I am invincible, that's why I lie down. You're using your entire clan to rebel?

Chapter 305 Intercepting and Killing the Blacksmith!

Liyang Imperial Palace, Qingxin Pavilion.

Moonlight streamed through the carved windows into the hall, casting dappled shadows on the floor.

Liu Hongyan knelt in the center of the hall, her forehead touching the ground, motionless.

She had been kneeling like this for who knows how long, and she hadn't raised her head since she completed her mission and returned to the palace.

Her knees were already numb and she couldn't feel anything. The coldness seeped into her bones from the gold bricks and spread throughout her body, making her feel as if she were frozen.

But she didn't move, nor did she dare to.

She just knelt there and waited.

Footsteps could be heard outside the hall.

Very light, very steady, unhurried.

Liu Hongyan's heart suddenly raced.

She recognized those footsteps all too well.

The moon-white soft boots stepped on the gold bricks with a nonchalant ease, as if stepping on the tip of her heart.

The palace doors were pushed open, and moonlight flooded in like a tide.

Qin Mu stepped into the hall, his moon-white robe trailing on the ground, stirring up a faint breeze.

He walked behind the long table made of rosewood, sat down on the soft couch, leaned back in his chair, and looked as languid as if he had just gone out for a walk.

Zhao Qingxue followed behind him and sat down on the embroidered stool beside him, her hands hanging down and her eyes lowered.

Liu Hongyan felt that gaze fall on her, very light and faint, yet like an invisible mountain.

Her body trembled slightly, and then she lowered herself even more forcefully.

"Your Majesty," she began, her voice hoarse as if grinding sand, "this humble woman has returned to report."

Qin Mu looked at her but didn't speak immediately.

Liu Hongyan continued, speaking very quickly, as if she were reciting a list she already knew by heart.

"Last night, a total of thirteen spies from the northern border were captured. Among them, Zhang Degui, the owner of Yuelai Teahouse, is already in custody. Li Erniu, the shop assistant of Jinxiu Silk Shop, is already in custody. Wang Defa, the postmaster of the post station in the west of the city, is already in custody. Zhao Laosi, the blacksmith from the blacksmith shop in the south of the city..."

She paused, her voice trembling so slightly it was almost imperceptible.

"...They escaped. The remaining nine were all captured, without exception."

After she finished speaking, she remained lying on the ground, her forehead pressed against the cold gold brick.

A brief silence fell over the hall.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, moving slowly between the three people. Dust motes danced in the beams of light, drifting gently like snowflakes falling in the North during winter.

"good."

Qin Mu finally spoke, his voice soft, yet exceptionally clear in the silent hall.

"Well done."

Liu Hongyan's body trembled slightly.

The tension that had lasted all night finally eased a little.

She almost collapsed, but she knew it wasn't time to relax, so she could only grit her teeth and maintain her kneeling position.

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Her voice was hoarse and low, filled with the relief of surviving a disaster.

Looking at her like this, Qin Mu's lips curled into a smile that wasn't quite a smile.

He leaned back in his chair, his gaze shifting from her to the moonlit courtyard outside the window.

The petals of winter plum blossoms drifted gently in the wind, swirling as they landed on the bluestone slabs—it was a beautiful sight.

"but--"

He said.

Just those two words made Liu Hongyan's heart, which had just settled down, suddenly jump up again.

Her body tensed up suddenly, even more so than before, like a fully drawn bowstring.

She didn't dare to look up, but stared intently at the pair of moon-white boots in front of her, waiting for the content after those two words.

Qin Mu withdrew his gaze and turned it back to her.

"To make the person you let go even more convinced that last night's events were just an accident, and not that someone deliberately let him go,"

He paused, then said slowly and deliberately, "You need to put on another act."

Liu Hongyan's pupils contracted slightly.

Countless thoughts flashed through her mind in an instant, each one sending chills down her spine.

But she dared not ask, dared not look up, and dared not even let her breathing become too rapid.

She simply knelt there and asked in the calmest voice, "What does Your Majesty mean?"

Qin Mu's smile deepened as he looked at her forced composure.

He leaned slightly closer, his voice low, so low that only the three of them could hear it, yet every word was clear, like an ice pick piercing to the bone.

"The blacksmith you released is now heading north. I need you..."

He paused, then spoke slowly and deliberately:

"Ambush and kill him on the road."

Liu Hongyan's pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints.

"Seriously injure him, and then..."

Qin Mu's voice remained soft, carrying a nonchalant ease.

"Let him go one more time."

Liu Hongyan's mind went blank.

Only one thought was echoing wildly in her mind.

Intercept and kill him. Seriously wound him. Let him go one more time.

Why go through all that trouble?

The moment this thought arose, another, even more terrifying thought followed.

Did he find out?

They discovered that she deliberately left scars on her face, that she deliberately used silence to imply to Zhao Laosi that she was forced, and that she deliberately let Zhao Laosi return to the Northern Border with the conclusion that "Liu Hongyan was forced to betray".

A cold sweat instantly broke out on her back.

Cold sweat seeped from his pores, soaking his inner clothes and sticking stickily to his skin, icy cold.

She dared not look up, dared not look Qin Mu in the eye.

She was afraid that if she looked at it, she wouldn't be able to hide anything anymore.

But she didn't dare hesitate, and she didn't dare make him wait too long.

Because she knew that any hesitation would arouse his suspicion.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

She said it. Her voice was hoarse, yet exceptionally clear.

She paused, then spoke again, her tone carrying just the right amount of confusion.

"But Your Majesty, the other party has already gone far away. Moreover, he is a second-rank martial artist, and his speed is extremely fast. Several hours have passed, and I may not be able to find him."

This reason is perfectly reasonable.

She even secretly prayed that Qin Mu would also find it troublesome, unnecessary, and that letting him go once was enough, and that there was no need to chase after him again.

Qin Mu looked at her and smiled softly.

That smile was gentle, as gentle as a spring breeze.

But the moment Liu Hongyan saw that smile, another layer of cold sweat broke out on her back.

"rest assured."

He straightened up, leaned back in his chair, and remained languid.

"I will take you there."

Liu Hongyan was stunned.

Take her with you? How?

Countless possibilities flashed through her mind in an instant.

Horseback riding? Horse-drawn carriage? Or—

She dared not think any further.

The idea was so absurd that she felt her brain must have been ruined by last night's rain.

Qin Mu did not explain.

He simply stood up, walked up to her, and stopped.

Liu Hongyan raised her head and looked at him.

The moonlight shone in from behind him, illuminating his handsome face in a half-light, half-shadow.

He reached out his hand, the movement slow and casual, as casual as picking a leaf from his own backyard.

"Get up," he said.

Liu Hongyan dared not hesitate.

She struggled to her feet. A sharp, piercing pain shot through her knees, nearly causing her to fall again.

But she gritted her teeth and persevered, standing with her hands at her sides, her eyes lowered, staring at her toes.

Qin Mu glanced at Zhao Qingxue.

Zhao Qingxue stood up, walked to his side, and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.

Her face was expressionless, except for a complex emotion that flashed in her deep purple phoenix eyes.

The emotions were complex, a mixture of sympathy, pity, and an indescribable sense of desolation.

Liu Hongyan saw that trace of sorrow, and the ominous premonition in her heart grew stronger.

then.

She suddenly felt her body become lighter.

It wasn't the sudden drop you feel when you're weightless, but rather like a feather being lifted by the wind, a drop of water merging into a river, or a speck of dust floating in the sunlight.

There were no signs, no prelude, and not even any fluctuations of martial arts aura.

She floated away from the ground, just like that.

Liu Hongyan's pupils suddenly contracted!

She looked down and saw her feet getting further and further away from the gold brick, an inch, two inches, a foot, two feet.

The moon-white skirt fluttered at her feet, like a lotus swaying in the water.

She suddenly looked up and saw Qin Mu standing beside her with his hands behind his back, his moon-white robe fluttering gently in the wind.

Zhao Qingxue stood on his other side, also suspended in mid-air, her long hair flying in the wind, covering half of her face, but unable to hide the calmness in her deep purple phoenix eyes.

Her gaze passed over Qin Mu and Zhao Qingxue, and she saw the beams on the roof getting closer and closer, the sky outside the window becoming wider and wider, and the clouds spreading out overhead like an endless white ocean.

then,

They passed through the roof of the palace.

It wasn't about crashing through or flying over; it was about passing through.

The glazed tiles, the rafters, and the beams, before her eyes, were like reflections on the water's surface, gently parted by an invisible hand, and then slowly closed up behind them.

The next moment, they were standing on the clouds.

Liu Hongyan's legs suddenly went weak, and she almost knelt down.

But she didn't kneel, because she realized she simply couldn't bring herself to kneel.

An invisible force was supporting her, preventing her from even bending her knees.

She stood there high in the sky, with a sea of ​​clouds stretching to the horizon below and a sky so blue it was almost transparent above.

The wind surged in from all directions, whistling past her ears, making her dress flutter and her long hair dance wildly.

But she couldn't feel the cold, she couldn't feel the fear, and she couldn't even feel her own heartbeat.

Because her mind was blank.

She saw that the towns, mountains, and rivers at her feet had all been transformed into miniature sand tables.

The streets she had walked countless times now appeared as thin as a hair.

The city walls she had looked up at countless times now seemed as thin as a sheet of paper.

She saw the clouds churning beneath her feet, like heavy snow in the North during winter.

She saw sunlight streaming through gaps in the clouds, bathing the earth in a golden glow.

She saw the distant horizon curve slightly, a curvature of the earth that could only be seen from high above.

She saw Qin Mu standing beside her, hands behind his back, his moon-white robe fluttering gently in the wind.

His face still held that lazy and composed look, with a half-smile playing on his lips.

It was as if he were standing not on a towering sky, but on an ordinary path in his own backyard.

A thought suddenly flashed through Liu Hongyan's mind.

She knew Qin Mu was very strong.

But she never imagined he would be this strong.

It's powerful enough to carry two people and fly thousands of feet into the sky.

So powerful that it can walk on flat ground above these clouds as if it were solid ground.

He was so powerful that she didn't even have the right to be afraid.

She had read those records about terrestrial deities countless times in the secret archives of the North.

Emperor Taizu of Liyang, Zhao Kuangyin, could fly on a sword and travel a thousand miles a day.

Ye Gucheng, the former sword saint, could walk on water as if on flat ground.

However, no ancient text records any land deity who could carry two people to fly ten thousand feet into the sky.

This is beyond what the word "strong" can describe.

This is a miracle.

This is a technique that only legendary immortals possess.

Liu Hongyan's legs finally gave way.

The invisible force had disappeared at some point, and her knees slammed heavily into the clouds.

But the clouds felt like solid ground, steadily supporting her.

She knelt on the clouds, head bowed, her forehead almost touching the flowing white mist.

Her shoulders trembled violently, not from fear, but from a deeper, more utter despair.

Because she finally understood.

I understand why Zhao Qingxue stood behind Qin Mu, why Li Chunfeng was defeated so thoroughly, and why the Li Yang Dynasty changed its flag overnight.

It wasn't because they weren't strong enough, but because this man was simply someone they couldn't possibly contend with.

From beginning to end, they had no chance of winning.

No.

Not a single bit.

Liu Hongyan slowly raised her head.

She watched Qin Mu's back, watching that moon-white figure that remained motionless in the wind.

In her heart, there was that last trace of unwillingness, that last trace of struggle, that last trace of the illusion that "perhaps His Highness still has a chance."

They were all like the clouds beneath our feet, blown away by the wind and vanished without a trace.

She lost.

The North lost.

We had already lost from the very beginning.

She turned her head and looked at Zhao Qingxue.

Zhao Qingxue stood behind Qin Mu, no more than three feet away from her.

The morning breeze lifted the hem of her moon-white dress and her long, flowing hair.

Her dark hair danced in the wind, a few strands brushing against her pale cheeks and obscuring half of her face.

But Liu Hongyan still saw those deep purple phoenix eyes.

There was no fear, no shock, and not even much emotion in those eyes.

There was only a deep, almost numb calm.

That's the kind of calm you get after seeing it too many times.

A self-deprecating smile slowly curved the corners of Liu Hongyan's lips.

It turned out to be the case.

It turned out that Zhao Qingxue had already seen it before, seen the view from this height, and seen this miraculous method that surpassed all imagination.

That's why she was so calm, that's why she was so compliant, that's why she was so desperate.

Liu Hongyan suddenly felt that all her struggles, hesitations, and self-righteous "enduring humiliation" last night had become so ridiculous.

She thought she was being forced to betray, that she was enduring humiliation, and that she was preserving the last embers of hope for the North.

But now, standing thousands of feet in the sky, she suddenly understood.

She is nothing.

Her betrayal, her loyalty, her struggles, her little schemes and calculations—all of these are nothing but jokes in the face of this man.

She was nothing more than an ant, crawling from one leaf to another.

They thought they had gone far and saw things clearly.

Little did they know, that tree had already been uprooted.

Liu Hongyan's tears finally welled up and spilled out.