She actually hadn’t thought much about it. After all, with a courtesan’s looks and charm like this, it was hard to have other associations. She was just a bit curious about Feiyu’s identity, wanting to see if underneath her clothes she might be hiding countless hidden weapons and poisons.
But Feiyu’s clothes were destined to be difficult to remove. Voices suddenly came from outside the door, and after a while Dan Shuang came to say that Old Liu wanted to return to his hometown and had come to bid farewell, asking if Tie Ci wanted to see him.
Tie Ci had no particular relationship with this old coroner, but he had taught her autopsy examination for a while, making him half a master. Naturally she couldn’t slight him, so she had to dress properly and go out to meet him. Feiyu lay in the bathtub waving a bath towel in farewell, unhurriedly putting her clothes back on.
Old Liu stood somewhat awkwardly in the outer room. Though not entirely clear about Young Master Mao’s identity, from the deputy magistrate’s downfall and recent changes in the yamen, he could guess this young master was a person of importance. Seeing Tie Ci, he hurriedly bowed and stammered apologies for his earlier disrespectful attitude.
Tie Ci naturally helped him up, offering warm words of comfort. She ordered Chi Xue to serve tea and gave Old Liu silver as both a teaching fee and travel money for returning home.
Old Liu was naturally very grateful, saying boastfully, “Since this old man is returning home and you, Young Master, will eventually return to the capital, I’ll transfer the patrol inspector and coroner duties to Shen Mi shortly.”
Tie Ci held her teacup, smiling without speaking, thinking that Shen Mi needn’t be obsessed with being a coroner anymore—he had his own destination.
But Old Liu didn’t understand the meaning of a noble person holding up their teacup. Instead, he rose and stepped forward, pulling out a rolled volume with an uneven, bumpy surface, saying, “This old man is leaving now. I’ve previously organized some autopsy notes and experience. I wonder if the Young Master is interested? Given your noble status, you shouldn’t be involved with such filthy, lowly matters, so please trouble yourself to pass this to young Shen.”
Tie Ci was interested in this. She also disliked putting on royal airs when away from court, so she half-rose and personally reached out to receive it.
Candlelight flickered. Old Liu extended it with both hands, the thin volume slowly unfurling in his palm.
For a moment, Tie Ci suddenly remembered her master’s story about “when the map is unrolled, the dagger appears.”
She almost wanted to laugh. She certainly wasn’t the First Emperor of Qin, and this poor, ugly old man from the countryside could never be Jing Ke.
When her fingertips touched the volume, it happened to unfurl to the very end.
Old Liu’s fingers suddenly pushed forward!
A soft “whoosh” sound.
Within those uneven paper pages, cold light flashed.
Tie Ci was half-bent receiving the volume, completely exposed, the volume aimed at her heart.
Cold light shot through the gaps between Tie Ci’s fingers, flying swiftly toward her.
At such close range, there was no way to avoid it.
A loud crash came from behind her shoulder. Tie Ci stumbled, falling diagonally forward. Before her form had stabilized, her palm shot out like an iron clamp, grabbing the shoulder of Old Liu, who had dropped the volume and was trying to flee in panic.
Her grip tightened, and a faint sound of cracking bone was heard. Old Liu screamed in agony.
With a thudding sound, that line of cold light embedded in the central hall, penetrating completely with only a bit of black tip showing—it looked like the descending tiger painting had grown an extra eye.
Tie Ci turned her head to see Feiyu holding up her dripping wet skirt hem, looking bewildered and innocent as she steadied herself against a chair, saying, “Slippery foot.”
There was still a long trail of water marks on the floor.
It appeared that Feiyu had come out from the inner room, her shoes wet and slippery, causing her to fall and accidentally knock Tie Ci aside, avoiding that hidden weapon.
Tie Ci narrowed her eyes.
What a coincidence.
But she actually didn’t need Feiyu to save her—she wasn’t completely unprepared for this hidden weapon.
She didn’t say much, turning her gaze back to Old Liu. The old man trembled all over, his face pale blue-white, covered with what might be sweat, tears, or snot—sticky and glistening as it trembled on his beard.
He really didn’t look like a cold-blooded assassin.
But Tie Ci knew that hidden weapon was fast and vicious enough. If she hadn’t heard the “when the map is unrolled, the dagger appears” story from her master, triggering that moment of alarm, plus having some doubts about Old Liu, another person would likely have fallen to this strike.
She slowly released her grip. Old Liu screamed and collapsed softly at her feet, clutching his shoulder.
“Don’t kill me… don’t kill me… I was forced… I was compelled, Young Master!”
“Who forced you?”
“Liaodong… people from Liaodong…”
“When did you establish connections with Liaodong people?”
“I… I…”
“Let me speak for you.” Tie Ci sat down, accepting the snow-white handkerchief Chi Xue handed her to wipe her fingers, saying coolly, “Such important cooperation between Liaodong’s Murong Duan and Li Yao couldn’t be completely trusted. So Murong Duan would try to plant his own people in the yamen, but this cooperation was temporary—suddenly placing people around Li Yao would seem strange, so he chose to buy off existing yamen personnel. And you, Mr. Liu, have worked in the yamen for years with some skills, making you indispensable to Li Yao. Moreover, you needed money. So Murong Duan chose you.”
Old Liu stared wide-eyed.
“After I became your student to learn autopsy, because you fell ill from shock, I sent someone to notify your home and inadvertently learned something—you’d gained a grandson, but the grandson had health problems requiring much silver for treatment.”
“This was strange. With your grandson’s illness, you should have needed this job more. How was it that when I first met you, you were eager to leave? Then I discovered your household wasn’t sorrowful or worried—the whole family had been buying many things recently, including a mule cart and much dried food. What was this for? A long journey? Or did you take money and feel guilty about potential trouble, wanting to flee early and escape control?”
“Those purchases your family made—I calculated that your monthly salary from the county yamen was far from sufficient. So where did the money come from?”
“When you and I went to the back mountain to find unclaimed corpses for dissection, encountering the female corpse frightened you into illness. You’re a coroner who’s seen plenty of corpses—one female corpse scared you like that? That wasn’t fright, but avoidance, right? You knew something, so you were being passively uncooperative, not wanting to solve the case.”
“The patrol inspection you managed had a loose, disorganized team that only knew extortion, never performing duties, allowing security to remain chaotic—because someone didn’t want good security. The more chaos outside, the less attention Cangsheng Tower would attract.”
“Look,” Tie Ci kicked the Old Liu lying on the ground like soft mud, “these flaws are as numerous as holes in a sieve, yet you dared attempt to assassinate me?”
The room was silent as death.
Feiyu put down her dripping skirt, raised her hands as if to applaud, but ultimately just stroked her chin, eyes rolling cleverly.
Miscalculation.
Meddling.
Knowing she was so sharp and slippery, why bother saving her?
Outside, Xiao Xueya, who had hurried over upon hearing the commotion, withdrew his leg that was about to step over the threshold.
His attendant looked at him in puzzlement. Xiao Xueya’s face was expressionless, his jawline cold and sharp.
Then he said, “Let’s go.”
The deputy general said, “Didn’t you say the county yamen wasn’t secure enough, that you feared there were still enemy agents, so you’d stay a few more days?”
“Hasn’t she already rooted this one out?”
The deputy general followed behind him, “Indeed, rumors can’t be entirely trusted—the Crown Princess is quite clever and sharp.”
Xiao Xueya didn’t answer, walking quickly.
After a good while, his voice came through the hanging flower gate.
“The smarter they are, the faster they die.”
…
The interrogation inside had reached its conclusion. Old Liu had been thoroughly demolished by Tie Ci’s deductions, sobbing on the ground, saying, “This old man didn’t want to either… but they said if I didn’t agree, they’d kill my whole family… my grandson’s illness also needed silver… I took the money planning to secretly slip away… I was afraid of trouble… but County Deputy Li absolutely refused to let me… later… later when I saw that female corpse… felt it wasn’t good… the illness was real… I was afraid in my heart… every night I dreamed of that woman coming to find me…”
Tie Ci said eerily, “You tried to kill me, but you’re not afraid I’ll come find you nightly.”
Old Liu shuddered all over, “…they didn’t say they wanted me to kill you, only said to activate a mechanism…” his voice grew increasingly guilty and low.
Dan Shuang laughed coldly, “Right, you thought they went through all this trouble to invite our master for tea!”
“They! They kidnapped my son and grandson!”
“You’d better worry about whether you’ll have a chance to eat your next meal.” Tie Ci said expressionlessly, “You have three options. First, I kill you. Second, I hand you over to General Xiao. You can inquire about his methods—strangling you would be merciful. Third, I throw you out—maybe your accomplices will save you?”
Old Liu lay on his side on the ground sobbing. Even without brains, he knew all three options meant death.
Tie Ci rose and went to the inner room to rest, leaving the remaining affairs to Dan Shuang.
Feiyu immediately followed her in. Tie Ci looked up at her, and Feiyu smiled at her, “Won’t you receive your lifesaver?”
Tie Ci lifted her eyelids, “Having heard my analysis just now, do you still think you’re my lifesaver?”
“Maybe you were just being clever after the fact? Actually didn’t react at all at the time.” Feiyu acted shamelessly, “At the very least, lend me some clothes to wear?”
Her dress had an outer gauze layer that had gotten dirty when she fell earlier.
Tie Ci looked at her—they seemed about the same height—and said, “Perhaps you’d like to try a different style?”
Chi Xue brought a clothing chest. Feiyu unceremoniously selected for herself, casually fingering through to find they were all similar-styled long robes with simple tailoring, prioritizing practicality above all. The colors were plain—mainly white, moon-white, and silver-gray. Even the rare red piece had absolutely no embroidery or patterns. Beside it was a box of accessories—finger rings, jade pendants, belt hooks, and complete equipment sets with fire-stones, quivers, knives, needle cases, money pouches, writing materials, and even a small abacus. All were standard styles, from colors to details maintaining a ruggedly masculine style, completely devoid of the fashionable rouge and powder aesthetic of the times.
Just… truly tough guy aesthetics.
Even more rugged than his own clothing chest and accessories.
In just a few touches, Feiyu had seen clearly this thoroughly rough masculine aura from inside to outside, so she withdrew her hands. After complaining about the poor colors and overly plain styles not befitting her status as a courtesan, she ultimately chose nothing. Tie Ci had wanted to see how she’d look in men’s clothing, but seeing her unwillingness, let it go. She picked up her tea, but unfortunately the person across from her seemed not to understand the hint of raised teacups either. She also picked up tea and took a big gulp, then leaned over to pick up the just-delivered pastries to eat. When she found them unpalatable, she threw them away—half a plate of refined pastries was discarded. Tie Ci silently counted in her mind: won’t eat mutton… won’t eat too-sweet things… won’t eat glutinous rice… won’t eat nuts…
Suddenly Feiyu’s eyebrows rose as she said happily, “This one’s good—you try it too!” She immediately stuffed a honey-crisp cold treat into Tie Ci’s mouth.
Tie Ci was caught off guard with her mouth full of pastry, almost instinctively wanting to shout “How dare you!” and throw the person out. When her teeth bit down, a loud crackling sound shook her brain, startling her.
Then she realized this was honey-crisp cold treat, a popular pastry of recent years, mainly made with honey, butter, and flour, plus black and white sesame deep-fried pastry, usually shaped like rope candy and twisted dough. The fancy versions were fried twice and had osmanthus and pine nuts added, prized for their crispy, refreshing taste. They crumbled at the slightest touch of the tongue, making clear, crisp sounds that startled neighbors.
The palace emphasized dignified bearing—meals were eaten silently. Such crackling pastries weren’t included in the menu.
Tie Ci had only eaten it once. She liked the extremely crispy texture but wouldn’t show it, just casually pressed it with her tongue and swallowed. Unlike Feiyu, who sat at the table loudly crunching away like a hundred locusts had joined the table.
Yet her pastry-holding posture was extremely graceful—slender, snow-white fingers slightly curved, fingernails gleaming like diamonds in the lamplight.
While eating, she glanced at Tie Ci, finding this person truly interesting—an extremely contradictory type. Nobility showed through simplicity, yet simplicity couldn’t hide nobility. Seemingly carefree and broad-minded with that air of being able to sit anywhere and question heaven, yet extremely cautious in behavior. But it wasn’t quite calculating either—when bold, seemed capable of daring to poke even heaven.
Seemed to accept everything, yet no one could tell what this person truly liked.
What kind of circumstances would cultivate such a temperament? Feiyu suddenly became interested.
There, after swallowing the honey-crisp cold treat, Tie Ci—while Feiyu was still chewing—picked up a seven-roll cake from the plate as large as a child’s fist to return the favor. That thing was made with sheep bone marrow oil mixed with glutinous rice and nuts, extremely sticky and excellent at cementing upper and lower teeth together.
Sure enough, Feiyu hadn’t finished swallowing her pastry when the glutinous rice blocked her mouth. She chewed desperately for a long time, her face slightly flushed, then grabbed the table’s tea water and gulped it down. After a good while, the pastry in her mouth finally went down with a gulp.
She reached for the teacup, but Tie Ci’s sleeve swept past, knocking the teacup to shatter on the ground. Tie Ci exclaimed in dismay, looking completely innocent.
Feiyu began coughing.
Tie Ci smiled as she helped Feiyu with a handkerchief and patted her back—one slap nearly flattened her to the table.
Dan Shuang entered, indicating she’d finished the interrogation. Tie Ci looked toward Feiyu, who stood up coughing and swayed out to find water.
Dan Shuang watched her retreating figure, frowning, “Master, this woman doesn’t seem like a good person, always clinging to us. Why not find a way to drive her away?”
Tie Ci rubbed her temples, thinking this person was familiar and unceremonious, clinging like a leech, but she’d received two favors from her today and couldn’t bring herself to be harsh.
“It’s fine. She won’t be able to stay by my side—she’ll leave eventually. Just watch her and don’t let her contact people to probe my background… How did Old Liu’s interrogation go?”
“He said his son and grandson were kidnapped, leaving him no choice. This volume and the Abyssal Iron dagger were left by the other party when they kidnapped his son, along with a letter telling him to go to Comb Lake to collect people after the deed was done.”
Tie Ci nodded, pondering in the lamplight. Dan Shuang waited for her orders, but Chi Xue said softly, “Is Master planning to play a long game? That would require bringing more personnel.”
Tie Ci nodded. Chi Xue went to request Xiao Xueya, only to receive word that Xiao Xueya had already led his personal troops away, leaving only ten soldiers to follow orders.
Hearing this, Tie Ci shook her head. Ten ordinary soldiers were useless—if secrecy failed, they’d only make things worse.
Rong Pu wasn’t there either. After losing track of Tie Ci at sea, he’d sailed with the wind and also landed at Haiyi, conveniently applying to the court for training at Haiyi’s Dongshan Guard. He’d come to handle correspondence between Dongshan Guard and Weihai Guard when he passed through Ziyang planning to stay the night. Seeing her portrait at the city gate, he realized she was there. Upon discovering she was wanted for capture, he immediately went to the Haiyi Regional Military Commission to mobilize troops. Now that matters were resolved, he had to continue completing Dongshan Guard’s business.
As for Dan Ye, he’d apparently received some letter, immediately cursed, flung the letter aside, and jumped up to run off hurriedly.
Regarding Ziyang County Yamen, including the Regional Inspector’s people, Tie Ci wouldn’t use them.
With everyone suddenly gone, Dan Shuang and Chi Xue were somewhat worried. Tie Ci just smiled and shook her head, saying, “We’ve confronted the entire Ziyang County Yamen—why fear those few defeated dogs? Besides, we’re just going to look and act according to circumstances.”
She immediately extinguished the lights, leaving only one lamp flickering dimly in the main hall. Feiyu was arranged to sleep in the adjacent courtyard, and Tie Ci ordered Chi Xue to add some sleep-inducing incense to her room.
After a while, Old Liu stumbled out in the night. Taking advantage of the city gates not yet being closed, he left the city that very night.
A while later, a scream erupted from the small courtyard, immediately alarming the entire county yamen. People poured toward the small courtyard like a tide, saying Young Master Mao had been assassinated. Soon everything descended into chaos.
The Regional Inspector hurried over with his subordinate officials, stopped outside the small courtyard. Under torchlight, his expression alternated between light and dark. He urgently ordered the best doctors to be found and inquired about the injuries. Chi Xue blocked the doorway, face like frost, only saying this county yamen wasn’t peaceful, the assassin hadn’t been caught, her master’s injuries would be handled by her people, asking the Regional Inspector to tighten yamen security and search for the assassin as priority.
The Regional Inspector couldn’t force entry, so he ordered people to surround the small courtyard and arranged systematic searches. Seeing basin after basin of bloody water continuously carried out from inside, he couldn’t help feeling alarmed and hurried back to his study to urgently write to his superiors explaining the situation.
The courtyard was noisy, but inside the room was quiet. The supposedly sleeping Feiyu slipped through the corridors, gently opening Tie Ci’s door. Someone on the bed was sleeping with their back to the door. Feiyu calmly entered and lifted the covers. The person on the bed didn’t move—looking at the form, it was a young girl with a paper stuck to her back reading: “I know you’ve come.”
Feiyu: “…”
There was another paper beneath. Feiyu lifted it. The second paper read: “Only you would break into my room, but definitely not to offer yourself.”
Feiyu: “…You do have self-awareness.”
There was still another paper underneath. Lifting another sheet:
“A smart person would definitely not lift the next sheet at this point—put the paper back properly, cover with the quilt, turn and leave, pretending never to have come.”
Feiyu: …Hah, does reverse psychology work?
Another sheet below.
“Reverse psychology probably has no effect on you, so if you still haven’t left by this point, then…”
This paper was only half complete—the character “then” extended to the edge and continued to the edge of the next paper. It looked like the paper below was stuck together. Feiyu instinctively went to tear it. With a soft ripping sound, that layer wasn’t paper at all, just an edge. When torn, it released a cloud of white smoke.
But Feiyu didn’t stop. She had already held her breath when tearing the paper, casually waving away the smoke with a sneering laugh, then reached out to turn over the sleeping woman.
With one turn, the person’s head tilted to one side, pressing against the other half of the pillow with a “click” sound.
Feiyu released her grip like lightning, bending at the waist and contracting her abdomen, her hand sweeping downward!
A moment later, she slowly raised her hand, fingertips pinching a gleaming needle.
The needle was non-toxic—just a minor punishment—but the problem was, when she had bent down to turn the person, the pillow’s position was aimed directly at her… vital spot.
This person was truly…
Feiyu stood for a long moment, then put away the needle, threw back the quilt, and without looking at the person on the bed again, turned and left.
She made no attempt to restore the papers to their original state. The other party had already guessed that the poisonous smoke might not necessarily knock her out—that paper mechanism’s key point was that once torn, it couldn’t be restored, thus proving she had been there.
This would confirm her ill intentions and allow the other party to write off any debt of gratitude.
After all, at this moment no one else in the county yamen could possibly break into Tie Ci’s room to tear papers one by one—only the staying guest Feiyu would do such a thing.
Truly thoughts deeper than the ocean.
Feiyu returned to her room and sat pondering in the lamplight.
One moment she stood up, saying, “This might be a trap… Lao’er has always been quite scheming… Why am I meddling!”
The next moment she sat down, “Hah, Lao’er probably hates me most right now—I shouldn’t walk into his line of sight.”
After going back and forth like this several times, she suddenly blew out the candle.
The room filled with rustling sounds of clothing friction. Moments later, a black shadow leaped over rooftops and through the chaotic crowd, disappearing into the night.
…
Old Liu stumbled all the way out of the city, hired a village ox cart outside the city walls, and swayed through the night. Only at dawn did he reach the shores of Comb Lake. This place was already beyond Ziyang’s borders, belonging to Qingyang County of Penglai. Comb Lake was a small lake outside Qingyang County seat, surrounded by waters of various sizes. From above, the streams arranged like comb teeth, hence the name.
Because of the numerous waterways, dense reed marshes spread everywhere. The intersecting roads were overgrown with miscanthus grass resembling reeds, taller than a person’s head, making it easy to get lost.
With roads and waterways crisscrossing and concealed by miscanthus clusters, one could easily fall into water if not careful—an excellent place for hiding.
Behind this maze of waterways rose a mountain range—not very tall but quite extensive—dividing Qingyang in half.
Old Liu got off the cart from far away. The carter turned the cart around and hid behind a cluster of reeds.
Old Liu stood before that expanse of reed marshes and whistled in a pattern of one long, one short. Moments later, a black-clothed, masked person emerged from the reeds, asking quietly, “Success?”
Old Liu hurriedly handed over the bloodstained dagger and scroll.
The person examined them repeatedly, put the items away, but didn’t bring out Old Liu’s family. He just waved his hand, saying, “Go back for now. Wait until news of that person’s assassination spreads and we’ve confirmed it—then we’ll release your people.”
Old Liu said urgently, “How can this work… I really did kill him, otherwise you can go confirm at the county yamen right now…”
But the person no longer wanted to talk with him, waving for him to leave.
Old Liu had no choice but to follow Tie Ci’s instructions: “…I discovered something at that person’s place, perhaps very important…” He pulled out a small box.
A black small box of finest golden nanmu wood, with a mythical beast carved at each corner, their eyes inlaid respectively with ruby, lapis lazuli, jade, and yellow topaz.
Seeing this box, the person’s expression changed.
The Great Qian Dynasty nobility favored mythical beast totems. Daily imperial decorations always featured various mythical beasts, and even palace guards were named after mythical beasts—Baize, Xiezhi, Qilin, Taowu—while the main palace hall was called Chongming.
Old Liu said, “It fell from that Young Master Mao. I quickly picked it up.”
The person opened the box, but it was empty inside.
“Where are the contents?”
“Release my son and grandson, and I’ll bring it out,” Old Liu said. “And I can only hand it to your leader.”
The person wasn’t surprised he’d say this. After hesitating briefly, he said, “Wait here,” then turned back into the reed marshes.
In the distant cart, Tie Ci and Dan Shuang were watching with a delicate spyglass.
Dan Shuang whispered, “Master, are you certain it’s Murong Duan?”
“Though many people want me dead, at this particular time, the only one still thinking of killing me would be Murong Duan, whose plans I ruined.”
“Instead of hurrying back, he insists on revenge—seems he’s quite foolish too.”
“I think he’s not foolish. Does he dare return now? His father discovering he was privately manufacturing weapons and got caught by me—what would his father think? Better to stay in Haiyi and see if he can achieve some merit to offset his crimes when he returns. Since he can’t go back, naturally revenge comes first.”
“As long as you’re certain it’s him, Master, but don’t act rashly—we’re only two people, and your injuries haven’t healed!”
“Naturally.” Tie Ci pulled out an exquisite fire starter from her bosom. “Once Old Liu brings out his son and grandson, I’ll send him a little gift.”
Learning that Old Liu was coerced into assassinating her, she played along, giving Old Liu her seal box to see if she could use it to draw out the mastermind and exchange for hostages.
Once the hostages left this place, she’d throw out the fire starter. Today was windy and the miscanthus was dry—it would burn quickly. For the enemy to hide in the grass, they’d certainly choose the driest depths to camp. Once the fire started from all directions, escape would be very difficult.
Originally Tie Ci just wanted to confirm if it was Murong Duan’s group, scout their location and movements, then call troops she trusted to surround them. Seeing this expanse of grass, she thought of a convenient fire attack.
She was on the perimeter—just needed to throw the fire starter from afar, so there wasn’t much danger.
At this moment, the black-clothed person emerged and gestured for Old Liu to follow him in. The reeds swayed as Tie Ci watched those people indeed head toward the center of the reed marsh.
After a while, Old Liu came out pushing a small cart with a young man sitting on it, holding a swaddled baby. Old Liu struggled with the cart, exhausted and swaying, his hair bun falling loose to cover his face.
Watching from afar, Tie Ci was somewhat surprised. She hadn’t expected Murong Duan to have such kindness, actually releasing Old Liu’s family. Did he think this family no longer had use value?
Dan Shuang handed her the assembled bow. Tie Ci slowly tied four fire starters to four arrows, nocked them, and drew the bow full.
These fire starters were specially made by the Fire Arms Bureau—just remove the cover and they’d ignite with a light throw.
The center of the reed marsh was quite far—she’d need to use the bow to shoot.
But she felt vaguely uneasy and hesitated momentarily.
The full-drawn bow was like a moon, the fire starters trembling slightly.
Dan Shuang didn’t understand her hesitation. Fearing her prolonged stillness was due to her back injury, she moved closer to check. With this movement, the thin-bottomed, light village rental cart shook violently. Tie Ci was lost in thought when the bow trembled and the fire starters flew out.
Four lines of fire burned in the wind, heading straight for those pale yellow, dense, person-high miscanthus clusters.
Once released, arrows don’t return. Tie Ci could only watch as the fire starters fell into the grass. Instantly, from four directions, red and black smoke billowed up, almost immediately forming an encirclement.
The Crown Princess’s archery was nearly unparalleled in the world—one bow, four arrows, precisely landing in different directions.
The fire was spectacular, reflecting half the sky deep red. Tie Ci stared intently at that spot, the earlier uneasy feeling returning.
Something was wrong—too quiet.
No screams of alarm, no panicked fleeing. The tops of those tall reeds weren’t even swaying.
Where were the people? She’d clearly seen several people go in—where had they all gone?
Tie Ci turned around sharply, looking toward where Old Liu had departed.
The empty road held no one.
An old man pushing a young man and a baby—how could they run so fast!
A sharp infant’s cry suddenly came from deep in the reeds!
Not good!
Tie Ci sprang up like the wind, leaping from the ox cart.
Dan Shuang hadn’t yet reacted. Rushing to the window, she saw the Crown Princess unhesitatingly charge into the billowing smoke of the miscanthus marsh.
She couldn’t even cry out in time, hurriedly jumping from the cart to chase after her.
The carter Shen Mi reacted, grabbed the bucket from the cart, and at a nearby stream splashed Dan Shuang with stones and water.
Getting the hint, Dan Shuang didn’t mind the stones hitting her painfully, seized his bucket to scoop water, and chased after her carrying it.
“Master, you can’t go in! Can’t go in!”
The crackling of burning almost drowned out Dan Shuang’s shouts. In mere moments, the center of the grass marsh was covered in flames. Fire raced along those comb-like patterns, rapidly extending. Dan Shuang’s lightness skills were inferior to Tie Ci’s to begin with, and being a step behind, how could she catch up? Seeing Tie Ci’s figure about to be swallowed by that demonic red and black mass, she could only use the last moment to fiercely splash out her water bucket.
The bucket’s water drew a crystalline arc in midair—half immediately turned to steam, half doused Tie Ci’s back.
Then Tie Ci’s figure disappeared into the depths of the reed marsh.
Shen Mi rushed over, desperately pulling back Dan Shuang who still wanted to charge in. Both caught fire, rolling and crawling into a nearby thin stream to extinguish the flames.
When Dan Shuang looked up again, the fire there had risen like a red wall—impossible to charge through anymore.
Shen Mi said anxiously, “Why did Her Highness suddenly charge in!”
“I don’t know!” Dan Shuang frantically tugged at her hair. “We heard an infant’s cry, and Her Highness suddenly jumped up… an infant! Why would there be an infant? Could it be…”
The two exchanged glances. Shen Mi spun around to find no trace of Old Liu’s family.
His face went deathly pale. Dan Shuang finally understood.
Today was still a trap.
The Old Liu family who came out earlier was fake—the real family remained in the center of the grass marsh. Hearing that infant’s cry, Her Highness realized the truth. With her character, even if Old Liu had tried to assassinate her, she absolutely couldn’t leave an innocent baby to burn to death.
The enemy sending Old Liu to assassinate was probably bait—success would be best, but failure could still draw Tie Ci out. Then they’d play along, specifically choosing this special terrain at Comb Lake, luring Tie Ci into using fire attack, then trapping Old Liu’s family in the fire’s center.
If Tie Ci was hard-hearted and ignored them, they’d lose nothing.
If Tie Ci went to save them, the fire would burn her instead.
Dan Shuang understood everything and sat dejectedly in the muddy water.
When had Murong Duan become so clever? This was actually a linked strategy.
Shen Mi crouched beside her, the flames that seemed to melt the very sky reflected in his eyes, murmuring comfort: “There are many water sources nearby. If Master can get out of the center area in time, she’ll be saved. Don’t fear, don’t fear…”
Both stared intently at that burning grassland, the flames scorching hot while their hearts turned ice cold.
…
As soon as Tie Ci entered the reed marsh, she was nearly choked unconscious by thick smoke. Thanks to her four arrows, red blazed on all sides—she couldn’t distinguish anything for a moment. She could hear her hair sizzling as it burned, tears streaming down her face, the world a blur of red.
Thanks to Dan Shuang’s splash from behind, she hadn’t been injured yet charging into the sea of fire. Following the direction of the infant’s cry she’d heard earlier, she tore off wet clothing from her back to cover her nose and mouth, crouching low as she felt her way forward.
Smoke gathered at the top of the fire, while air conditions were better below. Tie Ci had experience with this—when she was about to be named Crown Princess, she’d faced assassinations, fallen in water, dropped into ice caves, Ruixiang Palace had suffered floods… her experiences with danger could fill a “Complete Guide to Disaster Self-Rescue.”
Her foot suddenly kicked something soft—by feel, it was a person. Without needing to see clearly, she hoisted them up and ran out.
Still relying on memory, this was roughly the handle area of the comb, with large water bodies on all sides but somewhat distant. The nearest water source was a thin ditch on the west side. To reach it, she’d first need to cross about one zhang of an embankment that was also overgrown with grass, now forming a natural barrier blocking her rescue.
She rushed to the embankment edge in a few steps and swung with all her arm strength.
Whoosh—she hurled that large man bodily across that one-zhang distance!
The figure passed through the fire line, caught flames all over, then splashed into the water ditch.
After throwing, Tie Ci didn’t even look, turning to run back. Whether the person could accurately enter the ditch or would land head-first and become stupid—she couldn’t worry about so much.
She ran wildly while pulling down her outer robe to cover her head and face, once again accurately charging into the fire. This time she found another person.
The earlier throw felt like a young man—should be Old Liu’s son. The person she found now was Old Liu, but still no baby.
Tie Ci was helpless. She really wanted to ignore the old man, but watching someone burn alive before her eyes seemed impossible. She had to shoulder him. Old Liu was short and fat, heavier than his son in his prime. Tie Ci’s injuries hadn’t healed, and after two round trips, her accumulated strength was nearly exhausted. Carrying him to the embankment, both her arms and legs trembled.
She squinted, feeling her eyes rapidly swelling, tears flowing into her neck, burning with fiery pain. Fire chased from behind as she threw with all her might, nearly spitting blood.
Old Liu fell heavily on the other side. Tie Ci rolled on the spot, extinguishing a patch of flames.
Looking at her continuously trembling arms and legs, then back at that expanse of continuous fire, she thought: Leave it, this is all fate—
Just as she was about to turn away, an infant’s cry rang out again, this time very close to her.
Tie Ci’s steps halted. In just an instant, she gritted her teeth and again crashed into that shield of blazing flames.
This time she quickly found the child. The child was lucky, wedged between two rocks with what seemed to be a small water pool between them. Of course, the pool water had now evaporated from the heat, but this had protected the child for a while. When Tie Ci found him, the child’s cries were already very weak.
Tie Ci’s hands could no longer move the rocks, so she had to kick them. The rocks were already scorching hot—hitting her knees felt like electric current passing through, making her knees go weak.
She couldn’t care about that, scooping up the child and tucking him in her arms, then leaping toward where she remembered the water source to be.
This leap gave her a strange feeling—her mind went dizzy, as if she briefly lost herself. The next instant, splash—she fell into a body of water.
She was delighted, thinking her leap was so remarkable that she’d actually reached that water ditch.
Then she realized something was wrong. Setting aside that the ditch was three or four zhang from the fire—in her exhausted state, she couldn’t possibly have flown such a distance. Moreover, that ditch had only a shallow layer of water, but now she was completely submerged, her feet finding no bottom—this was clearly a deeper, broader body of water.
But in her memory, the nearest large river or lake from that grass area was dozens of zhang away…
The child in her arms began wailing loudly. From the fire scene to suddenly being in a river, the delicate infant couldn’t withstand it. Tie Ci still couldn’t open her eyes, her throat burned like fire—she could neither see nor speak. Fearing she’d sink and drown the child, she could only keep bobbing in the water. But with this movement, the next instant brought searing heat and flames licking her face—she was back in the fire!
Tie Ci almost thought she was dreaming, but the intense pain in her eyes and throat plus countless tiny burns told her this wasn’t a dream.
This fire area seemed already burned—the flames weren’t so fierce, but heat waves pressed from behind where the fire was still large. Her strength nearly spent, she didn’t dare leap up again—what if the next leap landed in active flames?
Just then she heard rustling sounds from all directions, seeming like footsteps approaching. Not far away, water sounds could be heard, and the water sounds were unusual.
Someone had been lying in ambush in the water.
Now they were coming to surround her.