Everyone’s puzzled gazes converged on Lin Jun, who stood frozen in place, utterly perplexed: “General Duan… what are you saying? Do you suspect that I am the spy?”

Duan Xu shook his head, saying leisurely: “It’s not a suspicion, I’m certain. The wind angle diviner’s carriage was ambushed with Han Ling Qiu accompanying it, but the carriage was provided by you. You were also informed about the granary defenses, the timing of the grain robbery, and communications with the Lin family’s first branch.”

Lin Jun gave a derisive smile: “So what?”

“Must I spell it out?” Duan Xu moved slightly closer to Lin Jun and said in a voice only the two of them could hear: “I didn’t know that blindfolded combat was a jianghu custom, Master Fifteen of Tian Zhi Xiao.”

Lin Jun’s expression changed, and the confusion and anger instantly vanished. With lightning speed, he hooked his arm around Duan Xu’s neck. Duan Xu immediately twisted to break free, but Lin Jun seemed to anticipate this, locking Duan Xu’s arms and pressing a sleeve dagger against his neck.

His martial skills were unfathomable; even Duan Xu could not resist.

With cold eyes, he announced loudly: “Nobody moves, or I’ll kill him.”

The surrounding soldiers all drew their swords but dared not approach because of Duan Xu. Wu Sheng Liu pointed his large sword at Lin Jun, furious: “Damn it, Proprietor Lin, I thought you were a real man! When the Lin family master died below the city, I felt sorry for your family, but it was you who betrayed your uncle!”

He Simu discarded her melon seed shells and rose leisurely, reminding her: “This person isn’t the real Lin Jun, just someone in disguise. He didn’t sell out his uncle.”

“Bah! I don’t care if he’s related or not, this son of a bitch will leave his life here!” Wu Sheng Liu shouted.

Lin Jun was extraordinarily calm, firmly restraining Duan Xu, leaving no doubt that at the slightest movement, his knife would immediately cut Duan Xu’s throat.

Han Ling Qiu had already rushed to the viewing platform amid the chaos and stood among the crowd with a complex expression, facing Lin Jun and Duan Xu. Lin Jun’s gaze shifted to Han Ling Qiu, and he calmly asked: “Did you lose your memory?”

Han Ling Qiu’s eyes flickered, and he did not answer, but Wu Sheng Liu shouted: “Whether he lost his memory or not is none of your business.”

“If you’ve lost your memory, perhaps it’s understandable. I don’t know what you’ve been through, but you should be my seventeenth junior brother. Come back with me to see our master.”

Lin Jun’s gaze was like cold iron, completely different from the patriotic Proprietor Lin.

Han Ling Qiu shook his head. The scar on his face was frightful, but his expression was resolute: “Don’t talk nonsense and confuse everyone. I am Han Ling Qiu, a captain of Great Liang’s Taibai Army, nothing else.”

Lin Jun laughed lightly: “You were once master’s favorite disciple, but now you can’t distinguish right from wrong.”

He pressed Duan Xu’s acupoints, holding Duan Xu hostage as he stepped out of the training field, called for a horse, and then ordered Commander Wu to let them out of the city. Duan Xu, maintaining his principle of not resisting when outmatched, had Commander Wu comply with all requests.

However, Lin Jun did not keep his word and did not release Duan Xu in the end, instead taking Duan Xu hostage out of the city and into the Danzhi army camp.

Wu Sheng Liu jumped up and down helplessly, immediately ordering the city gates closed after Lin Jun left while spitting: “On New Year’s Eve, these Huqi people truly are not decent! We’ll go to their camp tonight to rescue the general!”

Han Ling Qiu and Meng Wan remained calm. The two exchanged glances, and Han Ling Qiu stepped forward: “Commander, the general previously entrusted me with a matter.”

Upon entering the enemy camp, Lin Jun exchanged passwords with the Danzhi soldiers and presented a token, and those soldiers immediately respectfully escorted Lin Jun in.

Duan Xu was taken to a prison cell in the camp, securely fitted with handcuffs and leg irons, and tied to a frame. If conditions allowed, they would have hated not to pierce his scapulae with a chain. His status as a prisoner was quite extraordinary, as evident from his having a cell to himself, with guards only stationed at the camp entrance.

“Was this deliberate, or did you lose your bet?”

With the familiar female voice, a patch of rust-red skirt hem appeared in Duan Xu’s sight. He looked up and saw the pale beautiful ghost standing before him, twirling the Ghost King lantern jade pendant in her hand, smiling meaningfully.

Duan Xu leaned against the frame, treating it as a backrest, and said leisurely: “This round isn’t over yet, it’s not time to see who wins or loses. Did Your Highness guess correctly about the spy?”

He Simu nodded and said: “The day Lin Huaide died at the foot of the city, I guessed it.”

She had heard that Lin Jun was very close to his uncle, respecting him as a father. Originally, his strong support for the Taibai Army in the prefecture city would likely implicate Lin Huaide, but not only did he not let Lin Huaide distance himself from the relationship, but he even asked Lin Huaide for help knowing there was a spy in the military. This was extremely likely to harm the Lin family, yet he seemed completely oblivious, without even hesitation.

Even the most loyal and heroic heart should have a person’s most basic fears, hesitations, and considerations.

Moreover, from He Simu’s hundreds of years of experience, on the day Lin Huaide died, although Lin Jun appeared extremely grieved, his shock was greater than his pain, as if he hadn’t expected Lin Huaide to die so generously.

He seemed to not understand his uncle at all.

“When did you start suspecting him?” He Simu asked.

“From the beginning.” Duan Xu smiled and said: “I smelled the scent of my kind on him.”

“The same kind as you? Then he’s not a good person.”

“Naturally.” After a pause, Duan Xu very tactfully stopped beating around the bush and explained: “I initially discovered that Lin Jun was testing Han Ling Qiu. I was curious about Han Ling Qiu because I suspected he was from Tian Zhi Xiao, so why was Lin Jun curious about him? Regardless of what connection he had with Han Ling Qiu, it was very strange.”

“However, whether Han Ling Qiu has regained his memory is uncertain. When the provisions were burned, I suspected both of them. During the grain robbery, I brought Han Ling Qiu along. Han Ling Qiu’s performance didn’t seem like a spy’s. Perhaps Danzhi wanted to capture him alive because someone was curious about him and wanted to bring him back for questioning—which matches with Lin Jun’s behavior.”

“So I revealed to Lin Jun that Han Ling Qiu had lost his memory. He became anxious. During the martial arts competition, he couldn’t probe Han Ling Qiu’s true abilities for a long time, and sure enough, he brought out the blindfolded test. Those who know about blindfolded testing are either from the Danzhi Royal Court or Tian Zhi Xiao. He infiltrated the prefecture city alone as a spy, which doesn’t seem like something a precious royal noble would do, so he should be someone from Tian Zhi Xiao.”

He Simu raised her eyebrows: “Blindfolded test?”

Duan Xu nodded and said: “This is the assessment when each cohort of Tian Zhi Xiao disciples completes their training. The Danzhi Royal Court serves as the audience, enjoying two disciples dueling blindfolded. The one who survives officially completes their training and is given a Tian Zhi Xiao number. Fifteen is the number of this fake Lin Jun.”

“Since they are both from Tian Zhi Xiao, shouldn’t Fifteen have recognized Han Ling Qiu from the beginning? Why did he need to test him?”

“Disciples from different cohorts of Tian Zhi Xiao don’t usually meet. Even if they occasionally encounter each other, they all wear black gauze covering their faces with only their eyes exposed. Han Ling Qiu’s face is disfigured—how could Fifteen possibly recognize him?”

He Simu’s eyes flickered as she looked at this person talking confidently, as comfortable in the enemy camp as if he were at home. She leisurely raised her index finger to her lips and smiled: “Shh, someone’s coming.”

Duan Xu and she both turned to look, seeing a tall, thin man lifting the tent flap. He had a Han person’s face, with hair braided in the traditional Huqi style with silver ornaments, eyes as cold as the night, and a pair of slender phoenix eyes. He couldn’t see He Simu and only looked coldly at Duan Xu tied to the frame.

Duan Xu met his gaze for a moment, then smiled sincerely: “Master Fifteen of Tian Zhi Xiao, truly skilled at disguise, undetectable even by close relatives.”

This was the true face of the fake Lin Jun.

The man walked in front of Duan Xu, looked him up and down for a while, and said coldly: “Who exactly are you?”

He Simu thought this was truly a familiar question. From her to Han Ling Qiu to Fifteen, everyone seemed to want to grab his neck and make him spit out his true identity.

Duan Xu, who hadn’t yielded even when the Ghost King grabbed his neck, smiled leisurely, handling the situation with ease.

“Who am I? Who do you think someone who has seen the blindfolded test should be? Now that you’ve taken me hostage and tied me up here, what do you think will happen to you when I return to the royal court?”

“You’re from the royal court? I haven’t seen you before.”

“Between the Danzhi Royal Court and the Council of Elders, there are over a hundred noble children. Have you met every one of them?”

Fifteen neither confirmed nor denied Duan Xu’s answer. After a pause, he asked again: “How did you know I’m Fifteen?”

“Only Fifteen, Sixteen, and Seventeen match the age. Sixteen was accidentally disabled, Seventeen has been missing for many years, so you must be Fifteen.”

“You deliberately let me capture you. What do you want to do? Do you want to return to the royal court?”

Duan Xu leaned against the frame, smiling brilliantly: “What do you think?”

Relying on the fact that Fifteen couldn’t confirm his identity and therefore wouldn’t dare torture him casually, he became increasingly arrogant in his evasiveness, even pushing his luck: “If you can’t figure me out, then let me guess about you. Tian Zhi Xiao rarely gets involved in military matters. You infiltrated Shuozhou Prefecture City mainly to investigate the Red Bird Disaster incident, right? Such a desecration of the Cang Yan Scripture makes the High Priest most sensitive. You couldn’t immediately determine my background, and you discovered Han Ling Qiu’s mysterious identity, so you stayed in the prefecture city to help Awuerqi report information. If Feng Lai found out about this, he would have concerns about Tian Zhi Xiao.”

Fifteen’s pupils contracted slightly, but his overall expression remained calm. He said lightly: “No need to show off how much you know about Danzhi in front of me. When you reach the royal court, everything will be clear.”

He seemed to give up on outmaneuvering Duan Xu and turned to leave the tent, but Duan Xu said leisurely behind him: “How did it feel to live as Proprietor Lin?”

Fifteen’s steps halted.

“In your life, you’ve disguised yourself as various types of people, but you’ve probably never lived as such a passionate and forthright person. Master Fifteen, when you spoke those heroic words about sacrificing for the country and giving up one’s life for righteousness, when you saw Lin Huaide willingly die below the city, didn’t you ever waver even slightly?”

Had he deceived so many people that there wasn’t a moment when he also deceived himself?

There was a moment of quiet in the air, dust dancing in the sunlight, while Fifteen stood in the shadow of the tent flap, his hand clutching the flap tightening slightly.

He was silent for a while before turning his head, looking at Duan Xu with a calm expression, saying quietly but firmly: “No. With Cang God above, Tian Zhi Xiao was born for Cang God, never betraying Cang God.”

As if when he was acting as Lin Jun, the shock and grief on the city wall were all carefully crafted performances.

Having said this, he lifted the tent flap and walked out, his black figure disappearing behind the flap. Outside, he could be heard ordering increased forces to guard Duan Xu closely.

Duan Xu snorted with a laugh, saying lightly: “Living without even having your name, why care about gods and ghosts.”

He Simu clicked her tongue in admiration a couple of times. She folded her arms and walked in front of Duan Xu, her red skirt seemingly passing through the dry straw on the ground as if it were nothing.

She approached Duan Xu, reaching out to caress his face: “Now you’re trapped in the enemy camp, and they plan to send you to Danzhi’s capital. Shuozhou Prefecture City is in a precarious situation. Young General, my offer still stands—do you want to make a wish to me?”

Duan Xu blinked, smiled, leaned forward, and whispered in her ear: “I promised to let Your Highness watch a show, how could I trouble Your Highness to take the stage yourself?”

There was a faint clicking sound. He Simu looked up and saw that Duan Xu had somehow freed himself from his handcuffs and leg irons. He rotated his reddened wrists and said lightly: “As it happens, I learned bone contraction as a child. No chains can hold me.”

He Simu narrowed her eyes, thinking the Huqi people would probably regret not piercing his scapulae.