“Why?” Mu Mu did not understand. He looked at Xue Gu. “Are we not going together?”

They had come this far — everyone else had already headed to the stronghold’s exit. To delay now would only invite complications.

“Jiu Qing and I still have something to attend to.” Xue Gu looked at Jiu Qing, her expression in that moment layered and difficult to read.

Jiu Qing pressed his lips together. After a moment, he said: “Go ahead to the stronghold’s exit. If there are pursuers, leave immediately — we will catch up.”

“Alright.” Jiu’er understood that if it were not something important, the Ninth Imperial Uncle would not leave her side for any reason.

Still, she felt a quiet unease.

She looked up at Jiu Qing, her expression serious: “These mountain bandits are not truly bad people — in fact, they carry themselves with an openness and candor that many others lack.”

“You think I’m going to slaughter the stronghold?” Jiu Qing narrowed his eyes, a trace of displeasure crossing his face.

Was that the kind of savage and cruel man she thought him to be?

“No, no — only that I was afraid your temper might get the better of you, and you’d need somewhere to let it out.”

Jiu’er gave two strained little laughs, knowing all too well that the more she said at this moment, the worse it would get.

Better to say nothing at all.

“Come back quickly.” At the moment of parting, she squeezed Jiu Qing’s hand: “Don’t make us wait.”

“I will.”

Jiu Qing gave a nod, watched them leave, then turned to face Xue Gu. “What is it?”

“There is someone here — an old acquaintance. I need you to come see him with me.”

Elder Feng had lived at the Zhao Family Stronghold for many years. Under ordinary circumstances, at this hour he would have long since retired for the night.

But tonight, it seemed as though he had sensed something. Even at this late hour, he was still sitting in his chair, reading a book of military strategy.

And when the door was pushed open by Xue Gu and Jiu Qing, he appeared to show no particular surprise.

He merely gave the two of them a mild glance and said with a slight smile: “Rare guests.”

Jiu Qing’s expression hardened. Without warning, he launched himself into motion — and with a sharp whip of wind, drove his palm straight toward the elder.

Elder Feng set his book aside and was just about to sidestep out of the way.

But his opponent’s martial arts were entirely beyond what he had anticipated. The speed was such that he found he could not evade it at all.

Such profound inner strength — it was simply inconceivable.

Elder Feng had been calm and composed just moments before, but now he was genuinely unsettled.

In the very instant Jiu Qing’s palm was about to land on Elder Feng’s face, his five fingers suddenly curved into a claw and seized at the elder’s face.

With a tearing sound, something was snatched away.

Elder Feng stumbled back at speed and only barely managed to steady himself.

Even so, his breathing had fallen into disarray, the energy in his chest and abdomen surging violently.

His opponent’s inner strength was far too overwhelming. Though the palm’s force had been pulled back at the last moment, its residual power had still left him injured.

He had long since recognized that this scarred and powerfully built young man must be a formidable fighter — he simply had not anticipated the extent of it.

Once he had steadied himself, his face was at last fully exposed before Xue Gu and Jiu Qing.

“Qin Huai — it really is you!” Xue Gu’s eyes narrowed sharply, and she took two swift steps forward.

“You…” Elder Feng’s expression shifted. The name Qin Huai — how many years had it been since he had let it fade away?

To hear it called out so suddenly now left him momentarily unmoored.

“Who are you?” He looked at the woman before him — and felt not even the faintest flicker of recognition.

If she was someone he had known in Bei Mu all those years ago, time would have changed her considerably by now, and he could not be blamed for failing to recognize her.

Still, this woman… truly did seem somehow familiar.

All at once, Qin Huai’s eyes flew open wide, his face struck with profound shock: “Ye Feixue? But you — aren’t you dead?”

“Shouldn’t those words be coming from me?”

Xue Gu stepped forward. Whether from agitation or something else entirely, the tips of her fingers had begun to tremble faintly.

“Where is he? Tell me — where in the world is he?”

Qin Huai’s heart was roiling with emotion, but in the end, he merely asked in an indifferent tone: “Who?”

“Qin Huai!” Compared to his calm, Xue Gu was clearly far too agitated.

“Don’t play games with me. You know who I’m talking about. You are still alive — so where is he? Where is Di Dingtian?”

The moment that name fell on his ears, Qin Huai’s breathing faltered — and Jiu Qing’s large hand tightened instantly.

Looking at Qin Huai now, the composure that had been in Jiu Qing’s eyes just moments ago was entirely gone.

Why was Xue Gu asking him?

He looked again — and suddenly, Jiu Qing crossed the room in two strides. His palm fell on Qin Huai’s shoulder and hauled him forward with a sharp pull.

“It’s you… it’s you!”

“You…” Qin Huai looked at the scarred young man before him. He had his suspicions — the face full of scars was almost certainly a disguise as well. But even so, he simply could not place who this man was.

Moreover, he appeared to be no more than twenty years of age. If he were truly someone Qin Huai had known from his time in Bei Mu, he would have been only a child back then.

How could he possibly be recognized?

“Jiu Qing — this matter has nothing to do with you. Step back.”

A thread of unease passed through Xue Gu’s heart. Jiu Qing’s true identity could not be revealed at this moment.

If Qin Huai recognized him — and if Qin Huai harbored ulterior motives — then the half-realm of influence the Ninth Prince had built would remain dangerously precarious.

Jiu Qing drew in a deep breath. He finally released Qin Huai and withdrew quietly to the side.

Today, he was only Jiu Qing — not Di Wu Ya.

Even if what was being discussed now was his father, Emperor Di Dingtian, he could not show any reaction whatsoever.

That was right — the person Xue Gu had just been asking about was none other than the emperor of the previous dynasty: his own father.

Xue Gu moved to stand before Qin Huai, still visibly agitated — filled with hope, and yet laced with a quiet dread.

“Tell me. Is Di Dingtian still alive? Where in the world is he?”

“How could the late Emperor still be alive?” Qin Huai let out a low, humorless sound and moved to the side before turning back to look at her.

“So many people conspired together to harm the late Emperor. He was formidable, yes — but he was still a man of flesh and blood.”

“A man who has taken more than ten wounds — can he truly still survive? Do you truly believe he could have lived?”

Jiu Qing’s grip tightened further and further, his knuckles cracking with each slow, deliberate clench.

Xue Gu’s legs nearly buckled beneath her — yet Qin Huai, too, had suffered grievous wounds back then.

She had not witnessed it with her own eyes, but the accounts had all been vivid and specific. Even the detail of Qin Huai being struck through the chest and the abdomen had been passed around with convincing detail.

All of it had looked as though it could not possibly be fabricated.

He had been the late Emperor’s most stalwart general, and had never left his side by so much as half a step.

Everyone had believed they had perished together in that calamity.

And yet Qin Huai was alive. He was still alive.

If Qin Huai could still be alive — why could Di Dingtian not also be living somewhere in this world?

“Ye Feixue — you were one of Long Feiyan’s people. What does the matter of my late Emperor concern you?”

Qin Huai’s tone was cold: “The late Emperor is long gone. Even if you’ve come to find me, what meaning does it serve?”

“He is truly…”

“He is truly gone!” Qin Huai’s voice suddenly rang out with force — and there was fury in it: “If the late Emperor were still here, how could I be alone in a place like this? Should I not be at his side, every moment of every day?”

“The late Emperor is truly no longer in this world. But you still have companions with you — if you don’t go now, I’m afraid those companions of yours will no longer be able to hold on.”