A journey that should have taken one or two days, Ziqing forced herself to cover in half a day, arriving at the western side of Mingsha Mountain!

The closer she got to Mingsha Mountain, the deeper the sand grew and the sparser the gravel plains became. She had long since abandoned her horse and continued on foot.

She was breathless, her legs weak with exhaustion, and she collapsed onto the ground. And yet, a smile lingered at the corners of her lips the whole time — joy, excitement, satisfaction — no single word could quite capture what she was feeling!

At this moment, even dying of exhaustion would be worth it, so long as she got to see him!

She immediately pushed herself back up, using the ground for leverage to dash forward. Mingsha Cave was to the east — she was almost there, almost at the moment she’d see Jun Beiyue again!

Almost time to share with him all the joy of the past six months!

She couldn’t help but think — knowing that man’s temperament, how could he possibly make her walk all this way? Could it be that he had something prepared for her at Mingsha Cave?

A surprise?

What kind of surprise?

If there was going to be a surprise, she hoped it would be something related to the isolated island’s secrets — aside from Jun Beiyue himself, that was what she cared about most.

She had never smiled this much in her entire life.

She wasn’t even someone who smiled easily, and yet she couldn’t help it — she kept breaking into foolish grins. No sooner had one faded than another crept unconsciously back onto her lips.

How wonderful — it was all almost over, how wonderful!

At last, she caught sight, far off in the distance, of a group of people. Still too far to make out clearly, but she could tell there were quite a lot of them.

What on earth was that man up to? The scale of it seemed rather large.

They hadn’t even reached the negotiating table at the peace conference yet, and he’d already captured the Emperor of West Jing so thoroughly that he could move freely in and out of Mingsha Mountain like this?

Ziqing was puzzling over it, but as the distance closed, the smile on her lips gradually — gradually froze!

How could this be?

She could see them clearly now — that group numbered at least twenty or more, men and women, young and old, every single one of them armed, radiating murderous intent!

Nangong Cheng!

Ziqing’s feet slowly touched the ground, her heart lurching without warning, so hard it nearly took her breath away.

“Situ Haonan…”

She murmured the name to herself, and being as sharp as she was, understood instantly what it meant. It was Situ Haonan — Situ Haonan had deceived her, Situ Haonan had lured her here!

Jun Beiyue wasn’t here at all!

If Situ Haonan could have the Shadow Guard deliver a false message, that meant he had control over Yingzi!

The smile frozen on her lips slowly faded away. Ziqing tried her best to steady her breathing, to calm herself down, but found that she couldn’t.

She clenched her fists, her entire body — even her clenched jaw — trembling. In her heart, she screamed —

“Situ Haonan!”

“Situ Haonan!”

“Situ Haonan, you bastard, you liar! How could you use this to trick me — don’t you know about my one-month promise with Jun Beiyue, don’t you know how much I paid, how much I endured, just to see him again!”

Wanting revenge?

She had already said it — Nangong Cheng was welcome to come seek revenge anytime, and she’d never once asked Situ Haonan to stop them. But how could he use this — this very thing — to deceive her!

Ever since hearing this news, she had been smiling like a fool the entire way here!

How could he do this!

The moment Ziqing arrived, the crowd from Nangong Cheng seeking revenge swarmed toward her at once. The Nangong Cheng matriarch had declared that whoever struck down the enemy with their own hand would be the next head of the clan!

This group hadn’t come merely for revenge — they had come to fight over the position of clan head!

But the moment they drew closer and got a good look at Ziqing, they were instantly stunned into stillness by the killing intent bursting forth from her — for a moment, no one dared to make a move!

Situ Haonan had told them this woman would come alone, that she’d have no gunpowder on her at all!

So why, at this very moment, did she show not the slightest trace of fear? The wind lifted her hair, and her cold, matchless phoenix eyes flickered in and out of view, radiating a murderous aura that made people want to back away!

Her frail body, her embroidered fists clenched tight, and yet she stood there as if planted between heaven and earth, the setting sun at her back, as if wrapped in the glow of the sunset — such overwhelming radiance that it dimmed everything around her!

Even those who hated her couldn’t help but feel a flicker of awe!

Amid the crowd’s shock, Ziqing spoke first, her clear voice cutting through the sound of the wind and sand. “Did Situ Haonan send you here?”

Only then did the crowd snap out of their daze. Old Madam Nangong stepped forward, leaning on her dragon-head cane, and scolded, “Han Ziqing! You killed my husband, you killed my son — today you will pay in blood!”

Ziqing sneered coldly. “My, what spirit you have today, Old Madam. When this consort came in person the last time, why was there no one brave enough to step forward then?”

These so-called heroes and paragons of the martial world — every last one of them full of empty bluster!

They dared to come today only because, first, she was alone, and second, because she had no gunpowder on hand.

But so what!

She, Han Ziqing, was not one to make an enemy and then fear their retaliation! What enraged her was that Situ Haonan had used the promise of seeing Jun Beiyue to deceive her!

Old Madam Nangong sidestepped Ziqing’s question entirely and said coldly, “Han Ziqing, spare us the empty words. It’s the rule of the martial world — blood debts are paid in blood! Give up your life!”

The moment she finished speaking, the Third Young Master stepped forward first — clearly, they had already arranged the order in which they’d face her, even before she’d arrived.

Not going to answer her question?

She could poison her with words until she couldn’t hold her tongue. Facing the Third Young Master who had stepped forward, Ziqing didn’t even spare him a glance, staring coldly and proudly at Old Madam Nangong instead, and said with a laugh, “Such an illustrious martial clan, and all you want is revenge? Why send your entire clan out at once, so many against one? Well, well… it seems the older one gets, the thicker one’s skin becomes!”

Old Madam Nangong couldn’t take it anymore, striking her cane against the ground furiously, so enraged she nearly coughed up blood. “Han Ziqing, how dare you… how dare you! Say that again and see if this old woman doesn’t tear your mouth off!”

“Taking advantage of the fact that I’m alone, with no weapon in hand, before you dare to come out in full force seeking revenge — so this is the way of Nangong Cheng, cowardly as rats, disgusting and vile!”

Ziqing rarely cursed at people, but once she started, every word cut like a thorn straight to the heart.

“Old Madam, if you’re afraid of me, just say so — why bother making things so difficult for Situ Haonan? If the old patriarch of Nangong Cheng, who cherished his grandson so dearly, knew how you’ve all mistreated him, you would be the very first person he’d never forgive.”

“Han Ziqing, shut your mouth! My husband’s spirit in heaven will never let you come to a good end!”

“Is that so? He can’t even look after himself anymore — how could he look after anyone else? Let me tell you all this — even if this consort has no gunpowder on her today, even if this consort came here alone today, this consort is not afraid of you! Coming at me one at a time is too much trouble — if you’ve got the nerve, come at me all together!”

Ziqing’s voice rang out sharp and fierce, her phoenix eyes cold and proud. She didn’t blame Situ Haonan for pushing her in front of Nangong Cheng’s people, nor did she blame him for scheming against her like this, sending her here alone and unarmed.

She knew — for Situ Haonan to have come to this point, he must have been driven to it.

She could understand that. She was only angry, only disappointed — she was afraid of missing her chance, afraid of missing her promise to Jun Beiyue, afraid that Jun Beiyue would worry about her!

But even so — since she had come, since Situ Haonan had done this—

Then she would not leave. Today, she would make certain every single person here submitted, utterly convinced. Today, she would fight to a result that would leave even Situ Haonan with nothing left to say.

Such was the way of the martial world — the strong ruled!