Chapter 216 Exposing the Truth: "What do you think Ji Qiu'an is?!"

You're the one who deserves to die!

Jiang Yuhuo struck with all his might, finally piercing Qin Yuqi's shoulder with his sword.

Even if Heaven protects you, I will still kill you!

There was no more backlash from Heaven; the sword pierced through flesh and blood, penetrating the shoulder.

Qin Yuqi decisively retreated, creating distance between himself and Jiang Yuhuo, but the injury to his shoulder had already put him at a clear disadvantage. In less than three moves, he was forced to the palace door by Jiang Yuhuo, his body pressed against the door, with nowhere left to retreat.

Jiang Yuhuo plunged her sword into his heart without hesitation, but the moment the blood flowed from his chest, she smelled that familiar fragrance.

It is the essence of the Heavenly Pillar!

"Where is Jia Qianyang?" Jiang Yuhuo's sword did not advance any further; he only coldly pressed for an answer.

Qin Yuqi coughed up blood repeatedly, his voice slurred, "Just now..."

Jiang Yuhuo had no choice but to move closer to him, only to see Qin Yuqi suddenly break into a bloody smile.

"Here..."

It was Jia Qianyang's voice, and then a phantom floated out from Qin Yuqi's body.

not good!

Just as Jiang Yuhuo was about to turn around, she caught a glimpse of a blue-bladed dagger protruding from Qin Yuqi's sleeve, which was only inches away from her.

Jia Yue, who had been hiding in the shadows, also saw it, and immediately a spell was cast from her fingertips.

Just when Jiang Yuhuo thought Qin Yuqi was about to ambush her, he suddenly let go.

He put down the knife and hugged the person in front of him.

The spell struck the door, causing it to swung open. Qin Yuqi, holding Jiang Yuhuo, fell straight backward, her weight pressing down on him, and the sword in his hand pierced his heart.

It doesn't seem to hurt that much...

Qin Yuqi stared intently at the person pressing down on him. For a moment, her face showed a mixture of confusion and surprise, and she looked at him with her brows slightly furrowed.

In an instant, it felt as if I had returned to that hot summer afternoon years ago, when the barbarian girl climbed in through the window and accidentally stepped on the young master who was enjoying the cool air by the window.

"What are you looking at...?"

He wanted to ask her if she remembered those words, the first words they ever exchanged.

If it hadn't started this way, would their outcome have been different?

Qin Yuqi smiled at her, but more blood choked out of his mouth, making him unable to utter a single word.

In the end, I couldn't bring myself to ask... What a pity...

Jiang Yuhuo looked at his white hair at the temples and his ashen face. So this is how he has become. His youthful appearance and strength just now all came from the marrow of the Heavenly Pillar and Jia Qianyang.

She got off him and pulled the sword out of his heart.

Having used the essence of the Heavenly Pillar, he was no longer a mortal. His body dissipated inch by inch, and his transparent soul floated in mid-air, drifting uncontrollably into the distance.

This time, Qin Yuqi really died.

"Master!"

Suddenly, I heard a shout from behind; it was my senior brother's voice.

Jiang Yuhuo turned around abruptly and saw Zhang Zhenyang leaning on his sword, standing with his back bent. Wen Yizhan, who was nearby, had already supported him. Opposite him were the group of palace servants who had been rescued, their bodies now severed by sword energy.

Upon hearing this shout, the other immortals turned around and were horrified to find scattered corpses on the ground, along with the blue weapons in the corpses' hands... Just now, they had completely exposed their backs to such a person.

These palace servants were not innocent at all; they were there to plot against them.

Jiang Yuhu rushed over, "Master! How are you?"

"It's alright." Zhang Zhenyang had already taken a short break to regulate his breathing, and his expression had softened slightly. He waved to Jiang Yuhuo, indicating that she shouldn't worry.

He was initially outside the battle when he suddenly noticed that the rescued palace servants had somehow broken free of their bonds and quietly crept up behind the cultivators. By the time he realized the danger, it was too late to warn them. In a split second, he could only use his spiritual power to kill them all with a single sword strike.

Jiang Yuhuo looked at the corpses of palace servants scattered on the ground. She had been on the battlefield for a long time and had killed many people with her spiritual power. She knew all too well the extent of the backlash from the Heavenly Dao that she would suffer. It was definitely not as bad as her master had said.

"It's puppetry; those people are also acting against their will."

Zhang Zhenyang's complexion appeared to have fully recovered. He walked over and pulled out a transparent thread from those people.

Puppet silk.

Jiang Yuhuo recalled the wisp of something that had drifted from Qin Yuqi's body—it was Jia Qianyang's last fragment of soul. He had separated from Qin Yuqi's body to control the puppet. She immediately realized something was wrong, but as she tried to turn back, she was distracted by the short knife Qin Yuqi had hidden in his sleeve.

That brief separation prevented her from getting there in time; otherwise, she would have been the one to stop it all, and she would have been the one to bear the consequences.

A thought suddenly flashed through Jiang Yuhuo's mind. Was Qin Yuqi... deliberately using the knife to lure her away?

But now that things have come to this, whether it was intentional or not is no longer important.

"Master, have you seen the wisp of soul that controls the puppet?"

The sky above the square in front of the palace was crowded with souls. Jiang Yuhuo did not see Jia Qianyang's wisp, and did not know whether he had escaped or been killed by Zhang Zhenyang.

Zhang Zhenyang vaguely remembered it, but the situation was urgent at the time, and he didn't have time to distinguish it. He directly used his sword energy to sweep across.

"Was it a pale-faced young man?" Zhang Zhenyang pondered for a moment, then shook his head. "It was too late to tell... he may have already vanished under the sword..."

Looking at the souls of the newly deceased in the void, Jiang Yuhuo couldn't help but believe that the last wisp of soul might have truly been shattered by his master's sword energy.

Having lost its original form, the shattered soul couldn't last long. It was already quite remarkable that Jia Qianyang had managed to hold on this long. She knew how fierce her master's sword energy was; even cultivators rarely could withstand it. How could a wisp of shattered soul possibly escape...?

The battle of Zhaoming City was fought without major incident, and the city was completely captured by the Zhou army in less than a day. However, after returning to camp, Zhang Zhenyang vomited blood and fell into a coma.

Inside the tent, Jiang Yuhuo and Jia Yue used the mermaid pearl to treat Zhang Zhenyang. The old man on the bed gradually regained color in his face, but he remained unconscious.

Jiang Yuhuo wanted to transport more mermaid pearls, but Jia Yue stopped her hand, saying, "That's enough. The mermaid pearls can only be used to this extent. Transporting more is futile and will only exhaust you."

Zhang Zhenyang's body had once been nearly killed by the backlash of the Heavenly Dao. Although the Ji family princess had saved him with her divine breath, his body had been crushed by the Heavenly Dao, and now, suffering another backlash, he was showing signs of the five signs of decay. The Mermaid Pearl could only heal his physical wounds, not extend his life.

His last days were numbered.

Jiang Yuhuo was actually very clear about the situation, but if she didn't do something, she would feel that she hadn't tried her best. Perhaps if she tried a little harder, things would take a turn for the better. As for when that turn for the better would come, she couldn't control that.

She forcefully shook off Jia Yue's hand, intending to do it all by herself.

Wen Yizhan patted her shoulder.

"Alright, junior sister. Since Master was able to wield that sword, he naturally knew the consequences. This was his choice... All we can do is follow his wishes and do our best..."

Jiang Yuhu sniffed. She knew all too well, but how could she accept the loss of yet another loved one? She looked up at Wen Yizhan, a deeper sorrow washing over her. When her time was up, only her senior brother would remain on Zhenyang Peak. No master to drink with him, no one to practice swordsmanship with…

"Senior brother..."

"Auntie!" A head suddenly popped in through the tent flap, blinking a pair of dark eyes. "Why are you still here? The banquet is about to begin, and Master Zhou and the others are waiting for you!"

Ji Yujing saw the person on the couch and exclaimed, "Oh dear, why is Master Zhang asleep so early? We brought in so much fine wine from the Yong Kingdom's imperial treasury today; it would be a shame not to try it. Aunt, why don't you wake him up..."

The people in the tent remained unusually silent. After a while, Jiang Yuhuo said gently, "You go first, we'll go later."

"No way! What's the point of this banquet if you don't go?" Ji Yujing stood guard at the door, determined not to leave unless she could persuade them to come.

Zhang Zhenyang collapsed after returning to the camp; no one told her what had happened.

To avoid her making a scene, Jiang Yuhuo still went. Jia Yue told her not to worry, that he and Wen Yizhan would be there to keep watch.

The bonfire illuminated everyone at the victory banquet, making their smiles stand out. The Zhou soldiers, having removed their armor, danced and sang around the bonfire with great joy. Xiao Jing, who had been holding her hand earlier, soon joined the crowd, singing and dancing.

This is the Ming capital that the Zhou people lost a hundred years ago, and now they have taken it back.

Amidst the joy of victory, Jiang Yuhuo suddenly remembered someone. She hastily exchanged a few polite drinks and then casually made up an excuse to leave.

Ji Qiu'an appeared at this moment and called out to her. He had drunk quite a bit, his cheeks were flushed, but his eyes were clear, as if he couldn't get drunk.

He carried a flask of wine and smiled at Jiang Yuhuo, "Jiang... Yuhuo, may I invite you to drink with me again?"

Seeing that he kept pressing his temples, Jiang Yuhuo asked, "Is your head hurting?"

He nodded. "Hmm... a little..."

Why didn't you come looking for me earlier?

Ji Qiu'an stammered, "I... I tried to see you, but I was stopped. I thought... you didn't want to see me."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yuhu frowned. Her first thought was that Jia Yue had stopped her, but she felt that Jia Yue must have had her reasons for doing so, so she didn't want to pursue the matter further.

Seeing that she didn't ask any further questions, a hint of disappointment flashed in Ji Qiu'an's downcast eyes, but he quickly smiled again and shook the wine pot in his hand at her, "I know you don't like crowds... We can drink together, just the two of us, like last time..."

Jiang Yuhuo wasn't really interested in drinking; she wanted to treat him instead. "I have things to do right now. If you really want to drink with me, wait until I get back."

She left those words behind and quickly disappeared without a trace. Ji Qiu'an watched the direction she disappeared in, feeling both happy and wistful. He looked at the wine pot in his hand, his clear eyes becoming even more determined.

Jiang Yuhuo went to the Yong Kingdom's palace.

Although she had lived here for more than half a year, she was actually not familiar with the place at all, and she searched for a long time but could not find the side hall. He remembered that Qin Yuqi had said that he still kept that side hall and had Yu Ling'er look after it.

On the first day of the capture, before the palace servants could be dismissed, Jiang Yuhuo decided to try his luck, thinking that he might still be able to see Yuling'er.

She did see it, but all she saw was a jade identification plaque lying on the ground.

Standing amidst the charred ruins, it took Jiang Yuhuo a long time to confirm that she hadn't made a mistake.

She held the jade pendant in her hand, carefully examining everything in the ruins, feeling both compelled to search and afraid of actually finding something.

There were no bodies.

Jiang Yuhuo breathed a sigh of relief. At least Yu Ling'er wasn't here. At least, she might have escaped before the place was burned down.

But she also knew there were many worse possibilities... Would Qin Yuqi spare her when he burned this place down? Jiang Yuhuo didn't know, and dared not think any further.

She may have killed someone who helped her...

Whether it was due to the excessive consumption of the mermaid pearl, or... Jiang Yuhuo squeezed the jade token in her hand, then roused herself and returned to the Zhou camp. She felt dazed and confused, and her body seemed to be burning up.

She wanted to go and lean on Jia Yue.

"Jiang Xianjun!"

Ji Qiu'an came towards her; he had been waiting for her there.

Jiang Yuhu remembered that she had promised to drink with him.

Alcohol... alcohol is fine too. Her mind always slows down when she drinks, maybe she'll be fine after a nap.

He led her into the tent, which was filled with incense, the scent clean and refreshing. Jiang Yuhuo was a little puzzled; why hadn't she smelled this fragrance when she visited Ji Qiu'an's tent last time?

Something felt off, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

The two sat facing each other at a table. Jiang Yuhuo wanted to treat him, but Ji Qiuan just smiled and declined, saying that his injury was actually not a big deal. Instead, he poured a cup of wine and pushed it towards her.

“Every time I see you during a victory celebration, you always seem unhappy. If you’d like, you can talk to me about it.”

He watched as Jiang Yuhuo raised the wine cup to her lips, her gaze fixed on her, as if gambling on whether she would drink it.

Jiang Yuhuo was preoccupied with other things and didn't notice the look in the eyes of the person opposite her. She touched the rim of the cup with her lips and was about to drink the wine inside.

A hand slapped her hand, knocking the wine glass to the ground along with the wine.

Jiang Yuhuo was startled by his sudden action, only to see the fair and handsome young man's face instantly transform into a delicate and beautiful face.

Li Mengbai!

"How could it be you?" Jiang Yuhuo stood up abruptly, her dazed mind jolted awake by the sudden movement. She jumped away from the table and angrily demanded, "What did you do to Ji Qiu'an?"

Li Mengbai was even angrier than her, her moist peach blossom eyes almost spitting fire, "How could you drink what he gave you! You just drank the wine he offered you? You're so wary of me, but you have no wariness of him at all?!"

Jiang Yuhuo was stunned by his barrage of accusations. What did he mean by having no guard against Ji Qiu'an? Why should she be wary of Ji Qiu'an? Wasn't he pretending to be Ji Qiu'an to deceive her?

She was already confused enough about the situation, but Li Mengbai seemed to think that wasn't enough, and then he dropped a series of thunderous remarks.

"What do you think Ji Qiu'an is?!" Li Mengbai was furious. He held the wine pot on the table in front of her. "Do you even know what's in this?"

The wine spilled out, filling the air with its aroma.

"I'm telling you, he put drugs in it! He wants you to forget the person you love most!"

Li Mengbai looked at her, and a hint of grievance welled up in his arrogant peach blossom eyes.

"Just like me."