“If you want to know what it represents, come with me!”

That was what the note said — and beneath those words was drawn that very same mysterious totem!

It didn’t explain what the totem meant — only claimed to know, and demanded she come along.

Jun Beiyue caught the scent of a scheme at once and rushed out in alarm, only to find Ziqing’s figure already gone without a trace.

“Han Ziqing!”

Jun Beiyue shouted, and at that cry, Yingzi and Situ Haonan came rushing over at once. “What’s happened?”

“Ziqing is gone. Haonan, go seal off the mountain paths — let no one out under any circumstances. Yingzi, search to the right!” Jun Beiyue said urgently, and in a flash his figure had already vanished.

Deep in the night, all of Liuxian Island seemed fast asleep — but soon lights sprang up everywhere. When neither Yingzi nor Situ Haonan brought back any news, Jun Beiyue’s heart began sinking, little by little.

For someone to vanish so completely in such a short span of time was proof enough of just how formidable the one behind this truly was.

“There’s only the back mountain left to check — but that’s a bottomless ravine, there’s no way anyone could get down there!” Situ Haonan reported urgently.

“Master, we’ve searched everywhere we can — there’s nothing! What could possibly have happened to Her Highness?” Yingzi was equally frantic. In just a few hours the battle would begin — though the princess consort wasn’t competing herself, with this woman missing, how could his master possibly have the heart to fight?

And most critically of all — everything concerning the Bai clan had been entrusted entirely to the princess consort! With her gone, the entire plan for this trip to Liuxian Island might well collapse into ruin!

Patriarch Gu came rushing over in a panic as well. Jun Beiyue offered no further explanation, hurrying straight for the cliff at the back mountain, with everyone else scrambling after him.

“Blood! There’s blood here!”

A guard suddenly cried out in alarm, standing on the narrow path leading to the back mountain!

Jun Beiyue’s face went deathly pale. He rushed over in a few strides — on a large rock, a patch of blood lay spread, not much, but still fresh. Physician Gu took one look and declared at once, “This is the princess consort’s blood — there’s no mistaking it.”

Ziqing’s blood was distinctive — immune to all poisons, yet carrying the hidden fragrance-poison within it. Physician Gu couldn’t possibly be wrong.

Before he’d even finished speaking, Jun Beiyue had already plunged into the thicket. The others rushed after him and saw the trail of blood, broken but unmistakable, winding its way all the way to the edge of the cliff!

“Could she have… fallen off the cliff? Down there is—”

Before Patriarch Gu could even finish, Jun Beiyue had already leapt down without a second thought.

“Hey!” Situ Haonan cried out in shock. Such a bottomless abyss, such pitch-black night — had Jun Beiyue lost his mind?

Seeing Jun Beiyue go down, Yingzi followed right behind without hesitation.

Master and servant both gone mad — how could Situ Haonan not follow along in their madness too? Whoever had managed to snatch a person right out from under Jun Beiyue’s nose was no ordinary master. With the enemy hidden and them exposed, one more pair of hands could only help.

Situ Haonan glanced down into the abyss, black as pitch, unable to see a hand in front of his own face, and was just about to jump in after them when Patriarch Gu, still stunned by Jun Beiyue’s leap, finally came back to his senses and cried out in alarm, “Don’t go down there!”

The urgency in his voice was enough to be called earth-shattering. Situ Haonan turned to look and found Patriarch Gu’s face utterly white as paper.

“That ravine runs five hundred thousand feet deep — it would take three full days and nights just to reach the bottom, sheer cliff walls the whole way down, with only one way out, straight through to the bottom!” Patriarch Gu explained, his tongue tripping over the words.

The moment he said this, everyone on the mountaintop went pale. Never mind the danger of it all — what state was the bottom even in?

And just this alone — three full days and nights — who could possibly wait that long, who could afford to burn that much time?

Tomorrow was already the final battle of the newly-risen-power ranking battle. Tomorrow morning, first thing, they had to go down for the drawing of lots!

Everything Jun Beiyue had planned was set to formally begin tomorrow!

It was over…

Everyone exchanged glances, no one knowing what to do. Jun Beiyue had rushed off in such haste, leaving no instructions at all — what were they supposed to do tomorrow?

Patriarch Gu simply stood there dumbstruck, frozen stiff at the cliff’s edge.

When the first rays of dawn broke over the horizon, Situ Haonan and Physician Gu both instinctively looked down into the abyss at the same moment. No miracle had occurred — beyond the faint, hazy mist below, there was no sign of movement whatsoever.

“My lord, what do we do?” Madam Gu asked timidly, in a hushed voice.

Ever since losing his internal cultivation, Patriarch Gu had lost much of his confidence when it came to speaking up — but he wasn’t usually a man who couldn’t make a decision. Yet at a time like this, it wasn’t just him — even the immortals of heaven itself probably couldn’t come up with an answer!

This situation was nearly identical to the one on the very first day of the ranking battle!

The specific roster had already been made public. According to the rules of the newly-risen-power ranking battle, to swap out a competitor midway, the original entrant had to be confirmed dead — and the body had to be produced as proof!

Only a listed substitute could take their place — no one else could be swapped in!

The Gu clan’s entire fighting strength had rested on Jun Beiyue alone. If he couldn’t make it to the competition now, the Gu clan really would become an object of ridicule.

Patriarch Gu had originally still held out hope that Jun Beiyue might somehow think of a way, might conjure some miracle — but now, he was utterly, completely without hope.

Patriarch Gu offered no answer. Situ Haonan hesitated for only a moment before speaking decisively, “Let’s go. We head down first — the ranking battle has to proceed.”

The moment he said this, Gu Meiting, standing nearby, couldn’t hold back her fury. “With no one left to fight, how are we supposed to compete? Do you want us to become a laughingstock? I told you before to add Jiang Chen’s name to the list, and none of you would listen — now look, it’s too late to regret it!”

“The outcome of the ranking battle doesn’t matter. What matters is that the battle must go on,” Situ Haonan’s voice suddenly turned cold.

Still, he had to admit, even he was rattled. Even if the battle went ahead, with both Jun Beiyue and Ziqing gone, none of the plans could possibly proceed at all.

They’d have to head down the mountain shortly, and once the drawing was done, the matches would begin at once — with two groups competing simultaneously, there was no possibility of stalling for time at all.

If the fighting began and the Gu clan lost, while Jun Beiyue’s plan never even got off the ground, then this entire trip to Liuxian Island would have been nothing but a humiliating waste.

Caught between impossible choices, no one had any idea what to do.

“A joke — the outcome doesn’t matter? Then what does matter? Don’t you dare tell me it’s about participation!” Gu Meiting pressed aggressively.

“Then what do you propose? There’s no way to swap in Jiang Chen now!” Situ Haonan retorted coldly, thoroughly disliking women like Gu Meiting.

Gu Meiting stamped her foot, but truly had no solution to offer either.

Patriarch Gu paced back and forth, his mind utterly blank. At this point, there were only two paths left — forfeit, or fight and lose.

But whether they forfeited or lost, either way, it would become the greatest laughingstock in Liuxian Island’s entire history!

Physician Gu and Situ Haonan refused to give up hope, repeatedly peering down into the abyss. Patriarch Gu even sent men to wait at the ravine’s exit far below — but all of this was really just them consoling themselves.

Situ Haonan couldn’t help but silently pray for a sudden downpour, something to delay the ranking battle — but unfortunately, the sun had already risen fully by now, the sky a clear, cloudless blue, the weather perfect in every way.

Suddenly, a familiar voice called out from the thicket on the other side. “Beiyue, Situ — are you two over there?”

At once, everyone fell silent, not even daring to breathe too loudly. Situ Haonan’s eyes went wide, holding his breath, until the voice drew close enough that he cried out in astonishment, “Han Ziqing!”

It really was Ziqing, emerging from the thicket on one side. Seeing everyone’s shocked expressions, she looked puzzled. “What’s wrong with all of you? Where’s Jun Beiyue?”