Helian Yun looked at Yan Qige and said, “The day before my sister and I set out, you suddenly appeared. After speaking privately with Father for some time, Father died suddenly. When we found you, you had collapsed in Father’s room. Upon waking, you remembered nothing. At that time, my sister and I were moving the entire household westward, so we brought you along. Yu’er also liked you…”

“Ahem.” Yan Qige coughed lightly twice, interrupting what Helian Yun was about to say.

Noticing Yan Qige’s discomfort and seeing Yusang’s unfriendly expression, Helian Yun understood somewhat. A slight smile appeared on his face as he skipped that part and continued, “Several days after we returned to Helian Castle, Miss Yusang, you entered the great desert. Knowing you had come seeking the sacred object, my sister and I acted according to plan.

“You received us into Helian Castle, had Helian Yu use the Qiang flute to cast spells, making me think the flute was the sacred object. Then she died, I obtained the flute, and you thought this would make me give up?” Yusang asked.

Helian Yun smiled and said, “Of course not. What’s fake will ultimately be discovered—this was merely a delaying tactic. We hoped to deceive you temporarily. If you had been delayed just a few more hours, we could have left this place. This area would have been buried by a sandstorm, that master would have taken away the sacred object, lifted the Helian Clan’s curse, and there would be no more Helian Castle.”

“Just who is this master? If he’s truly so capable, why didn’t he directly help you prevent me from coming here?” Yusang frowned in confusion as she questioned Helian Yun.

Helian Yun looked at Yusang with a very strange expression, as if he had something to say. Suddenly, his body trembled violently, his eyes began to bulge, and his face took on a crimson color.

“Brother!” The sound of shattering porcelain rang out as Helian Yu ran quickly from the corridor, reaching out to help Helian Yun, but Yan Qige grabbed her hand.

Helian Yun opened his eyes wide, struggling to say something, but finally just collapsed to the ground. Red smoke emanated from his body, rising like a layer of red gauze.

“Brother, brother…” Helian Yu struggled to touch Helian Yun’s corpse, but Yan Qige held her firmly. She then cried and collapsed into Yan Qige’s embrace, clutching his shoulders and trembling uncontrollably.

…

…

Watching them, Yusang suddenly felt somewhat superfluous. But before she could speak, the ground beneath her feet suddenly trembled. Yusang staggered and nearly fell as a powerful force approached.

“The sandstorm is coming again,” Yan Qige said.

“There’s an underground palace beneath the great hall,” Helian Yu wiped the tears from her face haphazardly, took one last look at Helian Yun’s corpse, then pointed toward Helian Castle’s great hall.

Yan Qige embraced Helian Yu and headed toward the rear hall. Yusang felt uncomfortable and hesitated slightly, but Yan Qige reached out and grasped her wrist.

“Stay with me, don’t get lost,” Yan Qige reminded without looking back, leading both women quickly into Helian Castle’s great hall. Helian Yu activated some mechanism, and a stairway leading underground appeared by the wall.

Yan Qige led Helian Yu down first, with Yusang following. Before they could close the tunnel door, a powerful sandstorm rushed in. Everything was plunged into darkness as the incoming sand knocked them down and sent them tumbling down the passage.

Yusang felt her body falling downward. She expected to hit the ground and break bones, but instead felt a chill as icy water submerged her completely.

After struggling several times to surface, Yusang gasped for air, wiped the water from her face, and opened her eyes, immediately stunned by what she saw. Helian Castle was in the center of the western desert, but who could have imagined that beneath it lay a living water channel spanning dozens of yards? The channel was built in an octagonal shape, with a dragon head spouting water at each corner. The water from eight dragon heads converged in the central pool where she now found herself. Suspended in the center of the pool was a black sandalwood box. Yusang swam over and opened it, seeing a mark belonging to the Fengjian Clan carved on top—presumably the box that held the sacred object. However, upon opening it, she found it empty.

“Crash!” A tremendous noise came from overhead, followed by boulders and sand falling from above. Yusang was pulled by a hand and dragged back underwater. Where her head had just emerged, a white marble stone immediately crashed down, sending up a spray of water.

Underwater, Yan Qige gestured to Yusang, pointing toward a glowing cave entrance ahead. Yusang nodded and swam in that direction. After swimming for about the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, Yusang felt the area above brighten. She surfaced to find herself in a small stone cave.

Yan Qige followed with Helian Yu. Helian Yu was shaking violently and was held in Yan Qige’s embrace, looking very pitiful.

Noticing Yusang watching them, Helian Yu glanced at Yan Qige beside her and seemed to intentionally create some distance, but her body was weak and she nearly fell, so Yan Qige embraced her shoulders to steady her again.

“Where is this?” Yusang turned away to examine their surroundings and asked.

“Just as the imperial family has dragon veins, the underground channel is where Helian Castle’s vital energy lies, and it’s also where the Helian Clan originally stored the sacred object. This is a secret chamber beside the water channel—it’s very safe. Once the sandstorm passes, we can open the door here and leave,” Helian Yu explained somewhat weakly.

“Oh, then let’s wait,” Yusang responded halfheartedly, found a clean place to sit, and checked her belongings—nothing was missing, which put her mind at ease.

Over there, Yan Qige sat with Helian Yu. Having lost her closest relative and endured such ordeals, Helian Yu was exhausted both physically and mentally. Leaning against Yan Qige’s shoulder, she fell into deep sleep within moments.

Yan Qige didn’t speak, and Yusang remained silent as well. They continued in this silence, faintly hearing the sound of wind and sand roaring on the surface above. After several hours had passed with no more noise overhead, Yan Qige woke Helian Yu.

Helian Yu stood up and activated a mechanism on the black wall. The right wall split open with a large opening, some sand flowed in through the entrance, and sunlight also streamed in—outside was already bright daylight and completely calm. Yusang walked out and looked left and right. Yellow sand stretched in all directions with no trace of Helian Castle or Red Sand City anywhere.

Half a day later, on a dune in the western desert, Helian Yu bid farewell to Yan Qige. Yusang held her horse and stood far below the dune watching them, unable to hear what they were saying.

Yusang saw Helian Yu embrace Yan Qige, rest against his shoulder as if saying something, then turn to mount her horse. Yan Qige handed her the reins, and after she took them with a smile and said something, she removed the red gauze veil she used to cover her face against wind and sand from her head and handed it to Yan Qige.

Then Helian Yu rode down from the dune. Afraid of being caught watching, Yusang quickly turned around and pretended to groom her horse’s coat.

“May I ask you a question?” Helian Yu’s voice came from behind. Yusang turned to find her mounted and standing behind her.

“Go ahead.”

“Asang… oh no, Yan Qige—is he good to you?”