A clear brass whistle, like a swallow, soared over the rooftops and into the dark alleys.

In the alleys, Jiefan Guards wearing bamboo hats looked up at the night sky simultaneously. As soon as they clearly heard the whistle, they took out their own brass whistles from their pockets and blew them.

Each brass whistle sound rippled outwards, and the Jiefan Guards converged on the Inner Prison like wasps returning to their nest.

From above, the heavy snow resembled a chessboard, with the alleys forming its squares and the countless Jiefan Guards acting as chess pieces. Someone had set up a game, luring their target into a trap.

Before the Jiefan Guards arrived, Liang Gou’er, lying on the rooftop, urgently whispered to Chen Ji, “Quick, go! The Jiefan Guards will be here any moment. It’s a trap!”

In front of the Inner Prison gates, Chen Ji didn’t respond.

He gazed at the dark stone steps of the Inner Prison, from which a chilling wind blew. The jailers had already retreated into the darkness, and the wall lamps, engraved with Bagua formation patterns, had extinguished at some unknown time.

Chen Ji was puzzled.

Why would Inner Prison jailers carry hand staves? They had never worn them before.

How could a jailer be so vigilant? Was there only one elite among the jailers, and he happened to encounter him?

Heavy snow fell on Chen Ji’s head, shoulders, and heart. He felt a chill rise from the depths of his heart, spreading through his body like an icy current.

He finally understood where his recent sense of powerlessness had come from. It was because everything had been meticulously planned by someone; besides the Liu family, Prince Jing, and the Luotian Sect, he too was part of the scheme!

Who was scheming against him? Why were they scheming against him? To save someone or to leave? This was a deadly question.

As he pondered, the sound of cart wheels rolling over a stone road came from afar. Chen Ji turned to look and saw that it was none other than the Luocheng Prefecture troops under Zhang Zhuo, escorting a convoy of provisions. They were passing by in a disorganized long line, completely blocking the vicinity. The arrow was on the string; he had to act!

Chen Ji looked back at Liang Gou’er on the rooftop. “Forgive me, Brother Gou’er, I lied to you,” he said. “I don’t even know if you’ll be able to see Jiang Liuxian with that letter. You should go. It’s still not too late to leave now. The Conspiracy Intelligence Bureau won’t know you were involved in this.”

“If you go in now, you’ll surely die!” Liang Gou’er retorted angrily.

Without looking back, Chen Ji entered the Inner Prison. “It doesn’t matter,” he said, “there’s nothing left to look forward to anyway.”

With that, he walked down the stone steps one by one, heading deeper into the Inner Prison.

Yu Dengke hesitated for a few breaths, then jumped off the rooftop and ran into the Inner Prison with Chen Ji. In the heavy snow, only Liang Gou’er and Liang Mao’er remained on the rooftop.

Liang Gou’er lay on the rooftop with a complex expression. He saw the figures of the Jiefan Guards approaching from afar and immediately turned to leave. “Mao’er, let’s go!” he said. “Don’t get involved in this mess!”

However, before he could fully turn around, Liang Mao’er firmly grabbed his arm. “Brother,” he said, “the Crown Prince and Princess are good people. We can’t leave.”

Liang Gou’er impatiently tried to pull away from Liang Mao’er’s hand, but couldn’t break free; his sleeve almost ripped off.

“What does it matter to us if they’re good people?” he said helplessly. “Haven’t we helped enough people in the past, and haven’t enough of them repaid kindness with cruelty? When our family was in trouble, they came to kick us when we were down. They’re all ungrateful wretches!”

“When we were much younger, we saved Li Xuan. At that time, he was being hunted by his enemies and was half-dead; our father drew his blade and saved him. But what was the result? That treacherous chancellor created some martial alliance to pacify martial artists across the land, offering official positions and stipends. Li Xuan, fearing our father would contend with him for the alliance leader position, attacked our father after getting drunk!”

Liang Gou’er glared at his younger brother. “Our father saved Zhou You and his son back then,” he said. “They were desperate and almost starved to death on the streets. What happened then? After our father was injured by Li Xuan, he went on an armed escort. Outsiders didn’t know about his injury, but Zhou You and his son, driven by greed, revealed this to the Taihang mountain bandits, costing our father his life! For years, I’ve been killing Li Xuan and Zhou You and his son, accumulating a blood debt. If I get injured or die, and our enemies come for you, how will you survive?”

Liang Mao’er remained silent.

Liang Gou’er looked at his younger brother, his eyes blazing with anger. “Are you going or not?” he demanded. “If you don’t go, I will!”

Liang Mao’er slowly released his grip and said seriously, “Brother, their ingratitude is their mistake, not a mistake in what we did. Brother, what is our Liang family motto?”

Liang Gou’er was stunned. “Mao’er,” he said, “the jianghu is no longer what it used to be…” Liang Mao’er stood up from the rooftop, looked down at his brother, and said earnestly:

“Those in the jianghu do jianghu deeds. Their words must be trustworthy, their actions resolute. Their promises must be sincere. They do not cherish their bodies, would rather die for righteousness than live by chance, and face death as if returning home! The Crown Prince and Princess have treated us with sincerity. If we leave now, how would we be any different from those petty people?”

Liang Mao’er continued, “Brother, do you remember the eight words Father told you before he died?”

“One misstep, everything shatters,” Liang Gou’er murmured. Liang Mao’er lowered his gaze. “You haven’t lived up to it,” he said.

As he finished speaking, a Jiefan Guard, hand on his waist saber, arrived in front of the Inner Prison gates. Just as he was about to rush in, Liang Mao’er leaped from the rooftop and pounced onto the Jiefan Guard from behind.

The Jiefan Guard felt a dark shadow pressing down from behind and instinctively turned to draw his saber. But before he could fully draw it, he was lifted by Liang Mao’er.

“Go!”

Liang Mao’er threw him with all his might, instantly tossing the Jiefan Guard several zhang away.

The Jiefan Guard landed on the snow, bounced heavily, then fell again, sliding for two or three zhang before finally stopping. His bamboo hat had fallen off somewhere unknown.

The Jiefan Guard struggled to get up from the snow, shook his head, and looked in disbelief at the distance between himself and Liang Mao’er. He had been thrown so far!

He turned his face and spat out a mouthful of blood. Reaching into his collar, he slowly removed his outer garment and threw it onto the snow, revealing the black ‘Flying Fish’ uniform underneath, with a red embroidered python extending from his shoulder to his chest.

“Kill!” The Jiefan Guard drew his waist saber, fearless of death, and advanced through the snow.

As he charged back, another five or six Jiefan Guards arrived. They removed their outer garments and charged at Liang Mao’er, drawing their sabers.

When they were within ten paces of Liang Mao’er, the Jiefan Guards simultaneously removed their bamboo hats and flung them at Liang Mao’er like hidden weapons.

The bamboo hats cut through the layers of snow and spun towards him.

Liang Mao’er did his best to dodge, but two hats still grazed his arm and leg. The Jiefan Guards’ hats had blades hidden inside their brims, leaving a bloody gash wherever they struck.

The Jiefan Guards surrounded Liang Mao’er.

Liang Mao’er fought without any particular style, only charging and crashing with wide, sweeping movements. He repeatedly swatted away the Jiefan Guards’ blades, grabbed his opponents and threw them, but never delivered a fatal blow.

One could hear him still muttering, “Those in the jianghu do jianghu deeds…”

Liang Gou’er knew his younger brother best. He had such a soft heart that as a child, if even a chick died at home, he would cry for half the night. When their father wanted to butcher a cow, his foolish brother would hug the cow’s neck and say, “If you want to kill the cow, kill me first.”

A fool like this wasted his innate divine strength. Even with supreme saber techniques, he wouldn’t kill anyone.

Liang Gou’er was annoyed. He turned and lay on his back on the rooftop, closing his eyes. Yet Liang Mao’er’s voice echoed in his ears, “Would rather die for righteousness than live by chance…”

More and more Jiefan Guards surrounded Liang Mao’er. Liang Gou’er, who had been lying on the rooftop, stood up.

“Stop muttering, stop it!” He stood silently on the rooftop ridge, looking down at his brother nearby, and finally sighed, “With such a soft heart, if I die, how will you survive?”

Just as a Jiefan Guard swung his saber at Liang Mao’er from behind, Liang Gou’er flicked the jaw of his saber with his thumb.

With a *ding* that pierced the sky, the purest sound of a blade being drawn, it was like the primordial resonance of martial arts inherent in the creation of heaven and earth!

Liang Gou’er still stood on the rooftop ridge. A clear saber light streaked across the sky, traversing several *li*, splitting the Jiefan Guard who had ambushed Liang Mao’er in two. The stone path beneath the accumulated snow was also cleaved, leaving a palm-deep crack.

Dominant! Unmatched!

A Jiefan Guard exclaimed, “Liang family saber technique!”

The Liang family saber technique had no set moves. They had simply cultivated their saber intent to the extreme. With every breath, their killing intent was pure, requiring no minor tricks!

Liang Mao’er turned and gave Liang Gou’er a simple, honest smile. “Brother, thank you,” he said. Liang Gou’er grumbled irritably, “Shut up!”

He lightly leaped off the rooftop and stood in front of Liang Mao’er.

The next moment, Liang Gou’er looked up at the Jiefan Guards who had just surrounded them, a dense swarm of them.

Without turning his head, he said to Liang Mao’er, “Foolish Mao’er, no one in our Liang family has ever been able to cross that threshold of the divine path. I’ve always said this matter rests on you. I hope I wasn’t wrong. Today, let me show you what true Liang family saber technique is. Whether you learn it or not, it’s fate.”

Liang Gou’er faced over a hundred Jiefan Guards and stood tall, raising his head. He took a deep breath, the wind and snow swirling into his mouth as if he were a whale swallowing the heavens and earth.

He drew his saber!

In an instant, saber light illuminated the night, and a waterfall of snow surged backward!

On the Inner Prison stone steps, Chen Ji walked down quickly.

Crossbow bolts shot out from the darkness. Chen Ji slightly tilted his head, dodging them. His right hand, moving after the fact but arriving first, grabbed the fletching of a crossbow bolt by his ear.

He then threw it back into the darkness. A muffled grunt came from not far away, followed by someone quickly running off.

Chen Ji pulled the gray cloth back over his face, ran down the stone steps, and entered the Inner Prison’s passageway. Over ten jailers charged at him, but Chen Ji’s steps didn’t falter as he met them head-on.

In the cells on both sides, prisoners from Prince Jing’s Mansion and the Liu family were still confined. They clung to the iron bars, crying out, “Save us! Save us!”

Chen Ji engaged the jailers in close combat within the narrow passageway. In an instant, he disarmed, swung his saber, and completed it all in one smooth motion!

A jailer exclaimed, “No, he’s not Houtian, he’s Xiantian!” Chen Ji’s face was calm as water. He advanced step by step, holding his saber.

Amidst the sounds of fighting in the passageway, Yu Dengke ran to Chunhua’s cell and embraced her through the iron bars. “Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid,” he said, “I’m here to save you.”

Chunhua bit her lip, suppressing a sob. “Fool, why did you come?” she cried. “Aren’t you afraid of dying?! There are so many of them, hurry and leave!”

Yu Dengke quickly comforted her. “It’s alright,” he said, “even if we die, we’ll die together. Just wait here for a moment, I’ll go help.”

As he finished speaking, he turned to look at the passageway, only to find that over ten jailers were already lying on the ground, and he wasn’t needed at all.

Chen Ji, covered in blood, was panting. He pulled a string of keys from a jailer’s waist, found and took off the key for “A-Class No. 7”, then threw the rest of the keys to Yu Dengke. “Open the door and save Chunhua,” he said.

Yu Dengke took the keys, clumsily fumbling to insert a key into the lock, while watching Chen Ji run deeper into the prison.

Chen Ji ran quickly. The “A-Class No. 7” cell grew closer and closer.

As he neared it, he wiped the blood from his face. He then looked down again and felt relieved only after confirming that his injuries weren’t visible.

However, when Chen Ji arrived at the door of “A-Class No. 7” cell, he suddenly froze.

Chen Ji stood in front of the cell door, as if he had just experienced another explosion, a loud buzzing ringing in his ears.

Inside this cell, there was only the Crown Prince, no Bai Li.

He watched the Crown Prince grasp the iron bars, his mouth opening and closing, but he could no longer hear what the other was saying. He felt as if he was drowning, thick, black lake water tightly enveloping him, flowing him to an unknown destination.

Chen Ji snapped back to reality and angrily asked, “Where is the Princess?”

The Crown Prince came to the door. “Today, Bailong took her away alone,” he said. “I don’t know where he took her!”

“Why would he take the Princess alone?” “I don’t know!”

A sudden sense of absurdity rose in Chen Ji’s heart.

It was as if fate possessed a self-correcting ability. No matter how much effort he put in, there would always be one link that went wrong, bringing fate back to its original trajectory.

No, this was not fate.

Bailong had no reason to take Bai Li alone, unless someone had known all along that he was coming to break into the prison, unless…

Chen Ji abruptly turned his head to look at the darkness at the end of the passageway. A sinister and ruthless chess master seemed to be sitting there, silently mocking him.

But if the other party knew he was coming to break into the prison, why would they still leave the Crown Prince?

Chen Ji turned and strode forward. He arrived in front of “A-Class No. 1” cell, where Prince Jing sat withered inside.

In just two short days, the man seemed to have lived out an entire lifetime in this Inner Prison. He hadn’t died simply because he was waiting for someone.

Prince Jing heard footsteps and looked up at Chen Ji standing at the door. “You still came,” he said. Chen Ji spoke directly, “Your Highness, you clearly knew that Emperor Ning arranged Grand Eunuch Feng to be by your side to scheme against you. You are not someone who would simply surrender, yet you didn’t keep any trump cards for yourself.”

Prince Jing remained silent.

Chen Ji continued, “I’ve been thinking about this before: Your Highness, your actions either mean you were waiting for your last trump card, or… you intended to scheme against more people. I thought for a long time but couldn’t figure out who you were trying to scheme against, until I discovered that my master knew I was an outsider, and until Bailong took the Princess away alone.”

Chen Ji stood in front of the cell door and suddenly asked, “Your Highness, the last person you intended to scheme against was actually me, wasn’t it? That’s why you apologized to me.”

Chen Ji looked into Prince Jing’s eyes. “Your Highness, you’ve met Li Qing, haven’t you?” he asked. “It was you, my master, and Li Qingniao who smuggled me down from the Forty-Nine Heavens. That’s why, upon returning to Luocheng, you immediately sought me out for a game of chess, wanting to see what kind of person I was.”

Prince Jing still remained silent.

Chen Ji gripped the iron bars and asked in a low voice, “But why did you sacrifice the Princess? What wrong did she do? Is it because she’s not your biological daughter that you hate her? What exactly are you trying to do?”

He watched him quietly for a long time, then slowly said, “Chen Ji, the conflict between the Jing and Ning dynasties has lasted for years. There’s too much I wanted to do, but I’ve run out of time. I no longer have time to clear away the Ning Dynasty’s ailments, nor to gather an army and unify the land. At twenty-one, I was a young general with grand ambitions; at forty-five, I am merely a prisoner on the verge of death. Friendship and ideals can no longer give me strength. But Chen Ji, some things haven’t been finished. Someone must do them… Only if I die, if Prince Jing’s Mansion is destroyed, and enough people die, can the Jing Dynasty trust me.”

Chen Ji not only didn’t get his doubts resolved, but gained even more. What would the Jing Dynasty believe? What did Prince Jing intend to do?

No, Prince Jing wasn’t telling the truth. There was still a secret hidden in his words!

At this moment, Yu Dengke, holding Chunhua’s hand, rushed over. “Hurry, let’s go!” he urged. “There’s no time left! If we don’t leave now, we really won’t be able to escape!”

Yu Dengke dragged Chen Ji outwards. Chen Ji roared, “What exactly are you trying to do?!” Prince Jing sighed from inside the cell. “Chen Ji,” he said, “there shouldn’t be immortals in this world, nor the Forty-Nine Heavens… I’m sorry.”

Chen Ji wanted to rush forward and ask his questions, but found a fierce torrent of icy energy surging from “A-Class No. 1” cell. It was more terrifying and massive than the icy currents from Concubine Jing or Concubine Yun, more so than any previous icy current, and even more so than the entire Inner Prison’s icy current combined!

It was suffocating!

The Ning Dynasty’s powerful prince was gone.

The other party no longer gave him a chance to ask his questions. A generation’s prince willingly died in this dark cell.

At one point, Chen Ji even thought that the only reason Prince Jing had held on until now was to leave the icy current for him!

There was no time to think further. He pulled out the keys, opened the cell, and pulled the Crown Prince, running outwards.

The Crown Prince shouted, “Chen Ji, save my father! He’s still inside!”

Chen Ji didn’t answer. He just pulled the Crown Prince forward, through the long, dark passageway, breaking out of the prison.

Upon reaching the ground, Yu Dengke was startled.

He saw over a hundred bodies of Jiefan Guards lying on the snow. Red blood steamed in the winter night, melting the snow one by one.

In the snow, Liang Mao’er supported Liang Gou’er, who stood tall with his left hand holding his saber. However, a bloody gash ran diagonally across Liang Gou’er’s back from his shoulder to his lower back. His right arm was gone.

“Brother Gou’er, you…” Yu Dengke hesitated.

Liang Gou’er smiled faintly. “Damn it,” he said, “there were quite a few master agents hidden among the Jiefan Guards. We suffered an unexpected setback. My governor vessel is severed; I won’t be able to use a saber anymore. But it’s fine. This saber technique has cursed the Liang family for over a dozen generations. If it’s gone, it’s gone.”

Chen Ji avoided his gaze. “Thank you, Brother Gou’er,” he said.

Liang Gou’er grumbled irritably, “Don’t play dumb. I don’t like dealing with unscrupulous people like you. From now on, let’s forget each other in the jianghu and never meet again.”

Chen Ji didn’t explain anything. He pulled a white porcelain bottle from his pocket and tossed it to Liang Mao’er. “Medicine from the Huangshan Daoist Court,” he said.

Liang Gou’er said gravely, “From now on, you owe my brother and me a life. If one day Liang Mao’er is in trouble, no matter where you are, whether it’s climbing a mountain of blades or plunging into a sea of fire, you must repay this life.”

“Alright,” Chen Ji solemnly replied.

At this moment, the sound of galloping hooves echoed from afar.

Chen Ji looked at everyone. “Yu Dengke,” he said, “you will now take the Crown Prince and proceed according to the plan. Someone will arrange for your departure from Luocheng.”

Yu Dengke turned back, puzzled. “Where are you going?” he asked. “Aren’t you coming with us to Jing Dynasty? If you stay, you’ll die.”

Chen Ji took a deep breath. “I can’t leave,” he said. “I still have something to do.”

Yu Dengke was about to say something, but saw Chen Ji stepping back, retreating step by step into the darkness. “Someone once told me that those who can’t give up anything can’t change anything,” he said. “I know what I’m doing, and I know I can succeed. After this parting, I don’t know when we’ll meet again, or perhaps never again. If you drink together in Jing Dynasty, drink a mouthful for me. Take care.”

With that, Chen Ji turned and ran wildly.