The airflow from countless poisonous insects beating their wings was like a fierce wind rushing toward him, but the dense impact he had imagined didn’t come. A gust of wind passed over his head…

Xiao Xueya suddenly opened his eyes.

Those poisonous insects had directly flown over their heads, plunging toward the bottom of the cliff!

He immediately straightened up.

But it was already too late. The wind stirred up by the insect swarm was very heavy and knocked him down.

Xiao Xueya fell toward the cliff bottom. In that instant, light and shadow changed before his eyes, clouds scattered and gathered, and he glimpsed a smiling, jade-like face.

The wind roared like drums. Someone seemed to be calling from the cliff above, but he couldn’t hear anything.

“A gentleman dies for his confidant, drawing sword to leave Yan Capital…”

A line of poetry flashed through his mind like lightning.

Suddenly his waist tightened and his body stopped abruptly. Xiao Xueya reacted extremely quickly, kicked against the cliff edge, and flipped back up. The next moment, vines around him shattered one after another—these were the vine whips he had used to beat monkeys, which Chi Xue had urgently grabbed to save him. Though fragile, they ultimately bought him a moment’s delay in falling, which was enough for him to save himself.

The next moment he landed on a short tree at the cliff edge, his fingers gripping into cliff crevices.

He saw that the poisonous insects were no longer flying, but were arranged in a mighty army marching down the cliff. At the bottom of his feet, several zhang below, crouched a huge lizard-like beast with flashing golden round eyes. It opened its toothless mouth with a long thin tongue, the tongue tip flickering in a strange rhythm, and the poisonous insects lined up, swaying as they rushed one after another into that gaping maw.

There were dozens of such beasts scattered across the entire cliff wall. The poisonous insects rushed toward their mouths in waves, making the cliff wall look like black waterfalls continuously flowing.

Terrifying yet spectacular.

On the cliff above, Chi Xue, who had thrown out the vine, couldn’t spare time to check on Xiao Xueya’s situation below. She stared tensely ahead, where a brown, flat round head faintly protruded, motionless. Without careful observation, one might think a stone had grown there out of nowhere. Only when the “stone” occasionally opened its eyes, revealing slender, cold eyes, did one realize with alarm that this was a giant python’s head.

The poisonous insects were retreating, flowing past from under the python’s eyes. The python seemed like a supervisor, coldly watching them march in mighty procession into the dense forest behind. The black tide flowed backward, like opened demon bottles recalling their demons.

The exhausted Dan Shuang was surprised to see a string of snow-white spiders, each the size of a ball, scurrying past in front of her. Their long fur fluttered in the wind. The spiders ran ahead while the poisonous insects followed behind, flowing past her like an army, paying no attention to her, heading toward the mountain peak where Tie Ci had landed earlier.

Dan Shuang was closest to that place and could barely make out the scene there through the mist. Only now did she have time to look at that peak top, but was shocked to discover that Tie Ci was not on the peak. Yet countless poisonous insects ultimately headed toward that peak top and lingered there briefly.

Light mist hovered on that narrow peak top, different in color from other mists—it seemed to be pale purple.

Moments later, there was a tremendous sound from within the mountain, and the torrent formed by the gathered insects, under Dan Shuang’s astonished wide-eyed gaze, thundered downward.

…

The poisonous insects covering the mountains came at a summons and left at a summons, crashing down from the mountain top, following the same trajectory as Tie Ci all the way to the bottom.

Filling the entire mountain valley.

After an unknown length of time, deep in the mountain valley, the mountain wall creaked open and a boat emerged.

It was called a boat because this mountain valley had been completely filled with insect corpses—there was no way to walk.

The boat was light and thin, equipped with wheels. Several white-clothed, masked figures who had even covered their hair sat on the boat, using thin oars that flashed with cold light to paddle forward. Wherever the thin oars passed, the insect corpses made splashing sounds as if being stir-fried, being cut section by section, revealing deep trenches, then turning to ashes piece by piece.

After the boat rowed for a while, a layer of the high-piled insect corpses was shaved away.

One person suddenly exclaimed and withdrew his oar. Blood stained the oar tip. He reached into the pile of insect corpses under the boat and pulled, and with a splash the insect corpses flowed down like water. The enormous Feng Huan was lightly and skillfully pulled up by him.

Feng Huan had already been knocked unconscious by the poison carried on the insects’ bodies. His face was pale, but his sausage-like lips remained conspicuous. Those people gathered around to look like they had discovered a new continent. One person said, “Ah, this is the person A’Ji has taken a fancy to.”

“So ugly.”

“And he gets poisoned too.”

“A’Ji actually likes this kind of useless southerner.”

“Since he’s A’Ji’s person, let’s take him back for her to see.” One person threw Feng Huan into the back of the boat.

The person in front said, “There’s another person here.” As he spoke, he pulled out Murong Yi and exclaimed, “Eh, why is he in a lying flat position?”

One person said, “Oh my, this person has been poisoned by love butterflies and is about to die.”

“He was poisoned long ago but somehow held on until now. Quite interesting.”

“Look, there’s another person below. He was forcibly held up by someone!”

Everyone gathered to look and indeed saw that beneath Murong Yi, a pair of hands stood straight upright.

“Hey, quite clever. Otherwise, with this person’s intermittent breathing, he would have been suffocated to death long ago.”

“Their bond must be extraordinary. When crisis came, she held him up like this and refused to let go even unto death.”

“Hey, enough idle chatter. Hurry up and dig the person out.”

“What are you saying? Look at this boat—where is there room for more people?”

“Exactly. We came to clean up, not to rescue people. I say except for A’Ji’s man, we shouldn’t take this man either. They’re all outsiders. Great Uncle is in a bad mood seeing so many insects—don’t make the old man angry.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and picked up Murong Yi to throw him down.

Suddenly a hand pressed down on Murong Yi. Feng Huan slowly opened his eyes, “…Don’t, this one is the concubine I prepared for A’Ji…”

The white-clothed people looked at each other. Someone said, “Our Mei clan isn’t like you southerners with multiple wives and concubines.”

“A’Ji said she wanted to try it. I… I went to great trouble to find this for her…”

The white-clothed people looked at each other and finally reluctantly nodded.

Feng Huan looked around. “Your High… there’s another person?”

One person pointed below, “Still buried down there…”

“That one is also…”

“Are you bullying us for being fools?” One person was suddenly displeased. “You say one man is A’Ji’s concubine, and now you say a woman is also A’Ji’s concubine? How is it we don’t know when A’Ji started wanting both men and women?”

Feng Huan was dumbfounded.

His Highness disguised as a man flawlessly—no one had ever seen through it. How did these strange people tell that His Highness was a woman just from a pair of hands?

Feng Huan struggled to get up. Seeing those hands, his eyes reddened. Not caring about the disgusting insect corpses, he reached in to pull, but couldn’t budge them—something was stuck somewhere.

One person said, “Stop pulling. Though the insects are dead, their wings still have poisonous powder. With so many insects, she’s long dead from poison.”

Feng Huan’s face went pale. He sat down heavily on the boat and began crying at those hands, “Wuwuwu, Master, how could you die here? The great enterprise half-finished yet you perish midway—what will the people of Great Qian do in the future…”

Everyone: …What nonsense!

However, one petite person was moved by his crying and used an iron oar to poke around below, probably cutting the branches that had trapped Tie Ci. This time Feng Huan finally managed to pull the person out with difficulty.

She was pulled out but didn’t wake up. Feng Huan looked at Tie Ci’s iron-blue complexion and tremblingly felt in his clothes for banknotes. “I have money here, I have money. Take her with you, save her please. I’ll give you all my money!”

The white-clothed people all shook their heads. “We have no use for that waste paper.”

“You like this waste paper? Great Uncle has a whole roomful of it. Sometimes when we’re lighting fires and the kindling is wet, we use this to start fires—works great.”

“Fool, don’t you know? This is a banknote from outside. We can have as much of this stuff as we want. Just pick up any dirt clod from the ground and take it out to sell, and southern fools will grab handfuls of this paper to buy it.”

Feng Huan: “…”

I only knew that the dandies of the capital could boast, but I never imagined you were the real master.

He cried desperately, wiping tears as he said, “If you won’t take her away, at least let me set off fireworks to send a signal so people can come collect her body or rescue her.”

Everyone thought about it and nodded.

Feng Huan hadn’t brought fireworks, but knew Tie Ci had them. Tie Ci always carried a waist pouch containing essential items.

This pouch was extremely flexible, hard, and slippery, with a long chain-like thing on top connected to a small lock. Though Tie Ci had been in water twice, the pouch still looked mostly dry.

Feng Huan fiddled with that lock for a long time—pulling up, tugging down—but couldn’t open it. The white-clothed people watched curiously and gathered around. Finally, one person casually pulled along the direction of the long chain, and the bag opened with a slit.

This novel design made everyone exclaim in admiration, and the fact that the inside was actually dry after opening made people even more amazed.

But most people couldn’t recognize the things inside. Feng Huan rummaged for a long time before doubtfully finding two things packed in special white bags with black characters on them. He could still recognize the characters for “fireworks.”

That bag was also strange—smooth and transparent, staying dry even when wet. Everyone busied themselves for a long time. It was still the same person who had opened the zipper who discovered that one edge of the seal seemed openable, forcibly pried it open, and pulled out two oddly shaped things from inside. One looked like a peach or a butt with a black paste-like substance in the middle. The other was a small chicken-shaped firework.

These things didn’t look like fireworks no matter how you looked at them, but under everyone’s burning gazes, Feng Huan still tremblingly lit the peach-shaped pink-white firework first.

Smoke puffed out with popping sounds. Everyone looked at each other with strange expressions.

This sound really did resemble releasing intestinal gas…

A small spark emerged, yellow, only three feet high, accompanied by dense smoke, then…

From the very center of the peach, a section of black-yellow cylindrical object slowly emerged, looking sticky, coin-thick, then broke off. Another section emerged, then… it was over.

Everyone: “…”

What kind of shameful firework was this?

How did it make people… have some rather improper and extremely private associations?

It seemed like they could smell a foul odor…

Feng Huan looked bewildered. Whether from receiving too great a shock or what, he unwillingly lit the second firework.

This time with popping sounds, pink smoke emerged from the hen’s rear. After a moment, with a pop, a pink egg-shaped object rolled out from behind the hen. Then the firework ended.

Feng Huan: “…”

The Crown Princess’s hobbies were truly peculiar…

Not far away on the mountain wall, a crack suddenly appeared, revealing a pair of eyes from within, staring intently at those fireworks.

Suddenly Feng Huan heard a cough. Looking back, he was instantly overjoyed.

Tie Ci had actually opened her eyes, and before fully opening them, she began coughing violently.

Because whether it was the poop firework or the hen-laying-egg firework, both had been set off directly toward her face…

A blessing in disguise—she was fumigated awake.

Upon waking, she saw those two bizarre fireworks, and her facial expression went blank.

When sweeping goods at Gui Qizhai, she had packed fireworks when she saw them, not having time to check whether they were signal fireworks or entertainment fireworks.

Now there were no more signaling tools.

Seeing her wake up, the white-clothed people immediately scattered. The leader said, “Since you’re awake, figure out your own way. We’re leaving.”

Feng Huan made throat-slitting gestures to signal her. Tie Ci looked around and understood.

Murong Yi was taken onto the boat, which meant there was hope for him. Her heart filled with wild joy, yet she didn’t want to just let him be taken inside like this.

Who knew what would happen inside? No matter what, she had to be with him.

Her gaze turned and she saw a petite white-clothed person on the boat who kept staring intently at her backpack, still clutching the sealed plastic bag that had contained the fireworks. Tie Ci looked at this person and gestured for them to return the item.

That person reluctantly handed the item back. Tie Ci took off her water pouch and poured water into the plastic bag.

Everyone watched her actions in amazement. Tie Ci filled the bag with water, then bit by bit sealed the self-sealing bag’s opening.

After sealing it, she turned the bag upside down.

Not a drop of water leaked.

Self-sealing plastic bags were absolutely wonderful for storing herbs. If she hadn’t been afraid the bag might break and spill the yin-yang mushrooms, she definitely would have used plastic bags.

A group of white-clothed people looked at the self-sealing bag while blinking their eyes furiously—their expressions quite foolish.

Obviously due to professional habits, these people thought of some very important matters. Their eyes all lit up uniformly, looking like a pack of wolves spotting prey, making Feng Huan shiver.

The next instant, everyone reached out to grab the bag.

Tie Ci quickly pulled the bag back and stuffed it into her bosom, waving at them. “Farewell, everyone. Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to climb back myself.”

A group of people froze on the boat with their hands outstretched.

Tie Ci struggled to get up. Beneath her were all insect corpses. Lying flat, she could barely maintain her position, but once she started moving, the insects crashed down with splashing sounds, bringing her down with them like quicksand—but much more disgusting than quicksand.

Not to mention Tie Ci was also poisoned, having been buried in this pile of insects for so long.

She turned around expressionlessly and, like an extremely lazy sloth, climbed one step and slid back three, slowly swimming away from the insect pile.

Everyone looked at each other, opening their mouths to speak but looking conflicted.

What to do?

They really wanted it.

But how could so many outsiders enter the stronghold…

Great Uncle would be angry…

Suddenly a clear child’s voice came from somewhere: “Catch her! I want that hen fart!”

The white-clothed people received this as divine instruction, all stretching out their arms to grab Tie Ci back.

The boat couldn’t carry so many people, so the white-clothed people unceremoniously tied the Crown Princess behind the boat and dragged her back.

Tie Ci offered no resistance, spreading her hands and feet flat, letting them drag her all the way over the insect road. The insects beneath her made splashing sounds, and pale dusty mist filled the air before her eyes. Yet in such deadly mist, Tie Ci showed a faint smile.

Gentlemen, the longest road you’ve ever traveled is my scheme.

…