Jing Hengbo was startled and could no longer concern herself with romance. She hurriedly rushed to open the door. As soon as it opened, someone leaning against the door softly collapsed inward, still trying to control his body to avoid Jing Hengbo. She caught him with one hand and, taking a closer look at his blood-and-sweat-covered face, exclaimed, “Tie Xinze!”

Tie Xinze breathed rapidly, struggling with difficulty in her hands. Jing Hengbo helped him into the room, saying, “Don’t rush, don’t rush. Sit down first and speak slowly.” She felt uneasy, wondering how Tie Xinze, who was after all a ruler of a nation, could end up in such a sorry state.

A hand reached over, taking Tie Xinze from her hands and settling him in a chair. Gong Yin frowned slightly, looking down at Tie Xinze and asking, “What happened?”

“How are you here…” Tie Xinze was also somewhat surprised. He glanced at Jing Hengbo and showed a knowing smile, then said, “Something happened to Daimao. I originally brought people to rush to the Shang Kingdom to participate in the Talent Gathering Conference. On the way, I encountered people from Daimao coming to report. I was about to bring them along when we were pursued by people of unknown identity—all the way to the Shang Kingdom’s capital. They must be from the Three Alliances, Four Gates, Seven Gangs, and Thirteen Protectors. They wanted to silence us on the road. My guards were killed during the pursuit. I barely managed to support myself to get here.” He took a heavy breath. Jing Hengbo hurriedly offered a cup of water, but before she could hand it over, Gong Yin took it and gave it to Tie Xinze.

Jing Hengbo looked at him with exasperation and stepped back to listen to Tie Xinze explain the specific situation. Shortly after Pei Shu left, something seemed to have happened within Shangyuan Palace. Not long after, Sanshui County suffered a fire that nearly destroyed the palace Jing Hengbo was building. Then people from the Fifteen Gangs approached Pingsha Town on the outskirts of Xianqiao County and had a close combat with the Hengji Army stationed there. Ming Yan’an also left the city at this time, attacking from both inside and outside. The Hengji Army was newly established and leaderless—not only was Jing Hengbo absent, but even Ying Bai and Pei Shu were away. Though they had a group of capable subordinates under Pei Shu and titled lieutenants, they ultimately lacked strong command and were forced to contract their battle line. Now all 300,000 soldiers and civilians were squeezed into a large fortress in Jujian County, surrounded day and night by the Fifteen Gangs and Shangyuan armies. The fortress originally had insufficient grain, and after so many days, it was probably about to run out.

After listening, Jing Hengbo pushed open the door. Outside, Pei Shu and Yélu Qi were already properly dressed, ready to travel. Yu Wuse had even had horses brought over, wearing an expression of joy at sending away plague gods while trying to conceal it.

An hour later, Qi Sha and others arrived, also dressed for travel. They happily presented their treasures, telling her how much they had squeezed from their new clients—enough to arm the army to the teeth and bite a hole right through that old fox Ming Yan’an.

Jing Hengbo couldn’t help but smile, thinking that no matter how much trouble there was, with such a group of close friends, the world was vast and could be traversed. There was no need for many words—they packed up and set off. After Pei Shu mounted his horse, he reached out and lifted Yu Wuse, who was standing by the roadside with a joyful, fawning expression seeing them off, onto his horse.

Yu Wuse’s screams scattered throughout the entire Shang Kingdom palace.

“Ahhh, why do you have to take me? I haven’t had enough fun being the master of Shang Kingdom…”

Pei Shu, with nowhere to vent his pent-up anger, gave him a resounding knock on the head.

“Taking you back to marry Big-Butt Wang Chrysanthemum!”

…

Swift horses galloped across the vast wilderness.

A convoy followed far behind Jing Hengbo’s group, all the way to the Shang Kingdom border.

Jing Hengbo looked at those snow-white alpacas and nudged Yélu Qi with her lips, “Not going to say goodbye to her?”

Yélu Qi looked back. At the front of that convoy, someone in a carriage lifted the curtain and looked out.

Their eyes met—his gaze was deep and mysterious, flowing and swift like bottomless rushing water.

Her eyes were bright, steady, and brilliant, like deep autumn waters, nearly eternal still waters running deep.

A momentary encounter stirred waves, then flowed against the current.

He smiled slightly, the smile spreading from his eyes to the corners of his lips—boundless spring colors adorning this desolate land, greening these distant corners of the world, yet not lingering anywhere in particular.

She also curved her lips, glancing at Jing Hengbo beside him, then at the masked Gong Yin beside Jing Hengbo, sighing slightly in her heart as she made a gesture meaning “farewell for now, until we meet again.”

She had remained calm throughout, showing no signs of reluctance, but her movement to lower the curtain was swift.

Jing Hengbo watched Ji Wen’s convoy change direction toward the Ji Kingdom highlands, feeling somewhat melancholy. She had a good impression of Ji Wen and felt bad seeing the hope in her eyes covered by helplessness.

Ji Wen left but left behind a group of alpacas—gifts she left for the Black Water Queen according to their agreement. If she inherited the Ji Kingdom in the future, she would expand trade with Jing Hengbo regarding alpaca usage.

These alpacas cultivated by the Ji Kingdom over many years were formidable—cold-resistant, heat-resistant, good at carrying loads and running, fierce yet obedient to their masters. Jing Hengbo even considered forming an alpaca heavy cavalry unit.

Tie Xinze also joined them on the road. There was no need to participate in the Shang Kingdom’s Talent Gathering Conference anymore. The noble guests from various countries would leave in succession. Tie Xinze needed to return to his territory, saying he would rally the Chentie armies to assist Jing Hengbo.

At the Shang Kingdom border, Jing Hengbo acquired an alpaca convoy. Then, near the Yi Kingdom border, Yi Qi and Qi Yi escorted Yu Wuse back to the Jade Queen still in Yi Kingdom, delivering a Solid Foundation Pill. This exchanged for the Jade Queen’s friendship and help, and delivered Gong Yin’s letter to Yi Kingdom’s new king Yi Shan, bringing back a batch of troops from Yi Kingdom as reinforcement.

When passing the Chentie border, Jing Hengbo could see from afar a somber iron-black line stretching endlessly across the horizon. Before getting close, a solemn and fierce aura assaulted them.

Pei Shu was very nervous because of this, personally leading people to scout ahead. Soon he signaled safety.

Several fast horses galloped over with Pei Shu—all sharp-faced generals who first saluted Tie Xinze, saying they were late to welcome the king, then successively saluted Jing Hengbo and others. Only then did Jing Hengbo learn these were Chentie armies that had received advance notice and were waiting at the border to receive Tie Xinze.

Tie Xinze also seemed relieved. After asking about domestic conditions and being told all was well, he immediately pointed to Jing Hengbo and said, “You need not follow this king back to the country. Later, go directly with the queen to Daimao.”

Jing Hengbo was shocked. The Chentie army before her was magnificent and imposing, with flags like a forest. The soldiers had iron-like faces, moved in unison, and wore dull black knives made from the finest chentie iron unique to the Chentie tribe. Clearly this was the Chentie tribe’s most elite army, numbering a full ten thousand.

This favor was too great. She hurriedly declined, but Tie Xinze smiled at her sincerely.

“I was able to obtain the Chentie kingship fundamentally because of you. Besides,” his smile suddenly carried a hint of shyness, “I also hope to have a share of credit in Daimao’s victory. Thus, I can use this to propose marriage to Zirui. The queen wouldn’t disagree, would she?”

Under the sunlight, his smile was bright, seeming to condense all the world’s purity.

“Marriage is Zirui’s own decision,” Jing Hengbo smiled and shrugged. “But as long as you two are compatible, I certainly won’t be a mandarin duck beater.”

“I’ll escort you to the Daimao border,” Tie Xinze said, “to help you understand and use this army, then I’ll return home.”

Jing Hengbo instinctively looked back at Gong Yin, but he completely avoided her gaze. She could only smile and gratefully accept.

Strangely, since leaving, Gong Yin, Pei Shu, and Yélu Qi didn’t engage in their routine jealousy-tasting competition this time. The three ignored each other but had a tacit understanding—none offered opinions on her affairs, letting her make all decisions autonomously. Even Pei Shu, who usually loved directing her affairs, seemed exceptionally cooperative this time, acting as if he wanted to help her establish authority.

Jing Hengbo had the strange feeling that the three men were competing to see “who was more sensible”…

The convoy kept growing. During travel, some people of unknown origins joined—mostly silent and unremarkable. Jing Hengbo had been briefed by Gong Yin and Yélu Qi not to worry about them, so she pretended not to notice. They were probably just secret subordinates of Gong Yin and Yélu Qi.

The entire convoy was still dominated by the Chentie army. The Yi Kingdom army couldn’t arrive so quickly—Jing Hengbo planned to use them as backup.

Watching her convoy grow daily should have felt good, especially when racing thousands of miles back to rescue her foundation. But somehow, whenever Jing Hengbo looked around at the black, silent Chentie soldiers who noiselessly cooked or marched, she felt uneasy and oppressed. Those soldiers whose armor and knives had no gleam seemed like ghostly shadows, silently disappearing ahead and silently appearing at unknown times.

She thought this was her particular sensitivity, but once she saw Yong Xue standing on a high slope, looking down thoughtfully. She walked over to stand beside Yong Xue, only to discover that below the slope, the group of Chentie soldiers was bathing.

Silently bathing.

A large group of several hundred people bathing in a river, all performing the same action—silently scooping water to bathe, up, down, up, down…

No water sounds, no clamor, no laughing or playing. If not standing above watching personally, one wouldn’t even sense several hundred people below.

Jing Hengbo couldn’t help but shiver—this feeling was indescribable. Like watching a silent film through a screen—you only knew the actions but couldn’t determine the characters’ inner states. Or like seeing a group of non-living things with human bodies but no human vitality, not even souls.

She remembered watching TV in her previous life—military camps had strict regulations but wouldn’t extinguish soldiers’ spirit. When soldiers bathed, it was the time that best displayed masculine wildness. Not making noise would be almost impossible.

Hundreds of men bathing, two women secretly watching, yet they felt chilled to the bone.

She heard Yong Xue murmur, “No sound…”

Jing Hengbo had never thought that no sound could be so terrifying.

She couldn’t remember seeing such an army before, nor could she imagine what kind of person would train such an army.

As if guessing her thoughts, a voice behind her said, “This army is called the Silent Army. I didn’t train them.”

Jing Hengbo turned to see Tie Xinze and Gong Yin standing behind her with hands clasped, also watching the army below.

Tie Xinze’s expression was grave with hints of pride. Gong Yin maintained his usual distant, aloof appearance, as if no one was in his eyes—only Jing Hengbo swaying gracefully.

However, his complexion didn’t look good. He glanced at the hundreds of naked men below, then at Jing Hengbo.

Jing Hengbo paid no attention to his gaze. Her thoughts were entirely on Tie Xinze’s words.

“This army naturally wouldn’t be trained by you—you’ve been at Dige. But why is it called the Silent Army?”

“The silent army,” Tie Xinze said. “Their knives are made from the finest chentie iron. Chentie produces the best iron. This iron’s characteristic is having no light and no sound.”

“No sound?”

“Weapons forged from it—as long as the knife and scabbard are of the same quality—make no sound when drawn or sheathed. Plus it has no gleam, always one with darkness.” Tie Xinze smiled. “This effect sounds useless but is most suitable for armies executing secret missions. You know many assassination plans fail because of sounds. The more people, the more sounds. So this army is also our Chentie’s most secret assassin army. You know assassins usually work alone and can’t act in large groups. Once assassins form gangs, they can cause disasters. So the former king took a unique approach, wanting to establish an assassin army. Each person’s weight, equipment, martial arts, and weapons have requirements. To match the knives’ silence, people must also practice not making any sound at any time. Over time, it became habit.”

“Wouldn’t such an army be most convenient for assassinating their own people?” Jing Hengbo said casually.

Tie Xinze’s expression sharpened, then he smiled. “The queen is right. I didn’t think of that. I was anxious and requested the most elite army from home—the Silent Army is the most elite. Now thinking about it, this army was established by the former king and has always hidden at the border for secret training, only obeying successive kings. I’ve only recently taken the throne and haven’t familiarized myself with this army yet. Summoning them so rashly seems inappropriate.”

“Ah, this is your kindness. I was just speaking casually—please don’t overthink it.” Jing Hengbo felt embarrassed. Questioning someone’s army loyalty to their face was taboo. Only someone as tolerant and gentle as Tie Xinze wouldn’t mind.

“Don’t worry.” Tie Xinze pointed to the soldiers’ clothing and armor piled on the grass. “Their armor has special designs. Whenever I wish, I can make them produce sound. Their silence is useless before us.”

Jing Hengbo nodded. Only then did she notice Gong Yin’s complexion looked off. She quickly said goodbye to Tie Xinze and went down the slope, hearing Gong Yin casually say, “Good-looking?”

“Ah?”

Gong Yin seemingly casually glanced below.

Only then did Jing Hengbo remember what she’d just done—watching a group of men bathe.

“Ah, not sure if they’re good-looking. Maybe better than you, maybe not as good as you. Want to practice and compare?” She smiled, propping her chin and glancing at him left and right.

She loved seeing him jealous because when jealous, the deity who usually seemed otherworldly would suddenly seem to descend to earth, finding earthly essence.

This also reassured her—reassured her that this was her boyfriend, with consideration, care, and also jealousy and arguments, beginning like all couples in the world and achieving results like all destined couples.

Gong Yin seemed not to hear her words, calmly walking past her. Jing Hengbo had just pursed her lips when she heard him suddenly say, “Tonight, together, how about it?”

“Ah?” Jing Hengbo nearly reached for her ears.

“Yesterday you seemed to say your back itched.” Gong Yin pointed to her back, still with that holy, calm expression. “Don’t want me to scrub your back?”

“Ah?” Jing Hengbo experienced intermittent deafness again. After being stunned a while, Gong Yin didn’t wait for her and strode away. It took Jing Hengbo a long time to react. She shrieked “Ah!” and lifted her skirt to chase after him.

Hundreds of men in the river silently raised their heads, seeing on the high slope the gorgeous woman lifting her skirt, running and shouting wildly.

The wind carried her voice across the entire slope.

“Hey hey hey wait up! That, I am really itchy… remember tonight, tonight ah… words count ah… no more tricking people ah… I’m really really itchy ah…”

Hundreds of people silently listened, silently looked at each other, silently looked at Jing Hengbo again, then silently lowered their heads and splashed cold water on their important parts…