Volume Three: Unbound by Ease Chapter 111

Jinli sat nearby eating watermelon and grapes, without the slightest air of a lady ruler. Yet in the next moment, when the man rose, saluted, and prepared to leave, the City Lord suddenly asked tentatively, “Were you not once in love with the Lady Ruler of Lianchuan?”

Jinli was stunned.

There was an admirer of hers in the distant Western Wilderness? Her romantic entanglements certainly reached a long way.

With great interest, she watched the man, intending to hear what he would say. He then replied, “Those were merely the foolish words of youth. Please, Elder Sister, do not take them seriously.”

“Oh? Then it seems this Elder Sister has grown old indeed, for I never realized my younger brother had already become a grown man.”

She rose, smoothed her sleeves, turned around, and said coldly, “You may withdraw.”

The man saluted and left.

Jinli knew she could not leave yet. With a wave of her hand, she disposed of the fruit she had been eating and concealed herself within the City Lord’s Hall.

After examining the message formed by her rune, the City Lord pressed a hand to her brow in profound distress. “The Lady Ruler wants the Kunlun Mirror.”

“Emperor Yaocen’s death has hurt the Lady Ruler deeply,” Lin Zhong remarked.

“Yes.”

They knew?

Jinli remained suspicious. She stayed until Lin Zhong withdrew and the City Lord retired for the night.

After waiting until the City Lord had fallen asleep, Jinli brought both hands together, aligning her index fingers, then her thumbs. Closing her eyes, she used her divine sense to search for the divine artifact known as the Kunlun Mirror.

After some time, a tranquil and mysterious force suddenly drew her toward it.

Joy surged through her. The Kunlun Mirror really was in the City Lord’s Hall. Now she could rest easy. Her immortal message had already been delivered; all that remained was to appear openly and ask for it.

If the City Lord refused in the end, or tried to fob her off with some other excuse, Jinli would have no choice but to trouble her and borrow it for a while.

She quietly vanished into the darkness.

By the time she returned to her residence, her spirits were inexplicably high.

“You seem to be in a good mood.”

Hearing that familiar voice, Jinli instinctively scanned her surroundings, ready to fight or defend herself at any moment.

“Who is there?”

A figure emerged from behind one of the pillars by the main gate. He stood with his arms folded, his hair tied into a ponytail. His clothes were plain, but his face was unmistakably familiar—the same man who had appeared on the roof that night and remained there in the rain until dawn.

At the thought, Jinli could not help laughing. “What brings you here? Or was getting drenched in the rain that night not enough for you?”

The veins at the man’s brow twitched. He looked somewhat exasperated, though there was also an unreadable emotion hidden deep in his eyes.

“No. But it will not rain tonight. Have I disappointed you?” His tone was easy, almost teasing. Then he continued, “Tell me, what do you want the Kunlun Mirror for?”

He had seen her?

“You saw it?”

“Yes.”

“So you know who I am now?”

“Mm.”

The smile slowly faded from Jinli’s face, replaced by a dark gravity in her clear eyes. She warned him, “I advise you to mind your own business.”

“I do not want to interfere either. But I saw it. And I also know what you intend to do next.”

Jinli raised a brow, her eyes filled with provocation. “And what if you do? If you want to report me, go ahead. I will not stop you.”

With that, she opened the door. But just as her hand touched it, a powerful hand suddenly braced itself against the door in front of her.

“Show some respect.” The young woman’s voice turned cold with displeasure.

The man behind her spoke softly, his voice low and magnetic. “Do you like Simu? That sickly fellow? Or Siyan?”

She could bear it no longer. Jinli drove her elbow backward with all her strength. The man let out a muffled groan, clutched his chest, and staggered back in pain until he struck a pillar.

Jinli seized him by the collar and raised her hand, intending to strike that rather handsome face. In the end, she restrained herself.

She warned him in a low voice, “Stop bothering me. If you want to expose my identity and ruin my plans, go ahead. I am not afraid.”

She released his wrinkled collar and stormed into the hall, then slammed the doors shut behind her.

That man was absolutely insane.

A faint smile spread through the young man’s eyes.

Then he disappeared into the night.

Jinli had only just returned to her bedchamber and finished washing when she received an immortal message from Qisui.

Lady Ruler, everything in the valley is safe and well.

She smiled faintly, then began considering how she could obtain the Kunlun Mirror.

The next day would mark her third day here—and the day she was to marry Simu.

Jinli gazed at the wedding robes of Shanjing Ancient City, her thoughts a tangled mass.

It seemed to have rained throughout the night. She thought she had heard the sound of rain, yet she had slept soundly.

But when she opened the door that morning, she was met with devastation stretching across the ground. Since no one ever came to her residence, the scene inside and outside her bedchamber seemed to belong to two entirely different worlds.

Beyond the doors lay corpses as far as the eye could see, rivers of blood running through the streets beneath a fine, drizzling rain.

Bodies dressed in official robes and servant’s clothes were scattered everywhere. Bloody handprints crawled up the steps and across the doors of her chamber.

Something was terribly wrong.

She ran through the streets. Corpses lay everywhere, seemingly numbering in the hundreds of thousands. Dizziness overcame her, and her mind became a wash of scarlet.

At that moment, she heard laughter and curses from a nearby hall. The curses were filthy and obscene, sickening to the ear.

She looked up and realized that it was the residence of the Second Princess.

Shock and fear stirred in her heart. She tried desperately to drive from her mind the unspeakable scenes of debauchery that might be unfolding there, repeating over and over that it could not be so.

Yet before she knew it, her hand had closed around her longsword.

When she reached the entrance, she found the vermilion doors half-shut. Through the gap, she saw a horrifying sight.

The Second Princess lay motionless amid the wreckage. Torn garments littered the floor. Naked and barely covered, she lay among the scraps of cloth like a peony fallen into the mud.

Her entire body was mottled with bruises. Her hair had come undone, and her eyes were bloodshot and empty of light. Both hands clutched a piece of silk. Her once-delicate face was swollen from repeated blows.

She looked like a shattered agate.

Nearby, the men were putting on their clothes while mockingly making vulgar remarks, savoring what they had done.

Jinli’s fury erupted.

Her eyes turned faintly blue, and blue flames swept across the vermilion doors, burning them to nothing.

The people inside recoiled in panic.

“Who is there?!”

Jinli did not waste a single word on them. She swung her sword in one clean motion, severing the instruments of those beasts’ crimes. Then she struck again. Several bodies collapsed at her feet before they could utter another word.

Her eyes were dark and murderous, her gloomy face filled with killing intent. She cast a sidelong glance at the men still writhing and screaming on the ground.

“Who was behind this?”

“It was... it was... the First Princess. The First Princess ordered us to do it...”

Before the man could beg for mercy, Jinli swung her sword again. The blade pierced his forehead, and blood sprayed into the air.

She felt no nausea.

Only disgust flickered in her eyes.

She looked at the Second Princess, who was still gasping on the floor. With a wave of her hand, she draped a robe over her. Then remorse filled her gaze. She had no idea what had happened in the city. How could this have come to pass? How could a coup overnight have transformed a once-prosperous city into such a ruin?

She gently helped the Second Princess up and gathered her into her arms.

At first, the injured woman struggled desperately, pushing against Jinli with all the strength she had. It was as though something blocked her throat; she could produce neither a complete cry nor a proper word. She wanted to scream, to vent her rage, but nothing came of it.

Jinli could only hold her again and again, tightening her embrace each time.

“It is all right now. It is all right. The bad men are dead—all of them. No one can hurt you anymore.”

Jinli had never held a particularly favorable opinion of the Second Princess, but after what she had endured, she felt nothing but heartache. She wished she could torture those beasts to death herself.

Perhaps this was a form of empathy unique to women.

The Second Princess seemed to hear her words and gradually calmed down. Then, without warning, her grief exploded into fury.

Her voice was hoarse, but she screamed with all her strength, “I am going to kill them! I am going to kill them! I will kill them all!”

“They are already dead. They are all dead.”

The Second Princess could no longer hold herself upright. Her eyes were crimson, her expression murderous, as though she might begin devouring blood itself the next instant. Hatred filled her gaze.

She clutched Jinli’s hand tightly. Her red nails dug into Jinli’s arm, drawing blood that seeped out beneath them and ran down her pale skin.

Jinli knew that the other woman’s heart was suffering even more deeply.

Then she heard hurried footsteps and the clang of black-armored weapons.

They were coming again.

Jinli comforted the Second Princess and whispered into her ear, “You must leave quickly. They are coming back, and this is not the time. I do not know what has happened to the City Lord. We must find her.”

And find the Kunlun Mirror.

Why had the First Princess launched a military coup? Why? What had happened in Shanjing Ancient City?

Jinli knew the Second Princess could not walk, so she gave her a pill. Then, with a sweep of her sleeve, she used magic to draw the woman inside it.

Transforming into a wisp of cloud and smoke, she hurried toward the City Lord’s Hall.

The entire way was filled with ruin, a sight that tore at the heart.

These people should not have died in vain.

But some of them truly deserved death.

Her eyes grew dark and somber.

Soon she arrived at the City Lord’s Hall. Concealing herself, she slipped inside.

The First Princess stood clad in black armor, an ancient sword in her hand, coldly staring at Lin Zhong, who knelt on the floor. Blood covered him in mottled streaks, yet his expression remained unchanged. His eyes held only sorrow as he gazed at the young woman he had watched grow up.

“First Princess, the City Lord placed great hopes in you. How could you launch a military coup? By doing this, where have you placed Shanjing Ancient City? Where have you placed the City Lord? You will break her heart!”

His voice was filled with unbearable grief.

The First Princess’s bloodstained hand slowly brushed across the splendid, luxurious throne. Satisfaction filled her voice, while desire and greed burned in her eyes.

The hall was filled with her people. By now, the entire city government belonged to her. No one could escape.

“Great hopes? Break her heart? Ha! Lord Lin Zhong, if Mother truly cared about me as her daughter, she would never have handed half the military authority to a man. She did it because she did not trust me. She even used Siyan’s power to keep me in check.

“I heard your conversation that day. Siyan is only a man, so why give him such authority? Since the City Lord intended to make me her successor, she should have married Siyan off at once—sent him far away! Why let him remain here and offend my eyes?

“I have become what I am because she made me this way.”

As she spoke, her face twisted into something frightening, warped by greed and insatiable ambition.

Once a person allowed desire to blacken their eyes, their heart would become filthy as well. And once the heart was corrupted, the face would change with it, becoming uglier and more hideous.

The more she sought, the more she would ultimately lose.

The First Princess crossed her legs and sat triumphantly upon the City Lord’s throne.

“Where has Mother gone? I have taken the City Lord’s seat. She should be here to pass the City Lord’s seal to me.”

Lin Zhong’s expression became one of profound anguish. He lowered his eyes.

“If the City Lord knew you would become like this, she would never have given you the position.”

“The position of City Lord was mine from the beginning. To whom else could Mother have given it? Siyan? That man? Or the Second Princess? Perhaps the sickly Simu?”

She finished with a grotesque, mocking laugh, carrying herself like a victorious ruler intoxicated by triumph.

She rose and slowly lifted the ancient sword, pressing its edge against Lin Zhong’s throat. Then she asked coldly once more, “Where is the City Lord? Where is the Kunlun Mirror?”

The Kunlun Mirror?

Jinli cast a wary glance at Lin Zhong, only to see him slowly lift his face and sigh.

“City Lord, I have failed you.”

Then it seemed he began exerting force within his mouth.

Jinli’s heart sank.

He was going to take his own life.