After the avalanche, the wind gradually died down. The layers of clouds dispersed, revealing the azure sky. The mountains stood tall and majestic, like a giant silver crown.

The figures of Bi Suo and his group were no longer visible.

Yuan Jue returned to the pile of strange rocks. Worried that the sleeping Yao Ying would get cold, he added some dry horse manure to the bonfire, rubbed his hands, and lifted his head to carefully examine her complexion. His gaze happened to meet another observing look.

Su Dangu sat cross-legged, his jade-green eyes lowered, watching Yao Ying beside him. His gaze lingered on her face for a long time.

Although his eyes were calm without a ripple, as if he was just absently staring at Yao Ying lost in thought, Yuan Jue felt his gaze was somehow different from usual.

The Regent shouldn’t have such a gentle expression – he should be decisive and ruthless, without desires or demands.

Only then could those in the know distinguish between the Buddha’s Son and the Regent.

Yuan Jue was somewhat lost in thought.

The kind and noble Buddha’s Son and the blood-stained Regent were the same person.

Before, when they were still young, he and Bi Suo often couldn’t tell the difference between the Buddha’s Son and Su Dangu. They were the same person, just with a different identity – what was the difference?

They were young and proud then, arrogant, believing themselves to be the most loyal followers of the Buddha’s Son in the world.

Later, when they saw Su Dangu being afflicted by his martial arts technique, they immediately treated them as two different people.

They adored the Buddha’s Son but feared the Regent.

When facing the Buddha’s Son, they revered and worshipped him.

When facing the Regent, they were cautious and tense, never daring to loosen their grip on their sword hilts.

Gradually, they truly came to treat the Buddha’s Son and the Regent as two separate people.

Little did they know, they were the same person.

As guards of the Buddha’s Son, loyal to him, watching him endure suffering and torment since childhood, they still couldn’t accept the Regent identity. Yet Princess Wenzhao, who knew nothing of all this, could understand the Regent and trust him.

Could it be that Princess Wenzhao was truly sent by Buddha to the Buddha’s Son’s side, as the legends said?

Central Plains and the Khan’s Court were separated by ten thousand li, yet somehow a Han princess had drifted to the Khan’s Court, and by coincidence, touched people’s hearts.

Would this fate turn out to be a blessing or a curse?

Yuan Jue couldn’t help but let his thoughts wander.

The bonfire made a soft crackling sound.

Yuan Jue came back to his senses. His brown eyes looked at Yao Ying, and he opened his mouth, remembering the determination and calmness on Yao Ying’s face when she realized there was no time to escape and resolutely held tight to Su Dangu just before the avalanche. His heart still trembled, and for a moment, he didn’t know what to say.

After a while, he looked at Su Dangu and called out dryly: “Your Highness…”

Su Dangu lifted his eyelids, casting him a faint glance, saying nothing, his body emanating an inherent oppressive aura.

Yuan Jue instinctively straightened his back, feeling nervous – this was the familiar gaze of the Regent he knew.

He changed his form of address: “Regent, your servant, and General Ashina have looked everywhere. Most of the assassins on the mountain were buried by the snow. Only a few escaped. General Ashina hadn’t had time to question them before they took poison and died.”

After rescuing Su Dangu and Yao Ying, they examined the assassins’ bodies but found nothing to prove their identity. They could only guess they were military men from the calluses on their tiger’s mouths and the marks left by their helmets. After searching extensively, they rescued several seriously wounded assassins, but just as they were about to question them, they took poison and killed themselves.

After hearing his report, Su Dangu said, “They were death soldiers raised by the various houses.”

Yuan Jue carefully recalled and slapped his forehead, “Indeed, they were like death soldiers.”

At the foot of the Pamirs, the various tribes warred with each other, and many defeated warriors became slaves, taken in and raised by noble families to become death soldiers. It was said the noble families had ways to control these dead soldiers – if they betrayed their masters, they would suffer cruel torture that made death preferable to life, so the dead soldiers were extremely loyal and would rather die than surrender.

Yuan Jue continued reporting several matters, then glanced at Yao Ying by the bonfire and lowered his voice to ask, “Regent, shall I first notify Princess Wenzhao’s guards to come and escort her?”

Su Dangu shook his head and said weakly, “It’s not safe to send her down the mountain now. Their target is the entire group. When it gets dark, you escort the Princess down.”

Yuan Jue was stunned for a moment, then after some thought, suddenly understood and nodded in agreement.

Only a few people knew about the Regent’s diplomatic mission to Gaochang. Since the assassins had ambushed them outside the desert city, it showed they had discovered the Regent’s purpose for leaving the city and knew he would return these days.

The merchant caravan at the foot of the mountain was killed by them. To cover their tracks and eliminate potential witnesses, they not only wanted to kill the Regent but also poisoned all the merchant caravans returning from Gaochang. This way, they could not only secretly eliminate the Khan’s most trusted guards and cut off his arms, but they could also blame the deaths of the Regent and his guards on bandits – truly ruthless!

Thinking of this, Yuan Jue felt a surge of guilt.

Seeing the corpses on the mountain path, he and Bi Suo had thought the Regent had gone berserk and killed people. He had even resolved to fulfill his oath, not knowing that at that time the Regent was seriously wounded and surrounded by layers of assassins.

Fortunately, though dangerous, all ended well. Now the Regent was safe, and Bi Suo, disguised as him, went down the mountain. He would surely lead away all the guards below to attract the assassins’ attention and take the opportunity to find out who was behind this and find the real culprits.

There might still be people watching at the foot of the mountain. Sending Princess Wenzhao down now would not only be unsafe but would also arouse suspicion. If it alerted the culprits, that wouldn’t be good.

Better wait until dark.

Yuan Jue gradually sorted out his thoughts, his eyes flickering as he secretly glanced at Su Dangu.

The best plan would be to have Bi Suo take Princess Wenzhao with him, letting her serve as bait along with him to lure out the true culprits.

But the Regent would never allow Bi Suo to do that.

Yuan Jue suppressed this fleeting thought.

For now, it would be best for Princess Wenzhao to hide her identity and stay with her guards. Once they secretly returned to the royal city and dealt with the traitors there, the Princess would be safe.

The bonfire burned quietly.

The firelight shone on Yao Ying’s beautiful face, her snow-white cheeks seeming to be tinged with a faint blush.

Su Dangu bent down, his fingers pulling open the cloak covering Yao Ying. His movements were gentle, only opening a tiny gap, not letting the cold wind in. His fingers rolled up her sleeve, his fingertips lightly pressing on her wrist as white as congealed cream.

Her pulse was steady, and her palms were gradually warming up. Her skin was smooth and warm, no longer as ice-cold as when she had thrown herself on top of him.

…

When the snow cascade poured down with earth-shattering roars, Su Dangu had already awakened.

Yao Ying was the first to react. She could have left him and escaped alone, but she didn’t abandon him. She wasn’t a martial artist, and her strength was so small that she could barely drag him even with all her might. As snow flew everywhere and the ground beneath their feet trembled, she shook with anxiety, her nails digging into his shoulders as she pulled and dragged him with all her strength. In her urgency, she muttered a few words in her Han dialect that didn’t sound very elegant.

At that moment, though Su Dangu’s consciousness was hazy, his mind was extraordinarily clear.

In the face of the avalanche, the person dragging him was just a teenage girl.

From beginning to end, Yao Ying never let go of him.

Finally, she tried to push him toward Bi Suo so he could take him away in time. The snow waves reached them in an instant, and the figures of Bi Suo and Yuan Jue were swallowed by the flying snow.

She sighed: “I won’t be able to see my brother…”

As the mountain collapsed and giant waves roared, Yao Ying lowered her head and without hesitation opened her arms to tightly embrace Su Dangu, her small frame shielding him.

Her soft arms wrapped around Su Dangu, pressing against him, a faint sweet fragrance lingering.

Su Dangu regained consciousness, his hands feeling for and pressing against the back of her head, holding her in his arms as he rolled several times with her to take shelter under a huge rock.

After the snow ridge collapsed and heaven and earth turned upside down, the world was left covered in pure white ice.

Su Dangu held Yao Ying, who had been knocked unconscious by the flying snow and checked her breathing.

At that time, her body was ice-cold, her breath as thin as silk, like a handful of fresh snow in his palm that would melt into water at the first touch of sunlight.

…

Lightning and morning dew, all phenomena are impermanent – all things in the world are subject to arising and ceasing, ultimately returning to extinction.

Su Dangu viewed life and death with detachment.

Yao Ying wanted to live, yet in the face of death, she would risk her life to save him without hesitation.

Su Dangu withdrew his fingers, tucked the cloak around Yao Ying, and gently pressed it down.

His injuries were severe. After checking Yao Ying’s pulse, he continued to meditate.

Yuan Jue looked at him, then at Yao Ying, his gaze moving between them. He took out some dried food as hard as a stone from his chest and roasted it over the fire.

The hard nang bread gradually released a faint wheat fragrance.

Yuan Jue occasionally looked up at Su Dangu and Yao Ying. After some time, he exclaimed, “Regent, Princess Wenzhao is awake!”

The bonfire’s light flickered on Yao Ying’s face. Her brows furrowed slightly, her eyelashes trembled gently, and she slowly opened her eyes.

She saw a pair of brown eyes filled with joy.

Yuan Jue watched Yao Ying, circling her excitedly, saying, “Princess, does your head hurt? Does anything feel uncomfortable?”

Yao Ying looked confused, lost in thought for a while before gradually coming to her senses. Remembering the scene before she fainted, she tried moving her limbs.

Fortunately, she still had feelings in her hands and feet. When the overwhelming snow had rushed down, she had thought she would be buried in the ice and snow.

Having escaped death, there must be good fortune ahead.

Yao Ying was still frightened, silently comforting herself as she struggled to sit up. Her throat was dry and itchy. After coughing several times, she asked, “Where is General Su?”

Yuan Jue was stunned.

Her first words upon waking were to ask about him.

Yuan Jue coughed twice, feeling uncertain whether to answer or not. He timidly pointed a finger to the side.

Yao Ying felt dizzy and couldn’t stop coughing. She rubbed her aching head and looked in the direction he was pointing.

A figure sat quietly beside her.

Su Dangu sat cross-legged, silent, his jade-green eyes quietly watching her. No one knew how long he had been watching.

If it were anyone else, they would have been frightened and jumped up.

But Yao Ying only froze for a moment. Her gaze fell on the wound on Su Dangu’s chest, and seeing it had been bandaged, she let out a relieved sigh and smiled brightly, “Is the General feeling better?”

Su Dangu lowered his eyes, made a sound of agreement, and handed her a water skin.

Yao Ying’s throat was uncomfortable, so she took the water skin, trying to pull out the stopper. But her arms were weak and soft, and after several attempts, she couldn’t pull it out.

A hand wearing a black leather glove reached over, fingers removing the wooden stopper for her.

Yao Ying smiled gratefully at Su Dangu and raised the water skin to drink.

As the water first slid down her throat, she paused.

The water was warm, not too hot, and not cold – just the perfect temperature to soothe her dry, sore throat.

Yao Ying slowly swallowed the warm water, feeling comfortable all over.

Su Dangu remained silent, waiting until she had drunk the water and her complexion had improved somewhat before saying, “The strife in the Khan’s Court has involved the Princess in trouble. The Princess has suffered.”

Yao Ying smiled and said lightly, “The General’s words are too heavy. The Buddha’s Son and the General are my lifesavers – how can there be talk of trouble?”

Yuan Jue beside her watched her and secretly nodded in approval.

Su Dangu moved his gaze away and looked up.

Yuan Jue had been waiting for his instructions. Seeing him look over, he immediately became alert.

Su Dangu lowered his head and took out a silver token with cloud patterns from his sleeve.

“Bi Suo acts rashly and can only work in the open. Follow him and inform the city lords of each city that the Royal Temple Guard Army is recruiting new guards. Have them report all troop movements from the past six months – the rotation and deployment of the Central Army, Right Army, Left Army, Front Army, and Rear Army. Prepare the roster. Remember, do not alert the army’s Lieutenant Generals or secretaries.”

Yuan Jue understood his implied meaning and broke out in a cold sweat as he responded and respectfully accepted the silver token.

“Your servant will proceed with utmost caution.”

The Regent suspected that court officials and military generals were colluding, so he bypassed the army and directly investigated through the city lords whether the Five Armies had privately moved troops, using this to deduce who was most suspicious.

Although the city lords were not military commanders, they still managed local affairs and population and must have noticed troop movements in their jurisdictions. Inquiring through them was more appropriate – not only could they get truthful reports, but it wouldn’t alert anyone. The Royal Temple Guard Army always had city lords issue notices and recommend talents when recruiting guards, so the military generals were used to this.

After giving his instructions, Su Dangu glanced at Yao Ying.

Yao Ying blinked at him, waiting for him to speak.

He and Yuan Jue had just been speaking in Sanskrit, which she didn’t understand, but she could guess from their tone that the situation was tense – Yuan Jue’s brows were furrowed enough to serve as a flagpole.

Su Dangu looked at Yao Ying for a long time without speaking, as if unsure how to arrange for her.

Yao Ying didn’t want to cause him trouble and took the initiative to ask, “Can I help the Regent? If there’s anything I can do, please just say so. I am under the Buddha’s Son’s protection and should share his burdens.”

Su Dangu looked at her. She had just awakened from unconsciousness, her face still somewhat haggard, with dark circles under her eyes, her hands red from cold under the cloak.

To be so calm right after waking showed she was used to living in such fear and anxiety.

Su Dangu paused, then said, “When it gets dark, Yuan Jue will escort the Princess down the mountain.”

Yao Ying was startled and asked, “What about General Su?”

Su Dangu’s brows furrowed slightly.