Qin Yao and the others walked for a long while — fully half an hour — before they were finally able to emerge from the tunnel.
The villa was crawling with soldiers inside and out — not only Imperial Guard troops, but also a good number of Southern Garrison soldiers.
Qin Yao vaguely recalled that the Southern Garrison troops were commanded by Duke Lu, and couldn’t help but feel quietly impressed by the speed of Lin Xiao’s actions — she hadn’t expected him to arrange so much, so methodically, in such a short span of time.
He had always been skilled at planning, and now, with life and death hanging by a thread, he could afford no slackening whatsoever. Still, she hadn’t expected that Duke Lu, who on the surface didn’t seem particularly close to Lin Xiao and his father, would step forward so decisively at this critical juncture.
She supposed that, on one hand, Duke Lu wished to protect Lin Xiao and couldn’t bear to see him harmed by scheming villains. On the other hand, he was likely also unwilling to see this great realm fall into the hands of that treacherous mother and son.
What surprised Qin Yao most was that Prince Lan had, at some point, also arrived at the villa. He now stood in the courtyard with his hands clasped behind his back, his face grave as he watched the soldiers gathered there. He wore no armor, only his ordinary robes, which made it clear he had no intention of taking the field himself.
Qin Yao thought to herself that her father-in-law had likely fled to the villa ahead of time, so as not to be held hostage by Consort Yi and her son.
Qin Yao hurried forward to greet her father-in-law.
The general leading the group saw Qin Yao and the others emerge and came forward to greet them. “Young Madam, the Heir will come to join you once he’s finished with the matter at hand. Please wait here for a moment.”
Qin Yao nodded. She had told Lin Xiao earlier that the academy might be harboring the demon star Nüxiu, the Maiden Star. Having fought other demon stars alongside them before, Lin Xiao knew just how uncontrollable things could become once a demon star manifested in the world. Worried for their safety, he would never let them act alone — he was sure to come and break the formation together with them.
Through their previous battles against demons together, Qin Yao had already witnessed the power of Chixiao firsthand — with Lin Xiao’s support, dealing with malevolent entities was truly like adding wings to a tiger.
Especially since Nüxiu was the last demon star of the Dipper Constellation’s lodges — that over this past year it had been able to hold back the other four demon stars, all of them scheming to break its seal, showed just how extraordinary its malevolent power was, the very foremost among the demon stars of that constellation.
With Lin Xiao present, they would at least have a better chance against Nüxiu. She only wondered whether they would be able to find a solution that served both purposes — suppressing Nüxiu while also helping Senior Brother regain his lucidity.
Suddenly, the sound of hoofbeats drew nearer from beyond the main gate. The general standing before Qin Yao listened for a moment, then turned to her. “The Heir has arrived.”
Lin Xiao reined in his horse at the gate and swung down. Entering the estate, he first glanced quickly at Qin Yao to confirm she was safe and unharmed, and only then went before Prince Lan to pay his respects.
Prince Lan looked at Lin Xiao with a heavy heart, and after a long moment said in a low voice, “Be careful in everything.”
Lin Xiao answered, “Yes.”
Taking his leave, he walked over to Qin Yao’s side, nodded to Qing Xuzi and Yuan Jue, took Qin Yao’s hand, and said, “Let’s go.”
It had only been a dozen or so hours since they’d last seen each other, yet Qin Yao felt as though it had been an age since she’d seen Lin Xiao. Even mindful of the many people standing nearby, she couldn’t help greedily looking at him again and again.
Even having gone without sleep for two days and a night, Lin Xiao’s bearing remained upright, his expression showing no trace of agitation. Yet when he looked at her, his gaze softened without his even realizing it, as though silently telling her: everything will be shouldered by me — there’s nothing for you to worry about.
Watching him, Qin Yao felt both a pang of sorrow and a swell of tenderness. Here was a man who stood firm against the heavens — faced with this calamity that had fallen upon them out of nowhere, he had never once uttered a word of complaint, nor ever taken his frustration out on others. No matter how heavy a burden settled upon his shoulders, it could never break his iron will.
What she was grateful for was that this time, the two of them could still fight shoulder to shoulder as they always had, rather than one of them weathering the bloodshed of Chang’an while the other could only wait helplessly for news in some hidden house.
“Once we reach the academy, there’s no telling what complications might arise while we break the formation.” Lin Xiao led Qin Yao and the others out, repeating his instructions to her the whole way. “After we kill the sorcerer at Consort Yi’s side, as for Nüxiu, we’ll just have to play it by ear and take things one step at a time. The crucial thing is that none of us must split up when the time comes.”
Qin Yao listened in silence, and when they reached the carriage, she turned to look at Lin Xiao and nodded obediently.
Lin Xiao had always loved how clever and sensible Qin Yao was — on many matters, he didn’t even need to explain at length; a single hint was usually enough for her to understand. Unable to help himself, he gazed at her with a smile, raised his hand to tighten her clothing against the cold, and said gently, “Good. Get into the carriage now and rest for a while.”
With that, he had just turned to leave when his robe was tugged from behind. Startled, he turned back in surprise to find that Qin Yao had, at some point, quietly grabbed hold of the hem of his robe. Blinking up at him, she gazed at him with a pitiful expression, looking as though she didn’t want to be parted from him even for a moment.
Lin Xiao had never before seen this side of Qin Yao, so openly clinging to him, and his heart instantly melted into a puddle. With a faint, helpless smile, he gazed at her for a moment, then, without further hesitation, helped her up into the carriage and climbed in after her, wrapping his arms around her. “There. This should do, shouldn’t it?”
Qin Yao leaned against his chest, listening to the steady, strong beat of his heart, and let out a contented sigh, as sweet as a child drifting off to sleep, pouting as she said, “Even if it’s just for a little while, that’s fine too.”
Though Lin Xiao put on a show of having no choice but to indulge her, his heart was every bit as pleased. He lowered his head, cupped her face in his hands, and kissed her several times, saying regretfully, “Indeed, I can only stay with you for a little while. Xu Shenming will be bringing people to meet up with me shortly, and I need to be outside to receive him.”
Halfway through the journey, Lin Xiao indeed got off the carriage. After pausing for a while, the procession continued onward — but this time Lin Xiao did not climb back into the carriage, riding the rest of the way to the academy on horseback instead.
But the moment they reached the lane in front of the academy, Qing Xuzi and Yuan Jue both lifted the carriage curtain at the same time to look outside, and saw malevolent energy already faintly visible hovering above the academy.
The compass in Qin Yao’s bosom stirred as well. Looking outside, she thought to herself that this malevolent energy was clearly different from the resentful spirit energy she had sensed during their earlier visit to inspect the academy. Had the Spirit-Blocking Array failed, or was Nüxiu already stirring restlessly, about to break free of the formation at any moment?
Her expression darkened, and she watched in silence as the academy drew ever closer. Whichever the case, neither boded well for them.
Lin Xiao, seeing Qin Yao’s grave expression, sensed that something was wrong and asked her, “What’s the matter?”
Qin Yao said, “We need to hurry. I’m afraid Nüxiu is about to emerge. Once it bursts into the world, any method of preemptive suppression will be rendered useless.”