The magnificently powerful water dragons formed gorgeous ice flowers in the air, scattering gracefully and falling into the river.

As they say, things resemble their master’s heart. Ye Qi’s heart had been set trembling by Changling’s sudden “I’m certain,” his mind wandering like an unruly monkey. At this moment, never mind killing intent—if the soldiers on the ship weren’t too far away, they would have applauded in admiration for this spectacular water acrobatics performance.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t see the situation clearly. After discovering the explosives were useless, they switched to bows and crossbows, arranging several small boats in a row. Upon hearing the command, they all simultaneously pulled the triggers of their crossbows and arrows—

His ears filled with the wild pounding of his heart, Ye Qi struggled to maintain his composure. Before his long arms could swing up, a curtain even more substantial than the previous round rose from thin air, scattering the overwhelming rain of arrows until they vanished without a trace.

“Amitabha.” Jiagu appeared from who knows where, floating elegantly on a small boat, one hand dancing suspended in the air, the other raised before his chest. “Just sent the village survivors to their ancestral mountain, and the moment I come down, a war has broken out?”

However, no one had time to answer his question.

Ye Qi still hadn’t recovered from that life-or-death confession just moments ago. He turned his head blankly, meeting Changling’s eyes in a state of focused meditation. “You… what did you say?”

“Gege, are you hard of hearing? The immortal jiejie said she’s fallen for you.” Aguo Mei, who Changling had brought along, looked up at him. “You’re a boy. How can you have the nerve to make her say it again?”

Ye Qi stared deeply at her, his throat moving slightly. “No, I mean… how could you suddenly at this moment…”

Before he could finish saying “suddenly what,” another rain of arrows attacked. The arms embracing him suddenly loosened, stepping ahead to stand in front of him. Changling flicked her sleeve, and a powerful wind she stirred up enveloped everything around them. She said “Oh” lightly, her tone flat. “I was afraid you were just a soul departing the body or having a final moment of lucidity before death. If I said it too late, you would vanish into thin air.”

When she executed this palm strike, Ye Qi, terrified she would recklessly charge forward, grabbed her wrist, but felt her pulse racing like a startled deer. He also heard Aguo Mei say, “Just now the immortal jiejie thought you had died and cried so sadly.”

“Don’t talk nonsense.” Changling glared at Aguo Mei with a threatening look. Seeing Ye Qi staring at her blankly, she actually felt a moment of awkwardness. “I was worried that if you really died without knowing my feelings, wouldn’t you die with unresolved grievances?”

Now it was Ye Qi’s turn to suspect this was all just his dream.

Before this, he could vaguely sense Changling had some favorable feelings toward him, but he never dared presume he could obtain her true love. He pulled her into his embrace. If not for the child present, he would have drawn her even closer. His voice hoarse, he asked, “How do you know I would die with unresolved grievances?”

Changling’s usually indifferent expression actually showed some liveliness. “I haven’t settled accounts with you for fooling me out of the cave. Right now, you’d better behave. I don’t want to hear a single word of rebuttal.”

The smile at the corner of Ye Qi’s mouth was like newly melted spring. With one palm strike, as if hitting an ox from behind a mountain, he scattered the arrows in the air. “How would I dare rebut? I originally wanted to say that confessing feelings, like shielding from wind and rain, should be the man’s responsibility…”

“Wait for you? Forget it…” Just as she was about to turn and retort sarcastically, a warm breath touched her lips briefly. The hand holding hers still hadn’t released. He said softly, “From the day eleven years ago when my assassination attempt failed, I’ve been absolutely certain—I like you.”

These words, which he had wanted to say but stopped countless times, forced to swallow back into his heart, were finally spoken aloud.

To bring up “assassination attempt” in a confession—besides Young Marquis, there really was no one else.

Changling looked at him, seeing his slightly lowered lashes unable to conceal the radiance in his eyes. The mocking words were forcibly swallowed back into her stomach. She instinctively wanted to turn her head away, but feeling the lingering warmth on her lips and the infinite joy in her heart, she simply cast aside that moment of embarrassment and looked at Ye Qi boldly, challenging him. “Mm, this counts as our third ‘intimate contact’…”

Ye Qi was so shocked by the phrase “intimate contact” that he stumbled. “Hey, you—don’t slander me in front of a child. This can’t be called intimate contact…”

He was too embarrassed to finish the rest. Changling raised an eyebrow, feigning surprise. “Oh? Are you laughing at me for not understanding anything? Then next time when we have a chance, I’ll seek further instruction from you.”

“…Seek… seek instruction?”

While Ye Qi’s mind was imagining things it shouldn’t, Changling asked earnestly, “Naturally, I’m asking how you managed to escape.”

“Ah, that…” Ye Qi said, “I originally thought I would be drowned alive…”

However, underwater, Ye Qi didn’t experience the expected suffocating difficulty.

When the water flooded the cave, he struggled for quite some time and discovered he seemed able to stay underwater longer than ordinary people. Although his nasal cavity couldn’t breathe, his skin could still provide a bit of strength.

But after half the time it takes to brew tea, that strange power also began to gradually disappear. He opened his eyes again and discovered many bubbles had formed around him—it turned out that when water soaked through those twenty-plus mechanisms punctured with small holes, it could generate bubble after bubble, and within the bubbles was air rushing in from outside the cave.

Those were all instinctive reactions. Ye Qi tried gathering all the bubbles together in front of him, coalescing them into one large bubble—that bubble was enough to allow him to absorb a tiny bit of weak air. When he managed to catch his breath, his mind seemed suddenly much clearer. He looked around at the surrounding water and thought to himself: Since I’ve practiced the Ten Thousand Flowers Manual, isn’t water my weapon?

“I tried using the power of water gathered in my palm to pry open the iron hooks trapped in the stone.” Ye Qi smiled at Changling. “I tried many times. Unexpectedly, I actually succeeded!”

“I say, how do you two still have time to chat!” Jiagu dealt with the endless arrows alone, anxiously frustrated. “The ship is about to escape far away. Are you chasing or not?”

Dizzy with joy from Young Marquis’s miraculous escape from death, Changling finally came to her senses. Ye Qi winked at her and said to Jiagu, “Master, Aguo Mei is entrusted to you.”

Nothing more needed to be said. He and Changling leaped together, barely rippling the water’s surface. Using several floating stakes and tile beams, within just a few moves they caught up to the warship attempting to flee.

No matter how well-trained the ship’s guard team was, encountering god-level experts they were merely wine sacks and rice bags, not to mention this time there were two of them. The iron-barrel defense instantly broke open with a huge hole. Changling roughly broke into the cabin. Inside, those who could still be considered “experts” were only Zhu Yi, Guo Si, and the one-armed You Sanshi, who immediately knelt and begged for mercy upon seeing them arrive, tearfully claiming he was just an errand boy who knew nothing.

Changling didn’t even bother glancing at him. Her gaze fixed directly on Jing Wuwei. “Jing Wuwei, do you want me to do it myself, or will you?”

Excessive fear made the veins at Jing Wuwei’s temples throb. He would remember this voice even if it turned to ashes—it was undoubtedly Second Young Master himself. He knew his end had come and waved his hand, signaling Zhu Yi and Guo Si to withdraw their weapons. Staring fixedly at Changling, he suddenly said without preamble, “That year at the Battle of Taixing City, I heard them say Second Young Master was severely poisoned and fell into the waterfall, but in my heart I still didn’t believe it. These years, Second Young Master has come to seek revenge in my dreams more than once… As expected, as expected, unless Second Young Master himself wants to die, who under heaven could kill you?”

Changling wasn’t here to reminisce with him. She maintained a distance of three steps, not moving any closer. “That year, why did you betray the Yue family? My father and elder brother treated you well.”

Seeing that she hadn’t immediately finished him with one blade after entering the cabin, Jing Wuwei naturally understood she still had questions in her heart. Hearing her ask this, he was somewhat stunned instead, as if the years had long since isolated his past self in endless darkness, leaving even him somewhat bewildered. “At this point, whether I answer or not, death is certain. What meaning is there in Second Young Master asking these things?”

Changling knew he wouldn’t answer with just one question. Hearing Ye Qi outside still dealing with the endless stream of small fry for her, she simply lowered her long blade. “I have several questions. If you answer truthfully, I can promise to spare you today.”

Jing Wuwei raised his head incredulously. “You… spare me?”

“Within three days, I won’t touch you. After three days, I’ll still kill you.” Changling said meaningfully, “You can flee to somewhere I can’t find, or you can go back and notify Shen Yao, even seek more experts for protection… as long as your answers satisfy me.”

Jing Wuwei didn’t doubt Changling’s ability to kill him whenever she wished, but if he could gain three more days of life, however slim the hope, it was better than nothing…

His thoughts raced. He immediately gritted his teeth. “Fine. Let me ask Second Young Master this: That year… if the Yue family had seized the realm, would the position of Grand Marshal of All Armed Forces have been mine, Jing Wuwei’s, or Wei Xingyun’s?”

A trace of understanding flashed in Changling’s eyes—

Although Wei and Jing were considered the left and right arms of the Yue family army, in terms of military achievements, military strategy, and even years of service… Wei Xingyun surpassed Jing Wuwei in every aspect. If the Yue family had truly established themselves as kings, Wei Xingyun would necessarily rank above Jing Wuwei.

“Just because of this reason, you dared betray and side with others?” Changling said, “How could you guarantee others would trust a traitor like you?”

“If it were the He family or the old Xie family, naturally I wouldn’t dare pledge allegiance easily. But the Shen family’s military power was insufficient on its own. Cooperating with them, I could occupy the dominant position.” As Jing Wuwei spoke, a chilling bloody smell permeated the air. “Never mind me—didn’t Fu Liujing also choose the Shen family for this reason that year?”

Hearing Fu Liujing’s name, Changling unconsciously gripped her blade handle tighter. “So you conspired together, first colluding with Yan Kingdom, then framing Wei Xingyun… all to fulfill your own ambitions?”

“In chaotic times, any person with aspirations can act. What’s strange about people having desires and ambitions? Did the Yue family have no ambitions?!” Jing Wuwei glared at her. “When Old General Yue led us brothers to carve out that territory in Jiangdong, I truly followed with sincerity, hoping to achieve great accomplishments… But unfortunately, unfortunately the old general died too early. The eldest young master, he… clearly held heavy military forces and could have declared himself king first, yet he wouldn’t listen to my advice. For the sake of those insignificant border people, he endlessly consumed his own troops fighting the Great Yan. What use was his superior military strategy and winning the people’s hearts? Such woman-like benevolence was destined never to gain the realm… Even if I hadn’t betrayed, ultimately the Yue family would have been devoured by the He family or others… Would all the foundation I built over so many years not be destroyed in an instant?”

At this moment, the cabin floor creaked. Ye Qi stepped in with a cold laugh. “Stop putting gold on your face. That was the Yue family’s foundation, not yours. You seized it through despicable and shameless means, yet you dare criticize whether others could hold it. To call you a beast would insult beasts…”

Seeing him appear, Jing Wuwei’s face paled—this meant all the troops he’d brought into the village were already… He had never imagined Marquis He could also have the ability to fight off hundreds alone. He couldn’t help but say, “Congratulations to Marquis He on mastering Wu Run’s divine skill. It seems the day when the Eastern Xia dynasty’s realm changes hands is not far off…”

The corner of Ye Qi’s mouth revealed an inscrutable smile. “General Jing, on your deathbed, there’s no need to fish for information. If you want to live, you’d better think about how to answer Second Young Master’s next questions.”

“What else does Second Young Master want to ask?”

Changling’s gaze turned coldly on Jing Wuwei. “That year, after you schemed to bring my elder brother into the military camp, who was it that rescued him?”

“How do you know…” Jing Wuwei’s voice caught. After a long while, he finally reacted. “So you both already knew… The Emperor thought he’d pulled off the perfect deception… That’s right. That year, the Emperor and I laid a trap, lured the eldest young master into it, and after deceiving him into writing that letter, we intended to let him die of illness without anyone knowing. Who knew someone disguised as a military physician infiltrated the army and abducted the eldest young master… At the time, Yang Xuzi, Ping Shang, and others all happened to be there, so they fought with that person…”

At that time, Shen Yao had a guilty conscience and kept most of the Yue family army outside the city. There weren’t many soldiers in the military tent. Yet that expert disguised as a military physician, even after being hit by the Seven Kill Hall’s Ten Thousand Poisons Dart, could still single-handedly defeat several experts present while carrying Yue Changsheng on his back, breaking out of the military tent as if entering uninhabited territory, leaving no trace like the wind.

“The Ten Thousand Poisons Dart is an extremely potent poison. Before leaving, that person vomited black blood multiple times—clearly wouldn’t survive the night.” Jing Wuwei said, “Yet when our people poured out in pursuit, we just couldn’t catch up, couldn’t find him. All these years, the Emperor has never stopped secretly investigating the eldest young master’s whereabouts, always without result… Actually, we all know in our hearts—if the eldest young master is still alive, the Emperor’s dragon throne couldn’t be kept until now. Second Young Master, why ask the obvious?”

Even the faint cold smile on Changling’s face faded—if no one could find him, did that mean…

“Just now General Jing mentioned that military physician was disguised, single-handedly defeating several great experts.” Ye Qi suddenly said, “From beginning to end, didn’t you ever suspect the person who rescued the eldest young master might have been Second Young Master? After all… at that time, Second Young Master also went missing, dead without a corpse, and our Second Young Master also knows disguise techniques and is an expert.”

Changling looked over somewhat bewildered. Meeting Ye Qi’s gaze, Ye Qi gave her a reassuring smile, tilting his head to look at Jing Wuwei. “General Jing, who exactly rescued the eldest young master—you should have some guesses in your heart, shouldn’t you?”

“Worthy of being Marquis He, observing the subtle to know the obvious.” Jing Wuwei nodded. “That person’s martial arts were high, but not as domineering and fierce as Second Young Master’s. Looking at his form alone revealed no clues, but at a critical moment he used a move from ‘Maoshan Sword Technique’…”

Both Changling and Ye Qi froze.

Ye Qi had mentioned before—the Three Heroes of Maoshan: eldest Luo Zhou, second Qu Yunzhen, and third-ranked Shujuan was Scholar Shu of Qingcheng Courtyard.

“Regarding the person who rescued the eldest young master, this is all I know.” Jing Wuwei said, “I wonder if Second Young Master’s third question is about the location of the Yue family relics?”

“No.” Changling shook her head. “The third question—I want to know… where is Fu Liujing… or to put it another way, who… exactly is he?”