That thing was soft, elastic, and seemed to still have warmth. Jing Hengbo’s heart jumped as she lowered her head.

By the remnant firelight filtering through the forest, she first saw a terrified face.

The mouth on that face was wide open, as if preparing to shout when death came—whether calling for help or an instinctive scream of agony, but that voice was destined never to be heard in the mortal world again.

Jing Hengbo stared at that familiar face. The young girl was only thirteen, had just had her first menstruation not long ago, officially becoming a young woman. She was the legitimate eldest daughter of a great family, raised in luxury and nobility from childhood, but was abandoned by her family for refusing to become a candidate consort for Floating Water’s Second Prince. The long life in the madhouse had gradually blurred the thirteen-year-old girl’s understanding of worldly affairs and roughened her heart. Even after her first menstruation, she would run around with her pants open until Jing Hengbo cleaned her up. Then the child seemed suddenly awakened, her eyes gradually gaining spirit and brightness. Every morning Jing Hengbo could see her coming to pay respects, and fresh fruits would often appear under her window—all wiped clean. Her clothes were never dirty or messy again. When Jing Hengbo lent her clothes and then gave them to her, she seemed to like them very much and often wore them.

At this moment she was wearing that light pink brocade dress with subtle flower patterns that Jing Hengbo had given away because she found it insufficiently vibrant. Now the dress was very bright—blindingly so—with large patches of blood blooming across the front.

The dress was already torn, ripped from the waist up to the chest, exposing half her bosom. On that still-undeveloped small chest remained several bloody fingerprints.

Jing Hengbo stared at those fingerprints, her whole body’s blood seeming to turn cold as ice, yet in her heart a brilliant red spark exploded with a “poof,” hissing and burning through her lungs.

Beside her, Zuoqiu Mo let out an angry roar: “Despicable!”

Jing Hengbo slowly closed the child’s gaping mouth. May she never again breathe in the turbid winds of this mortal world, in this life or the next.

Pulling the clothes together and tying them with the sash, she continued forward, her heart cold, understanding that some things had already happened.

Sure enough, after a few more steps, she kicked another corpse. This time it was that county princess, the daughter of the Eternal King who had inheritance rights but had abdicated. Most people in this large courtyard had come alone, but this family had brought two people because everyone else in the Eternal King’s mansion was already dead. This was a filial daughter who, while protecting her father during their escape, had not hesitated to sell her body to treat her father’s illness, eventually contracting a venereal disease.

She had not been friendly toward Jing Hengbo, never approaching her. A pair of wary eyes always nervously surveyed the surroundings, as if still immersed in those days of thousand-mile flight with her father, constantly on edge. Now those eyes would never be nervous again—a pool of death’s light fixed in her eye sockets.

She had already matured physically, possessing more charm than that young girl, so her body was even more unbearable to look at—so unbearable that Jing Hengbo couldn’t arrange her clothing to a decent state.

So Jing Hengbo didn’t try to arrange it, stepping over her and continuing forward. Along the way there were indeed corpses everywhere. That shy, timid young man who liked to put a wildflower in her vase and would blush when discovered—he was some county prince’s illegitimate son, framed and exiled in brutal fraternal succession struggles. He had died from a blade through the heart, and the killer had cruelly twisted the blade, completely shredding his heart. The scattered fragments of blood and flesh resembled those red little wildflowers he had loved to bring during those days.

How many heartless people in this world dig out the hearts of those who love life.

All the way down, she kept stopping.

A legitimate wife from some prince’s mansion who had failed in struggles, her blood staining the lush green grass red.

The most excellent and promising scholarly heir of a great family, framed by a jealous stepmother and sent as an experimental subject. Yet fate’s cruelty had no limits—death ended the experiments and also ended the most brilliant years of youth.

An illegitimate son of some marquis unloved by his stepmother, a princess of lowest status born to a palace maid with no title, concubine daughters from great clans, young ladies from wealthy scholarly families who had accidentally lost their chastity and disgraced their family honor… A trail of corpses, a trail of pitiful people. Fate had already cast them into life’s mire, yet just as they were about to crawl out, it covered them again with bloody earth.

These people had shown her hostility and also given her warmth. Just now, she had still been thinking about which of them could be taken out to live ordinary lives.

When Jing Hengbo pushed open the courtyard gate, her heart was completely cold. At a glance, corpses covered the ground. Those glaring reds stabbed into her eyes.

Jing Hengbo stood numbly for a long time before walking through, silently counting once. Except for a very few people, everyone in the entire courtyard was dead.

Actually, from the beginning when she saw that group of people chasing Zuoqiu Mo and learned their identity, Jing Hengbo had had a bad premonition. Floating Water’s secret army, discovering those familiar faces who should have died long ago, could never let them go. In fact, these pitiful people had originally been one of this army’s missions—the Heavenly Net Army, casting nets across heaven and earth to catch the royal family’s escaped fish.

Fate was so ironically coincidental that on this nameless lake-heart island, they had conveniently completed their mission.

Jing Hengbo sat down slowly by the well platform somewhat dazedly. Just yesterday, the women had been washing clothes by the well platform. Just at evening, berries had been growing in the grass beside the well platform. Now that fresh blood and trampled berries were mixed together, no longer distinguishable.

Corpses everywhere, blood and gore filling the eyes—she had seen such scenes many times before, but never had her mood been so desolate.

During this period, living together with these people could be called sharing weal and woe. These losers in struggles for royal power and great family conflicts were mostly kind and weak by nature—otherwise they wouldn’t have failed to such an extent.

Yet the world was cruel—the kind and weak died while the cruel and vicious became kings.

In the night wind, white and bloodied clothes fluttered throughout the garden, mournful as funeral banners.

Rage against the Floating Water royal family suddenly surged in her heart. These fires burned so fiercely in her blood that her face became redder than the firelight.

This was the most cruel and heartless royal family she had encountered in all her travels. Perhaps having eliminated all the good and weak, the remaining people were all selfish and cruel—the Falling Cloud Crown Princess Consort was like this, Floating Water’s Second Prince was like this, and needless to say, the entire Floating Water royal family was like this.

Originally, Floating Water had been unwilling to let her enter their territory, preferring to send selected men and ask her to detour through Falling Cloud. Perhaps they simply didn’t want her to enter Floating Water’s royal capital and discover such a cruel secret of the Floating Water royal family.

Some barriers of fate could neither be overcome nor circumvented.

Behind her came some faint sounds. She suddenly turned around and saw a terrifying face slowly rising from the well opening.

Half the face was already ruined, now also splattered with patches of blood. In this abandoned courtyard full of corpses under the moon, such a human head suddenly emerging was enough to make people scream in fright.

Even Zuoqiu Mo was startled and stepped back half a pace, but Jing Hengbo cried out in surprised delight: “Dong Chi!”

Floating Water’s Divine Martial General Dong Chi, who had half his face destroyed protecting the great king and was also secretly harmed for his overwhelming achievements, still had his martial arts foundation. At the most critical moment, he had hidden in the well to save his life. It was truly difficult for that well, barely over a foot wide, to squeeze in his robust frame.

But Dong Chi’s face showed no joy of surviving disaster—only endless humiliation and distress. Climbing onto the well platform, he silently looked at the corpses covering the ground for a long time before suddenly wiping his face.

The rough man’s ugly face was completely wet.

He said hoarsely: “I should have fought to the death to protect them…”

“That would just be one more dead person.” Before Jing Hengbo could comfort him, a voice coldly interrupted. From the toilet behind Jing Hengbo’s house, a person slowly walked out.

That person had eyebrows like distant green-black mountains, a nose as straight as a jade peak, and a pair of deep, round eyes that gleamed like a wild cat’s in the night.

Jing Hengbo hadn’t expected another survivor. It was that Noble Consort Yun, who looked completely unharmed without even bloodstains on her dress.

Meeting Jing Hengbo’s gaze, she said: “When I heard something was wrong, I hid. Those people searched your house but didn’t think to look behind at the latrine.”

Jing Hengbo let out a long sigh of relief.

Perhaps it was survival of the fittest—the two people who survived were a general with martial arts skills and a favored consort who had originally been adept at court intrigue. Only these two were not pure losers.

However, there was still one more person.

“What about that young man in black?” she asked.

“As soon as the fire started, he went out to investigate and hasn’t returned yet.”

Jing Hengbo always felt that young man in black had a mysterious identity, and couldn’t help asking: “Which noble family is he from? Or royal family?”

Dong Chi shook his head: “Neither. He’s of common birth.”

Jing Hengbo was somewhat surprised.

“We group of people didn’t know each other originally. After escaping from palaces and families respectively, we received his help. He gathered us together and found ways to escape Floating Water, bringing us all the way here. We only know he’s called Zhongli Zhi, an ordinary commoner from Floating Water whose family also practiced medicine. It’s said he was enemies with Floating Water’s Medical Saint and had once been poisoned from competing in medicine with the Medical Saint, which is why he saved a group of people like us.”

Zuoqiu Mo suddenly said urgently: “Those people are still on the island!”

Jing Hengbo turned her head and saw a large group of black shadows flashing across the hillside ahead.

The island wasn’t small but wasn’t large either. This group had discovered their must-kill targets and acted—they definitely wouldn’t leave hastily but would comb through the entire island like a fine-toothed comb, leaving no survivors.

Jing Hengbo thought of Yelu Qi still receiving poison treatment at Qiu Jinfeng’s place and immediately became anxious. She said to hide well and that she would come to escort them later.

But several people followed closely. Noble Consort Yun said: “Floating Water’s Heavenly Net Army always kills to eliminate all traces when they kill. At this point, only by staying together do we have a chance to live. If you don’t mind me being a burden, take me with you!”

Dong Chi said: “I’m relatively familiar with Floating Water army methods and might be able to help you.”

Jing Hengbo nodded. At this time, abandoning them was impossible. As for whether taking these two would provoke the Floating Water royal family’s hostility, she couldn’t worry about that much.

Dong Chi carried Noble Consort Yun on his back, Zuoqiu Mo took hold of Dong Chi, and Jing Hengbo led the way as they all swept toward the island’s east side.

Just after leaving the courtyard and entering the forest, they heard the urgent sound of wind nearby and footsteps swishing past. The group immediately crouched down, hiding in grass that still retained the smell of smoke and fire.

Someone above was asking in a cold, cruel voice: “The courtyard has been dealt with?”

“Reporting to the general, we’ve screened through everything once.”

“What’s the situation on this island?”

“The island’s south side has no living people. There are still several households on the east side. We just interrogated them—they’re the island master and his subordinates. These people are skilled in medicine but have no martial arts.”

“Excellent.” That leader let out a sinister laugh: “Since there are no experts, we don’t need to sneak around anymore. Squad A, you return to the great courtyard and cut off all the heads to bring back to the royal capital for rewards. Heaven protects us—we’ve coincidentally completed this mission. Even if we let Zuoqiu Mo escape, it’s still a great achievement. Remember, all heads—check them against the roster. Not one less will do. The rest, follow me to the island’s east side. Since this island master dared to harbor our Floating Water’s traitorous rebels, we’ll exterminate his entire household!”

“Yes!”

Jing Hengbo raised her head. The moonlight was dim, and above were ferocious faces.

Corpses lay beside them—she didn’t know whose they were. A squad of soldiers quickly charged down to turn over corpses and cut off heads for rewards.

Without question, they would immediately rush to their side.

Zuoqiu Mo’s hand was already on her blade hilt. Jing Hengbo pressed down her hand and waved her own.

The corpse beside them suddenly flew up, directly pouncing at a soldier charging down.

That soldier was rushing down the slope, his eyes already fixed on a corpse, when suddenly he saw that blood-soaked corpse float up and pounce at him.

In midair came faint, eerie whispers: “Give… back… my… life…”

Under the dim moonlight, the corpse with half its head askew seemed to be grinning hideously.

The soldier screamed “Ah!” and turned to run.

The commotion on his side immediately startled the Heavenly Net Army preparing to go to the island’s east side to kill people. That leader suddenly turned around and saw several human figures flash into the great courtyard under the moonlight among the trees.

Without time to think, he immediately roared loudly: “There are fish that escaped the net—chase them!”

Jing Hengbo grabbed Zuoqiu Mo with one hand, Zuoqiu Mo grabbed Dong Chi who was carrying Noble Consort Yun, and they flashed back toward the great courtyard.

“Why are we going back there?” Zuoqiu Mo’s voice was full of confusion. She felt that with the enemies going to the island’s east side, they should take advantage of the chaos to escape.

Displeasure flashed in Noble Consort Yun’s eyes, but she bit her teeth and said nothing.

Jing Hengbo didn’t answer, only glancing back at the island’s east side during intervals in their flashing movement.

She had to first draw away these troops to buy time for Qiu Jinfeng to treat Yelu Qi.

How were they doing over there now?

…

Gong Yin stood by the window.

Behind him, Qiu Jinfeng kept asking: “Are you willing?”

His voice was full of certainty, carrying some small, vindictive satisfaction.

But Gong Yin wasn’t listening. He was thinking about Jing Hengbo, about her disheveled hair just now, her face covered in sweat, her slightly reddened eye circles.

She truly valued Yelu Qi’s life highly.

She had always valued relationships and loyalty. Having received others’ kindness, she was willing to repay it with all her strength. Yelu Qi’s protection all the way from Di Ge, his never leaving her side during her most difficult moments—for Jing Hengbo, this was undoubtedly one of the greatest warmths she could never forget in her lifetime.

If Yelu Qi died, she would be heartbroken.

He couldn’t bear to see her heartbroken.

That time at Di Ge Plaza when he severed their relationship with one blade, the despair in her eyes at that moment made him wish he could die instead.

In the Empress’s underground palace, carrying her all the way in escape, hearing her voice empty and lifeless, he felt as if his own vitality was instantly extinguished.

At their final parting before the city gates, she laughed loudly while vomiting blood, her expression carefree but her eyes showing desperate grief. Similarly, he silently gazed, swallowing mouthful after mouthful of blood.

In all those moments he had felt fear, afraid that the harsh medicine was too harsh, that heartbreak would damage her heart and lungs, leaving her never to recover, completely sinking into despair.

He had seen her heartbreak and didn’t want to see it again.

My love, I wish you no harm.

“Hahaha, I knew you wouldn’t agree…” Behind him Qiu Jinfeng laughed mockingly.

“Let’s begin.”

Qiu Jinfeng’s laughter stopped abruptly. He stared at Gong Yin in shock and uncertainty: “What did you say?”

“There are troops on the island,” Gong Yin turned around. “Find a secure place and hurry.”

Qiu Jinfeng stared at Gong Yin incredulously, but was forced by Gong Yin’s gaze not to look further. He hurriedly prepared medicines and instruments, muttering while bustling about: “Madman, this is also a madman…”

He suddenly cried out “Aiya!” and said: “I still need a skilled assistant! But my old servant was kidnapped by the queen!”

Suddenly there was wind in the courtyard as someone burst in. Gong Yin’s gaze turned cold, but Qiu Jinfeng had already rushed over, calling urgently: “Don’t kill him—he’s one of us!” He pulled the person in with a beaming smile: “Hey! How could I forget you? Zhongli, you’ve come at just the right time. Help me out.”

It was indeed that young man in black, covered in sweat. Not bothering to ask who Gong Yin was, he said urgently: “Floating Water troops have landed on the island! They’re killing people in the ghost courtyard! You need to leave quickly!”

Qiu Jinfeng was stunned, then glared angrily at Gong Yin: “It’s all your fault, breaking the island’s formations and letting those damned people in!”

“We’ll discuss right and wrong later,” Gong Yin remained unmoved. “First save the person.”

Qiu Jinfeng glanced toward the ghost courtyard, then at Yelu Qi, and sighed: “I can’t save those people now. Let’s first save this one in front of us… Zhongli, do me a favor and move this person to the inner chamber.”

The young man in black looked at Yelu Qi, his gaze flickering as he said: “Alright.”

“Wait.” Gong Yin suddenly said: “Who is this?”

“My friend, a family friend,” Qiu Jinfeng said. “Also from a medical family. That group of people in the back courtyard were all saved by him. He’s been here for three or four years—trustworthy in any case. I need a surgical assistant now and can’t delay, so don’t ask more questions.”

The young man in black said coldly: “Brother Qiu, I feel that your secret chamber is so precious—are you really going to open it for this stranger?”

“He broke all the island’s mechanisms. Do you think that secret chamber’s mechanisms could really stop him?” Qiu Jinfeng smiled bitterly, opening a door in the wall and asking the young man in black to help carry the person in. While preparing medicines and instruments, he said smugly: “I haven’t had a chance to cut open a living person’s belly for a long time…”

The young man in black snorted coldly and shook his head.

The secret chamber’s doorway was somewhat narrow. When the young man in black squeezed in, Gong Yin suddenly said “Be careful” and reached out to support his shoulder.

The young man in black instinctively stepped aside, but because the space was narrow he couldn’t avoid it. He turned around, and Gong Yin’s expression showed no change as he calmly returned his gaze.

The two men’s eyes met and immediately separated. Then Qiu Jinfeng impatiently pushed both of them inside: “What are you dawdling at the doorway for! Hurry!”

The door slowly closed.

Faintly came the young man in black Zhongli’s admiring voice: “Brother Qiu, your secret chamber truly encompasses everything. Today I finally get to open my eyes…”

And Qiu Jinfeng’s helpless yet proud laughter: “Sorry, clan rules restrict this—the secret chamber shouldn’t be entered by outsiders. It’s just that this island will soon be gone, and I need to pack up my treasures and flee quickly. Since I need your help anyway, it doesn’t violate rules for you to see it now…”

…

Jing Hengbo played hide-and-seek with the Heavenly Net Army in the courtyard full of corpses.

She had already had Zuoqiu Mo take Dong Chi and Noble Consort Yun over the courtyard’s high wall into the neighboring bamboo building where Yelu Qi had stayed. The bamboo building had collapsed halfway—the Heavenly Net Army must have already searched it earlier, so hiding there again would be safe for the short term.

She stayed in the courtyard herself, and then the Heavenly Net Army’s night of terror began.

Holding weapons and carefully searching forward, suddenly corpses lying on the ground would bounce up and crash into their arms.

Having finally shaken off the one in their arms, a ghostly shadow would leap out from behind a tree and suddenly strangle their neck.

After throwing off the one around their neck, there would be a bang overhead and sharp pain. Looking up, a corpse would flip through the air and fall down, head-to-head with their own, its eyes that wouldn’t close in death staring directly at them.

The damage caused by these corpses was limited, but the psychological trauma was shocking. Even more deadly was that these corpses were already ugly to begin with, and their post-death state exceeded the limits of human imagination. Those ferocious faces stained with dripping blood, those half black-and-white faces with protruding pale fangs, those severed limbs dripping pus, swaying back and forth before their eyes—the entire courtyard echoed with eerie, low, chattering laughter, seeming present yet absent. From sound to smell to sight, it comprehensively drove people mad.

Soldiers kept throwing down their weapons and running out wildly, terrified into long howls all the way.

People who had killed countless others, no matter how tough, had weak hearts inside. The remaining people, under their leader’s guidance, advanced step by step, sweating profusely. The scene before them was too incredible—they suspected those corpses were being pushed out and hung up, yet the corpses had no ropes or strings. Corpses ten feet away would riot simultaneously with those right in front. Some began to regret why they had killed so many people earlier. With the courtyard full of corpses, any one could suddenly become violent, requiring constant vigilance. Everyone’s foreheads dripped with sweat as they wondered whether this was ghostly haunting or experts hidden in the shadows. There would have to be more than one expert—one person couldn’t use internal power to manipulate so many corpses at such distances. If the experts were so formidable, why didn’t they show themselves and attack?

There was only one expert, now also sweating profusely.

Using one mind for multiple purposes, simultaneously manipulating many heavy objects like corpses from multiple positions, was extremely mentally taxing. Jing Hengbo’s ability to use one mind for multiple purposes had been trained by Master Ziwei at Seven Peaks Mountain. The technique was fine, but this was the first time using it on such a large scale.

She couldn’t hold out much longer either.

Worse still, she was now caught in a dilemma. She needed to protect herself and those few people, but also feared the scene was too terrifying, making these people fearful and causing them to abandon the attack and instead trouble Qiu Jinfeng on the island’s east side. If this happened to coincide with the critical moment of Qiu Jinfeng treating Yelu Qi, that would be too terrible.

Using these corpses to block the Heavenly Net Army’s path was somewhat disrespectful, but she thought those dead people would certainly be willing.

Things always develop in the most unfavorable direction. That leading general, after being repeatedly crashed into by corpses and nearly having his nose bridge broken, finally stopped and roared angrily: “Why waste time fighting these dead people! Retreat! Pour oil on the corpses and burn them! Burn them to ash and see how they can still scare people!”

The soldiers felt as if granted amnesty and immediately retreated, pouring fire oil on the corpses, tearing off flammable materials, and throwing torches from a distance.

Once they withdrew from the courtyard, Jing Hengbo could no longer manipulate corpses to frighten people. Fire had already started in the courtyard, so she had to flash into the well to avoid the thick smoke and flames.

Outside, the Heavenly Net Army stood on the hillside, surrounding the courtyard from their high position. Watching the wooden houses being engulfed in flames and seeing that those corpses didn’t come back to life, they all breathed sighs of relief and laughed heartily.

After laughing for a while, they were still somewhat shaken and didn’t want to continue killing in this ghostly place. The leader waved his hand: “Let’s go to the island’s east side and kill and burn them all!”

The soldiers responded with a roar and turned to leave.

Jing Hengbo climbed out of the well. Her physical strength wasn’t depleted, but she felt mentally weakened and couldn’t move for a moment. Leaning against the well’s edge to rest, her eyes frequently looked toward the island’s east side.

After dragging this out for most of the night, how were they doing now?

…

In the secret chamber behind Qiu Jinfeng’s study, equipment was complete and quite a few books with ancient covers were stored—clearly this was also where Qiu Jinfeng conducted experiments. There was a special long table.

The secret chamber was now very cold with very bright lighting. Gong Yin’s ice ability played a great role, refracting the lamplight to make it incomparably bright, while the temperature drop could kill germs.

However, once the temperature became too low, it would also affect Qiu Jinfeng’s movements. So Gong Yin had to both care for Yelu Qi—protecting Yelu Qi’s vital energy and forcing out the blood poison according to Qiu Jinfeng’s requirements—while also sending some vital energy to Qiu Jinfeng to maintain his body temperature.

Qiu Jinfeng wore white cloth around his head, white silk over his mouth, and spotless white gloves. His entire body was immaculate. Once he began treatment, he spoke no idle words, only occasionally making eye signals to Zhongli to pass various instruments. Sometimes he would glance at Gong Yin with quite surprised eyes.

His surprise was that Gong Yin seemed very familiar with the poison affecting Yelu Qi. The way true energy circulated when expelling poison was even more ingenious than his own arrangements.

He was also very worried—ordinary experts couldn’t sustain such enormous true energy expenditure. If they failed halfway, it would be terrible. Time passed bit by bit. He felt Gong Yin’s complexion didn’t look good, but Gong Yin’s face was originally very pale—always with the refined pallor typical of nobility. He really couldn’t judge how this person actually felt.

Qiu Jinfeng’s movements were very efficient. After an hour and a half, he began suturing Yelu Qi’s wound and signaled Zhongli to bring over a plate containing extremely thin willow-leaf scalpels, scissors, and a row of needles of various sizes, all boiled in medicinal water.

At this point the internal power could be withdrawn. Qiu Jinfeng breathed a sigh of relief—this iceberg had finally persevered.

He signaled Gong Yin to let go. Gong Yin’s movement of letting go was somewhat slow and stiff. Qiu Jinfeng noticed a blue aura suddenly flash across his face.

This was a sign of true energy going astray. Qiu Jinfeng was startled and was about to speak a warning when suddenly from the corner of his eye he glimpsed that one of the silver needles on the plate had the wrong color—it seemed to be turning blue.

He momentarily thought his eyes were playing tricks and instinctively lowered his gaze.

That needle suddenly flashed up, brushed past his nose tip, and shot straight at Gong Yin’s throat!