Chapter 12

Lin Yu stood frozen, watching as the old man in the corner slowly rose and hobbled over to her. His heavy eyelids drooped, nearly obscuring his eyes, leaving only cloudy pupils visible. He circled her, scrutinizing her bizarre attire.

Lin Yu held her breath, not daring to move, unsure of his intentions. Finally, the Xianzun came to a stop before her. A hoarse, aged voice rasped, "So you're the Divine Maiden of the Yu Kingdom?"

Lin Yu nodded. She thought she caught a faint, barely audible chuckle, but when she glanced up, the Xianzun's expression remained stern and unreadable. Had she imagined it?

Taking the initiative, Lin Yu said, "Xianzun, I don't have much time. I beg you to save me."

The moment the words left her mouth, she realized how abrupt she sounded. Who approaches a stranger and immediately begs for their life? Besides, she had nothing to offer in return.

To outsiders, Lin Yu was nothing more than a powerless consort banished to the cold palace. The title of Divine Maiden of the Yu Kingdom seemed distant now.

Among all the Xianzuns of the various kingdoms, the Li Kingdom's Xianzun was the most mysterious and inscrutable. She hadn't been able to learn anything about him before coming here. Add to that his seclusion in the palace, accompanied only by alchemy, and his face was rarely seen. She had no idea what kind of temperament he possessed, nor was she confident he would save her.

A twinge of anxiety gripped Lin Yu. The silence stretched on.

The Xianzun didn't respond. Instead, he turned and walked behind the folding screen to sit down—neither agreeing nor refusing.

"What standing do you have to ask me to save your life?" he finally said. It wasn't a good sign.

Lin Yu lowered her head slightly. "The Xianzun of the Yu Kingdom was once a friend of yours. He fell four days ago. Does the Xianzun not wish to investigate the truth, capture the mastermind, and avenge your old friend?"

At the mention of his old friend's death, the Xianzun's expression finally shifted.

Lin Yu caught the subtle change in his face and instinctively felt she had guessed right.

In truth, she had no idea whether the two Xianzuns even knew each other, let alone whether they were friends. But the Xianzun's first question had been whether she was the Yu Kingdom's Divine Maiden, which led her to guess he might be acquainted with the Yu Kingdom's Xianzun, and she had woven that into her words.

Sensing an opening, Lin Yu pressed on. "Since you said you've been waiting here for me for a long time, there must be a reason. You've been looking for me, haven't you?"

The Xianzun behind the screen still didn't answer. Instead, he casually picked up a bamboo scroll from the floor and began to read.

Lin Yu waited quietly by the side. After what felt like an eternity, he said, "Tell me, why are you running out of time?"

At that, Lin Yu finally let out a breath of relief. "I encountered the Ascension tribulation on the outskirts of Liangcheng. As the heavenly thunder struck, I was attacked by someone who stole one of my soul and one of my spirit. Since then, Ascension was hopeless. Though I managed to take back my soul, it was sealed by my attacker—I cannot retrieve it. Thus, after midnight tonight, I will scatter into nothingness and perish."

Lin Yu explained the matter in a few short sentences and, with both hands, presented the leaf holding her sealed soul, which she had kept safe in her bosom, for the Xianzun to see.

The Xianzun merely glanced at it and nodded. He tidied up several bamboo scrolls, returned them to the bookshelf, and paid no further mind to the ones scattered on the floor.

He stepped over the mess in long strides, went straight to the gleaming golden alchemy furnace, and took a single pill from within.

He spoke unhurriedly. "Take this. It will extend your life for seven more days. But once those seven days pass, nothing is guaranteed."

"The only way to truly resolve it..." The Xianzun paused there. Lin Yu raised her head slightly to look at him, waiting for him to continue.

"The knot must be untied by the one who tied it. Your soul is trapped within the tree spirit's seal, and it has already merged with the tree spirit—it can no longer be extracted. The only solution is for you to merge with the tree spirit."

"Enter the tree spirit, and then your lost soul and spirit will sense you and return on their own."

"Merge with the tree spirit?" Lin Yu was puzzled.

"You inject your remaining soul and spirit into the tree spirit, seize control of its body, and force the tree spirit out. The move is risky, but it's the only way."

Lin Yu roughly understood the Xianzun's meaning and nodded. When she looked up again, a jet-black bow flew toward her, and she caught it smoothly.

"Since you have a connection with my old friend, I'll lend you a hand. This black-iron bow can help you slay the tree spirit."

When Lin Yu saw the black-iron bow, light suddenly returned to her eyes. This was the second purpose of her visit—and before she'd even had a chance to ask, the Xianzun had given it to her of his own accord.

Lin Yu took the bow. The moment it touched her, it shrank to the size of her palm and lay there quietly.

Legend spoke of a bow called the Yi Divine Bow, so powerful it could shift the heavens and the sun, even shoot down the sun itself from the sky.

The black-iron bow was a replica the Xianzun had spent decades crafting in imitation of the Yi Divine Bow. Its power couldn't compare to the original, but it should be more than enough for her to slay the Mountain God and break free of the illusion.

Lin Yu thanked the Xianzun repeatedly, then left the alchemy chamber and dashed out of the palace.

Once Lin Yu had gone, the Xianzun shed his decrepit old-man guise. He straightened his back, his steps grew light, and he happily hummed an ancient nursery rhyme.

He walked behind the folding screen, lounged casually into the armchair, and burst into loud laughter. He laughed with abandon, slapping the armrest of the chair so hard that the old piece of furniture could barely withstand the blow, letting out a pained creak.

He transformed back to his original appearance. Looking again, the person in the armchair was a man of merely thirty years, clad in fiery red robes, his body slightly translucent, without physical form.

It was Zhang Dian—no, the ascended Zhang Dian, now the Crimson God. He had seen everything happening inside the illusion from the heavenly realm, found it vastly entertaining, and so had returned to the illusion to keep watching the show.

"Mortals are just this stupid, haha."

The moment he spoke, the Moon God's figure materialized as well, appearing behind the Crimson God. His steps were light, and his words carried amusement.

"She could never guess what the black-iron bow's true form is. The black-iron bow can only be wielded by a supreme god. The moment she, a mere mortal, draws it, it will drain every drop of blood from her body and convert it into the bow's divine power. At that point, she'll be left wishing she could die but unable to!"

The Crimson God was in an excellent mood. He thoroughly enjoyed these games of leading people around by the nose, then watching them die miserably like a joke. "That's when she'll truly die with her eyes wide open, hahahaha."

Zhang Dian laughed until tears came to his eyes. "Even if she guessed that the Mountain God had accomplices, so what? She still had to come begging me to extend her life. A worthless life like that—what's there to extend?"

The Moon God conjured a shimmering mirror and held it before the Crimson God, the surface reflecting Lin Yu's figure dashing through the night.

The Moon God said, "There's no way she'll see through that the Mountain God's accomplices are you and me. This illusion was built by us—whatever we say goes. Once she returns to Liangcheng, it's her death sentence. Whether she dies from blood loss or gets struck dead by heavenly thunder, all we have to do is sit back and enjoy the show..."

To them, killing someone utterly beneath them was never fun. What was fun was watching her struggle desperately at the edge of death, hope flickering, only for it to shatter—and witnessing her agony and her wretched end.

...

Now that she had the life-extending pill and the divine weapon, Lin Yu only needed to escape the palace and return to Gujin Mountain.

Lin Yu didn't pause for a moment. She remembered the route into the palace clearly; to leave, all she had to do was walk the same path in reverse. She made straight for the palace gates.

Just then, a snow-white xuanniao flew toward Lin Yu. She raised her hand to catch it and removed a secret letter from its body. The paper bore handwriting she recognized well—plain black words on white: "Troops and horses are sufficient. Ready for battle."

A smile tugged at the corner of Lin Yu's mouth. With a flick of her finger, the letter dissolved into wisps of smoke and vanished.

Following the moonlight, Lin Yu climbed onto the city wall not far from the palace gate. From here, she could clearly see the guards outside. But just as she was about to reach the gate, the guards suddenly changed shifts and doubled in number.

Lin Yu pressed herself behind the tiles on the wall, watching them in secret. One of the guards seemed to sense someone behind him and spun around abruptly, staring straight in her direction!

She was about to be discovered—at that very moment, quick as thought!—Lin Yu let go and dropped down the other side of the palace wall, landing within the adjacent enclosure. The wall separated her from the guards.

But the moment she landed, she ran into an unexpected visitor—the noble consort who had specially come to mock her when she first entered the palace.

Lin Yu had jumped down the wall to dodge the guards' sight and landed right in front of the consort. The two stared at each other face-to-face in the darkness, eyes wide.

"An assassin! Someone—" the consort shrieked.

Lin Yu grabbed her in one motion and clamped a hand over her mouth. The consort whimpered and struggled, thrashing in Lin Yu's arms. Lin Yu whispered by her ear, "It's me."

Hearing Lin Yu's voice, the consort immediately stopped struggling. She turned to look at Lin Yu, and Lin Yu let her go.

The consort looked left and right, confirming it was really Lin Yu, then stood speechless with shock. Lin Yu expected her to ask how she had escaped the cold palace, but after a long pause, she finally blurted out: "You're dressed like this... are you going to assassinate the emperor?!"

Lin Yu: ?

Lin Yu nearly stumbled at the question. It wasn't as though she hated the emperor enough to assassinate him just for being thrown into the cold palace...

Lin Yu began to doubt this consort's intelligence, but she hesitated for a moment before asking, "Why did the guards suddenly double outside?"

"Ah? You're asking about that..." The consort's face turned sullen again. "The emperor said he wanted to release you from the cold palace—he wanted to see you. The matron went to fetch you, but the cold palace was empty, so he thought you'd been taken by an assassin."

The consort shrugged. "And that's how this happened..."

"Help me get out of here," Lin Yu said again, her tone unceremonious, almost presumptuous—with a subtle hint of coercion and command.

"How dare you speak to me like that?!"

"Wait... you want to leave?" The consort had initially been displeased with Lin Yu's attitude, but after realizing what she'd said, her expression turned to shock. She was baffled.

Then she flipped to trying to persuade her. "Staying in the palace is great, you know! There are endless gold and jewels, delicacies from land and sea—you'd live like a god. Sure, the emperor is pretty stupid and annoying, but being stupid has its perks. He's easy to fool. Why on earth would you want to run off?"

Lin Yu lowered her gaze. "That's not what I seek. What I want is..."

"A place where all under heaven can live in peace," she said with firm resolve.

For some reason, Fu Ming's face surfaced in her mind, along with that plague-stricken child who had vanished without a trace. She wondered whether the plague had reached Liangcheng by now, and how many people in Lincheng still survived.

"Oh, come off it. In this world, just surviving is hard enough, let alone 'all under heaven,'" the consort muttered. "A stable life in the harem is something outsiders couldn't beg for."

Lin Yu's thoughts were pulled back by the consort before her. Her eyes curved into a smile, and she suddenly threw out a jab. "Besides... if I don't leave here, starting tomorrow I'll begin competing with you for the emperor's favor. Since I'm out of the cold palace now anyway."

Lin Yu looked the consort up and down. "I do rather like you, sister. If we could be together every day from now on, fighting to the death, that shouldn't be too bad either."

"And if I manage to rise to the top, the first thing I'll do is have that idiot emperor disband the harem. Thinking about it..."

At that, the consort finally panicked. She shook her head frantically. "Oh, fine, fine! It's just leaving the palace, isn't it? I'll send you out. But once you're out, you can't come back!"

"Who's there!" Suddenly, a crowd of guards appeared out of nowhere. The moment they saw Lin Yu, they charged. "Seize the assassin!"

The consort was badly startled and grabbed Lin Yu to run. But Lin Yu, unhurried, instead pressed a blade against the consort's throat.

Lin Yu said in a low voice, "Don't come any closer, or I'll kill her."

The consort's eyes went wide with fright, but the tactic worked—the guards halted at the sight.

There was no way Lin Yu could explain herself, dressed like this in the palace in the dead of night. She couldn't possibly defeat so many guards alone, and if she were caught and hauled before the fool emperor, who knew how long that would drag on. Since the guards were shouting about catching an assassin, she might as well take the gamble.

The consort leaned in close to Lin Yu, stammering, "You... you changed your mind...? Didn't I say I'd take you out... Ah! Put the knife away, I'm scared..."

Lin Yu quietly turned the blade at a different angle and murmured, "Don't move."

Then she threatened the guards again. "Everyone, drop your weapons. Once I've left safely, I'll release your noble consort. Otherwise..." She pressed the flat of the blade against the consort's throat and backed away with her.

One guard started to advance. Seeing this, the consort instinctively snapped, "Get lost!"

The moment the words left her mouth, the consort realized her mistake and quickly changed tack. "How dare you! Do you want me dead?! Don't come closer—let her go!"

Lin Yu continued to hold the consort hostage until the two turned a corner into the shadow of a palace hall, out of the guards' sight. Only then did she lower the blade.

Seeing that no one had actually chased them, the consort grew angry again. "Useless fools! I was taken hostage and they really didn't follow!"

Lin Yu looked at the consort in confusion. Hadn't she been the one to say not to follow? What exactly was going on in her head...

"Wait!" Lin Yu pricked up her ears. She heard the sound of neat, orderly footsteps—clearly trained guards in pursuit.

Lin Yu: "They're really coming after us! Which way?"

The consort was exhausted. She had a palanquin to carry her everywhere, and had barely walked a step on her own in her entire life. Being dragged around dodging guards like this was more than she could keep up with. "Ah? I was joking! Why did they actually come?!"

The consort: "Ahhh! I see them! Quick! Run!!"

The two sprinted in circles several times before squeezing into a narrow passage, flanked on both sides by towering palace walls, wide enough for only one person. The guards were too numerous to be as nimble as the two women, and so they finally managed to shake them off.

Lin Yu heard the lead guard outside the passage shout an order: "Take another route! Cut them off at the end!"

The two ran into a courtyard with a dry well. The consort was panting heavily, one hand patting her chest in fright.

Thunderous footsteps approached from outside—the guards were just on the other side of the wall, closing in to surround them!

No time to hesitate. The consort patted the well's rim, signaling Lin Yu to jump down.

Lin Yu eyed the pitch-black well with suspicion. "I really won't compete with you for the emperor's favor. No need to kill me..."

The consort shot her a glare. "You know who used this well before?"

Lin Yu shook her head. The consort continued, "The former crown prince, Zhang Dian!"

"When he was surrounded back then, he was supposed to be dead for sure. But out of nowhere, he vanished from the palace without a trace."

The consort looked around, making sure the guards hadn't circled around yet, and leaned close to Lin Yu's ear. "He escaped through this well. There's a secret passage underneath. The emperor actually discovered the well long ago, but he never knew there was a tunnel beneath it. He's always been a fool."

Hearing this, Lin Yu felt a curiosity about this legendary Zhang Ni. It was one thing for the common folk to call him incompetent, but even his own favored consort called him stupid—how dim could he possibly be?

Lin Yu hesitated no longer. The guards' voices grew closer, and they could appear at any moment. She jumped into the well and, sure enough, felt a slightly protruding section of the well wall. She pushed the brick aside, revealing a passage before her.

The passage was extremely narrow at first, but after a short walk it suddenly opened up. Still, it remained pitch black. Lin Yu summoned the black-iron bow, which lay in her palm emitting a faint golden glow. Using that bit of light, she could barely find her way.

Before long, Lin Yu seemed to feel a faint breeze. Her heart leapt with joy—an opening! The exit must be close!

She followed the direction of the wind, heading toward it, until she was suddenly bumped by something soft. She raised her light to see—in the weak glow, she just made out a pair of deep blue eyes!

Lin Yu felt something in her mind suddenly explode. She realized—that wasn't wind blowing in from the exit. It was the breath of a colossal beast!