Bring a Stalk of Swallowtail Grass

Surrounded on three sides with no escape, Yang Guanfeng lowered Murong Yingxuan from his shoulder.

This Spirit Communion-level barrier was one of her absolute last-resort life-saving measures. Now that they had been forced to deploy it, it could only hold for less than half an incense stick's time.

Seeing that they had fallen into a dead end, Yingxuan simply stopped pretending.

She raised her hand and wiped her own face, dispelling her disguise.

Yang Guanfeng gazed at this heavenly countenance, which looked as though it had been meticulously carved by the heavens themselves, and offered a sincere compliment. "Beautiful. You look about the same age as that child of mine."

Hearing this, Yingxuan smiled radiantly.

That smile was so breathtakingly beautiful that even the two Condensed Origin cultivators from Donghuang were momentarily dazed.

"Squad Leader, thank you,"

Yingxuan said softly. "These past two months on the front lines have been the freest, most carefree days of my life. It was truly wonderful that I chose to come here."

As she spoke, she flipped her palm, revealing a gold-edged jade hairpin, and extended it toward Yang Guanfeng.

With one glance, Yang Guanfeng knew this was her ultimate escape card, so he did not reach out to take it.

Yingxuan also knew that, given Yang Guanfeng's character, he would never accept it. Thus, she spoke again. "In my family... there should be no one left waiting for me anymore. Whether I return or not no longer matters. But in your home, you still have loved ones waiting."

"You can live for yourself," Yang Guanfeng said.

Yingxuan was momentarily stunned. Her vermilion lips trembled as tears finally streamed from her eyes.

Live for herself.

For a princess born into the imperial palace with nothing but mediocre talent, those words were incredibly distant and unfamiliar.

Since birth, she and her mother had lived with the utmost caution within the palace.

They had walked as if on thin ice, terrified that a single wrong step or a misplaced foot would plunge them into an abyss of doom.

Fortunately, she had possessed at least some aptitude for cultivation. Those imperial descendants who lacked spiritual roots would disappear without a trace during their youth for various unspoken reasons.

No one would, and no one dared, inquire about their whereabouts.

When she learned that she had not made the list issued by the National Preceptor, Yingxuan felt true despair for the first time. In her desperation, she went to beg the Western Consort.

She had knelt before the Western Consort's palace gates for three full months before finally being granted an audience.

Amidst that dead end, the Western Consort had pointed out a possible glimmer of hope.

The upper echelons of Zhuhu had long intended to launch an eastern expedition. Using the pretext of suppressing sects, they had already completed the consolidation of the lower-level forces within the borders. Currently, their open and covert investigations of the various aristocratic families and sects were still underway.

If all went smoothly, it would be completed within a few years.

Yet, Zhuhu still lacked one crucial thing.

They lacked a justification to march their armies eastward.

The disappearance of an imperial descendant on the eastern front served as the perfect pretext.

At that time, the candidate had not yet been decided. Upon learning of the matter, Yingxuan had volunteered herself and journeyed to the eastern border.

Out of consideration that Yingxuan was the flesh and blood of her birth sister, the Western Consort had bestowed this Gold-Jade Hairpin capable of teleportation upon her.

However, without an imperial formation to guide it, the teleportation distance and direction of the hairpin were entirely uncontrollable in the border region.

Teleporting a mere single zhang, a reverse teleportation, or even being directly shredded by spatial turbulence-any of these outcomes were possible.

In the end, whether one could survive depended entirely on the user's own luck.

"Squad Leader, you are right. Thank you."

Yingxuan wiped away the tears from her face, offering Yang Guanfeng a smile as brilliant as the warm sun. "My performance at the border over these two months-did I pass?"

Yang Guanfeng considered it for a moment, then replied seriously, "Of all the troops I have ever led, you were the most exceptional."

"That is good."

Yingxuan thrust the Gold-Jade Hairpin into Yang Guanfeng's hand. "Squad Leader, I could live for myself, but I am truly a bit tired... My mother always used to have nightmares. I fear she will be frightened and lonely down there by herself."

"I am not giving you this for nothing, either. If you manage to survive this, Squad Leader, you must come to my grave in the future and thank me properly."

Yang Guanfeng accepted the hairpin and asked, "Is there anything you want me to bring when I visit?"

Yingxuan thought for a moment, tilting her head with a touch of playfulness. "Then... bring a stalk of Swallowtail Grass!"

"Alright," Yang Guanfeng promised.

He turned his hand and immediately infused his spiritual power into the hairpin.

Since Yingxuan had already made up her mind, he did not waste words trying to persuade her otherwise, placing all his hopes of survival upon this hairpin.

Sensing the sudden fluctuation of spiritual power in the surroundings, the three Condensed Origin cultivators' expressions shifted slightly. Before they could make a move, the hairpin's restriction activated. Yang Guanfeng's figure vanished into thin air right before their eyes.

They hastily swept the area with their Divine Sense, only to discover that he had already escaped the boundaries of their perception!

Seeing that the three did not give chase, Yingxuan felt a profound sense of relief, and a carefree smile graced her lips.

This meant that no matter where Yang Guanfeng had been teleported, he was completely clear of their tracking range.

She took one final look toward the imperial capital. Slowly, she manipulated her golden thread art, tightly wrapping the threads around her own heart, Sea of Consciousness, and Qi Mansion.

"What are you doing?"

The sword cultivator was the first to notice the anomaly. He said coldly, "Do not do anything foolish. As long as you cooperate obediently, we will spare your life."

Their mission this time was to capture Yingxuan alive.

She carried the bloodline of the Zhuhu imperial family. The various sects wanted to use her life soul and Essence Blood to research a method to crack the Heartfire Art.

Yet now, she was choosing to end her own life, and in the most resolute manner possible.

"Cooperate obediently?"

The corners of Yingxuan's lips curled upward into a contemptuous smile. "This time, I choose my own path!"

"You!"

Pfft!

In an instant, the golden threads contracted violently. Yingxuan's three vital points were simultaneously crushed.

With this, her heart, soul, and blood were destroyed all at once.

Even if Donghuang and the sects obtained her corpse, it would be nothing more than a useless, empty shell.

The three Donghuang cultivators stared in utter astonishment. They had never expected Yingxuan to be so decisive in taking her own life, leaving them absolutely no room for negotiation.

"Th-this... what do we do now?" the Donghuang cultivator who had appeared first asked, spreading his hands helplessly.

The remaining two also looked utterly dejected, their expressions turning grim.

They had deployed three Condensed Origin cultivators for this operation-including a powerful sword cultivator-all just to capture a mere Qi Gathering junior like Yingxuan.

Yet, this was the result. Not only had she died right before their eyes, but even her corpse was rendered completely worthless.

Fortunately, they had slain a late-stage Condensed Origin cultivator of Zhuhu. If they returned and explained the circumstances thoroughly, they could barely consider the mission accounted for, though a harsh reprimand would certainly be unavoidable.

At the exact same time, within the Imperial Spirit Hall of the imperial capital, Hong Yao stepped out from one of the rooms.

His expression was rather downcast. After hesitating for a long moment, he finally spoke.

"Master, Murong Yingxuan is dead."

Snap!

Underneath the massive elm tree, the old man who had been sipping tea stiffened upon hearing the news. Without realizing it, he crushed the teacup in his hand.

"And Consort Shu?"

"Also dead."

"Alas..."

The old man sighed as he stood up, his aged eyes turning toward the direction of the imperial palace.

In a single instant, his gaze pierced through countless protective formations and restrictions, falling directly upon the body of the already perished Consort Shu.

He still remembered when the Western Consort had returned victorious all those years ago; it was he who had personally led this young girl into the palace.

That day, she had been wearing a small, emerald-green dress, looking around at everything within the palace walls with a face full of wonder.

She had constantly tried to tug on Hong Yao's little braid. In the end, Hong Yao had grown annoyed and leaped up onto the roof beams. The two of them, one high and one low, had bickered back and forth using the most childish words.

Cruelest of all is the imperial house.

Once one entered this deep palace, one's fate no longer belonged to oneself in the slightest.

"I shall go and inform His Majesty and the National Preceptor of this... good news."

With those final words, the old man's figure dissolved into thin air, leaving only Hong Yao alone in the courtyard, his head lowered as he quietly tugged at his own braid.

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