"Your Highness, you sent for this subordinate?" Xue Song looked at Xue Jingyun and asked, lowering his head.
Xue Jingyun nodded, "This Prince intends to travel to the Desolate Marsh alone. You will lead the main army."
Xue Song was startled, "Your Highness, absolutely not!"
"This Prince's mind is made up." It was too slow; he could no longer wait.
Upon hearing this, Xue Song knew that once the Prince made a decision, he would not be easily swayed. "Your Highness, this subordinate will accompany you. Xue Li will be in charge of the army."
Xue Jingyun nodded, "Very well."
"This subordinate will go and make the handover immediately." Xue Song left.
A Ning, wait for me...
"Yan Zhao..." Xue Zining woke up from a dream.
She had once again dreamed of the scene of her death in her previous life.
It had been many years since she last had this dream.
After a moment of recovery, she came to her senses and realized she was alone in the room.
At the foot of the bed, she found a set of palace maid's clothes. She did not stand on ceremony and put them on, finding them quite convenient for movement.
After getting dressed, she pushed open the door, but Hua Yunjin was nowhere to be seen.
She returned to her room. About the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Hua Yunjin returned.
"Where did you go?"
Hua Yunjin took out a paper packet from his embrace and handed it to her. Xue Zining looked at Hua Yunjin doubtfully. Hua Yunjin said, "I saw no one bringing breakfast, so I went to the kitchen."
Xue Zining took the paper packet and opened it to find three steaming buns.
"You eat too." She took one bun and began to eat.
Hua Yunjin picked up one of the buns, took a bite, and said, "Tonight, Fan Min will likely perform the soul transference for Xue Changan."
Xue Zining paused in her eating. "So soon?"
Hua Yunjin nodded, "Yes, Xue Changan cannot wait. Her soul was damaged before, and she could only rely on intimate contact to relieve the pain. Tonight is the full moon, suitable for soul transference."
Xue Zining took a fierce bite of the bun. "That means tonight will be a sleepless night."
After eating the buns, a palace servant soon arrived and took Hua Yunjin away.
Xue Zining followed behind, not daring to get too close, for fear of being discovered.
The palace servant led Hua Yunjin into a secret chamber from Xue Changan's sleeping quarters.
Xue Zining had not expected that after destroying one secret chamber, there would be another.
She followed closely.
This secret chamber appeared to have been built at the same time as the one she had destroyed previously.
Inside the secret chamber were two ice coffins. One contained a purple liquid in which her corpse was immersed. The other ice coffin contained a blue liquid, which Xue Changan would likely be immersed in shortly.
Below was a formation. Hua Yunjin was arranged in a corner of the formation.
Xue Zining knew this was the soul transference formation.
Living beings sacrificed, the dead revived.
Suddenly, footsteps were heard from outside. Xue Zining quickly leaped up and hid above the secret chamber. Fortunately, there was a place to conceal herself.
Fan Min and Xue Changan entered.
Xue Changan's expression soured upon seeing Hua Yunjin. "Why must he still appear? I will be unable to resist killing him."
"Your Majesty, do not rush. The formation requires human impetus, and he is the most suitable person. Once the formation is complete, he will be a cripple, and Your Majesty can deal with him as you please."
Listening to Fan Min's words, Xue Changan glanced at Hua Yunjin and said, "Then I shall spare his life."
Fan Min continued, "Your Majesty, please enter the coffin."
Xue Changan entered the ice coffin filled with blue liquid.
Fan Min activated the formation. Xue Zining watched as the formation, like a leech, siphoned Hua Yunjin's internal energy.
"Can you bear it?" Xue Zining asked Hua Yunjin using her internal energy.
"Yes," Hua Yunjin replied.
Suddenly, a powerful burst of light erupted, illuminating the secret chamber.
Xue Zining felt a powerful force trying to pull her in.
She quickly closed her eyes, preventing this force from drawing her in.
After a long while, she opened her eyes and saw a wisp of soul being sent into her corpse.
She leaped forward, gathering internal energy in her palm, and struck at the soul.
Fan Min, who was chanting incantations, was greatly startled to see her and flew forward to confront her.
She struck out at Fan Min. Their palms met, and the immense force pushed her back.
Suddenly, an even greater force lifted her up. She felt her strength draining away.
"A Ning..." Hua Yunjin suddenly rushed forward, shielding her. The force became imbalanced, and she fell, hitting the ground.
Pain, that was her thought.
She raised her head. Hua Yunjin was the one whose strength was being drained. As she was about to leap up, she heard Hua Yunjin's voice, "A... A Ning, go, this is a trap... a trap..."
Her body trembled. She looked up and saw Fan Min's enigmatic smile.
"Without you, this formation could not be implemented so smoothly." Fan Min looked at the formation, with power continuously flowing into it, and said happily.
"Go..." Hua Yunjin suddenly said with all his might.
Xue Zining shakily stood up, looking at Hua Yunjin and smiling.
Hua Yunjin saw those clear eyes, as if they could purify all impurity in the world. "I never abandon any companion. You ask me to leave alone, but I cannot do it."
She leaped up and moved towards Fan Min.
Fan Min's eyes turned cold, and he sneered, "Seeking death."
Their palms met. Xue Zining felt her meridians were about to shatter. Da Feng Novel Network
But she did not flinch and attacked again. Fan Min retreated, and soon the two were locked in combat.
Suddenly, a series of cold laughs came from not far away.
Both she and Fan Min looked back simultaneously and saw "her" standing up from the purple liquid.
Fan Min was shocked, "How... how can this be?"
He had not performed the soul transference for Xue Changan.
"She" opened her eyes. "Fan Min, did you think I didn't know you actually wanted to leave this corpse for your Xin'er?"
Fan Min's body trembled, and he frowned, "You knew?"
"She" sneered, "How could I not know? Otherwise, how could I have won step by step? Speaking of which, my dear sister, I must thank you. Otherwise, how could I have succeeded in soul transference right under Fan Min's nose?"
"So, you were faking it all along? Making us let down our guard and focus all our efforts on Fan Min?"
"She" said, "Otherwise?"
"Xue Changan, I will not let you off easily." Fan Min stepped forward, about to attack "her."
Just as he was about to get close, four people descended from the sky. Caught off guard, Fan Min was struck by one palm from each of the four and fell to the ground.
"Xue Yu, was Beijiang City taken?" "She" asked.
Xue Yu nodded, "It is all under control."
Xue Zining looked at the resurrected Xue Yu and said coldly, "You were acting too."
Xue Yu did not look at her, merely stating flatly, "Yes."
"She" let out a low laugh, then threw her head back and laughed heartily, "Xue Zining, you never thought that despite your intelligence, you would also be played in the palm of someone's hand?"
"Indeed, I did not expect it." She had not expected Xue Changan's plan to be so thorough.
"Xue Zining, there can only be one beauty in this world. Now that I have the same appearance as yours, one of us must disappear, mustn't she?" "She" said coldly.