Love and Crown

On the twenty-seventh day of the eleventh month, the factions of the Central Plains Martial World finally launched their final assault on the Sea Temple Palace of the Tianshan Sect.

The clamor of battle cries echoed through the snow-covered valleys, blood flowing freely across the ground. The brutality of martial conflict was laid bare in this battle with unflinching clarity.

I fired until my bullets ran out, reloaded, and fired again. I lost count of how many fell beneath my gunfire, how many sprays of blood stained my clothes—even Xiao Huan’s snow-white fur cloak behind me was spattered with crimson.

He had charged into the Sea Temple Palace alongside the disciples of Phoenix Come Pavilion. When King Wind, who had not appeared during the previous four breached defenses, emerged amid a flash of emerald sword light before the eyes of the Phoenix Come Pavilion disciples, I saw the reverence and pride on their faces.

That undefeated King Wind Sword—its power and awe were their faith.

The fierce battle lasted from noon until sunset. Though countless Tianshan Sect disciples had fallen, they still resisted desperately, relying on the labyrinthine terrain of the Sea Temple Palace. Though the Central Plains Martial World advanced steadily, every inch of ground gained came at a heavy cost.

The wind was cold, but the edges of swords were colder. Behind every pair of eyes lay naked, unbridled killing intent; every hand was stained with blood.

Gripping my scorching-hot gun, Xiao Huan and I fought our way into the most treacherous and convoluted heart of the Sea Temple Palace. Even though Lian Mou, well-versed in the Eight Trigrams formations, had explained the concepts of death gates and life gates to me, I still felt dizzy and disoriented here. After bursting into a small courtyard and gunning down several Tianshan Sect disciples, I glanced around—only to realize that our side had dwindled to just Xiao Huan and me.

More Tianshan Sect disciples leaped down from unseen crevices and high walls. Xiao Huan and I stepped back in unison, standing shoulder to shoulder with practiced coordination.

The white-robed disciples gradually formed a battle array, their scattered white figures darting swiftly before us. I tightened my grip on the gun.

“Kan position!”

At Xiao Huan’s low command, I leaped forward with force. A bullet tore from the barrel, striking a flaw in the formation. A disciple clutched his legs and collapsed, writhing.

At the same time, a dazzling azure light erupted beside me. King Wind sliced silently through flesh, trailing droplets of scarlet. Blood sprayed as one white-robed figure after another crumpled soundlessly to the ground.

Gunfire filled the gaps between flashes of sword light. The courtyard was awash in surges of crimson. By the time Xiao Huan and I stood together again, only corpses and moaning wounded remained.

Slamming a fresh magazine into my gun, I asked Xiao Huan, “How are you holding up?”

He answered softly, “Well enough.”

I nodded. Before I could lower my gun, a figure suddenly appeared at the courtyard entrance. Instinctively raising my weapon, I realized it was Lan Ruoyin, acting leader of the Emei Sect.

Sword in hand, his robes spattered with blood, he looked somewhat disheveled, yet his expression remained leisurely and composed. He nodded at us with a smile. “Mr. Bai, Miss Ling.”

I had little fondness for this man. Lowering my gun, I curled my lips slightly. “Call me Mrs. Bai.”

Lan Ruoyin chuckled, narrowing his eyes. “Mrs. Bai? That won’t do. Even if I must address you as such, shouldn’t it be ‘Her Majesty the Empress’?” As he spoke, his gaze shifted to Xiao Huan, his smile deepening. “Isn’t that right… Your Majesty?”

Xiao Huan smiled faintly. “The Lan family of Suizhou holds a hereditary title. In the winter of the third year of Virtuous Blessing, Young Master Lan once accompanied his father, the Earl of Anding, into the palace to receive an imperial decree, did you not?”"Six years ago, this humble one was fortunate enough to behold the celestial countenance, and naturally, it has been engraved in my heart, never to be forgotten." Lan Ruoyin smiled faintly. "It's rare for Your Majesty to still remember someone as insignificant as myself. That makes today's conversation much easier."

Xiao Huan lowered his gaze slightly, looking at the King Wind in his hand, and smiled faintly. "Sect Leader Lan, this is not the imperial court. There's no need for formalities. You've been following us all this way—do you want the head on my shoulders?"

Lan Ruoyin smiled, admitting without hesitation. "Your Majesty is indeed straightforward. Then I shall not stand on ceremony either." As he spoke, he raised his longsword, his jade-like face shedding all traces of laziness. "To cross swords with the Pavilion Master of Phoenix Come Pavilion has long been my wish."

I let out a cold laugh and stepped forward, shielding Xiao Huan. "What's the hurry? There's still me."

Lan Ruoyin shook his head with a smile. "That won't do. My lord has given strict orders—not a single finger on Her Majesty the Empress is to be harmed. I dare not lay a hand on you."

I was taken aback. "Your lord?"

Lan Ruoyin's smile was delicate, faintly reminiscent of that person's demeanor. "Has Her Majesty not remembered yet? The Lan clan of Suizhou has served as the retainers of the Prince of Chu for generations." He continued smiling. "And, Your Majesty, do you know who offered ten thousand taels of silver for the Emperor's head? It was none other than my lord... Did you not know that a man's jealousy can be deadly?"

I clenched my fists and turned to look at Xiao Huan. He was already gazing at me, his deep, star-bright eyes gleaming like morning stars. "The one who wants my head is not the Prince of Chu," he said calmly, shifting his gaze to Lan Ruoyin and curling his lips slightly. "I believe it is not him."

I exhaled in relief and raised my chin, turning back to raise my voice. "Lan Ruoyin, did you hear that? Even if you wanted to drive a wedge between us, your lie was far too clumsy!"

Lan Ruoyin paused, then suddenly chuckled softly. "Very well. Her Majesty trusts the Prince of Chu. Then may I ask why His Majesty believes in him? Is it because Her Majesty does?"

"Simply because I believe that a man of the Xiao clan, even if he wishes to kill someone, would never stoop to using another's hand," Xiao Huan replied evenly.

"Oh?" Lan Ruoyin mused lightly. "Is this what you call the pride of royalty?"

Xiao Huan arched a brow and smiled. "This is the pride of a man."

Lan Ruoyin straightened his expression. "Indeed, this is the pride of a man."

He slowly leveled his sword. "I was not mistaken—Bai Chi Fan is an opponent worthy of a life-and-death duel." He smiled faintly. "This has nothing to do with whether Bai Chi Fan is the Great Martial Emperor."

Xiao Huan smiled faintly. "Thank you."

I nodded at Xiao Huan and stepped aside.

Two streaks of sword light erupted almost simultaneously, emerald-green and snow-white intertwining into dazzling blossoms of light, layered and blooming furiously. The razor-sharp gusts scattered, whipping up the blood-stained snow on the ground like cherry petals.

In the blink of an eye, they had already exchanged dozens of moves. Lan Ruoyin's swordsmanship, unparalleled in the Emei Sect, was indeed not mere reputation.

I retreated to the courtyard gate to observe the battle when suddenly, my sleeve was tugged. Looking down, I saw a young girl in white with her hair tied in a bun standing behind me. Her face was as delicate as carved jade, her eyes a striking azure blue. When she smiled, two dimples appeared on her cheeks. "Big sister, what are you doing here?"I looked at her figure and face—she couldn't be more than twelve or thirteen years old—so I bent down and smiled at her: "There's a fight going on here, it's very dangerous. How did you end up here? Who are you? What's your name?"

The girl smiled sweetly: "My name is Yun Zixin. Isn't it a lovely name?"

Yun Zixin—the name sounded vaguely familiar, but I didn't pay it much mind and nodded with a smile. "It is lovely, truly a wonderful name."

Her smile grew even sweeter, then she pouted and sighed. "It's a shame hardly anyone calls me by this name anymore. So annoying—I clearly have such a beautiful name."

I smiled perfunctorily, mentally trying to figure out where this child had come from. Was she a junior disciple from some sect? Or perhaps a young disciple of the Tianshan Sect?

In any case, such a young child was in grave danger within the battle-torn Sea Temple Palace. How could her elders have let her wander here? I thought to ask her, "Then what do they call you? Little Xin?"

Yun Zixin shook her head seriously. "No, my disciples call me 'Master,' and the others... they call me the Old Monster of Tianshan." She frowned, looking genuinely upset and frustrated. "How awful that sounds!"

Yun Zixin—the leader of the Tianshan Sect. It was a name that had been forgotten by the Martial World for far too long. She had risen to fame with the long-lost "Eight Directions, Four Corners, I Alone Am Supreme" technique. At sixteen, she ventured east into the Central Plains; by eighteen, she was hailed as invincible; and by twenty, she retreated into seclusion in the Tianshan Mountains, dominating the Western Regions ever since. Due to a qi deviation during her training, her appearance had remained frozen at that of a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl for over thirty years, unchanging. Those who had glimpsed her true form called her the "Old Freak," and the moniker "Old Monster of Tianshan" spread far and wide, while her real name, Yun Zixin, faded into obscurity.

I tightened my grip on my gun and held my breath.

Yun Zixin looked up at me, her smile still innocent and carefree. "Big Sister, you don't look so good. Are you feeling unwell?"

Her radiant, spring-like smile drew closer. "What's wrong, Big Sister? Where does it hurt?"

My body felt as if it had been paralyzed. Cold sweat trickled down my temples as I abruptly raised my gun and fired three shots in rapid succession.

Suddenly, my fingers were enveloped by a pair of warm, small hands. Yun Zixin grasped my gun-wielding hand and peeked out from the crook of my arm with her bright blue eyes, giggling. "Big Sister, this weapon of yours is really dangerous. You shouldn't play with it."

Three bullets—fired at such close range—yet she had dodged every single one. I hadn't even seen her move.

A gleaming sword tip, propelled by a fierce gust of wind, shot between us, forcing Yun Zixin to release my arm and step back swiftly.

"Don't touch her, Sect Leader Yun." Xiao Huan's voice cut in coldly.

He stood in the courtyard, gripping King Wind. A few feet away, Lan Ruoyin was pale, the tip of his long sword now missing.

"Big Brother, you're so mean," Yun Zixin pouted, patting her chest with her jade-white hands like a wronged child. "I didn't do anything, and this sister just started shooting at me."

Then she turned her head, her smile widening as she looked at Xiao Huan. "You're pushing yourself too hard, Big Brother. I can tell—your breathing is all over the place..."She suddenly stopped, her porcelain-like cheeks flushing crimson in an instant. Her hands clenched tightly, her slender body leaning forward as her voice turned sharp and shrill: "Yu? You're back? I knew you'd return!" Her face abruptly paled, and she suddenly turned to look at me, laughing hoarsely, "You still brought a wretched woman back with you, didn't you? Why do you always shield other wretched women? Am I not good enough for you? Haven't I been good enough to you?"

With each question, her voice grew more piercing, until by the end, the shrill childlike tone nearly tore through her throat.

I instinctively took a step back, my spine almost pressing against the wall: "What are you saying? He's not Yu, you've mistaken him for someone else!"

Yun Zixin giggled, "Mistaken? Impossible. A face that handsome—one glance in a lifetime is enough to never forget. This man is mine, can only be mine!"

Her sapphire eyes flashed with ruthless determination as her palm suddenly lashed toward me. The white figure, several feet away, reached me in an instant, but a streak of blue light shot even faster toward her throat. A chilling gust of wind brushed past my ear as Yun Zixin twisted her wrist with the grace of plucking a plum blossom, her palm now striking toward Xiao Huan's chest.

In a series of rapid movements, her figure tangled with Xiao Huan's in combat.

Flinging open the gun case, I swiftly loaded the bullets, raised the pistol, and aimed at Yun Zixin, whose robes fluttered wildly. Her figure and Xiao Huan's darted past each other at blinding speed. Though I spotted openings several times, I hesitated to pull the trigger.

"Afraid to shoot?" A voice suddenly laughed beside my ear. I spun around, only to realize that Lan Ruoyin, who had been standing on the other side of the courtyard, was now right next to me. His head slightly lowered, a strange smile curled at the corner of his lips.

I whirled around, instinctively pointing the gun at him.

The bullet grazed Lan Ruoyin's cheek, and in the next moment, a sharp pain shot through my neck, plunging my vision into darkness.

I awoke to the sound of endless dripping water. Opening my eyes, all I saw was a world of white—white walls, white floors, and the petite, snow-white figure sitting with her back to me.

Realizing I had fallen into Yun Zixin's hands, I felt surprisingly calm, even relieved compared to the shock of our first encounter.

The pervasive cold stung my skin, but my limbs could still move, and my acupoints didn’t seem to be sealed. Truth be told, without my pistol, my meager martial skills were hardly worth restraining.

Testing my strength, I stood up. Judging by the icy floor, I hadn’t been lying there long—otherwise, my body would have lost all sensation. Rubbing my sore shoulders, I smiled at Yun Zixin’s back: "Senior Yun, not even a cup of hot tea? Your hospitality is rather lacking, don’t you think?"

No answer. Yun Zixin remained motionless, silent as a snow sculpture.

Tilting my head, I still couldn’t see her face. Just as I took a puzzled step forward, she suddenly spoke, her childlike voice laced with an incongruous weariness: "Sit still. Interrupting my reminiscence won’t do you any good."Even though I knew Yun Zixin had made a name for herself over twenty years ago and was certainly no longer young, hearing someone who looked and sounded like a twelve-year-old girl speak in such a tone about "reminiscing the past" still felt bizarre.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or do something else, so I simply stood there in silence.

After staring blankly ahead for a while, Yun Zixin suddenly spoke again, her voice still carrying that weariness tinged with sorrow: "I’ve waited here for twenty-one years, waiting for someone who will never return. I’ve brought back many young men, each beautiful and youthful, with faces even flowers would envy. One even looked very much like him—his eyes were dark and lovely. But he will never come back." She gazed straight ahead and repeated softly, "Yu won’t return. I killed him."

Though the name and other clues made it easy to guess, I cautiously asked, "Yu... is that Xiao Yu? Emperor Ruizong?"

"Ruizong?" Yun Zixin still didn’t turn her head, shaking it slightly as she stared ahead. "I don’t know what people called him after his death. I only knew him as Yu. The Yu who was gentle to everyone, whose smile was warm yet sorrowful. And I... I killed him."

Perhaps because her tone was too mournful, I couldn’t help but comfort her: "I’ve seen him. Yu isn’t dead yet. You... shouldn’t blame yourself too much."

Turning to look at me with those clear eyes, Yun Zixin slowly shook her head. "You’re wrong. Yu is dead... Twenty-one years ago, I watched him fall into the pond, watched the blood run down his face. Yu died—right here." As she spoke, she raised her arm and pointed at her feet.

Standing too close earlier, I hadn’t noticed. Now, following her finger, I saw the clear, still pond beneath her, its water so transparent it seemed like a massive crystal embedded in the white stone walls.

She said Gui Wuchang had once fallen into this pond—so he had been here before?

Though I’d guessed from her words that she had some connection to Gui Wuchang, the late Emperor Ruizong, I never imagined the once-revered emperor would have come to this place.

As if hearing something, Yun Zixin, who had been sitting motionless, suddenly turned her head. A faint blush spread across her porcelain-like face. "Yu is coming. Yu is about to arrive!"

Just moments ago, she had insisted "Yu is dead," yet now she claimed "Yu is coming." Her mind seemed utterly disordered. Before I could speak, a chill touched my neck, and my body stiffened, unable to move.

With a single finger, Yun Zixin sealed my acupoints, then swiftly dragged me behind a wall into an inner chamber. Before I could even take in the surroundings, I was thrown down.

Something icy cold surged over my body, stealing my breath away. It might have lasted only a few moments or an eternity before I finally gasped for air. But before any sound could escape my throat, another numbness struck the back of my neck—Yun Zixin had even sealed my mute acupoint.With the last shred of my consciousness, I struggled to focus on her face. All I saw was her looking down at me, her expression slightly dazed. Then, with a flick of her sleeve, she turned and walked out.

The white stone wall slid shut swiftly behind her, completely sealing off the inner chamber from the outside.

Waves of cold surged from my body to my head. I bit down hard on the tip of my tongue, tasting a metallic sweetness, and finally managed to stay alert enough to survey my surroundings.

If the previous room had been empty except for its stark whiteness, this place surpassed it in every way. Aside from the four enclosing white walls, there was nothing here. My position was in a small ice pool barely three feet square, nestled against the partition wall.

I called it an ice pool because I truly didn’t know how else to describe it. Though the pool was filled with water, its walls were crystalline and translucent, appearing almost like ice. The highest point of the pool protruded no more than a foot above the ground, yet it was deep enough to submerge me up to my neck. I didn’t know if the water in the outer chamber was cold, but the chill of this pool far exceeded any I had ever experienced before.

The water was utterly still, yet it felt as though countless sharp daggers were relentlessly stabbing into my body. Normally, in water this close to freezing, my body would quickly grow numb, and I would likely freeze to death soon after. But as time passed, the biting cold showed no sign of receding, continuing to pierce every inch of me.

As I focused on resisting the cold, I suddenly heard a clear voice from behind the wall, tinged with excitement and unease: "Yu, you've come..."

So the wall separating the two rooms wasn’t soundproof. Just as I thought this, a white figure flickered on the wall directly in front of me, and a silhouette took a few steps outward. As she moved aside, I realized that right before my eyes was a small, ice-like or jade-like object embedded in the wall. It wasn’t very large and blended inconspicuously into the white wall, but it allowed me a hazy glimpse of the outer chamber.

After Yun Zixin called out "Yu," she walked to the edge of the pool and stopped. Beyond her figure, I could see a figure in green standing not far in front of her.

As if afraid of being scolded or displeasing him, Yun Zixin hesitated for a moment before speaking haltingly: "Yu, I was afraid you wouldn’t come, so I had to do this... Yu, are you angry?"

After a pause, the figure in green finally spoke gently: "If you wanted me to come, you only needed to tell me. There was no need for this method."

It was Xiao Huan! Just moments ago, I hadn’t been sure if it was him or Gui Wuchang, but the moment I heard his voice, tears streamed down my already numb cheeks.

Hearing his response, Yun Zixin sounded delighted: "Yu, you’re not angry with me? You forgive me, don’t you?"

Xiao Huan seemed to smile. "I’ve never blamed you, nor have I ever wanted to fight you. So I hope you’ll let her go."It was a rather calm request, but Yun Zixin's voice suddenly rose sharply, piercing and shrill: "It's for that woman again! It's always for her!" She suddenly burst into laughter, the sound inexplicably mournful, mingling with her childlike voice that still carried traces of youth, creating an eerie dissonance. "Fine, you came here for her, didn't you? I've searched for you all these years, and you've always treated me with such cold indifference. Yet today, for this woman, you'd even come to Tianshan!"

After the laughter, she slowed down, enunciating each word clearly: "Fine, I'll give her back to you. But before you take her away, you must spend three days of pleasure with me. Otherwise, I'll poison her with a deadly toxin, and even if you raze the Tianshan Mountains, you won't be able to take away a living version of her!"

Each word dripped with venomous resentment, as if cursed from the depths of the underworld, making my vision darken. Just what had I done to offend this bizarre old woman? Tormenting me wasn't enough—she actually wanted to poison me to death!

Outside, silence lingered for a moment. Xiao Huan seemed to be contemplating how to respond. The delay made me burn with impatience. If I weren't currently immobilized by sealed acupoints, I would have lunged out to bite this old monster to death! What a delusional demand! Forcing Xiao Huan to sleep with her? Over my dead body!

"Senior Yun," Xiao Huan's voice finally rang out, still carrying that faint gentleness, "It's been over twenty years. My father didn't die. Please, let go of this obsession."

This time, Yun Zixin fell silent for a long while. Only after what felt like an eternity did she hesitantly ask, "Yu... didn't die?"

"That's right," Xiao Huan replied calmly. "My father is still alive. Why don't you come with me to find him?"

"Yu didn't die... Yu didn't die..." Yun Zixin murmured repeatedly before suddenly bursting into loud, childlike sobs. "Yu didn't die, but he hates me—hates me for harming his wife and child. He never wants to see me again..."

As she cried, she slowly lowered her head, curling into a small, trembling ball.

Without pausing to comfort her, Xiao Huan stepped over the pool and quickly approached the wall. The hidden stone door slid open, and my body suddenly felt weightless as I was gathered into his arms.

First, he unsealed my acupoints, then pressed his palm against my Dantian, channeling a steady stream of warm inner force into me.

The comforting energy circulated through my meridians, quickly dispelling the lingering chill. After several violent shivers, I finally managed to clutch his shoulders and speak through chattering teeth, "You knew I was here all along! What took you so long?"

Lowering his eyes to gaze at me with a soft smile, he remarked, "Still so spirited. It seems you weren't in there for long."

I nearly rolled my eyes at him. "Not long? You try staying in that ghostly pool! Every minute in there felt like a year!"

Just as I spoke, a leisurely, melodious voice chimed in from the side, "Your Majesty the Empress shouldn't say such things. I'm afraid the person in this world who understands best what it's like to stay in that pool is none other than our Emperor."

Lan Ruoyin emerged gracefully from behind the wall, arms crossed as she observed Xiao Huan and me with an amused smile before continuing, "The Cold Poison from His Majesty's Glacial Love Tribulation was all thanks to this Glacial Pool."

A shudder ran through me as I suddenly recalled what Gui Wuchang had told me: that pool contained water of extreme coldness, gathered over millennia—never melting, never freezing, never diminishing, never solidifying.

So this was that pool. And what I had just experienced was the same bone-deep cold that had accompanied Xiao Huan all these years, never fading, never ceasing, endlessly eroding his vitality.

After enduring it for such a short time, I already felt death would be preferable to that unbearable chill. Yet Xiao Huan had borne it for so many years.

My grip on his shoulders loosened as I rested my head against his chest, slowly wrapping my arms around his waist.He withdrew his inner force and removed his hand from my abdomen, lightly patting my shoulder with a smile. "Feeling better? But your clothes are still wet—you should change them."

His voice remained as gentle and teasing as usual, yet I couldn't muster even a hint of a smile. I buried my head in his chest, waiting for the tears in my eyes to recede before looking up at him with a forced grin. "You're enjoying seeing me like this, aren't you?"

Instead of bantering back, he simply smiled and scooped me up in his arms. He then stepped outside and politely asked Yun Zixin for directions to her bedroom before fetching clean clothes for me.

Fortunately, though Yun Zixin was now petite, she still kept some of her old, larger garments. Xiao Huan found a set of white robes and carried me to her bed. He carefully removed my soaked clothes and dressed me in the fresh ones.

After tying the last sash, he looked me over and chuckled. "Now for the shoes."

He found a pair of boots but didn’t rush to put them on. Instead, he took my feet in his hands, gently massaging them. Watching him tend to me, I remembered how he had done the same for me years ago at Shanhai Pass. Back then, I had doubted his feelings for me and hadn’t even offered him a sincere smile.

Once the boots were snugly fitted, he gave me a final once-over, satisfied that I was now protected against the snow and wind outside. Straightening up, he smiled. "There, Cang Cang. You’ve only just entered the Glacial Love Tribulation, so the Cold Poison hasn’t seeped into your body yet. Don’t be afraid."

I shook my head and grasped his hand hanging by his side. Ever since learning that the cold was the Glacial Love Tribulation, I had stopped fearing it. If I could bear even a fraction of his suffering—if it meant he wouldn’t have to endure that bone-deep, despairing chill alone—I would gladly drown in that icy torment forever.

But it was impossible… Just as I couldn’t share the burden of what he had to do now, no matter how much I wished for it, he would still leave. He would still face it alone.

Since arriving at Tianshan and seeing him again, the vulnerability I had forcibly suppressed finally surfaced. No matter how much hardship I’d endured before, I had never allowed myself to succumb like this—to let the overwhelming urge rise in my chest: I wanted to cling to him, beg him to stay. Even if the empire would fall into chaos, even if countless lives would be lost, leaving the world in ruins and the land littered with corpses… I still wanted him to stay. To never vanish into places unknown, to never disappear from my life again.

The tears streaming down my cheeks were gently wiped away by his fingers. As they continued to fall, he patiently dried them again and again before leaning down to press a soft kiss to my lips.

It wasn’t passionate or lingering—just a brief touch. When he pulled back, he looked at the dried tear tracks on my face and smiled. "Cang Cang, it’s getting late."

Holding my hand, we stepped back into the courtyard. The sounds of battle still raged in the distance—screams, shouts, and the clashing of blades.

Standing once more in Tianshan’s icy wind, everything that had just happened felt like a fleeting dream.Xiao Huan released my hand and walked towards Yun Zixin, who had long been packed and obediently standing aside.

I watched his retreating figure, pausing before speaking: "Are you leaving now?"

He smiled, his voice gentle and calm: "You performed well in this battle. You can tell them that from now on, you are the Pavilion Master of Phoenix Come Pavilion."

I nodded, forcing a smile onto my face: "I will tell them."

He chuckled, then turned to Lan Ruoyin and cupped his hands in salute: "May I trouble Sect Leader Lan to serve as a witness?"

Lan Ruoyin lifted his head and replied: "Very well, I will bear witness."

He extended his hand to Yun Zixin: "Let's go."

Yun Zixin took his hand, her steps light and cheerful. The two figures—one tall, one short—walked toward the exit in the high wall. As they turned past the stone barrier, the hem of his snow-white fur coat, stained with blood, fluttered once before disappearing behind the wall.

Not another word was spoken.

Instinctively, I took two steps forward, reaching out. My fingers spread apart, grasping at empty air—just like that day when I had stretched my hand toward the white marble railing of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, only to clutch at nothing.

I should have realized it long ago. He had been saying goodbye to me all along. This reunion in Jiangnan, the months spent together day and night, the thousand miles following him across the snowy plains—it had all been nothing more than a farewell drawn out over months. The hand I had stretched out to hold onto that figure had already come up empty long before last winter’s heavy snowfall.

I should have known.

A cold breeze swept over the high wall into the courtyard, shaking loose the layer of snow from the wintersweet branches and carrying faint wisps of fragrance to my nose.

I lowered my hand, letting it hang at my side. So, wintersweet had been planted in this courtyard all along.

Lan Ruoyin shook his head and walked up to me: "The one who paid for the head of the Phoenix Come Pavilion’s master was not my lord. My lord has never interfered in the affairs of the Martial World."

I took a deep breath and nodded: "I know."

"I also don’t serve anyone. I followed you only because I wanted to cross swords with His Majesty once. To stir both our fighting spirits, I claimed I was after his head." Lan Ruoyin smiled faintly. "Thirteen years of training, three years since mastering my craft—I’ve never been defeated. I wanted to know the limits of my swordsmanship."

I laughed: "And now you know?"

He nodded with a smile: "It’s good to know there’s still someone in this world who can defeat you." Then, after a pause, he added, "As for capturing you for Yun Zixin, it was only because I once met her at the foot of the mountain and promised to help her once. But I only agreed to help her catch 'the woman Yu loves,'" he drawled, mimicking Yun Zixin’s tone, "What she did after catching you was none of my concern."

Truly, he was Xiao Qianqing’s retainer—even this nonsensical way of thinking was identical.

The clamor of battle drew nearer, and the figures of Tianshan Sect disciples could already be seen at the courtyard gate. It seemed that as the last stronghold to fall, this place would soon be stained with blood as well.

I closed my eyes, then opened them again, raising an eyebrow as I lifted the halberd in my hand: "Sect Leader Lan, do you know anything about the art of the Eight Trigrams?"

Lan Ruoyin nodded: "A little."

"Perfect," I grinned. "I’m not very familiar with it. You lead the way, and we’ll fight our way out together. How about it?"