“How terrible.”

“Should we intervene?”

“Why would we?”

“Fair point — why would we? These people have nothing to do with us, and we have nothing to do with the Mountain River Seal anymore.”

“Right, exactly.”

“So should we leave now, or watch a little longer?”

“Let’s watch.”

“Alright.”

Two figures leaped down from the rooftop, and almost instantly, two streaks of light appeared before Duan Hen’s eyes.

Duan Hen immediately turned his head to dodge. The two streaks grazed past his ears and flew out behind him, followed by two faint, muffled thuds — the streaks had embedded themselves into something.

Before Duan Hen could collect himself, a fist came flying straight at his face.

On instinct, he raised Wei Chiguang — whom he was holding in his hand — to shield himself. Had that punch connected, Wei Chiguang would certainly have been killed.

But then a second figure swept in from the side, striking a palm toward Duan Hen’s temple.

Duan Hen immediately released Wei Chiguang, grabbing his arm and raising it as a shield against the blow from his side.

Yet the attacker’s move had been a feint — his hand shot out and snatched Wei Chiguang, flinging him backward.

In an instant, both the front and side approaches were stripped away from Duan Hen.

Duan Hen’s combat experience was incomparably rich. Even in the span of a lightning flash, he could still make the most accurate judgment and the simplest response.

His left hand deflected the attack from his side, his right hand batted away the fist aimed at his face, and that same fist swung toward the enemy at his flank.

At the same moment he swiftly retreated — yet just in that fraction of an instant, the attacker from his side shifted moves, and a fist was already nearly upon him, missing his face by a hair’s breadth.

Duan Hen barely began to exhale in relief when that fist opened, and from within the palm, a streak of light shot out — like a tiny, luminous serpent coiled in that hand, springing free the moment the fingers spread.

Duan Hen’s face went pale with shock. He wrenched his head back sharply, and the streak of light scraped across his forehead, cutting a bloody line right between his brows — as though a third eye had suddenly been opened.

For the first time in his life, he had felt the threat of death.

Without the slightest hesitation, Duan Hen retreated at full speed. As he fled, he ducked down and scooped up the two unconscious figures lying on the ground, then hurled them backward.

Those two were Zheng Shunshun and Ding Man — they had been struck down earlier and knocked out cold.

The two flying bodies blocked the pursuers behind him. As it was, those two attackers hadn’t truly intended to fight Duan Hen to the death — driving him off was enough.

Old Sun glanced at the woman in purple. “You said you were just watching.”

The woman in purple said, “I’ve always had a habit of going back on my word.”

Old Sun shrugged. “You’re lovely. Whatever you say is fine.”

The woman in purple replied, “Didn’t you also make a move?”

Old Sun said, “Force of habit.”

The woman in purple’s expression shifted ever so slightly. She turned her gaze away and stopped looking Old Sun in the eyes.

—

Half a shichen later. The military camp.

The two who had suffered serious wounds looked particularly wretched, their bodies wrapped in layers of bandages. They stared at each other across the silence for a long time without speaking.

Old Sun watched them both, then turned his head and lowered his voice to the woman in purple: “Something’s off with those two.”

The woman in purple let out a soft, dismissive hum. “Busybody.”

Old Sun curled his lip. “At most I’m a busybody uncle — can’t be an aunty, that’s a woman’s title.”

The woman in purple’s eyes narrowed, and Old Sun immediately backed down.

After a long while, Gui Yuanshu said to Wei Chiguang, “You cannot go back. If you return, you will die without question. The Emperor never fully trusted you to begin with — otherwise he wouldn’t have covertly arranged for someone to watch you, and at such a high level of skill. He has always harbored the thought of eliminating you at any moment.”

Wei Chiguang was silent.

Gui Yuanshu continued, “You should understand why the Emperor wants to be rid of me. Anyone he suspects, he will not tolerate keeping at his side — let alone someone who commands troops as you do.”

Wei Chiguang remained silent.

Yet something in his eyes had begun to waver. It was different from when he had tried to persuade Gui Yuanshu back at the inn — at that time, even as Gui Yuanshu spoke of the Emperor not tolerating him, Wei Chiguang’s gaze had still held firm resolve.

That resolve had come from the vow they once swore together. That was their original conviction.

But after the man in black had spoken those words earlier, that conviction had fractured in an instant.

The Emperor had given him the vital position of Minister of War. He had given him the authority of Grand General. He had given him free rein to build a new army.

That kind of trust — it was as though he had placed Dachu’s last hope in his hands. How could he feel anything but gratitude?

And yet — the Emperor had simply had no other choice. He chose him only because there was no one else to choose.

Gui Yuanshu suddenly recalled something. He looked at Wei Chiguang and said, “I know you’re worried about the two of them. I will continue on to Daxing, but you cannot go back. That man’s martial arts are formidable — he has likely already left this area. This place is only a few dozen li from Daxing. He cannot enter the city at night, but come morning he can enter the palace. Before long, the men the Emperor sends will arrive here.”

Gui Yuanshu watched Wei Chiguang’s expression and pressed on, “The vow we swore back then — it was to use whatever strength we had to keep the nation at peace and its people safe. The ‘nation’… need not necessarily be Dachu.”

Wei Chiguang’s head snapped up, his eyes meeting Gui Yuanshu’s. Gui Yuanshu held his gaze without yielding.

A moment later, Wei Chiguang lowered his head.

Gui Yuanshu continued, “The Emperor couldn’t possibly have imagined I’ve returned. That man didn’t recognize me either — so I can still slip into the city and try to persuade the other two. But you cannot go back.”

After another long silence, Wei Chiguang let out a long, slow breath. “If I don’t go back to the capital, where else can I go?”

Gui Yuanshu spoke immediately: “Go to Prince Ning. Prince Ning is the true enlightened ruler of the realm. If you don’t believe me, go see Yuzhou for yourself — go see Jizhou for yourself. Look at how peacefully the people in those two regions live. Jizhou especially — Prince Ning has governed Jizhou for years, and the people of Jizhou are now among the most prosperous and settled under heaven. Go see it with your own eyes, and then you will understand where our ambitions ought to be realized — and where our convictions ought to stand.”

“But…”

Wei Chiguang said, “We will carry the name of traitors…”

“You are a fool!”

Gui Yuanshu said sharply, “What reputation are you still clinging to? And whose reputation is it exactly — your own, or the Emperor’s?”

Wei Chiguang opened his mouth, then lowered his head again.

Gui Yuanshu said, “Write a personal letter right now, and give me a token to carry. Once I’m inside the city, I’ll find those two. You’ve run into trouble — they’ll be implicated too. If you keep wavering, both of them will be in danger.”

Wei Chiguang thought of his two sworn brothers’ safety and gave a nod. “All right.”

Gui Yuanshu said, “I’ll write a letter for you as well. Take it to Prince Ning — once he reads it, he will trust you completely.”

Wei Chiguang couldn’t help but ask, “Why do you hold Prince Ning in such high regard?”

Gui Yuanshu replied, “Because he is the right person. Because only he can save the Central Plains. Do you think Prince Ning is a petty man like the Emperor? When Prince Ning employs someone, he never doubts them.”

When the woman in purple heard Gui Yuanshu say that Prince Ning was the right person, her expression visibly shifted.

Because someone had once told her that in this world there existed a *wrong* person, and that he intended to find and root out that wrongness.

Wei Chiguang’s eyes flickered — clearly moved by the words about trusting those in one’s employ without suspicion.

Gui Yuanshu rose and found paper and brush to write the letter. When he finished, he handed it to Wei Chiguang. “Leave now. Any longer and it will be too late.”

Wei Chiguang said, “But you’ve also suffered serious injuries. Going into Daxing…”

Gui Yuanshu managed a thin smile. “Don’t you know me by now? Of the five of us, I’ve always been the most cunning. I escaped Qingzhou and got out alive — I can do the same from Daxing.”

Wei Chiguang instinctively glanced toward Old Sun and the woman in purple. Old Sun gave him a flat look. “Why are you looking at me?”

Wei Chiguang suddenly stood up, strode forward several quick steps, and dropped to both knees on the ground. “I beg the two of you to protect my brothers.”

He then began kowtowing repeatedly against the floor, striking it hard.

Old Sun moved to help him up, but glanced at the woman in purple’s expression — she looked utterly indifferent — so he pulled his hand back.

Wei Chiguang kept at it nonetheless. This proud man, for the first time in his life, was begging someone like this.

Gui Yuanshu moved to help him up, but Wei Chiguang refused to rise no matter what was said, continuing to bow his head to the ground.

The woman in purple gave a soft sigh. “The reason I intervened before was because I believed you were under the young marquis’s protection — saving you once made us even. But now I learn you are not the young marquis’s man at all. You are Prince Ning Li Chi’s man.”

Gui Yuanshu said quickly, “The young marquis is right at Prince Ning’s side, handling jianghu affairs for him.”

Old Sun glanced at the woman in purple. “We have nowhere to go either…”

The woman in purple gave a dismissive hum.

Old Sun said, “Mostly because we’re running low on silver.”

The woman in purple said, “Do I do things for money?”

Old Sun said, “You don’t.”

The woman in purple said, “You do — so ask them how much they’re offering. And besides… is the young marquis truly at Prince Ning’s side?”

Gui Yuanshu said quickly, “Where else would my token have come from?”

He produced the piece of paper Cao Lie had given him. “Take a look — this is Cao Lie’s own handwriting.”

The woman in purple took the paper and looked it over. On it was a detailed account of the Mountain River Seal and Cloud Mist Map’s personnel and networks within Daxing.

“Three days.”

The woman in purple said, “Within three days — whether or not we can get your other two friends out — we will be leaving.”

Gui Yuanshu nodded immediately. “Deal!”

He helped Wei Chiguang to his feet. “Go pack your things and leave now. Come morning when the imperial decree arrives, the men under your command will become the ones tasked with arresting you.”

Wei Chiguang froze at those words for a moment, then let out a soft, cold laugh. “Then I won’t leave him anything.”

He turned to his personal guards. “Sound the horn — have the entire camp assemble at the drill grounds.”

The guard immediately acknowledged and turned to go.

Wei Chiguang looked at Gui Yuanshu. “Once you’re inside the city, be careful above all else. If there’s a chance to rescue them, take it. If there’s no chance… don’t throw your own life away too. If all three of you are gone, I’ll truly be alone.”

Gui Yuanshu nodded. “Leave it to me.”

Shortly after, Wei Chiguang mustered the eight thousand new soldiers garrisoned in the county town, threw open the city gates under the cover of night under the pretext of a night training exercise, and marched his forces northward at speed.

He had recruited new soldiers across more than a dozen prefectures and counties in Jingzhou — totaling two or three tens of thousands in all — and the eight thousand here were not the full number.

He intended to march this force northward and rally all the scattered new recruits garrisoned across the various locations.

A man of such decisive character — once a decision was made, he executed it with absolute thoroughness.

Emperor Yang Jing could never have imagined that his distrust of Wei Chiguang — his arrangement of a jianghu operative he trusted even less to surveil Wei Chiguang — would cost him far more than he would ever have expected.

The woman in purple and Old Sun brought Gui Yuanshu out of the city as well, finding their way to the woods outside where Little Gangzi had been left waiting. The child had already cried himself half to tears.

Deep of night. A forest. And the eerie cries of strange birds…

Gui Yuanshu looked at the boy and tried to think of something comforting to say, and after struggling for a long while, managed: “You only cried — didn’t wet yourself. Still counts as a good kid.”

Little Gangzi glared at him.

Once they had collected everyone, the group abandoned most of the escort agency’s belongings — including those two chests of dirt — keeping only whatever was of value, and changed course in another direction.

They had originally planned to enter Daxing through the north gate, but with the situation having changed, circling around to the south gate was far more prudent.

Gui Yuanshu looked back at that force disappearing into the darkness of night, and he suddenly felt the urge to laugh.

All the suppression and heaviness of the journey seemed to vanish in that single instant.

*Going to rescue my brothers!*

Gui Yuanshu cried out in his heart — then turned to Old Sun and the woman in purple with a wide, ingratiating grin: “Two distinguished seniors — just how steep are your fees?”

—