Impossible!

Now that Jun Beiyue knew about the hidden chamber beneath Mingsha Mountain, how could he possibly not come looking for it?

Baili Weisheng even suspected that this scheming, deep-minded man had stirred up the war between Xijing and Xiliang for three reasons: first, to take revenge on Yelu Chenyi and Yanzi; second, to expand Da Zhou’s sphere of influence; and third, precisely because of Mingsha Mountain itself.

Even if Xijing won this war, its national strength would be devastated, everything in ruins, needing to be rebuilt from scratch. And with the crown prince dead and the princess married off to Situ Haonan as consort — it was plainly obvious Jun Beiyue was maneuvering to swallow Xijing whole.

Once the war ended, Xijing would never again be the Xijing it once was — bound in every direction to Da Zhou, with even the Emperor of Xijing forced to show Jun Beiyue seventy percent deference.

By then, Jun Beiyue could come and go from Mingsha Mountain exactly as he pleased.

The more Baili Weisheng thought about it, the more agitated he grew. “Kid, help this master think of a way to stop Jun Beiyue from coming here — at least, we need to stop him this time first!”

The apprentice offered four blunt words. “The royal house of Nanzhao.”

But to his shock, Baili Weisheng exploded with fury. “Don’t you dare!”

The apprentice froze, stunned. In all his years serving his master, his master had never once been this fierce with him — actually shouting at him.

He said nothing, only staring at his master with suspicion and timid fear.

It was only then that Baili Weisheng realized his own loss of composure. He wasn’t sure himself why he’d suddenly lost control of his emotions. Softening his tone, he said flatly, “Better not to alert the royal house of Nanzhao if we can avoid it. If they find out about my existence, and Han Ziqing’s, neither of us will make it out alive.”

Baili Weisheng was already exhausted from being chased down by the Gu Nanny — the last thing he wanted was to add yet another hunter to the list.

“Master, you don’t even need to reveal your own identity. The old woman can’t find you anywhere within a hundred li of Akbachu anyway — we could just hide somewhere else, let Jun Beiyue come looking, and let him run into the Black Shark soldiers instead.”

The apprentice’s meaning was clear — he wanted to expose Han Ziqing’s identity to the royal house of Nanzhao.

“No!” Baili Weisheng blurted out at once.

“Why not? The Nanzhao royal house would deal with her either way. Once she’s taken care of, Master, you’d be free and easy again,” the apprentice reasoned, thinking it entirely logical.

“It’s just no,” Baili Weisheng shot him a sideways glare, then lazily lay back down, pillowing his head again, clearly not planning to elaborate further.

“Master, why not, though?” The apprentice genuinely didn’t understand.

His master’s greatest threat, after all, wasn’t really the Gu Nanny — it was that Han Ziqing!

If Han Ziqing died, Master could live freely, without having to hide and dodge everywhere.

Baili Weisheng said nothing, staring up at the sky, his clear eyes rolling restlessly, deep in some unreadable thought.

The apprentice studied him with suspicion, then slowly leaned closer, a flash of ruthlessness crossing his eyes. “Master, I think the best solution would be to strike while Jun Beiyue’s away — quietly… quietly… just kill her with a single blade.”

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Baili Weisheng shot straight up off the branch, roaring furiously, “Kill your own mother!”

The apprentice was so startled his jaw dropped. He stumbled backward in shock, lost his footing, and tumbled right off the high tree branch, landing on the ground with a heavy “thud!”

Baili Weisheng stood high on the branch, breathing hard, glaring down at him without another word.

The apprentice was utterly terrified, staring up at him, not daring to say another word, feeling as if his master had transformed into an entirely different person — it was frightening.

Ever since hearing all of his master’s secrets just now, he’d been endlessly puzzled.

If Han Ziqing was truly the greatest threat, why not simply kill her? Master had had countless opportunities to do so before!

Confused as he was, the apprentice didn’t dare press further.

He was certain that if he said one more word on the matter, his master would surely kick him straight out.

Watching the boy’s fearful, innocent gaze, Baili Weisheng suddenly felt as though he’d done something terribly wrong.

He thought for a moment, then said seriously, “Kid, how did someone as kind-hearted as me end up raising a vicious little brat like you?”

As he spoke, he dropped down and sat beside the apprentice, who was under tremendous pressure, not daring to move a muscle, feeling more and more that something was deeply wrong with his master.

Yet Baili Weisheng continued with utmost seriousness, counting off on his fingers as he explained to the apprentice. “First, Han Ziqing and I are both orphans of the isolated island, both of direct island bloodline. Though we don’t share the same parents, we’re at least descended from the same ancestor. As the ancients say — we grew from the same root, why must we torment each other so cruelly?”

The apprentice nodded, thinking to himself, Master, you’ve always lived as a loner, coming and going as you please, never once seeking out even your own birth parents — since when did you develop such a strong sense of family loyalty?

Baili Weisheng continued counting on his fingers. “Second! Han Ziqing is such a generous, kind, beautiful woman! Wouldn’t it be such a shame to kill her?”

The apprentice kept nodding, though inwardly he thought, Han Ziqing holds grudges and takes revenge, ruthless as can be, and she’s got a scar on her face — where exactly does “generous, kind, and beautiful” come from?

Baili Weisheng bent down a third finger and added, “Third, this master couldn’t kill her even if he tried, at this point.”

The apprentice nodded firmly, though inwardly he was raging, Master, that’s such a lie — you’re Jinjiao, you’re immune to every poison there is, if you actually meant it, there’d be hardly anyone in this world who could stand against you except the Gu Nanny!

Taking all this into account, the apprentice kept nodding along, and Baili Weisheng had given himself plenty of reasons not to kill Han Ziqing.

Only, he hadn’t noticed that he — a man who’d never needed a reason to kill before — was, for the first time, struggling this hard with himself.

He lay back down on the branch, staring up at the sky, still wrestling with it.

A month’s time — long enough, yet short enough too.

Think it through, and he’d surely come up with a good solution.

Seeing this, the apprentice didn’t dare ask anything further, obediently going to stand guard at the entrance to the hidden chamber, keeping watch for any Black Sharks who might wander by.

As he walked, he muttered to himself, “Could Master possibly have fallen for that woman?”

What other reason could there be to stop his master like this?

After all, this matter concerned his master’s very life and safety.

The apprentice stopped in his tracks, suddenly wanting badly to ask his master directly — but seeing his furrowed brow, his clearly troubled mood, he didn’t dare press further.

The apprentice shrugged and slipped away.

What he didn’t know was that his master, wearing that pensive expression, wasn’t thinking about how to stop Jun Beiyue from coming to Mingsha Mountain at all — he was puzzling over why he himself hadn’t killed Han Ziqing.

Even the reasons he’d given out loud hadn’t managed to convince himself.

“Why is that?” he murmured to himself, considering the question with genuine seriousness for the first time — and for the first time, the image of that woman’s radiant smile surfaced in his mind.

She either called him “Hey,” or “you wretched scholar.”

“Wretched scholar?” He found himself smiling without meaning to. He actually rather liked that nickname.

He thought, given how things stood now, that woman had probably gone off to the northern frontier with Jun Beiyue.

What he didn’t know was that, at this very moment, Jun Beiyue and Ziqing had already arrived in Akbachu…