Deep night.
Shadows of several groups of people flitted like phantoms across the wilderness, swiftly passing through the tall grass.
Their eyes were dull, yet they moved unerringly in one direction. The rustling sounds grew denser as their numbers swelled to seventy or eighty.
On the city wall of Shangjing stood a woman in plain gray robes, her face tightly wrapped, gazing calmly into the distance.
Behind her, inside the tower, sat another woman. The deep purple of her luxurious robes accentuated her fair complexion, and the sharpness usually present in her upturned phoenix eyes was absent as she stared at the gray-robed woman standing at the edge of the wall.
"Physician Ning," a soldier from the watchtower hurried over, "They're coming—less than two li away."
"Mm." The gray-robed woman gave a slight nod.
After a brief pause, she turned and walked outside the tower, looking at the faint silhouette in the window. "I'm leaving. Does the Mistress have any final words for me?"
Yelü Huangwu opened her mouth, wanting to say something, but in the end, it dissolved into a soft sigh.
Ning Yanli waited a moment longer, but hearing no words, she turned to leave.
"Ning Zi." Yelü Huangwu's voice called out.
Ning Yanli halted and turned back, seeing the tower door open as Yelü Huangwu slowly stepped out. Moonlight draped over her like a veil, casting her face in a pale, hazy glow.
"You must hate me deeply," Yelü Huangwu said.
Ning Yanli shook her head. "You saved my life. Now I return it to you. There’s no hatred in that."
"You’ve served me all these years—any debt of gratitude has long been repaid," Yelü Huangwu stood there, not taking a step closer.
Ning Yanli closed her eyes, refusing to look at her. "You saved me, taught me many things, and your most successful lesson was 'loyalty.' Even after seeing the truth of many things, I still chose to serve you, even at the cost of my life. Compared to that, my pursuit of the way of medicine, the life I once dreamed of—they were nothing but fleeting illusions. I have no regrets. Now, repaying your kindness, it all ends here. I only hope..."
"That in the next life, I never meet you again."
Without waiting to see Yelü Huangwu’s reaction, Ning Yanli turned and walked away, saying as she went, "But in this life, even a dog raised by you would develop some affection. I’ll use this last shred of feeling to wish you the fulfillment of your dreams."
With that, she quickened her pace and left.
In her mind, if she hadn’t died from testing medicine, even perishing at Mo Sigui’s hands would have been a decent end.
Medicine-feeding.
She would use her own flesh and blood to nourish those walking corpses, controlling them with her will to achieve their goal. Only a physician like her could accomplish such a thing. The method recorded in the Secret Records of Crane Control was incomprehensible to ordinary people. She had studied it for a long time before understanding—and the moment she did, she knew Yelü Huangwu would sacrifice her without hesitation.
This was expected. So why did it still hurt so much? Why this lingering resentment?
On the city wall, Yelü Huangwu’s final words remained unspoken as the figure before her vanished into a blur.
"Don’t go," she murmured.
Her heart wrenched, but in the end, she chose to sacrifice Ning Yanli.
The Madman’s death—she could still deceive herself into believing it was an accident. But Ning Yanli’s sacrifice left no room for excuses. If she truly couldn’t bear it, she still had the chance to stop it now.
But she didn’t.Yelü Huangwu stood by the parapet, watching Ning Yanli standing alone in the distance. Slowly, she unwrapped the coarse robe draped around her, revealing only a snow-white inner garment. Her jet-black hair cascaded quietly down her back as she drew a dagger and sliced open her palm.
Blood flowed out, its scent gradually spreading.
The group of men caught the smell and suddenly went berserk, lunging at Ning Yanli like starving wolves.
She did not evade. Instead, she extended her bloodied hand toward the first assassin who reached her.
Yelü Huangwu pressed her lips tightly together, her gaze fixed unwaveringly on the scene below.
As more and more assassins surged forward, Ning Yanli’s snow-white inner garment was soon stained with patches of crimson. She did not resist, but she had to prevent the assassins from biting into vital areas immediately—she needed to stay alive until the last assassin drank her fresh blood.
Chunks of her flesh were torn away, the pain wracking her body with tremors.
"Ah—"
"Hahaha!"
Her screams turned into maniacal laughter, her already ruined face now even more horrifying.
The assassins who consumed her flesh would collapse into unconsciousness for a moment. One wave fell, only for another to rush in.
This was a nightmare!
Bloody tears streamed from Ning Yanli’s eyes as she glanced toward the city tower. Though her vision was blurred with blood and she could see nothing, she knew Yelü Huangwu was watching her now—undoubtedly weeping.
In the end, she had become just like the Madman—pitiful, tragic, laughable!
"Ning Zi, from now on, you shall be called Ning Yanli."
"You like pastries from the Song Dynasty, don’t you, Ning Zi? I’ll take you there."
"Ning Zi, tell me—why do I persist like this?"
"Ning Zi, I’m not alone. I know that no matter who betrays me, you’ll always stay by my side."
"Ning Zi, whatever you desire, I’ll find it for you."
...
Ning Yanli couldn’t deny that Yelü Huangwu held an irreplaceable place in her heart. Years ago, that person had risked her life to sneak her deep into Song territory just to indulge in a pastry they loved, laughing together until they slumped in their chairs.
Yelü Huangwu had always treated her as someone special—precisely why Ning Yanli had allowed herself to nurture that faintest sliver of hope.
Yet in the end, she was no different from any other pawn. If anything, her death was even more gruesome.
"Is this the price of having known happiness...? So many fortunate people in this world—do they all meet such an end...?"
This fleeting thought crossed her mind as Ning Yanli focused her remaining mental strength, imprinting her will upon every assassin.
"Kill Yelü Quancang!"
As her powerful mental energy radiated outward, Ning Yanli’s body was instantly torn apart, her blood nearly exhausted.
The soldiers guarding the walls witnessed this scene firsthand, their faces drained of color. Though they were men who had faced life and death, unafraid to die, not a single one dared to choose a death like Ning Yanli’s! When they regained their senses, their hearts swelled with awe for her—and for Yelü Huangwu, they felt nothing but wholehearted admiration.
The Liao Kingdom had long upheld the tradition of women wielding power, but Yelü Huangwu had never stood out before. Even as a defeated contender, she had been confined to the imperial mausoleum for years. Her ambition and methods had been too restrained—now, it was time to bare her fangs.
She raised a hand to wipe the dampness from her eyes, her gaze as cold as ice.
This scheme could only end in victory—failure was not an option. Otherwise, she would betray the countless bones she had trampled upon to reach this point.
Yelü Quancang had to die—because he stood in the way of her ascent to the pinnacle of power.Yelü Jinglie must die, for only by using his heart's blood as medicine could she attain longevity!
"Imperial Uncle, you surely never knew that Ningzi never needed pulse diagnosis."
Yelü Huangwu curled her lips into a smile as she descended from the city walls.
She had already taken control of the city defenses and palace guards. The assassins couldn't be Liao Kingdom killers—Yelü Quancang controlled most of the Shadow Wraiths, and any unusual movement would surely alert him. Coincidentally, Yelü Jinglie had obtained the Secret Records of Crane Control and planned to use Ning Yanli to mobilize the Crane Controlling Families within Song territory to assassinate Yelü Quancang. She would simply play along with his scheme. If the plan was exposed or failed, she could still extricate herself from the affair, at most earning Yelü Quancang's suspicion.
The assassins beneath the city walls gradually awoke, driven by the lingering consciousness Ning Yanli had left before her death. They seemed to regain some semblance of intelligence and actually managed to infiltrate the city during the changing of the guard.
Only faint traces of blood and the lingering scent of medicine remained at the city gates. A gentle breeze swept past, as if all had returned to tranquility.
Morning.
Chu Dingjiang dragged two unconscious figures into Mo Sigui's courtyard and tossed them down.
Wei Yuzhi glanced at them. "The Miracle Doctor has gone to the herb garden."
"Please inform him these are the people he wanted," Chu Dingjiang said.
Wei Yuzhi noticed the frosty chill clinging to Chu Dingjiang, clearly from spending the entire night outside without rest. He stepped closer to examine the two unconscious men. "These are—"
"Ask Mo Sigui," Chu Dingjiang replied, turning to leave.
"Master Chu plays an excellent game," Wei Yuzhi remarked.
Chu Dingjiang remained silent. Wei Yuzhi's sources of information far exceeded his expectations, but it didn't matter.
"Does Master Chu truly intend to live out his life in mediocrity?" Wei Yuzhi asked.
Chu Dingjiang turned back. "You flatter me. I'm but a simple man."
"Why belittle yourself?" Wei Yuzhi said. "I know the Liao Kingdom best and am the most likely to see through your schemes. Yet you anticipated I would work for Wu Lingyuan."
With Mei Shi remaining in Hexi, the ultimate beneficiary would be the Hexi County Magistrate. As an advisor, Wei Yuzhi would never expose this matter.
"I heard Mei Shi obtained part of the Secret Records of Crane Control from you. I wondered if other secret records might also have fallen into your hands. It wasn't until the poison in two Crane Controlling Families was activated that I became certain."
Chu Dingjiang had deliberately leaked the Secret Records of Crane Control to Yelü Jinglie—not Yelü Quancang or Yelü Huangwu. Among these three, Yelü Jinglie had already lost influence. Suddenly gaining this power, coupled with his already precarious military authority, he would likely resort to desperate measures.
Both harbored ambitions to seize power. Once Yelü Jinglie made his move, Yelü Huangwu would most likely turn the situation to her advantage.
And the outcome matched Chu Dingjiang's predictions exactly. What happened afterward was beyond his concern—who emerged victorious in the end didn't matter to him.
"A Jiu wants to build an army. I merely wanted to gather some men for her. And incidentally, buy her some time to reorganize."
"To buy time for a mere county's self-defense militia, you plunged the Liao Kingdom into chaos." Wei Yuzhi didn't believe for a moment that all this was truly just for An Jiu.
Yet in truth, Chu Dingjiang's primary goal wasn't destabilizing Liao. It was simply that when he saw certain things, leaving them incomplete made him deeply uncomfortable.
"You knew all along I would work for Wu Lingyuan. Why?" Wei Yuzhi asked.
Chu Dingjiang smiled faintly. "Master Wei is resourceful and wise, but your true nature isn't so hard to discern."A complex yet simple man. He was deep and scheming—Chu Dingjiang might not be able to guess all his plots, but could see that his choices in matters of the heart were straightforward. As for which country or whom he served, it was ultimately just an emotional decision of his.
"If there's nothing else, I shall take my leave," said Chu Dingjiang.
"One last question—what did you see when you captured those two last night?" (To be continued...)
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