Lu Ming had already soaked the wolf-hair brush in cinnabar at a nearby desk, and now respectfully presented it, but Yun Ya did not take it: “You do it.”

He wanted him to write? Lu Ming was slightly surprised but did not question it, only responding with “Yes” before walking over: “Where are we going?”

“Wulin Town that I passed on my way here seems quite nice.”

So Lu Ming began writing with utmost concentration.

“This?” Zuo Qiu Yuan, standing to one side, asked curiously, “State Preceptor, according to the plan, shouldn’t we be going to the ancestral temple?” None of the people here had been to the ancestral temple, so the geographical coordinates should have been filled in by Yun Ya, but now it was changed to Lu Ming.

Why wasn’t Yun Ya doing it himself? The timing was urgent, yet he called on a subordinate unfamiliar with arrays to write the coordinates. Zuo Qiu Yuan’s gaze quietly swept over him: was there some unspeakable difficulty, or had he been seriously injured in the recent battle?

Yun Ya glanced at him obliquely, his look meaningful: “According to the plan, Siao Jing shouldn’t have died either.”

Zuo Qiu Yuan’s heart suddenly chilled.

Fortunately, Yun Ya immediately continued: “The Kingdom of Yao has lit the warning beacons, attracting attention from the north, and they’ve dispatched more troops to the ancestral temple. I returned too late. Forcing an attack now would be meaningless and would only increase our losses. Let’s withdraw.”

He was giving up, actually giving up at this critical moment! Zuo Qiu Yuan was shocked. Although the Wei Kingdom’s assassination plan had encountered twists and turns up to this point, overall it had been relatively successful, with all the original objectives achieved one by one. Just as the final goal of breaking into the ancestral temple and seizing the foundation stone was within reach, Yun Ya was going to withdraw.

Any other person would have been reluctant, would have tried to take one last chance, wouldn’t they?

In his impression, the State Preceptor of Wei was not someone who would back down so easily.

“Knowing it cannot be done yet doing it anyway.” While Lu Ming was busy, Yun Ya still had the leisure to pour himself a cup of tea, saying languidly, “That’s not perseverance; that’s utter foolishness!”

From his tone, it seemed as if the journey to the ancestral temple was doomed to fail, which was why he wouldn’t go.

Just as they were speaking, Lu Ming put down the brush and reported: “It’s done!”

Yun Ya glanced at it, praised it with a “not bad,” and then said: “Call them all in.” He casually placed the small bottle on the ground.

The Wei Kingdom cultivators obeyed the order and strode into the hall. They had previous experience of being stored in the bottle, so now they unhesitatingly dived headfirst toward it.

Of course, they didn’t end up with faces covered in blood but rather transformed into faint rays of light that entered the bottle.

From the outside, it immediately appeared as if another person had emerged from the bottle.

The Wei cultivators entered the bottle one after another, even those who had been holding positions outside jumped in. As they withdrew, the pressure on the barrier suddenly increased, and the golden light visibly faded, looking as if it might rupture at any moment.

Lu Ming dared not say more and turned to enter the small bottle.

Now it was Zuo Qiu Yuan’s turn.

He had just approached and was about to bend down when the bottle on the ground suddenly disappeared.

He was startled and looked back. Sure enough, Yun Ya was holding the bottle in his left hand, with a hint of mockery at the corner of his mouth: “Zuo Qiu Yuan, you’re quite something.”

Zuo Qiu Yuan’s heart sank, but his face showed surprise: “What does the State Preceptor mean by this? In this raid on Yao, I’ve given my utmost effort!”

“Your utmost effort was solely to kill the King of Yao.” Yun Ya’s almond eyes were now extraordinarily clear, which instead revealed their coldness. “Siao Jing was under your watch the entire time. You deliberately taunted and ridiculed him beforehand, provoking him to commit suicide to preserve the Siao dynasty. That’s what led to the incident at Red Horn Tower. Otherwise, no matter how quickly he moved, he couldn’t have successfully taken his own life right under your nose.”

Zuo Qiu Yuan asked in confusion: “I hated him to the bone, but why would I have to kill him at that particular time? Wouldn’t that implicate myself?” With the King of Yao dead, Siao Feng Xian would certainly attack the Imperial Garden without hesitation, and Zuo Qiu Yuan himself might not escape unscathed.

Yun Ya’s tone became even more strange: “Because you wanted Siao Feng Xian to personally confirm the King of Yao’s death, so he would attack us without any reservations.”

Zuo Qiu Yuan quickly said: “Wait! Are you accusing me of being a traitor? Don’t forget that you planted poison in my body long ago, making it impossible for me to betray you!”

“You cannot actively oppose me, but you can choose passive non-action.” Yun Ya said with amusement, “You’ve been in the Yao court for many years. Who could understand better than you how to provoke the King of Yao’s temper? Otherwise, why didn’t he commit suicide during two days of captivity, but chose that moment in Red Horn Tower? I heard that each of your sentences was cursing him as incompetent and deserving of death. This naturally wouldn’t violate your oath and trigger the poison.”

“I object!” Even with the Yao people’s supernatural powers almost exploding in his ears, Zuo Qiu Yuan still protested loudly: “That was just an accident!”

“An accident?” Yun Ya’s lips curved upward, but the smile in his eyes was ice-cold. “Then tell me, who allowed Princess Han Yue and her child to escape from the bedroom?” He paused. “We searched everywhere for Princess Han Yue without success, yet you knew that not far from her was a secret chamber at the bottom of Yingyue Lake where people could hide. You and Siao Feng Xian often played in the lake when you were young; it’s impossible that you didn’t know this place. You even saw the potted plants on the flower rack that were fed water pills, knowing she had dived into the water, yet you were the first to remove the flowerpots and eliminate the traces!”

“Do I need to list more?” He raised his tea and took a sip. “You may have had a blood feud with the King of Yao, but you certainly didn’t harbor good intentions toward us. Heh, a double agent—you truly have a talent for it!”

As soon as the words fell, Zuo Qiu Yuan’s face turned ashen, yet his blood vessels all rose to the surface, looking like red coral in the sea.

With a single command from Yun Ya, the poison buried in his body was activated.

The poison was extremely virulent. Zuo Qiu Yuan reached out to grab a table or chair but clutched at empty air, falling to the ground with a thud, rolling in pain. Yet his mind remained clear, and he struggled to say: “You suspected me even then, why… did you still let me kill the King of Yao!” He had allowed Princess Han Yue to escape first, then killed the King of Yao afterward. If Yun Ya had become suspicious at that time, why didn’t he stop him, and instead allowed it to happen?

“Because the situation had changed. Siao Feng Xian was constrained by the court officials and public opinion, and it was unlikely that he would exchange the country for his father.” Yun Ya said softly, “Given that, both father and son had to die. You wanted to kill the King of Yao, so I let you do it; once Siao Feng Xian was heartbroken with grief, it would be my turn to act.” He stood up and slowly walked to the center of the array, taking his position. “You’ve avenged yourself, which can be considered seeking and achieving benevolence. It’s only a pity about Princess Mei Ji’s feelings for you.”

Princess Mei Ji… As this name floated in Zuo Qiu Yuan’s mind, his heart suddenly contracted. He desperately tried to crawl over, but how could he succeed? The poison was overwhelmingly powerful, causing his entire body to convulse and contract uncontrollably. His face swelled, but his limbs became increasingly shriveled, like wind-dried preserved meat.

With a “pop,” the barrier encompassing the entire hall was finally broken through.

Mo Tizhun was running at the forefront, just in time to see the light emanating from the small Mountain-Moving Array.

From within the array, Yun Ya waved at him, showing his teeth in a smile.

“No!” Mo Tizhun lunged forward in a single stride, his blade slicing through where Yun Ya stood—