Just before dawn was the quietest hour in the small Mobei town.

Then, suddenly, a sharp “twang” of a snapping zither string shattered the stillness of the morning!

Xuanyuan Lige’s hand froze mid-motion — the broken string had snapped back and cut a thin line of blood across his hand.

Yingzi and Yelu Qianqian sat before him, both silent.

Yingzi had explained everything honestly, holding nothing back — not even the fact that Jun Beiyue lay unconscious.

After the string snapped, the room settled back into stillness, but the atmosphere had clearly shifted.

Suddenly, Xuanyuan Lige began coughing, the fit growing worse and worse, his already-pale face turning instantly ashen.

Yelu Qianqian watched, her heart pounding with fright, feeling that the man before her was as fragile as a sheet of paper, liable to crumble to ash and vanish at any moment.

She couldn’t help but reconsider Yingzi’s decision. Would seeking him out even help at all?

Seeing Xuanyuan Lige’s coughing intensify, Yingzi had initially remained composed — but the moment blood appeared at the corner of Xuanyuan Lige’s lips, even Yingzi grew alarmed and hurried forward.

But Xuanyuan Lige raised a hand to stop him. He took a deep breath, forcing the coughing under control, and without offering any comment, without even a change in his cool, detached expression, said simply, “Have a carriage prepared for me. I must go to Nanzhao.”

There were only two possibilities in this matter.

Either Ziqing had been swept away by the storm and her bones now lay somewhere unknown to anyone.

Or Mingsha Mountain held some hidden secret, and Ziqing had vanished into it.

What kind of place was Mingsha Mountain? It was West Jing’s sacred mountain — and setting aside the strange nature of that tornado, there was also the secret passage beneath Mingsha Mountain itself.

The very existence of that hidden passage was suspicious in itself!

And yet, why had nothing ever been dug up from it?

There had to be a secret hidden there!

Mingsha Mountain was one of the sites tied to the isolated island’s ruins. Exactly what secrets it still concealed — only the Nanzhao royal house would truly know.

Nanzhao!

Hearing this, both Yingzi and Yelu Qianqian were startled. Yingzi, of course, knew Mingsha Mountain was connected to the isolated island’s remains, and knew the Nanzhao royal house held knowledge of its secrets!

But this matter concerned Nanzhao — far too sensitive a subject. And with his master still lying unconscious, he didn’t dare, nor did he have the standing, to overstep that particular line.

“Keep searching. Stay in contact with me.”

Xuanyuan Lige clearly had no intention of explaining any further, and Yingzi didn’t press for more, making an instant decision instead. “Young Master Xuanyuan, I can escort you to the southern border gate.”

Xuanyuan Lige hesitated a moment before nodding in agreement.

At that point, Yelu Qianqian finally let out a breath of relief, and asked tentatively, “Young Master Xuanyuan, your health… shouldn’t we have a physician take a look?”

“My thanks for your concern, Princess Qianqian. It’s merely a touch of cold — it’ll pass in a few days.”

Xuanyuan Lige’s tone was light and unconcerned, as if it were truly nothing at all — and yet both Yelu Qianqian and Yingzi could see plainly that this man was already gravely, critically ill.

Yelu Qianqian tugged at Yingzi’s sleeve, as if silently asking what they should do.

Yingzi murmured low, “Go to the Da Zhou capital and find Sha Qiuzi. Sha Qiuzi knows about his condition — ask if there’s any medicine that can help. Quickly!”

With that, Yingzi followed Xuanyuan Lige out the door.

For over a year now, Xuanyuan Lige had withdrawn entirely from worldly affairs. All his contacts, all his correspondence across the entire Longyuan continent, had fallen into Nanny Qin’s hands — including, naturally, the not-so-simple letters from Consort Qinji of Nanzhao.

As for the tornado at Mingsha Mountain, even the Nanzhao royal house hadn’t anticipated it at all. The opening of the gate to the underground poisonous-beast world had happened in the blink of an eye, and seemed to have caused no noticeable repercussions!

The tornado had simply passed through, leveling Mingsha Mountain, and that was that.

At this very moment, another secret discussion was underway in a hidden chamber of the Nanzhao royal palace. Few were present — only the Nanzhao King and the chieftains of the three tribes.

It was precisely because of Yelu Qianqian and Yingzi’s excavation of the secret passage that the Nanzhao royal house, which had begun to relax its guard somewhat, was once again taking this matter with the utmost seriousness.

“Your Majesty, in this servant’s view, Prince Yao’s Shadow Guards must be searching for something specific. Otherwise, there’d be no reason for them to be digging through the sand!”

“Precisely, Your Majesty. The secret passage lies tens of thousands of feet beneath the sand — for them to dig that deep, something must be amiss!”

…

The Nanzhao King remained silent. The Nanzhao royal house had always known that an underground world of poisonous beasts lay beneath Mingsha Mountain, and knew the entrance lay within that hidden chamber. But after the tornado, the Black Shark forces had been entirely wiped out, and more tellingly, Yelu Qianqian’s people hadn’t managed to dig up any bodies, nor had they found that entrance at all — which strongly suggested that something had shifted underground when the tornado occurred!

This was what concerned the Nanzhao King most of all.

The connection between the tornado and the poisonous-beast world — the fact that even the Nanzhao royal house hadn’t known about it — that was the truly terrifying part.

The Nanzhao King despised matters beyond his control more than anything. He remained silent for a long while before finally speaking, his displeasure evident. “Keep watch, no matter what. The entrance must still be there somewhere! It must be found as quickly as possible and sealed off.”

“Your Majesty, what about Princess Qianqian and the others…” the tribal chieftain asked quietly.

“Why should you concern yourself with them! If they knew there was a world of poisonous beasts down there, they’d have dug straight down to it already — do you think they’d have stopped? The most important thing right now is finding that entrance before anyone else does. If someone else finds it first, this whole matter becomes a disaster!”

The Nanzhao King didn’t even dare imagine what the consequences would be if that horde of poisonous beasts were ever released into the world above.

“Yes, Your Majesty!” the tribal chieftain nodded reluctantly in agreement.

Outside the secret chamber, Consort Qinji paced back and forth anxiously. She’d been shut out of these secret conferences every time, and could only wait outside, consumed with worry.

She had overheard, earlier, that there was some secret concerning Mingsha Mountain — but she had no idea what that secret actually was.

Ever since sending her letter to Xuanyuan Lige, she had been quietly gathering information, but even after all this time, she’d learned nothing at all.

Seeing the lamplight inside go dark, Qinji hurried away.

Back in her own chambers, she turned the matter over in her mind again and again, and finally decided to write yet another letter to Xuanyuan Lige, warning him that after the tornado, the Nanzhao King had convened no fewer than ten secret meetings in a row — the most crucial secret of the isolated island had to lie somewhere at Mingsha Mountain.

Dozens of letters had already been sent without a single reply, and yet Consort Qinji kept sending them all the same, as always, hoping that one day she might receive word back from Xuanyuan Lige, might see him just once more.

Unfortunately, Consort Qinji had no idea that every single one of her letters had fallen into Nanny Qin’s hands.

Nanny Qin had long since returned to the Empress of East Qin’s side. East Qin had established its new capital in the northern highlands — though calling it a “capital” was something of a stretch, since the entire northern highlands region was barely twice the size of East Qin’s former capital. Calling it a nation at all felt rather generous.

Ever since the Empress of East Qin had returned from West Jing, her old ailment had flared up again, and her health had been steadily declining. Though nothing had been said outright, even Nanny Qin had gradually come to believe that the Crown Prince, Lishang, was no longer among the living.

Nanny Qin had already recalled every agent Xuanyuan Lige had once stationed across the Longyuan continent. Now, the only correspondence still arriving was from Consort Qinji of Nanzhao.

But after reading through a few letters full of longing and heartfelt yearning, Nanny Qin had stopped opening them altogether.

At this moment, mistress and servant were both anxiously searching for a successor. The Empress of East Qin’s illness had been dragging on for some time now — if she should suddenly pass away one day, East Qin might not even be able to hold onto the northern highlands. With the peace conference indefinitely postponed and Jun Beiyue silent on the matter for so long, the Xiongnu certainly wouldn’t wait forever.