Feng Qianqian hummed a song as she looted the corpses: “Wolf smoke rises, gazing north at the land, dragon banners unfurl, horses neigh long, sword aura cold as frost…
Hatred drives me mad, where the long blade points, how many loyal brothers lie buried in foreign soil…”
Listening, Nangong Li fell into deep thought: Wasn’t his own military life just as she sang?
In the heavy snow of the northern frontier, he sat by a campfire outside the command tent.
Holding a jug of coarse wine, drinking alone, he seemed to find resonance, recalling his own childhood.
At age five, Consort Jing died after being struck by several arrows while saving the Emperor.
Returning to the palace, Consort Xian had already taken the initiative to adopt him under her name.
Consort Xian was two-faced—before the Emperor, she treated him like her own son.
But in secret, she often beat him black and blue, all because his birth mother was Consort Jing.
At seven, he was sent to Lingyun Mountain by the Imperial Uncle, and at fourteen, he descended the mountain to join the battlefield.
He was decisive in slaughter, undefeated in every campaign he led, conquering all in his path.
The Emperor, acknowledging his repeated military achievements, enfeoffed him as Prince Li.
Because of this, he incurred the jealousy of the Crown Prince and other ambitious princes, who sought to kill him.
A few days ago, while battling the Hu Horse, as the army was triumphantly returning, he left ahead of the troops because his cold poison was about to flare up.
As he wished, he came to the Cold Pool in the back mountains to suppress the cold poison.
Never did he expect that schemers had laid a Heavenly Net and Earthly Snare here, deploying hundreds of assassins to kill him.
Weak and with only a dozen shadow guards, who fought desperately to protect him and break through the encirclement, he barely managed to escape to this place.
Feng Qianqian weighed the bag of silver in her hand, then casually tossed it into her dimensional space.
System: [Congratulations, Host. Ten thousand points have been credited. Disposing of heinous assassins earned five thousand points. Please check.]
A smile tugged at Feng Qianqian’s lips, her dimples faintly appearing and gradually spreading.
As she looked up, directly ahead stood a stone tablet, inscribed with the name Feng Yunqing.
“Why is this Grandfather’s tombstone?” Tears immediately welled up in the corners of her eyes.
After her parents’ unexpected deaths, it was her grandfather who painstakingly raised her.
Her grandfather’s name was Feng Yunqing.
She seemed to forget that the tomb’s owner merely shared the same name.
Her voice choked with sobs: “I can’t go back, I can never go back!”
In the blink of an eye, teardrops rolled down, tears flowing numbly like an unending spring, each drop a heartfelt sorrow.
Staggering, she walked step by step toward the tombstone.
Nangong Li was puzzled: What’s wrong with the little demoness? Wasn’t she just happy a moment ago?
Why is she crying? Why can’t she go back? Where does she want to return to?
Sensing Feng Qianqian’s profound sadness, suddenly, Nangong Li’s heart twitched violently, and he actually felt a pang of heartache.
Though they were strangers, she had saved him, and her medicine was effective.
Normally, the poison would only ease by dawn, but now his body was already free of pain.
He truly wanted to wake up quickly to see what was wrong with the little demoness.
But his body was uncooperative, still unable to awaken.
Feng Qianqian walked step by step toward the stone tablet, tears streaming down her face as she murmured to herself: “Grandfather, something happened to me. You must be very sad.”
She cried pitifully, her face wet with tears, enough to stir pity in anyone who saw her.
Nangong Li felt an inexplicable ache in his heart. At this moment, even the cold-blooded, ruthless prince was moved to compassion.
He couldn’t see, but he could hear Feng Qianqian’s footsteps growing farther and farther away.
Feng Qianqian approached the tombstone and wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. “Grandfather, I never had the chance to properly care for you, and now…”
Nangong Li was puzzled: Why is the little demoness saying she’s dead? This is bad—she’s going to take her own life!
He tried to forcefully break through the sealed Acupoint to stop Feng Qianqian from committing suicide, but despite his efforts, he couldn’t succeed.
Overwhelmed by grief, as if love had been torn away, Feng Qianqian slowly knelt down and kowtowed three times toward the tombstone.
Before she could stand up, she heard a creaking sound—a mechanism seemed to have been triggered.
The ground beneath her split open, revealing a hidden door.
“Ah!”
Feng Qianqian let out a sharp cry.
She plummeted downward at an astonishing speed.
Immediately after, the opened door of the mechanism closed again, leaving no trace behind. The mountain forest returned to its previous tranquility.
Feng Qianqian didn’t even have time to think of hiding in her dimensional space. It felt like sliding down a chute, descending endlessly.
All she could hear was the howling wind in her ears. She lost consciousness and fainted…
As the effects of the drug wore off, Nangong Li opened his cold, sharp eyes and stood up abruptly, calling out, “Little demoness, little demoness, where are you?”
He searched everywhere but couldn’t find Feng Qianqian.
His gaze fell on the tombstone, and his eyes lit up. He leaped over to it in a single bound.
“The little demoness was last standing here, but where is she now?”
He circled the tombstone, but there were no signs of a struggle or abduction on the ground.
At that moment, two shadow guards landed before Nangong Li and knelt on one knee. “We failed to protect you adequately. Please punish us, Master!”
Seeing the two covered in blood from fighting to protect him, Nangong Li’s voice turned icy. “What about the others?”
An Yi lowered his head. “Master, we were outnumbered, and they used poison. The other dozen or so all perished in battle.”
Uncontrollable rage flickered in Nangong Li’s eyes, as if it could incinerate his enemies to ashes.
His clenched fists turned white, and a fierce gleam shone in his eyes. “They timed their attack knowing this prince’s cold poison would flare up today.
Tomorrow night, raid all his businesses in the capital.
An Er, search the area for a young girl. She seems to be in danger.
She saved this prince’s life. Find her and bring her back to the prince’s residence. This prince will reward you handsomely.
She took this prince’s jade pendant. Go to the pawnshop and give the order.”
“Yes!”
“An Yi, spread the word that on the night of the full moon, this prince’s cold poison flared up, and I was attacked, left hanging by a thread. Let them gloat for a while.”
“Yes!”
Nangong Li glanced at the sponge cushion nearby—it was soft, no wonder he had felt so comfortable.
“Take that cushion with us as well.”