Chapter 168: The Gate of the Forbidden Land

A man in plain clothes stood right at the mouth of the stone cave. Upon hearing the voices coming from within, he stopped in his tracks, as though he had been transformed into a statue.

It was not until the first light of dawn began to break that a sound emerged from the stone cave once more—a somewhat lazy female voice, tinged with a hint of drowsiness.

Ling Yin quietly stepped aside to observe the surrounding scenery.

Inside the cave, Xue Xue stretched herself lazily and comfortably. She had not expected that this hard stone cave could grant her such a sweet and restful sleep, which was far better than any slumber she had managed back at Wangchen Pavilion.

"Mmh, my shoulder is numb..." Compared to her own energetic state upon waking, a certain Sovereign did not look quite so relaxed.

His brows were knitted tightly together, his handsome brow ridges furrowing slightly, and his fine lips parted just a fraction, as if he had been enduring something rather extraordinary.

Hearing this, Xue Xue tilted her head. So it turned out she had been resting her head on his shoulder all night, sleeping draped almost entirely across his body. No wonder she had felt so warm and comfortable.

"I'll massage it for you." Seeing him with his furrowed brow and parted lips, she could not help but try to soothe him.

Although his expression was quite amusing and possessed an inexplicable comedic charm, she managed with great forbearance to hold back her laughter. Only the subtle, half-hidden curve of her lips remained somewhat forced...

"You're secretly laughing at me, Xue'er." Ji Wuqing offered no resistance, presenting his shoulder right before her, his knitted brow carrying a trace of mock grievance. "Well, well, your husband is in such a state and yet you can still laugh. Ouch..."

Xue Xue gave his shoulder a firm knead, drawing a startled exclamation from him.

Yet the moment she pressed down, a wave of regret washed over her. "Did I press on your injury?" It was then she remembered that the shoulder she had rested her head on all night was precisely the one that had been wounded, and the spot she had just squeezed with force seemed to be right where his injury lay.

"The force you used just now was not small at all. I wonder if it has torn open..." A certain Sovereign lowered his head with an air of profound frailty, acting as though he had been grievously wounded by her single gesture.

Before he could finish speaking, however, Xue Xue had already parted his inner garment, gently sliding it down past his arm.

Fortunately, his shoulder appeared completely undamaged, save for the ugly scar that spanned across it—though even that failed to detract from his handsome and resolute bearing.

"If it really has torn open, I'll sew it back up for you." After inspecting his shoulder, she let out a quiet sigh of relief.

It was true, after all; the wound on his shoulder was nearly two months old. Even if it had not healed to the absolute core, it was hardly likely to relapse.

"Your husband is suffering from internal injuries here—internal injuries..." A certain Sovereign shamelessly leaned in close to her, a wicked smile playing across his handsome face. "Besides, I wonder who was so boorish just now, tearing open her husband's clothes like that."

Xue Xue tilted her head, ignoring him completely, and silently helped him put his clothes back on. Then she stood up, ducking slightly as she walked out of the stone cave. "We need to figure out a way to get out of here," she said with a solemn expression. The longer they remained trapped in this forbidden ground, the more ominous the situation would become.

Outside, the light was dim and misty, carrying a strange, ethereal quality far heavier than the night shadows.

White morning fog swirled all around them, as though they had been born into an immortal realm.

She looked left and right, and a slender, upright figure caught her eye.

It was Ling Yin.

Seeming to sense that she had emerged, Ling Yin slowly turned around. "Mistress," he bowed respectfully to Xue Xue, maintaining the exact distinction of master and subordinate they had always shared.

As for Ling Yin's arrival, Xue Xue found it both surprising and entirely within reason. Since Ling Yin was now considered one of Ziqing's people, his presence here was logical. Even so, had Qinghe—Ziqing's shadow guard—appeared here instead, it would have seemed far more normal.

"Did you come along with Ziqing?" Given Ziqing's usual attitude toward Ling Yin, he likely would not have brought him along.

"It was your husband who ordered him to come here, Xue'er." Having tidied himself up, Ji Wuqing also stepped out of the stone cave. He glanced briefly at Ling Yin before fixing his gaze firmly upon Xue Xue.

Whether it was so or not made little difference now, but he wanted to make one thing clear to Ling Yin: Xue'er was no longer his mistress, and he now answered solely to his commands.

"So that's how it is." Xue Xue nodded, half-understanding, as she looked from Ling Yin to him and back again.

The former maintained a bland expression with no intention of speaking. The latter looked at her with a gentle, smiling gaze, his deep eyes appearing infinitely sincere.

There were not many legends attached to the forbidden grounds of the Wu Kingdom; it was only rumored that the royal family of Wu practiced bizarre and malevolent arcane arts from generation to generation, and that they kept a hidden army of immortals.

That immortal army should be concealed right here within the forbidden grounds. She wondered what kind of sight awaited them...

The three of them explored the forbidden realm, with Xue Xue taking the lead to guide the way. All around them were strangely shaped boulders piled high along both sides of the path like a strict barrier, forcing them to walk strictly along the trail without any inkling of what lay ahead.

Xue Xue walked by pure instinct. Along the way, they encountered no obstacles; the path remained unimpeded, and they did not circle back to any places they had previously traversed.

"I have a feeling we are getting closer and closer to the center of the formation in this forbidden ground," Xue Xue remarked.

"The closer we get, the greater the danger," Ji Wuqing said, taking her hand in a reassuring gesture.

"You still haven't told me how you managed to break Madam Luqi's formation." A trace of tension crept involuntarily into her heart, reminding her of what he had said earlier about the formation set by Madam Luqi.

"When did your husband ever say he broke her formation?" Ji Wuqing retorted with righteous confidence.

"..."

Hearing him put it that way, it seemed indeed he had never claimed to have broken Madam Luqi's formation. It was just that...

It appeared his words from the previous night had produced a misleading effect.

"However, your husband does know the method to break the formation." Just as Xue Xue was silently wondering to herself, a certain Sovereign triumphantly added this postscript.

"..." His meaning was clear: he knew how to break the formation, but he had not actually broken Madam Luqi's formation.

Why would that be? Not breaking the formation meant that the two nations remained deadlocked in the Battle of Taixi. As long as the Ji Kingdom could not occupy Taixi, the subsequent plans could not proceed.

"For one thing, the Cheng Kingdom and our Ji Kingdom are actually allies, but the whole situation was covertly muddled by Qiu Liye. Even so, this Prince cannot afford to completely disregard Cheng Feng's face. Now that the troops sent by the Cheng Kingdom are also stationed in Taixi, this Prince naturally has to allow Cheng Feng time to handle his own domestic affairs," he explained with fluent logic.

His reason was passable enough...

Xue Xue nodded, "Yet judging by your words, there must be a second, a third, and perhaps even a fourth reason."

"No, there are only two reasons. Secondly, once the Battle of Taixi comes to an end, the Ji Kingdom will inevitably have to press forward. If the Ji army continues to advance, your husband's whereabouts will inevitably be exposed to the Wu Kingdom..." If he left the Ji army, Qiu Liye would undoubtedly receive the news very soon.

Besides, it was better to let Qiu Liye believe that the Ji Kingdom was incapable of capturing Taixi; better to let him believe that he, the Sovereign, was trapped in Taixi, bogged down and overwhelmed by the warfare there.

If not for this ruse, how could he have come to search for his Xue'er? This served as an effective method to confuse the enemy.

Did he mean that he had halted the campaign against the Wu Kingdom solely for her sake?

She supposed she could understand it that way...

Although piling such a massive gesture onto her shoulders made her feel somewhat heavy at heart, so what? In Ziqing's eyes, she was worthy of such treatment, and she was determined never to disappoint him.

"Put that way, you are quite clever indeed," she replied somewhat dryly.

Now came the dilemma: facing such remarks from him, she truly did not know how to respond. Moreover, their current priority was to figure out a way to escape the forbidden grounds...

While she remained somewhat conflicted, Ji Wuqing did not seem to mind her reaction at all.

"Indeed. If Qiu Liye's men were to discover your husband's whereabouts, things would become complicated and extremely troublesome." Though it wouldn't lead to any catastrophic situation, that alone would waste a considerable amount of his time.

"..." It was just as well that he wasn't fixated on her dry reply, otherwise she wouldn't have known what a normal reaction ought to be.

At last, they appeared to have reached the central area of the formation.

Ahead of them lay a path blocked by colossal boulders that stood tall and imposing, entirely different from all the rocks they had passed before. These boulders were not mere road-blockers, nor were they boundary markers; rather, they were concealing something, and strange patterns were carved upon their surfaces.

Raised reliefs of Manjus沙 (spider lilies) were scattered across the stones, appearing to sway gracefully in the wind—alluring yet eerie. Instead of a blood-red hue, they bore the pale, yellowish-sand color of the stone, yet they were rendered with such lifelike detail that they seemed to be in full bloom directly upon the rock face.

Manjus沙, the flowers of the Other Shore, connecting the realms of life and death.

"This is the place." Ji Wuqing held her hand as he gazed at the boulder carved with spider lilies, "The location of the immortal army within the Wu Kingdom's forbidden grounds." The immortal army was precisely where the formation of the forbidden realm resided.

"Mistress, the aura inside here is deeply ominous," Ling Yin observed from the side, his expression intensely rigorous and laced with caution.

"Indeed." Xue Xue stared at the spider lilies on the boulder, falling momentarily into a trance.

Did this place truly connect the living and the dead?

That bizarre aura grew more and more intense.

"Xue'er, only you can accomplish this. Trust your husband," Ji Wuqing sensed the change in her and tightened his grip on her hand. "Nothing will go wrong."

"Mn." She nodded. Though a trace of unease stirred within her heart, she felt no fear. Because Ziqing was by her side, and she was resolved to uncover everything hidden within.

She examined the boulder closely and soon discovered a handprint-shaped mold tucked away in one of its corners. It appeared to be a keyhole of sorts—a palm-shaped indentation complete with distinct fingers.

Xue Xue looked down at her own hand and held it up to measure against the mold. To the naked eye, the size of that palm indentation matched her hand almost perfectly.

Could there really be such a coincidence?

Qiuli Palace, Jiuchen Pavilion.

Incense designed to calm the mind was burning steadily in the study, yet Qiu Liye still felt an unsettled restlessness in his heart. Even though the Cheng Kingdom had suddenly withdrawn its troops and switched sides to aid the Ji Kingdom in attacking them—an emergency of the highest magnitude—it still failed to capture his full attention.

"Is there still no movement from the forbidden grounds?" He could not help summoning someone once more to inquire about the forbidden realm.

"There is still no news for the moment, Your Majesty." This was already the fourth time Your Majesty had asked about the forbidden grounds today. In truth, he was undoubtedly asking about news of the blind woman.

Standing to one side, Yunwu mused to himself that he had never expected their Sovereign to be so deeply infatuated; whether that would prove to be a blessing or a curse was impossible to tell.

"Your Majesty! There is news from the forbidden grounds! Someone has opened the gates of the forbidden realm!"