Zuoqiu Mo, Meng Potian, Ji Wen and the others had been waiting in an alley outside the royal city plaza to provide support for Jing Hengbo’s group.

The women had different personalities and weren’t conversing with each other. Zuoqiu Mo wiped her blade, Ji Wen stared motionlessly at the royal city, Yong Xue groomed Feifei’s fur, and Meng Potian sat alone to one side, looking up at the deep starry sky.

Yong Xue occasionally glanced at Meng Potian, feeling that she had been acting strangely lately.

Since entering Luoyun, Meng Potian had gradually lost her former lively and bold spirit, often sitting alone on rooftops in a daze. Jing Hengbo and the others didn’t disturb her – others couldn’t help with such matters of the heart.

Yong Xue felt Meng Potian had something weighing on her mind. Her eyes always held an uncertain, searching expression.

Meng Potian gazed up at the starry sky, knowing Yong Xue was watching her but having no mind to care. Dense questions circled in her heart, still without answers.

Her mind repeatedly replayed that night when she first entered Luoyun – the small tavern in the light rain. She had been drunk when someone went to help her, and as they reached out, a small pill slipped into her sleeve.

She remembered that person whispering in her ear: “This pill can resolve all of the young lady’s unattainable worries.”

She had instinctively wanted to throw the pill away, but the thing dissolved like ice chips in her palm. Looking again, there was no trace except her palm seemed slightly red.

Her head had been spinning then. Unconsciously glancing around, she saw a man coming downstairs whose gait was particularly strange.

This was just a fleeting glimpse. Afterward she got drunk, remembered seeming to talk a lot with Jing Hengbo, then passed out completely. When she woke up, she was in the inn room.

Jing Hengbo’s guards told her she had gotten drunk, as had Pei Shu, who was in the room next to hers. Once both sobered up, they would return to camp together.

Listening to this, she felt unbearably restless inside, wanting to kick down Pei Shu’s door and have a proper talk with him.

Or perhaps she didn’t want to talk at all. It was as if a demon burning with molten lava raged inside her heart, charging and roaring, wanting to incinerate herself and everything around her to feel satisfaction.

This feeling didn’t occur constantly, only during intense emotions, especially when seeing Pei Shu – it was hard to control. That night, if Jing Hengbo’s guards hadn’t been stationed outside the door, she might have actually charged in.

She felt something was wrong and afterward tried to avoid Jing Hengbo and Pei Shu. She discovered that even just seeing Jing Hengbo and Pei Shu talking together would make the demon in her heart roar violently, seeming ready to break free from its cage.

She was naturally impulsive, but now her emotions were even more volatile, though outwardly she had become quieter.

She was trying hard to suppress this, instinctively knowing this wasn’t a good change. However, some things didn’t seem to develop according to her wishes. In the Luoyun royal palace, watching Pei Shu spy on Jing Hengbo from the roof tiles, the destructive desire in her heart suddenly exploded, and she boldly dragged Pei Shu down from the roof…

Nothing happened. Pei Shu wasn’t a man who would go with the flow after using force. He angrily kicked her once, tied her up and threw her on the bed, but still remembered to cover her with blankets. She silently wept under the covers, hating his violence, and even more hating the tenderness hidden within his violence. Such men were the most irresistible – like flames burning so close you dared not approach, yet beyond the flame’s heart lay mountains of scenery.

But this scenery was close at hand yet far as the horizon. She could see but not touch it. All the world’s joys and beauty belonged to others.

Meng Potian looked up at the sky and silently pulled out dry rations from her bosom, taking a fierce bite.

The dry food in her mouth suddenly fell.

In the distance on a stretch of rooftops, several black shadows flitted by. The distance was so great it was impossible to tell if they were human figures or shadows of wind-blown trees. She could confirm they were human figures because one shadow was tall and thin, straight, and moved with particular stiffness.

This posture was too strange. She had seen it before in that rainy night tavern – the person who came downstairs with an odd gait. That kind of walk was hard to describe, but once seen, it was hard to forget.

Those figures vanished in a flash, seeming to head toward the royal city. Meng Potian hurriedly nudged Zuoqiu Mo’s arm to look, but by the time Zuoqiu Mo focused her gaze, the figures had disappeared.

Meng Potian almost thought she was seeing things and had to suppress her doubts silently. She vaguely felt these people would return by the same route, so she kept looking up, staring in that direction.

…

In the royal palace, Fuyun Palace remained shrouded in darkness, with only moonlight silently spreading before the steps.

Jing Hengbo’s eyes widened. The black shadow at the palace entrance was so massive that she initially felt dizzy, thinking it didn’t look like a person.

Then she saw clearly – it was just someone wearing a cloak.

That familiar cloak style made Jing Hengbo’s gaze contract – this persistent ghost had appeared again?

The net on her body was tighter than she had expected. She tested it with a struggle, but the net seemed even tighter. She could feel the net fibers were thin and resilient. As expected, the more she struggled, the tighter it became, even cutting into her flesh.

Jing Hengbo felt she had been somewhat careless. Several princesses of obviously low status being able to net her was impressive enough – there was no reason they should possess such sinister weapons that only wandering martial artists could use.

The cloaked figure didn’t approach her, just stood far away at the palace entrance, seemingly smiling.

Roof tiles clattered above. Several black-clothed figures gracefully descended from the beams, also not approaching her. They held spindle-shaped objects and nimbly bounded around her. Bright silver threads crisscrossed throughout the hall. The lowest layer pressed tightly against her through the net. The thread ends were pulled behind screens and curtains – places Jing Hengbo couldn’t see. She could vaguely hear those people seeming to place things behind screens and curtains, their movements very light and careful.

Jing Hengbo felt even worse. For no reason, she thought of a classic hostage scenario from modern novels – explosives tied to the hostage’s body, with red and blue wires determining life and death.

Though there were no explosives now, gunpowder products had appeared. Though expensive and available only to royalty, they could be obtained with effort. Though there were no remote detonators now and no explosive devices strapped to her body, judging from the direction the threads were pulled, moving one would affect the whole system.

Worse still, she now dared not move at all. Even though she could completely control her flying knives to cut through her net, she dared not even twitch a finger. Those transparent threads completely restrained her limbs.

This still wasn’t the end. After laying one layer, those black-clothed figures flicked their fingers before her, and a layer of faint powder dispersed. Jing Hengbo instinctively held her breath but couldn’t prevent the powder from covering her skin. Just as she worried this was poison powder, she felt the powder carried a slight sweet fragrance – not like poison.

After spreading the powder, the group of black-clothed figures leaped onto cabinets to pull a second layer of threads, connecting the thread ends with the first layer. Then they jumped onto crossbeams to pull a third layer, connecting those ends with the second layer. Finally they climbed out through the skylight in the hall’s roof, drawing many thread ends out through the skylight. Layer by layer, the entire hall filled with crisscrossing silk threads, denser than the infrared networks special agents used.

Lights blazed outside. With the bright illumination, the silk threads in the hall became completely invisible, making it appear empty.

Jing Hengbo was certain these countless threads had all been calculated – moving any one randomly would trigger the most serious consequences.

But this matter had one major loophole…

Just as she was secretly rejoicing about this supposed loophole, she saw the cloaked figure suddenly raise his hand holding a venomous snake. Jing Hengbo expected him to release the snake into her area, but saw two small insects fly out from his other sleeve, circling the snake’s body. The cloaked figure pried open the snake’s mouth, and those two insects flew into it. The snake struggled violently in his palm, twisting into a tangled mass. The cloaked figure held the snake motionlessly. After a moment, there was a slight explosive sound. The insects actually flew out from the snake’s tail, seemingly having grown a size larger, while the snake hung limply. The cloaked figure faced her and shook the snake mouth-down. A small puff of white ash fell from the snake’s mouth. When the snake’s body hit the ground, it made a crisp sound like dried leaves, breaking into several pieces.

The cloaked figure waved his hand, and those two insects drifted toward Jing Hengbo. They were two slightly glowing insects, somewhat like fireflies but not as bright. They gracefully bypassed all the silk threads and fluttered around her mouth.

“These two little fellows,” the cloaked figure spoke, his voice carrying laughter, “are the most feared creatures of the Blazing Fire Swamp. Even the fiercest beasts of the Blazing Fire Swamp avoid these tiny things. They like warm, moist places but possess the world’s most drying properties. Entering anything’s body, they instantly melt internal organs to ash. They love the pollen of Blazing Fire Swamp flame flowers. Just smelling that pollen, they can hover nearby day and night without leaving. If you want to know what it feels like to have your organs instantly melted, feel free to open your mouth and speak. I believe they’ll immediately dive into your mouth. Actually it’s not that terrifying – death would certainly be quick…”

The cloaked figure spoke unhurriedly with a kind tone. Having fought him many times, Jing Hengbo felt this person’s greatest mystery was that his demeanor, expression, and tone were always consistent, but his voice was always different. He could continuously change his voice while magically maintaining his distinctive qualities. No matter what voice people heard, they felt this was him. This was truly a strange state – if it was disguise, his personal characteristics were obvious; if it wasn’t disguise, why change voices?

“What’s in those corners, you’ve probably guessed as well, Your Majesty,” the cloaked figure said gently. “The amount isn’t very large, but absolutely sufficient to blow up this Fuyun Palace along with everyone inside. Even master warriors within this range couldn’t hope to survive by luck. Nearby palaces might be affected too, so I plan to stand somewhere high and safe to watch your fate.”

“Oh yes, Gong Yin and Yelu Qi are in the palace,” he said as if suddenly remembering. “You were all very clever not to go to Changning Palace, but since I’m in this palace, wherever you meet is the same.”

He flicked his sleeve and leaped up. Jing Hengbo heard his laughter from above. There was a higher pavilion in Fuyun Palace, some distance from this rear hall.

Jing Hengbo had no mind to worry about where he was. This extremely cunning fellow had clashed with her and Gong Yin countless times. Though he never succeeded, each victory for her and Gong Yin wasn’t easy, and he always managed to escape completely. This was unprecedented in her and Gong Yin’s combat record – she had to admit this person was truly formidable.

Neither she nor Gong Yin had given up investigating this person. During several clashes, they hadn’t stopped observing him either. The two had exchanged opinions and unanimously felt this was someone familiar. At minimum, he was extremely familiar with both of them – otherwise he couldn’t be so persistently troublesome like a parasitic pest, with many arrangements clearly made by someone who knew inside information.

Jing Hengbo had set bait for this purpose. She hoped for a chance to verify her suspicions.

However, currently this damned fellow had set another death trap for her. She dared not move or speak. When Gong Yin and Yelu Qi arrived and saw her collapsed on the ground, they would inevitably rush into the great hall. At that time…

Her gaze searched everywhere in the hall, sweat gradually beading on her forehead.

Clamor from outside drifted in faintly – screams, the hissing sounds of weapons piercing air, chaotic or orderly footsteps, the sound of robes fluttering in wind.

That swift sound of robes fluttering in wind was approaching this direction.