The ugly woman standing next to the female leader suddenly ripped off the fur wrapped around her head, staring intently at Ghost Shadow’s graying hair, her whole body trembling.

“Mo Sigui…” her suppressed voice squeezed out from her throat, “It’s him… it must be him!”

In the world today, there might be many who could remove Ghost Shadow’s heart blood, but only one could do so while preserving his life – Mo Sigui!

“Ning Zi, in your opinion, has Ghost Shadow’s heart blood been completely removed?” The female leader also found Ghost Shadow’s current vitality strange.

This ugly-faced woman was none other than Ning Yanli, and the female leader was Yelü Huangwu.

Ning Yanli said, “Shatter his mask. If the heart blood is completely drained, the drug person will rapidly age.”

Yelü Huangwu relayed the order.

Dozens of large men surrounded Ghost Shadow like specters, unleashing their pure yang energy simultaneously. The surrounding wind and snow suddenly stopped and melted away. Gu Jinghong’s mask and fur coat silently shattered.

The gale raged, and white fox fur danced like snow in the air. Pieces of white jade fell away, revealing a jade-like face. Those already clear phoenix eyes, reflecting the white snow, became even more transparent.

“He…” Ning Yanli stared at his face in shock, not because the face was without a trace of aging, but because that face resembled someone too closely!

Yelü Huangwu’s gaze swept over the sedan chair.

“There’s still heart blood,” Ning Yanli came to her senses.

Yelü Huangwu nodded, and immediately the surrounding men charged forward fiercely.

Gu Jinghong took a deep breath, discarded the broken sword in his hand, and drew out the flexible sword hidden at his waist to meet them.

The yang energy stirred up the snow on the ground. Within a hundred-pace radius, the dense snow made it almost impossible to see people, only the splashes of fresh red blood were visible, though it was unclear whose blood it was.

The more Yelü Huangwu watched, the more shocked she became. If she remembered correctly, Ghost Shadow was only about twenty years old. Yet he already possessed such martial prowess! Although those large men’s martial arts levels were similar to his, his strength surpassed all of them.

However, even so, facing such odds, Gu Jinghong fought with great difficulty. Soon, his body was covered in bloody gashes, the bright red spreading on his white clothes, a shocking sight.

Yelü Huangwu frowned slightly, murmuring, “Is that… the abandoned child of the Yelü royal family? The one without even a name?”

Ning Yanli’s emotions fluctuated, causing the purple bruises on her face to deepen, finally turning pitch black, as if burned by a great fire. The grotesque sight made her already unattractive face even more unsightly with this addition.

The poison Mo Sigui had administered failed to take her life, but it left an indelible mark on her. She hated it, but at the same time, she was even more excited. To encounter such a formidable opponent on the path to the pinnacle – made this life worthwhile!

The battle in the snow became increasingly fierce.

Gu Jinghong was like an unsheathed sharp sword, fighting with a do-or-die spirit, drenched in blood. He was approaching step by step, determined to kill Yelü Huangwu and the person in the sedan chair!

“To think the Yelü royal family still had such a prodigy! Hahaha!” Yelü Huangwu’s laughter was hearty as if this was an extremely amusing matter. “A mockery from the heavens!”

The Yelü royal family had suffered from a hereditary disease for hundreds of years. Children born were either foolish or exceptionally intelligent. Apart from this, all were plagued by severe illnesses, unable to live past their prime despite any amount of care. But looking at Ghost Shadow’s spirit even after his heart blood had been removed, he didn’t seem short-lived!

Yet he was an abandoned child of the Yelü royal family.

Laughing until tears nearly came out, Yelü Huangwu slowly composed herself.

Meanwhile, Gu Jinghong moved like lightning. As over a dozen large men closed in, he raised his sword to meet them without evasion, his graying hair and bloodshot eyes filled with murderous frenzy. When he swung his sword, it concentrated pure true qi. Normally, no one could see the shape of true qi with the naked eye, but now the dense snowflakes in the air were scattered by the true qi, leaving a clear path where it existed. Everyone saw a giant sword blade appear above their heads!

As the sword in Gu Jinghong’s hand fell, that illusory giant sword suddenly burst with killing intent, like a hurricane crashing down. The four to five feet of accumulated snow on the ground was cleanly cut open, forming white snow screens that rushed to both sides.

The dozen or so large men standing opposite him all felt their blood surging, and the two directly beneath the sword blade were already bleeding from seven orifices.

The guards remaining on this side were all terrified at this sight.

Gu Jinghong’s figure disappeared.

As Yelü Huangwu watched the snow coming towards her face, a blood-stained white shadow approached again with lightning speed, piercing through the snow screen and thrusting a sword at her chest.

However, the sword tip had barely sunk in an inch before it was stopped by a forceful energy.

Ning Yanli shot out more than a dozen silver needles, but they were swept away by true qi.

Yelü Huangwu raised her hand, silver needles between her fingers, and struck his chest with her palm.

Gu Jinghong gripped the sword with both hands, gritting his teeth as he channeled all his body’s true qi into the sword. The blade advanced again, but Yelü Huangwu’s silver needles had already sunk into his chest.

Ning Yanli took out a jade bottle and flung out a semi-transparent substance, like a rope wrapping around Gu Jinghong’s sword-wielding hands.

The “rope” immediately corroded a patch where it touched his clothes, then ate into his skin and flesh. Drops of blood mixed with black substance fell onto the snow, instantly congealing into black-red blood beads.

Gu Jinghong’s wrists were now visibly skeletal, but driven by an unyielding will, he gripped the sword tightly. With his blood vessels and meridians severed and true qi unable to circulate, he relied on brute force to push the sword inch by inch into Yelü Huangwu’s body.

He knew that with his current strength, he couldn’t kill the person in the sedan chair. So he might as well kill Yelü Huangwu – one less enemy was one less!

“Why waste your strength?” Yelü Huangwu smiled lightly as if the sword wasn’t piercing her body. “Even if you don’t kill me, I won’t live past thirty.”

The surrounding guards rushed forward. Gu Jinghong’s remaining true qi exploded in a suicidal manner as he stared fixedly at Yelü Huangwu.

In that instant, Yelü Huangwu saw hesitation in his eyes.

However, what happened next was unclear. A woman’s voice softly humming a Liao country nursery rhyme echoed as if in a great hall.

She saw herself as a child lying in her wet nurse’s arms, eyes open, refusing to sleep. “Has Father Emperor returned?”

“The Emperor is tired and needs to rest early. Can the Princess see the Emperor tomorrow?” The wet nurse patiently coaxed, “The Princess should sleep now.”

She closed her eyes, her long lashes trembling, crystal tears spilling from the corners of her eyes. “Nurse, my Father Emperor will never return…”

The wet nurse’s gentle patting stopped as she hugged her tightly, her voice choked, “The Princess still has the Empress’s love, and this servant will serve the Princess for life.”

Yelü Huangwu knew this was an illusion. She lowered her eyes, trying to escape this fantasy, when suddenly memories surged like a tide – scenes of her wielding great power, moments of her lonely vigil at the imperial mausoleum…

Though young, her life had seen great ups and downs. Yet in her heart, everything changed on that day when the entire Liao country wore white mourning clothes, and she said in her wet nurse’s arms: Father Emperor will never return.