“Following the eagle wasn’t wrong! He’s right here!”

“Kill—”

Chaotic shouts erupted from beneath the snow patch.

The assassins had found them.

They had ambushed Su Dangu on the mountain path, and even after severely wounding him, they still hadn’t managed to take his head. He had escaped, and they had pursued him up the mountain, searching everywhere. Suddenly, someone spotted the eagle that often circled the royal palace appearing in the sky above, and they hurriedly followed it.

Though they didn’t know who the three newcomers were, anyone standing with Su Dangu must be his allies—kill them all without question!

But Su Dangu’s reaction had been too quick, somehow dodging the first wave of iron arrows! The blade had been poisoned—why hadn’t the poison taken effect yet?

The leader hiding behind the strange rocks was furious. At his shouted command, numerous bowstrings were drawn simultaneously, humming with tension. Iron arrows were fired in rapid succession, swift as lightning. The arrows pierced through gaps in the rocks, their tips flashing silver, instantly forming a rain of arrows covering Su Dangu.

Yao Ying, sheltered in Su Dangu’s embrace, listened to the sharp whistling sounds cutting through wind and snow, her heart trembling with fear.

As the arrow rain descended, Su Dangu’s cold palm pressed against her neck, his arms spread wide, shoulders taut, his waist arched, holding her tightly beneath him.

He held her so tight that Yao Ying couldn’t move at all, forced to press against his shoulder, barely able to breathe.

The sharp sounds of arrows piercing the air were close to her ears, the battle cries drawing nearer. She couldn’t see anything, didn’t know what was happening outside, and could only feel Su Dangu’s heartbeat in his chest, so steady it was barely perceptible. His embrace was ice-cold and hard, and a strong smell of blood mixed with wind and snow-filled her nostrils.

She felt something sticky at her waist—Su Dangu’s wound had started bleeding again as he moved to dodge the arrows.

The assassins swarmed forward, scrambling to climb the snow patch.

Iron arrows flew toward Su Dangu and Yao Ying, punching deep holes in the snow.

Bi Suo’s eyes blazed as he drew his sword, his tall figure leaping across the steep slope to meet the attacking assassins. He demanded in a deep voice, “I am Ashina Bi Suo, Commander of the Royal Palace Guard. Who dares assassinate the Regent?”

Though his challenge was delivered in low tones, each word was enunciated through gritted teeth. The assassins below the snow patch heard every word. Those in the lead noticeably hesitated, their momentum instantly faltering.

Bi Suo’s face turned iron-gray: these people hesitated at his title—they were indeed from the royal court!

The Regent was willing to die for the royal court, yet these royal court members dared to assassinate him—they all deserved death!

“Get back.” Bi Suo’s eyes were red enough to drip blood. “Take one more step forward, and my blade will show no mercy.”

The assassins exchanged glances. Su Dangu had the Buddha’s Son’s trust and was elusive—no one even knew where he lived. If they couldn’t kill him now while he was severely wounded, they would never have another chance!

Having made their decision, they continued charging forward with wild shouts and screams.

Bi Suo was furious beyond measure. His gaze darkened as he raised his sword and charged into their midst, slashing left and right, swift as a gale.

The assassins let out screams of agony, falling one after another into the snow, blood gushing forth to stain the ground red.

Yuan Jue drew his sword and leaped to Bi Suo’s back, cutting down an assassin trying to sneak up on him. They stood back-to-back, watching out for each other. Both had been trained as the Buddha’s Son’s guards since childhood and excelled at close combat. Without speaking, they could understand each other’s intentions from a single glance or movement. Their defense was tight as they stood before the snow patch, preventing the assassins from getting closer.

Several waves of iron arrows shot forth, and as the bowstrings’ humming subsided, the assassins were blocked at the bottom of the snow patch, their frustrated roars echoing to the clouds.

Su Dangu hadn’t risen.

Yao Ying heard Bi Suo quietly calling out to Su Dangu between fighting enemies. She steadied herself and tried pushing against Su Dangu.

Su Dangu didn’t move, his entire body rigid.

Yao Ying’s heart skipped a beat. She struggled a few times, then carefully moved her hands around his wounded chest, up along his arms to embrace his neck. With an effort, she rolled forward with him.

Su Dangu collapsed onto the snow, his arms still hooked around Yao Ying’s neck and back.

Yao Ying landed directly on his waist and hurriedly tried to pry his arms away. His eyes were tightly closed—he had lost consciousness—but his arms were still locked around her. She had to use force to push his arms away and roll off him onto the snow.

“General Su?”

Su Dangu showed no response.

Yao Ying’s eyes grew moist. Su Dangu had used all his remaining strength to save her.

Rapid footsteps approached from behind. Bi Suo, covered in blood, rushed over and knelt: “Regent!”

Yao Ying steadied herself and said, “He’s unconscious.”

A stray arrow flew overhead. Bi Suo knocked it aside with his sword, then took Su Dangu’s wrist to check his pulse. After a moment, his expression changed drastically. He bent down to listen to Su Dangu’s chest for a while, his brow twitching.

“We can’t delay any longer. He won’t last much longer.”

Bi Suo’s jade eyes swept the area as he breathed heavily. Gritting his teeth, he took out a porcelain bottle from his robes, bit open the stopper, and handed it to Yao Ying.

“Feed this to him.”

Yao Ying took the bottle, catching an unusual fragrance. This medicine in Bi Suo’s keeping was different from the wound medicine he had given her earlier.

“How much should he take?”

Bi Suo said coldly, “Feed him all of it.”

Yao Ying was startled. She looked at Bi Suo: “Taking an entire bottle of medicine at once—how can he withstand that?!”

As someone who regularly took medicinal pills, she knew their harmful effects. The medicine Bi Suo gave her was no ordinary medicine. Taking more than a dozen pills at once would cause irreversible damage to the body!

Bi Suo lowered his eyes, avoiding Yao Ying’s gaze. A mocking cold smile appeared at the corner of his lips: “Princess, the Regent has been taking this medicine since he was five years old. It’s always been like this.”

“Ordinary people couldn’t handle it…”

He turned back to look at the endless stream of assassins, the mockery on his face deepening. His sword-holding hand clenched until it turned blue as he muttered softly, “But the Regent can.”

Yao Ying’s heart shook as she looked down at Su Dangu’s face.

His wounds were grotesque, making his features unrecognizable, his eyes closed, eyelashes trembling slightly.

Though killing intent leaked from his entire body, he had a pair of calm, serene, cold, and otherworldly jade eyes.

Taking medicine since age five—he was just a child then…

An assassin charged forward wielding a curved blade. Bi Suo leaped up to engage him, and while parrying called back to Yao Ying: “Feed it to him! He can’t hold on much longer!”

Su Dangu’s pulse was weak, his breathing nearly gone. Yao Ying dared not hesitate further. Trembling, she supported him up and poured the pills into her palm, feeding them to him one by one.

Su Dangu had lost consciousness and couldn’t swallow. Yao Ying moved closer, pinching his jaw to open his mouth.

As her fingers brushed his chin, they touched something strange, feeling an odd texture, as if there was an extra layer of something.

Yao Ying held Su Dangu, looking at his tightly closed eyes.

He carried many secrets.

She was lost in thought for a moment, her eyes flickering. Her fingers avoided that spot as she continued feeding Su Dangu the medicine.

Several sharp whistles cut through the air as arrows flew down.

Yao Ying hurriedly ducked, throwing herself over Su Dangu.

A figure flew over, swinging a sword to deflect the arrows for her.

The arrows fell to the ground, piercing through layers of snow, their shafts shaking violently.

Yao Ying’s heart pounded as she looked up.

Bi Suo stood before her, sword in hand, gazing at her quietly.

Su Dangu was tall and straight—standing beside him, she barely reached his shoulder. Did she think she could shield him from arrows just by throwing herself over him?

She couldn’t, but she had still unhesitatingly embraced Su Dangu, using her delicate body to protect him.

Bi Suo’s sword-like eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Yao Ying held Su Dangu, meeting Bi Suo’s gaze. Her lips moved: “Behind you!”

Without thinking, Bi Suo immediately ducked, avoiding a spear thrust from an angle. He countered with a sword stroke, piercing the assassin, blood spraying everywhere.

His face was splattered with blood, crimson drops flowing down from the corners of his eyes, nose, and mouth. He gave Yao Ying a deep look, wiped the blood from his sword, and turned to charge toward the surrounded Yuan Jue.

Yao Ying looked around. Though Bi Suo and Yuan Jue worked together seamlessly, two people couldn’t block all the assassins—more kept climbing up the snow patch to attack.

She forced herself not to look at the corpses on the ground and made herself stay calm. She untied Su Dangu’s sword from his waist and tried to lift it, but couldn’t even raise it.

The heavy sword fell to the ground, and the snow beneath her feet seemed to tremble.

Yao Ying froze, looking down to discover the trembling wasn’t her imagination—the snow was shaking.

Suddenly, several thunderous crashes came from above, as if something was rolling down from the eternally snow-covered peaks.

Yao Ying raised her head, looking toward the sound. The next moment, her face turned ashen.

Giant silver waves rolled down from the mountain peak. Wherever they passed, huge rocks collapsed and snow filled the sky. It looked like silver waterfalls thousands of feet high hanging between the cliff faces, or like ten thousand horses galloping through the snow, carrying an overwhelming force that could devour everything in its path.

Yao Ying’s voice trembled: “General! Look!”

Bi Suo, Yuan Jue, and the assassins, all focused on fighting, turned their heads simultaneously to look where Yao Ying was pointing. Terror spread across their faces.

An avalanche!

The assassins’ battle cries had triggered an avalanche!

Everyone’s eyes widened. The sound of dropping swords rang out through the crowd as the assassins, souls scattered in terror, forgot their mission and fled.

Bi Suo and Yuan Jue couldn’t worry about the assassins anymore. They ran with all their might toward Yao Ying and Su Dangu, reaching out their hands to grab them.

But it was too late.

The thunder-like roar arrived in an instant. Bi Suo and Yuan Jue were too far away… Yao Ying pulled at Su Dangu’s shoulders with all her strength, trying to push him toward Bi Suo.

“My King—”

Bi Suo’s eyes widened, his eyeballs almost bursting from their sockets as he lunged forward with all his might.

Like a mountain roaring or the sea surging, an enormous force swept in. They were instantly torn apart, everything before them turning pure white.

In the blink of an eye, their figures all vanished in the rushing snow.

…

At the bottom of the mountain, after the thunder-like sound, the startled horses whinnied, and the guards were stunned.

Xie Qing calmed her mount and asked the royal guard: “What happened?”

The guard trembled, pointing at the silver-white peak, and said softly: “Seems like an avalanche.”

Xie Qing’s face changed dramatically as she turned her horse to charge up the mountain.

The guard stopped her: “General Ashina ordered that without his signal, no one is to go up the mountain!”

Another guard interjected: “We get several avalanches here every winter month. The General and the others will be fine.”

Just as he finished speaking, several clear cries came from the clouds as the grey eagle swooped down, its black shadow swift as lightning, one claw reaching for the guard’s arm.

The guard caught the eagle and saw the black cloth on its foot. Alarmed, he ordered the others to stay behind while choosing several loyal subordinates to gallop up the mountain path.

The others dared not ask questions, remaining in place, looking at the towering peaks and exchanging uncertain glances.

Xie Qing wanted to follow the guards up the mountain but was held back by the others, her face dark.

…

On the mountain.

After sending the eagle down the mountain to signal a warning, Bi Suo turned to face the cliff, its terrain completely changed by the avalanche. His face was pale, his hands clenched into tight fists.

Yuan Jue knelt on the ground, his whole body shaking. Finally, with a “wa” sound, he began sobbing quietly.

“Almost… we almost… I’ve failed the King…”

He kept wiping his tears.

Bi Suo kicked him: “Be quiet, don’t disturb the King.”

Yuan Jue sniffled and immediately fell silent.

Before him, under the pile of strange rocks, a bonfire burned, its flames flickering. Two layers of cloaks were spread on the rocks by the fire, with Yao Ying lying between them, covered with a cape, her cheeks snow-white, deeply unconscious, her thick eyelashes trembling slightly.

Beside her sat a person with broad shoulders, his face fierce-looking—it was Su Dangu, who had been unconscious earlier.

He sat cross-legged with his eyes closed. His chest wound had been bandaged and treated with medicine. Though his lips were still pale, his arms visible through his torn clothes no longer showed signs of coursing true qi, and the chaotic killing intent around him had dissipated.

Yuan Jue watched over him, remembering the heart-stopping moments earlier, still trembling from the lingering fear.

When the snow waves had rushed down, he and Bi Suo couldn’t reach Yao Ying and Su Dangu in time. They could only take shelter behind several huge strange rocks nearby. Though they were still buried by the collapsing snow, they fortunately weren’t seriously injured. When the snow waves stopped, the two dug out of the snow and saw where Yao Ying had been standing. Their faces turned ashen as if plunged into an ice cellar.

The place had become a flat snow field—nothing could be seen.

Hearts aching terribly, they dug through the thick snow with their last hope, growing more terrified with each shovelful, finally finding nothing.

Just as the two had completely disappeared, they suddenly heard knocking sounds from the huge rocks!

Almost crying with joy, they dug toward the source of the sound, moved aside several suspended strange rocks, and found Yao Ying and Su Dangu.

Su Dangu was awake, with Yao Ying unconscious in his arms.

The two continued digging with all their strength to rescue them, found some clothes to make a bonfire, and warmed them up.

Yuan Jue wiped his eyes, holding back his tears.

A moment later, the quietly sitting Su Dangu slowly opened his eyes. His jade eyes were clear as the sea, that strange blue glow completely gone, as if it had never existed.

Bi Suo and Yuan Jue knew he was fully awake now. Their hearts slightly relaxed as they knelt on one knee to bow.

“My King.”

Su Dangu coughed lightly, his gaze falling on Yao Ying.

Yuan Jue hurriedly said: “My King, I’ve checked—Princess Wenzhao is not seriously hurt and shows no signs of internal injury. She might have fainted from shock.”

Su Dangu made a sound of acknowledgment, his breath weak. He raised his eyes to glance at Bi Suo and said: “There’s more than one group lying in ambush. Return to the royal court first, don’t engage with them.”

He still looked very weak.

Bi Suo understood, respectfully agreed, and stepped back, giving Yuan Jue a meaningful look.

Yuan Jue stood and walked toward him.

Bi Suo took off his outer layer of light armor, revealing a black robe identical to the one Su Dangu wore.

He looked back at Su Dangu by the bonfire and said softly, “Protect the King and the Princess well.”

Yuan Jue nodded: “General, you’ll be in danger too, drawing away those assassins. Please be careful.”

Bi Suo smiled, waved to him, and strode away with large steps.

An hour later, the guards who had come up the mountain saw a familiar black figure and hurried to meet him: “Regent!”

On the mountain path, a man in black robes stood against the wind, jade eyes in his face covered with fierce scars, nodding slightly.

…

Yuan Jue stood at the cliff edge, watching Bi Suo descend the mountain surrounded by guards, then turned back toward the strange rocks.