There were thousands of clouds in the wild, heavy snow was falling, and in the vast night, the howling north wind was like huge waves, surging and roaring in the endless snowfield.

At the horizon, thousands of peaks and ridges reach up to the sky, with white snow on the tops, standing tall and silent. The snow-covered land stretches endlessly, with no trace of human beings.

The horse's hooves crushed the wind and snow. In the endless and quiet night, a black horse galloped slowly from the east and stood in front of a steep mountain road, motionless.

The neighing of the horse was quickly swallowed up by the mountain wind.

The man on horseback let go of the reins, his emerald eyes were clear and bright, he looked down quietly at the quiet city under the snow-white mountains in the distance. The strong wind blew his black robe, making it rustle, and his mask was blown off by the wind, revealing a hideous and ugly face.

His eyes were calm and his tall figure seemed to blend into the thick night.

In the silence, a few sharp and thin bowstring sounds were heard. As soon as the sound came, bowstrings in all directions began to hum in unison, and arrows cut through the wind and snow and flew towards the Sultan.

These iron arrows came with great force, driving the wind and lightning, as fast as thunder. When thousands of arrows were fired at the same time, the wind stopped, the snow stopped, and the sky was full of flashing cold light.

The rain of arrows was as dense as a spider web, covering and covering up layer by layer like passing through a sieve. No matter how tough the target was, a layer of skin would be shattered off.

The sound of the clenched strings made people's scalps tingle, but Sultan Gu seemed not to hear it and remained motionless until he was surrounded by arrows. Then he slowly raised his eyes, unsheathed his long sword, and his concentrated internal strength surged out. Wherever the long sword went, there was a powerful and awe-inspiring momentum.

There was a flash of swords and arrows, and the arrows fell to the ground, making holes in the snow.

The atmosphere was tense and the strong wind continued to rage.

Sultan Gu raised his arm, and with a crisp sound, he sheathed his long sword, his eyes cold.

Several eerie laughs, swaying figures, the sound of horse hooves were heard from the top of the mountain path, and a man in a white cloak and holding a longbow appeared on the cliff. He had a mask on his face, a muscular body, and a tall and strong figure.

The sound of creaking footsteps filled the air, and dozens of killers dressed in white cloaks like him walked out from different directions and gathered on both sides of him. Each of them held a sharp blade, and under their masks, they had murderous eyes and stared at Sultan Gu.

At the outermost perimeter, more than a dozen gunmen pulled the bowstrings tightly, ready to cooperate with the killers to launch shooting at the outermost perimeter at any time.

The leading man had a grim look in his eyes. He glanced at the arrows on the ground, released his longbow, drew his sword, and pointed the tip of the sword at the Sultan.

"Sultan, I have been waiting for you here for days! I have been preparing for a long time, laying a net to take your head and use your skull to hold wine! Even if you are a martial arts master and have three heads and six arms, you can't escape today! This day next year will be the anniversary of your death!"

He gave an order and galloped down the mountain path.

The others shouted loudly, brandished their swords, and rushed towards the Sultan with him.

Facing the large number of people rushing towards him, Sultan Gu remained calm, his eyes were calm, he raised his arm and slowly drew his sword, his black robe was tight, and his thin arms were full of tension.

The man had a ferocious look on his face, and he raised his knife while roaring wildly: "Kill! Kill him for me..."

Before he finished his words, a sharp sword came flying through the air.

The man's ferocious expression froze on his face, his voice stuck in his throat as he met a pair of eyes.

Those were a pair of deep blue eyes, as if overlooking the world from the top of the clouds; cold, calm, and indifferent. On a snowy night, there seemed to be a strange, dark blue hue at the bottom of the eyes.

The man's eyes widened in horror.

The two swords collided, making a long and sharp sound and splashing out star-like sparks.

The long knife in the man's hand shattered with a sound, and after a few teeth-grinding crackling sounds, the fragments fell to the ground like flying snow.

The pair of green eyes stared at him coldly.

Asura Yaksha, violent and bloodthirsty.

A fear and despair that rose from the bottom of his heart gripped the man deeply. He remembered the various legends that had been circulating in the royal court for a long time, and tried to draw the dagger at his waist. However, his arms were weak and he could only watch as the long knife in the Sultan's hand slashed towards his throat.

The hilt of the knife slipped from the man's hand, and he fell off his horse, closed his eyes, and felt a coldness on his forehead, with the blade pressing against his head.

The pain was slow to come, and Sultan Kublai did not kill him.

The man's heart was pounding and he opened his eyes.

Sultan Gu sat on horseback, pointed the long knife in his hand at his scalp, and looked around with overwhelming momentum.

Everyone saw him, alone on horseback, easily break through the encirclement and chop off their leader without any effort. They knew that no one present was his match. The previously high morale immediately vanished. They looked at each other, hesitated and dared not move forward.

Sultan looked at a killer in the crowd and asked, "You want to kill me?"

The killer met his gaze, his heart trembled with fear, and without thinking, he threw away the long knife in his hand and knelt down to beg for mercy: "Regent, please forgive me! Regent, please forgive me! I was deceived by the bounty!"

Sultan Gu said coldly: "If you do it again, I will kill you without mercy."

The killer was stunned for a moment. He never expected that he would let him go. A look of ecstasy appeared on his face. But he was afraid that he would change his mind, so he quickly got up, turned around and ran away. In the blink of an eye, he disappeared.

The others looked at each other, at a loss as to what to do.

There was a thud as the long knife fell to the ground. Someone let go of the blade and carefully withdrew from the encirclement.

Sultan did not move.

The killer who dropped the knife took a deep breath and ran away.

Immediately afterwards, there were loud sounds of long knives falling to the ground, and the killers turned around and fled.

Only Sultan Gu and the ambushed leader were left in front of the cliff.

Sultan Gu raised his eyes and looked at the distant sky with a faint dawn glow. "Who is the person who ordered you?"

The man pouted and laughed loudly: "Sultan Gu, you kill without blinking an eye, and your hands are stained with blood! There are too many people in the royal court who want to kill you! I wish I could peel off your skin, dig out your heart, liver and lungs, drink your blood, eat up your flesh, and smash your bones one by one! I won't tell you who the mastermind is! You will know when you die!"

The mission failed. He knew that even if Sultan let him go, he would not live past tomorrow. He roared in anger and raised his head suddenly, rushing towards the long knife that was so close to him.

Blood gushed out, the man's hands and feet twitched a few times, his eyes widened, and he died.

The strong smell of blood was blown away by the strong wind, and the sticky blood splashed all over the long knife, dripping down.

Sultan Gu lowered his eyes and looked at the bloodstains on the long sword. A dark blue light flickered in his eyes and a faint bright red color appeared between his eyebrows.

He closed his eyes, sheathed his knife, took off his leather gloves, and clasped his hands together.

I will fight with war and stop killing with killing. All the sins are on me.

After a moment, Sultan Gu frowned, shook his shoulders, and spat out a mouthful of blood.

The mountain wind is biting and chilling to the bone.

He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, closed his eyes tightly, and tried his best to suppress it. The bright red between his eyebrows gradually faded, and his lips were pale blue without a trace of blood.

The wind howled and sobbed miserably.

It's almost dawn.

Sultan Gu turned his horse's head and rode down the mountain path with one man on his back.

After walking on the mountain road for about an hour, the snow became more and more dense, the wind was howling, and in the distance, we could hear faint voices and bursts of melodious camel bells.

A caravan tried to reach the city gate before daybreak. A foreign merchant wearing a felt hat and a leather jacket whipped an exhausted camel, muttering curses.

Sultan Gu did not move forward, but stayed away from the caravan.

Suddenly, a scream came from behind.

Hu Shang kept whipping Luotu. An old man with gray hair couldn't bear it and stepped forward to stop him. Hu Shang was furious and raised his arm to whip the old man with a long whip. The whip was fierce.

The old man was beaten to pieces and fell to the ground, begging for mercy.

Hu Shang's face twitched and he continued to whip the old man.

The old man cried and crawled towards Sultan.

"Spare me... Save me! Save me!"

Sultan Gu stopped and his eyes fell on the Hu merchant.

"Mind your own business!"

Hu Shang caught up with the old man in a few steps and spoke fiercely, frowning and glaring, raising his long whip.

The Sultan raised his hand.

Hu Shangdun felt his hand go numb, and the long whip in his hand was swept away by an unsheathed long sword. He narrowed his eyes, and a cunning and vicious look flashed in his eyes.

At this moment, the old man who was lying beside the horse's hooves groaning in pain suddenly jumped up and rushed towards Sultan Gu. His body was as fast as lightning, and there was a cold light flashing under his old hands, clearly hiding a sharp blade.

With a muffled sound, the sharp blade pierced through the black robe.

Following the old man's actions, the other members of the caravan drew out their hidden weapons, ran quickly, and surrounded Sultan Gu in an instant.

The old man hit the target with his attack, and poured his inner strength into his palms, slapping Sultan Gu.

The sharp blade was coated with poison, and Sultan's body froze for a moment, then he fell backwards and fell off his horse.

The old man laughed wildly, drew the soft sword from his waist, and flew after him. The sword was a killing move: "Haha, Sultan Gu, don't blame us for being ruthless and ungrateful, you can only blame yourself for being careless!"

"You are truly loyal to the Buddha, but you actually showed mercy! How can a general on the battlefield be so soft-hearted? You asked for it!"

The people around started to make noises, swords flashed, and there was a lot of ridicule and laughter.

They were the killers who were ambushing Sultan Kumar on the mountain road. Their leader was just a small chief. After the leader was killed, they retreated immediately and hid in the dark to observe Sultan Kumar. When they saw him spitting blood and seemed to have signs of injury, they were overjoyed and joined another group of people to wait for Sultan Kumar to come down the mountain.

From here to the royal court, ambushes were set in every important town.

They want the Sultan's head!

The killers swarmed over, and Sultan was injured. This time they had nothing to fear!

Sultan fell into the snow, staggering backwards, the sharp blade in his chest still unpulled, blood gushing out.

"Sultan, die!"

The old man was overjoyed at the thought that he could actually kill the Regent who made the princes and ministers tremble with fear. The sword in his hand was as fast as lightning, and he rushed forward with a big laugh.

The next moment, there was a crisp sound.

The old man's smile froze on his lips, and he was stunned.

Sultan Gu raised his head, his lips were pale, and his slender fingers lightly brushed over, like Buddha picking up a flower, and firmly clamped his soft sword. With a light lift, the extremely sharp soft sword broke into pieces like a dead branch.

The old man's heart was pounding and sweat was dripping.

Sultan Gu looked at him coldly, his face expressionless. Two clusters of cold blue light flashed in his emerald eyes. His tightly furrowed brows turned slightly red. His body was covered in blood and murderous aura surged.

What kind of weird technique is this?

The old man was so frightened that he lost his soul. Before he could even roar, the broken soft sword slashed across his throat.

A stream of blood spurted out.

The old man fell limply at the Sultan's feet.

The morning light broke through the dense snow and poured down, and the empty long road suddenly became quiet.

Sultan Gu stood in a pool of blood, his face splattered with bright red blood, and his green eyes scanned the surroundings.

It's like a Rakshasa from a den of Asura ghosts.

The killers were terrified and trembling.

…

Before daybreak, the sound of horses neighing could be heard from downstairs of the posthouse, and the personal soldiers began to pack their luggage and prepare to set off.

Yaoying was awakened by the noisy talking outside the house. She got up, washed, applied a thick layer of ointment on her feet, and had just put on her thick leather jacket and animal leather boots when Xie Qing came and knocked on the door, saying that breakfast was ready.

Ashina Bisu had already gotten up and was sitting in front of the stove in the living room, wiping his sword. When he saw Yaoying coming downstairs, he pointed to the breakfast prepared for her.

"We will set out today and we will be back to the royal court in three days. It will snow in the next few days. Princess is fragile, so please wear more thick clothes. It is not fun to catch a cold in this weather."

Yao Ying agreed, picked up the soup bowl, glanced at the earthenware jar in the stove, frowned slightly, and lifted the lid through the soft cloth.

The soup bowl and naan inside were untouched.

She was silent for a moment and then closed the lid.

"The Regent didn't come back last night?"

Bi Suo paused while wiping the knife, and without looking up, he said, "The Regent has returned to the royal court first. I was injured before, and the Regent escorted the princess on my behalf. Now that I am healed, the Regent is busy with official duties, so he rushed back overnight."

Yaoying picked up the soup bowl and continued drinking the soup.

Neither of them spoke.

The felt curtains were hung high, and a figure was swaying in front of the door.

Bi Suo stared at Yao Ying and suddenly asked, "The princess prepared hot soup for the regent king, but he didn't eat it. Are you unhappy?"

Yao Ying raised her eyes, looked at Bi Suo, and shook her head, "No, I was just thinking, the Regent left in a hurry, without even a bowl of hot soup. He stayed in the wilderness for a whole day, and he must have eaten nothing..."

Bisu looked at her and asked, "How do you know that the Regent King didn't eat anything? He just didn't eat the hot soup that the princess left."

Yao Ying smiled and smiled: "The Regent Prince never eats with other people. Yuan Jue will prepare food for him alone. Sometimes Yuan Jue is too busy to come, so I will keep an eye on it for him..."

She used to think that Sultan was picky, but later she found that he was not picky, he just had different habits from other people. As long as she and Yuanjue prepared food for him, he would eat it silently.

The soup in the earthenware jar had not been touched, indicating that he had left without eating anything.

Bi Suo remained silent, put away his sword, stood up and walked out.

After a cup of tea, the team set off.

Yao Ying rode in the middle of the team, with Xie Qing and other personal soldiers following closely behind her.

Bisha rode a strong horse and walked at the front of the team. On the way, he kept sending his personal soldiers back to the royal court to deliver messages. From time to time, a fast horse would gallop over to report the news from the court to him.

At noon, they reached a wide plain at the foot of the mountain when they suddenly heard thundering hooves in front of them.

Snow and mud flew everywhere. Two riders rushed to the front of the team. The riders dismounted and shouted in a hurry, "General, there's trouble ahead!"

Bi Su's expression changed slightly, and he ordered the team to speed up and urge their horses to gallop.

After a while, they came to a mountain path leading to the oasis town.

There was a sound of frightened neighing from a group of horses ahead. The person at the front of the team saw the situation on the road clearly, his face changed drastically, and he immediately reined in his horse.

"General!"

Everyone was at a loss.

Bi Suo's face was as gloomy as water and he dismounted from his horse.

A royal guard rode back and signaled everyone in the caravan to stay where they were and not move.

Yaoying walked at the front of the team, thought for a moment, and then rode forward.

As soon as I turned the corner, a strong wind blew past, and a strong stench of blood hit me in the face.

Yao Ying suppressed her disgust and continued to move forward, her eyes gradually widening.

The path ahead was in a mess, with large carts and trunks overturned on the ground, and corpses of old and young, men and women lying in a pool of blood. Horses, camels, long-haired cattle and sheep were also lying on the ground, their stomachs ripped open, a horrible sight.

Not a single person from the entire caravan was left alive.

Who is so cruel? !

Yaoying couldn't bear to look any longer and looked away.

Yuanjue was right next to her. She didn't know what he was thinking about, but his hands holding the reins kept shaking. His whole body was trembling, his brown eyes were wide open, his eyeballs almost popping out of their sockets, and he looked terrified.

Bi Suo turned around and looked at him, her brows furrowed.

Yuanjue looked at him, and both of them had solemn expressions, mixed with a hint of imperceptible sadness.

A personal guard trotted forward and clasped his fists, saying, "General! I have checked carefully. All the caravan members were killed by the sword. There is not a single survivor! Some of the bodies are still wet. It must have happened before dawn this morning. Judging from the traces in the snow, the murderer killed everyone and fled to the mountains!"

The other guards chattered, "How cruel! They even killed women, children, and the elderly!"

"Look at the knife skills on the corpse. The one who did it must be a master!"

"The murderer used a long sword commonly used in the military. Could it be a soldier who did it?"

"All of them had wounds so deep that you could see the bones. It doesn't look like they were done by bandits who were robbing people on the road..."

"There is only one way down this mountain. Let's hold the intersection and attack the mountain!"

Bi Su's face turned paler and paler, his lips trembled a few times, he took off the copper talisman he had brought with him, turned around and ordered his personal soldiers: "You go into the city and tell the guards that I am in charge of this place, and no one else is allowed to interfere. You stay here, in teams of ten, bury the bodies, clear the road, set up roadblocks, and don't let anyone else pass."

After saying this, he closed his eyes, grasped the long sword in his right hand, and rode away from the team.

Yuanjue had a complicated expression, his eyes were slightly red, he gritted his teeth, and rode his horse to catch up with him.

Yaoying stayed where she was, watching Bisu and Yuanjue walk up the mountain one after another, and was absent-minded for a while.

Her heart felt heavy, as if a huge rock was pressing down on it. She had difficulty breathing and her heartbeat suddenly became very slow.

A cold and resolute figure flashed through her mind.

During those nights when they camped in the wilderness, no matter when she opened her eyes, she could see him.

Yao Ying bit her lip, kicked the horse's belly lightly with her boots, and galloped away to catch up with Yuanjue and Bisha.

Xie Qing immediately rode his horse to catch up.

Yao Ying turned around, her eyes calm, and said word by word: "Ah Qing, you stay here, no one is allowed to follow us!"

Xie Qing was stunned for a long time, then he grabbed the reins and stopped where he was.

Before the royal guards could react, Yao Ying had already rushed up the mountain path and caught up with Yuan Jue and Bi Suo.

The sound of horse hooves came closer and closer. Bi Suo turned around, her pupils shrank, and she said coldly, "Princess, please go back!"

Yao Ying didn't slow down and caught up with him, her eyes moving between his and Yuan Jue's faces.

"Have you guessed who the murderer of the caravan is?"

Yuanjue looked tense and said nothing.

Bi Su's face was as cold as water. She said, "This is a royal court matter and has nothing to do with the princess. The royal guards will protect the princess. It's not safe on the mountain. We need to catch the murderer. Princess, please go down the mountain."

Yao Ying turned around to look at the guards standing guard on the mountain path and the fallen corpses, then turned around and looked straight at Bi Sa.

"Biso, do you suspect the murderer is the Regent?"

The expression on Bi Su's face changed drastically.

Yao Ying looked at Bi Suo, not allowing him to avoid her gaze: "Are you and Yuan Jue going to kill him?"

Yuanjue felt a shudder run through his body and looked at Yaoying.

Yao Ying looked back calmly: "These past few days, whenever I get close to the Regent, you become nervous, and your hands holding the knife are wet with sweat. Are you afraid that the Regent will hurt me?"

Yuan Jue's face turned pale.

"The Regent smells like medicine. Is he injured? Or did something go wrong in his training? He has been avoiding people these days. Why is that?"

Yuan Jue didn't dare to say a word and avoided looking.

Yao Ying took a breath, looked back at Bi Suo, and asked, "Do you think he couldn't control himself and killed an entire caravan?"

The mountain wind howled, and Bisa said nothing, with veins bulging on her hands as she gripped the reins tightly.

Yuanjue groaned and wiped the corners of his eyes.

"The murderer is not Sultan!" Yao Ying panted and trembled slightly. "Look carefully at the bodies of those people. How could he kill innocent people?"

Bisha turned around and looked at the mountain path.

"Princess, you don't know anything. How can you be sure that the murderer is not the Regent?"

He paused, and his voice suddenly became harsh and sharp: "I grew up with the Regent King and have known him for more than 20 years. I know what happened better than the princess! The princess is just an outsider!"

Yao Ying took a deep breath and clenched the reins tightly with her fingers.

"I really don't know anything. I'm just an outsider. I don't know what secrets are hidden between the general, the regent and the Buddhist son, and I won't explore it. The general has known the regent for more than 20 years, and I have only been with the regent for a few months."

She raised her eyelashes and stared at Bisa without blinking.

"Then, may I ask, General, has the Regent Prince Xiwu ever killed an innocent person since he took office?"

Bisa said nothing.

"Has the Regent ever hurt anyone when something went wrong during his training over the years?"

Bisa remained silent.

Yao Ying said calmly, "Since you have never seen him hurt anyone, why do you keep your hands on the hilt of your knife whenever you see him these days, ready to strike at any time? Why do you look so miserable when you see the caravan die, leaving the others behind and going up the mountain alone?"

She raised her voice a little: "Ashina Bisha, you are suspicious of Sultan Gu, right?"

Bi Suo looked at Yao Ying for a long time without saying a word.

Yao Ying stared at him with a stubborn expression. Her cheeks were slightly flushed due to her anxiety, her hair was messed up by the wind, and the tip of her nose was red.

She really cares about the Regent.

Bi Suo closed his eyes. His face was no longer that nonchalant and playful one. There was a lingering sadness between his brows.

He let out a long sigh.

"The martial arts practiced by the Regent King are special. If you are not careful, it will backfire. At the very least, you will hurt yourself. At the worst, you will go crazy and become ruthless and bloodthirsty."

Bi Su lowered his head and looked at the knife that his master handed to him.

"Princess, Yuan Jue told me that the Regent King showed signs of backlash from his martial arts a few days ago, so he has been acting strangely these days. He is heading in this direction, and I calculated the time. He will pass by the mountain path early this morning."

The mountain wind was blowing wildly, and the goose-feather-like snow was rustling.

Bi Suo trembled and said, "The long sword used by the Regent is a common sword used by the army."

Yuanjue, who was standing by, was trembling all over and his eyes became even redder.

Yaoying wiped the snow water off her face, her expression calm, her lacquered eyes dark and shiny.

"So what?"

Bisha was stunned.

The cold wind was like a knife, chilling her bones. Yao Ying shivered in the wind and said word by word, "All the guards were equipped with long swords. There is no evidence. You didn't see the Regent hurt anyone with your own eyes. How can you be sure that he is the murderer just by guessing? He is now suffering from the backlash of his martial arts and his temperament is unstable. If you suspect him without knowing the truth, what if you anger him? Wouldn't the misunderstanding between you deepen?"

Bi Su was speechless for a moment. After a long silence, she twitched her lips and asked, "Does the princess trust the Regent so much?"

Yao Ying raised her hand and ran her hair through it.

"On the way to Gaochang, we passed a cliff and a horse got startled and slipped off the plank road, nearly throwing the soldier on the horse off the mountain. The regent saved the soldier."

Sultan Gu was at the end of the team at that time. When the incident happened, he rushed over and saved the soldier.

"After the guards were out of danger... the regent did not leave."

Yao Ying looked into Bi Su's green eyes. "He leaned out of the tunnel, comforted the frightened horse, and saved the horse that was about to fall into the valley."

It's just a horse, it's not worth the risk of falling off a cliff and being smashed to pieces to save it.

Sultan Kumar saved.

He was filled with murderous aura, yet his sword skills contained a hint of mercy.

Yao Ying said firmly: "I believe in the Regent King. Even if he is unable to control himself due to the backlash of his martial arts, he will not kill innocent civilians."

Bisha was shocked.

Yao Ying then analyzed: "Moreover, the Regent's swordsmanship is very accurate. If he really wanted to kill someone, he would have killed them with one strike, and would not have tortured them intentionally. The general looked at the bodies carefully, and saw that the wounds on their bodies were all over the place. The horses were also drooping, and it didn't look like one person had done it."

Bi Suo and Yuan Jue looked at each other and exchanged glances.

They were only concerned about the Sultan and did not dare to look at the corpses any longer.