Inside the cave, the lanterns burned bright, illuminating everything with startling clarity.

And nothing was clearer than the red covering the ground!

That was the very first thing that caught the eye—that blanket of red across the floor!

But Qinji had no time to dwell on it, her gaze sweeping back and forth across the cave.

Where was he?

The man she had loved silently all along, the very man she thought of even while lying beneath the Prince of Nanzhao’s withered, aged body, enduring his favor?

Where was Young Master Xuanyuan?

“Where is he?” Qinji murmured, the red covering the ground seeming to stain her very eyes as well.

“Where is he?”

She murmured the question again, but behind her, not one of the guards dared answer.

Where was he?

They hadn’t seen him either!

By the time they’d arrived, this was already all there was to see—a set of clothing, completely intact, lying in a pool of blood.

Suddenly, the entire cave fell silent, so silent that even the guards’ breathing grew hushed, leaving only Qinji’s murmuring voice. “Where is my young master? Where is my young master?”

The room fell into stillness, until suddenly Qinji cried out sharply, “Where is Xuanyuan Lige!”

At this cry, everyone behind her immediately dropped to their knees, yet still no one dared speak.

And then Qinji finally noticed it—that pile of clothing in the pool of blood, that purple robe!

Her gaze fixed on that streak of purple soaked in crimson blood.

Coming back to her senses, Qinji rushed forward at once, heedless of the blood staining her, throwing herself straight toward that purple robe!

Only to discover there wasn’t just the purple robe, but the undergarments and other pieces of clothing as well!

This was a complete, whole set of clothes!

The person was gone, not a single piece of clothing taken with him, only that pool of blood covering the ground…

The meaning of all this was, in truth, perfectly clear!

This meant not even bones remained!

In terms of sheer brutality, this was second only to being utterly reduced to ash and scattered dust.

A body of unyielding pride, reduced to a pool of blood, not a single possession carried away, vanished from this world forever!

“No!”

Qinji threw her head back and wailed, unable to control her tears, which came pouring from her eyes in an instant!

“No! How could this be! What wrong did you ever do, who could have done something so vicious to you!”

Qinji clutched tightly at the clothing, her emotions completely shattering!

Even though she had considered the possibility that Xuanyuan Lige might die, she never could have imagined it would be a death like this!

Nothing left behind at all, as if this man had never existed in this world to begin with!

As if everything connected to him had merely been a dream, and everyone connected to him had simply dreamed the same dream.

“No… no… I won’t accept this! I refuse to accept this!”

“Young Master! You promised Qinji! You promised Qinji you would come back to see her! Young Master, I’ve been waiting for you this whole time! Do you even know that!”

“Young Master, where are you!”

“Young Master, you promised you would play a song for Qinji! Young Master…”

…

Qinji wailed toward the heavens, her heart shattering as she bowed her head, the sound breaking the hearts of the guards kneeling beside her.

Such a beautiful, young, clever woman—even marrying the eldest prince would have been too good a match for her, and yet she had chosen instead to remain by the Prince of Nanzhao’s side, not merely enduring his presence but working tirelessly to please him, bearing his perverse demands.

Did she truly love wealth and glory?

Did she truly love power and status?

No—all of it had been for Xuanyuan Lige’s sake! Otherwise, she would rather have gone without favor entirely, rather have kept her distance from that foul, aging old emperor.

And yet, now, Xuanyuan Lige had actually…

Yet despite the pity they felt, the guards had no choice but to cruelly remind her, “Your Highness, you cannot stay away too long. His Highness will come looking for you.”

“Your Highness, this cave must be dealt with as soon as possible. There’s no time to delay.”

Qinji clutched that pile of clothing, paying no heed to any of it. “Who is the murderer!”

“Your Highness…” the guard tried to continue persuading her, but seeing the vicious look in Qinji’s eyes, immediately fell silent.

At this point, another guard finally spoke up timidly, “Your Highness, we were led here by the smell of blood as well. When we arrived, it was already like this—nothing has been touched. Over there… there’s also a pile of clothing.”

Qinji turned to look, personally lifting each piece one by one, and by the time she picked up the second item, she recognized it at once.

These were the clothes of an older woman—Meng Wanyue’s!

So the young master truly had been together with Meng Wanyue!

When the young master had ordered her to imprison the Dream Clan’s people, he had explained nothing at all.

“Your Highness, could the two of them have met with disaster together?” a guard guessed timidly.

Another said, “Your Highness, this kind of… this kind of death is not common. It must be connected to some kind of arcane art.”

The so-called arcane arts referred to Nanzhao’s unique techniques—things like poison arts, beast arts, barrier arts, and so on.

Qinji remained silent for a long while, tears continuing to fall uncontrollably, unclear whether she had even taken in the guards’ words.

Time slipped away bit by bit, the guards burning with anxiety, yet none daring to press her.

After a long, long while, Qinji finally composed herself and said flatly, “Bring me a vase. Quickly.”

The guard didn’t understand, but complied regardless.

Yet once the vase was brought to her, Qinji actually scooped up the blood pooled on the ground with her bare hands and placed it into the vase!

There wasn’t much blood left that could still be scooped up from the ground—most of it had already seeped into the stone, with only a little collected in the low, uneven spots.

“Your Highness, this…”

Qinji said nothing, silently continuing to scoop, until there was nothing left to gather. Only then did she stop, handing both the clothing and the vase to the guard. “Take these back to the palace for me.”

These, at least, would prove that man had once existed—that he hadn’t merely been a dream, that he had at least left something behind.

“Your Highness…”

The guard didn’t know what to say, looking up to see that Qinji, having calmed herself, still had tears silently streaming down her face without end.

“Your Highness, please take care of yourself in your grief!”

“No, I won’t simply grieve. I will have my revenge…”

Her voice, choked with emotion, was so faint, carrying no trace of audible hatred, yet no weakness either—instead, an unending, quiet force ran through it. She would have her revenge!

She didn’t know who the murderer was, but she knew one thing for certain: everything that had happened to the young master was entirely because of Han Ziqing and Jun Beiyue!

It was they who had destroyed the young master’s dream of restoring Dongqin, and it was they who had forced the young master to risk his life, again and again, rushing back to Nanzhao!

The lost island mattered a great deal to Han Ziqing and her people, that much was true.

But none of that had anything to do with her—all she knew was that Xuanyuan Lige mattered a great deal to her!

If the young master had never encountered Han Ziqing, none of this would have happened!

If he hadn’t yielded, hadn’t hesitated, hadn’t softened his heart, hadn’t retreated into seclusion, hadn’t involved himself in the affair of the lost island, he might very well have been more than a match for Jun Beiyue!

“It’s all because of her… that selfish woman!” Qinji murmured, rising to leave. At the cave entrance, she paused only to leave behind one flat statement: “Take Meng Wanyue’s clothing as well. Destroy this place.”

Qinji bathed thoroughly at the traveling palace on the mountainside before returning to the summit.

By now, at the Jade Water Nectar Heavenly Lake, both the Medicine Clan and the Beast Clan had finished their preparations; the heavenly lake was about to be opened.

Qinji walked over from a distance, silently taking her seat beside the Prince of Nanzhao, and just as before, she looked directly at Ziqing without any hesitation—only this time, there was no trace of the earlier hostility. Instead, she smiled, a faint, gentle smile, quite beautiful.

Han Ziqing—Xuanyuan Lige is dead. Did you know that?