The forest air was thick with the scent of ashes, and wisps of mist curled around the trees. Two warhorses stood eerily alone, tied in a deserted spot.

Chen Ji, carrying Bai Li on his back, navigated the rugged mountain path to reach the warhorses. He noticed a cowhide waterskin hanging from one saddle and a bag of roasted soybeans tucked inside a saddlebag.

Horses, water, and food were all present.

Chen Ji turned and looked behind him, then suddenly asked, “You all heard Mr. Feng humming that tune just now. Has anyone ever heard it before?”

The Young Lord shook his head. “I’ve never heard it.”

Bai Li replied, “It sounds more like a rustic folk tune.”

Zhang Xia pondered for a moment. “Construction, planning, marriage. Gen Palace Fu Yin, Kun Palace Fan Yin, Xun Palace Ru Mu, Zhen Palace Shou Ke… an endless cycle. This is the incantation for the ‘Life Gate’ in Qimen Bagua.”

“The Life Gate…” Chen Ji murmured.

He turned to see a small inscription carved on the tree trunk where the warhorses were tethered: ‘Agreement valid.’

Zhang Xia saw it too. “What does that mean?” she asked curiously.

Zhang Xia glanced intently at Chen Ji; the inscription was clearly meant for him.

At that moment, Chen Ji considered that the “agreement” likely referred to Mr. Feng’s earlier promise: if Chen Ji worked with him, he would help him fulfill a wish.

Could leaving these two horses be a gesture of good faith, an attempt to recruit him?

But how could he possibly side with the Liu family?

The Liu family was an enemy of the imperial court and was destined to fail.

Chen Ji gently set Bai Li on the ground, then unfastened the waterskin from the saddle and offered it to her. “Princess,” he said, “please drink some water.”

The Young Lord looked puzzled. “What if it’s poisoned?”

Chen Ji shook his head. “If Mr. Feng wanted to kill us, he wouldn’t need to be so indirect.”

As they spoke, Zao Zao had already plunged her head into the saddlebag, eagerly munching on the soybeans.

Seeing this, the Young Lord quickly reached into the saddlebag, snatched a handful of soybeans, and stuffed them into his mouth, speaking with a full mouth. “To think I, Zhu Yunxi, have stooped to snatching food from a horse’s mouth,” he mused. “But I have to admit, these roasted beans are quite fragrant.”

Chen Ji stood to the side and asked curiously, “Second Miss Zhang, are there any other stories about Mr. Feng? He vanished after the imperial examination; did no one ever see him again? What about his parents?”

Zhang Xia pondered for a moment. “I’ve never heard anyone mention it,” she replied.

This only deepened his confusion.

The clear image he once had of Mr. Feng blurred once more.

Mr. Feng was like a presence hidden at the bottom of a calm lake; whenever you tried to approach, you would first disturb the surface, and the ripples would obscure even the faint image below.

But why had the other party gone to such lengths?

Was it to kill Golden Pig and Heavenly Horse?

Now that Mr. Feng had calmly descended the mountain, did that mean Golden Pig and Heavenly Horse…

Dark Cloud let out a soft meow in his arms.

Chen Ji, still carrying Bai Li, suddenly looked towards the mountain, his hand instinctively reaching for Zao Zao’s saddle and gripping the hilt of his Whale Blade tightly.

Zao Zao turned to look at him, but was suddenly startled by his intense gaze and aura, retreating a few steps.

These few steps allowed Chen Ji to naturally draw the Whale Blade from the saddle.

The next moment, Golden Pig’s voice drifted down, seemingly complaining to Heavenly Horse: “I told you to run earlier, but you wouldn’t listen. Years ago, when that Mr. Feng appeared by Elder Liu’s side, he even confronted Lord Wu Xiu, and Lord Wu Xiu chose to avoid him then. Why did you rush into this? Look at all this blood he beat out of me…”

“That kid Chen Ji finally broke through… I was just about to regain my Seeker’s Realm. Can you please stop causing trouble? Who are you???”

Golden Pig’s descent paused abruptly, and he eyed Chen Ji and the others as if confronting a formidable foe.

Once he recognized Chen Ji’s face, he said curtly, “Why are you here? You startled me.”

Chen Ji also breathed a sigh of relief, slowly taking in Golden Pig and Heavenly Horse.

Heavenly Horse was spotless in his white robes, completely unharmed.

Golden Pig, however, was covered in blood with seven or eight wounds—a clear case of ‘gods fighting, mortals suffering’.

Chen Ji hesitated. “Lord Golden Pig, are you alright?”

Golden Pig waved a dismissive hand. “I’m fine, just superficial wounds. That fellow named Feng is far worse off than me.”

Chen Ji hesitated. “Lord, Mr. Feng just passed by here, and he seemed perfectly fine to me.”

Golden Pig froze, instantly tensing up. “Where? Where is this Feng fellow?”

“We were hiding in the bushes just now and saw him heading down the mountain,” Chen Ji explained. “It was a bit strange, though. He left with Jiang Yan, but he left the two warhorses behind.”

“Did they go far?”

“Yes, they’re long gone!”

Golden Pig let out a sigh, his body relaxing. He then slumped to the ground, collapsing. “Damn it,” he grumbled. “Why am I so unlucky to be stuck with you two?”

“Lord Golden Pig,” Chen Ji asked, perplexed, “weren’t you fighting just now? How did it end?”

Golden Pig retorted indignantly, “I came all this way to save you; do you really wish me dead here?”

“No,” Chen Ji replied.

“I’m just curious,” Chen Ji explained, “Mr. Feng orchestrated such a massive setup, deploying thousands of private soldiers, so why did it end so abruptly?”

“Just now, neither he nor Heavenly Horse could gain the upper hand,” Golden Pig explained. “I tricked him into thinking the Troubleshooters were on their way, and just then, a burning tree fell between us, giving him an excuse to retreat.”

Chen Ji pressed further, “What is Mr. Feng’s cultivation path?”

Golden Pig stammered, “Couldn’t tell!”

Chen Ji sensed something was amiss.

While a cultivation path was an official’s deepest secret, they had just fought a life-or-death battle. With Heavenly Horse present, Mr. Feng must have unleashed his full power, so how could his cultivation path not have been apparent?

Golden Pig’s words definitely concealed something.

Chen Ji asked, “Lord Golden Pig, what’s the plan now?”

Golden Pig sat up, muttering curses. “Heavenly Horse and I need to get back to Luocheng right away, summon the Troubleshooters, and raid this military town. Even if the Liu family has absolute control in Yuzhou, they won’t be able to keep this under wraps.”

As he spoke, a single snowflake drifted down from the sky, landing gently on Bai Li’s hair.

She reached out to catch it, but it melted on her fingertips.

Chen Ji looked up. At some point, the sky had been completely overcast.

The snow intensified, eventually falling in large, feathery flakes, and even the raging mountain fire began to be suppressed by the sudden blizzard.

Golden Pig stood up and turned to head down the mountain. “Chen Ji,” he said, “you all go to Luhun Villa and wait for reinforcements. On my way here, I saw King Jing’s Millennium Army mobilizing. If I see them on my way back, I will certainly inform them of your whereabouts.”

With that, he and Heavenly Horse vanished into the forest, leaping through the trees.

Chen Ji helped Bai Li onto a warhorse, then turned to Zhang Xia. “Second Miss Zhang,” he said, “I’ll trouble you to ride with the Princess and look after her.”

Zhang Xia smiled. “Don’t worry,” she replied, “you don’t need to remind me.”

The four mounted their horses.

Bai Li, leaning weakly against Zhang Xia, said, “Chen Ji, write a poem.”

Chen Ji smiled. “Princess, I wouldn’t know how to write a poem.”

“Just write one,” Bai Li said softly.

“I really can’t!”

Chen Ji pulled on the reins and looked back, his gaze piercing through the swirling snow towards the scarred, desolate mountain.

After a long moment, he finally turned forward, one hand gripping his blade, the other holding the reins. He urged his horse onward with his legs, riding into the wind and snow.

In the forest, Golden Pig’s rapid descent abruptly halted, shattering individual snowflakes.

In that instant, a powerful gust of air disrupted the natural flow of the wind and snow.

Heavenly Horse stopped beside him, signing, “What is it?”

Golden Pig narrowed his eyes slightly. “The snow is too heavy,” he said. “I’m afraid by the time we return, some traces will be obscured, making them hard to find.”

“What traces?” Heavenly Horse asked, puzzled.

Golden Pig didn’t answer directly. Instead, he signed, “Have you ever seen an official achieve a breakthrough during a battle?”

Heavenly Horse signed back matter-of-factly, “I have, the night I broke through from the Innate Realm to the Seeker’s Realm, with Jiang Liuxian.”

Golden Pig then signed, “But have you ever seen anyone break through twice in one night, during a battle?”

Heavenly Horse signed back: *Impossible. There’s no record of that in the Troubleshooters’ archives.*

Golden Pig gritted his teeth. *Damn it, I’ve been completely outsmarted.*

Heavenly Horse corrected him: *More like, pretend to be a pig to eat a pig.*

Golden Pig gave Heavenly Horse a speechless glance.

He turned and took a different path, rushing back up the mountain.

By then, the heavy snow had become a blanket, smothering the mountain fire.

Only black char and bodies, emitting white smoke, remained scattered throughout the forest.

Golden Pig wound his way up the mountain, his head down, continuously searching for clues.

Heavenly Horse was very patient, following silently beside him.

He merely frowned, gazing at his white boots, now stained with black ash.

After an indeterminate time, Golden Pig suddenly spoke, “Found it.”

He squatted down and picked up a broken piece of a blade from the ground.

He held the broken blade up to the sky, carefully examining the fracture. “This isn’t a blade destroyed by ordinary hacking,” he observed. “If a regular iron blade snaps from insufficient force, the break would surely be curved and irregular. But this one has a clean, precise break; it was shattered by a master’s impact.”

Heavenly Horse signed: *So?*

Golden Pig didn’t reply. Holding both the blade and the hilt, he stood up and continued searching the ground with his head bowed.

After a long search, he found three more broken blades on the ground, each with the same perfectly straight fracture.

Heavenly Horse’s expression grew serious. *Impressive blade work.*

Golden Pig’s expression was conflicted as he stared at the broken blades in his hand. “Could this be the Liang family’s blade technique? Liang Gou’er stayed at the medical clinic; perhaps he taught this kid. You’ve fought Jiang Liuxian—did she ever display this kind of blade technique?”

Heavenly Horse signed a denial: *No, the Liang family’s blade technique is fierce; it emphasizes intent over refined skill.*

Golden Pig took a deep breath. “Then where did a mere apprentice like him learn such a blade technique?” he mused. “Could it be Imperial Physician Yao? Dammit, I’ve been hunting geese all day, only to have my eyes pecked out by one. How utterly humiliating.”

He now recalled the three hours of pain he endured yesterday, which was clearly caused by the conflict between Chen Ji’s two cultivation paths.

Yet Chen Ji, knowing this, had tormented him by repeatedly practicing ‘Covering Cloud’.

A perfectly good cultivation path, and Chen Ji had stubbornly misused it as a long-distance voice transmission.

Golden Pig gritted his teeth. “That animal.”

Golden Pig stared intently at the broken blades in his hand.

Only when a layer of white snow had accumulated on his shoulders did he finally take a deep breath, bend down, dig a pit, and carefully bury each broken blade in the dark earth.