Zizi lived at the academy. This was the little girl’s final request. She liked being with pandas, and the giant panda also liked carrying her on its back to stroll around the academy. When the little panda saw its mother carrying Zizi, it became very unhappy, crying “ao wu, ao wu” while grabbing at its mother’s fur, also wanting to climb onto her back.

Zizi bent down, wanting to pick up the little panda, but helplessly this chubby fellow was very heavy. With insufficient breath, Zizi simply couldn’t lift this creature. The giant panda found the little one’s cries very annoying and slapped the little panda aside with one paw. At this moment, the temptation of cake far exceeded that of its child.

Zizi climbed down from the giant panda’s back, took out two pieces of cake from her small bag, stuffed one piece into the giant panda’s mouth, and gave the other piece to the much-aggrieved little panda.

The sun warmly shone on the grassland beside the bamboo forest. Zizi leaned diagonally against the giant panda’s thick back, basking in the sun. The strong light was so piercing that one couldn’t open their eyes, so Zizi used her hand to shade her eyes, extending her other hand to let the little panda lick her palm with its tongue. Her hand had just been covered with cream, and the little panda very much liked this flavor.

It was ticklish, tingly, and uncomfortable, yet Zizi was unwilling to withdraw her palm. Having such sensations transmitted meant she was still alive, her body still had feeling. Only the suffocating sensation that came from time to time between her chest and lungs let her know that she didn’t have much time left.

Pandas continuously walked out from the bamboo forest, circling around Zizi and lying down. Zizi knew the pandas were all there for the cakes in her bag, but she was still very happy. She took out all the cakes from her bag in one go and placed them on the grass in front of her. Immediately, a group of gluttonous pandas began fighting over them.

You slap me, I bite you—they seemed very measured and didn’t extend their long claws from their thick paw pads, so they couldn’t hurt anyone.

Watching the pandas rolling on the grass, Zizi became so sad she couldn’t contain herself. Even immortals had no way to cure her illness. Whether it was the white bat from the primordial chaos or the immortal Grand Master of Longhu Mountain, neither could cure her illness. Because he failed to cure her illness, that white bat from the primordial chaos died, his head placed in a box and sent to the Tianshan Mountains.

Because he had consumed the only immortality pill, Grand Master Longhu Shen Shang knew his sins were grave. He underwent corpse liberation in the Taiji Palace and returned to heaven, using his own life to ensure the Longhu Mountain lineage would not be implicated.

Chu Suiliang brought out countless pieces of evidence wanting to prove that Shen Shang had not eaten that pill, that the pill should still be hidden at Longhu Mountain. As long as all the Daoist priests on Longhu Mountain were captured and imprisoned, under severe punishment and harsh laws there would definitely be a result.

Several censors also brought out examples of Shen Shang dying and coming back to life in the marketplace to prove that Shen Shang truly could return from death, so that immortality pill had indeed been consumed by him.

When the dispute couldn’t be settled, Shen Shang kept looking with pleading eyes at Di Renjie standing outside the Nine Bestowments. He didn’t ask Di Renjie to speak for him, only asked that Di Renjie not say a word.

Di Renjie indeed didn’t say a single word from beginning to end. Shen Shang was extremely grateful, so much so that when he drew his sword and cut off his own head, there was still a smile on his face.

It was too bizarre. When a head is cut off, blood should spurt out, but not a single drop of blood overflowed from Shen Shang’s neck cavity. Add to that such a clean and decisive sword strike, even someone as forceful as Chu Suiliang had no choice but to close his mouth.

Cutting off someone else’s head was easy, but cutting off one’s own head required more than just courage. Chu Suiliang sighed deeply and could only completely turn the page on the immortality pill matter. Longhu Mountain, which had originally been unable to escape this calamity, narrowly dodged disaster by the slimmest margin.

How could the intelligent Zizi not see the ways and means here? An ordinary medical treatment event was forcibly turned into a dirty political incident. From then on, Zizi refused to let anyone treat her illness. She forcefully moved out of the imperial palace and lived at Yushan Academy. She only wanted to be with the pandas she loved in the last bit of time in her life.

The sun warmed her entire body. At such a time, the best thing would be to sleep soundly. Zizi tried hard not to let herself fall asleep. She still had many things left to do, such as the embroidered handkerchief that was only half finished. Her brother Zhi had written saying he very much wanted a handkerchief with a pattern of a panda eating bamboo.

She hadn’t finished copying the “Fan for an Emperor” that Father Emperor had personally written. Mother Empress’s birthday was approaching, and no matter what, she had to endure past it. Otherwise, such a universally celebrated good day would be utterly ruined by her.

She didn’t dare sleep. Master Sun had said she might very possibly fall asleep and never wake up again.

A black-clothed woman stood at the top of Zizi’s head, curiously looking at Zizi below her feet. Zizi also opened her eyes wide and stared tightly at this strange woman. She discovered that this strange woman was actually missing an arm, because the sleeve on her right side hung empty, dancing in the wind. This was an extremely beautiful woman. Although Zizi could only see her chin, she was very certain of her judgment.

“Where did your arm go? What a pity!”

“I was careless and fell into the trick of Fox Charmer and Bin Meiren. I was injured by their vicious hidden weapons. It never got better, and I found it annoying to look at, so I cut that arm off.” The black-clothed woman spoke as if discussing someone else’s affairs.

Zizi’s curiosity was immediately aroused. She sat up and asked: “Instead of seeking revenge on the people who harmed you, why did you come to the academy?”

The black-clothed woman seemed to have extraordinary patience with Zizi. She squatted down to look at her eyes and said: “I came here precisely for revenge. Fox Charmer and Bin Meiren are right here at the academy.”

Zizi shook her head and said: “I know almost everyone here. No one has such strange names as Fox Charmer and Bin Meiren.”

The black-clothed woman also sat down and pointed at the Maze Forest, saying to Zizi: “They’re hiding in that forest. I’m preparing to find them.”

Seeing this woman pointing toward the Maze Forest, Zizi cried out in alarm: “Oh no, you can’t go there! The Maze Forest is the academy’s forbidden ground. Anyone who goes in inevitably dies. There have never been any exceptions.”

“Why? This is a very good academy. Why would there be such a vicious place?” The black-clothed woman lifted her veil, revealing indeed a beauty of national splendor and heavenly fragrance.

Zizi looked somewhat dazed and actually forgot to answer this woman’s question. The black-clothed woman asked again, and only then did Zizi seem to wake from a dream.

“That’s the place where Marquis Lantian and the Divine Craftsman competed in arts. At first there was only a maze, but later for some reason they competed with real anger. So Marquis Yun built the Maze Forest here. Many of the academy’s treasures are hidden inside. I heard there are countless traps inside, poisonous insects everywhere. Many outsiders went in, but they all died. I heard those people’s corpses were all sent to Eunuch Sun’s medicine hut and boiled into medicinal juice. You absolutely must not go.”

The black-clothed woman raised her head to look at the sky and murmured to herself: “No wonder after divination I got great misfortune. So it’s a killing trap created by this generation’s Bin Meiren. But it doesn’t matter. The Jade Maiden Clan’s words must be carried out, our actions must bear fruit. Things we’ve said must be done. Actually, if I had met you earlier, I wouldn’t need Fox Charmer’s daughter. You’re also a woman born carrying the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, even better than Fox Charmer’s daughter.”

Zizi lowered her head sadly and said: “Even if I were ten times better it would be useless. Eunuch Sun said my heart orifice didn’t develop properly from the womb. I won’t live past this year. Eunuch Sun has never been wrong. He said my mortal limit arrives this year, so I’m destined not to survive.”

“Not necessarily. Your heart orifice isn’t open—I saw that long ago. My heart orifice also hasn’t opened, yet I’ve lived until now all the same. You wait here. I’ll make a trip to the Maze Forest. Once I take Fox Charmer’s daughter, I’ll take you with me. Your illness isn’t really an illness.”

After the black-clothed woman finished speaking, she stood up. Zizi was shocked to discover that this beautiful black-clothed woman was like a black cloud darting through the bamboo forest. In just a few moves, she disappeared from sight. This must be a real immortal, right? Zizi stretched out her neck to look into the bamboo forest.

Xiao Wu had just finished nursing the child. She carefully placed the child into the cradle and gently rocked it, her face full of sweetness. She had just finished her confinement month, and her body had recovered fairly well. There was no shortage of supplements here, so Xiao Wu’s body quickly recovered to health.

A small silver bell in the room rang softly. A trace of eerie expression appeared on Xiao Wu’s face. After waiting so long, this damned woman had finally come.

She gently pressed on the cradle. The child who had just fallen asleep slowly slid into a warm and comfortable hidden compartment, and another exquisite swaddling cloth slid out from the hidden compartment. Xiao Wu picked up this swaddling cloth and carelessly stuffed a golden tail hook that had accidentally emerged back into the swaddling. Whether or not she could kill this ghost woman depended on whether today’s arrangement succeeded. These past days, this ghost woman had come to the Maze Forest more than once or twice, but today she had penetrated the deepest. Now she was very likely right outside the small courtyard.

Today in the small courtyard there was only herself. Huo Zhu had entered the Maze Forest to investigate those missing scorpions. He was preparing to go deep into the maze to look. His wife had gone to the marketplace to purchase things. Di Renjie had duties today and wouldn’t return until evening. This should be the ghost woman’s best opportunity, right?

Holding the swaddling in her arms, Xiao Wu left the house. Suddenly coming from the dim room into the bright sunlight, Xiao Wu couldn’t help but sneeze heavily twice. Just as she was teary-eyed and preparing to wipe her face, a one-armed black-clothed woman stood on the wall, watching her.

She turned to run into the room, but her back was kicked heavily. Xiao Wu fell hard to the ground, but she still held the swaddling tightly without letting go. The black-clothed woman’s foot mercilessly stepped on Xiao Wu’s arm. Piercing pain transmitted from both arms, and her two hands involuntarily released the swaddling. The black-clothed woman’s foot lightly hooked, and the swaddling reached her embrace. Just at this moment, a golden tail hook shot out like lightning and viciously stung the black-clothed woman’s shoulder.

The black-clothed woman was greatly shocked. She saw a palm-sized golden scorpion hurriedly escape from the swaddling with its tail hook raised. Its speed was very fast—in an instant it burrowed into the pile of rocks at the corner of the wall and disappeared from sight…