Ji Huan’s men, carrying Jingrong’s command token, raced back to Xiamen Pass at full gallop!

The soldiers on the city tower spotted a magnificent horse galloping toward them from afar. The rider wore Great Lin’s armor, with a Great Lin banner planted on his back.

“It’s one of ours!”

The soldier on the city tower immediately picked up the horn beside him and blew it.

“Wooong…”

Hearing the horn sound, the general guarding the gate below immediately ordered: “Open the city gate.”

The heavy gate slowly opened.

The rider approaching from the distance dismounted at the entrance without a word and hurried toward the gate on foot.

He shouted: “Report!”

Chu Chengyu heard the urgent horn blast and immediately emerged from his quarters. He looked toward the distant tower where someone was waving flags.

An emergency!

Hmm?

What had happened?

By this time, Ji Huan’s man had already rushed before him.

His expression was grave, his forehead covered in sweat!

“What has occurred?”

The messenger dropped to one knee with a thud, kneeling before him with head bowed, holding a command token high above his head with both hands.

He declared loudly: “His Highness’s command token is here—march immediately against Houliao.”

Eh!

However, the messenger’s voice trembled.

Chu Chengyu froze for a moment.

He immediately took the token and examined it carefully on both sides.

This was indeed Jingrong’s!

“Where is His Highness?” he asked.

The messenger lowered his head even further. “His Highness, he…”

“Speak!”

“His Highness was ambushed by Houliao forces on his return journey and fell… from a cliff!”

Fell from a cliff!

Those three words struck down like a bolt of lightning.

“What did you say? Say it again.”

“His Highness truly fell from a cliff. His life or death remains unknown.”

Chu Chengyu’s entire body shuddered. Unable to process this, his whole face filled with shock, his lips trembling slightly: “Fell… from a cliff? His Highness… is dead?”

“The body has not yet been found.”

“Then what of General Ji who accompanied His Highness?”

“General Ji has escaped danger, but he too is gravely wounded.”

Chu Chengyu staggered back several steps, the shock reverberating through him for a long while before fury overtook his features.

For a prolonged moment—

He suddenly clenched his palm, his brows turning cold and severe.

He commanded loudly: “Pass this general’s order—immediately assemble the troops to campaign against Houliao!”

His voice cut through like splitting bamboo.

The messenger responded: “Yes!”

Before long, horn blasts echoed throughout all of Xiamen Pass.

These were the horns signaling troop assembly.

The warriors of Xiamen Pass formed ranks with utmost speed.

Preparing to march against Houliao.

To leave those barbarians without a shred of armor!

Ji Yunshu was in her room when she heard the successive horn blasts from outside, her heart tightening.

Just as she was about to rise, her finger scraped against a splintered corner of the table.

It immediately opened a cut.

A drop of blood fell onto her clean robe.

“Tsk!” She took out a handkerchief and pressed it gently against the wound on her finger.

Fortunately, the wound wasn’t deep.

The bleeding stopped quickly!

At this moment, Shi Ziran entered.

His footsteps were heavy, his expression grave, his eyes carrying pain. When he looked at Ji Yunshu, his eyes held even more unbearable sorrow.

Ji Yunshu asked him: “What’s happening outside?”

He opened his mouth but couldn’t utter a single word.

“Ziran?”

“…”

“What on earth has happened?”

Shi Ziran couldn’t bear to speak, stammering for a long while.

Ji Yunshu vaguely sensed something was wrong. Her beautiful brow furrowed slightly as she approached him, asking tentatively: “Has something… happened to Jingrong?”

Shi Ziran met her worried gaze and said, “His Highness… he…”

“Speak! What’s happened to him?” She grabbed his arm, extremely agitated.

“His Highness was ambushed by Houliao forces on his return journey. He fell from a cliff—his life or death remains unknown.”

Life or death unknown!

Ji Yunshu’s entire body trembled violently, her hands falling powerlessly from his arm.

She retreated several steps.

The corners of her mouth curved slightly: “What are you saying? That’s impossible! Ziran, this isn’t real, is it?”

“…” Shi Ziran remained silent.

And his silence said everything.

Ji Yunshu collapsed into a chair, her hand sweeping weakly across the table, knocking the teacup to the floor.

“Crash!”

It shattered into pieces.

Just like her heart—broken into fragments.

“What do you mean ‘fell from a cliff’? What do you mean ‘life or death unknown’?” She laughed bitterly.

Unable to accept it!

Seeing her like this, Shi Ziran quickly said: “His Highness is blessed by heaven—he’ll surely be fine.”

With absolute certainty!

“Life or death unknown, life or death unknown…” She kept repeating those four words.

“Miss Ji?”

“He promised he’d let me wait for his return. He promised, he promised…”

Tears burst forth from her eyes.

Covering her cheeks!

Her head buzzed with noise, then went blank.

Her hands clutched tightly at her collar, her fingertips turning severely white, her nails seeming ready to dig into her flesh.

Jingrong’s promise continued echoing in her ears…

“Yunshu, wait for me to return!”

Wait!

She was willing to wait!

For him to return.

“He’ll be fine, he must be fine.” She suddenly stood up. “I need to find him.”

Shi Ziran blocked her.

“Let me go!”

“Miss Ji, don’t be impulsive.”

“I need to find him—let me go.” She found strength from somewhere, forcefully shaking her arm.

She pushed Shi Ziran away.

Just as she was about to rush out the door—

Shi Ziran shouted with all his might: “General Chu has already assembled the troops to march on Houliao.”

Eh!

Her footsteps halted abruptly. She turned back to look at Shi Ziran, her tear-filled eyes tightening: “March on Houliao?”

“That’s right. Several tens of thousands of soldiers have already assembled.”

This…

Ji Yunshu struggled to calm herself down, carefully considering the entire situation.

She felt something wasn’t right!

No matter how despicable the Houliao people were, they wouldn’t ambush someone.

If they truly wanted to kill Jingrong, why wouldn’t they strike when he was in the Houliao camp, but instead ambush him on the return journey?

“No! There’s definitely something wrong about this.”

She finished speaking and rushed out.

“Miss Ji?”

Shi Ziran hurried after her.

By this time, tens of thousands of soldiers had assembled beneath the city tower.

Just waiting for Chu Chengyu’s command!

Chu Chengyu was in the tower pavilion urgently conferring with several generals, discussing strategic plans for attacking Houliao.

With the Great Lin prince’s death, those soldiers were even more imposing and spirited.

Determined to level all of Houliao!

Chu Chengyu sat behind the desk, wearing an imposingly dignified suit of armor, showing none of the comical, sharp-faced monkey appearance from the banquet days ago.

His brow furrowed tightly as he studied the tiger-skin map before him.

The generals in the room all wore anxious expressions.

Indignant!

“Now that His Highness has met with disaster, we must take their lives in return.”

“We should have eliminated those Houliao people long ago!”

“We can only hope His Highness is safe.”

“That’s Houliao’s River of Death. The water below and the downstream areas are full of thorns. If he fell in…” That would mean certain death.