Dark clouds gathered in the sky above Luocheng, slowly shrouding the bright moon.

It was as if an invisible giant hand had gathered the clouds, and with a single, casual sweep, it cast a shadow of meticulously crafted plots and schemes, both overt and covert, that had been years in the making, over everyone’s heads.

Since the winter Mr. Feng first arrived at Grand Secretary Liu’s side, a hidden hand had been lurking beyond the dark stage, waiting to deliver the fatal blow to the Liu family.

The Directorate of Ceremonial applied pressure, Prince Jing appeared to entice, and Mr. Feng lay in wait, step by step guiding the Liu family into an abyss of no return.

Who had set up this elaborate scheme?

Golden Pig? No, while ruthless, Golden Pig lacked such a grand vision.

Pegasus? No, Pegasus was too bloodthirsty, lacking such long-term patience.

Who, then, possessed the ability, audacity, and patience to orchestrate such a scheme? Was it the black-robed figure Prince Jing secretly met in the dead of night? Chen Ji recalled the man wore a dark jade pendant at his waist.

He looked up at the darkness ahead. Spears shot out from the gaping windows, effortlessly piercing even the heavy armor of the Tiger-Armored Cavalry.

The spears pierced the bodies of the front-rank armored soldiers, their immense momentum dragging them from their warhorses.

Yet, the Tiger-Armored Cavalry showed no panic or retreat. Instead, General Qian sneered, “Tricks and illusions! Kill!”

The next moment, a tenth of the black-armored soldiers among the cavalry leaped from their horses. Like leeks pulled from dry earth, they used the horses’ heads as leverage for a second leap in mid-air, while the warhorses neighed in agony and collapsed.

Wearing heavy armor, the soldiers leaped onto the second-floor eaves, hands resting on their waist sabers. They moved across the gray tiles, assaulting window after window!

Xingguan?!

Chen Ji was startled to realize that the black-armored soldiers’ leaps showed even greater strength than his own.

Dozens of Xingguan were hidden within the Tiger-Armored Cavalry!

How peculiar. Xingguan training methods were as rare as white giant clams in the ocean, yet how could the Liu family possess so many?

No, the Xingguan methods cultivated by these soldiers must be of the same type!

They had abandoned the pursuit of extreme cultivation speed and never even sought the path to immortality. Instead, through years of patient, dormant training, they had painstakingly forged this formidable martial power.

Just then, a spear shot across the air from a window, hurtling towards General Qian.

General Qian sat firmly on his horse, reaching out to grasp the spearhead with a hand like an iron clamp. The spear’s shaft continued to tremble violently.

“Go!”

General Qian reversed the spear and hurled it back into the dark window, eliciting an immediate cry of pain from within.

Soldier after soldier immediately stormed in, treading on the gray tiles, as the clash of metal resounded from inside the building. On the ground, the Tiger-Armored Cavalry encircled the ambushed building, determined not to let a single spy escape.

General Qian said coldly, “Set them ablaze! Burn down this entire row of buildings!”

Chen Ji breathed nervously. The sudden appearance of over fifty Houtian-level Xingguan was too startling; he dared not approach General Qian rashly at this moment.

He quietly surveyed his surroundings. Where were Golden Pig and Pegasus?

Just then, rapid footsteps suddenly echoed from an alley beside the street. Chen Ji turned, clearly seeing Golden Pig charge out of the dark passage.

“Topple!”

Golden Pig suddenly appeared beside General Qian’s horse, breathing and punching in one fluid motion!

The punch landed heavily on the warhorse’s head, and with a thunderous crash, the horse collapsed, pulling General Qian’s body down with it.

“Seeking death!” General Qian did not panic. He lifted his spear, leaped into the air, and twisted his body strangely mid-air, as if performing a ‘rear-facing spear’ maneuver. The spear shot towards Golden Pig like a venomous snake striking.

Golden Pig sidestepped the thrust, but was caught off guard when General Qian’s hand twitched, snapping the spear like a whip and lashing it hard across his chest.

“Ouch!” Golden Pig was sent tumbling backward by the strike, rolling several times like a ball before scrambling up and fleeing back into the alley.

Some armored soldiers on horseback moved to pursue but were stopped by General Qian: “Don’t chase. The eunuch faction is full of tricks; don’t fall into their trap.”

Chen Ji sighed inwardly. Golden Pig should have held on a bit longer; General Qian was clearly unwilling to take the bait now.

He wondered what other special abilities Golden Pig’s cultivation method possessed. Both were Xiantian masters, yet Golden Pig’s combat prowess was clearly a notch below General Qian’s.

General Qian knelt before his warhorse. Seeing that it could no longer stand, he drew a dagger from his boot and swiftly plunged it into its neck.

At that moment, hoofbeats echoed from the long street.

General Qian stood, seeing Mr. Feng arrive alone on horseback. Mr. Feng offered no salute, his expression beneath the fierce tiger mask unreadable. “Mr. Feng, what brings you here?”

Mr. Feng, clad in a green cloak, smiled and said, “On my way back to the Liu family mansion, I suspected the eunuch faction might be up to something, so I came to investigate.”

General Qian paused, gripping his spear, and said nonchalantly, “The Tiger-Armored Cavalry has been dormant for years, waiting for this very day. Golden Pig just made a desperate assassination attempt, but I repelled him.”

With that, he pointed to the two-story building nearby: “Mr. Feng, just wait a moment. The eunuch faction inside will surely be annihilated by our cavalry.”

Mr. Feng seemed surprised: “Golden Pig? Where is he now?”

General Qian pointed to the alley: “He fled.”

Mr. Feng immediately dismounted and pursued him into the alley: “General Qian, continue to encircle the eunuch faction. I will go and apprehend Golden Pig. This is a great achievement; the Master himself said that his head is needed for the flag ceremony when the army marches out tomorrow!”

General Qian watched Mr. Feng disappear into the alley. He pondered for a long moment before finally striding in after him.

After a brief thought, Chen Ji dismounted and told the surrounding soldiers, “I’ll go and assist the General!”

Chen Ji navigated the dim alley, turning left and right. Luocheng’s alleys, with their identical white walls and gray tiles, were a maze. If not for the faint scraping of General Qian’s armor ahead, he would have surely gotten lost.

Mr. Feng’s presence here must mean he was concerned that he and Golden Pig couldn’t kill General Qian.

Yet Chen Ji harbored a doubt: if General Qian died here, wouldn’t Grand Secretary Liu suspect Mr. Feng, who shouldn’t have been present at all?

Before he could ponder further, a muffled grunt from General Qian suddenly reached him from ahead.

Chen Ji quickened his pace and turned a corner, just as he saw Golden Pig in the narrow, dim alley, ambushing with a dagger. The blade slipped through a gap in General Qian’s armor, piercing his ribs.

General Qian had assumed Mr. Feng was ahead of him, and that Mr. Feng would encounter Golden Pig first. He never imagined Mr. Feng would take a wrong turn, leaving him vulnerable to an ambush.

No, was Mr. Feng complicit?

Enraged, General Qian struck Golden Pig repeatedly. However, Golden Pig disregarded his own life, stubbornly pressing his head against General Qian’s chest. Gritting his teeth and coughing blood, he gripped General Qian’s head with his left hand while his right hand repeatedly plunged and withdrew the dagger. He managed three stabs, but the armor was too robust, preventing him from hitting any vital points.

General Qian ceased striking Golden Pig and instead seized Golden Pig’s dagger-wielding wrist, grappling. The dagger’s tip halted before General Qian, unable to penetrate further.

As the two were locked in a stalemate, Chen Ji was about to assist Golden Pig when he felt something was amiss.

Where was Mr. Feng?

Suddenly, a gust of wind swept past him.

Chen Ji turned, just seeing Mr. Feng’s great cloak fluttering as he brushed past him.

Mr. Feng, like a phantom, appeared beside General Qian and kicked Golden Pig in the side.

With a thud, Golden Pig flew sideways, crashing violently into the alley wall, causing the bricks to crack into a spiderweb-like indentation. Accompanied by several cracking sounds of bones, Golden Pig fell heavily to the ground, vomited a mouthful of blood, and lost consciousness.

Chen Ji was startled. Wasn’t the goal to kill General Qian? How did it turn into attacking Golden Pig?!

In the dim light, Mr. Feng supported General Qian, asking with concern, “General Qian, are you all right?”

Then, he looked up at Chen Ji and said, “What are you staring at? Come help General Qian!”

Chen Ji silently stepped forward and draped General Qian’s arm over his shoulder.

From his sleeve, Mr. Feng produced a small white porcelain bottle, poured out some powder, and applied it to the wound. “General Qian, the blade did not strike any vital organs, so your life is not in danger. This is a trauma medicine from the Laojun Mountain Daoist Temple; applied now, you’ll recover in just over a month.”

General Qian hesitated for a moment, quietly clenching his fist. “Thank you, Mr. Feng. How should we deal with Golden Pig?”

Mr. Feng cast a sidelong glance at the unconscious Golden Pig and said with a smile, “Naturally, we’ll take him back. Tomorrow morning, we’ll beat the drum to open court and execute him before the general’s platform — his head and blood will be used for the flag ceremony! General Qian, rest assured, this credit belongs to both of us; I won’t claim it all.”

As he spoke, he deliberately or inadvertently glanced at Chen Ji, sending a chill down Chen Ji’s spine. Mr. Feng’s objective of seizing power had been achieved. With the Liu family army on the verge of marching, General Qian, severely wounded, would naturally be unable to lead. Furthermore, since General Qian was alive and had captured Golden Pig, Grand Secretary Liu would have no reason to suspect anything.

Mr. Feng was using Golden Pig to secure control of the Tiger-Armored Cavalry.

But… what about Golden Pig?

At this moment, Mr. Feng instructed Chen Ji: “Go find some hemp rope and tie up the eunuch faction member on the ground.”

Chen Ji reluctantly agreed: “Mr. Feng, please take General Qian back for treatment first. I will tie up this villain and then join you.”

General Qian said coldly, “No, I must personally escort this villain back to the Liu family mansion. Go quickly and find the hemp rope; Mr. Feng and I will wait here.”

Mr. Feng looked at Chen Ji with a faint, unreadable smile. “Well, hurry up then, won’t you?”

“Yes, sir.”

Chen Ji found a house in the alley, broke in, retrieved some hemp rope, and returned to tie Golden Pig up securely.

He had been searching for an opportunity to provide Golden Pig with a way out, but with both Mr. Feng and General Qian watching, he found no chance. It wasn’t until this moment that General Qian slowly unclenched his fists and relaxed his guard.

Once he was bound, Mr. Feng, still smiling, pulled a dried green walnut from his sleeve. “Press this into Golden Pig’s mouth; it will numb his speech in a moment, preventing him from uttering obscenities in front of the Master.”

Chen Ji’s heart tightened. Mr. Feng had clearly anticipated this, preparing to prevent Golden Pig from revealing the Directorate of Ceremonial’s plans and dragging everyone down, once he realized he’d been betrayed.

On Ningyuan Street, the Tiger-Armored Cavalry had already surrounded and apprehended all the spies in the building, killing seventeen and capturing twelve alive.

The soldiers mounted their horses in formation, escorting the captives south. General Qian, having lost too much blood, had to be carried back in a carriage found by the soldiers.

The heavy, oppressive clatter of iron hooves seemed to pound directly on Chen Ji’s heart.

From the moment the Liu family launched their rebellion, an interconnected chain of events had swept everyone into a whirlpool of conflict, from which they were powerless to escape.

Chen Ji rode at the very end. As he rode, head bowed in thought, Mr. Feng slowed his horse and approached, chuckling softly, “What are you thinking about?”

Chen Ji looked up, cautiously glancing at the others. Confirming they were far away, he lowered his voice and asked, “Mr. Feng, are you from the Secret Intelligence Bureau?”

Mr. Feng let out a hearty laugh. “You could say that.”

Chen Ji then asked, “Mr. Feng, you and Golden Pig are colleagues. Did you just betray him like that?”

Mr. Feng eyed Chen Ji. “As far as I know, you have no particular friendship with Golden Pig, do you?”

Chen Ji paused, sensing something off about the question. He mused for a moment. “No, no friendship.”

Mr. Feng said slowly, “Now that this matter is settled, I’ll be returning to the Secret Intelligence Bureau. The Inner Minister promised me a position among the Twelve Zodiacs, but it seems there aren’t any vacant spots right now. So, wouldn’t it be perfectly reasonable for me to make one for myself?”

Chen Ji quietly pointed out, “Cloud Ram and Bright Rabbit are gone; their positions are vacant.”

Mr. Feng chuckled. “They were merely banished; they’ll return.”

Chen Ji added, “I heard Lord Sick Tiger is about to retire.”

Mr. Feng replied, “Lord Sick Tiger’s position is among the top three; I don’t dare aspire to that just yet. I prefer the Pig’s position. Sometimes, a pig can indeed devour a tiger.”

“What about Pegasus?”

Upon hearing this, Mr. Feng seemed somewhat troubled. “Indeed, what about Pegasus?”