Chu Feihuan stood at the palace gates for a while longer before slowly leaving. His steps were very slow, and as he walked, he seemed to be deep in thought.

Tianqu Street was very close to the imperial Jade Platform of the Royal Music Academy. Between them lay a vast square, and on the outer side of the square stood a white marble arch bridge. The bridge was also named Zhandu. This bridge had been built on the Empress’s orders years ago, and she had personally named and inscribed it. Zhandu Bridge was high with deep waters beneath. Because of the cold weather, there was a thin layer of ice on the water surface. Qi Fan and the others hid in the bridge’s archway.

Hearing footsteps gradually approaching, they suddenly stopped in the middle of the bridge. Qi Fan’s heart tightened, thinking Chu Feihuan had discovered them.

On the bridge, he remained silent for a long time.

Qi Fan gripped his palms tightly, his palms slightly sweaty.

Then they heard Chu Feihuan say faintly from the bridge, “…Chang Ge, it was I who wronged you, but…”

Before he finished speaking, black shadows burst forth.

It was Rong Xiaotian, who could no longer bear hearing those words.

Charging out simultaneously with him were more than ten experts from Huang Meng.

Qi Fan also heard those words, only feeling his heart turn cold as darkness descended. The last remaining spark of hope was extinguished. For a moment, feeling grief, anger, and hatred difficult to calm, he was dazed and reacted a step slower. Rong Xiaotian had already charged out.

On the white stone bridge, Chu Feihuan, who had been immersed in his own thoughts, suddenly turned around.

A master’s instinct caused him to immediately counterattack subconsciously the moment he discovered the ambush.

Straightening his waist, his posture was strange as he immediately flew up flat as if weightless. In mid-air, he bent his knees and kicked elastically, sending two people flying with two sharp sounds. In that instant when his waist twisted back, a long sword appeared silently in the air, and with a flick of his finger, it reached the face of the Huang Meng member charging at the front.

That sword momentum swirled gracefully like a young dragon, swift as drifting wind. The crowd found it difficult to touch that brilliant radiance that seemed to fill heaven and earth, and they scattered to avoid it. But he had already slid three zhang like flowing water, charging straight into the crowd with unstoppable force like splitting bamboo. His snow-white palm swung like moonlight, sword light surged violently, about to press against that person’s chest.

But when he saw the fire-red Lingxiao flower emblem of Huang Meng on the clothing corner, he was stunned in shock.

At this moment, Rong Xiaotian’s palm force had arrived.

“God-Destroying Palm.”

Fury had burned away his reason. In extreme anger, he abandoned his own fierce palm force and used the palm technique the Empress had taught him. He wanted to use the Empress’s palm technique to let her avenge herself!

When God-Destroying Palm emerged, all things collapsed and crumbled. Qi Fan had originally wanted to leave someone alive for questioning to find out clearly with whom he was colluding. Seeing this palm technique now, he knew it was too late.

White mist swirled ethereally, soundlessly pressing toward Chu Feihuan’s back as he stood slightly stunned.

However, Chu Feihuan’s perceptiveness exceeded that of ordinary people. He sensed it before the palm force reached him. It was too late to dodge now. Chu Feihuan didn’t turn his head, gave a low shout, and actually embraced the Huang Meng expert in front of him, falling straight forward.

With this fall, both palm force and sword blades missed completely. But Rong Xiaotian didn’t pause at all, stepping forward and shouting loudly, “You traitor!”

Palm force descended with a hunting wind sound, unrelenting in its momentum.

Chu Feihuan rolled on the ground and met his gaze directly.

Another moment of shock.

Subconsciously his fingers tensed, and the palm force ready to be released was withdrawn again.

In the midst of battle, he had the unprecedented experience of hesitating twice, twice withdrawing his moves. The situation immediately became extremely dangerous. The first time, he dodged through his quick thinking, but the second time, Rong Xiaotian would not give him another chance.

Palm force cold to the bone struck directly at his chest.

In that instant, Chu Feihuan’s gaze was dark and turbulent like the sea, but he had no time to say anything as the palm force struck his body.

He bit his lip, slapped the ground with one hand, soared up, and shot out flat like an arrow.

He also knew God-Destroying Palm, but he did not choose to perish together with Rong Xiaotian in this life-and-death moment.

Chu Feihuan’s lightness skill was exceptional. The most difficult technique in lightness skills, floating through empty space, was used by him with perfect fluidity. However, he ultimately could not be faster than Rong Xiaotian’s fierce palm strike that was right at hand.

Soundlessly, God-Destroying Palm struck Chu Feihuan’s lower back.

Chu Feihuan’s flying body suddenly trembled slightly, showing a tilt. He turned with the momentum and fell heavily into the river below the bridge!

The sound of breaking ice rang out, splashing water high.

Qi Fan and Rong Xiaotian rushed out together, leaning over to look at the water surface below the bridge. It was black, deep, and bottomless. Though this water under the bridge seemed shallow, all the people of Yingdu knew this was flowing water, connecting the Sha River and Longchuan Canal. The current was very swift. Once someone fell in, they would quickly be swept downstream, making survival difficult and surfacing even harder. Therefore, the railings on both sides of the bridge were very high, with posted warnings cautioning pedestrians.

Having been struck by God-Destroying Palm and falling under the bridge, Chu Feihuan absolutely had no possibility of surviving.

Qi Fan ordered Huang Meng subordinates to go down and search, while he stared at the water surface that was faintly tinged with red. He only felt empty in his heart. Chu Feihuan’s shock when facing Rong Xiaotian directly, and his indescribable churning gaze before being struck by the palm, lingered in his mind, making him vaguely uneasy. However, the evidence was conclusive – Chu Feihuan’s abnormal behavior, his secret connections with the palace, the words he spoke personally, and that letter. All evidence pointed to the same conclusion without doubt. The only regret was that the hot-tempered Rong Xiaotian was too furious, only thinking of killing the traitor to avenge the Empress, but forgetting to leave someone alive to interrogate the truth about the Empress’s death.

Huang Meng’s thorough search at Zhandu Bridge that night, as expected, failed to find a corpse or any objects related to Chu Feihuan.

They only retrieved Chu Feihuan’s sword from the water. Qi Fan looked at that long sword radiating cold light, much narrower than ordinary swords, and remembered the scene when the Empress had presented the sword to Feihuan.

That was a late summer night with wind knocking cold bamboo while floating clouds were light and wonderful. In the rear garden, on the flower wall, the feathered leaves of morning glory held buds of pale red and light purple, their fragrance faintly drifting. Below the flower wall, the late Empress in light flowing garments took a newly forged long sword from a carved rosewood box and handed it over, smiling as she said: This sword is made of thousand-year bright iron, light and keen, most suitable for your Drifting Wind sword technique. I obtained this iron by chance and had the master swordsmith Zeng Rui from Zhongchuan forge it. Do you like it?

He still remembered how Feihuan had silently received the sword, his slender fingers wiping across the blade bright as autumn water. After a long moment, he smiled.

Light wind and flowing moon, beautiful as a lotus.

…

Things remained but people had changed. That person was gone. Both the giver of the sword and the one who wore it had departed from this troubled mortal world.

Whether kindness or resentment, all returned to dust.

Only that night’s moon was quietly beautiful, the flower fragrance infinite. That man and woman beautiful as jade, their understanding glance and smile, would never come again.

Qi Fan remained silent, found that dust-covered sword, and handed it to Qin Chang Ge.

Qin Chang Ge slowly caressed the sword body, feeling melancholy in her heart.

Zhandu Bridge… what a coincidence.

Feihuan, you didn’t die, did you?