In the Shadow Prison.

Su Muyu sat in the corner of his cell. Whether by the Water Official’s deliberate arrangement or his luck, among all the cells in Shadow Prison, only his had a palm-sized window above. Weak light filtered through, and occasionally sparrows would pause there, curiously observing the prisoner below. Su Muyu spent his days looking up at that small window, lost in thought.

Even such a life, he found somewhat meaningful.

This undisturbed prison existence allowed him to contemplate many things.

But today, someone finally came to disturb him.

A tall, thin man wearing a black cloak stood outside the cell, gently tapping the iron bars. Only then did Su Muyu return to his senses and turn to look at the man.

“You’re one of Northern Land’s top assassins, yet I stood here for so long without you noticing.” The man’s voice carried a hint of amusement. “Rather unbelievable.”

“Because I’m in a safe place, where I need not worry about anyone trying to kill me,” Su Muyu replied calmly. “In such an environment, I won’t waste energy being an assassin.”

“You’re interesting.” The man lowered his head slightly.

Su Muyu frowned slightly: “I’ve seen you before. You were the one behind the screen that day.”

“Hahaha, technically speaking, we didn’t truly meet that day. You can recognize me just by my aura—impressive.” The man laughed.

Su Muyu smiled: “Because you’re special.”

“How special?” the man asked.

“Although there’s a prison between us, although you seem to bear no hostility toward me now, I feel that if you wished, you could still kill me,” Su Muyu said gravely.

The man extended a long, pale finger, resting it lightly on the iron bars: “If you’re willing, I could free you right now.”

“Everything has conditions. Yi Bu has his conditions, and you surely have yours,” Su Muyu shook his head.

“Indeed. But dealing with someone like Yi Bu is pointless because he’s too weak. Killing him and taking his place would be the better choice.” The man spoke softly.

Su Muyu’s brow furrowed slightly, sword energy gathering at his fingertips.

“Hahaha.” The man seemed to see through Su Muyu’s small gesture and laughed loudly. “It seems I’m right.”

“Yi Bu is weak, but you are strong,” Su Muyu said slowly.

“Yes. I am strong.” The man sighed softly. “I once even thought I was the strongest in the world. Yet now I must still seek cooperation with the deepest shadows under heaven, like a fugitive.”

“You are…” Su Muyu suddenly thought of a name.

“Shh…” The man stopped Su Muyu. “Unless you’ve decided to cooperate with me, please don’t speak that name. Because I really will kill you. That would be most unfortunate.”

Su Muyu stepped back: “But if I refuse you now, wouldn’t you choose to kill me anyway?”

“No, I still want to watch your struggle with the Shadow Sect,” the man said with a smile.

Su Muyu pondered for a moment before continuing: “Now that I’m trapped here, the Patriarch might choose to cooperate with the Shadow Sect. The struggle you anticipate might not happen.”

“Nonsense.” The man snorted coldly. “In the past, when the Shadow Guard followed the Founding Emperor to conquer the world, whenever battles reached desperate situations, enemy commanders would often lose their heads to the Shadow Guard. The Shadow Sect has taken pride in this for years, but the Prince of Langya is different. He’s surrounded by some of the world’s finest masters, and he is one of Academy Master Li’s most accomplished disciples. They want to recreate the Shadow Guard’s past glory without considering their strength against their opponent’s. If it were that simple, why didn’t the enemy commanders just send someone to kill the Emperor back then?”

Su Muyu was stunned and chose to remain silent this time.

“You’re clever, but court affairs are not simple.” The man turned around. “I hope you won’t disappoint me.” After speaking, he walked out of Shadow Prison without looking back.

After he left, Su Muyu finally exhaled, leaning against the wall: “How troublesome.”

In the Imperial Father-in-law’s Manor.

Yi Bu clenched his fists and spoke in a low voice: “He went in?”

“Yes.” Crow stood below, his gaze flickering. “This disciple was inadequate and dared not stop him.”

“Useless… useless!” Yi Bu couldn’t help but curse.

“If he had tried to stop me, I naturally would have killed him. Losing a disciple needlessly wouldn’t be worth it.” The man in the black cloak walked in from outside.

“You…” Yi Bu pointed a finger at the man, his expression angry. “How dare you come and go as you please in the Imperial Father-in-law’s Manor! How dare you enter the Shadow Prison at will!”

“If you hadn’t treated your daughter and disciple that way back then, perhaps this manor wouldn’t be somewhere I could come and go as I please today. What a pity.” The man smiled mockingly. “The past cannot be revisited.”

Yi Bu sneered: “You say I chose wrong, but didn’t you also choose wrong back then?”

“Too talkative.” The man raised his hand, and Yi Bu was forced back three steps. The disparity in their strength was evident, no wonder he dared show such contempt for the Shadow Sect.

“What did you discuss with Su Muyu?” Yi Bu asked.

“Don’t worry, I naturally tried to recruit him, but he refused,” the man said with a smile. “Yi Bu, I have one piece of advice for you.”

“What is it?” Yi Bu asked gravely.

“Don’t try to control things stronger than yourself.” After leaving these final words, the man’s figure vanished.

Yi Bu pondered for a long while before finally sighing deeply: “How could I not know this? But this is the Shadow Sect’s last chance.”

“Sect Master, today I met with Su Changhe. They planned an assassination attempt on the Prince of Langya and almost succeeded,” Crow suddenly said.

Yi Bu frowned deeply: “Almost succeeding means not succeeding.”

“Yes, the mission failed, and Su Changhe was severely wounded, but he also formed a death feud with the Prince of Langya. He requests to gather all Dark River’s elite forces into Tianqi City,” Crow reported.

“All of Dark River’s elite forces?” Yi Bu took a deep breath. “The slightest mistake could plunge Tianqi City into terrible chaos.”

“Should we stop Su Changhe?” Crow asked hesitantly.

“No, grant him permission!” Yi Bu clenched his fist. “As long as Su Muyu is in my hands, I bet he won’t dare act recklessly!”