It couldn’t be said that these two things were identical. Feng Miaojun was thoroughly familiar with the shape of the turtle mark and clearly understood that these were two completely different patterns.
However, when one principle is understood, ten thousand are illuminated, and she could distinctly recognize the high degree of similarity between these two patterns. Like products from the same series created by a single designer, they shared distinct and unique characteristics that allowed one to see at a glance that they were of the same kind yet not the same thing.
In other words, the turtle mark in her sea of qi had a thousand intricate connections with Yu Haizhen’s pendant!
At that moment, Feng Miaojun held her breath.
The turtle mark was the greatest puzzle she had encountered since coming to this world, accompanying her at all times. As her cultivation and experience progressively improved, she became less concerned about sharing spiritual power. What troubled her, besides the life connection between herself and Yun Ya, was another deep suspicion—the mark was planted by the turtle, which had indeed died long ago, but Feng Miaojun always felt there was a hidden hand behind this matter. Yun Ya seemed unaware, so who was this person, and what did they want to do to her—no, to them?
But none of the secret histories she had read contained any relevant records, not even the Demonic Secret Scroll had the slightest discussion of it. She had nearly despaired, not expecting that now a glimmer of hope would suddenly appear where the path seemed darkest.
She forcefully suppressed the excitement in her heart and continued reading. Yan Kingdom was full of talented people who could excavate and piece together many long-forgotten affairs. This document verified that Yu Haizhen’s ancestors weren’t surnamed Yu, but Yang, with long-flowing origins traceable to ancient times. It was said that the Yang family had dealings with divine beings and even received their favor, learning many Daoist arts.
At that time, the demon race was extremely powerful, and the Yang family had always maintained good relations with them.
Later, when the world underwent dramatic changes, this family was fortunate to escape the great calamity. Though the divine beings disappeared, their family continued to produce talented individuals until they finally declined after experiencing a series of major events, including the establishment of the Haoli Empire and the sealing of the Demonic Era.
Many years later, a Yang family woman married a great general of the Haoli Empire—this was General Zhongyuan, who was revered as a war god. Unfortunately, General Zhongyuan later commanded ineffectively in battle and was nominally promoted but demoted by the monarch. Being proud and arrogant, he angrily resigned his position and disappeared into the jianghu with his wife.
The Yan people verified that Yu Haizhen might be a descendant of Zhongyuan and his Yang wife, or if not, was closely associated with them. There were two pieces of evidence: first, the Yang family had deep relations with the demon race, as did Yu Haizhen; second, Yan Kingdom’s historical archives also recorded a treasure passed down through generations of the Yang family, whose form matched her bracelet. The Yan people speculated this was not only the Yang family heirloom but perhaps also a powerful magical artifact.
Feng Miaojun read with surging emotions.
“Thousands of intricate connections with the demon race,” “experienced the Demonic Era”—these phrases stirred her so much that she paced back and forth more than a dozen times before telling Chen Dachang, “We should leave.”
Seeing the light in her eyes, Chen Dachang suddenly had an ominous premonition. “Go… go where?” Returning to New Xia wouldn’t make her this happy—the Queen was too impulsive!
Feng Miaojun waved the thick stack of letters in her hand. “Here!”
Chen Dachang reflexively blurted out, “Why?” Last time when the Queen rushed to Yinzi City, he could understand she might have been concerned for her friend Hanyue’s safety, but now rushing south again—what for!
That was someone else’s war, chaotic with troops, what relation did it have to her? “What if someone of your precious status gets injured?”
“Go, pack the luggage,” she ignored his words, making her own decision. “We’ll set out tomorrow.” Xi Kingdom was in imminent danger; if Yu Haizhen also died, where else would she find someone to solve this enormous mystery?
Chen Dachang was hanging his head, about to walk out, when Feng Miaojun called him back. “By the way, this trip will likely take considerable time. So before departure, there’s one more thing to do.”
Just seeing the light shining in the Queen’s eyes, Chen Dachang knew she was plotting some scheme again.
She gave him detailed instructions, then took out the Golden City.
Riding a crane to the blue sky, they headed directly south. This situation truly embodied the saying: “Traveling thousands of miles to the battlefield, crossing mountains and barriers as if flying.”
However, when Feng Miaojun and her companion reached Xi Kingdom’s territory, they were a full four days later than expected. The further south they went, the more uneven the terrain became. They encountered at least four mountain ranges soaring into the clouds, at altitudes even the cloud crane couldn’t fly over. The two had to detour around them, consuming considerable time on the journey.
By the time they flew to this area of towering mountains in northwestern Xi Kingdom, winter was approaching. The temperature in the mountains was even lower, with many mountain paths covered in thick snow, and a killing atmosphere permeated heaven and earth.
When Feng Miaojun arrived, heavy snow was falling across the mountains. This weather affected even flying demons, undoubtedly being even less friendly to the Yan army that had come from afar.
Now, they had attacked the foot of Yinggong City, just one step away from victory.
Yinggong City was the new capital where the Xi King currently resided. It was very large, and Feng Miaojun circled high in the sky on her crane for a long time before seeing the entire city.
When she tried to observe the frontline situation, several demons suddenly flew up from below, heading toward them.
The two crane demons had been spotted.
She didn’t want to provoke any side, whether Xi, Yan, or Wei, so she pulled Chen Dachang into the clouds, finding an opportunity to shake off the pursuers.
They circled several times with an increasingly large radius, and Feng Miaojun also searched the area for dozens of miles around.
Hmm, there was no sign of the Wei army, but she did find traces of human military encampments near a town twenty-five miles northeast of Yinggong City. That town still belonged to Xi Kingdom, so the traces couldn’t have been left by the Yan people. Subsequently, she discovered some broken Wei military armor abandoned there.
The snow-covered ground still retained traces of tent stakes and cooking fires, but they were buried under snow, indicating the Wei army had left many days ago.
The Wei army had withdrawn? Feng Miaojun was greatly surprised, but thinking about it, this made sense.
She could understand Wei’s actions. During the nearly half-year-long intense battle, most of Xi Kingdom’s territory had been occupied, and now the enemy was at the gates of the capital. Wei naturally knew that Xi Kingdom’s collapse was only a matter of time. Their strategic intention had been achieved, and there was no point in staying longer, so they might as well withdraw early to cut losses.
Feng Miaojun looked up at the sky.
Plague and severe cold—these were probably important factors prompting Wei’s withdrawal.
With even the reinforcements gone, the Xi people could now only fight alone, which would be a fatal blow to morale.
The two landed on a mountain peak twenty miles behind Yinggong City, then proceeded on foot toward the great city.
She had initially intended to openly request a meeting with Yu Haizhen in her capacity as Queen, which would have been most convenient. This invitation had already been conveyed through the ambassador stationed in Xi.
But after the Xi capital relocated to Yinggong City, the royal court system had collapsed and couldn’t function normally.