In the spring of the fifty-seventh year of the Kangxi Emperor's reign, Yinzhen (the fourteenth prince) was appointed as the Grand General of Pacification, leading a large army to aid Tibet.

The young and famous General Yinzhen, dressed in a bright red robe, rode his spirited steed into battle. With a single spear thrust, wherever he went, there were heads and corpses stained with blood.

Deputy General Yanxin watched as Yinzhen grew increasingly fierce in battle and nodded to himself. As expected of the Fourteenth Prince who had made numerous contributions at a young age, he was truly a born general. No wonder the Emperor valued him so much and he had become a commander-in-chief at such a young age. Tsk tsk.

The more Yanxin looked, the more impressive it seemed. He then shifted his gaze to another direction to observe. Before he knew it, the bloodthirsty Yinzhen was being secretly led away by the Mongol army towards the Qing army. When Yanxin turned back, looking at the disappearing figure, he was filled with doubt. Where was his great general? Where was the Fourteenth Prince?

Meeting the questioning gaze of the deputy general, the soldier innocently looked back, only to be met with the despairing look in his own general's eyes.

"Go quickly, everyone go find the Fourteenth Prince, and find the Great General!"

"No, everyone change into civilian clothes so the enemy doesn't spot us."

— — — — — — — — —

As for Yinzhen, whom Yanxin was worried about, he sensed something was wrong when he was taken to a remote hillside. Seeing the Mongols surrounding him, his eyes flashed with malice, and he fought his way through the red-tasseled spear in his hand. However, he was seriously injured in the process.

Despite his fading consciousness, he managed to shake off the pursuing Mongol army. Under a large tree on a hillside, he breathed a sigh of relief, unaware that Aruna was hiding in the tree.

Aluna spotted the Qing general in a tree on the opposite side of the hillside. His armor looked expensive, indicating a high status. He followed Yinzhen closely, his footsteps so light they seemed to blend into the forest.

He only revealed himself to Yinzhen when he sensed that the Mongol army was catching up.

"If you want to live, come with me!"

Before Yinzhen could even react in surprise, he looked at the blue eyes of the man in front of him, who was clearly Mongolian. He almost attacked him, but Aluna stopped him. Before he could even react, Aluna carried him and ran into the depths of the forest.

Although this forest was not a place he was familiar with, he had lived there for so many years and was most accustomed to the forest environment. Before long, by weaving left and right, Aluna and Yinzhen completely shook off the pursuers behind them.

Sitting on the muddy ground mixed with leaves, Aruna found an abandoned cave. It must have been inhabited by wild beasts, as no small animals would dare to stay there. Yinzhen looked at the man who had saved him, his straight and slender back—no, perhaps it was a young man. He cleared his throat: "You can speak Chinese, right?"

"Yes." The only response he received was a single, taciturn word, so brief that it made the listener feel sorry for him.

Aruna stayed for a while, then turned and left. Watching his back, Yinzhen didn't think he would give up on him. He closed his eyes and dozed off for a while. When he woke up, he saw the familiar back and some unripe fruit in front of him.

A deep, clear voice rang out: "Someone is chasing you. You can't start a fire. Eat some fruit instead."

Yinzhen wasn't ungrateful. He didn't say anything, picked up the fruit from the ground, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed it whole. He didn't know if it was bitter or astringent, but he filled his stomach halfway.

When Aluna turned around, Yinzhen realized just how handsome the boy who had saved him was.

The young man was as beautiful as jade, with skin as white as ice and bones as pure as jade. His whole body was as transparent as a thin layer of ice on a snowy peak, so aloof and isolated from the world, forming his own world. In particular, his pair of clear, deep blue eyes were incredibly attractive. Yinzhen suddenly felt that the person in front of him made the entire dark cave bright.

Yinzhen's eyes lit up. Having grown up in the palace since childhood, he naturally loved beauty.

He smiled and said, "You saved me. Whatever benefits you want, I can grant them, but only after my people are found."

Aruna looked at him firmly in broken and difficult Chinese and replied, "I want to join the army and kill the Mongol army."

Yinzhen was puzzled but also understood. He had saved him from the fact that the boy was of Hu (non-Han) blood, and he knew that the boy in front of him was different. He nodded and agreed to help the boy who was obviously a foreigner. Although the Qing army did not accept foreigners, he was a member of the royal family, so this matter was as easy as drinking water for him.

And so, Aluna led Yinzhen in hiding, and successfully waited for the arrival of the Qing army. The leader was Yanxin, who was crying his eyes out. He hadn't been eating or sleeping well during this time, and he didn't dare to report the news of the Fourteenth Prince's disappearance, fearing that one day his head would be presented to the emperor. Fortunately, the Fourteenth Prince had been found.

Yinzhen found it hard to look at Yanxin, who was crying uncontrollably, and turned to look at Aluna to cleanse his eyes before turning away. During the conversation with the Fourteenth Prince, Yanxin and his group learned that the masked boy, who was clearly of a different race, was the Fourteenth Prince's savior. When the group left the mountain and arrived at another mountain, Aluna stopped them.

“I need to pick someone up,” Aruna said, looking at Yinzhen, who had returned to his finest attire.

"General, the most important thing now is to get back to camp. We brought too few men..." Yanxin earnestly advised Yinzhen, but Yinzhen stopped him, waving his hand and looking at the determined Aluna, asking curiously, "Your family? Men or women?"

Aruna remained silent, and Yinzhen was not angry. He had come to understand the boy's personality after spending time with him. He would never speak unless necessary, and the only time he could get interested was when they were fighting the Mongol army. Otherwise, he was like a piece of wood, devoid of any emotion.

Watching Aluna climb the mountain, Yinzhen and his entourage followed behind him.

— — — — — — — — —

At this moment, Qingyin also encountered the group of Mongolians who had gone into the mountains to hunt in their previous lives. The group was wearing armor and talking jokingly, their tone full of mockery towards the Han people nearby.

"Hey, the last time I went into that room there was a ten-year-old, she was so young and tender, but unfortunately she died after a short while, she was really short-lived, tsk!"

"Yours is too small, you need something bigger! Hahahaha!"

"Hey, there's another cave here, could it be hiding some treasure?"

...

Hearing the men's disgusting words, Qingyin frowned and coldly watched the six men walking towards the cave. She gripped the arrows in her hand tightly and fired one or two arrows, hitting vital points before the men could react. As the two corpses fell, the remaining men cried out and became alert, but they were no match for the sharp arrows.

The last remaining person, however, fell to the ground laughing like a bewitched puppet under the thin arrow held by Qingyin. Drops of blood slid down onto that holy face, blooming with an eerie color.

The stench of blood wafted through the air. Qingyin looked at the corpse in the cave, her eyes filled only with pity and compassion for Arsha.

This was exactly what Yinzhen saw when he arrived.

An angel blooming amidst blood perfectly embodies the ultimate aesthetics of violence.