Chapter Three: The Bodhisattva's Revelation

Just as Li Bao'er was about to nod in agreement, Yuan Ting suddenly shouted, "My lord! There's an ambush!"

Dozens of torches suddenly lit up the surrounding area, and black-clad assassins began to gather from all sides.

Mu Cenlin smiled mockingly. Sure enough, how could this woman, who was full of lies, deserve even a shred of his pity?

Li Bao'er was thrown to the ground and watched helplessly as Mu Cenlin chopped off her two heads with a backhand.

Warm blood spurted out, and a few drops even splashed onto Li Bao'er's pale face.

"Li Bao'er, you really are incorrigible." Mu Cenlin's roar mingled with the sound of swords clashing.

Li Bao'er was dizzy from the fall and struggled to sit up: "No...it wasn't me."

Her words were drowned out by the sound of clashing swords.

Mu Cenlin didn't believe it at all, and his anger intensified.

That moment of tenderness just now has transformed into boundless rage.

Sure enough, this woman is always scheming!

"I'll settle accounts with you after I've dealt with these people." He pierced the attacker's throat with his sword.

This is terrible, there's no way to clear my name now.

Li Bao'er looked thoughtfully at the group of men in black, their unique backhand grip on the knife, and their well-coordinated triangular formation.

Her memory suddenly flashed back to three months ago, to a scene she had accidentally witnessed in the back garden of the Third Prince's residence.

A dozen or so men in black were secretly practicing this technique.

Li Bao'er clenched her fists. This was clearly a trap set by the Third Prince!

Li Bao'er suddenly laughed, a sad laugh.

Mu Yuan must be waiting for good news not far away right now, right?

At this moment, for the first time, she felt a strong aversion to this damned system task.

She risked her life to please such an ungrateful wretch!

If she succeeds in stealing the Tiger Tally, everyone will be happy; if she fails, she can use this opportunity to ambush Mu Cenlin.

If it weren't for the need to save her life, she really wanted to slap Mu Yuan, that seemingly innocent but actually cunning man, to death.

Suddenly, an object shimmering with light in the distance caught her attention.

That was her jade pendant. The rain washed away the dark red bloodstains on the pendant, gradually revealing the warm jade color beneath.

She reached out her hand tremblingly, and when her fingertips touched the cool jade surface, it was as if she had returned to the bamboo forest of Jinfo Temple when she was nine years old.

"This is for you." The severely injured boy from her memory placed the jade pendant in her palm, his fingertips icy cold. "We'll recognize each other with this someday."

This jade pendant represents the promise she made to the young man.

In a daze, she didn't notice a sharp sword gust suddenly coming from behind!

By the time the sword wind was close enough, it was too late. Li Bao'er closed her eyes in despair.

"Clang!"

The sharp clang of metal colliding made her eardrums ache.

When she opened her eyes, she saw that Mu Cenlin had somehow appeared in front of her, with a string of dazzling sparks flying from his black armor.

"You're asking for death." Mu Cenlin's voice was deep. He used the momentum of his spin to deliver a sweeping blow, his military boot slamming heavily into the attacker's temple.

With a muffled crack, a skull shattered, and a mixture of splattered brain matter and rainwater exploded before Li Bao'er's eyes.

A spasm ran through her stomach, and she finally understood the weight of the title "Bloodthirsty King of Hell".

More than twenty men in black surged in like a tide, and Mu Cenlin's personal guards were separated on the perimeter.

He single-handedly confronted five elite assassins, his movements ruthless.

He snatched a broken spear with his backhand and pierced the jaw of the nearest assassin.

Warm blood plasma splashed out in a fan shape, turning the pile of corpses at their feet even more crimson.

"Stay put and don't move!" Mu Cenlin kicked her when he had a chance, the force was just right, and he kicked her back behind the cover.

Li Bao'er huddled beside the rotting corpse, her hand clutching the jade pendant trembling uncontrollably.

She had never realized so clearly that this man, whom she had always regarded as her mortal enemy, was now the only one who could protect her.

Suddenly, Li Bao'er glimpsed something through the gaps in the pile of corpses.

At the same time, she made a decision.

"Mu Cenlin! Watch out!!!" She lunged forward with all her might.

Ten paces away, among the branches of the locust tree, a crossbow bolt was aimed directly at Mu Cenlin's unsuspecting back.

Mu Cenlin turned his head at the sound and saw a small, thin figure bumping into his back.

"Fool!" He pierced the throat of the man he was fighting with with his sword and rushed over, but it was too late.

The moment the crossbow bolt pierced his flesh with a "thud," Mu Cenlin's body trembled.

Li Bao'er let out a muffled groan and slumped softly into his arms.

"You!" Mu Cenlin caught her limp body, his black armor burning hot from her blood.

She grinned, revealing her blood-stained canine teeth: "Now... you owe me a life, you're not allowed to kill me."

Mu Cenlin stared at the spreading bloodstains and suddenly laughed, a laugh that sent chills down the spines of the surviving assassins.

They watched helplessly as the armored youth picked up the unconscious girl with one hand and slowly pulled the long sword from the corpse under the tree with the other.

Moonlight flowed across the blade, reflecting those scarlet eyes.

Mu Cen touched the ground with the tip of his sword, heading towards the last survivor.

"You've caused me so much pain."

*

Li Bao'er floated in a daze amidst excruciating pain, calling out for 001 but receiving no response.

In a daze, she felt herself being dragged into an unfamiliar memory, with howling wind and snow at the northern border.

A thin boy knelt in the snow, his hands gripping a wooden sword tightly, his knuckles frozen. He swung the sword again and again, only to fall again and again, leaving the snow covered with marks of his struggle.

That was ten-year-old Mu Cenlin. Li Bao'er wanted to reach out to help him, but found that she could not touch the dream.

As the seasons change, the boy grows into a tall and upright figure.

He fought with soldiers in the mud, getting beaten and bruised all over, but he gritted his teeth and got up. He practiced archery shirtless under the scorching sun, his back peeling from the sun, sweat mixed with blood streaming down his face. He swung his sword a thousand times alone on the cliff edge until his tiger's mouth split open and blood stained the hilt of the sword.

Zhang Ling, Mu Cenlin's uncle and a general in charge of the frontier, sighed as he rubbed Mu Cenlin's head: "Cenlin, it is our Zhang family that has wronged you."

The boy's voice was hoarse: "I don't blame anyone, but my fate is entirely in my own hands."

Then, war broke out.

"Report! The general pursued the remaining enemy forces but went missing at Qingfeng Cliff!" The boy clenched his fists so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh.

Three days later, he donned his uncle's armor and led three hundred remaining soldiers in a surprise attack on the enemy camp.

Li Bao'er saw fifteen-year-old Mu Cenlin standing amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, his long sword dripping with blood. Before him lay his uncle's blood-stained armor and a broken enemy flag.

In that battle, he beheaded the enemy general, and despite being covered in wounds, he stood tall.

"From this day forward, you are Prince Jing. Your Highness, receive the decree and return to the capital with this servant." The eunuch's voice echoed in my dream.

Li Bao'er suddenly woke up with a start, her clothes soaked in cold sweat.

Footsteps sounded outside the tent. Mu Cenlin lifted the curtain and entered, his gaze falling on her pale face.

"What did you dream about?" he suddenly asked.

Li Bao'er's heart pounded, her mind racing. "I...I dreamt that Guanyin Bodhisattva gave me some guidance!" She sat up abruptly, her eyes filled with such sincerity that they seemed to shed tears.

"The Bodhisattva said that I have been mistaking people all along!"

Mu Cenlin's eyebrows twitched slightly. He sat down at the table, picked up his cup, and sipped softly, "Oh? What have you mistaken me for?"

Li Bao'er swallowed hard, forcing herself to continue the fabrication: "Actually, the reason I've been so good to the Third Prince all these years is because..."

"Why? If you can't make one up, I'll hang you on the gate and feed you to the eagles."

Li Bao'er shuddered and blurted out, "Because that day at the Imperial Academy, when I was trapped in the peach tree, someone handed me a ladder! I thought it was the Third Prince, which is why I've been so kind to him all these years."

"A peach tree?" A hint of mockery flashed in his eyes. "That crooked peach tree on the west wall of the Imperial College? The one with pink and white flowers, and large characters carved into the second branch of its trunk?"

Li Bao'er's pupils suddenly contracted.

How could he have known?!

"It seems the Bodhisattva didn't tell you that the one handing over the ladder was me, the King."

What?! If she could scream, Li Bao'er would immediately transform into a screaming groundhog.