What on earth had happened?

Jun Beiyue’s furious roar made the already heavy air grow even heavier.

Yelu Qianqian made no sound, but curled up in Ziqing’s arms, Ziqing could clearly feel her body trembling!

An ominous premonition rose in Ziqing’s heart, and she suddenly found herself afraid too, unable to bear guessing any further!

Back at the crater, seeing them without any visible wounds, only unconscious — Ziqing had to admit, she’d felt relieved at the time, letting out a great sigh of relief.

But now, it dawned on her — harm wasn’t always physical!

What on earth had happened?

Such a scene, Yelu Qianqian’s abnormal behavior, Situ Haonan’s silent fury — it left everyone speechless, and even the two children, Xiong Xiaobao and Baili Xiaosheng, sensed that something was seriously wrong!

In that deathly silence, Situ Haonan suddenly stood up, roaring furiously, “I’ll kill Wanyan Lie!”

With that, he shot straight up into the air to leave, but quickly collided with the barrier and was bounced back.

Meng Duo’er panicked, unsure whether to release the barrier or not. She’d always envied Yelu Qianqian a little — a princess, on such good terms with Ziqing, cherished by Situ Haonan, the young master of the martial world. But now, seeing her cry like this—

Meng Duo’er’s eyes couldn’t help but well up red!

As a woman herself, seeing Yelu Qianqian’s reaction, she could guess what had happened. If Yelu Qianqian hadn’t been violated by Wanyan Lie, given her temperament, she would never have been terrified to such a degree!

Unforgivable!

Suddenly, Situ Haonan, like a beast gone mad, turned and roared at Meng Duo’er, “Take down the barrier! I’ll kill him, I’ll kill him!”

Seeing Situ Haonan so enraged, Yelu Qianqian only grew more frightened, shrinking further into Ziqing’s arms.

Meng Duo’er had no idea what to do and was about to ask Jun Beiyue, but before she could, Situ Haonan was suddenly right in front of her, grabbing her by the collar, his eyes bloodshot, glaring furiously. “Are you letting it down or not!”

Meng Duo’er was truly terrified. But almost simultaneously, a pair of large hands seized Situ Haonan’s wrist — none other than Baili Weisheng.

“Situ Haonan, calm down,” Baili Weisheng said flatly.

Situ Haonan glared coldly, about to speak, when Baili Weisheng’s other hand struck him from behind, knocking him unconscious!

The moment Situ Haonan fell unconscious, Yelu Qianqian broke down sobbing again, clutching tightly at Ziqing, as though desperately seeking the last lifeline in her existence — one she could never quite manage to grasp, no matter how hard she tried.

Everything fell into deathly silence once more, so quiet even the sound of breathing was clearly audible.

Jun Beiyue looked at the unconscious Situ Haonan, his eyes cold and deep as the darkest sea in the world, impossible to look at directly.

“Beiyue, this debt must be repaid, right now.”

Ziqing’s voice, soft and icy, rang out through the entire barrier.

“Everything else can wait. I will make Wanyan Lie and Xuanyuan Lige pay!” Ziqing said through gritted teeth, angrier than she had ever been in her life!

She was past disappointment now — all that remained was pure fury!

Jun Beiyue didn’t answer directly. Instead, he issued a cold command, “Yingzi, return to the northern desert. Send word to prepare the troops — attack Xiliang.”

Ziqing held Yelu Qianqian tighter, raising no objection.

Yelu Qianqian’s sobbing grew soft, so soft, yet everyone could hear it perfectly clearly, a sound that broke hearts, making everyone wish they could take this girl, this princess of such a tragic fate, into their own arms.

She’d been born into an imperial family, the most beloved princess of the Emperor of Xijing, the most unruly and untamed princess in the whole kingdom — how could she possibly have had to endure so much, so very much!

Everyone fell silent, quietly stepping away from the Roaring Rabbit’s back, hoping to give her a peaceful, safe space.

Jun Beiyue hoisted Situ Haonan onto his shoulder and dropped down alone onto the Nine-Tailed White Fox’s back.

The atmosphere, once lively and cheerful, had frozen solid in an instant, the entire barrier as silent as an abandoned wasteland.

Once everyone had left, Ziqing didn’t say a word either, gently patting Yelu Qianqian’s back.

She wanted to comfort her, but found that her usually sharp, eloquent tongue couldn’t produce a single word — not even one word of comfort!

In the face of true harm, words were utterly powerless — only someone who had truly lived through it could know how deep the wound really ran!

After a very long while, Yelu Qianqian had cried herself hoarse, and finally spoke in a low, raspy voice.

Though soft, her voice carried a stubbornness impossible to ignore.

“Ziqing, I want to kill Wanyan Lie.”

“Alright! I’ll help you,” Ziqing answered firmly, loudly.

“Ziqing, I want to destroy Xiliang!” Yelu Qianqian’s voice grew clearly louder.

“Alright, I’ll help you,” Ziqing said, just as firmly.

“Ziqing, I want to kill Xuanyuan Lige!” Yelu Qianqian said, practically forcing the words through gritted teeth.

Ziqing’s heart clenched hard, but her tone came out a hundred times more resolute than before. “Alright, I will definitely help you!”

The moment she finished speaking, Yelu Qianqian burst into a flood of tears, finally, completely breaking down.

“Ziqing, how could they do this! How could they! How could they?”

“Ziqing, what about Haonan? Tell me how I’m supposed to face Haonan, tell me what to do about Haonan? What’s he supposed to do?”

“Ziqing, I want to die so badly… but I can’t bear to leave Haonan. What’s he supposed to do?”

“I’m so filthy now… what’s Haonan supposed to do?”

…

Every single word cut into Ziqing’s heart like a blade. She wanted so badly to ask, “Qianqian, what are you supposed to do? What are you supposed to do? Qianqian, will you ever be alright? Qianqian, I don’t know what to do either. Qianqian, I’m sorry, we came too late.”

“Qianqian, if I could, I’d rather we had never become friends at all. I’d rather you had never met Situ Haonan. I’d rather you had married happily off to Xiliang, forever the happiest princess in the world.”

Yelu Qianqian’s sobs were gut-wrenching, and Ziqing’s heart shattered again and again alongside her.

Revenge — no matter the cost, she would make those two men pay! Without question!

Bullying a woman like this — unforgivable!

Amid the silence, amid the sobbing, down below on the fire mountain, within the dense lava, a shape gradually began to emerge once more, just as before.

Prompted by Baili Weisheng, Ziqing turned to look and saw it was the shape of an ancient musical symbol, matching the ancient note represented by the earlier feminine totem — a yin-yang musical symbol.

Finally found, finally able to combine it with the twelve notes from the Qinse Sea Valley to form a complete line of code!

Ziqing silently committed it to memory — just committing it to memory, that was all!

Everything else, even the matter of the isolated island, would have to wait.

Right now, she had only one thought — to win justice for the woman in her arms, to give her a reason to keep living on, strong and unbroken!

“Qianqian, don’t cry. Be brave. Come on, let’s go get our revenge.” Ziqing said earnestly.

Yelu Qianqian’s tears had nearly dissolved her own face. She slowly lifted her head to look at Ziqing, her gaze still somewhat lost.

“Qianqian, be brave, alright? Believe you can do this. You have to be brave — only then will Haonan know what to do.” Ziqing’s voice caught, yet her tone remained as unyielding as stone.