A moment of silence.

She felt a violent current suddenly arise from her heart, shooting arrow-like through her chest, about to carry blood and scorching fire to shatter this world with a bang.

That current was called anguish and fury, suppressed in the depths of her heart, never willing to face it, pressed down tightly.

She turned around abruptly.

Pei Shu was so startled by her gaze that his hands loosened. He had never seen Jing Hengbo with such eyes.

He was accustomed to her casual indifference, her carefree laughter. He never knew Jing Hengbo could have such wounded, burning eyes.

This gaze burned his heart, making it constrict, his mind going blank.

Jing Hengbo waved her hand, and Pei Shu in his dazed state crashed into the large boulder behind him with a bang.

“Yes! I hate! I hate all of you!” Jing Hengbo pointed at his nose and shouted, “Hate your chauvinism, your tyrannical dominance! Hate your self-righteous cleverness, your arrogance!”

“Jing Hengbo, I…” Pei Shu’s shout hadn’t yet escaped his mouth when with a slap, Jing Hengbo had already stepped mercilessly on his chest, disappeared in a flash, forcibly kicking his words back into his throat.

Pei Shu looked back and saw her bright red silhouette flash once before disappearing into the night.

He turned again and saw that group of people – some turning away, some picking their noses, some watching the show, some crossing their arms, each with a knowing expression yet acting as if it had nothing to do with them.

Looking around again, debris scattered everywhere in chaos, like the defeated, messy mood of this moment.

Pei Shu stood stunned for a long while, then angrily punched the boulder. “She just can’t forget him! I was just one step too late!”

Stone chips splattered on his face, but he didn’t wipe them away. His face was covered in dust, yet his eyes shone fearfully bright, showing no dejection, only full fighting spirit.

He didn’t feel embarrassed. Defeat was only momentary. Throughout Pei Shu’s life, even facing desperate situations, he had never given up. Why fear temporary setbacks?

Tian Qi dusted the ash from his hair and smiled dismissively – the key was in being early or late? That would make Yelu Qi cough up blood.

Across from them, Ying Bai suddenly raised his wine jug in a gesture of comfort.

He said leisurely, “What talk of coming early or late, what talk of insufficient fate. These are all just excuses. Each person in their lifetime has only ever had one right person.”

…

Jing Hengbo’s figure flashed and she appeared at the halfway point of Danling Mountain’s main peak.

She wanted to climb to the summit, to let the wind blow and scatter the scorching anger surging in her heart at this moment.

She greatly disliked today’s emotional loss of control, and even more disliked losing control merely because of that name.

After leaving Emperor’s Song, everyone carefully avoided mentioning that name in front of her. Only she herself knew that person flashed through her heart constantly, and the further forward she went, the more she thought of him.

All the suppression, confusion, resentment, and bewilderment had long since gathered into a massive storm in her heart, swirling restlessly day after day, crashing about everywhere, yet having no outlet.

She wanted an outlet, yet dared not want one, afraid the truth she faced would not be what she guessed, that everything was just her own wishful delusion, which would be enough to make her collapse again.

At this moment, seemingly glorious but actually trapped between precipices front and back, gambling everything on one throw, she had to muster all her strength and courage to continue forward, not giving herself the slightest chance for weakness or surrender.

She didn’t want to experience that heartbreaking agony from that day ever again.

Perhaps suppressed too long, when Pei Shu blurted out that name, blurted out those words, she felt as if she’d been slashed with a knife.

Right at her vital point, as if she could see blood gushing wildly.

She raised her hand, pressed it against her heart, her eyes confused.

Was she imprinted too deeply by that person’s memory on her heart’s tablet, so she refused to let go, refused to let go?

So she kept imagining vainly, imagining that day’s tragic cruelty had hidden reasons, imagining later encounters had ulterior motives. Thus weakly comforting herself.

Perhaps only her former close friends and she herself knew she was someone with deep feelings, so deep that while appearing carefree, she was tender-hearted in her bones.

In the research institute, she seemed to have the broadest interests, liking this today and that tomorrow. However, only those closest to her knew that even watching movies, she only liked the first one she’d loved, and though she’d seen all the world’s wonderful dramas, every few days she’d inevitably dig out her favorite old shows to watch, never tiring of them.

Those dried flowers still fragrant, those initially moving moments from memory that brought tears.

She lowered her head, inserted both hands into her hair, black tresses darkly covering her face.

…

After closing her eyes for a long time, she exhaled as if to expel all the indescribable melancholy from her heart, then raised her head.

The moment she looked up, she suddenly saw below a patch of torchlight, and under the torchlight, two groups of people in confrontation.

She suddenly remembered the Shadow Pavilion matter.

The traitor Lei Shengyu was to support the Three Gates Four Alliances Seven Gangs’ king-killing assembly, while Shadow Pavilion’s loyalists were waiting for Master Mu to return and take charge of the situation. They were now in confrontation.

Her earlier commotion driving away the hawksbill overlords was quite loud. Shadow Pavilion wasn’t far away and should have already heard it. Lei Shengyu, having lost external support, might fight desperately to the death.

She found it somewhat strange – hadn’t Master Mu already returned to Shadow Pavilion? With his status in Shadow Pavilion, shouldn’t Lei Shengyu have been completely defeated the moment he arrived? Why were they still in confrontation?

Could it be the traitors were too powerful and Master Mu couldn’t suppress them?

Her figure flashed as she rushed in that direction.

She appeared behind that group of confronting people, with a mountain wall providing cover in front, and behind the wall was a patch of wasteland.

The confrontation continued ahead with mutual shouting and cursing. She could tell Master Mu hadn’t returned yet.

She felt somewhat uneasy – where had he gone? Calculating the time, he should have arrived by now. Could something have happened on the road? He was disabled…

While thinking this, she was about to get up to search for Master Mu when she suddenly heard footsteps nearby.

She immediately crouched down. Behind this mountain wall grew much tall grass that in the night could adequately conceal her form.

A tall man walked over, his eyes burning bright in the night, seemingly quite anxious as he looked left and right.

Jing Hengbo recognized him as Lei Shengyu.

This was even stranger – why had Lei Shengyu withdrawn from presiding outside to run here?

Lei Shengyu seemed to be waiting for someone, frequently pacing in circles, occasionally peering outside. When he’d turned his third circle, a black-cloaked, hooded figure suddenly appeared behind him.

Jing Hengbo was startled – she’d been watching Lei Shengyu the whole time yet hadn’t noticed how this person appeared!

The newcomer wore a black hooded cloak, his form and appearance completely hidden in the black.

Lei Shengyu also seemed startled, assuming a defensive posture. The newcomer turned his palm, revealing something. Jing Hengbo saw Lei Shengyu’s tense back muscles immediately relax.

She couldn’t see what token the other had shown, but from Lei Shengyu’s reaction, it seemed the two knew each other, and Lei Shengyu had been waiting for him.

“Why are you only coming now!” Lei Shengyu questioned the other somewhat irritably.

The cloaked figure seemed to chuckle, answering, “Had matters to attend to.”

His speech was brief, his voice muffled in the cloak, sounding buzzing and indistinct.

“Enough nonsense,” Lei Shengyu said impatiently. “Since you’ve come, you must be planning to take over, right? Rest assured, I helped you eliminate that person. Now you just need to help me suppress those troublemakers outside, and this Shadow Pavilion will be our domain. How about it?” He licked his lips, looking at the cloaked figure expectantly.

Jing Hengbo’s heart jumped, thinking could this cloaked person be Lei Shengyu’s real puppet master? It seemed the cloaked person had obtained much important information about Shadow Pavilion from Lei Shengyu? And what did that “eliminated” mean? Was Lei Shengyu referring to his earlier attack on Master Mu at Jade Tower’s bathhouse, or had he attacked Master Mu again just now?

Her heart tensed as she held her breath, listening carefully.

“What?” the cloaked person said. “You can’t handle it yourself?”

“It’s all because of Xianyu Qing!” Lei Shengyu said angrily. “When he left, he actually instructed all the hall masters not to accept any large-scale personnel transfers within the halls, and took away the tokens. My manpower isn’t enough to suppress those people and seize power. However, if you help me, the situation would be different.”

The cloaked person said nothing, his black robes fluttering quietly in the wind.

“What exactly are your plans!” Lei Shengyu demanded angrily. “You spent such a huge sum buying Shadow Pavilion’s secrets – wasn’t it to seize Shadow Pavilion? Why do you keep delaying action? Now is the best time – Master Mu has been killed by me, people in the halls are unsettled. If you bring your people and join with me, we just need to kill all the most disobedient ones, and the rest will naturally submit. Then you can be the pavilion master and just give me a position as chief protector.”

“Just chief protector?” the cloaked person said slowly.

“Of course.” Lei Shengyu’s eyes shifted. “Or you could hold all the power alone. Anyway, I’m also tired of this life of fighting and killing in the martial world. Give me another sum of money, I’ll help you deal with the most troublesome ones in Shadow Pavilion, then you be the pavilion master and I’ll take the money and leave. How about it?”

The cloaked person seemed to smile, saying, “Is Master Mu really dead?”

Lei Shengyu’s gaze flickered, but his tone was decisive: “Of course!”

“I want to be pavilion master, but I don’t trust you as protector.” The cloaked person threw something over. “This is your payment. Take your people and go.”

Lei Shengyu caught it warily, looked down, and his expression changed drastically as he exclaimed, “This is…”

Before he could finish speaking, he suddenly felt his whole body grow cold.

It wasn’t ordinary cold, but like countless ice blades instantly piercing his bone marrow, blood, and muscles, freezing them in an instant.

His whole body was ice cold, yet his abdomen suddenly grew hot.

He looked down and saw a flash of snow-white light shooting out from his abdomen, bringing with it a streak of beautiful blood.

So the heat was his own blood…

“You…” His whole body stiff, unable even to fall despite dying instantly, he could only chatter his teeth, desperately forcing out the words he wanted to ask.

The cloaked person lightly beckoned, and that flash of ice and snow flipped and disappeared into his sleeves.

Somehow he was now very close to Lei Shengyu, his voice drifting like a dream.

“Thank you for that palm at Jade Tower bathhouse.”

“You… you are…” Lei Shengyu’s eyes widened in shock, his gaze flooding with astonishment, incomprehension, confusion, pain… like blood gushing wildly.

How was this possible!

He was Master Mu?

But how could Master Mu buy his own secrets?

He had actually sold Shadow Pavilion’s secrets to Master Mu? Then expected Master Mu to help destroy Shadow Pavilion?

Everything he’d done was under Master Mu’s watch?

No, impossible, how could this be, it made no sense…

“Bang.” He fell rigidly to the ground, his eyes wide open even in death, tears of blood slowly flowing from the corners of his split eyes.

His gaze held shock and incomprehension that would never fade.

Why Master Mu would buy his own secrets, why knowing he was a traitor he still brought him to Jade Tower – this answer was destined to remain unsolved even in death…

The cloaked person gazed at his body, brushed his sleeves, and said in an even lighter voice, “Mm, keeping my word – helped you eliminate the traitor.”

With a flick of his finger, Lei Shengyu’s clothes tore apart, and the large-denomination banknotes he kept close to his body, along with what the cloaked person had just given him, all flew into his hands.

The cloaked person pinched the banknotes between his fingers, revealing a hint of mocking cold smile – not a single banknote was missing.

The money paid to buy secrets had been retrieved without losing a cent.

If Lei Shengyu knew this from beyond the grave, he’d probably cough up blood and die again.

The cloaked person casually put away the items and turned to leave.

A figure suddenly flashed, ghostly crashing into his embrace. Cold wind shrieked as a dagger stabbed fiercely toward his chest.

The flowing air from the movement blew apart the shadow’s black hair, revealing Jing Hengbo’s bright black eyes.

The cloaked person jerked backward, but no one in this world could dodge Jing Hengbo’s speed. She had already pressed close to his body, her dagger extending with a sharp sound, taking a tricky angle directly at his ribs.

She didn’t strike to kill, wanting to severely wound this person and hand him over to Master Mu. This person had contacted Shadow Pavilion’s traitor yet killed the traitor – he must have ulterior motives.

His reaction was also astonishingly quick, raising his hand as if guessing her blade’s movement, following her blade light’s trajectory to barely avoid it. The blade tip “slash” tore open his sleeve from wrist straight to shoulder.

Sleeves fluttered, with faint snow-white crystalline fragments scattering out.

Several crystal points fell on her nose tip, ice cold.

She was thunderstruck, her dagger actually stopping mid-air, not knowing whether to strike down.

Broken snow fell scattered, heaven and earth ice cold.

An even colder wind swept past her brow. She suddenly awakened, only then realizing she was still in combat. This moment of distraction was enough for her opponent to kill her ten times!

She hastily retreated in a flash. When she looked up, there was already no one across from her. She quickly turned and saw a flash of black shadow gracefully disappearing into the night.

He merged like night’s shadow into the darkness, leaving only the slightly cool air around.

Jing Hengbo stood stunned for a long while, suddenly feeling her hands go weak as her dagger clattered to the ground.

She looked down at the ground – the wild grass was as usual. She touched her nose tip – it seemed to still have a bit of wet cold, yet also seemed like just an illusion.

The earlier ice and snow seemed like an illusion.

She stood in the night wind, her whole body beginning to tremble slightly, telling herself over and over: No, it’s not so.

She feared a certain truth.

If it were so, then many of her guesses would be overturned.

If this person who contacted traitors with ill intent toward Shadow Pavilion was Gong Yin, then who was the Shadow Pavilion Master Mu who had traveled with her all this way…

If this were true, then she would truly prove she had been fantasizing all along, had been clinging all along, had been pathetically harboring illusions about him all along… How could she be such a cheap, weak person?

More critically, she would feel she had truly gone mad.

On that day of forcing the palace at Emperor’s Song, she had already gone mad!

No… no… There must be many people in this world with ice and snow martial arts who could instantly create ice and snow around them!

Most people from Nine Heavens Gate used ice and snow martial arts. There must be others who had reached this level.

Nine Heavens Gate had long reach and had appeared recently. They probably wanted to intervene in the hawksbill martial world struggle…

It must be so…

She suddenly stood up, chasing in the direction the black shadow had fled – don’t be afraid, don’t let your thoughts run wild there. If you want to know who he is, catch up to him!

Just as she flashed past the mountain wall, she saw a cloaked person washing his hands by a pond at the bottom of a slope ahead.

She was overjoyed, flashed over, drew her dagger, and pressed it directly against his back.

A figure suddenly flashed from the side, raising his palm and shouting angrily, “Who dares ambush!”

The newcomer’s palm force was strong and vigorous. Jing Hengbo was knocked into a flip and landed on the ground. After steadying herself, she saw the other was a tall man with an iron mask on his face.

At this time, the cloaked person had turned around, saying, “It’s you?”

His face bore a silver mask that gleamed, his lips curved in a beautiful arc.

Jing Hengbo was stunned, then said happily, “Master Mu!” Then frowned, “Finally found you. Where did you go? Why are you hiding here? Why aren’t you handling Shadow Pavilion’s affairs over there? Also, why are you dressed like this? You nearly made me injure you by mistake!”

“You ask too many questions. Which one should I answer?” Master Mu smiled. The iron-masked man went over, helped him into a nearby wheelchair, and handed him a towel to dry his hands.

Master Mu casually wiped his hands and handed the towel to the man. Jing Hengbo glanced over without paying attention, then suddenly turned her gaze back.

In that glimpse, she felt something was wrong, but now couldn’t remember what.

“This gentleman is…” she looked at the tall man, also vaguely feeling he was familiar.

“He’s my attendant. We made contact earlier.” Master Mu introduced. The tall man looked somewhat wooden and bowed slightly to her. Jing Hengbo felt it strange but could only smile and nod.

Having traveled this way with Master Mu, their banter and cooperation had become habitual – they were already quite familiar. She very naturally supported his arm, saying, “How are you? Do you need my help with the situation below?”

Master Mu was startled and looked down at her hand. She was also startled. Then Master Mu recovered his composure, covered her hand with his in return, and smiled, “No need. The traitor is dead. The matter below will be easily resolved. I just need to appear – why drag you into it again?”

Jing Hengbo didn’t answer, staring at his hand covering hers in a daze. Master Mu slightly moved his hand away, smiling as he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” Jing Hengbo averted her gaze, withdrew her hand, and said, “I also think our relationship is better kept from public view. As long as you’re certain you can handle it.”

Master Mu’s lips curved in a beautifully arced smile. “Naturally I can. You may rest assured.”

Jing Hengbo felt relieved, leaning against his wheelchair and stretching lazily: “Then I’ll go handle my own affairs… I’m exhausted today…”

She leaned very close, stretching with extremely natural and relaxed posture, as if feeling the person beside her was completely trustworthy. Her pink-white fist stretched right to Master Mu’s cheek. He turned his head to watch intently, looking at her slender figure and the pink-white fist like a flower bud before his eyes.

Seeing her lazy stretch becoming crooked and askew, appearing as if she might fall into his embrace, a gleam flashed in his eyes. He hesitated for a moment, then reached out to encircle her waist, smiling, “Careful not to fall.”

His hand around her waist held three parts strength, retained three parts skill – he could either steady her, push her away, or pull her into his embrace.

Her leaning posture seemed somewhat uncontrolled, truly appearing about to fall into his arms. His eyes showed slight surprise yet flickered with more delight. With a gentle pull of his hand, she was about to tumble into his embrace.

But at this moment, Jing Hengbo gracefully turned, twisting away from his palm and moving behind the wheelchair. Supporting the wheelchair with both hands, she smiled mischievously, “Then we’ll see each other when we have time. My new hall is also very close to your Shangyuan hall… Are you going out? I’ll see you off for a stretch.”

Without allowing him to object, she laughed melodiously and pushed the wheelchair forward.

This was precisely a downhill slope. The wheelchair couldn’t stop its momentum, crushing dead grass as it slid past the mountain wall. The tall man was stunned, saying, “Miss, how did you…” and hurriedly chased after.

She stared at the back of the person in the wheelchair, waiting for him to stand up or make some movement.

But he didn’t stand up. With a resigned attitude toward her prank, even as the wheelchair bumped and slid rapidly downward, he still extended his hand to wave farewell to her.

Her figure flashed as she leaped onto the mountain wall, looking down from above – having pushed Master Mu out, the sound and commotion immediately alerted the Shadow Pavilion people below, and someone immediately went up to investigate.

The wind carried sounds from below in fragments, voices surprised and delighted: “Master!”

“Master has returned!”

The Shadow Pavilion crowd who had been loyal to Master Mu and confronting Lei Shengyu’s subordinates all surged forward, joyfully welcoming their master’s return.

Meanwhile, Lei Shengyu’s subordinates began to flee in panic.

Jing Hengbo stood on the mountain wall, watching the scene below, her expression shifting from confusion to astonishment to confusion and finally to helplessness.

She pounded her head, feeling it must have long since become a tangled mess, yet amazingly she still appeared normal.

Shadow Pavilion’s people would never mistake their master.

He was Master Mu.

But just now…

During their journey together by carriage, he liked and was accustomed to her closeness, yet never actively approached her.

Today he seemed more proactive…

She suddenly gave herself a crisp, loud slap, knocking all the tangled thoughts back into place.

Then she stood up angrily, kicked and cracked the mountain wall, flashed once, and disappeared.

…

Jing Hengbo wandered aimlessly on the mountain path. She didn’t want to return for now, only wanting to feel the mountain breeze and clear her head.

Her mind was twisted into knots, making her irritably pound her head.

Her state after leaving Emperor’s Song was too strange. Often when confronting enemies, she felt herself growing, becoming increasingly clever, but often too she felt herself regressing, all kinds of entanglements and confusion.

Could she have a split personality, or multiple personalities?

A figure suddenly flashed before her eyes, swift as a ghost. Jing Hengbo warily stepped back, “Who!”

Someone in the treetops above loudly asked, “Who!”

The tone and voice were identical.

Jing Hengbo raised her eyebrows, “Come out! Stop playing ghost tricks!”

That voice said identically, “Come out! Stop playing ghost tricks!”

Jing Hengbo flashed toward the treetops above. As she flashed up, the shadow in the treetops flashed down.

Now she stood atop the tree while that shadow stood below, like mirror images.

“Which bastard is mimicking this old lady!” She was in an irritated mood and cursed openly.

“Which bastard is mimicking this old lady!” That shadow put hands on hips and cursed openly.

That posture made her suddenly realize, angrily shouting, “Old immortal, you’re toying with me again!”

The figure parted the long hair covering its face, giggling. Under the moonlight was a face refined and noble, with an expression both comical and roguish.

“Old immortal, what are you doing here?” Jing Hengbo immediately stepped back warily.

“Giving you a grade,” Ziwei smiled, “You’ve completed your final question.”

Only then did Jing Hengbo remember that her final question was indeed to properly play with the hawksbill forces, which she had just completed.

“What grade?”

Ziwei held up one palm, “No more, no less – just passing!”

“Damn, can’t you count!” Jing Hengbo cursed at him, “You came here just to tell me I passed?”

“I’m also telling you,” Ziwei pointed at himself, “I was just mimicking you. What do you think?”

“What do I think?” Jing Hengbo said irritably, “I think you’re mentally ill.”

“You’re the one about to go mental, aren’t you?” Master Ziwei laughed uproariously, highly amused, “I’m telling you, no matter how one mimics, there’s always one real and one fake, right?”

Jing Hengbo narrowed her eyes, thought about it, and snorted coldly.

The old immortal sometimes still spoke in riddles.

“Since I passed, what about the antidote you promised me?”

Master Ziwei looked at her with a smile, “Do you feel you still have poison in your body?”

She’d known for ages! Jing Hengbo rolled her eyes, turned and walked away. She didn’t want to talk more with the old immortal – who knew what terrible thoughts and words he’d come up with next? He might even force her to take another ridiculous test.

Sure enough, just as she lifted her foot, the old immortal said behind her, “I still have another test paper…”

“I won’t do it!”

“Then you don’t want the reward for your high score on the last test?”

“I don’t want it!”

His reward? Did he understand what “reward” meant in this lifetime? Wasn’t his dictionary filled only with the words “father-cheating”?

“But I was planning to tell you where the person you’re looking for is…”

Jing Hengbo suddenly stopped, turning around in disbelief, even her voice changed, “What?”

She stared deadly at the old immortal. She knew the old immortal was also skilled in Ziwei numerology and star chart calculations. She’d always wanted to ask the old man if he knew her identity, if he knew roughly where her three close friends were. Regarding her identity, judging from the old man’s special attitude toward her, he probably had some idea.

But where her three close friends were – this question she’d wanted to ask many times but dared not, not because she feared Ziwei would say he didn’t know, but because she feared Ziwei would tell her those three hadn’t traveled to the same spacetime as her. That would make her collapse.

Deep in her heart, she’d always relied on two beliefs to support her forward: one was to fight back to Emperor’s Song, become a true queen, and trample underfoot all those who had once expelled, harmed, and humiliated her; the other was to fight back to Emperor’s Song, become queen, and use this world’s resources to find her three close friends, make them shout at her: “Queen!”

How many times in midnight dreams, thinking of these two dreams, she’d smiled like winning the lottery.

If she learned she had no hope of winning five million in this lifetime, she wasn’t sure she’d still have the strength to persist.

The old immortal glanced at her expression and smiled very lewdly, looking up at the sky and affectedly saying, “I suddenly don’t want to say anymore.”

“Hehe.” Jing Hengbo lifted her foot and walked away, “I’m going to find Xunru for a heart-to-heart, ask what exactly happened that day and how things went…”

“Aiyo, don’t be so confrontational…” The old immortal waved his hands and chased after her. Jing Hengbo flashed backward just right, crashing into him with a bang, grabbing his collar, “Speak quickly! Otherwise I’ll teach Xunru the Eighteen Dragon-Descending Chrysanthemum-Bursting Techniques! She’ll definitely be very interested in trying them all on you!”

“Not respectful to teachers at all. I’m at least your master, after all.” Master Ziwei brushed away her hand, leisurely straightening his clothes, smiling as he said, “Hey, little Bo’er, it looks like you have hope of becoming this queen. How about giving your master a position as state preceptor?”

“Fine, fine.” Jing Hengbo agreed impatiently, thinking when she founded her nation she’d confer a bunch of state preceptors with him ranked last, making this old immortal bow to everyone!

“The people you’re looking for,” the old fellow spread his arms wide, gazing deeply at the vast starry sky. At this moment he finally looked somewhat like an immortal sage, “are scattered across this continent.”

Jing Hengbo immediately covered her mouth.

Tears of surprise instantly welled in her eyes – her close friends were here! In the same spacetime!

As long as they were in the same spacetime, they could reunite!

For so long, she hadn’t had the chance to search for them, always thinking to look properly after settling down. But deep in her heart, she also feared that during the journey through the black hole, the four of them might have been sucked into different temporal rifts, making them never meet again. And this possibility was very likely to occur in such spatial turbulence.

Heaven had eyes, actually allowing all four people to land on the same continent!

Though ancient transportation was inconvenient, though traveling from one kingdom to another was harder than climbing to heaven, as long as they were on this continent, she would definitely find them!

At this moment she felt grateful to heaven for the first time.

“Where are they all?” She reached out to grab the old immortal again, but he floated away and dodged.

“I don’t know.”

“Go die!” She hastily dug in her pockets, “You’re just extorting, aren’t you? What do you want? I’ll give it. I think state preceptor isn’t high enough rank for you – want to be queen? Want to be queen, wait till I conquer the realm and you can do it…”

“If this old man really wanted to be king, Dahuang wouldn’t have been yours to share decades ago.” Ziwei scoffed, “You’re a heaven-descended one. I only calculated from that day’s star chart that there were several heaven-descended ones in that period, and you originally shouldn’t have come here… So I want to go see who was replaced by you. Incidentally tour outside – I’m tired of looking at Dahuang’s people and scenery.”

Jing Hengbo thought your overseas travel is fake, wanting to avoid Xunru is real, right? At this moment she was too lazy to banter with him, urgently asking, “Which one? Man-woman Little Cake Little See-Through? No matter which, help me find her.”

“I can only see general directions, search according to general directions. And I can only see one – the one who exchanged with you. Only your two star tracks crossed at that time.” Master Ziwei smiled, “As for who it is, how would I know? When I see her, I’ll tell you.”

“Good, good. You go, you go.” Jing Hengbo scratched her ears and cheeks, wishing she could follow him on this trip, but how could she get away now? She could only plead repeatedly, “When you find her, send me word immediately, give her my regards… no wait, what regards? Ask how she’s doing, if she’s doing well. If not well, tell her to come join me – I should be able to cover for them now. If you meet Little Cake, tell her to come quickly help me harm people. If you meet Man-woman, tell her mixing alone she definitely won’t find a husband, come over and I’ll be responsible for marrying her to a man. I have all types here – tough guys, comedians, cross-dressers, drunkards, feminine men, let her choose. If she doesn’t like men and likes fighting, I have fights for her too – fifteen gangs for her to pick from. If it’s Little See-Through, such a silly child will definitely suffer losses, probably mixing very badly, might even end up in jail. Tell her big sister has many fun cute creatures here, even alpacas – she’ll definitely come…”

Before she finished speaking, Ziwei, unable to bear the nagging, had flashed thousands of miles away…

“Hey!” For the first time Jing Hengbo reluctantly chased a few steps, shouting, “You must deliver the message! Otherwise I’ll strangle you with my bra sooner or later…”

The mountain path was silent and empty. She stood still, facing the vast horizon, spreading her arms wide.

Mountain wind swept up her long hair, swaying with the night’s mist.

Her eyes lit up like undying stars in the sky – infinite joy and hope born from finally confirming her close friends still existed.

After the Emperor’s Song palace coup incident, for the first time she felt her whole body burning with heat, full of vigorous heart-fire and strength.

At this moment their existence gave her tremendous hope. As long as there was hope, there was courage to continue the path ahead.

At the foot of the mountain, rainbow lights gradually appeared. Daylight rose inch by inch from beneath her feet, brilliantly illuminating the road ahead inch by inch.

Across vast mountains and boundless sea of clouds, at this moment, they heard her joyful shout.

“Wait for me!”

…

That night when Jing Hengbo returned, Ying Bai, Pei Shu and others originally thought she’d come back with a dark expression. Who knew after going out once, she returned beaming with joy, eyebrows dancing, even her walk seemed to carry wind. They all thought she’d figured things out. Some were happy, some worried. Not mentioning the worried ones, Pei Shu was naturally very happy, thinking that breaking without establishing, his reckless confession of feelings to her, breaking through the demons in her heart – though she couldn’t accept it at the time, after thinking it over properly, she’d finally come around. Wouldn’t his good days be coming?

Pei Shu swept away his dejection, becoming even more attentive and pleased from then on. He consulted with Tian Qi about what gentleness meant – he thought the reason Jing Hengbo hadn’t accepted him was probably because he didn’t understand her considerate nature. Looking around, it seemed Tian Qi was worth learning from in this aspect.

Jing Hengbo had no mind to care about his little schemes. She was now full of energy, wanting to properly establish territory. In case that old immortal Ziwei really brought back one of her sisters, if she, who had already boasted about being queen, didn’t even have a proper palace, she’d be laughed at by three destructive friends for life.

For face, fight!

Queen Jing set out with fierce momentum toward the three counties of Xianqiao, Judian, and Ningjin around Shangyuan City.

While heading to the three counties, she simultaneously uprooted Rakshasa Gate’s halls – she’d obtained the distribution of Rakshasa Gate’s subordinate halls and some basic information from Li Hanyu. As one of Rakshasa’s most valued male favorites and bearing the task of seducing the queen, Li Hanyu possessed more detailed information than ordinary male favorites. Following the list, Jing Hengbo led experts in sweeping raids. Rakshasa Gate was in chaos due to their master’s death and internal power struggles, with nearby gangs wanting to invade – how could they withstand Jing Hengbo’s strong assault? With insider information in hand, Jing Hengbo seized resources faster than others. When uprooting halls, she first killed hall masters and deputy hall masters, then selected experts from those who surrendered, incorporating them into the Titled Colonel’s forces. She then led these newly recruited people to uproot Jade Belt Gang’s halls. Former Rakshasa Gate members who distinguished themselves in attacking Jade Belt Gang halls could keep all the wealth they seized, making them all work very actively.

When Jade Belt Gang’s captives were also recruited in large numbers, they were incorporated under Pei Shu’s command. He named his subordinate forces “Sky Gray Battalion,” reminding himself never to forget his Sky Gray Valley career, never to forget the original enmity between the Golden Tribe and Emperor’s Song.

Jing Hengbo then ordered them to raid Rakshasa Gate’s halls, also letting them keep whatever they seized, fully stimulating these people’s enthusiasm. These Jade Belt Gang members who had been attacked by Rakshasa Gate naturally showed no mercy, sweeping thoroughly and killing without leaving roots. Wherever they passed, blood and fire raged.

Using this cross-attack method, Jing Hengbo advanced rapidly, uprooting eighteen large and small halls of the two gangs and recruiting over two thousand gang members.

It could be said her move was ruthless and decisive, like thunder suddenly appearing. She was like a thunderbolt carrying raging flames, exploding with a thunderous roar, dragging long black-red bloody fire trails behind her.

Either not acting at all, or shocking the world when acting.

With her rampage, snowflake-like documents and letters flew back and forth across the entire hawksbill and Dahuang lands during this period.

“Queen secretly arrived at hawksbill, suddenly appeared at Danling Mountain!”

“Queen at Danling Mountain gathered fifteen gangs, killed Rakshasa Gate master and Jade Belt Gang master, expelled leaders of thirteen gangs!”

“Queen rushed to Shangyuan’s three counties, within seven days uprooted eleven Rakshasa halls and seven Jade Belt halls! Killed seventy-six hall leaders of both gangs, recruited over 2,300 gang members!”

“Queen issued royal decree in Xianqiao, Judian, and Ningjin counties, ordering hawksbill clan leaders to come pay respects, claiming the area within three hundred li around Shangyuan would be her palace site, commanding all fifteen gang forces in this range to withdraw completely within one month!”

…

Lurking all the way, appearing boldly, full of wild dominance, shocking Dahuang.