Chapter Thirty-Five: "Burn!"

Thunder rolled, shaking the earth—Yu Hu’s voice mingled with the spring thunder, so loud it made Li Yunjie’s eardrums buzz incessantly.

Black riders, clad in dark iron armor. Combined, these traits could only mean one thing to Li Yunjie: the Xuanwu Guard, famed throughout the capital and commanded by the Crown Prince himself.

Li Yunjie’s pupils contracted sharply. If Yu Hu spoke the truth, then it meant—

The Crown Prince had colluded with the Witch Tribe to steal the tax silver!

“Master!” Li Yunjie was still reeling from the shock when Eleven’s voice suddenly rang out, grave and urgent. “Movement!”

Even as the words left her lips, footsteps crunched atop the thatched roof overhead. In the next instant, a surge of sword energy tore through the straw, slicing straight toward the trio inside!

In the nick of time, a crimson arc of sword energy swept in, splitting the air. The two sword energies collided, unleashing a powerful gust that filled the room with swirling dust.

“Who goes there?!”

From the front courtyard, Su Qingmeng’s cold voice echoed.

Li Yunjie quickly hefted Yu Hu onto his back, burst through the door, and Eleven followed close behind. The three joined Su Qingmeng, eyes tracing her gaze upward.

Perched atop a roof beam, a white-clad assassin drifted down like a specter, eyes glittering coldly beneath her mask.

“Bai Xue!”

Li Yunjie instantly recognized the assassin’s true identity.

The assassin paused, then slowly removed her mask. “Sharp eyes, Young Lord Li.”

“Those dead-fish eyes of yours—I’d recognize them even if you turned to ash.”

“To leave such an impression on you, I must count myself thrice fortunate,” Bai Xue retorted with a cold laugh.

Her gaze then fixed on Yu Hu by Li Yunjie’s side. “Prime Minister Su has quite the means! Reviving a man once sentenced to death?”

Li Yunjie frowned. Clearly, this person knew Yu Hu well.

“So that’s why my journey today felt so arduous,” Li Yunjie sneered. “Turns out, I was being chased by a dog.”

“Did Zhao Heng send you to silence us?”

“You overestimate yourself, Your Highness,” Bai Xue replied icily. “Hand over Yu Hu, and today, you may yet walk away alive.”

Li Yunjie was no fool. Surrendering Yu Hu would be tantamount to giving up the evidence of Su Ming’s deception. With the Emperor’s suspicious nature, would he not order the execution of their entire household?

As Su Ming’s son-in-law, Li Yunjie would not escape death either.

“Are you out of your mind?” Li Yunjie shouted at Bai Xue. “He’s just a mountain woodcutter!”

“Yu Hu was beheaded three years ago. How could he possibly be alive?”

Bai Xue scoffed coldly. “Facing death and you still insist on lying!”

“And where does your confidence come from?” Li Yunjie couldn’t help but laugh, his eyes flicking to Su Qingmeng. “Do you think you can best her?”

Li Yunjie knew Bai Xue stood no chance against Su Qingmeng. Yet Bai Xue’s composed demeanor suggested otherwise.

“Commander Su is formidable; I am no match for her,” Bai Xue spoke calmly. “But as I understand it, since advancing to the fourth rank, she has struggled with backlash from her internal energy.”

“I may be inferior in cultivation, but I am not without hope of victory!”

Li Yunjie’s heart skipped a beat. This fatal weakness of Su Qingmeng’s should never have been divulged!

During the Zhou Jingyi case, Li Yunjie had sensed an Eastern Palace spy hidden within the Prime Minister’s manor. Su Ming, that cunning old fox, could not have been unaware. Yet it appeared Su Ming had not uprooted Zhao Heng’s hidden agents after all.

As Li Yunjie pondered, Bai Xue’s eyes suddenly brimmed with murderous intent. Her sword quivered, cold light radiating as she thrust it straight at Li Yunjie’s throat.

Su Qingmeng flashed forward, shielding Li Yunjie. Her flexible sword met Bai Xue’s blade, sparks flying as steel clashed.

Bai Xue’s movements were sinister and elusive, every strike deadly. Amazingly, she fought Su Qingmeng to a standstill—at least pinnacle of the fifth rank!

“Young Lord Li, long time no see!”

Before one storm could settle, another erupted—a repulsive voice sounded behind Li Yunjie.

He looked up to see Wu Jin astride a black horse, standing in the doorway. Behind him loomed the Northern Mo spy who had escaped Drunken Moon Tower that night.

“It’s you!” Li Yunjie’s brow twitched.

Her appearance confirmed his suspicions. The imperial guards had interrupted a clandestine meeting between the Mo Witch Tribe and the Crown Prince’s followers!

“Young Lord Li,” the woman smiled coolly. “It’s been a while.”

“Ruyue,” Li Yunjie called her name in a mocking tone. “Does your shoulder wound still ache?”

“I never expected you to remember my name,” Ruyue replied, surprised.

Before her exposure, Li Yunjie had frequented her establishment. Poisonous as she was, her figure and beauty were undeniably alluring.

“If only our meeting had been at Drunken Moon Tower,” she said. “I would have made sure you lost yourself in dreams and intoxication.”

“But alas,” she finished, her gaze suddenly sharpening.

Li Yunjie focused intently. Facing a sixth-rank witch, even wounded, he dared not relax for a moment.

Ruyue brought her hands together, conjuring a few points of blue light before her, forming a spell array. In an instant, the blue array transformed into countless flying swords, hurtling directly at Li Yunjie.

Almost simultaneously, Li Yunjie flung a bamboo tube with one hand and rapidly formed a spell with the other. “Thunder, come!”

Boom!

With a thunderous blast, Ruyue’s attack was shattered by the explosion from the bamboo tube.

“Spell arts?” Ruyue frowned. “But he clearly used talismans...”

Li Yunjie breathed a silent sigh of relief. Thankfully, he had brought a few for self-defense before leaving.

Ruyue felt a chill. The force of that explosion had been formidable! It seemed Li Yunjie was not as simple as he appeared, and for the moment, she dared not make another move.

“Master Li,” as the two sides faced off, Yu Hu suddenly spoke.

Limping, he stepped forward to Li Yunjie and said in a low voice, “These people are here only to silence me.”

“You are the Emperor’s appointed investigator; they dare not harm you.”

As he finished, a drop of spring rain fell onto Yu Hu’s deeply lined face.

Yu Hu slowly extended his hand, tilting his head to feel the icy raindrops.

“I should have died three years ago. It was Prime Minister Su who bargained three years of life for me from the King of Hell.”

As he spoke, Yu Hu’s expression grew forlorn. “My wife and daughter are gone; I shouldn’t linger in this world.”

“But my vengeance remains unfulfilled—I cannot rest!”

He glanced at Li Yunjie, a glimmer of tears at the corner of his eyes.

“Prime Minister Su never deceived me.”

“Now the old case has reopened, and I have finally gotten my wish!”

“I beg you, Master Li! Seek justice for the two hundred thirty-eight souls of Mount Lu wronged and slain!”

With that, Yu Hu fell to his knees with a thud, his wrinkled, dark forehead knocking against the ground with heavy, echoing sounds.

Li Yunjie’s heart tightened. He hurried forward to help Yu Hu up.

Seeing the old man's tears flow, a thousand emotions surged within Li Yunjie.

“If the truth is indeed as you say, I promise—I will bring the real culprit to justice!”

Li Yunjie’s gaze was unwavering, his voice resolute and powerful.

A flicker of hope shone in Yu Hu’s eyes. He gripped Li Yunjie’s hand tightly, his voice trembling. “Thank you, Master Li!”

The rain intensified, water streaming down Yu Hu’s cheeks, as if washing away years of bitterness.

Suddenly, Yu Hu’s expression changed!

He pushed Li Yunjie away abruptly, and with his right hand, he formed a spell.

“Burn!”