Have I gotten everything?
The wind howled, and Pei Qinzhou sat alone in the tent. The teacup was only slightly warm between his fingers, but he had not drunk from it.
The faint sounds of soldiers drilling could be heard outside the tent; a storm was quietly brewing in the Great Xia.
When he looked up again, the teacup in his hand had turned into a wisp of purple smoke and vanished without a trace.
Almost simultaneously, Xia Chengen burst in, his clothes stained with undried blood, his breathing rapid.
“Pei Qinzhou,” he said bluntly, his voice low, “you already knew, didn’t you? I know you’re no ordinary person.”
"Have you figured it out?" Pei Qinzhou's eyes were calm and unwavering, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.
"From the very beginning, you knew I would become a stepping stone for your advancement when you saved me. Last time we parted, you were also certain I would eventually betray you." Xia Chengen pressed closer. "You seem to know everyone's fate… Pei Qinzhou, are you truly the demon the Spirit Binding Division is after?"
"Yes and no." Pei Qinzhou slowly stood up and walked slowly to Xia Chengen. "They do want my life, but I am not a demon."
Before he finished speaking, he opened his palm, and a long sword wrapped in black mist appeared out of thin air, instantly filling the entire military tent with a chilling aura.
Xia Chengen's pupils contracted sharply, and he subconsciously took a half step back, his Adam's apple bobbing.
“You don’t need to know my identity.” Pei Qinzhou flicked his wrist, and the demonic sword vanished into nothingness once more. “Just remember, our goals are the same.”
Xia Chengen steadied himself, remained silent for a moment, and then asked in a hoarse voice, "Then you must know... about my birth mother..."
“You already know, why ask again?” Pei Qinzhou interrupted him. “I will support you to ascend the throne, on the sole condition that Wen Zhibai be protected and live a peaceful and prosperous life. You will be a ruler, and you can do it.”
“Brother Pei…” Xia Chengen’s throat tightened, “And what about you?”
“I’m used to living a carefree life,” Pei Qinzhou turned to look at the churning clouds outside the tent. “Once I’ve settled her in, I will leave.”
"Have you thought this through?" Xia Chengen wiped the bloodstains off his clothes, his voice turning somber. "In the human world, this is called treason."
“The one who plotted the rebellion is someone else.” Pei Qinzhou turned around, a bead with an eerie gray light floating between his fingertips. “This is Li Ke’s soul bead. He has become a puppet in my hands. As for Your Highness and I, we are merely purging the court of corrupt officials.”
Xia Chengen looked at the soul bead and sneered, "Truly worthy of being the famous Pei, the advisor of my Eastern Palace."
Meanwhile, within the Jiang residence, a deadly trap had already been set.
Wen Xian, who couldn't wait any longer, led the Spirit Binding Division into the Jiang family. With the divine Gu she had planted on Wen Zhibai earlier, she not only found the Jiang family's hiding place, but also subtly influenced Wen Zhibai's emotions.
"Miss! Wen Xian sent a message; she's at the Jiang family's house." Xie An, holding the opened envelope, quickly walked to Wen Zhibai, who was standing by the window, her tone anxious.
"I really... think too highly of this lady's character."
When she arrived at the Jiang residence, the threshold had already been worn down by the crowd. In the courtyard, dozens of members of the Jiang family were kneeling on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs and their mouths stuffed with burlap.
Wen Xian was standing in front of Jiang Mingzhi, gently gesturing with a sharp dagger against his youthful face.
“Mingzhi!” Wen Zhibai cried out in disbelief.
Seeing the child in Wen Xian's hands like a lamb to the slaughter, tears streaming down his face but unable to cry out, her heart felt like it was being violently clenched. "Wen Xian, isn't this all you want to get revenge on me? What's a child compared to that! You want my life? I'll give it to you!"
"Heh, little sister, you've kept your older sister waiting." Wen Xian's tone was languid as she glanced up, her eyes filled with a cat-and-mouse playfulness. "Don't rush, I'll take your life myself. But now, I want you to bring Pei Qinzhou here. Otherwise, not only you, but him, and them—" She swept her dagger across all the kneeling people, "None of them will live!"
"Pei Qinzhou and I have long since severed ties. What does it have to do with me if your Spirit Binding Division wants to capture him? Even if you slaughter the entire Jiang family, he won't show himself!"
"What a joke!" Wen Xian scoffed. "Who in Shangjing City doesn't know that Pei Qinzhou has been in love with you for years and has been searching for you for a long time! As long as you're still here, I don't believe he can resist coming!"
At this moment, Zhang Mingdao stepped out from the crowd, his voice, dignified and cold, emanating from beneath his purple robe and mask: "Miss, why be so stubborn? If you are willing to reveal the hiding place of that demon, I will inform the Emperor, and perhaps your family may be spared a complete burial."
"Why should I believe you?" Wen Zhibai laughed angrily.
Wen Xian, however, was impatient to talk to her any longer. She grabbed Jiang Mingzhi and ripped the burlap out of his mouth.
"Auntie... Mingzhi is so scared... Auntie, save me..."
"Wen Zhibai, you have no right to negotiate." Before Wen Xian finished speaking, a flash of cold light appeared in her hand, and she swiftly slashed Jiang Mingzhi's neck! Warm blood spurted out, and the child collapsed to the ground, lifeless. As if disgusted, she kicked the still-warm little body away, "Crying and wailing, it's so noisy."
Wen Zhibai's vision went black, and he fell to his knees, tightly embracing the child's cold body.
Wen Xian looked down at her suffering, finding far more pleasure in hurting the person Wen Zhibai cared about most than in the killing itself.
"Still won't you talk?" She slowly wiped the blood off the dagger with a handkerchief, her tone light and quick.
“Wen Xian…” Wen Zhibai raised his head, his tear tracks still wet, but his eyes filled with a deathly desolation. “Why do you insist on hating me to this extent?”
These words were like a boulder, crashing into the already filthy sea of blood in Wen Xian's heart.
"It was you! You stole my position as the legitimate daughter! It was you! You turned against my mother! And it was you! You left me all alone, trampled on by everyone!" Wen Xian's emotions suddenly erupted, her face contorted, pointing at Wen Zhibai and screaming, "Wen Zhibai, you are not innocent at all! You deserve it! Why can you get everything so easily? Why can you always get what I desire most effortlessly?! This is not fair! I want to see you fall into the dust, abandoned by everyone, and become even more miserable than me! A hundred times! A thousand times!"
"Did I get everything?" Wen Zhibai remained kneeling on the ground, her voice low and hoarse, and no one could see the expression in her lowered eyes. "And when have you ever... seen my suffering? Wen Xian, you have suffered, but now, all the abandonment is your own fault!"
"How dare you say that to me?!" Wen Xian was completely enraged, trembling all over, and turned around to pull another member of the Jiang family over to vent her anger.
Just then, Wen Zhibai slowly stood up. Her face showed none of the collapse and pain Wen Xian had expected, only a chilling indifference.
"Are you disappointed? I didn't cry my eyes out as you wished."
Undeterred, Wen Xian swung her blade at another person, but Wen Zhibai remained expressionless, watching coldly from the sidelines.
"Wen Xian, you should really take a good look at yourself now—abandoned, unloved, and forced to maintain your pitiful self-esteem by trampling on others."
"Wen Zhibai! You have no heart!!"
Wen Zhibai seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. He walked over to the armchair and sat down, looking at Wen Xian with a lazy posture. "Aren't you tired of following me for so long?"
"Don't you really care whether they live or die?!"
"Them?" Wen Zhibai raised an eyebrow. "Which 'them' are you talking about?"
"How...how could this be?!" A murmur of surprise and uncertainty suddenly erupted from the crowd of the Spirit Binding Division.
Wen Xian turned around abruptly and saw that the "hostages" who had been kneeling all over the ground had all disappeared, leaving only light paper figures with talismans drawn on them.
"No...no!!" Wen Xian's pupils dilated, her face drained of color, and she staggered backward, her last psychological defenses completely collapsing at this moment.
All her scheming and ruthlessness became a huge joke.
"Wen Xian, you're still as stupid as ever." Wen Zhibai stood up and slowly walked up to her. "Without power, influence, name, or family, what do you have to fight me with?" Before she finished speaking, she raised her hand and slapped Wen Xian hard across the face. "I was too merciful and for a moment I even thought of letting you live."
Wen Xian tilted her head, staring intently at Wen Zhibai with venomous eyes: "You think... this is the end?"
She suddenly pulled a blood-red talisman from her sleeve, acting like a madwoman: "Wen Zhibai! Even if I can't kill Jiang Shi, I'll drag you down to hell with me!"
"Enough!" Zhang Mingdao shouted sharply, stepping forward with his purple robes fluttering. "Wen Xian! Such insidious curses are against the natural order. How can my Spirit Binding Division allow you to abuse them!" He was not being merciful, but rather knew that this curse was malevolent and could potentially interfere with the Spirit Locking Array they had already set up specifically to deal with Pei Qinzhou if it were to erupt here.
With bloodshot eyes, Wen Xian turned back and said, "It's too late to turn back now!"
Ignoring everything, she slammed the talisman against her own chest, attempting to activate the spell with her own life essence.
"Stop her!" Zhang Mingdao gave the order while simultaneously chanting an incantation. A chain shimmering with spiritual light shot straight at Wen Xian's wrist, attempting to forcibly interrupt her.
Just as the spiritual energy and the evil curse were about to collide in the chaotic moment, a figure suddenly rushed out from the side and hugged Wen Xian tightly!
"Xian'er! Watch out!"
It was Gao Zheli!
He didn't understand any spells or spiritual power; he only saw several dangerous beams of light shooting towards Wen Xian, so he rushed out on instinct.
"Young Master Gao!" Zhang Mingdao was shocked and furious, but it was too late to withdraw his spiritual power!
This sudden external intervention caused the blood curse to completely spiral out of control, backfiring and pouring into Gao Zheli's chest!
Gao Zheli's body stiffened abruptly.
He looked down blankly at the dark bloodstains on the back of his hand, then looked up at Wen Xian, who was standing close to him: "Xian'er... are you... are you alright?"
Wen Xian froze on the spot, watching helplessly as black blood gushed from his mouth and nose.
"...Am I...about to die?" He reached out to her, wanting to touch her cheek, but his arm was too heavy to lift. "I'm sorry, I secretly followed you out again...Are you...still angry with me?"
This time, Wen Xian took the initiative to bring her cheek close to his limply raised hand and gently shook her head: "I like it, not hate it."
"...You used to say that everyone who liked me... was lying to me. Now you say you like me... is that also... a lie?"
"..."
No reply was received.
The raised hand fell limply to its side.
He gazed at her until his death, his eyes filled with no resentment, only regret for failing to protect her, and... a pitiful satisfaction that perhaps she had finally "accepted" him.
“I’ve never truly hated you.” Wen Xian gently pressed her cheek against his still-warm forehead. She remembered that rainy night when he carried her on his back, his steps heavy yet firm, and that genuine warmth had briefly dispelled the chill in her heart. “It would be a lie to say I don’t like you now.”
The courtyard was deathly silent.
The members of the Spirit Binding Division looked at each other, none of them daring to utter a sound.
Zhang Mingdao's face turned ashen; he never expected things to escalate to such an unmanageable state.
Wen Xian sat there blankly, the warmth of the person in her arms slowly fading away.
She had devised countless ways to make Wen Zhibai die a painful death, but she never expected that the one who would ultimately die for her would be the husband she had always looked down upon and used, and in a sense, he would die at her hands.
Wen Zhibai watched this scene quietly, feeling no pleasure, only a deep sorrow for those who share her fate. She turned to Zhang Ming and said, "Lord Zhang, the Spirit Binding Division 'assisted' evil magic today, mistakenly killing Prime Minister Gao's son. I wonder if their 'acting on behalf of Heaven' can still stand?"
Before Zhang Mingdao could respond, her gaze fell back on the distraught Wen Xian: "Wen Xian, you exhausted all your energy to fight, to snatch, to hate, and in the end, you destroyed the only thing you truly possessed."
“…We could have gone our separate ways.” With that, she turned resolutely, intending to leave this blood-soaked place.
"Wen Zhibai!" Wen Xian shouted hoarsely behind her, using her last strength, "Even if I lose, you won't be any better off! The person you love most is destined to leave you!!" Before she finished speaking, she suddenly drew the sword from Zhang Mingdao's waist and, without hesitation, held it across her own neck.
Blood gushed out. She glanced one last time at Gao Zheli beside her, then collapsed to the ground, falling alongside him.
Wen Zhibai paused slightly, slowly closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them again, looking at the desolate sunset on the horizon, and whispered to Xie An outside the door, "Let's go."
"Wen Zhibai! Stop right there!" Zhang Mingdao shouted sternly, suppressing his anger.
Xie An immediately stepped forward, blocking Wen Zhibai's path. The young man's face was cold and his tone was filled with undisguised sarcasm: "Lord Zhang, the Soul Binding Division should first consider how much longer they can live?"
Just then, a translucent butterfly flew through the chaos and landed lightly in Zhang Mingdao's palm, instantly transforming into a line of burning characters: Palace Coup! Return immediately to save the Emperor!
Zhang Mingdao's expression changed drastically. He suddenly looked up and stared at Wen Zhibai in disbelief: "You... dare to plot rebellion!"
Wen Zhibai turned around and said, "Lord Zhang, whether or not there is treason is never determined by the loser."
"You!" Zhang Mingdao was speechless with anger, but the situation in the capital was urgent and there was no time to lose. He could only flick his sleeve fiercely and say, "Let's go!"
The Spirit Binding Division members arrived quickly and left just as fast, disappearing completely in an instant.
Wen Zhibai and Xie An exchanged a glance, and without the slightest hesitation, immediately mounted their horses.
"Miss, where are we going?"
Wen Zhibai took out the compass from his pocket, and saw that the pointer was trembling violently, firmly pointing to the depths of the palace.
"The palace." She gripped the reins tightly.
The wind howled, swirling up the scattered paper figures and undried bloodstains in the courtyard, as if silently burying this absurd tragedy.
The two swift horses galloped towards the center of the storm.
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