One hour earlier.

Fu Yanyang wandered around near Honghua Palace with a bundle in his arms, his heart in turmoil, afraid that Changling would bravely break into the palace alone and at the critical moment he wouldn’t be able to serve his purpose of “drawing away the pursuers.” With no other choice, he could only stake out and keep watch, hoping to cut losses in time.

A mere newly appointed Palace Attendant frequently “passing by” at inappropriate hours—at first, people turned a blind eye considering he was Prime Minister Fu’s younger brother, but eventually they couldn’t stand it anymore and even the Yulin Army palace patrol was provoked.

The Yulin patrol soldiers were all Shen Yao’s trusted confidants and wouldn’t listen to Second Young Master Fu’s smooth talk. They insisted on searching his bundle no matter what—that bundle contained two sets of night clothes. If they really searched it out, he’d be unable to explain himself clearly. Seeing his doom, Fu Yanyang turned and ran.

Second Young Master Fu’s martial arts training was mediocre, but he’d learned the skill of running away to ninety-nine percent perfection. In the blink of an eye, he vanished without a trace. After finally shaking off the Yulin Army and before he could catch his breath, someone suddenly reached out a hand from behind and placed it on his shoulder.

Before Fu Yanyang’s scalp could explode in fright, he heard the person say first: “It’s me.”

Fu Yanyang turned his head in disbelief. “El… Elder Brother?”

Fu Yangui seemed somewhat helpless. He snatched the bundle from his hand and opened it, seeing the black clothes inside. “If I hadn’t come, were you two still planning to disguise yourselves as assassins and break into Honghua Palace at night?”

“I…” Having been seen through, Fu Yanyang knew explanations were useless before his own elder brother and simply said: “I haven’t even found my master yet… how would I dare break in alone?”

Fu Yangui was stunned. “Changting didn’t come find you?”

“No…” After answering, Fu Yanyang suddenly raised his head. “Elder Brother, your appearing here—did you know all along that we were working together?”

Fu Yangui didn’t bother answering this question. His brow furrowed and he couldn’t help but think privately: Has she decided not to rescue him after all?

No, her purpose in entering the palace was crystal clear. If she suddenly changed her mind, there must be a reason.

Fu Yangui suddenly thought of something. His eyes flashed coldly and he immediately turned to leave. Fu Yanyang grabbed his sleeve. “Brother, these Yulin Guards are all waiting to catch me. You, you, you can’t just run off like this.”

“Go to the Imperial Medical Bureau and find Imperial Physician Chen. Have him help you replace the contents of this bundle with mugwort. Then the Yulin Guards will naturally have nothing to say.” Fu Yangui casually instructed and walked several steps away impatiently, then thought of something and turned back. “Oh right, there’s one more matter. It’s of great importance—you must handle it.”

When Fu Yangui rushed back to the Prime Minister’s residence, Lu Biqiong was pacing restlessly back and forth in the study. After Changling had lifted that painting and suddenly stormed out, the matter was so strange it made one’s heart panic. She was just hesitating whether to send someone to track her whereabouts when the servant outside announced, “The master has returned to the residence.”

Lu Biqiong almost rushed out of the room. The dossiers on the desk and bookshelf had been turned into a complete mess. Fu Yangui naturally knew his concubine didn’t have the nerve for this. Before she could explain, he asked first: “Did Miss Jing enter the study?”

“Yes, she said the master asked her to come find dossiers about the Jing family…” Lu Biqiong said hurriedly. “I wasn’t at ease, so I followed in to take a look… I didn’t expect…”

“She moved this painting?” Fu Yangui directly cut off her words, his gaze glancing toward the slightly tilted historical admonition scroll on the wall.

Lu Biqiong nodded somewhat helplessly. “As soon as she saw the sword mark behind the painting, she ran out like mad. I simply couldn’t catch up with her… I don’t know where she went either…”

Before she finished speaking, Lu Biqiong noticed Fu Yangui’s expression change dramatically. She had followed him for many years and had always seen his composure like a gentle breeze and bright moon. She rarely saw him reveal such an expression. Fu Yangui’s throat moved as he took a deep breath and said: “This day was bound to come.”

“Master, what do you mean by these words?”

The faint trace of fear on Fu Yangui’s face faded. Without even glancing at Lu Biqiong, he quickly left the door, mounted his horse, and rode out of the Prime Minister’s residence.

In the bamboo forest, inside the wooden house, Changling slowly picked up that Muling Sword that had been separated from her for more than eleven years, remembering when the divine craftsman Dong Zhi forged this sword, he originally named it “Wild Goose,” but Yue Changsheng hadn’t liked that name.

He had said: I hate that wild geese are light, unable to carry the people of the world.

Later, this sword followed her through thick and thin, experiencing countless scenes of flashing blades and bloodshed with her. So many who had once been terrifying figures ultimately died beneath the Muling Sword.

Yet she never expected that at some unknown time, the sword had been secretly switched, so that the second young master who looked down upon the world ultimately couldn’t swing that sword that could have slain his enemy on the spot.

Changling thought that Fu Liujing should have thrown away this sword long ago. She never expected he could preserve it until now, even hanging it on his study wall for a time.

She laughed absurdly, her eyes filled with irrepressible coldness—just how frozen must a person’s heart become to face the various crimes they’ve committed so unabashedly and live day after day in this world as if nothing had happened?

The wooden door swayed in the night wind, its creaking sounds endless. Just then, the sound suddenly stopped and footsteps halted before the door.

Changling first froze, then turned her head to see Fu Yangui standing at the door’s edge, watching him shift his gaze from her to the sword in her hands.

The moonlight was eerie, illuminating half his profile in uncertain shadow. Changling met his gaze across the space. In that instant, she felt how ironic fate was—if she had seen this face when they first met in Maozhu Forest that year, she should have finished him with one blade stroke.

“Fu Yangui, ah no,” Changling laughed mockingly, speaking airily. “I should say Fu Liujing instead. Blame my poor eyesight for not recognizing you.”

Fu Yangui supported himself with one hand against the doorframe, not stepping inside. He was no longer that unruffled and composed—he only stared at her in a daze, several times wanting to speak but unable to say anything.

Changling walked forward two steps and said: “Truly worthy of being my ‘soulmate’—knowing I want to kill someone, you deliver your head yourself.”

With a “scrape” and a bloodthirsty sound, sword and scabbard separated from each other, revealing long-sealed cold light—after long separation and reunion, sword and master felt no unfamiliarity. In the pitch-black night room, it turned like a divine dragon’s tail, the sword tip pointing directly at the person before her. Even though still three feet away, the sword energy was like cold frost, making one shrink back in fear.

Fu Yangui showed no intention of defending or fleeing. He stood motionless in place, his eyes deep: “If you want to kill me, where could I flee?”

Seeing his completely unsurprised appearance, Changling was slightly astonished: “You recognized me long ago?”

“At the Martial Arts Conference, I saw your movements.” Fu Yangui said: “That’s when I began to suspect.”

Changling said: “Since you noticed early, why didn’t you strike?”

Fu Yangui slowly lowered his head and said softly: “Changling, do you still believe even now that I want to kill you?”

The last trace of calm in Changling’s heart dissipated.

She said: “Oh? You mean that when you planted the Twin Heart Gu on me, you were just doing it for fun?”

“If you had told me you were Ji Zining, even just hinted once… how could I have harmed you in the slightest?” Fu Yangui sighed deeply, raised his eyes, and looked directly at her. “I concealed things deeply from you, but when were you ever honest with me?”

The four words “honest with each other” seemed absurdly to curl into wind, sweeping toward her soul that hadn’t hurt in so long.

She didn’t know that even at death’s door, he still tried to cover up past disgrace.

“So you loved me to this extent, willing to do anything for revenge,” Changling said in a calm tone. “Then after you killed me, why didn’t you continue seeking revenge? The person who killed Fu Liujing’s beloved is Fu Liujing himself, so you… why don’t you kill him?”

“Who says he didn’t?” Fu Yangui’s body leaned forward, actually not caring that the sword tip drew a foot closer to his throat. “Even now… even now, have you still not remembered? Eleven years ago, when you fell into the waterfall, who jumped down with you?”

Changling’s heart turned cold. “What did you say?”

Fu Yangui looked deeply into Changling’s eyes and said: “That waterfall washed us to the riverbank. I… I carried you on my back for a day and a night, through Thorn Ridge, climbing up Anlu Mountain… do you not remember any of these things?”

This sentence caught her off guard, drilling into her ears, converging into a river of memories that surged violently against her heart.

Those things she had cast to the ninth heaven, those things she thought had never happened, came sweeping over her like an overwhelming tide.

Eleven years ago. She fell into the waterfall and sank in that suffocating world for a long time. Suddenly she opened her eyes and saw a dim sky.

She found herself lying on the bank of Fulong River, but her five organs and six viscera, even every inch of her skin, were in unbearable pain. She didn’t even have the strength to sit up.

She managed to turn her head with effort and saw Fu Liujing also soaking wet, kneeling on the bank gasping for breath, looking as if he had just climbed up from the river.

She clearly remembered pushing him back to shore with one palm—how could he appear here?

Seeing Changling look over, Fu Liujing crawled to her side ecstatically. “You’re awake?”

She said coldly: “Fu Liujing… what exactly do you still want to do…”

Before finishing her words, she vomited a mouthful of poisoned blood. Fu Liujing was greatly alarmed and quickly helped her sit up, kneeling cross-legged behind her. He used his Cold Ice Finger to seal the acupoints throughout her body, then slowly channeled his internal energy into her limbs and bones.

Wave after wave of cold like brutal snow and fierce wind spread from her back throughout her body. The bone-piercing extreme cold made her involuntarily shiver. Fu Liujing said with trembling lips: “Once the Twin Heart Gu poison flares up, it’s extremely fierce, but if one can use cold ice energy to freeze the blood vessels throughout the body, the toxicity can be temporarily stopped… as long as it doesn’t harm the heart meridian, if the poison is expelled afterward, it won’t be fatal…”

As he explained, he wished he could transfer all his body’s cold ice energy to her. However, this met with resistance from the Sakyamuni true Qi in Changling’s body—Fu Liujing held back, couldn’t hold back, and “wa” spat out a mouthful of blood.

All who practice martial arts know that if two completely different types of true Qi clash, with the weaker party forcibly imposing upon the stronger party, the one transferring Qi will at best have all meridians severed and lose all martial arts, at worst suffer Qi deviation and die on the spot.

Every fraction, every instant that Fu Liujing transferred Qi to her meant trading life for life… or even trading his life without being able to save hers.

Changling hated him to the extreme. At this moment, receiving his favor made her even more disgusted. She said through gritted teeth: “Surnamed Fu, there’s no need for pretense. If you die trying to save me, I will not thank you one bit. If you don’t die, I will surely kill you.”

“Good. Yue Changling, it’s settled then.” Fu Liujing said while holding back trembling: “After I save you, you come kill me. But if you don’t accept my true Qi now, I’ll… cough, I’ll take it to mean you can’t bear for me to die… that you’re unwilling to take revenge.”

Her eyes widened—she actually couldn’t refute this. Her resistant energy instantly weakened considerably. Fu Liujing exerted force with both palms. With a snapping sound, the tendons in his left hand broke. He spat out another mouthful of blood, and with reddened eyes continued transferring true Qi to her.

This continued until dusk fell.

Fu Liujing was skilled in medical arts. He knew that cold ice true Qi could only maintain her sealed acupoint state for less than two days. Unless within these two days he could place her in an extremely cold location, otherwise all efforts would be in vain.

He looked at the nearest Anlu Mountain. The mountain had initial snow and frozen ice—there must be snow caves. However, to reach that mountain, they first had to pass through the Thorn Ridge before them.

After catching his breath, without a word he picked her up on his back and headed toward the thorn forest. Changling had just awakened from unconsciousness. Seeing those poisonous-thorned brambles, her heart jumped: “What are you doing?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t let you touch them.”

With one hand circling behind to support her waist, his other hand with broken tendons managed to lift up and brush aside all the obstructive thorns in front of them. Step by step he moved forward, letting the thorns scrape across every inch of skin on his body without stopping for half a step.

Not until dawn did they finally pass through Thorn Ridge. When they stepped onto level ground, Changling saw that on the ground where he stood, blood dripped drop by drop from that body without an inch of intact skin.

He continued carrying her toward Anlu Mountain. When he really couldn’t walk anymore, he would stop to find water for her to drink.

Changling had no ability to resist. More often, her heart was utterly desolate, saying nothing.

Fu Liujing roasted fish for her. Seeing she refused to eat, he said: “If you eat this fish, I’ll have someone go save Yue Changsheng.”

She raised her head in disbelief: “My elder brother isn’t dead?”

“Without obtaining his personally written authentication, Shen Yao won’t kill him…” Fu Liujing said: “I’m not entirely without backup plans either.”

Changling didn’t know if his words were true or false, but even if there was the slightest possibility, she wasn’t willing to give up hope of saving Changsheng.

After she ate that fish, she saw Fu Liujing use a bamboo whistle to summon a flying eagle. He tore off a piece of cloth to write a blood letter and had the eagle carry the message away.

At daybreak, he carried her toward the snowy mountain again. The Twin Heart Gu poison and cold ice toxin periodically eroded her body. Changling was sometimes unconscious, sometimes awake, but every time she woke, she saw him carrying her climbing up the mountain. When she looked back, all along the way were bloody red footprints.

“Why?”

That was the first time she asked him. “You know that no matter what you do, I won’t soften.”

Fu Liujing said: “I save you simply because I want to save you.”

She said: “Just like how you wanted to kill me?”

Fu Liujing’s footsteps paused. He looked at the vast white expanse ahead and said: “I know I cannot make amends, but I cannot do nothing.”

Even hearing such words, Changling’s desire to kill him didn’t diminish one bit. She just suddenly felt somewhat lost, feeling she had never truly known this person.

Fu Liujing was determined to take her to the ice cave on Anlu Mountain, but the number one strategist of the martial world, despite his countless calculations, hadn’t calculated that on that day the sun would shine brightly. When they reached the mountain peak, the ice and snow in the ice cave had already melted.

He looked desperately at the bare rock cave, forcing himself to remain calm, and said: “It’s fine. I can climb over another mountain.”

However, after just two steps, he couldn’t support himself and knelt on the ground, unable to move anymore.

He had exhausted all his strength.

Changling watched him trembling all over, pounding the ground desperately with both fists, tears flowing uncontrollably, crying like a child whose candy had been stolen.

The omnipotent Fu Liujing finally encountered something he was powerless against.

The human skin mask stuck to his face had also fallen off by more than half. Changling reached out and removed it.

She finally saw his true appearance.

“Fu Liujing, you’re not as devoted as you imagine yourself to be.” Changling said lightly: “Taking revenge on you was too easy. You didn’t need to use any Twin Heart Gu, nor did you need to secretly switch my sword. You just… wanted our Yue family to perish.”

Fu Liujing’s whole body trembled. He thought that since she hadn’t mentioned it all along the way, she wouldn’t think of it.

Changling said: “I don’t know why you chose the Shen family, but since you’ve done it, you must acknowledge it. Don’t be moved by yourself, and don’t blame fate for its tricks.”

“Fine. Yue Changling, listen well. My real name is Fu Yangui. At first I ventured into the martial world under the name Fu Liujing, approaching the Yue family, all to defeat the Yue family. I’m not following Shen Yao—I’m using Shen Yao. Because among the major lords, only he is the weakest, only he is the stupidest,” he said word by word. “Only he can allow our Fu family to ascend to imperial dominance.”

The cold feeling in her body gradually receded. Changling held back from falling, listening to him kneel before her, red-eyed, saying: “But I, Fu Yangui, swear to heaven that if I had known that Yue…” he choked slightly, then continued: “That Second Young Master Yue was Ji Zining, I would willingly give up my ambitions, my aspirations. I would willingly follow the Yue family, willingly follow you, with no regrets for life.”

Author’s Note:

This is not whitewashing Fu, just restoring some past events. It’s just… perhaps the Fu of the past also once had genuine feelings.