Tao Tian limped hurriedly toward the stacked stones.

She was truly exhausted. The intense running on the plateau required far more physical exertion than on flat ground. She leaned against the stone pile, terrified as she looked up at the figure approaching from several dozen meters away. Her scalp tingled with fear, one leg had already lost all feeling, and the other trembled so badly she could barely stand.

At that moment, from the corner of her eye, she suddenly glimpsed a dark shadow rising from the ground beside her.

Tao Tian’s heart nearly stopped beating. A terrified scream reached her throat when she heard someone say, “Me.”

Who?

For a moment, Tao Tian couldn’t even process who it was.

Jiang Lian gripped his bow and quiver with one hand, not wasting words: “How many of them are there?”

Was this… Jiang Lian?

Tao Tian was overjoyed. At this moment, even if the speaker had been Kuang Meiying—as long as it was one of their own, she would have wept with relief.

As long as she wasn’t facing this alone.

“Several, I think. One is chasing me.”

Several? Plus, the one in the pit—not a small number. They had come in groups. Where had these people come from?

Jiang Lian had no time to think about other matters. He stayed low, his body leaning against the stone pile. Working with only one hand was difficult. “Come help me, quickly.”

Tao Tian snapped back to reality and hurried over. She saw Jiang Lian placing a bow against the edge of the stones, but felt confused, unsure of what she should do.

Jiang Lian lowered his voice: “Pick up the arrow and nock it. I only have one hand I can use with strength. I need your cooperation. Steady the front of the bow while I pull the string.”

Tao Tian nodded repeatedly. She was quite clever, but being young and having never experienced such danger, she had panicked. Now with Jiang Lian giving instructions, she felt anchored. Her hands and feet became nimble, and within seconds, she was in position.

As Jiang Lian drew the bow, the limbs gradually curved, and the string made a soft hissing sound as it stretched taut. Tao Tian gripped the bow with both hands, afraid that the slightest tremor might affect Jiang Lian’s performance.

The pursuer had already approached to about twenty meters away. Sweat formed on Tao Tian’s forehead and slid down one side of her face.

Jiang Lian said softly, “I’m only an amateur archer. We need to wait until he’s closer.”

Tao Tian made a sound of acknowledgment. Hearing Jiang Lian’s breath right beside her ear, slightly labored, she suddenly remembered him saying he only had one hand he could use with strength. “Are… are you badly injured?”

“Where are the others?”

“We split up to run. Master Shen said that would give us better odds.”

“Does this person also use a bow?”

Tao Tian didn’t dare shake her head, fearing any movement might disturb the bow: “He threw rocks at me.”

No wonder Tao Tian was limping. She must have been hit. Their pursuer advanced at an unhurried pace, like a cat toying with a mouse, probably confident his prey couldn’t escape.

The pursuer stopped about ten meters away.

Jiang Lian sensed something was wrong, immediately guessing that the lack of movement had made the pursuer suspicious. He quickly instructed Tao Tian: “Make some noise. The more frightened you sound, the better.”

Tao Tian let out quiet sobs that conveyed trembling fear and terror.

Sure enough, the pursuer began approaching again.

Jiang Lian smiled and praised her: “Very good.”

Hearing his soft laugh, Tao Tian’s face flushed inexplicably, and her heart suddenly felt steady. She watched the pursuer’s silhouette, her throat making a slight swallowing motion.

Ten meters, eight meters…

When the distance closed to about seven or eight meters, Jiang Lian released the string.

Cold weapons had dominated Chinese battlefields for thousands of years, with the bow and arrow reigning as the “king of warfare.” Far from the toy bows and arrows of childhood games, the heavy arrow flew with unstoppable force and a whistling sound, embedding itself directly into the pursuer’s body. Caught completely off guard, the man was knocked over by the arrow’s force, rolling in agony and letting out deep, muffled groans.

Strange—he didn’t cry out loudly. Come to think of it, they had never heard the enemy speak at all since the incident began.

Jiang Lian had aimed for the torso since archery wasn’t his specialty. A larger “target” gave him better accuracy. Even if the shot wasn’t fatal, capturing a live prisoner would be valuable.

He was about to instruct Tao Tian to fetch some cloth strips from the pit for bindings when he heard a sharp whistle. The fallen man was signaling, and soon whistles responded from the east, west, and south. Judging by the sounds, some weren’t far away.

Jiang Lian’s expression changed dramatically. He gathered up the bow and ordered Tao Tian: “Take the quiver. We need to run north.”

Tao Tian responded, slung the quiver over her body, and quickly followed Jiang Lian as he dashed away. Despite her injured leg, she ran as fast as she could. The wind whistled in her ears, and she wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she felt stones being thrown their way, though they fell behind them as the distance increased.

After running for some time, Jiang Lian suddenly stopped and turned to look back. Tao Tian was so tense she couldn’t even hear the wind anymore. All she could perceive was their uneven breathing surrounding her head and face.

She was completely out of breath, repeatedly urging Jiang Lian: “Run… keep running. If they catch us, we’re finished… These monsters… hunting us like prey.”

Yes, it was like hunting—hunting in the darkness.

In this desolate wilderness without human presence, with bow, arrow, or flying stones—the most ancient hunting methods.

Jiang Lian said, “It is like hunting. But if you only see yourself as prey, then all you can do is be hunted down.”

“To survive, you must also become a hunter.”

Tao Tian spoke incoherently: “No, Jiang Lian, you haven’t seen what they look like…”

Remembering what she had seen before the vehicle overturned, her entire body shuddered with fear.

—

At noon, near the source of the Three Rivers, mountains stretched endlessly in all directions, their peaks capped with snow that formed a continuous blanket under the harsh sunlight.

This wasn’t yet the Kunlun Mountains. The peaks visible at the Three Rivers source were mainly offshoots of the Bayan Har Mountains, the Tanggula Mountains, and the eastern Kunlun range.

The convoy stopped for lunch. They were still eating heated meals from tin boxes. As Meng Qianzi picked up her spoon, she noticed Xian Qionghua watching her from the side.

She scooped up a large spoonful of food and stuffed it into her mouth, chewing vigorously before swallowing. The elders had strange notions—did they expect her to lose her appetite and weep constantly because she was worried about Jiang Lian?

She refused. She would eat well, sleep well, and desperately replenish her strength. Only when her body recovered could she do everything necessary. No one would care more about Jiang Lian’s whereabouts than she did. If she collapsed, the search for Jiang Lian would fall to people who didn’t truly care about him.

She refused to let that happen.

She had barely taken two or three bites when He Shengzhi suddenly ran over, clutching a phone, breathing heavily with an expression of delight: “Miss Meng, the rescue team up ahead… at the Three Rivers source says they’ve found one… a survivor.”

Meng Qianzi choked on a mouthful of rice and began coughing violently. Xin Ci hurriedly passed her some water. She gulped it down and asked He Shengzhi: “Which… which one?”

With all her heart, she hoped that person was Jiang Lian.

Unfortunately, her wish was not granted.

He Shengzhi said: “They said… It’s one of the drivers from one of the vehicles. He has minor injuries and is traumatized and suffering from exposure. He still can’t speak properly, but the team doctor examined him and said there’s no major problem. We should be able to question him soon.”

Meng Qianzi set down her food container, took the handkerchief Xin Ci handed her to wipe her mouth, and instructed He Shengzhi: “Stop eating, everyone. We leave immediately. We can eat when we arrive.”

—

Meng Qianzi was the first to see the driver.

To be honest, she felt deeply disappointed.

Why did it have to be a driver of all people? If it couldn’t be Jiang Lian, then Shen Gun, Tao Tian, Kuang Meiying, or even Wei Biao would have been better. Instead, it was someone completely unimportant.

She knew this thought was wrong and selfish, but she couldn’t help it. The human heart weighs things differently according to what matters to it.

Although there were several tattered tents from the mountain dwellers at the original site, there were taboos about places where people had died, so they had set up camp elsewhere.

The driver’s name was Sun Yao, around forty years old, not tall but sturdily built. His face revealed a shrewd and adaptable character. He wasn’t a mountain dweller himself, but was experienced in driving this route.

When Meng Qianzi met him, he had already calmed down, wrapped in a woolen blanket and drinking coffee to steady his nerves. The mountain dwellers had promised him a generous fee for his silence, which made him feel that, despite the danger, the journey had been worthwhile.

He described to Meng Qianzi what had happened that night.

“We had just left that tent tourist site—the one Miss Tao wanted to see—and hadn’t been back on the road long when the vehicle suddenly ran over someone and got a flat tire.”

“That driver, Da Huang, was a fool. Those of us who regularly drive this route know that if you encounter a situation at night, you should stay in the vehicle to avoid ambushes. But he got out to look, and an arrow came flying and pierced right through his head.”

An arrow?

Meng Qianzi looked at Meng Jinsong, who shook his head slightly and whispered: “We didn’t find any arrows at the scene, nor any bodies.”

Sun Yao gestured for him to wait: “I haven’t finished my story. When I’m done, you’ll understand.”

“Afterward, we tried to figure out how to reach the other vehicle and drive away. That young man, Lian, had good skills. He pretended to run away to create a diversion for us. Later, we all got into the vehicle and were just waiting for him, but those arrows were too fast. Whoosh—and he was done for, dead.”

The tent suddenly fell silent. Meng Qianzi felt her mind go blank. She knew everyone was watching her.

Her lips trembled: “Dead?”

He wasn’t dead at that moment, but he must have died later. So it was better to insist he was dead. This would explain his actions better: “I saw it—an arrow went right through him. I thought to myself that we couldn’t all die, so I drove away. Then the others shouted at me to stop, especially Mr. Wei. He said he wanted to get out… Miss Meng, if you find them later, please explain to me. At that time, I was truly trying to save as many people as possible…”

Meng Qianzi sat in her wheelchair, feeling alternately hot and cold, her voice sounding distant: “Hmm… continue with your story.”

Continue…

Sun Yao shuddered.

“Then I drove. I was already panicking, and people in the car were shouting and yelling. At that moment, something suddenly appeared in front of the vehicle…”

He swallowed several times, seemingly unable to find the right words: “A monster, Miss Meng. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life. Like a mantis with an enormous head and a thin neck. Its arms were twice as long as a normal person’s, and so were its legs. It was just… crouching there. I was terrified… terrified out of my mind. I yanked the steering wheel, and the road was bad, so we flipped over… This arm of mine, that’s from the crash.”

“But fortunately, everyone’s injuries seemed minor. We were all just scared. Mr. Wei kicked open the door. I heard Master Shen say we should split up and run in different directions. That way, maybe one or two of us might escape.”

At that moment, Sun Yao had a clever thought: if these people scattered in panic through the darkness, the pursuers would be busy chasing them. Who would guess that someone would remain in the vehicle?

So he turned off the lights in the car and shouted: “Run, quickly!”

Then he stayed motionless inside, even pulling a piece of clothing over himself for concealment.

His strategy proved correct. Everyone from the car ran off in different directions, leaving only an overturned “empty vehicle.” No one noticed that a person was still hidden inside.

Meng Qianzi remained silent. Her mind was in chaos, and she had just enough strength to maintain her composure.

Xian Qionghua glanced at her and asked on her behalf: “Then why didn’t you stay in the car and wait for rescue?”

Sun Yao replied: “I wanted to! I thought I’d hide until daybreak since no one had discovered me. But the two vehicles weren’t far apart, and after a while, I heard someone smashing the other car…”

Meng Qianzi suddenly realized something and interrupted urgently: “Wait, that’s not right. Jiang Lian called me on the phone, and when he called, someone was smashing the car. If he were dead, how could he have called me?”

Sun Yao was at a loss for words. After a moment, he said: “Perhaps he wasn’t completely dead at that point? Maybe he wanted to make one last call.”

That made sense. Meng Qianzi fell silent again. At that time, Jiang Lian had called her “Qianzi,” and his voice had sounded very weak.

Sun Yao gathered his thoughts: “I realized these people would search the vehicles, so who would dare stay inside? I seized an opportunity to sneak out. I saw the person smashing the car, tying up three corpses with rope. He was incredibly strong, carrying all three at once, like dogs…”

Meng Jinsong coughed.

Sun Yao guessed that the comparison to dogs was inappropriate: “He just carried them away, three people hanging upside down, all motionless… So I knew those two were dead, but I don’t know what happened to the others. It was completely dark, the attackers killed without hesitation, and there was that terrifying creature…”

He shuddered again: “I hid in a crevice between some rocks. I didn’t dare come out. The fact that I’m alive is thanks to my ancestors’ good deeds.”

There was nothing more to hear. Meng Qianzi tapped her armrest and instructed Xin Ci: “Push me outside for a walk.”

Xin Ci acknowledged and pushed the wheelchair out of the tent. Xian Qionghua wanted to follow, but Meng Qianzi waved her away: “Seventh Mother, don’t follow me. No one follows me.”

—

Xin Ci pushed Meng Qianzi away from the camp but didn’t dare go too far. In such a place, it was safer to stay close to people.

The ground was uneven and difficult to navigate, and the Three Rivers source area, with its river networks like brooms, had soil with higher water content than elsewhere. After pushing just this short distance, both wheelchair wheels were already stuck in mud and weeds.

Meng Qianzi suddenly bent over and began vomiting.

The person who had tenderly kissed her just days ago had been shot through with an arrow, then carried away like a dog.

Xin Ci sighed and stepped forward to rub her back. What could he say? He felt it best to say nothing. Sometimes words were powerless, and the person directly involved probably didn’t want to hear empty phrases like “my condolences.”

As he rubbed her back, his wrist was suddenly gripped tightly. Looking down, he saw Meng Qianzi clutching it firmly.

She slowly raised her head. Her eyes were rimmed with red, but her gaze was filled with killing intent.

Xin Ci felt his heart race: “Qianzi?”

Meng Qianzi said, “I want revenge.”

Of course. Xin Ci quickly nodded: “Yes, we should get revenge. Everyone is trying their hardest to find them. When we do, they’ll pay.”

“Not ‘everyone.’ This is my business. Those people, however many there are, should die by my hand.”

Xin Ci didn’t understand: “Yes, you want to take revenge personally. That’s… perfectly right. But you can’t walk now.”

Meng Qianzi corrected him: “It’s not that I can’t walk. It’s just that my legs hurt when I walk.”

—

That day, Meng Qianzi did not continue the journey.

Xian Qionghua understood her state of mind and didn’t rush her. After dinner, she pulled her aside for a talk.

The conversation was mostly about accepting what had happened and focusing on the present. To her surprise, Meng Qianzi was in better condition than she had expected. She nodded throughout and even reassured Xian Qionghua, saying she was fine and would feel better after a good night’s sleep.

Xian Qionghua was greatly relieved.

But something was unsettling about her relief. After retiring for the night, she grew increasingly suspicious and put on her clothes to check on Meng Qianzi.

At the entrance to the tent, she hesitated, wondering if she was being paranoid. Just then, a head cautiously peered out, apparently keeping watch, and locked eyes with Xian Qionghua.

It was Xin Ci.

Xin Ci hadn’t expected to see her. His face paled as if he’d seen a ghost. With a startled “Oh my!” he quickly retreated inside.

This confirmed Xian Qionghua’s suspicions. She rushed inside and immediately saw Meng Qianzi standing there, dressed in tight-fitting clothes with her hair tied up, fastening a mountain dweller’s basket to her back.

She also froze when she saw Xian Qionghua.

Xian Qionghua’s mind buzzed, and she instinctively asked: “Zi’er, how are you standing?”

Before she finished speaking, her eyes swept across the tent and immediately spotted several empty medication vials thrown on the ground, one with an injection needle still in its mouth.

Xian Qionghua suddenly understood, and her expression changed dramatically: “Have you lost your mind? Injecting so much will only numb the pain, not heal you. If you go out like this, your legs will be permanently damaged. Who was it? Was it Xin Ci who helped you steal the medicine?”

Xin Ci, already extremely nervous, jumped when he heard his name mentioned.

Meng Qianzi, however, laughed softly and asked: “What if my legs are ruined? Jiang Lian is already dead. I’m just sacrificing my legs. Even with ruined legs, am I not worthy of sitting on the throne?”

She pointed at Xin Ci: “I asked him to get it. If you want to punish him, wait until I return.”

With that, she moved to leave. Xian Qionghua, both anxious and angry, stepped forward to block her path.

In truth, the relationship between the seven mothers and Meng Qianzi was very complex. When Meng Qianzi wasn’t being forceful, the seven mothers held the upper hand, but once she became determined, they truly couldn’t control her.

Xian Qionghua tried to calm herself: “Zi’er, I understand how you feel. I know you’re suffering. We should plan this carefully. So many people are working on this matter—we can’t rush. You especially can’t go alone into danger. You don’t even know who these people are. Isn’t this just seeking death?”

Meng Qianzi said, “I don’t need to know who they are. I only need them to die by my hand. And I’m not suffering. After I finish this and recover Jiang Lian’s remains, I’ll suffer. It won’t be too late then.”

Xian Qionghua’s mind was in chaos. Feeling inarticulate, she blurted out: “Your status is different. You need to think about your responsibilities…”

Meng Qianzi smiled: “Someone who sits on the throne but takes no action when her beloved is killed has no right to talk about responsibility.”

She pushed past Xian Qionghua and headed for the exit. Xian Qionghua came to her senses: “Zi’er, at least take some people with you!”

Meng Qianzi looked back at her: “Seventh Mother, don’t you understand? This is my matter. I want to do this myself. Every step, by my hand. I don’t want others involved.”

Xian Qionghua stared at her, and finally relented: “At least take a gun.”

Meng Qianzi smiled and said, “Ask Xin Ci.”

With that, she lifted the tent flap and was gone.

Xian Qionghua’s heart pounded wildly as she stared at the swaying tent entrance, wondering if she was dreaming, and amazed that she had let Meng Qianzi leave. After a moment, she suddenly remembered the words “Ask Xin Ci” and turned to look at him.

Xin Ci nervously made a “V” sign with his fingers. Xian Qionghua’s anger flared again: You’re making a victory sign? Are you proud of yourself?

Then she heard Xin Ci say anxiously: “Two of them.”,