The night breeze drifted gently beneath the bright moon hanging high in the sky.
A carriage sped through the woods.
The driver was a girl dressed entirely in red. Her dark eyes shimmered like stars, and her delicate face was as beautiful as a celestial maiden’s. Yet the conspicuous scar on her right cheek made her look almost like a specter haunting the night.
“Are you sure your master fled in this direction?” Xia Qingci asked as she drove the carriage.
Seated beside her was a man dressed in the uniform of a secret guard, an arrow feather protruding from between his brows. He had died only recently, and his face still held a lifelike expression. He was a ghost.
“Yes, Master. My master is of noble standing and immensely wealthy. If you can save him, he will certainly repay you handsomely!”
The corners of Xia Qingci’s lips curved upward as she drove the carriage even faster.
…
Deep within the woods, Xiao Mochi gripped his sword. The poison had drained nearly all the strength from his body, but he still stood firmly, his cold gaze fixed on the few surviving assassins who no longer dared approach.
More than a dozen corpses lay before him, each killed by a single sword stroke to the throat.
Xiao Mochi glared at the assassins with blood-red eyes and gave a cold laugh. “Go back and tell your master that even with such despicable methods, he still can’t harm me, Xiao Mochi, in the slightest.”
The assassins hesitated.
They had witnessed Xiao Mochi’s skill just now. He looked nothing like someone who had been poisoned.
“Didn’t we poison him? How is he completely unaffected?” one of them said, already considering retreat.
The leader cast him a glance and said bitterly, “If we fail this mission, we’ll die when we return anyway. Attack! He must already be at the end of his strength!”
Several of them raised their swords and charged at Xiao Mochi once more.
A strange wind suddenly rose, stirring up the dead leaves on the ground. The wind and leaves seemed to come alive as they surrounded the assassins completely.
The sound of wailing ghosts and howling wolves even rang out from within the wind.
“What’s happening? Where did this wind and those ghostly cries come from?” an assassin shouted.
In the next instant, the dead leaves transformed into sharp weapons, slicing open the throats of every assassin at once.
A look of shock and suspicion appeared on Xiao Mochi’s face as he stared at the scene before him.
Suddenly, a girl in red descended from the sky and landed in front of Xiao Mochi.
The moment he saw Xia Qingci’s face clearly, Xiao Mochi froze slightly. He had never seen such an eerie-looking woman before.
Xia Qingci paid no attention to Xiao Mochi’s stare. Instead, she tilted her head and examined him.
“This is your master, right?”
Her sudden, inexplicable question made Xiao Mochi tighten his grip on his sword.
His gaze locked onto Xia Qingci like a blade.
“Not bad-looking. And you even possess an imperial aura. What a pity—the poison has already reached your vital organs. If you aren’t treated immediately, you won’t live through tonight.”
The ghost looked at Xiao Mochi anxiously and pleaded with Xia Qingci. “Master, you must save our Prince. The Yufeng Dynasty cannot be without him. He is the God of War who keeps the barbarians along the border in check. If he dies tonight, the Yufeng Dynasty will surely descend into chaos!”
Xia Qingci knitted her brows slightly and turned to glance at the ghost, whose concern was utterly sincere.
“I didn’t expect you to care so much about matters of state even after your death. Don’t worry. Since I promised you, I’ll save your master.”
Xiao Mochi looked toward her side, but there was not a single person there.
His cold eyes narrowed slightly, and a trace of killing intent appeared in them.
“Who are you? And whom are you speaking to?”
Xia Qingci noticed Xiao Mochi’s killing intent, and her gaze immediately turned cold.
“Prince, I was entrusted by someone to come save you. It isn’t wise for you to direct killing intent at me.”
Xiao Mochi was taken aback.
His killing intent had not been especially strong, yet this woman before him had detected it with ease.
The killing intent vanished at once.
His inner strength was nearly depleted. Since she claimed to have come to save him, he decided to trust her for the time being and stall until his subordinates found him.
Xiao Mochi put away his sword and sat down on the ground, his limbs weak. He looked up at Xia Qingci, his gaze still sharp.
“You said you were entrusted to save me. Who entrusted you?”
Xia Qingci looked down at him, a hint of amusement flashing in her eyes.
“Zhao Yi, your subordinate.”
Shock flashed through Xiao Mochi’s eyes.
Not long ago, Zhao Yi had died before him while taking an arrow meant for him. How could this be possible?
“What nonsense are you talking about?” Xiao Mochi’s expression turned cold and stern. Being deceived was one thing, but he could not tolerate someone using the name of a loyal subordinate who had died to save him as part of that deception.
Xia Qingci did not take offense. She pulled a porcelain bottle from her sleeve, poured out a pill, and held it out to Xiao Mochi.
“This is a Universal Antidote Pill. I made it myself. Take it, and the poison will be cured.”
Xiao Mochi did not move. He merely stared fiercely at Xia Qingci.
Speechless, Xia Qingci glanced at Zhao Yi beside her.
“Your master doesn’t trust me and refuses to take the medicine. You can’t blame me for that.”
Zhao Yi gave a smile that looked even more miserable than crying.
His master had always been deeply suspicious. He certainly would not casually swallow something of unknown origin.
Besides, the mystic arts master looked suspicious enough that if Zhao Yi were still alive, he would surely be even more wary than the Prince. But he knew that he was dead now. He could see the golden light surrounding her and sense things that he had been unable to sense while alive.
Although she looked young, she was truly capable.
That was why he had sought her out on his own, despite the risk of being utterly annihilated, and begged her to save his master.
Fortunately, he had succeeded.
But now the Prince refused to take the pill, and Zhao Yi could not reveal himself before him. What was he supposed to do?
Xiao Mochi watched Xia Qingci speak to the air beside her again. Though he remained composed, his curiosity was inevitably aroused.
“Zhao Yi—is he beside you?”
In Yufeng, people did not shun tales of ghosts and gods. Moreover, because of his unusual experiences as a child, Xiao Mochi was even more convinced that ghosts and gods existed in this world—and that there were extraordinary people capable of communicating with them, or even controlling ghosts.
Perhaps this woman before him possessed such abilities.
Xia Qingci was somewhat surprised. She turned to Xiao Mochi with a hint of reproach.
“So you believe in ghosts after all? Then why did you make me waste all that breath?”
The next moment, Xia Qingci bent down and leaned close to Xiao Mochi. A cool, delicate fragrance suddenly filled Xiao Mochi’s nose.
“The fact that you and I were able to meet in this way can be considered fate.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Xia Qingci swiftly slipped a pill into Xiao Mochi’s mouth.