Changling heard the sound of women crying—sobbing and choking, rising and falling in waves, accompanied by the drip-drip-drop of water, creating an eerie atmosphere. She drifted on the edge between half-consciousness and half-sleep, feeling as if her hands and feet were bound by something. Her entire back pressed against a damp floor, the coldness piercing to the bone.

The crying grew clearer. Realizing this was no dream, she suddenly opened her eyes. A dome-shaped ceiling came into view, and the scent of nutmeg pervaded the entire room.

Changling struggled to prop herself up into a sitting position. Borrowing the light from torches flickering on the stone walls, she surveyed her surroundings—this was a stone chamber, quite spacious, with no windows and iron doors tightly shut, offering no view of what lay outside.

In the center of the stone chamber stood a stove platform with an enormous iron pot atop it. Firewood crackled beneath, cooking something unknown, while surrounding the stone pot were women chained to the walls.

Young, beautiful women with terror written across their faces.

Changling silently counted—including herself, there were six people in total.

What was going on?

Changling felt somewhat weak. The women’s crying disturbed and irritated her. She couldn’t help but interrupt with a question: “Where is this place?”

The women who had been crying all turned their heads in surprise at the sound of someone speaking. Among them, a young girl in powder lotus-pink clothing gazed at her with tear-filled eyes. “This is the Five Poisons Sect…”

Five Poisons Sect?

Changling’s eyes flashed with astonishment. Seeing that the carvings on the surrounding stone walls did indeed have a Qiang ethnic flavor, she was already half-convinced. Her body instinctively surged forward, and the shackles dug painfully into her wrists. Changling slowly lowered her head, her thoughts still muddled: Hadn’t she been transferring cultivation to Ye Qi? How did that transfer end up transferring her to the Five Poisons Sect?

“Elder sister was also captured, wasn’t she…” The young girl continued sobbing. “You’re so beautiful, perhaps you’ll be next.”

Changling raised her head and surveyed the group again—all five women were in the prime of youth, and the youngest appeared not yet fifteen years old. From what they said, everyone had been forcibly captured. If so, she had most likely been brought here after losing consciousness.

Even ten years ago, the Five Poisons Sect had been sinister enough to make martial artists avoid it like the plague. After these eleven years, having gathered so many beautiful young women, they were undoubtedly up to something unspeakable.

She stared at the keyhole of the shackles and raised both hands to feel through her hair, but as expected, found nothing. “You just said I would be next. What do you mean by that? What happened to the last person?”

“I…” The young girl wanted to explain, but seemed to think of something sad, and tears streamed down her face. Confirming that her Nanhua Needles had also been confiscated, Changling said rather helplessly: “Why are you crying?”

“The last person was Xiao Qiu’s older sister…” said the woman in a blue cotton jacket beside the young girl, her eyes red. “She’s already been taken away for a full day. They say the Five Poisons Sect Master took a fancy to her appearance. If it’s usable, they’ll take it to use…”

“Use? How do they use it?” Changling was startled. “Ah, you mean enjoy, right?”

Upon hearing Changling phrase it this way, the young women’s faces instantly turned deathly pale. The young girl shook her head. “No, no, it’s not…”

Before she could finish speaking, with a clang, the rusted iron door was pushed open from outside. Two female disciples of the Five Poisons Sect dragged in a blood-covered woman. The woman’s head hung down, her bare feet dragging across the ground and leaving a long trail of blood.

Xiao Qiu trembled uncontrollably. “Sis… Sister…”

Changling turned her gaze over and suddenly froze, revealing a rare trace of horror.

That woman’s face… no, it should be said, there was no longer a face to see—only an entire face of mangled flesh and blood, like meat paste, with fresh blood still continuously seeping out, dripping onto the ground drop by drop, no longer human in form.

The moment her breath caught, Changling understood what that word “use” meant.

They had literally peeled off a living person’s face.

“The Sect Master said her skin wasn’t very comfortable to use, so there’s no need to sustain her life any longer.”

One of the Five Poisons Sect members walked over to the iron pot and lifted the lid, like a cook checking whether the water in the pot had boiled. “Since she can’t survive anyway, we might as well cook her to feed the snakes, right?”

Everyone was stunned by these words. Before they could digest their meaning, they heard the sound of water splashing—that woman was thrown entire from head to toe directly into the boiling pot—

Ye Qi smelled the aroma of braised pork knuckle.

This sauce fragrance was mixed with star anise, bay leaves, fennel, and nutmeg. Even without grass fruit and cloves, it was enough to make one’s mouth water.

Ye Qi’s first reaction was to swallow. After a moment’s pause, he suddenly opened his eyes.

Wait, what had he smelled?

He jerked upright from the bed and turned his head toward a round table six feet away, where a plate of sauced pork knuckle, a dish of stir-fried chrysanthemum greens, and a large bowl of steaming white rice were laid out.

Judging from the room’s furnishings and layout, he must have returned to Eastern Xia territory. A small bronze brazier sat at the corner of the bed, its rising heat warming the entire bedding in peaceful comfort.

The long-absent warmth entered his nostrils, accompanied by the tempting aroma of food, leaving Ye Qi somewhat at a loss—how long had it been since his useless nose could distinguish good smells from bad? Two or three years?

Could this be… heaven’s special courtesy granted exclusively to all those experiencing a final surge of energy before death?

Ye Qi’s throat moved. Almost instinctively, he flipped off the bed. Before reaching the dining table, he was shocked by his own swift and agile movements—what was with this comfortable and smooth bodily sensation, this abundant and profound energy?

He distinctly remembered sitting with a body covered in injuries, waiting for his final moment to arrive.

At this moment, the door was pushed open. Yu Ping carefully walked in carrying a large bowl of fish congee. Catching sight of Ye Qi at the table, he first froze, then showed delight. “Young Master He… you’re awake?”

“Yu Ping?” Ye Qi stood frozen in place. Hearing the other address him as Young Master He, he felt his brain couldn’t quite process it. “What are you doing here?”

“I…” Yu Ping was about to answer when he saw Ye Qi standing barefoot on the cold floor. With an exclamation, he quickly stepped forward to set down the hot congee, pushing Ye Qi back onto the bed. “I’ve been wishing upon stars and moon, finally waiting for you to wake up. Why did you get out of bed?”

“Wishing upon stars and moon?” Ye Qi looked completely bewildered and asked tentatively: “Yu Ping… have I… have I been unconscious for several years?”

Upon hearing this, Yu Ping nearly choked on air. “What?”

“I’m asking… how long was I unconscious?”

Seeing Yu Ping hesitantly hold up his index and middle fingers, Ye Qi blinked. “Two years?”

“…Two days.”

This time it was Ye Qi’s turn to choke.

He had always been quick-witted, his mind turning faster than a cartwheel, yet now he was several beats slow—even the living immortal Ji Beilan had advised him to make early preparations. How could that diseased and crippled body possibly recover seventy to eighty percent overnight?

“Following your orders, we sent people to storm in. Master said you were taken away by someone, so I led Chi Guang and the others down the mountain to search. Fortunately, we weren’t a step too late…”

As Yu Ping rambled on beside him, Ye Qi’s muddled brain replayed the various events of the previous day. Suddenly, a vague possibility flashed through his mind. Before it could become clear, his heart began pounding heavily. He abruptly interrupted: “Where is that young lady?”

“Which, which one?”

“That young lady we initially mistook for Mingyue Fei,” Ye Qi said. “When you found me, didn’t you see anyone?”

“The person…” Yu Ping frowned in difficulty. “It seems she was taken away by people from the Five Poisons Sect.”

The suddenly lifted heart sank again without warning.

Seeing his expression, Yu Ping didn’t dare breathe too loudly and recounted the entire encounter with the Five Poisons Sect female disciples that night. By the end, Ye Qi’s face had turned extremely unpleasant. He heard Yu Ping say: “…Later, Lord Fu ordered us to escort you out of Yan territory first, to avoid things becoming more difficult to handle if Dayan’s cavalry pursued us.”

“So it was also Fu Yangui who told you my identity?”

Hearing Ye Qi address Lord Fu by name, Yu Ping couldn’t help but freeze for a moment before nodding. “The troops attacking Shazhou City have now begun to retreat. After this setback, Mingyue Zhou definitely won’t let this matter rest. Lord Fu instructed us to safely escort you back to Jianzhou to reunite with the He Family Army. The court’s reinforcements will also arrive quickly.”

“These words were probably what he told you to say as well.”

Yu Ping made an affirmative sound, scratching his head somewhat sheepishly. “If Lord Fu hadn’t reminded me, I wouldn’t have known you… you were actually Young Master He himself… I even fought with you before, it’s really…”

Ye Qi didn’t want to hear Yu Ping’s nonsense. He put on his shoes and socks, threw on his outer coat, and headed out. Yu Ping hurriedly followed, asking in alarm: “Where are you going?”

“To the Five Poisons Sect.”

“Wh-what?! That absolutely won’t do! The Five Poisons Sect…”

“I know what kind of place the Five Poisons Sect is better than you,” Ye Qi said. Seeing Yu Ping blocking his way, he sighed helplessly. “I must rescue that person. If you keep blocking me, I’ll beat you up too.”

“No, no,” Yu Ping quickly explained. “What I meant to say is, Lord Fu has already personally led troops to the Five Poisons Sect. You needn’t be too anxious, Young Master.”

Ye Qi stopped in surprise. “What are they going to the Five Poisons Sect for?”

Deep in the mountain gorge, facing the Qiang River in front and backed by towering ridges, beyond the mountain spine lay the Huang River basin—northward was Yan, southward was Xia.

Canlang Village should have been a spiritually blessed feng shui treasure land.

Ever since the Five Poisons Sect established dominance here, the Qiang people from surrounding villages had mostly fled. Some who couldn’t make a living elsewhere had no choice but to remain in trepidation to serve them. In just a few short years, the entire Canlang Valley had become the sole domain of the Five Poisons Sect.

By rights, positioned in the gap between Xia and Yan, either Eastern Xia or Northern Yan could have led armies to swallow up this territory. Yet over these ten years, despite the fierce fighting between both sides, the Five Poisons Sect had remained aloof, living a life of isolated paradise.

As if something made people wary of them.

Two months ago, Nanying, the Sect Master of the Five Poisons Sect, died suddenly during cultivation practice. Her daughter Nanxu succeeded to the position of Sect Master. It was said that in terms of ruthless methods, she surpassed even Mingyue Fei, who had also emerged from the Five Poisons Sect.

This point, Changling could empathize with deeply.

Having just arrived without any preparation, she had been forced to watch a grown woman thrown into a large pot to be boiled alive. No matter how worldly and experienced one was, it was hard not to break out in goosebumps.

That girl called Xiao Qiu cried all night before fainting from grief. The other four were also frightened out of their wits. After questioning for a long time, Changling only managed to learn the general location of this lair. She had pieced together information about Nanxu by pressing against the wall and eavesdropping on the idle chatter of the guards.

The water in the pot had long since boiled dry, and the entire prison chamber was filled with a nauseating stench.

Changling tried her best to remain calm, forcing herself to think of a feasible escape plan—however, after thinking all night, the conclusion was only four words.

No way out.

She didn’t know what poison she had been given, but she couldn’t muster any strength throughout her body. She had tried to circulate her cultivation several times but couldn’t detect even half a trace of inner breath. The Nanhua Needles weren’t on her person either.

This time was different from Mu Wangbao or the Dazhao Temple. Without martial arts, without people she could utilize, without sufficient time to plan, and most critically… she was no longer an observer.

The creaking sound of the door opening rang out again. Several young women huddled together trembling. Daylight from outside seeped in. Changling slightly opened her eyes and watched as two Five Poisons Sect female disciples walked up to her. “It’s your turn. Come with us.”

Changling wanted to walk on her own, but the poison was too overbearing—she couldn’t even stand up. The two female disciples matter-of-factly lifted her up and dragged her along a short mountain path until they stopped before an earthen fortress, signaling the guards to go in and announce her arrival.

Changling raised her eyes to look. This type of earthen fortress had regular corners on all four sides, and even the tiles were enclosed. One had to enter through the main gate and exit through the main gate—the possibility of slipping away was minimal.

Thinking of this, Changling quietly sighed again. She wasn’t someone who feared death, but this was the first time in her life she had fallen into such a situation of being at others’ mercy—it was truly difficult to adapt to. At this moment, the person inside hurried out and said to the two female disciples: “Everything is ready. The Sect Master wants you to send her in.”

Changling had assumed that if Nanxu wanted to torture people, she would at least choose some ghostly, gloomy place, or at minimum somewhere like an alchemy chamber. When she was dragged into what appeared to be a proper hall, she was slightly surprised.

This hall had an Eight Immortals table and Grand Master chairs. At first glance, it looked like entering an official’s residence. Her heart was beating uncertainly when suddenly, after passing a partition, the style changed dramatically. Changling gazed at a room full of fluttering peach-colored gauze curtains, and her eyebrow couldn’t help but twitch.

Fine. Just judging by this decor, let alone saying this new Sect Master was only sixteen years old—even if they said she was only eight, it wouldn’t be unbelievable.

Suddenly, from behind the layers of gauze curtains came a woman’s delicate laughter.

Changling clearly felt the two female disciples beside her stiffen. She raised her eyes and saw a lotus-pink silhouette floating gracefully toward them, embodying three parts slenderness and seven parts grace—if only one could ignore that face.

The person wore a layer of blue gauze over her face, with thick bangs covering her forehead. Though her features couldn’t be seen, the skin around her exposed eyes looked as if carved by knives—not an inch of flesh was intact.

Changling instantly understood why this new Sect Master wanted to gouge out those young women’s faces.

Because Nanxu had no face of her own.