"This life is unbearable!"
Ji Li felt like he was going to be driven mad by a snake and a tiger. To think, he was once the esteed Commander Guard, basking in so much glory. Now, with the Marshal gone, his status was at the bottom rung.
Thinking back, life was better when the Marshal was alive.
He shook his folding fan and sighed introspectively, "Ah, the Twelve Guards have disbanded. It’s so lonely now."
ng Qianqian finally responded, "Then pull yourself together and reunite the Twelve Guards!"
"Easier said than done." Ji Li sighed pessimistically. "Let’s not even ntion that Shen Hou is already dead. Of the remaining eleven, there’s a traitor lurking among us. Finding them alone is hard enough; how are you supposed to regroup them? Don’t say I didn’t warn you—on the surface, the Twelve Guards seed harmonious, but that was only because the Grand Marshal was holding it all together. With the Grand Marshal gone, nobody listens to each other anymore."
Si Snake didn’t offer a retort, but inwardly, he felt the sa way.
From the mont Chu Grand Marshal passed away, the Twelve Guards ceased to exist.
ng Qianqian knew that this endeavor would be even harder than when she first subdued the Twelve Guards. Yet no matter how difficult it was, she would never give up.
"How will you know if you don’t try?"
Ji Li tapped his palm with his fan, "Fine, you try. Just don’t drag into it."
ng Qianqian replied, "That won’t do."
Ji Li flared up, "Hey, do I owe you sothing?"
With justified confidence, ng Qianqian nodded, "Yep."
Ji Li: "...!!"
Ji Li took a deep breath, then turned to Si Snake, "Si Snake, you’ve got a grudge against Li Haiya. Now that his heir is standing right here, don’t you want to settle the score?"
ng Qianqian blinked, "So you’re admitting that I am Yin Hu?"
Ji Li choked, "I..."
Dammit!
How did I manage to fall into this trap too?!
"Let bygones be bygones; bullying a kid isn’t anything worth bragging about."
Si Snake said this, his calm blue eyes steady as they fixed on ng Qianqian. "Nonetheless, Little Yin Hu, your ntor and I once faced off in a contest that ended in a draw. Soday, I may co to you to conclude that unfinished battle."
ng Qianqian readily replied, "Fine, I promise—if you challenge , I won’t refuse!"
Ji Li stared at her incredulously, "Hey, are you crazy? Even your ntor Yin Hu couldn’t beat him! Do you know why it ended without a winner? It wasn’t because it was evenly matched—it was because sothing urgent interrupted them right after the fight started. If they had exchanged just a few more moves, your ntor would’ve lost!"
Si Snake thought it over, realizing that forcing this might be an unfair advantage on his end. His gaze deepened as he added, "You can choose to decline."
ng Qianqian smiled brightly, "I’ll give it my all."
"You’re dood. Completely dood."
Ji Li slumped back into his chair, casually fanned himself, and muttered thoughtfully, "Well, maybe it’s for the best. Once the little lass is out of the picture, nobody will threaten my position as Commander Guard anymore."
ng Qianqian saw through his scheming intentions and shook her head. Turning to Si Snake, she asked, "Earlier, when we brought up the traitor, you said ’as expected.’ What did you an by that?"
Si Snake fell into thought, "I’ve suspected for so ti that soone deliberately diverted the Twelve Guards’ attention the night of the Chu Family tragedy, leaving the manor unguarded. The culprit then set the Chu Family ablaze, likely to cover up the true cause of the Grand Marshal and his wife’s deaths."
To be one of the Twelve Guards, of course, they were no ordinary people.
ng Qianqian silently marveled, but refrained from revealing that she had read through the case files. Until the traitor was exposed, she resolved to trust no one.
"Where were you that night?"
She asked.
Si Snake replied, "Hunting down the Beiliang Shadow Guard who were lurking in the city."
ng Qianqian continued, "And who gave that order?"
Si Snake answered, "The Grand Marshal. Chen Long passed the command on to ."
ng Qianqian sharply inhaled.
No wonder, earlier when she had casually suggested "Maybe Chen Long is the traitor," Si Snake hadn’t refuted her. He had been quietly suspecting Chen Long all along.
ng Qianqian turned to Ji Li.
Ji Li’s eyes widened, "Don’t look at —I was out in Beiliang with Yin Hu gathering intel at the ti. I wasn’t anywhere near Yun Pass, okay?"
ng Qianqian withdrew her gaze and asked Si Snake, "You’re looking for Chen Long to confront him about what happened back then."
Si Snake nodded, "Correct. I want to know who passed that ’order’ to him—or if he was the one who made the call."
ng Qianqian added, "Then it seems the one who issued the order is undoubtedly the traitor."
They were one step closer to the truth.
After leaving Ji Li’s ho, ng Qianqian visited Grandma Feng.
She brought a jar of pickles made by Lady Du.
Grandma Feng loved the pickles and wanted to give ng Qianqian sothing in return. ng Qianqian firmly declined!
Grandma Feng asked curiously, "Don’t you like my gifts?"
Gifting your late husband’s bones—who would like that?
Maintaining her smile, ng Qianqian replied, "I like them. It’s just that your gifts are always so expensive. If you keep giving them, I’d be too embarrassed to visit again."
Grandma Feng understood, "Alright then. I won’t give anything pricey—maybe a little trinket instead."
And then ng Qianqian found herself gifted with a box of finger bones: "..."
She forced a laugh that looked more like a cry, "These aren’t your late husband’s, are they?"
"What are you thinking?" Grandma Feng replied, "The finger bones are fake—they were carved out of beast bones by Big Hatchet."
ng Qianqian let out a long sigh of relief.
Grandma Feng continued, "But the box itself was made from my late husband’s bones."
ng Qianqian: "...!!"
Grandma Feng added, "Little Nine, in a few days it’ll be my late husband’s death anniversary. I’ve built a cenotaph for him outside the city. Would you mind burning so paper money for ?"
ng Qianqian agreed, "Of course, Grandma Feng."
She noted down the burial site of Grandma Feng’s husband, returned to the Governor Mansion, fetched two horses, bought paper money along the way, and set out from the city with Tan’er.
"Thirty miles outside the South City Gate? Why bury him so far away?"
Tan’er asked, perplexed.
ng Qianqian replied, "Maybe the feng shui there is good."
"Feng shui." Tan’er didn’t understand the concept, but decided not to dwell on it. "Fine, then."
ng Qianqian turned to Tan’er, "Let see if your riding skills have improved."
Tan’er had only recently learned to ride. Before, she was too small, and ng Qianqian had always worried she’d fall.
"Watch !"
Tan’er gripped the reins tightly, raised the horse’s front hooves, and galloped off like the wind.
ng Qianqian chuckled, urging her own horse to catch up.
After traveling for so distance, the two stopped.
Tan’er looked around blankly and pointed at the thorn-covered shrubs, "Sister, where’s Grandpa’s grave? Did we take a wrong turn? There’s no path ahead!"
ng Qianqian recalled, "After leaving the South City Gate, head south to the first way station, cross the road to the opposite hill, and follow the path uphill—you’ll reach the Purple Bamboo Forest. That’s the route, isn’t it?"
Tan’er held up her fingers, "Could there be two separate paths?"
ng Qianqian said, "Let’s go back to the way station and check."
The two descended the hill.
Tan’er glanced toward the way station and gasped indignantly, "Sister, look—they’re ard!"
ng Qianqian focused her gaze and saw Shangguan Ling leading the Jinyi Guard at the way station, exchanging their horses. Not only that, they had even doffed their distinctive flying fish robes.
Tan’er whispered, "Sister."
ng Qianqian considered it for a mont, "Unusual circumstances signal trouble. Let’s follow them and investigate."
Shangguan Ling’s group disguised themselves as a common rchant caravan, moving south swiftly until the hour of You. They finally arrived at another way station.
Shangguan Ling dismounted and stood respectfully at the entrance, as if he were waiting for soone.
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