fear, his eyes bright as stars, and the corners of his mouth even slightly raised.

“Does using the same trick twice still work?” The masked man sneered, his sword strike unhesitating, but he suddenly heard continuous screams from behind. In great alarm, as he turned his head, a sword thrust diagonally, piercing through his abdomen.

Just a few inches ahead, a young man in martial attire stood with over ten masked warriors, all standing there. The man cried out in agony as his opponent ruthlessly pulled out the long sword, then shouted sternly: “Tie them all up!”

The remaining warriors moved like lightning, quickly pressing the pressure points of the people on the ground to prevent suicide.

“Your Majesty, this subordinate arrived too late to rescue you. This subordinate deserves death…” The youth’s eyes contained tears. After speaking, he ran to Lian Yu’s side and helped him up.

It was indeed Qinglong, one of Lian Yu’s four attendants.

The masked man’s eyes showed grayish defeat as he stared fixedly at Lian Yu, as if saying, “Impossible, your people were already cut off by us at…”

Lian Yu said coldly: “This group was my main force, but I didn’t expect there would be complications in between.”

“Your Majesty, what exactly happened here? Didn’t you say the other party had no intention of taking your life for now?”

Qinglong asked urgently while tearing cloth strips to bandage Lian Yu’s wounds.

It turned out that Lian Yu had actually deployed three groups of people: Baihu, Xuanwu, and Qinglong. He knew the enemy would surely guess he had both open and hidden rescue groups, so he set Baihu in the open and Xuanwu hidden, making the enemy mistakenly think Xuanwu was the main force, when actually Xuanwu’s group was just a decoy, and Qinglong’s group was the real main force.

Su Zhen was kidnapped from the Court of Judicial Review. To prevent too many people from knowing and information leaking out, Lian Yu only told his three attendants about this arrangement.

Unlike Xuanwu’s mission, Xuanwu was responsible for leading men to follow Lian Yu and protect the Emperor’s safety, putting on a show for the enemy. However, from the moment Lian Yu arrived at the scene and received notification that the destination was the shrine, Qinglong and his men went directly to the shrine “abandoning Lian Yu,” so no errors would occur en route.

They stopped advancing when they reached a certain distance from the shrine area and waited nearby in hiding. When the enemy brought both Lian Yu and Li Huaisu out, they would secretly follow and wait for an opportunity to rescue them, capturing all the enemies in one net.

However, what they never expected was that someone would rescue Lian Yu. Seeing from afar that something was wrong, they hurried over to provide assistance. It was just that there was still some distance between them and Lian Yu’s location, and they almost arrived too late for the rescue. Fortunately, Lian Yu used strategy to delay things for a bit—otherwise, they would have only been able to retrieve Lian Yu’s corpse.

“I was unconscious just now, so some things are still unclear to me at present.”

“Now that I’ve escaped safely, the enemy’s efforts have been in vain. They will surely plan again. Huaisu should temporarily be in no life-threatening danger, but the next rescue will definitely be more difficult.”

“Master, please don’t worry about Judge Li first. This subordinate will escort you back to the palace immediately. If your hands and feet aren’t treated soon, I fear they might…”

Qinglong didn’t dare voice the words “become disabled,” but his eyes showed frantic urgency, nearly going mad.

“Wait.” Lian Yu spoke sternly, suddenly breaking away from Qinglong and striding to the weeds, pulling them apart to reveal a face inside.

Qinglong and others were greatly shocked—it was the dying Gu Shuangcheng.

Lian Yu helped Shuangcheng up and saw she was dressed in men’s clothing, identical to the warriors Qinglong led, except that Shuangcheng wasn’t wearing a face covering.

Lian Yu looked at her injuries, his brow furrowing deeply. He gently patted Shuangcheng’s face: “Wake up, how could it be you? How did you find your way here? If something happens to you, how can I face your sister?”

He had been speaking in a hoarse voice, but by the end, it cracked slightly, showing his anger was overwhelming.

Shuangcheng’s eyes were tightly closed, her face pale. Suddenly, as if scorched by his anger, her whole body convulsed, and she tremblingly opened her eyes. Before she could speak, tears flowed first.

“Lian Yu…” Her blurred eyes suddenly carried a trace of smile, like a wisp of vast ink painting.

“Shuangcheng’s words, how could she be here, isn’t she afraid of death… I’m dying, aren’t I? This time I’m really going to die, but I don’t regret it. At least you’re still alive. I just regret, Lian Yu, why wouldn’t your mother let me tell you earlier? Do you really not recognize me anymore?”

The bloody hand on her shoulder suddenly clenched tightly. Lian Yu’s eyes instantly turned crimson. He stared at her, his expression showing not only irrepressible anger but also great shock.

“What did you say? Gu Shuangcheng, what did you say? I told you not to impersonate your sister anymore. If you dare imitate her speech again, regardless of whether you’re injured, I’ll kill you first!”

He seemed to have gone mad, violently shaking her shoulders, his eyes filled with rage and murderous intent that was terrifying.

Though clearly in extreme pain, Shuangcheng seemed to feel no suffering, only smiling radiantly.

She smiled until her whole body trembled, filled with sorrow, resentment, and pain, also seeming to fall into madness.

“The night we made our hundred-year pact, I played a song for you. I sang ‘Blue fields warm in sun, jade produces smoke’—jade produces smoke. I deliberately misinterpreted this line as you being good with Wu Yan… hoping that even if you encountered women as beautiful as Wu Yan in the future, you wouldn’t waver.”

“You said this song was inauspicious and should be ‘Jade ornament tea flowers wonderful under heaven, a tree of jade flowers but empty fame.’ You said in your heart I was this jade tea flower—no matter how famous other flowers became throughout the world, they were just ordinary to you.”

“But now I’ve returned. I kept my promise, but you are no longer here. Lian Yu, could Shuangcheng know these things? I say you were too lonely, so you personally created a romance for yourself.”

She looked at him, smiling until her mouth curved.

Lian Yu’s form swayed as he spat out several mouthfuls of blood.

Then this monarch also smiled.

At that instant, Qinglong and all the warriors were stunned. Even the captured masked men on the ground were shocked and amazed. Qinglong thought this was probably the most undignified and most painfully frenzied he had ever seen Lian Yu in all these years.

But he also couldn’t help slowly kneeling down, because that was the woman Lian Yu loved most in his life—Gu Xiluo—equivalent to his mistress.

Even though he couldn’t stop feeling shocked and bewildered—if she was A Luo, why did her appearance more closely resemble Gu Shuangcheng?

He remembered that Feng Su Zhen had once tried a case involving courtesans. If people in that case could have their faces changed by Quan Feitong, if Huo Chang’an, after much internal struggle, still ended up with Wei Wu Yan, if the princess fell in love with Wu Qing, then what was impossible in this world? Having disappeared for several years, she had probably experienced many unimaginable things.

“Gu Xiluo, listen carefully. I won’t let anything happen to you. You won’t die. You’ll never have trouble again. You’ll live peacefully and happily by my side and can never leave me again!”

Lian Yu lowered his head, pressing his face against A Luo’s face, gently caressing. His movements were so tender, yet his words were resolute and determined. Disregarding his own injuries, he grunted and actually lifted A Luo with one arm. With this movement, several wounds on his body burst open, immediately causing blood to flow like a fountain, rapidly seeping through the rough bandages Qinglong had applied. His blue robe turned completely red—a shocking sight. Qinglong and the warriors couldn’t help crying out in alarm.

Qinglong was greatly alarmed: “Master, you absolutely cannot do this. Let this subordinate carry the young lady.”

Lian Yu glanced at him without even speaking, but that look full of murderous intent made Qinglong dare not say another word of refusal.

The current Lian Yu would kill people—Qinglong knew this.

“A Luo, my injuries are more severe than yours, but I won’t die, so neither will you!”

Lian Yu spoke slowly, addressing Gu Xiluo.

The severely wounded A Luo at this moment seemed to finally feel relieved of her burden, love and hate intertwined, as she reached out to encircle his arm.

Qinglong watched with half excitement and half worry—excited that tonight’s danger had led to Lian Yu and A Luo’s reunion, worried about Lian Yu’s injuries. He suddenly remembered something and hesitantly spoke: “Master…”

What he wanted to say was about “Judge Li”—whether to send people to search the mountain or wait for new notification from the enemy? But he saw Lian Yu’s gaze was profound, never leaving A Luo as he held her and prepared to leave, apparently having made his decision. He swallowed back his words, because after all, tonight’s disaster was all caused by this Li Huaisu. He didn’t know what Lian Yu was thinking, but for the severely injured A Luo, wouldn’t mentioning her again be unfair to A Luo?

Just at this moment, they heard a weak laugh from behind, accompanied by rapid breathing and running sounds, scattered to their ears: “Lian Yu, I… also escaped. Is that you? How are you? Are you alright? I’ve been so worried!”

Happy New Year! Here are 700 words as a gift to everyone. May everyone have everything go well in the new year. These are the updates for the 20th and 21st. See you on the 22nd.