“I’ll go with you.” Qiao Mu gave a light smile and replied.

Feng Jiu’er tucked the jade piece inside her robe, and swept a glance at her.

“If you’re staying, at least put on a disguise — otherwise, you wouldn’t know how you got us killed.”

“Fine.” Qiao Mu dipped her head, reached over to pinch another steamed bun. “Just fix me up before we head out tomorrow.”

The two sitting side by side at the table exchanged a glance, and the corners of their mouths curled into the faintest smiles at the same moment.

The battle between the two armies grew more and more fierce. Zhan Yuheng held the imperial city fast and did not leave again.

The Longwu Army drew close to the imperial city before halting, setting camp on the outskirts of Yicheng to prepare for the final assault on the city walls.

In an inn on the outskirts of Yicheng, a veiled woman sat by the window of a room on the second floor, holding a cup of tea in her hands.

The streets below were cold and empty, with only the occasional handful of people hurrying past in twos and threes.

“My Lady.” A woman dressed in close-fitting, practical garb strode inside.

The veiled woman glanced back at her and raised a hand.

“Thank you, my Lady.” The woman clasped her hands and sat down. “Reporting to my Lady — a scout has returned with word that Feng Jiu’er has unified the Black Gorge.”

“I asked you earlier to confirm whether that woman is truly Feng Jiu’er. Has that been confirmed?” The veiled woman’s low, restrained voice sounded.

“From the information gathered, that woman’s build and appearance both…”

“After all this time, and you’re still going by outward appearance?” The veiled woman furrowed her brow, cutting the woman short.

The woman raised her gaze to look at her, then immediately dropped to her knees.

“My Lady, we have few brothers stationed in the Black Gorge, and in recent times the Gorge has been far from peaceful. Our brothers there have had no chance at all to get close to her.”

“Forgive us, my Lady — as of now, we are still unable to fully confirm Feng Jiu’er’s identity.”

The woman lifted her gaze to the veiled woman and continued: “My Lady, do you believe the likelihood that this person is Feng Jiu’er is high?”

“According to what you said, she fell from a cliff…”

“What did you say?” The veiled woman’s brow creased, and a chill crept into her bearing.

“Forgive me!” The woman immediately bowed her head. “That was my personal view — I believe the likelihood that this person is Feng Jiu’er is not great.”

“If she truly did not die, how could she possibly dare to act so openly and do so many things in the Black Gorge?”

“Feng Jiu’er has many capable people around her. It may be that her people are acting in her name — building up strength and biding their time — so that they may one day avenge her.”

The veiled woman’s brow furrowed. She lifted her teacup and turned once more to the window.

This time, she truly hadn’t worked out the matter of Feng Jiu’er — yet it was not something she could afford not to think about.

The room fell quiet for a moment, then the veiled woman raised her hand.

“Continue the investigation. All matters must be kept in the strictest confidence!”

“Yes.” The woman dipped her head, rose, turned, and left.

As the woman pushed open the chamber door and stepped out, a man dressed as an inn attendant came in, carrying a tray.

The two of them passed each other at the threshold. The woman’s brow immediately creased.

“My Lady, watch out!” She froze for only an instant before spinning back, her hand already drawing the sword at her waist.

The disguised man, seeing the situation turn against him, threw both hands upward and sent the entire tray — along with everything on it — flying toward the veiled woman.

A short blade appeared in his hand.

The woman’s cry, as she wheeled back around, reached the ears of the veiled Zhan Liyue.

As she turned her head, the scalding congee and hot soup from the tray were already upon her — along with the man gripping the blade.

The disguised man’s speed was no small thing.

At that razor’s edge of a moment, Zhan Liyue lightly touched the ground with her foot, launched herself upward, and evaded everything flying toward her.

After the crash of the tray hitting the floor, the sound of clashing sword and blade rang out through the chamber.

“My Lady.” The woman glanced up, shifted her weight, and leapt into the fray.

The man was no match for Zhan Liyue to begin with — now that a second opponent had joined, he was quickly pushed to the disadvantage.

Hearing the sound of footsteps approaching from the corridor, he wheeled around, used a burst of blade force to drive the woman back, planted a foot on the chair back, and made for the window on the other side.

He hadn’t counted on someone leaping in through that very window with extraordinary agility.

The man took a full palm strike and nearly lost his footing.

In that split second of hesitation, four people had him surrounded and trapped in the chamber.

“Who are you?” Ye Luosha, who had come in through the window, stared at the tall figure before her.

The man swept a glance around at the people encircling him, then let his gaze settle on Zhan Liyue.

“I came knowing I would not leave — but even in death, I will not spare you!”

With those words, he gripped his short blade and closed in on Zhan Liyue rapidly.

“Your Highness — careful!” Ye Luosha raised her sword and lunged forward.

The man’s speed was tremendous, his martial skill far from ordinary.

Yet Zhan Liyue’s own skill was not something most people could match.

She kept her eyes fixed on the man closing in, her palm already brimming with concentrated inner energy.

“Zhan Liyue — die!” The man suddenly surged upward, short blade raised high, and brought it slashing down with full force.

He shifted direction, and his speed was now nearly twice what it had been during their exchange moments ago.

Even Zhan Liyue could barely trust what her eyes were telling her — she had grown too careless.

The man drove the blade down with all his force. Where the blade force swept, rafters snapped and beams cracked.

Seeing no time to counter, Zhan Liyue could only throw herself sideways to dodge.

In the span of an instant, the two were locked again in battle. The chamber was on the verge of collapse, ready to crumble at any moment.

Sword force and blade force rained down beyond the edge of the fighting circle, and before Ye Luosha and the others could find an opening to join in, the chamber wall gave a sequence of sharp groaning sounds — and a great section of it caved inward.

Everyone sprang clear, leaping from the second-floor chamber down to the street below.

Along both sides of the street, soldiers came rushing in, surrounding the disguised man on all sides.

As the man turned his head to the side, Zhan Liyue’s gaze fell upon his neck.

She stared fixedly at the birthmark on the man’s neck, and her body went faintly rigid.

The captain of the soldiers came to Ye Luosha’s side and clasped his hands: “Your subordinate arrived too late — forgive us for startling Her Highness the Moon Empress. Please punish us as you see fit, General Ye!”

Ye Luosha waved him off and stepped to Zhan Liyue’s side.

“Your Highness, are you all right?”

Ye Luosha’s voice drew Zhan Liyue back. She raised a hand and said quietly: “I am fine.”

She looked at the disguised man and asked in a low, measured voice: “Who are you? I have no grievance against you — why did you come to assassinate me?”

“No grievance?” A faint, bitter smile curled at the corner of the man’s mouth. “Do you not know yourself what you have done?”

“Your Highness, he is wearing a human-skin mask.” Ye Luosha studied the man and furrowed her brow slightly.

As the man spoke, the skin on his face showed faint, subtle inconsistencies — details that a trained eye could detect.

“Answer me — who exactly are you?” Zhan Liyue’s gaze remained locked, unmoving, on the birthmark on the man’s neck.

Somewhere in her memory, there had once been an infant — a birthmark on its neck, shaped like a bull’s horn.

Is it him? Could it truly be him? Didn’t he perish in the flames?

All these years — not a single word. Is he still alive?