As soon as they entered the Ghost Judge Hall, wails of ghosts echoed incessantly. The cries were shrill and terrifying, making one’s heart tremble with fear. Li Ying covered her ears, barely managing to block out the sound. In an instant, Ashina Jia, transformed into a shapeless entity, had already arrived at the netherworld beneath the hall. Compared to mortal prisons, the netherworld’s hell was far more grim and horrifying. In the pitch darkness where one couldn’t see their fingers, only a few dim ghost fires burned. After passing through this darkness, the space suddenly opened up. Before them stood a wide mountain of knives and an enormous cauldron of oil. The knife mountain was filled with sharp blades, while the cauldron contained boiling oil. Ghost officials were using giant forks to impale evil souls into the cauldron, and many ghosts with exposed intestines and shattered stomachs hung on the knife mountain, their miserable howls echoing throughout the Ghost Judge Hall. Li Ying was frightened to the point of trembling all over. She clutched the sachet hanging at her waist, which contained the dried rose that Cui Xun had given her.

Trembling, she took out the dried rose and clutched it in her palm. That terrifying fear gradually subsided. Ashina Jia glanced at the dried flower and said, “Let’s go find Guo Qinwei.”

According to Yu Fuwei, Guo Qinwei had committed suicide and should be held in the first level of hell. Upon entering the prison, unlike the knife mountain and oil cauldron, the prison was filled with a suffocating silence. The surrounding walls featured countless dim ghost fires that seemed to have eyes. When Ashina Jia’s form passed by, the ghost fires suddenly brightened considerably. Ashina Jia was greatly alarmed, fearing that King Qinguang might detect something amiss, so she quickly searched deeper into the prison. Fortunately, each prison cell had a plaque hanging above it with the person’s name and birth, and death years. When they reached the innermost cell, Ashina Jia finally found Guo Qinwei.

This was Li Ying’s first time seeing Guo Qinwei. This man, described by the Turks as the Great Zhou’s banner, was over forty years old and had an imposing presence. Even though he was confined in a hell prison, he showed no signs of dejection. It was as if he wasn’t imprisoned here at all, but was still that General Guo who commanded fifty thousand Imperial Force troops and shot dead the Turkic Yabgu with a single arrow.

Ashina Jia’s spirit gradually gathered into human form, appearing before Guo Qinwei.

Guo Qinwei had been sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed. Hearing a sound, he opened his eyes. When he saw the Turkic girl before him with two long black braids, wearing dark blue wolf-patterned foreign clothes, he asked in confusion, “Who are you?”

Ashina Jia said, “I am Ashina Jia. I have come for Cui Xun.”

She extended her hand, and a thread of Li Ying’s consciousness separated from her memory, transforming into a green ghost fire that hovered in her palm. “This is Princess Yong’an, Li Ying. She, too, has come for Cui Xun.”

Ashina Jia quickly introduced herself and Li Ying to her, as well as their purpose for coming. Guo Qinwei silently gazed at the green ghost fire in Ashina Jia’s palm, seemingly able to see through it to the Emperor and Empress’s beloved daughter with her double-bun hairstyle. She was the Great Zhou’s most brilliant pearl, the Princess Yong’an personally named by the late Emperor. Even though he was now just a ghost trapped in hell, and even though Li Ying was just a ghost fire unable to take human form, Guo Qinwei knelt and bowed solemnly: “I, Guo Qinwei, pay my respects to Princess Yong’an.”

Since Li Ying couldn’t take human form, Guo Qinwei could only see the green ghost fire brighten slightly, and from it came a girl’s voice, clear as a spring: “General Guo, please rise.”

Guo Qinwei stood up, and Li Ying continued, “General Guo, Jin Ni, and Pei Guanyue have framed Cui Xun for killing you. They claim he cut off your head and took it to surrender to the Turks. They also prepared a fake head to frame Cui Xun. I need to break this scheme. Do you know where your head is?”

As Li Ying’s words fell, Guo Qinwei’s expression gradually turned to shock: “How could it be the Seventeenth Young Master who killed me? I was trapped at Luoyan Ridge and committed suicide by cutting my throat. After death, my head was displayed among the Turkic army and then placed in the stone tower of their royal court.”

“And after that?” Li Ying asked.

“Afterward, it was stolen by the Turkic Yabgu and is now in his residence.”

“The Turkic Yabgu?”

Ashina Jia suddenly realized, “No wonder the head disappeared. So that’s what happened… Twenty years ago, Yabgu Dunmo was shot dead by General Guo, and his son Luoge inherited the position of Yabgu. He must have stolen General Guo’s head to avenge his father.”

Li Ying was overjoyed: “Now that we know where it is, this will be easier to handle.”

In her great joy, the emerald ghost fire in Ashina Jia’s palm suddenly began to glow brightly, shining like a night pearl. Ashina Jia’s face also showed delight. Seeing the reactions of these two girls, Guo Qinwei knew they both had feelings for Cui Xun. But before he could ask how they had come to know Cui Xun, he first asked the question that concerned him most: “Princess, how is the Seventeenth Young Master doing?”

This question caught Li Ying by surprise. Cui Xun was currently imprisoned, afflicted with numerous ailments, and couldn’t possibly be described as “doing well.” But seeing Guo Qinwei’s earnest expression, she suddenly recalled Cui Xun’s words: “I regard General Guo as my father.”

The brightly glowing ghost fire suddenly quieted down. Ashina Jia, thinking of Cui Xun’s two years in Turkic lands, also lowered her head, not daring to say a word. Li Ying carefully chose her words and said, “He is now the Fourth-rank Minor Minister of the Investigation Department of the Great Zhou, with considerable power. However, people like Pei Guanyue are constantly making things difficult for him. This time, they’ve seized the opportunity to frame him for treason, wanting to put him to death.”

Upon hearing the first half of Li Ying’s statement, Guo Qinwei’s face showed relief, but upon hearing the latter half, he frowned: “How could the Seventeenth Young Master possibly commit treason? I told him that even if captured by the Turks, he must never surrender. He should learn from Su Wu, endure hardships patiently. He always listened to me and would never betray his country.”

As Guo Qinwei mentioned, past events, Li Ying was startled. She asked, “General Guo, how did the Imperial Force Army come to be completely wiped out? What exactly happened at Luoyan Ridge six years ago?”

Upon hearing her question, Guo Qinwei let out a long sigh, his eyes flashing with pain. He slowly said, “Six years ago, three hundred thousand Turkic troops suddenly marched south, attacking the six prefectures of Guannei Circuit. Among them, Khagan Nidu personally led two hundred thousand troops to attack Feng Prefecture. Feng Prefecture was the gateway to the six prefectures; if Feng fell, the six prefectures would be lost. The Prefect of Feng, Pei Guanyue, requested my aid, so I led fifty thousand Imperial Force troops to rush to Feng Prefecture to resist the enemy.”

Li Ying murmured, “Pei Guanyue?”

Guo Qinwei nodded: “Pei Guanyue is from my hometown. We grew up together. Both of us came from poor families but had hearts set on serving our country. However, coming from humble backgrounds, how easy was it to serve the country? To fulfill our ambitions, he went to Chang’an, and I went to the border. Nevertheless, we maintained correspondence, and our friendship never changed. Later, he married a woman from the Wang family of Taiyuan, and his official career soared, reaching the position of Prefect of Feng. I was fortunate to receive the Empress Dowager’s appreciation and was appointed as the Deputy Protector-General of the Western Regions. With decades of friendship between us, I didn’t hesitate and went to Feng Prefecture.”

“In Feng Prefecture, Khagan Nidu had already conquered Yongfeng and Jiuyuan counties, advancing like an unstoppable force with his troops at the gates of Feng City. The Turkic soldiers’ morale was high, and their forces far outnumbered ours. It was early winter, so I suggested to Pei Guanyue that we defend Feng city and wait for the Turks to exhaust their provisions, at which point the siege of Feng would naturally resolve itself.”

“Feng City had a narrow front, with cliffs on both sides. Relying on these natural defenses, it was easy to defend and difficult to attack. Pei Guanyue, having led troops for many years, agreed with my opinion. As I prepared to defend the city with the Imperial Force Army, we unexpectedly received an imperial edict criticizing me for cowardice and ordering me to immediately lead troops to repel the Turks.”

Upon hearing this, Li Ying was shocked again: “Why would my brother issue such an edict?”

Guo Qinwei smiled bitterly: “At the time, I thought His Majesty, having lived in the deep palace for so long, had been deceived by villains, which was why he urged me to send out troops. Thinking about it now, that edict was probably fake.”

“Fake?”

Guo Qinwei nodded. After receiving the edict, despite feeling extremely helpless, he couldn’t disobey an imperial command. He had no choice but to lead fifty thousand Imperial Force troops against two hundred thousand high-morale Turkic cavalry. To increase their chances of victory, he and Pei Guanyue deliberated for several days and nights. They decided that he would lead the Imperial Force Army to flank and attack the Turkic troops from behind, while Pei Guanyue would lead troops to attack from the front. With this pincer movement, they believed the Turkic troops would scatter.

What happened next clearly exceeded Guo Qinwei’s expectations.

Li Ying continued, “But when General Guo led the Imperial Force Army through Luoyan Ridge, they were ambushed by the Turks and annihilated.”

Guo Qinwei’s expression darkened: “This strategy was known only to me and Pei Guanyue. No one else knew of it. At that time, the Imperial Force Army had crossed three mountain peaks in five days, and everyone was exhausted. When we reached Luoyan Ridge, I noticed that the road was narrow and surrounded by dense forests. I felt uneasy and was urging the troops to march quickly when Khagan Nidu led his cavalry in an attack, catching us completely off guard.”

Li Ying listened with alarm: “How did the Turks know your marching route? Could it be…”

Guo Qinwei nodded: “There’s only one explanation.”

The Imperial Force Army’s marching route was known only to Guo Qinwei and Pei Guanyue. Guo Qinwei was already dead, so he couldn’t have leaked it. The only possible source of the leak was Pei Guanyue.

Guo Qinwei said, “Fifty thousand Imperial Force troops suffered massive casualties in that day’s ambush. I led the remaining troops in fighting while retreating, but Luoyan Ridge had been surrounded by the Turks. I attempted to break through several times, all failing. By then, I suspected Pei Guanyue’s betrayal, but considering our decades of friendship, I still found it hard to believe.”

If Li Ying hadn’t already known what kind of person Pei Guanyue was, she too wouldn’t have believed it. How could someone who grew up with Guo Qinwei, a friend of over forty years, betray him so easily? No one would readily believe such a thing.

Guo Qinwei’s expression grew increasingly pained—the pain of having trusted the wrong person, which led to the unjust deaths of fifty thousand soldiers. This pain, even after six years, had not diminished at all; instead, it had become even more vivid.

He murmured, “Although I suspected Pei Guanyue, I still sent someone to break through and seek his aid. However, by then I didn’t fully trust him, so I also sent someone to Chang’an for help.”

Li Ying already knew who he had sent to Chang’an for help—it was Sheng Yunting, the Surveillance Officer of the Imperial Force Army, who was hacked to death before reaching Chang’an and whose remains had been buried outside Tonghua Gate for six years.

The dim ghost fire grew even dimmer, matching Li Ying’s mood. In Guo Qinwei’s narrative, the silver-saddled, white-horsed young man finally began to appear.

If Li Ying could return to six years ago, she might still see that young man drawing his bow and shooting down several Turkic cavalrymen in succession. She might also see him galloping on horseback, leading troops in a charge. But that silver-saddled, white-horsed young man had long vanished in the desert winds, leaving behind only the emaciated, illness-ravaged Cui Xun in Chang’an city, who couldn’t even draw his old bow anymore.

She would never see that young man again.