Shi Jingzhi had a brief dream.

When he was still in the palace, there was a lonely maple tree planted in his residence. That tree flourished in spring and was colorful in autumn, with bare branches covered in frost and snow in winter. It grew ordinarily, living neither well nor poorly alongside him.

At that time, his memories were constrained by restrictions, leaving only a bleak blank. However, every autumn when the leaves turned red, Shi Jingzhi would always pause for a moment in front of that tree.

Now he dreamed of it again.

In the dream, Shi Jingzhi was still young. For some reason, he stepped on the red leaves scattered on the ground and gave it an extremely heartfelt embrace. All that bone-deep pain, fear, and desire turned into fluttering red leaves, blown away by the wind.

For a moment, Shi Jingzhi felt a vague joy. He no longer had to return to this place; he could finally bid it farewell.

Finally, he smelled the cool breeze of the wilderness. Shi Jingzhi opened his eyes drowsily, wanting to touch the person in front of him. Before he could utter "Zizhu," Sect Leader Shi suddenly realized something was not quite right—even with his blurry vision, his Zizhu shouldn't look so ordinary.

Shi Jingzhi's outstretched hand froze in mid-air. The latter let out a terrified shout, instantly retreating two or three steps, nearly jabbing a fan into Sect Leader Shi's face.

Recognizing Xu Jingming before him, the vulnerability and tenderness on Shi Jingzhi's face vanished. He put on a long face, full of cold disdain. Seeing Xu Jingming looking back at him with a pale face, Sect Leader Shi grimaced and shook his hand, nearly rolling his eyes openly.

However, upon seeing the person revealed behind Xu Jingming, Shi Jingzhi really couldn't roll his eyes anymore.

Xu Jingxing was sitting in a wooden wheelchair, also staring directly at Shi Jingzhi, his face showing no joy or anger.

The current emperor was dressed plainly, his face bearing an artificial flush from medicinal tonics, with fine beads of sweat on his brow. Xu Jingxing was pushed by guards, the wooden wheels crushing the wild grass, making a soft rustling sound.

The royal guards were efficient; Jiang Youyue and Qu Duanyun were both tied up tightly, drugged into unconsciousness. The two were just a few steps away from Xu Jingxing, thrown directly onto horseback like two sacks. Their faces bore many bruises and abrasions, no longer bearing that lofty appearance from before.

According to the agreement, the court would intercept Jiang Youyue and Qu Duanyun, then come to rendezvous with the martial artists. However, Shi Jingzhi hadn't expected Xu Jingxing, with barely half his life left, to condescend to come to this place.

The martial artists had finished clearing the surrounding corpses and now all tactfully withdrew. Needless to say, Su Si, thinking of his troublesome bloodline, ran faster than a rabbit. Even Shi Zhongyu retreated far away with Taiheng. The jianghu was the jianghu, and the court was the court. After all, since it involved the National Teacher and the Immortal Gathering, the court's intervention was the best outcome.

Only one martial artist remained nearby.

Shen Zhu had taken a recording brush from the Yueshui Bureau and was humming a little tune while drawing messy patterns on Jiang Youyue and Qu Duanyun's faces—the fact that she could make this coquettish and adorable action exude killing intent was quite a sight. Even Lord Bai was cowed by this person's murderous aura, only knowing to bend its neck and shrink to the side, not daring to make a sound.

Shi Jingzhi forgot about his unhealed wounds and pain. He didn't care whether his posture was graceful or his clothes proper, almost floundering to stand up, lest his nominal elder brother look down on him from above.

The three blood-related individuals were extremely close, forming a sharp triangle formation.

The emperor glanced at Shi Jingzhi's wounds all over his body and after a while said, "I heard that you grafted fresh limbs onto yourself to nurture them, allowing the energy to circulate... Is this true?"

Indeed it was.

To test the possibility of "grafting," Shi Jingzhi specifically sought out some fresh corpses. He infused them with immortal blood, carved magic arrays on them, and forcibly stitched them onto his own body. After a few days, those limbs neither rotted nor decayed, but instead grew more robust and beautiful with each passing day.

These cultivated hands and feet were later used by Yin Ci to deceive Qu Duanyun, with quite good results.

However, Shi Jingzhi had tried this experiment without Yin Ci's knowledge. When Yin Ci first discovered it, he flew into quite a rage—in the end, General Yin couldn't bring himself to beat Shi Jingzhi, nor could he bear to feed him porridge again. Finally, he cleaned Shi Jingzhi's wounds with a dark face.

This matter was crazy and bizarre. When Yin Ci found out, it was out of concern, but if the Emperor were to find out, that would be an entirely different matter.

Shi Jingzhi coldly snorted: "Shen Zhu must have told you the details. Let's not even discuss whether the physiques are compatible. Now that my excess vital energy is cut off, I can no longer heal others... If you don't believe me, you can have someone examine me at random. I guarantee I won't run away."

The Emperor was visibly stunned.

Shi Jingzhi had a guarded expression, his whole body radiating wariness that said, "There's no way you're using me as a human test subject."

"I'm not..." Xu Jingxing wearily uttered three words, as if wanting to explain himself. But the rest of his words were either too quiet to hear or swallowed back, and no one heard the continuation.

Shi Jingzhi's body was weak, and he had just swayed when Yin Ci, who had approached from behind, steadied him with a hand.

Yin Ci had changed into more proper attire, hiding his usual faint aura of wickedness. Just looking at his bearing, he had quite the air of a great general who had fought on battlefields. He intentionally or unintentionally stood in front of Shi Jingzhi, inserting himself into the royal triangle and making it teeter on the brink of collapse.

"If Your Majesty wants to apologize, it's better to be straightforward about it."

Yin Ci casually took over the conversation.

"Carrots and sticks, it's always the same few tricks. It's best to keep it short and sweet."

Xu Jingming looked at his pale-faced elder brother, gritted his teeth and said: "I apologize, I apologize, okay? We were all fooled by the Immortal Gathering, we shouldn't have called him a monster, and I shouldn't have harmed him... Shi Jingzhi, if you're not satisfied, how about I kowtow to you three times?"

Neither master nor disciple made a sound.

"Yes, Elder Brother did put Shi Jingzhi under house arrest for education. We didn't handle this well, but you know, it was all the Imperial Teacher's plot... Elder Brother, as the Son of Heaven, certainly couldn't ignore a royal anomaly."

Xu Jingming quickly fanned himself, his gaze a bit evasive. His words sounded more like a stuttering explanation than an apology.

"As for General Yin, that was done by the Imperial Teacher, it's been three hundred years since then—"

"Enough."

Xu Jingxing sighed, he gave a look to a nearby guard. Then, surprisingly, he stood up despite his illness and knelt on one knee before the master and disciple.

"Elder Brother?!"

"Our Xu family has wronged General Yin and Jingzhi." Xu Jingxing let out a long sigh, looking at the muddy wilderness beneath his knee. "What's past cannot be undone. I... I can't think of appropriate compensation, I can only do my best to fulfill your requests."

The contempt on Shi Jingzhi's face faded, becoming expressionless. Yin Ci, on the contrary, showed a hint of a smile, still maintaining his silence.

Seeing that neither of them responded, Xu Jingxing's face turned a bit green, but he didn't stand up. He clutched the muddy, withered grass, his voice incredibly bitter.

"At this moment, Dayun is facing life and death. I beg you two to lend a hand and save the people from calamity!"

He slowly lowered his head, his forehead touching the mud, the tips of his long hair scattered in the mud. At this moment, the Emperor's wretched state was no different from Shi Jingzhi's.

Xu Jingming drew in a sharp breath, nearly choking himself. His hand holding the fan trembled non-stop, his eyes darting around, truly unsure whether to kneel or not.

Yin Ci was the first to step forward, walking to Xu Jingxing's front. He half-squatted down, his voice gentle yet cold.

"I understand the Xu family's apology, but I don't accept it. Some things can't be written off with just a few words."

Xu Jingxing didn't raise his head, his forehead still pressed against the muddy ground: "I know."

"But Xu Li, that coward, has been dead for who knows how long, there's no point in giving the younger generation a hard time. That Luojiu's Suspended Tree has grown all the way here, it's bound to cause a bunch of trouble... Jingzhi, what do you think?"

Shi Jingzhi was watching with great interest, who would have thought he'd be hit with a question out of the blue: "Huh?"

The two had been intimate before, but their previous cooperation was at most planning and discussing together. Even though they were now married, Yin Ci had always had his own plans, never being this clingy. This time, he had thought Yin Ci would take advantage of the situation and join the battle.

After all, this "disciple" of his was an extremely upright person, he knew that from the first glance.

"From today on, my life is no longer just my own."

Yin Ci turned back, his voice carrying a smile.

"Whether we roam the world together or charge into battle together. No matter which path we take, I must certainly discuss it with you."

Shi Jingzhi couldn't speak.

Not because of Yin Ci's words—Yin Ci just smiled at him like that, as if there was nothing in the world worth worrying about. Shi Jingzhi couldn't find a trace of calculation, or any pretense of guidance.

That person's tone was serious, his attitude as natural as breathing, yet incredibly precious.

Due to his nature as a Desire Child, Shi Jingzhi instinctively wanted to refuse. As long as he had his beloved by his side, what did it matter if Dayun became a world in chaos? Yin Ci wasn't immortal or invincible at this moment, he'd rather wrap him up carefully, tie him to himself, and never be apart.

But Sect Leader Shi hemmed and hawed for a long time, and in the end couldn't bring himself to say it.

...Yes, his Yin Zizhu was the most upright person in the world, he had long understood that.

"One, we'll help them fight one 'Divine Descent Sage'. That Luojiu's Desire Child is definitely not as strong as me, and it's not within the support range of Luojiu's Suspended Tree now. I want to see what kind of tricks it can pull."

Shi Jingzhi grumbled for a while, then said with his neck stiff.

"I still want to travel the world with you. If Dayun falls now, whose money will I spend?"

At this point, even though Xu Jingxing was weak and ill, full of worries, he also sensed that something wasn't quite right. He raised his head in confusion, meeting Shi Jingzhi's mischievous eyes.

"As for demands, I do have some."

Sect Leader Shi deliberately cleared his throat.

"The wedding last time that Zizhu put together was truly shabby. This time, with Big Brother's help, things will be much easier. This prince is a prince after all, and since we're going to the battlefield, we should have a grand wedding first—Old Master Sun is still here, and now that karma has been fulfilled, we should invite him too."

Xu Jingming's fan dropped into the mud with a splat. Xu Jingxing took a full half incense stick's time to react, and in the end, he actually coughed up a mouthful of fresh blood and fainted on the spot.

Author's Note:

Emperor: F**k.