Chapter 26: The Endgame

After fighting through half the night, Guard Gao and Commandant Sun were both drunk on bloodshed. There were hardly any of the common soldiers under Commandant Sun left standing, and two Eastern Palace guards had also been killed or wounded.

Whoever stood behind this band of marauding outlaws, blood debts had to be paid in blood!

At their reply, the two men each led whatever subordinates were still able to move and began searching the post station.

Pei Qinghe was not idle either. With a sweep of his eyes, he pointed out more than ten men who could still fight. “You lot, come with me.”

Pei Yun

When she saw Nan Shu emerge unscathed, she had no time to ask her own assistant what had happened inside the dressing room, since filming had already begun.

Feng Che stared blankly at Shao An’s departing figure, unable to speak for a long while. He had observed Shao An for a long time, yet had never been able to fathom the man’s thoughts. He and Shao An were not on good terms; indeed, he had even insulted him publicly. Yet instead of kicking him while he was down, Shao An had chosen to save him. Why on earth?

With the exception of Tianzhu, all four kingdoms were famed for breeding fine horses. The young men mounted their steeds, cracked their whips, slung their crude weapons across their backs, and began assembling. The young men of Tianzhu were unwilling to fall behind. To fight for the Golden Radiance Bodhisattva was a matter worth boasting about, so five or six of them climbed aboard a single elephant and hurried to the appointed gathering place as well.

Eunuch Chen meekly agreed. With the experience he had gained from serving the emperor for so many years, he could tell that His Majesty was truly furious this time.

Jia Xu arrived at Meridian Valley with Shi A and Liu Hu, where someone was waiting to receive them. The three of them had already been watching Sima Hui from the side for quite some time. Only after Sima Hui went to seek out Yi Ji did they quietly follow behind him.

Fang Ting drove attentively all the way, and none of us spoke again. The streets in the early hours of the morning were as peaceful as a cat basking in the afternoon sun. I loved this time of day, because it placed one in a state of extraordinary stillness. No matter how agitated and restless the day had been, at this hour everything was released.

At that thought, Chen Che looked at the maids differently. Were they encouraging him? Could there be an even more unspeakable secret here than the giant soldiers?

“There!” A warrior in close-fitting clothes pointed at the boulder and shouted urgently to his companions. At his level, he could not see wandering spirits, but how could a boulder make that clanging sound? Could it be that its legs had gone numb and it wanted to stamp its feet?

Just then, the hidden door behind them slowly opened. A man stepped out, walked up before Bai Liang’er, and bowed with clasped fists.

There was certainly no problem with eating some grain. But if they continued eating without giving anything in return, the marquis’s residence would sooner or later be devoured empty. They came to work without creating any value; instead, they merely consumed it. This had become a vicious cycle, and Wu Xi would have to pay the price for his softheartedness by supporting a house full of idlers.

This time, Xia Haitong was mentally prepared and did not collapse onto the floor. But she struck the doorframe, and the pain in her back felt as though two bones had been broken.

It was only that the Cheng army now confronted them in the north, while the Huai army had drawn a border in the west. The realm was fractured into four, and the great powers watched like tigers waiting to pounce. Beset by troubles within and threats without, her father had no choice but to choose peace talks with the Ye army to the south.

Gradually, night descended. There was not the slightest glimmer of starlight or moonlight in the sky that evening. The dense darkness enclosed her as tightly as a vast black net. Those dark sensations surged violently through her body, knotting themselves into a mass and slowly eroding the colors once spread across the past. Everywhere they passed, they left behind only the somber darkness of night.

Suddenly, the broken sword shot into the air. It no longer drifted and wheeled uncertainly, but flew far into the distance like an arrow, swifter than the wind and more dazzling than lightning. Borrowing the recoil created by its entanglement with the broad saber, the sword unleashed terrifying force. Xie Junhe leaped up, then wheeled and dove like an eagle descending upon its prey for vengeance.

At this, Zhou Yafu stretched open his great mouth and gave Li Jinghong a foolish grin. The latter was clearly somewhat helpless at having his position usurped, but in the end he could do nothing but roll his eyes and let it go.

But events did not unfold as he had imagined. When the smell of blood seeped through every crack, he finally understood what he had done. The infiltration of the white shadows that Cheng Yunhe had privately feared had evolved into a massacre. His former companions would never awaken again.