When Prince Jing assigned four guards to “protect” the poisoning assassin, the assassin immediately sensed he was about to be silenced. Assassins sold their lives for money—once in this line of work, their lives no longer belonged to themselves but to their master, Yan Shifan.

Although this mission wasn’t completed, it wasn’t his fault. His performance had been perfect; he simply lacked luck.

Yan Shifan valued talent and didn’t want to kill him—this person would still be useful in the future. But Prince Jing feared complications and demanded his elimination. Yan Shifan couldn’t go against Prince Jing’s wishes, treating it as losing one dog.

Being silenced like this, the assassin was unwilling! He specialized in poisoning and was nicknamed “Life-Chasing Poison Master.” That he could think of placing smallpox material in the jade Guanyin’s base to kill the little imperial grandson without anyone knowing showed the depth of his scheming mind.

The Life-Chasing Poison Master drugged the wine, knocked out the four guards, then climbed out the window and stole a set of Taoist robes to escape.

“Only in these mountains, deep in clouds unknown”—in the vast Mount Wudang, he thought he could quickly escape and wander the world.

However, after Prince Jing’s men discovered the Life-Chasing Poison Master’s escape, they immediately blew horns. The horn calls were passed down through guard posts, and doors of various temples and palaces slammed shut. Even the mountain gate was closed—catching a turtle in a jar, they were determined to kill him.

Both Prince Jing and Yan Shifan were on high alert—if this person “defected to the enemy,” their succession plot would be ruined.

All doors were closed, checkpoints were set up on passages, and identities had to be verified before passage. The Life-Chasing Poison Master carried many toxins and couldn’t knock out all the guards at once. In this deep winter with Mount Wudang covered in ice and snow, without shelter, he would freeze to death outside!

What to do? The Life-Chasing Poison Master was in a dilemma. Getting through checkpoints was hopeless—he had no pass token. Aside from surrendering or jumping off a cliff for a quick death, his only option was taking wild paths to bypass the checkpoints.

Mount Wudang was too large, composed of various peaks with building complexes, without surrounding walls. Stone steps connected the building complexes—one just needed to go up and down the steps.

If he didn’t take the stone steps, he’d have to climb pathless wild mountains in icy snow weather. One misstep would send him plummeting off a cliff.

The Life-Chasing Poison Master dared not take wild paths. While hiding behind a rock feeling troubled, he heard soldiers at a checkpoint ahead calling: “Stop! Where are your pass tokens?”

The Life-Chasing Poison Master peered through a crack in the rocks and saw over ten Taoist priests stopped by two soldiers.

The leading priest said: “We’ve practiced Taoism on Mount Wudang for many years and never heard of needing to carry pass tokens while walking the roads. This is the sacred Mount Wudang, not your Prince Jing’s mansion back garden! Move aside!”

The guard said: “Prince Jing has lost something and is catching thieves. Please cooperate, honored Taoist masters.”

“Oh my.” A tall, thin priest said sarcastically: “We Mount Wudang priests—what haven’t we seen? Do we covet your worthless trinkets? Oh, you’re right to stop us. We priests are all thieves, and I’m the head thief. This Taoist master never carries pass tokens when going out. Are you going to arrest me?”

“Since you say something was lost, then search us.” The thin priest grabbed the guard’s wrist and pressed the guard’s hand against his own chest: “Come, come, search this Taoist master’s body—from head to toe. Find what this master stole, and I’ll accept punishment. If not, let us pass immediately!”

The guard felt nothing but bones—forget stolen goods, there wasn’t even extra flesh. He quickly withdrew his hand, thinking the description from above was of a short, stocky, dark-faced, beardless middle-aged man, not a group of priests. He said: “Which temple are you priests from? Go back and get your pass tokens. Even if you pass my checkpoint, the next guards will still need to see tokens. Without tokens, you can’t move an inch.”

The thin priest pointed to a palace up the mountain with red walls, green glazed tiles, elegant architecture shaped like a chair: “Right there.”

The guard looked—it was Zixiao Palace. He was stunned: “Are you certain?”

The thin priest nodded: “Of course. I’ve practiced here for ten years. How could I not remember where I live?”

The guard carefully examined the stinking priest, recalling the feeling when he searched him, and broke out in cold sweat on his back. He forced himself to stay calm and said to his comrade: “What are you standing around for? Quickly let the Taoist masters pass!”

The comrade cleared the path. The thin Taoist master smiled: “Smart of you. Let’s go.” Over ten priests swaggered through the stone steps.

The Life-Chasing Poison Master, observing secretly, thought: So this is possible? It made sense—Mount Wudang was an imperial Taoist site. Every emperor’s enthronement would send imperial commissioners to sacrifice to the Xuanwu God. Emperor Jiajing had sent eunuchs several times to oversee Mount Wudang’s renovations. The priests here naturally looked down on everyone and didn’t regard mere vassal prince mansion guards seriously.

I can’t be cowardly. I must learn to be as arrogant as this Mount Wudang priest, using momentum to overwhelm the guards, then I can pass through smoothly.

Thinking this, the Life-Chasing Poison Master puffed out his chest, encouraging himself, and came out from behind the rocks, wanting to copy the previous priest’s act.

However, as soon as he appeared, he saw the checkpoint guard putting a bamboo whistle to his lips, about to blow it, when an arrow shot over, piercing through his neck and severing his windpipe.

Unable to breathe, the guard blew nothing. The whistle fell to the ground. The guard covered the arrow piercing his throat with both hands—pulling it out wasn’t right, not pulling it out wasn’t right either. He fell over and died.

This all happened in an instant. The Life-Chasing Poison Master quickly hid again. Through the rock cracks, he saw another guard shot through the chest. Just as he was about to shout, the thin priest grabbed a handful of snow and threw it precisely at the guard’s open mouth, sealing it.

Then the thin Taoist master, with crane-like long legs, ran over as if flying and, like picking cabbage—crack!—broke the guard’s neck with his bare hands!

What kind of people were these! The Life-Chasing Poison Master was terrified, hiding behind the rock trembling, feeling his neck hurt as if his own neck had been twisted.

The tall, thin priest was Wang Daxia. The one who shot the arrow to pierce the guard about to blow the warning whistle was Lu Ying. The dozen or so priests were all Imperial Guards in disguise—except for Wei Caiwei in their midst.

Their group had landed in Hubei, then came to Xiangyang Prefecture, disguised as priests to infiltrate Mount Wudang. Originally, they planned to contact Imperial Guard undercover agents on Mount Wudang, but halfway there, horn calls suddenly arose, all building doors closed, and the mountain gate sealed. With no retreat possible, they could only bite the bullet and continue forward.

At this moment, they were anxious, wondering if Prince Jing and Yan Shifan’s people had discovered their movements. While pondering this, they encountered a checkpoint on the stone steps ahead, with guard posts asking for their pass tokens.

Wang Daxia, just recovered from serious illness, wasn’t as strong as before, but his mind remained sharp and adaptable. A few words intimidated the guards into letting them pass.

Just when they thought they’d passed this hurdle, careful Lu Ying noticed that a female priest had actually emerged from the temple Wang Daxia had pointed to—Zixiao Palace!

Recalling the guard’s repeated confirmation of Wang Daxia’s destination and his expression, Lu Ying immediately realized: Zixiao Palace must be where Mount Wudang’s female priests practiced the feminine way! It was all women there!

Therefore, the guard must have seen through the deception.

Wang Daxia’s luck seemed to have been used up in his fateful reunion with his fiancée across a thousand li. Among Mount Wudang’s over five hundred buildings and more than twenty thousand rooms, he had pointed to the only place specifically for female priests to practice—Zixiao Palace.

His luck was truly too “good”!

Lu Ying immediately turned back and shot a sleeve arrow at the guard about to blow the warning whistle, killing him with one shot. Wang Daxia dispatched the second one.

They couldn’t leave the corpses bleeding in the white snow, as this would alert patrolling soldiers.

Everyone quickly carried the two bodies to a nearby boulder, planning to find a cliff to throw them off.

The Life-Chasing Poison Master, seeing his hiding place about to be discovered by this group of mysterious people, quickly fled.

Just as everyone reached behind the rock, Lu Ying raised her right hand: “Listen! Footsteps!”

Everyone listened and indeed heard them. Wang Daxia said: “Someone was hiding behind the rock watching us earlier.”

Lu Ying pursued with her sleeve crossbow raised. Having practiced martial arts for years, she quickly caught up to the priest ahead, cornering the Life-Chasing Poison Master at a cliff edge.

Mist swirled below the cliff—who knew how deep it was. The Life-Chasing Poison Master threw a rock over the cliff and heard no echo at all!

At the end of his rope, there was no escape.

The Life-Chasing Poison Master thought: The enemy of my enemy is my ally. Although I don’t know these people’s origins, they just killed two Prince Jing mansion guards, so they must have a grudge against Prince Jing. Therefore, being caught by them might not be a bad thing?

There was no other path anyway.

The Life-Chasing Poison Master quickly raised both hands in surrender: “Everyone, to tell the truth, Mount Wudang suddenly sealed the mountain and roads because I offended Prince Jing and Yan Shifan. They’re searching Mount Wudang, wanting to kill me. I didn’t expect such bad timing to disturb you all.”

“I and you all should both be Prince Jing’s enemies. Since that’s the case, shouldn’t we let each other pass? We’ll go our separate ways—you go up the mountain, I go down the mountain. We won’t interfere with each other.”

Lu Ying said coldly: “What proof do you have for your words?”

Wang Daxia pressed: “Also, how did you offend Prince Jing and Yan Shifan? Your abilities are considerable.”

I thought only I, Wang Daxia, could do things that made everyone want to kill me!

The Life-Chasing Poison Master thought: I can’t reveal right now that I nearly killed Prince Yu’s little imperial grandson!

While caught in this dilemma, Lu Ying said: “Turn around.”

The Life-Chasing Poison Master had been running with his back to everyone, nearly falling off the cliff. Lu Ying hadn’t seen his face. However, this person’s ears stuck out like two fans, and he spoke with a southern accent from Guangdong-Guangxi areas. This appearance and accent description seemed familiar.

The Life-Chasing Poison Master slowly turned around.

Seeing a somewhat familiar face, Lu Ying was shocked: Wasn’t this exactly the southern merchant’s appearance described by the Huaqing Pool servant and the Imperial Guard artist?

Fan ears, thick lips, flat and thick nose, slightly dark skin, face covered with pockmarks large and small, sparse eyebrows—about five parts resemblance.

“Finding something after wearing out iron shoes searching everywhere, obtaining it without any effort.” Lu Ying suppressed her joy, fearing this person would jump off the cliff and break the clue trail. She pretended not to recognize him and said: “Come over here first. Our people need to throw the bodies down from here.”

Author’s Note: Today is the last day of the National Day holiday. How did everyone spend it? I had a cold for all seven days and didn’t go out, staying home to recuperate. I watched all eight Harry Potter movies, Dragon Blade, an episode and a half of Yashahime, Transformers 1-4 (the 5th was too terrible to finish), and wrote about fifty thousand words.