In the pitch-black curtain of rain, a figure gradually emerged, stepping one by one onto the shattered Hall of Offering.
The disguise on her face had been washed away by the rain, her drenched hair clinging to her pale cheeks, the coldness in her eyes from firing a gun and killing someone not yet dissipated.
She hadn’t waited for him to return.
She had come to find him, just like that night long, long ago.
That day, An Xian suddenly said to him, "The Consort Yu who is coming to attend His Majesty in bed today seems unusual. Her makeup and attire are completely different from before..."
He was puzzled. "What do you mean?"
An Xian was taken aback. "Your Majesty once instructed this servant to report any concubine attending the bedchamber who deviates from her usual appearance."
Only then did he remember—it was an order from a long time ago. Back then, he hadn’t yet given up searching for that fellow traveler from another world. After all these years, he had nearly forgotten it himself.
Regardless, he went through the motions. Sensing the woman kneeling before the bed, he spoke, "Get out."
Then, feigning the demeanor of someone who had just transmigrated, he asked the guards, "Will she die if she doesn’t stay to attend the bedchamber?"
If she were a transmigrator, she should have reacted upon hearing this.
He dismissed the guards. Behind the bed curtains, the woman remained motionless for a long time.
Xiahou Dan laughed at himself.
At that moment, a pale, delicate hand lifted the bed curtain.
The woman was indeed dressed in stunning beauty, but her eyes were strikingly clear.
He no longer dared to trust anything pure. Yet, he couldn’t bring himself to extinguish those eyes so easily. Indifferently, he told her to make a makeshift bed on the floor and endure the night.
After a moment of silence, he heard a trembling voice: "How are you?"
Xiahou Dan smiled at her. "You came."
Yu Wanyin knelt before him, her hands shaking as she tore a piece of cloth to bandage the wound on his chest. "It’s nothing, just a minor injury. Stop the bleeding, and it’ll be fine..."
"Wan Yin," Xiahou Dan gazed at her. "There’s something I need to confess to you."
His lips had turned pale, and his words sounded like the opening of a deathbed confession. Yu Wanyin’s eyes immediately reddened. "Don’t say it! Hold it in. Tell me after we get back alive!"
Xiahou Dan chuckled. "Afraid I’ll die after saying it?"
"Shut up!"
"Don’t worry," he said. "I won’t die until you agree. I haven’t fulfilled your dream yet..."
His voice trailed off abruptly.
Unable to dissuade him, Yu Wanyin silenced him in another way.
Xiahou Dan couldn’t remember when his senses had begun to numb. Perhaps it was the day he transmigrated, or the day he killed someone, or perhaps after enduring headaches day after day, his body had activated its self-preservation mechanism.
But now, he was reborn into this inexplicable world once more.
The rain roared deafeningly, as if someone had torn away a soundproof curtain.
Every pain in his body sharpened a thousandfold, every nerve screaming to burn.
Her lips seemed forged from molten rock. The metallic tang of blood rose from his throat, mingling in their entangled tongues—who knew whose blood it was.
His body reflexively recoiled, as if fleeing the flames. Yet Xiahou Dan tensed his muscles, leaning forward instead, his hand gripping the back of her neck.
The storm shattered three thousand specks of dust. On the earth, some were dying, while others were kissing.
Until Yu Wanyin, gasping for breath, struggled slightly.Xiahou Dan released her with a laugh. "Sweet."
Yu Wanyin: "..."
You're quite the charmer, aren't you?
As if bewitched, she leaned in again, ready for another round.
Bei Zhou: "Pardon the interruption."
Bei Zhou had blood at the corner of his mouth, having sustained some internal injuries.
The two Shadow Guards Yu Wanyin had brought up had played a crucial role at the critical moment, helping him subdue Tuer. Dragging the tightly bound Tuer along, Bei Zhou stood patiently watching their lingering farewell, waiting who knows how long before politely interrupting.
The two Shadow Guards were checking the casualties in the hall. Several guards were still alive and were being helped up for treatment. They also found two surviving Yan Kingdom men, who were tied up and thrown beside Tuer.
Yu Wanyin snapped back to reality, turning away awkwardly. Bei Zhou noticed the wound on Xiahou Dan's chest and his expression darkened. "Dan'er!"
Xiahou Dan's dark black Dragon Robe concealed the bloodstains, but the cloth Yu Wanyin had used to bandage him was completely soaked through.
Xiahou Dan glanced down. "It's nothing."
Bei Zhou's face darkened as he held a hand over Tuer's crown of the head. "No need to keep this one, right?"
Tuer hadn't expected this perfectly timed and positioned operation to end in defeat. Now thoroughly dejected, only his sunken eyes remained fixed on Xiahou Dan, burning with ghostly flames.
He spat. "As expected, the people of Xia only have underhanded weapons and monsters who are neither man nor woman."
Bei Zhou struggled to suppress the urge to strike him down. "Dan'er, kill him?"
"Kill him!" A shrill female voice suddenly rang out from a corner.
Yu Wanyin jumped, only now noticing the disheveled Empress Dowager sitting on the floor.
Empress Dowager: "What's the point of keeping him? So he can collude with Prince Duan from within?"
Xiahou Dan said in surprise, "I almost forgot you were still alive."
Empress Dowager: "..."
Xiahou Dan had already torn off all pretenses before the assassination attempt and had no intention of putting them back on now. Without even glancing at the Empress Dowager, he stared at Tuer, lost in brief contemplation.
The interruption actually helped Yu Wanyin refocus. Prince Duan's men were still lurking in the forest, watching intently. Unable to see what was happening in the Hall of Offering, they wouldn't attack directly yet. But if no movement came from here soon, they would come to investigate.
Once they discovered Xiahou Dan was still alive, how would they react? At this point, might they decide to go all the way, commit regicide themselves, and pin it on the Yan Kingdom men?
Bei Zhou clearly had the same thought, glancing outside. "In a direct confrontation now, I wouldn't stand a chance."
Yu Wanyin warily eyed the Empress Dowager and lowered her voice. "Yang Duojie went to mobilize the Imperial Guards."
Xiahou Dan: "The Imperial Guards might not respond."
Yu Wanyin: "I believe in his silver tongue."
Xiahou Dan smiled. "Then we wait."
Tuer suddenly laughed too. "No use wasting your efforts."
Staring at Xiahou Dan's chest, his eyes gleamed with malicious delight. "You'll die soon. We coated our weapons with poison from the Qiang Kingdom. Your wound won't heal. Your blood will keep flowing, flowing, until it runs dry."
Yu Wanyin's face paled.
Bei Zhou grabbed his collar. "Where's the antidote?"
Tuer burst into laughter.He knew death was imminent and only wanted to use their pain as his farewell: "Just like that Wang Zhao! Why are you looking at me like that? Of course he's dead—intercepted and killed alongside the real envoy party halfway here, hahaha! Died a messy death, stretching his neck toward the Xia Kingdom's direction with his last breath before collapsing!"
Yu Wanyin trembled uncontrollably.
A cold hand grasped her wrist.
Xiahou Dan used her support to stand, picking up a sword from the ground as he swayed slightly, leaving bloody footprints with each step toward Tuer.
Yet he walked past Tuer, raising his sword at a nearby Yan man instead.
The Yan man screamed.
Then screamed again.
Xiahou Dan mechanically lifted and thrust the sword, deliberately avoiding fatal spots each time until the man's intestines spilled out, howling like a slaughtered pig.
Yu Wanyin covered her mouth and turned away.
A few drops of warm blood splattered onto Tuer's face. His pupils contracted as he struggled violently: "Xiahou Dan! Are you still a ruler of a nation? Spare them—if you've got the guts, come at me!"
Xiahou Dan's sword got stuck between the man's ribs and wouldn't budge. He bent down to pick up another, moving to a different Yan man to continue his grueling task.
Tuer raged impotently, cursing incoherently.
When Xiahou Dan raised his sword again, he couldn't bring it down. Yu Wanyin embraced him from behind, her voice quivering: "Stop... you can't lose any more blood..."
Xiahou Dan paused. In that moment, Bei Zhou struck like lightning, granting the two a swift end.
Xiahou Dan exhaled sharply, releasing his grip. The sword clattered to the ground.
His legs buckled, but he refused to collapse before Tuer. Sensing this, Yu Wanyin strained to support him and signaled the Shadow Guard.
The Shadow Guard brought a chair from the hall, helping Xiahou Dan sit. When Yu Wanyin let go, she found both hands stained dark with blood.
She clenched her jaw and wiped them behind her back.
Xiahou Dan looked down at Tuer's bloodshot eyes and spoke calmly: "Wang Zhao's mission was secret—even his parents didn't know the truth. I warned him of the danger and told him he could refuse."
Tuer stared blankly, bewildered by this sudden shift after the madness.
"He said peace talks were vital for the nation and he must go. If anything happened, he asked me to inform his elderly parents to build him a cenotaph, so his spirit could return home."
Xiahou Dan held Tuer's gaze: "I will ensure his death wasn't in vain, to honor his spirit."
Tuer: "?"
Xiahou Dan said something he never dreamed of hearing: "Now, let's negotiate peace."
Every surviving person except Yu Wanyin doubted their ears.
The silence shattered when the Empress Dowager began screaming. Her sanity fraying, she dragged her injured leg toward them, seemingly intent on killing Tuer herself.
Xiahou Dan simply told the Shadow Guard: "Attend to the Empress Dowager."
She was attended to.
Xiahou Dan: "Wan Yin, give the gun to Uncle Bei to guard the gate."
Yu Wanyin gave him a worried glance. He responded with a reassuring smile—he knew what he was doing.
Tuer: "What madness is this? You're a dead man walking, I'm a desperate fugitive—what's there to negotiate?"Xiahou Dan spoke calmly, "Indeed. You can consider this the ramblings of a dying man. By this time tomorrow, my dear elder brother and your esteemed uncle should be raising their glasses in celebration."
Unnoticed, the streets and alleys of the capital had emptied, as if washed into a ghost town by the heavy rain. The people living under the Emperor's feet possessed an animal-like instinct for upheaval and had all shut their doors and windows, hiding in their homes.
Yang Duojie rattled the shackles on his wrists. "Old brother, where are you from?"
The deputy commander sitting before him cracked melon seeds, ignoring him.
This man had been promoted by Zhao Wucheng. Zhao Wucheng had ordered him to detain Yang Duojie for interrogation, but he understood that this prisoner only needed to be held—there was no need for any questioning. If he dragged it out until the Emperor on the mountain died, the matter would resolve itself.
Yang Duojie chuckled. "Old brother, meeting like this is fate. Since we've got nothing better to do, how about I tell you a story?"
The deputy commander spat out a melon seed shell and turned to look at the rain outside the window.
Yang Duojie continued as if he hadn't noticed the indifference. "Once, when Cao Cao went to campaign against Yuan Shu, they encountered a great drought, and the army ran short of provisions. The quartermaster asked Cao Cao, 'What should we do if the men have no food?' Cao Cao replied, 'Switch the large measuring vessels for small ones when distributing the rations.' The quartermaster then asked, 'But what if the soldiers grow resentful?' Cao Cao said not to worry—he had a solution."
The sound of cracking melon seeds slowed.
Yang Duojie pretended not to notice. "Once the rations were reduced, the soldiers indeed grew furious. Cao Cao said to the quartermaster, 'I need to borrow something from you to restore morale—your head.' The quartermaster was shocked and protested his innocence, but Cao Cao feigned helplessness: 'I know you're innocent, but if I don’t kill you, should I kill myself instead?'"
A flash of lightning outside. At that very moment, a thunderclap struck overhead like a collapsing pillar of heaven.
The deputy commander: "..."
The deputy commander sneered. "What’s the point of all this roundabout talk?"
Yang Duojie tsked and shook his head. "Old brother, your lack of education is your downfall. Zhao Wucheng could have simply ordered you to watch over me—why did he publicly command you to 'interrogate' me?"
The deputy commander froze.
Yang Duojie pressed on. "When the Emperor’s rescue fails, someone’s head must roll. Even if the Emperor dies, Prince Duan will still demand accountability to maintain appearances. Zhao Wucheng is Prince Duan’s dog—he won’t be the one to suffer. The one who’ll pay is... the person who delayed sending troops by failing to extract a confession."
He leaned back smugly. "The moment Zhao Wucheng gave that order, old brother, your head was already on loan."
The deputy commander burst into laughter. "Such obvious attempts at sowing discord—do you really think I’d fall for it?"
Yang Duojie shrugged. "Suit yourself. Everyone has their own fate."
The deputy commander snapped, "Then shut up!"
Yang Duojie obediently closed his mouth and didn’t utter another word.
The deputy commander finished half a plate of melon seeds, glancing at him repeatedly before finally asking, "If what you say is true, how should I handle it?"
Yang Duojie kept his lips firmly sealed.
The deputy commander slammed the table. "Speak!"
Yang Duojie smirked. "How uncouth—asking for advice without even bowing respectfully..."
The deputy commander whipped out his blade and pressed it against Yang Duojie’s neck. "I can be even more uncouth. Will you talk or not?"
"Fine, fine." Yang Duojie shrank back. "I hear Zhao Wucheng doesn’t handle day-to-day affairs himself. Who usually manages the miscellaneous tasks for him? Can you get your hands on the military seal?"
Hall of Offering.Tuer: "What do you mean? If the peace talks failed, why would Zha Luo Wa Han celebrate?"
Xiahou Dan smiled: "Do you really not understand? Do you still think Prince Yan is in the dark, unaware that you came to assassinate him?"
"We left a decoy—"
"That old fox has sat on the throne for decades. Do you think he could be fooled by your little trick for so long?"
Tuer was speechless.
He recalled the scented sachet the Queen of Qiang Kingdom had "coincidentally" left behind, and the surprisingly lax security during his escape.
Xiahou Dan: "Years of war have left the people impoverished, and the morale of Yan's forces has plummeted, leading to continuous defeats. You didn't notice, but Zha Luo Wa Han did—the people no longer want to fight. He loathes Xia, and the peace talks were merely a temporary measure. He needs time to recuperate and a new catalyst to reignite the people's will to fight."
His tone carried faint mockery: "What a coincidence—last time, that catalyst was Shan Yi, and this time, it's your turn."
These words ignited the powder keg.
Tuer's entire body tensed: "You—how dare you—mention her?"
"Why wouldn't I dare? She tried to kill me—was I supposed to stand there and let her?"
"Bullshit!" Tuer roared, his muscles bulging as he actually broke free from the ropes and lunged at Xiahou Dan. But severely injured, he was swiftly pinned down again by the Shadow Guards. Struggling against the ground, he spat, "Still spouting lies! The so-called assassination was all your fabrication!"
Xiahou Dan raised an eyebrow slightly: "The dagger she used was exquisite, with deer and flowers carved on the hilt."
Tuer's struggles ceased abruptly.
Yu Wanyin's lips parted in surprise.
How did Xiahou Dan know such a minute detail from a long-buried palace secret? Had it been mentioned in the original text? She thought he hadn't read it carefully.
Yet Tuer's reaction confirmed the detail was true.
Xiahou Dan: "A frail girl like Shan Yi wouldn't attempt assassination without reason, would she? Tell me, who gave her the order? And how did they make her obey—through threats, bribes, or by holding someone she cherished hostage?"
He let the silence linger before gazing at the back of Tuer's head with pity: "How tragic—to be a puppet without realizing it, unable to save the woman you loved, and failing to find your true enemy. You thought you were slipping past their defenses to carry out an assassination? No, you were sent here by Prince Yan, just like Shan Yi. Your deaths in the Great Xia palace are far more valuable to him than if you'd died by his hand. When the news reaches Yan, he can shed crocodile tears and rally the people to demand vengeance against Xia."
"..."
Tuer let out a hoarse laugh.
"You call me a puppet?" He fixed his bloodshot eyes on Xiahou Dan. "Aren't you one yourself?"
"Of course I am." Xiahou Dan didn't blink. "When I was young, I thought a desperate gamble could free me from their control. Only later did I realize that every decision I made, every act of defiance, played right into their hands. I am their marionette, their blade to kill..."
He glanced at the Empress Dowager.
She trembled.
Xiahou Dan looked away: "In truth, we're very much alike. But I refuse to accept it. I refuse to feign ignorance, to drift mindlessly toward fate while deluding myself, calling it 'having no choice'—do you accept it?"
These lines...As if each word had been chewed up with blood and spat out along with teeth, Yu Wanyin thought.
To Tuer, it sounded like a roaring tidal wave crashing in his ears.
Self-deception.
He couldn't help but ask himself: Had I really noticed nothing?
Years ago, when his uncle shamelessly declared, "Her identity is the most suitable," how had he responded?
Years later, the scented sachet, the defenses, all those anomalies—had he truly not seen them, or had he deliberately ignored them? By orchestrating this mutual destruction, he could convince himself that vengeance had been served and die with a smile—yet he hadn't dared to look back even in death.
So that's how it is, he realized in a flash.
So this so-called "foremost warrior of Yan" was actually afraid of Zha Luo Wa Han.
Xiahou Dan suddenly shifted the topic: "What a pity, what a pity that I'm about to die. Otherwise, I could have sent someone to help you kill Zha Luo Wa Han. But now, having committed regicide, you probably won't even make it out of Daxia alive."
Tuer: "..."
Tuer: "......"
Yu Wanyin could almost hear the gears in his brain spinning wildly.
After a long silence, he said bitterly, "I truly don't have the antidote. That woman from Qiang only gave me the poison. Can your imperial physicians do anything?"
Xiahou Dan: "..."
Xiahou Dan: "Then pray for me with all your might."
Bei Zhou, who had been standing by the door, suddenly knelt and pressed his ear to the ground. "A large group is coming up the mountain—likely the Imperial Guards."
Before anyone could sigh in relief, he swiftly stood and fired a shot outside.
"Ambush in the woods is moving in," he said rapidly. "We just need to hold out until the Imperial Guards arrive."
But where could they flee?
Yu Wanyin whirled around to look at the back door and made a snap decision. "Into the underground palace!"
From the rear exit of the Hall of Offering, the unsealed entrance to the underground palace was visible a hundred meters away.
Bei Zhou fired two more shots. Seeing the shadows emerging endlessly from the woods and no sign of reinforcements, with his ammunition nearly depleted, he barked, "Go."
Bei Zhou hoisted Xiahou Dan onto his back. Two Shadow Guards carried the Empress Dowager and dragged Tuer respectively, along with a few injured, out the back door.
Pursuers closed in from all directions. Prince Duan's ambush, seeing their mission on the verge of failure, seemed to have thrown caution to the wind, sending everyone into the fray.
Rain poured down as Yu Wanyin sprinted the hundred meters.
The tomb passage was still under construction. The entrance lacked paved bricks, and the muddy ground had turned into a waterlogged pit. Each step sank deep into the mire, forcing them to wrench their feet free with effort.
The fastest pursuers had already closed the distance, hurling an assortment of hidden weapons. The injured at the rear screamed as they became human shields.
Despite carrying someone, Bei Zhou surged ahead, practically gliding over the water's surface before landing on the stone steps of the tomb passage and charging down without looking back. Yu Wanyin waded through the water behind him, only to hear another agonized shriek—the Empress Dowager had been hit.
Having devoured tomb-raiding novels on her commute, she knew that all underground palaces had a section sealed off by a stone door with a locking mechanism, impossible to open from the outside in a short time. But once inside, there would be no retreat. Once the door was breached, they'd be sitting ducks.
With no other choice, she leaped down the steps three at a time, shouting, "The main burial chamber!"
Her vision darkened as they finally entered the underground palace.
Bei Zhou strained his eyes in the darkness, heading straight for the largest chamber. Turning, he delivered a powerful kick to the blocking stone.The blocking stone slowly toppled over, like a giant domino, pushing the massive stone door to gradually close.
The others rushed in, squeezing through the narrowing gap. With a thunderous boom, the door shut completely, the blocking stone settling into its groove, forming a triangle with the door and the ground.
The last sliver of light vanished, plunging the tomb chamber into utter darkness.
Then, from outside, came the sound of pounding on the door.
Yu Wanyin held her breath and listened for a moment, but the heavy stone door remained unmoving. It was as if all her strength had been drained at once, and she slumped against the wall, sitting down.
The room was pitch black, and for a moment, the only sound was the Empress Dowager’s groans.
A group of schemers, each with their own hidden agendas, now found themselves clinging to one another in the darkness of a tomb.
It was only belatedly that Yu Wanyin noticed the sharp pain in her shoulder. She reached up and touched the bloody gash left by a hidden weapon.
She sucked in a sharp breath.
Xiahou Dan: "You're hurt?"
His voice was close, as if he were sitting right beside her. Yu Wanyin tentatively reached out, groping in the dark until she found his hand and gave it a light squeeze.
Not wanting to distract him with worry at such a critical moment, she replied lightly, "No."
Xiahou Dan’s fingers were cold as they traced up her wrist, finally stopping at the edge of the wound.
"Tuer," he asked quietly, "did the ambushers poison their weapons too?"
Tuer: "?"
Tuer: "Are you misunderstanding something? I have no idea who sent those ambushers. Was it that elder brother of yours you mentioned?"
Xiahou Dan: "..."
Could this man really succeed in turning the tables and killing Yan Wang after they got back?
From the corner, a Shadow Guard’s voice chimed in: "Your Majesty, this subordinate was also lightly injured by a hidden weapon, but I didn’t sense any poison." Thinking Xiahou Dan was inquiring about the Empress Dowager, though slightly puzzled, he dutifully reported, "However, the Empress Dowager’s injuries are somewhat severe and require immediate treatment."
Xiahou Dan didn’t respond.
The pounding on the door continued relentlessly, but the stone door only trembled faintly, showing no signs of budging.
Yu Wanyin relaxed slightly and whispered into Xiahou Dan’s ear, "The stability of a triangle."
Xiahou Dan actually laughed under such circumstances: "The crystallization of ancient wisdom."
Their fingers remained tightly interlaced as they listened quietly to the commotion outside.
After a while, the pounding suddenly weakened, replaced by the sharp clang of clashing weapons.
The Imperial Guards had finally arrived.
The newcomers held an overwhelming numerical advantage. Prince Duan’s men, trapped in the underground palace with no escape, put up a desperate but futile resistance before the sounds of battle gradually faded.
Someone called out toward the stone door, "Your Majesty? Empress Dowager?"
Bei Zhou projected his voice with deep resonance: "All inside."
The voice outside replied joyfully, "Please hold on, Your Majesty! We’ll find tools to break the door!"
In the darkness, the Empress Dowager suddenly let out a tearful curse, followed by Bei Zhou’s icy retort: "Stay still."
Yu Wanyin: "What happened?"
Bei Zhou: "This woman tried to ambush Dan'er. I caught her."
Yu Wanyin was stunned. Truly, someone who had schemed against Prince Duan for so many years was a ruthless character. Even at the end of her rope, she hadn’t forgotten her original goal.
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