Sound after sound of resentful fury, sound after sound of blood-weeping cries, the shrill female voice pierced through the canyon like a sword seeking to stab through this blind heaven itself.

Those who heard it wore heavy expressions, their hearts growing cold with dread, suddenly feeling a chill arising from within their hearts, unable to suppress their own desolation.

Even the brocade-clad man, who always wore a faint smile, restrained that trace of light mockery, his gaze growing cold and distant, as if this had reminded him of some past events he himself was unwilling to recall.

They all shared the same sentiment.

Everyone had once waded through blood and fire amid similar conspiracies and malice.

Miserable and cold-blooded—such has always been the way of imperial families.

After the Jade Queen finished her cursing and wailing, exhausted, she sat down heavily on the ground, her eyes vacant and hollow.

Years of accumulated anguish had been emptied out, and her mind seemed empty as well. She no longer wanted to think about anything, only wishing to sit here until the end of time. Husbands and lovers, struggles for the throne, sisters seizing power—let it all just sit here and turn to dust.

Yu Wuse had been arguing vigorously with his mother, but seeing her lifeless appearance now made him panic instead. He frantically pulled at her arm and pounded her back. “Wake up! Wake up!”

The Queen remained motionless. She shed no tears—perhaps many years ago, her tears had already run dry.

Suddenly a hand touched her knee. At first she felt nothing, but that hand struggled upward, and when she lowered her head, she was so startled she retreated backward.

“Ying Bai!”

On the ground, Ying Bai had somehow opened his eyes, his gaze staring straight at her.

Of course he wasn’t dead—with Gong Yin present, no one could let him die. The brocade-clad man’s methods had merely briefly stopped his breathing for an instant. The Queen’s mind was agitated and her temperament impatient and careless—how could she have noticed such details?

After that momentary cessation of breath he recovered, though the poison remained unresolved and he still couldn’t move. Lying on the ground, he had heard every sound of those wails clearly.

He was so shocked he couldn’t believe it.

Could those twelve years of resentment and sorrow all have been a mistake?

Twelve years drowning sorrows in wine, twelve years of frivolous pleasure-seeking, twelve years of self-blame and shame, twelve years of self-exile from home.

All just a mistake, a conspiracy?

Now thinking back to Yu Fei of those days, he suddenly found her face blurred in memory. Those things he had once believed without doubt, when compared against the truth he’d just heard, immediately revealed countless suspicious points.

After the tide passed over the beach, the black stones beneath the water were exposed.

He remembered Yu Fei’s beauty and charm, remembered how she often mysteriously disappeared, remembered how she liked to change to different fragrances, remembered how noble young men at court would usually have strange expressions when Yu Fei was mentioned. Thinking of it now, that strangeness indeed belonged to secret pleasure, the pride of possession.

His fiancée—only he had been unaware of her promiscuous ways.

That New Year’s Eve when he was drunk and had that spring night with Yu Ming, three months earlier he and Yu Fei had also shared a night at Bi Mountain hot springs.

In his memory of Bi Mountain hot springs, with mist curling up, he had also been slightly drunk that day. In his haze, whose face it actually was, he truly hadn’t seen clearly.

The fragrance was unfamiliar, but Yu Fei’s fragrances changed frequently.

That New Year’s Eve drunken encounter—looking back now, there were gaps in between, that sense of “being forced by a woman” humiliation was very likely something he had imposed upon himself.

He remembered that day when he woke from his stupor and turned over to rise, he saw Yu Ming rushing through the door with a strange expression. He heard the shrill pigeon whistle from above the royal palace—that was the secret signal he and Yu Fei had arranged, the most dangerous kind. When he pushed Yu Ming aside and rushed madly to Yu Fei’s palace chambers, what he saw was already her dying breath.

Before her death, her blood-stained finger had grasped his hand, gently placing it on her lower abdomen, whispering in his ear: “Don’t blame elder sister… only regret that I couldn’t leave you this child…”

One sentence had split his life’s happiness in half.

From then on, he could only exile himself.

Until today, when the canyon’s mountain wind brought him the answer to the truth.

That grievance poured out in tears of blood after his “death”—anyone could tell it couldn’t be false.

When his heart suddenly became clear, what replaced it was deep shame—he had worn that cuckold’s hat for so many years, everyone knew except him!

This truly was the greatest humiliation no man could endure.

For that one instant, he really wanted to just keep his eyes closed and sever his own heart meridian.

He truly felt unable to open his eyes and face everyone—under all those watching gazes, the high-ranking officers of the Jade King’s army were all present.

But that thought lasted only an instant before sinking heavily down.

After years of wandering, he was no longer the naive youth of those days. Suffering and trials had taught him that a man’s foremost duty was responsibility.

He had already mistakenly fled and avoided for so many years, letting that strong woman bear everything alone for so many years. For the road ahead, he had no reason to keep avoiding.

He needed dignity, but couldn’t be a coward.

For the rest of his life, it should be his turn to make amends.

“Yu Ming…” He gripped her hand tightly. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell me!”

“I did tell you.” The Jade Queen still seemed somewhat unable to process this, saying dazedly, “You disappeared for a year. Later I learned you were with the former State Preceptor. I had someone carry a letter to pursue you there, telling you the whole cause and effect. But you gave no response, and even the messenger never returned. I thought you still didn’t love me and wouldn’t forgive me, so I let it be. I could raise the child well and live a good life…”

There was another reason she didn’t mention. At that time her heart was ashen, and she was unwilling to tell this matter to others. Ying Bai in his youth was proud and self-respecting, the most brilliant noble young man in the Jade tribe. If he knew he had been cuckolded—especially a cuckold that all of Jade City knew about except himself—that kind of humiliation and betrayal by the woman he deeply loved would be enough to destroy him. At that time it wouldn’t just be never returning; perhaps he would become decadent and never recover. Then the Jade tribe’s most promising youth would truly be ruined…

To love someone is to help them succeed.

But Ying Bai said in a daze: “I never received any letter.”

The two looked at each other, both seeing realization in the other’s eyes.

Why that crucial letter never reached the intended recipient—after all these years, there was now no way to investigate. Perhaps Yu Fei’s people were still causing trouble, or perhaps that letter simply never reached its destination. No one knew.

There are no truths that can be exposed with a single poke—only lives of missed connections.

“Yu Ming…” Ying Bai’s emotions were chaotic and complex. Only now did he finally understand Yu Ming’s suffering and deep feelings. Although love doesn’t arrive immediately just because of guilt, he still owed compensation to her and their child. Just as he was about to say he would properly compensate them, he saw the Jade Queen smile and remove his hand.

“Having said it all, I feel much better. Now thinking about it, it really wasn’t worth it. I didn’t even have the courage to try again.” She stretched lazily. “Good. You’re fine now, and Wuse is fine too. This boy needed a lesson—I’ll teach him harshly when we get back. You can come visit when you have time, or not if you don’t. Anyway, we mother and son have gotten by like this for all these years.”

She stood up easily, grabbing Yu Wuse by the collar while saying harshly, “Come back with me! When we get back I’m going to properly discipline you!” Then turning back to smile charmingly at Ying Bai, “In spring I plan to take Wang Cheng as my royal consort. The Grand Commander is welcome to attend the ceremony if he has time.”

“No way, are you serious…” That General Wang let out a tragic wail.

The Jade Queen ignored his screaming, held her head high, took his arm, grabbed her son with one hand, and the “family of three” dragged and pulled their way off.

The expression on Ying Bai’s face was truly indescribable, to the point that the other officers of the Jade King’s army all quietly lowered their heads and hurried away, too embarrassed even to offer comfort.

The brocade-clad man stroked his chin, thinking that women’s hearts were like needles at the bottom of the sea—just moments ago ready to live or die, and in the blink of an eye acting proud and aloof. Still, his little Cake Girl was better—no pretense, just harmful.

Gong Yin was thinking that Ying Bai must have drunk too much and damaged his brain. What kind of situation was this? Unable to distinguish between two sisters? Even if Jing Hengbo changed faces and got fat to eight hundred pounds, he would definitely still recognize her.

Ying Bai hadn’t expected the Jade Queen to really just walk away like that. Standing there stunned, the brocade-clad man slapped him on the back.

“Go chase your wife back!”

Gong Yin added coldly: “And remember to have her repay her debt to Hengbo.”

After a moment’s hesitation, Ying Bai chased after them, while Yu Wuse encouraged his mother to walk faster and faster.

Gong Yin and the brocade-clad man exchanged glances, then each turned away.

The mountain wind suddenly grew still, gentle and slow. Gong Yin followed the mountain range, racing outward.

Where exactly had Jing Hengbo slid to?

…

Jing Hengbo had slid into a witch’s hut.

After falling down the waterfall, she slid all the way down. Fortunately she didn’t fall off a stone ledge, then quite coincidentally slid into a cave. That section of cave seemed to be formed by natural water erosion, very smooth. She was worried that the end would be blocked, leaving her trapped to die in this narrow cave.

Although this possibility was unlikely—if it wasn’t connected through, water flow couldn’t have formed such a cave—she was inexplicably nervous, feeling that this tumble might still lead to some trouble.

Sliding rapidly all the way, her body burning with pain, she suddenly remembered a legend about Yi Kingdom. Yi Kingdom’s largest and most famous mountain was Yi Mountain. Legend said this mountain contained many treasures, and its special terrain had achieved the Yi people’s ability for countless transformations, though no one knew the specifics.

She thought that if there really were treasures within Yi Mountain, then this hidden path behind the waterfall should lead directly to the treasure trove. But would she encounter such a melodramatic situation?

Suddenly her feet stopped, and her heart sank—truly blocked!

In this smooth narrow cave she couldn’t turn around or climb up—she simply couldn’t climb back. Was she going to suffocate alive in this dark mountain belly and become one with the mountain?

No way!

Growing fierce in her heart, she desperately stomped her feet. After several violent kicks, there was a crash, her feet loosened, and a hole appeared. Overjoyed, she continued kicking violently. Suddenly the feeling under her feet seemed strange, then she heard an “ouch.”

She made an “eh” sound, thinking what had she just kicked? Surely not someone’s bottom or face?

The next moment her ankle was suddenly grabbed by a hand that dragged her out of the hole. With a “plop,” she fell into a pool full of rotten mud.

Jing Hengbo nearly suffocated and quickly climbed up, but a hand pressed down on her shoulder. Startled, she sensed the hand’s owner had martial arts skills, though not very strong, which somewhat calmed her. Wiping her face, she looked up and nearly exclaimed “Good heavens!”

What ghost was this before her eyes?

There were oil lamps on the opposite wall. Beneath her was a pool—the hole she’d come from was in the wall, with the pool right beside it. The pool seemed to contain marsh mud but gave off a faint medicinal scent. Before her was a person, thin as a skeleton, face full of wrinkles, disheveled hair covering their features, only a pair of ghostly glowing eyes visible. The vague skin from cheek to neck was withered and contracted, pulling the whole face askew, making it appear even more frightening.

This person’s arms were hard and black as iron, with very long fingers and even longer fingernails that hung limply on her shoulder like soft red worms. Looking at those reddish worm-like long nails, Jing Hengbo’s stomach churned in waves.

She silently cursed her bad luck. With this appearance, don’t hope for the usual story of falling off a cliff into water and meeting a master to learn amazing martial arts—nine times out of ten this was some demon who’d been injured and was using various medicinal muds to heal.

The Great Wilderness had many marshes with medicinal effects. The stranger the location, the more unusual the marshes that appeared. This marsh in the mountain’s belly must also have special uses.

Sure enough, the next instant she was grabbed by the shoulder and thrown out of the marsh pool. Clearly the other party was very stingy and unwilling to let her benefit.

Jing Hengbo got up, not bothering to wipe the mud from her face, first surveying the surrounding environment. This seemed to be a circular stone chamber with mud-sealed holes on all four sides, one of which had been kicked through—the one she’d come down from.

With a “splash,” the person behind her also emerged from the pool. She alertly turned back to see this person only had one left leg.

A strange feeling suddenly flashed through her heart.

That person sat by the pool’s edge, picked up an iron prosthetic leg, and beckoned to her.

Apparently wanting her help putting it on. Jing Hengbo complied—she still hoped to learn the way out from this person and didn’t want to offend them.

When touching that person’s leg, her heart lurched with nausea. It was rigid dead flesh, also gleaming cold like iron, evoking associations with all things stiff, rotting in darkness, and unclean.

The prosthetic leg was quite exquisite, even having joints, but the connection point had some separation issues from wear, making it difficult to put on—no wonder this person sought her help.

Jing Hengbo bent down to help put on the prosthetic leg, her neck tilting down, revealing a section of snow-white skin. That person’s gaze lifted, suddenly seeing that section of skin like bright moon and beautiful jade. A flame suddenly burst in their eyes—that flame contained jealousy, anger, longing, sorrow…

Once upon a time, such skin had also belonged to oneself…

The curved long fingers silently floated toward that section of neck. Just one cut downward, and this perfect skin, along with the life possessing such perfect skin, would cease to exist.

Jing Hengbo had already sensed something—the back of the neck was after all one of the most sensitive vital points.

Without showing any reaction, with only the last iron buckle remaining on the prosthetic leg, she forcefully shoved it upward.

“Ah.” A scream, and that person toppled backward into the marsh pool, the iron leg sticking up high, trembling constantly.

“Ah, what happened to you?” Jing Hengbo asked with feigned panic, then immediately lunged toward a cave opening.

That opening was relatively wide and should be climbable.

Behind her, someone suddenly said hoarsely: “If you go that way, prepare to die in the mountain’s belly!”

The voice was extremely unpleasant, like countless sheets of sandpaper grinding against each other. Gender indistinguishable.

Jing Hengbo turned back with a half-smile. “You’re so kind-hearted you’d tell me the way to survive?”

That person struggled up from the marsh pool, whole body shaking, still enduring pain. After a long while: “You… help me deliver a letter… and I’ll tell you… how to get out…”

“Why don’t you go yourself?”

“My prosthetic leg has problems…” That person groaned. “I can’t climb out this time, but not going out is also death…”

Jing Hengbo saw that where this person’s prosthetic leg connected to flesh, there seemed to be bone and flesh protruding—not damage she had caused, but problems with this person’s prosthetic leg and body integration.

No wonder they could swallow their anger and beg her. But with such an important letter, how dare they entrust it to her?

When she received the letter, she finally understood why the person dared randomly find someone to deliver it—normal people simply couldn’t understand it. It was all symbols and numbers. For example, one line was “West Thirteen,” then drew a circle with a black dot in the center and several ray-like things. Another line was “East Four,” drawing a hand and a pile of black dots. Yet another was “South Two”—a blank line with only a heart drawn.

The entire paper was full of such strange things.

The letter was casually folded, and that person said: “After leaving the cave, go west three li and hide it under the first tree you see.”

Jing Hengbo made an “oh” sound. That person pointed to holes in the wall: “Which path do you want to take?”

“Can they all be taken?”

“Of course, though some lead to hell.” That person revealed a sinister smile, made even more frightening by scars pulling it askew.

That strange feeling came to Jing Hengbo again.

“If you want to send me to hell, then your letter won’t be delivered. If it’s not delivered, what gets delayed might also be your life, right?” She unhurriedly waved the letter.

That person seemed struck, lowered their head and laughed coldly for a while, picked up a stone, and smashed open a nearby cave opening, laughing wickedly: “Go in!”

Jing Hengbo could only treat a dead horse as if it were alive. Staying in this mountain belly with such a person felt worse than taking risks.

She crawled into the cave, feeling this was still a downward passage. Behind her, that person suddenly shoved her hard. She screamed, feeling several strands of hair viciously yanked out by those long nails, while her body was already racing downward like lightning.

In the last moment of her flight, she heard that person’s laughter, malicious and cold like a witch’s.

“Have a pleasant journey through hell!”

…

Another sliding journey.

She truly didn’t know how there could be so many slide-like caves within this mountain. It must be related to that great waterfall outside.

But Jing Hengbo soon learned what that person meant by “journey through hell.”

Sliding all the way, first fast then slow, with turns, and at each turn she saw what could be called the most terrifying things in this world.

The cave passed through many stone chambers like the previous one, though these were smaller, all with pools, with “people,” with agonized wailing, with weeping.

Those “people” were all disabled—some missing eyes, some lacking arms, some with both legs crippled, some born without ears.

Some stone chambers had red-hot stones with natural geothermal heat. As she passed through, her whole body burned with heat, and in the chamber’s marsh pool was someone without any skin at all—whether it had been scalded off or they were born that way, she couldn’t tell. That person writhed in the blood-red pool, half their body red and half black, staring at her with equally half-red, half-black eyes. Looking closely, they had no eyelids at all. Jing Hengbo nearly vomited up her New Year’s Eve dinner.

Suddenly she slid past an ice chamber, its interior hung with ice and snow, the marsh mud also white. Someone was completely naked in the marsh, all body hair fallen out, even their skin turned ice-crystal colored. Jing Hengbo could even faintly see the heart beneath their chest. She rubbed her eyes, thinking it impossible, wanting to see clearly, but slid past.

Other chambers were pitch black with nothing visible until something suddenly blazed with brilliant light. Looking carefully, it was a beam of light, but something was blinking within it—looking again, it seemed to be an eye, a single eye facing the light while the body remained invisible in darkness. Jing Hengbo wished she could close her eyes, but after closing them her mind was filled with endless light and eyes and eyes and light.

There were others with half their bodies missing and fitted with iron, others whose bones seemed extracted, writhing like snakes… Scene after scene flashed by like movie frames, each one the most sinister and terrifying image in the mortal world, comparable to hell itself.

Jing Hengbo wanted to close her eyes, but instinct told her what she was seeing must be very important. Missing this chance meant no next time—however nauseating, she had to endure it.

These mountain cave passages were very peculiar. Mere natural waterfall erosion couldn’t possibly create this slide-like effect throughout the entire mountain belly. Someone must have discovered this special terrain and developed it further through construction.

With a “whoosh,” a downward dive, and she could already see faint light. Jing Hengbo knew she was nearing the cave opening.

She suddenly remembered an important question.

Why was that person in the cave so confident she would deliver the letter? Weren’t they afraid that once she emerged, she’d just throw the letter away or keep it for herself?

That meant there should be someone waiting to receive the letter right at the cave entrance! All that talk about “three li west, first tree” was nonsense!

No wonder they weren’t afraid of her seeing the letter—once it was delivered, she’d be silenced.

The cave opening drew closer. Jing Hengbo drew the thin blade hidden at her waist, holding the knife straight ahead with her arm.

“Swoosh.” She shot out of the cave opening while sitting, and simultaneously, a figure flashed as someone reached in, laughing: “Fei…”

Another “swoosh.” Jing Hengbo, carrying tremendous momentum, crashed person and blade into the other’s embrace!

This thrust had astonishing inertia—in an instant, the blade emerged from their back!

That person’s scream died before it could emerge. Instinctively raising their palm to strike down, Jing Hengbo had already kicked their leg and shoved them away.

The blade left the body as that person retreated, trailing a blood rainbow through the air.

Jing Hengbo pounced over. That person fell heavily, not yet dead, convulsing in a pool of blood, rolling fish-dead eyes to stare at her—an unfamiliar face.

Jing Hengbo habitually tried to tear at their face but found no mask.

“You… you’re not…” That person wheezed a shout, raising their hand as if to grab her, but the hand dropped halfway. They expired.

Jing Hengbo somewhat regretted being too heavy-handed. Keeping them alive might have allowed her to extract more information, but with her own injuries unhealed and the opponent’s strength unknown, not seizing that best opportunity would lead to regret if anything went wrong.

She turned over the corpse’s black clothing and was shocked to discover military uniform underneath. This was already Yi Kingdom territory. By convention, heavy troops must be stationed at borders, so there was definitely a military camp nearby. This person was hiding here as a soldier, specifically responsible for liaison with the “base” inside the mountain.

Jing Hengbo believed that place was like the Thirteen Guardians’ graveyard base—also for conducting experiments, just more sophisticated and clever.

Who had established this base? One of their secret letter recipients could even infiltrate Yi Kingdom’s military camp—what other penetration might they have into Yi Kingdom?

Jing Hengbo had originally intended to ignore the corpse, but now discovering the military uniform, she couldn’t leave it. After thinking, she pushed the person into the cave and blocked the opening with stones.

While pushing the person, she suddenly remembered the first words that person had said upon seeing her emerge.

“Fei…”

Fei what?

Pondering this, she walked away a few steps, then suddenly stopped, lightning flashing through her mind.

Fei Luo!

The Fei Luo who had lost her right leg and been disfigured!

That monster in the mountain cave who had her deliver the letter was actually Fei Luo!

Jing Hengbo stood in the afternoon sunlight, her whole body growing cold.

She never would have imagined that Fei Luo, once beautiful and noble with infinite charm, had now become this neither-human-nor-ghost monster!

After shock came fear—fortunately she’d kept her mask on the whole time!

If Fei Luo had recognized her, it wouldn’t have been about delivering letters anymore. She’d be lucky not to be torn apart and devoured alive.

After being dazed for a while, she suddenly heard voices. She quickly hid in the grass and saw a squad of soldiers running over, each carrying tools. Under the arrangement of an officer-like person, they climbed the mountainside and entered a mountain cave, after which came faint clanging sounds, apparently excavating and boring through the mountain. People constantly carried out black marsh mud in buckets.

They worked for about half a day before finishing, forming ranks to return for meals. Jing Hengbo saw many wearing masks, protected from head to toe as if afraid of contamination.

She waited a long time, hoping to hear useful information from these people’s casual conversation. But these people moved in unison, working without talking from start to finish, apparently executing some secret mission. Jing Hengbo could only wait until they left before quietly climbing to the cave they’d excavated. The cave wasn’t large, seemingly opened not long ago, round and smooth, similar to the slide-like caves she’d come down, but in the wrong location.

At the cave’s tail end, Jing Hengbo saw some black mud seeping from the stone wall, while the front end had none at all. This mud seemed to be the same type the soldiers had carried down in buckets. After observing for a while, she made a soft “eh” sound, discovering that where this mud flowed, the stone wall became smooth.

She understood now. There must be a flowing marsh river within this mountain, running through the entire mountain. The marsh’s function was to corrode and smooth stone—wherever it passed, the mountain stone became smooth. Someone had discovered this characteristic of the mountain’s internal marsh and excavated these slide-like caves within the mountain body along the marsh’s flow direction, using the cave slides for access and food transport.

This was truly a perfect design. Who would know a secret human experimentation base existed within a great mountain’s belly? Even if they knew, who would dare charge into that waterfall? Even if they entered the waterfall and found that entrance slide, such a narrow passage—ordinary people couldn’t enter. Only someone like Jing Hengbo, nearly six feet tall but under a hundred pounds, slender enough, could manage it. And such passages only allowed one person at a time. Once inside, they’d fall into disabled Fei Luo’s hands, unable to get back out, likely thrown into the laboratory—worse than death.

The current problem was that Yi Kingdom soldiers participated in excavating the mountain caves. This seemed to be Yi Kingdom’s secret—the so-called treasure. It wasn’t worldly gold and jewels at all, but the caves and marsh themselves were the treasure.

Why was Yi Kingdom doing such things? Plotting to swallow other tribes? These strange people weren’t numerous—perhaps useful for assassination, but for conquering cities and territories, they couldn’t play a decisive role.

Jing Hengbo stood in the cold wind of New Year’s Day with a belly full of questions, temporarily forgetting even Gong Yin.

She suddenly pulled out the letter and examined it carefully. After seeing those hellish scenes, she could understand some things. For example, that “South Two” with a blank line and heart drawing should indicate that in the southern cave’s second chamber, the transparency experiment on that person had progressed to the point where their heart was visible. The circle with a black dot and light rays should represent the western cave’s thirteenth chamber, where the person cultivating eye power could now resist brief strong light. Each drawing was Fei Luo reporting experimental progress to outside contacts. Fei Luo’s identity was both experimental subject and guardian of this mountain belly experimental center.

Jing Hengbo somewhat regretted killing that letter recipient. This way the other side would definitely discover sooner or later that their mountain belly secret had been exposed. But thinking carefully, she felt relieved. This mountain belly laboratory project was massive, not achievable overnight. After investing such effort and energy, they wouldn’t abandon it like the Thirteen Guardians’ crude graveyard base. The other side would choose to investigate her, then silence her.

Though this made her dangerous, it might also draw out whoever was truly in charge.

Having decided this, the next step was where to go.

She had crossed directly through Yi Mountain, taking the fastest route. Now, to reach Heaven Split Canyon, she’d have to circle around the mountain—at least ten li. She considered returning to find Gong Yin, but feared they might miss each other. Better to wait on a necessary route. Gong Yin would definitely cross the mountain to find her, and when they reunited, they could discuss the next step.

Having decided, she followed the direction the soldiers had taken toward the official road outside the mountain. Not far along, she saw the military camp. She suddenly remembered—this was exactly the “three li west” location where Fei Luo had falsely told her to deliver the letter.

So it was a military camp. But where was the tree?

Looking left and right, only the camp’s gate posts were made from two incompletely stripped trees!

She was supposed to hide the letter under the gate posts? Fei Luo was clearly afraid she wouldn’t die fast enough.

She suddenly had another thought—Fei Luo’s instructions must have a reason. It should be a backup plan. If the letter recipient at the cave entrance hadn’t taken the letter and silenced her, then at these gate posts there was also a letter recipient who would silence her after receiving it.

This person should be someone with a certain position in Yi Kingdom’s military camp, someone colluding with the mountain belly chamber’s mastermind, which explained the ability to dispatch soldiers for mountain excavation.

Who was this person?

Jing Hengbo’s curiosity immediately soared. This mountain belly chamber had shocked her tremendously. Such a thing appearing in the Great Wilderness was definitely bad news for the Great Wilderness’s leaders. She had to investigate thoroughly.

Thinking Gong Yin shouldn’t have had time to cross the mountain yet, she memorized the letter’s contents once more and approached the gate posts.

The military camp was surrounded by open ground—anyone approaching could be seen immediately. For Jing Hengbo to get close, she could only use teleportation, flashing in and out, or she’d either be captured or shot dead by the sentries above.

No one was at the gate posts—this was lunch time, the most suitable moment to approach.

Jing Hengbo’s body hadn’t fully recovered. She estimated she could only teleport once or twice a day, so she walked very close to the gate posts before suddenly teleporting and hastily stuffing the letter under a gate post tree.

Just that one flash, and the sentries above had noticed. A sharp shout of “Who!” and arrows were already shooting down!

Jing Hengbo teleported backward, already outside the arrows’ range. She dove into the grass, wanting to hide and see who would first approach those gate posts—that person would be the most suspicious.

Many people rushed out. She was staring with wide eyes when suddenly horse hooves sounded behind her, the ground shaking with quite impressive momentum, apparently a cavalry unit approaching.

She silently cursed the bad timing. The military camp ahead was already alerted, cavalry was approaching from behind, and she was caught in the middle of this wilderness. With teleportation unreliable, where could she run?

Just as her mind raced for solutions, that cavalry approached like a whirlwind, already behind her. She turned around to see the lead rider on a white horse, completely snow-white with gold bells around its neck and red tassels hanging from its head—very magnificent. On the horse, someone stood with arms spread wide in the classic Titanic ship’s bow flying pose, standing against the wind.

The fierce horse galloped wildly, wind lifting her black hair and large red cloak. She remained motionless—her horsemanship was superb.

The moment Jing Hengbo saw that person clearly, she was slightly stunned, thinking who the hell is this, so familiar.

Thinking again, her eyes suddenly froze.

She even forgot to run.

She stared straight-eyed, mouth agape, in the posture of a foolish old woman, staring at that increasingly near person.

On horseback was a woman with slightly curled long black hair, an exquisitely curved figure, pointed chin, upward-slanting eyes flowing with precious light, naturally three parts peach blossom colored, with lips red as fire, brilliant against snow-white skin.

That expression—three parts casual, three parts seductive, three parts sweet, plus one part cunning. The form-fitting red dress tightly outlined her figure. One glance made throats tighten. Her whole person was like a flame, not the searing kind that burns people, but an alluring flame, a galloping flame, a warm flame, burning alone and clamorous at the horizon’s edge, then swept by wind.

Jing Hengbo’s jaw finally dropped.

This this this… isn’t this damn well Jing Hengbo herself?