What, could it be we had some past grudge?

Changling met his gaze without evasion or avoidance. “My name is Changting. You must have misheard.”

Ye Qi was stunned. Looking at Changling’s flawless porcelain-like face, the brightness that had suddenly lit up in his eyes dimmed again. He then revealed a smile that was unclear whether it was self-mocking or absurd. “You’re right. How could she still… Ah, I was confused.”

“Who is this person you’re talking about?”

“She is…” Ye Qi’s throat moved. As if changing faces, he laughed heartily. “She was an ugly wife who ran away before we even got married, then eloped with someone else. All these years, whenever I hear her name, I tend to fly into a rage.”

“…” Changling suddenly felt she was being rather ridiculous too. Over ten years ago, this fellow hadn’t even grown all his hair yet—what grudge could there be?

Ye Qi was at least somewhat conscientious.

He spent great effort tying up Tianpo and the female shopkeeper like two rice dumplings and locking them in the storage room. When he turned around, afraid of starving them to death, he bought several flatbreads and placed them beside them before finally putting his mind at ease and closing up the shop to leave.

Changling said, “Since this female shopkeeper can leak information, this place is clearly Mingyue Zhou’s hidden post. Even if we ignore it, someone will soon notice something’s wrong. People won’t starve to death anyway—why bother with all this?”

“What if everyone happens to be too busy these next few days and no one notices? Ah, if it’s just a small effort, might as well do it.”

Changling chuckled. “You’re quite tolerant toward enemies. If you die at Tianpo’s hands one day, you can regret it then.”

Ye Qi turned to look at her. He realized that after riding horses together for most of the day, Changling hadn’t shown him a pleasant expression the entire way. So he asked, “Miss Changting, have I offended you somehow without knowing?”

“No.”

“Then smile?”

Changling: “…”

“Hey, hey, hey, even if we rush to the Great Zhao Temple, it’ll take at least three days at the fastest. After three days, you’ll go your bright path and I’ll cross my bridge of no return. Before I die, might I have the honor of beholding Miss’s smile?”

Changling had seen people unafraid of death, but never anyone who cursed their own death. She said impatiently, “Actually, your martial arts aren’t bad. Even if you can’t win, you can always escape. But if you always like using those underhanded tricks to subdue people, you’ll never make any progress in the future.”

Ye Qi was stunned. Only then did he realize she was referring to using Hunyuan Powder to knock out Tianpo. He shifted his gaze away and, contrary to his usual behavior, didn’t respond to Changling’s words.

Masters in the martial world most avoided using poison, drugs, or hidden weapons. Even when facing powerful enemies, they typically disdained using such underhanded moves. Otherwise, if everyone poisoned their swords and blades, killing with every scratch, what righteousness would remain?

Strictly speaking, Hunyuan Powder was similar to knockout drugs and couldn’t be considered true poison. But Changling had suffered deeply from the Shared Heart Gu years ago, so she inevitably felt deep aversion to such things. This made her overlook that Ye Qi had only resorted to this desperate measure for self-preservation.

Unexpectedly, Ye Qi was silenced by these words, and even his smile became forced. “Heh, what future do I have left? Might as well be reborn into a good life next time, then take Miss as my master and train a set of skills that fear neither heaven nor earth.”

Changling gave him a look. “You’re quite strange. You’re not at a dead end yet—why speak rashly of life and death?”

Ye Qi was stunned. After a long moment, he laughed softly. “You’re right. Not at a dead end yet—why speak rashly of life and death? Moreover, with Miss—such a magnificent beauty through the ages—as my companion, I should cherish the present moment even more.”

Seeing him spouting nonsense without restraint, Changling couldn’t be bothered with him anymore. She suddenly raised her whip and rode off like flying.

Perhaps all beginnings are difficult.

After running into big trouble like Tianpo, their journey afterward was smooth sailing. They went straight through Wei City heading west, then passed through the two major prefectures of Datong and Anding. On the evening of the third day, they could see the Great Zhao Temple pagoda in the distance under the setting sun.

The Great Zhao Temple’s position in Great Yan was somewhat similar to Shaolin in the Central Plains. The difference was that the Great Zhao Temple was a state temple. Not only did it command respect throughout the martial world, it was also subject to the Yan court’s commands.

So when Changling mentioned it, Ye Qi basically believed her. The Great Zhao Temple had four great elders, eight vajra guardians, and the Fifty Luohan Hall standing guard. It was truly an excellent place to hide people. Even with heaven-defying abilities, there was absolutely no way to rescue everyone from inside completely intact.

Changling said, “Wait until nightfall to see how we can get in. First, let’s find a place to rest.”

Ye Qi looked at her with surprise. “Right now the incense is burning strong—it’s the perfect opportunity to blend into the temple. Miss chooses to enter after the temple closes. Is it because your superior skills give you great courage?”

“Because I’m hungry. Can’t move when I’m not full.”

Ye Qi choked. “Wait here. I’ll roast you a mountain chicken.”

When he said roast chicken, he actually went and caught a lively mountain chicken.

She’d thought this young master couldn’t tell grains apart and was physically useless, but unexpectedly he was not only skilled at catching chickens but also at killing them with fluid ease.

In the brief time Changling rested against a tree, he busied himself happily alone—from draining the blood and plucking feathers to removing the innards. Finally, he spread a layer of honey glaze before putting it on the roasting rack, shaking his head regretfully. “Too bad we can’t find more seasonings in this wilderness. If we stuffed some ginger and garlic in the chicken belly, the flavor would be absolutely wonderful.”

Changling found his behavior of carrying a bottle of honey on him very puzzling, but seeing the chicken roasted to an oily golden sheen, her appetite was greatly aroused. Ye Qi very proudly tore off a piece of wing meat with the leg bone for her. “Try it. Is my roast chicken better, or Mingyue Zhou’s roast rabbit?”

“Chicken is naturally better than rabbit.” Changling took a bite without courtesy, finding the meat tender and rich. “I wonder how Tianpo would react if he knew his blade was used to kill chickens.”

Ye Qi grinned as he put away the Spirit-Hooking Blade, then tore off another large piece of chicken leg meat and handed it to her. “Killing chickens is better than killing people. The two brothers Tianhun and Tianpo aren’t utterly vicious. Unless Mingyue Zhou orders them, they normally don’t kill people.”

“Oh, seems you know quite a lot about the people around Mingyue Zhou…” Changling took another bite of meat. “Then how could you not even recognize Mingyue Fei’s appearance?”

“Ah, that’s a long story… That Eighth Princess was lost among common people since childhood. The Yan Emperor only recognized and brought her home two years ago. When they first found her, she was completely disfigured. Forget about us—even in the Yan palace, probably few could pick out anyone who’d seen her true appearance…”

“Completely disfigured?” Changling remembered her as a pretty little beauty. “Where had she wandered to?”

“She came out of the Five Poison Gate. Speaking of which, it’s also a romantic tale of the old Yan Emperor. You’ll understand when you hear it. Basically, he accidentally bestowed his favor upon the deputy sect master of the Five Poison Gate…” Ye Qi raised his eyebrows meaningfully. “You know what that place is like. Everyone in the sect from top to bottom is steeped in poison. Mingyue Fei was no exception. Fortunately, she’s still young and the poisoning wasn’t deep. After detoxing for two years, the spots and marks on her face have mostly faded. It’s just that she’s accustomed to showing herself veiled. When going out, she still covers her face. Hmm… can’t rule out that countless people have died by poison at her hands, and she’s worried about being hunted down for revenge.”

“Like you people?”

Ye Qi smiled awkwardly. “We made a mistake, didn’t we?”

While gnawing on the chicken leg, Changling thought to herself—no wonder that young princess at such a young age had the ability to poison a bunch of martial arts masters. So she came from the Five Poison Gate. This kind of constitution where even tears from blinking and crying could poison people was truly impossible to guard against.

However, in that case… wasn’t this the perfect opportunity?

Changling looked at the ring flickering in the firelight. “Earlier I heard you say that the gilded ring can command the three armies. You weren’t referring to the ring itself, but rather the person holding the ring?”

“That’s right. Commanding the three armies is an exaggeration, but Mingyue Fei is shrewd and intelligent. The Yan Emperor also values this princess extremely and has given her many powers that even the princes don’t have. Many of Mingyue Zhou’s subordinates are quite convinced by her.” Ye Qi chewed his meat twice.

A flash of clarity passed through Changling’s eyes. She glanced at the Spirit-Hooking Blade fastened at Ye Qi’s waist, then looked up at him again, feeling that his face was practically written with the four words “prescient wisdom.” “From the moment Tianpo came looking, you were already calculating to seize his blade, weren’t you?”

That’s why he took such a risky move. That’s why he used Hunyuan Powder.

Ye Qi “humbly” cupped his greasy hands. “No, no, it was all coincidence.”

Changling finished the last piece of meat, threw the bone into the fire, and stood up. “Since you’ve calculated everything, let’s move.”

The Great Zhao Temple was built on a mountain. One had to wind up the mountain path to reach the temple gates.

When the two of them climbed the mountain, it was nearly midnight—precisely the good hour when night was deep and everyone was immersed in sweet dreams.

Changling’s face was covered with a white silk cloth. Behind her, Ye Qi had changed his outfit—wearing the Yan army uniform stripped from Tianpo’s body.

With his tall stature, puffing out his chest and keeping a stern face, at first glance he really did look somewhat similar.

If only he didn’t lift his bangs every few steps.

“I really don’t understand Tianpo. Being an assassin, why keep such long bangs for no reason? What’s the point—to inspire fear without anger?” Ye Qi complained while fiddling with his new hairstyle. “Doesn’t he find that having his vision blocked like this makes it easy to trip while walking?”

As he spoke, he actually stumbled on a stone step.

Changling turned a deaf ear. Looking ahead at the Great Zhao Temple gates, she stopped. “We’re here.”

Ye Qi instantly shed his frivolous expression and said seriously, “How do you plan to get in?”

“Walk in.”

Changling strode forward boldly, knocked on the door ring, and waited briefly. Faintly, she could hear footsteps of someone running inside.

Ye Qi naturally heard it too, but saw Changling feign impatience and slap the door hard with her palm several times.

The door creaked open, revealing two sleepy-eyed monks’ faces. Seeing the people standing outside, both were startled. The younger one’s eyelids kept drooping, yet he still said good-naturedly, “This temple doesn’t receive guests at night. If the two benefactors wish to worship Buddha, please return tomorrow morning.”

Changling crossed her arms before her chest and gave a light “hmph.” “Look carefully at who I am.”

As soon as the words fell, Ye Qi was stunned first. He suspected his ears were malfunctioning.

These past few days he’d grown accustomed to Changling’s clear, water-like voice. For a moment, he couldn’t react to realize this delicate, silver-bell-like questioning came from her mouth.

However, the other monk reacted first. He rubbed his eyes and looked carefully at the gilded ring on Changling’s finger. His expression jolted. “It’s… the Eighth Princess…”

The senior monk looked frightened. He stole a glance at the blade at Ye Qi’s waist, then quickly cupped his hands toward Changling. “Master instructed that the Princess would come, but this humble monk didn’t expect it would be so soon…” He pushed the still-confused young monk. “Yun Zhen, hurry and lead the way for the Princess…”

Changling smiled with slight disdain and stepped through the temple gates without courtesy, perfectly embodying the attitude of an arrogant princess.

Following behind her, Ye Qi hadn’t yet recovered from the shock of how this girl who was like a block of ice could suddenly transform into another pampered and imperious young lady so vividly and realistically.

If he hadn’t traveled with her all this way, he would definitely have mistaken her for Mingyue Fei.

He didn’t know that years ago, before infiltrating enemy camps, Changling had studied voice techniques under a rather famous actor. Granted, she’d only heard Mingyue Fei speak a few sentences, so the imitation wasn’t perfectly vivid. But fooling these monks was more than sufficient.

Naturally, she knew nothing about Mingyue Fei and could only barely string together an outline from fragmented threads like “the little poison woman from Five Poison Gate,” “highly favored by the Yan King,” and “ruthless princess.” If they encountered anyone familiar with Mingyue Fei, they’d likely have difficulty fooling them.

Both Changling and Ye Qi were prepared at any moment to be exposed.

Fortunately, their luck was running high. Who could have imagined that imposters would take the genuine gilded ring and Spirit-Hooking Blade to brazenly infiltrate the Great Zhao Temple filled with masters?

Ye Qi was secretly celebrating. Next, they just needed to wait for these two monks to lead them to guest quarters, then find an opportunity to investigate.

As long as there were no accidents.

Who knew that just as he finished silently reciting the word “accident,” he saw the senior monk stop and say to Changling, “Now that the Princess has arrived, this humble monk will take you both to see the Third Prince.”

Changling was stunned.

The Third Prince? Was he talking about Mingyue Zhou?

Mingyue Zhou was also inside this Great Zhao Temple?!

Author’s Note:

Mini Theater:

Mingyue Zhou: Wahahahaha I finally have a scene again! Surprising, isn’t it? Delightful, isn’t it?! Surname Ye, once I catch you, I’ll definitely dismember you into pieces, pieces, pieces, pieces—

Ye Qi (stroking chin): Hmm… Why does the second male lead never appear while the third male lead keeps bouncing around? This isn’t reasonable.

Mingyue Zhou: Who says I’m the third male lead?! I’m the second male lead! Once I kill you, I’ll be the first!

Old Fu: Who says the second male lead doesn’t appear? I’m right… uh…

Changling (pulling out bloodied blade): Oh, killed one off. A strong female lead drama doesn’t need men…

Mingyue Zhou (already walking away): Sorry, wrong set… You continue, continue.

Ye Qi (following Mingyue Zhou): I’m just here for a cameo. Once this scene is done, I have to go to other sets… Hey, Old Zhou, wait for me! Let’s eat chicken tonight!