He was like a giant gecko, clinging tightly to the cold, damp rock surface.
Its breath, body temperature, and even heartbeat dropped to their lowest point, completely merging with its surroundings and becoming part of the rock.
He was Yan Wujiu, a sorcerer who had been lurking in the northern border for many days.
Even though he had reached the third rank, and even though sorcerers had a unique advantage in avoiding perception and concealing their aura, he did not look at the dense forest below the valley at all.
Yan Wujiu knew perfectly well that when facing an existence like the Divine Strategy Xuanjia Army, any gaze with a hint of inquiry could trigger an intuitive reaction from them.
That's enough.
He didn't need to investigate in detail; the brief fluctuations in the valley and the two departing auras had already given him the most important information.
Yan Wujiu used both hands and feet, crawling silently and swiftly on the rugged cliff face like a real gecko.
The movements were fluid and natural, without the slightest hesitation, and there was not a trace of feeling that the action was beneath them.
They climbed a long, long way before standing up and quickly moving away from the deadly valley.
...
The palace of the Shuofeng Dynasty, unlike the magnificent and elegant palace of the Daqian, exudes a more rugged and cold grandeur.
The early autumn night wind already carried a biting chill, howling past the black iron and gold-inlaid eaves and brackets.
The obsidian palace walls gleamed with a cold, eerie light, polished to a mirror-like shine by the northern winds.
The massive stone pillars cast eerie shadows, and the palace lanterns swayed in the cold wind, their light flickering and distorting against the guards' armor.
The entire palace complex lay prostrate in the deep night, like a lurking beast.
Emperor Xiao Lin has been spending almost every night in the warm pavilion of the "Fengyi Palace" where the Empress resides.
Even if the other concubines harbored resentment, they dared not show it in the slightest at this moment.
Princess Xiao Yunshuo was the empress's legitimate daughter and was currently fighting alone in an enemy country.
The dangers involved are self-evident.
The candles in the warm room had been extinguished, leaving only a small lamp in the corner, casting a dim, yellowish glow.
The Queen seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep, her head tilted gently to one side, her breathing even and long.
Outside the palace, the figures of the palace maids and eunuchs on night duty appeared somewhat blurry in the lamplight.
Suddenly, a dark shadow, almost blending into the night, silently swept past.
The palace maids and eunuchs seemed to have their bones removed, and were about to collapse, but at the last moment before they hit the ground, they were firmly supported by those ghostly black figures.
It was gently placed on the ground or placed next to a pillar, the whole process without making a sound, which was eerily unsettling.
"Cough cough! Cough cough cough..."
The Emperor's Cough and Asthma:
Just then, a heart-wrenching cough erupted from the warm room, as if the person was coughing up their internal organs.
On the bed, Emperor Xiao Lin of the North Wind was curled up in pain, coughing violently and incessantly, each cough accompanied by a tearing pain deep in his chest.
After a long while, the terrifying coughing and wheezing finally subsided, and Xiao Lin struggled to sit up.
He was panting heavily, each breath like a broken bellows struggling to be pulled, with a hoarse, leaky sound, as if he would never be able to take another breath.
His pale face was covered in fine beads of cold sweat, which gleamed with a sickly coldness in the dim light.
The shadow guards who had been waiting in the shadows immediately appeared and swiftly but gently helped him up.
Xiao Lin's entire weight was leaning on the shadow guard, his lips were bluish-purple, and his forehead was covered with large beads of sweat.
The shadow guard carried Xiao Lin to a private room inside the warm pavilion and sat him down on a large chair covered with thick animal hides.
A figure appeared before them without warning, shrouded in a large cloak.
The hood hung low, revealing only a pair of eyes.
Xiao Lin struggled to sit up straight. Despite his weakness, his deep-set eyes shone with a sharp and urgent light, like a hawk's, fixed on the man in black robes.
"Yun Shuo... has already arrived in Fengjing... what about the conditions you agreed to!"
His voice was hoarse, yet carried an undeniable air of authority.
The man in the black robe remained silent, but slowly raised his hand, which was also covered by a black glove.
He held a square box about the size of a palm in his palm, carved entirely from ancient ebony.
This type of wood is extremely rare and naturally possesses the remarkable ability to isolate odors and lock in the medicinal properties.
With a slight movement of his fingertips, the box lid slid open silently.
Inside the box, on a deep purple velvet lining, lay a pill the size of half a longan, its color as warm and lustrous as mutton fat jade.
The surface of the elixir shimmered with an extremely faint, luminous light, and an indescribable, strange fragrance instantly filled the air.
"Why... is there only half a piece!"
Xiao Lin's anger flared instantly, and his withered hand gripped the armrest of the seat tightly, veins bulging.
"That's enough to prolong your life." The black-robed man's voice was dry and flat, without any inflection. "Once the Second Princess completes her mission, you will receive the other half."
As soon as he finished speaking, a suffocating sense of oppression filled the small compartment, and the shadow guard's hand had already quietly rested on the hilt of the sword at his waist.
However, the man in black robes was completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere, or rather, completely indifferent to it.
His figure, like ink thrown into water, suddenly became blurred and thin, then vanished completely in the next instant, as if it had never existed, leaving only the faint fragrance of the half-pill and the emperor's heavy breathing.
Xiao Lin stared intently at the spot where the black-robed man had disappeared, the anger in his eyes gradually replaced by a deep weariness and powerlessness.
He seemed to have all his strength drained away, and slumped back against the wide chair.
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