Outside the pitch-dark True Imperial City, a small shadow was moving rapidly along the plank road beyond the eastern gate. A huge leather coat covered the child’s head, face, and figure. A small bundle made of mink fur was carried on their back, bulging and very heavy.

The snow and wind grew stronger, making it almost impossible to keep one’s eyes open. The child walked with difficulty but never stopped, as if some fierce beast were in pursuit.

Amid the howling wind, the crisp sound of hoofbeats suddenly rang out. From the distant plains, a pure black warhorse approached rapidly. The rider was small in stature, only seven or eight years old, wearing the uniform of a Yan Bei guard. A pair of jet-black eyes scanned through the night like a sharp eagle. Spotting the child walking alone ahead, they immediately brightened with joy, cracked the whip, and quickly caught up.

“Xiao Ba!” Chu Qiao shouted, but the raging wind instantly shattered her voice. The child walking ahead did not notice and continued hurrying forward with their head lowered. Chu Qiao spurred her horse forward, intercepting the child’s path. Frowning, she asked in a deep voice: “Xiao Ba?”

“Hehe,” a low, hoarse laugh suddenly came forth as the small figure raised its head. The face was full of wrinkles—it wasn’t a young child at all, but a middle-aged dwarf in his forties!

In that split second, a sleeve arrow shot out from the dwarf’s sleeve, aiming straight at Chu Qiao’s face. The cold wind whistled around the sharp projectile. Caught off guard, the child grunted and immediately fell from the horse’s back.

A hoarse, cold laugh slowly rose, sounding particularly eerie under the cold night sky. The dwarf threw away the bundle on his back and slowly walked forward, kicking the child’s leg. Seeing no response from the child, who lay like a corpse, he crouched down to check for breathing.

“My master is truly foolish to send me after such a little brat,” the dwarf snorted coldly, turning the child’s prone body over.

However, in that flash of lightning, the child who had been lying limply on the ground suddenly sprang up. Her eyes sparkled like stars, her movements explosive and powerful. The cold wind cut sharply as killing intent surged. In the blink of an eye, the seemingly subdued child had turned the tables, pressing an ice-cold dagger firmly against the dwarf’s carotid artery. Then she spat out the sleeve arrow she had been holding in her mouth.

“Speak! Where is Xiao Ba?”

The child’s voice sounded cold as she pushed the dagger forward, the blade cutting through skin as crimson blood began to seep out.

“What, what Xiao Ba?” The sinister man instantly lost his previous arrogant demeanor. His voice trembled with fear as he quickly said: “I don’t know any Xiao Ba. I’m just doing a job for someone.”

Chu Qiao spoke calmly: “Xiao Ba is the owner of this bundle, the child you were impersonating.”

“I, I don’t know,” the dwarf said. “The Fourth Young Master’s men found me. I’m a retainer of the Zhuge family. I do not quarrel with you.”

“You don’t know?” The child frowned, looking the man up and down. Seeing the dwarf nodding desperately, anger rose in her heart. Her wrist pressed down—vertically, finding the point, piercing, rotating, pulling horizontally. The man’s eyes suddenly widened, his pupils dilated, his limbs stiffened, and he immediately stopped breathing, leaving only a long line of blood stretched across his neck.

“You’re not suited to being a retainer assassin for others. Since you’ll die sooner or later anyway, you might as well do something good before you die.” The child stared coldly at the dwarf’s corpse, then crouched down and with one slash of her knife, cut open the large hooded coat he was wearing.

Tonight was destined not to be a night for peaceful sleep in True Imperial City. Though it was late, the east gate was still brightly lit. The Fourth Young Master of the Zhuge family personally supervised as he ordered half of True Imperial City’s garrison to help him capture an escaped slave from the Zhuge household.

Several groups of horsemen had already set out, but no news had returned. Zhuge Yue sat on horseback, with the east gate behind him like a giant lion sleeping in the boundless night. The Zhuge family servants followed behind him, everyone holding their breath, not daring to make a sound, afraid of disturbing this enraged tiger.

“Fourth Young Master!”

Zhu Cheng, wearing a gray robe, hunched over as he quickly ran forward and whispered in Zhuge Yue’s ear: “Fourth Young Master, the Eldest Young Master has sent someone to tell you to return to the mansion immediately.”

Zhuge Yue appeared not to hear and continued to stare expressionlessly ahead. Zhu Cheng anxiously said: “The messenger said that Yan Xun has escaped, forcing his way out of the city with people from the Hostage Residence. The Wei family has suffered a major setback. Wei Shuyou had two fingers cut off and was taken hostage.”

Upon hearing this, Zhuge Yue raised an eyebrow, thought silently for a moment, then frowned and said: “Yan Xun?”

“Yes,” Zhu Cheng said, “On the Nine Wai Main Street between White Orchid Temple and Purple Pavilion Square.”

The young Zhuge Yue asked in a deep voice: “From which direction did Yan Xun and his people come?”

“It seems… it seems they came from the direction of Red Water Lake.”

“How bold!” Zhuge Yue snorted coldly, his sword-like eyebrows rising as he immediately understood why Wei Shuye had earlier surrounded the Zhuge villa and clashed with the servants inside. The young man’s brows knitted tightly, his eyes black as ink, as if brewing a massive cyclone. Gripping the reins tightly, he asked in a deep voice: “In which direction did Yan Xun flee?”

“Fourth Young Master!” Zhu Cheng exclaimed in alarm, “The Eldest Young Master specifically instructed that you must not get involved in this matter under any circumstances!”

Zhuge Yue raised an eyebrow and was about to speak when suddenly the sound of galloping hooves came rolling from ahead. A black fine horse unique to Yan Bei appeared before everyone’s eyes. A small figure wearing a huge hooded coat rode back, and from a distance, threw a small corpse onto the snow with a thud. The body wore cyan leather armor, clearly the uniform of a servant from Yan Xun’s Hostage Residence.

Zhuge Yue’s eyes immediately flashed with a sharp light, his sword-like eyebrows tightly knit. A servant nearby shouted: “Fourth Young Master, Hu Sheng has returned.”

Zhuge Yue looked at the corpse on the ground. The body was stiff, the hair disheveled, the clothes a mixture of blood and mud—dead for some time. An uncontrollable anger surged in his heart. He slowly raised his head, his gaze sharp as he looked at the dwarf on horseback who stood no more than three feet tall, and said word by word: “You killed her?”

The one called Hu Sheng nimbly dismounted, stepped forward with a lowered head, and fell to his knees with a heavy thud. His voice was low and difficult to distinguish in the north wind, but hard as iron as he said resolutely: “Mission accomplished without disgrace!”

“When did I tell you to kill her?” Zhuge Yue erupted in anger, stepping forward and lashing his whip hard across the newcomer’s back, shouting in rage: “You deserve to die!”

“Young Master!” “Ah! An assassin!”

A series of startled cries suddenly rang out. Just as Zhuge Yue’s whip fell on the newcomer’s back, the person who had been crouching on the ground suddenly lifted their head. The face was young and delicate as a lotus flower—where was the thick-skinned dwarf assassin? The child smiled coldly as she took the lash, her form like that of a swift leopard, instantly springing up from the ground. Her dagger swung out, held against Zhuge Yue’s throat as a small grappling technique subdued his struggle.

“You’re not dead yet?” Zhuge Yue’s eyes flickered as he spoke word by word in a deep voice. Yet at this moment, in such an environment, one could not tell from his voice whether he was pleased or angry.

“As you kindly wished, I’m still alive and well,” Chu Qiao stared coldly at Zhuge Yue, her gaze venomous and icy as she slowly said: “Though I’m not sure how much longer you’ll live.”

“Release my sister!” The howling wind came, as Chu Qiao shouted coldly and sternly: “Otherwise, go meet your Zhuge family patriarch in the netherworld!”

The most important exam is finished. Updates will gradually return to normal, temporarily one chapter per day. Thank you, dear ones, for your support during this period. Hoo hoo, Winter is working hard.