Every single memory from the past flashed before her eyes. Finally, her soul had crumbled under all the pressure, being smashed into many pieces and fluttering in the air, fragment by fragment, like goose feathers.

　　Suddenly, the midnight clock struck. A group of kids ran towards her and collided with her. A young girl was knocked to the ground; the somewhat fish-shaped lantern in her hand was squashed by the impact. It was white colored and had red eyes; it looked more like a rabbit instead. It had a symbol of a gold coin carved on its stomach. The young girl picked up her squashed lantern and started to cry loudly, as Chu Qiao stopped in her tracks. She squatted down and wiped the tears off the girl’s eyes, as she took out a lump of silver to give it to her.

　　At that moment, a deafening sound of fireworks echoed out. As the nation welcomed the new year, the various households released fireworks into the sky as a gesture of celebration. The child froze and stopped crying as she covered her ears and shouted in excitement. However, Chu Qiao was seemingly struck hard by an invisible giant, as the color on her face drained away.

　　“If you died, I would release 100 rows of fireworks to celebrate the fact that I would no longer need to return the favor,” she had previously said to the man. The man smiled without hiding his airs of arrogance and replied, “I don’t think you will have the chance to.”

　　As the sounds of fireworks became louder and more synchronized, Chu Qiao started to cry aloud. Those memories which she had tried so hard to forget and suppress started to replay themselves again, causing an indescribable feeling of pain to surge within her heart, totally erasing her outer layer of calmness and composure.

　　“What…what’s wrong?” /the child was startled. As the fireworks continued to boom, she said, “Don’t cry. You don’t need to pay me anymore…”

　　The sounds of the fireworks became even louder. Chu Qiao could no longer hide her inner feelings as she sat in the middle of the bustling street, bawling her eyes out as she covered her face.

　　Splash! A ripple formed as something fell into the pond outside. The wind blew open another window in Chu Qiao’s house. She stood up to close the window, seeing that the plum plants under her house had grown to be as tall as the building itself. She froze as her hand hung in mid-air. The moonlight shone on her hand, forming a mottled shadow.

　　In a flash, two years had passed. The plum seeds that she had planted back then had grown into plum trees which were as tall as her rooftop. Time was the most callous thing to grace the surface of the world. It never stopped due to any joy or sorrow; any intense emotions would be cooled down along with its passing.

　　That night, she departed Yunbi City. After journeying for half a month, she reached Beishuo City. On another particular morning, she walked along the deserted streets of Beishuo, all the way to the city gates. When she stepped out of the city gates, she saw numerous citizens of Yan Bei.

　　The contingent was made up of the city’s inhabitants, as well as other civilians which had made the long trip down from the inner mainland. They included citizens from the cities of Shangshen, Luori Mountains, Lan, Chidu, Huihui Mountains and Meilin. When the citizens caught wind of the news of her departure, they gathered at Beishuo without saying another word. On her journey here, she had met many such parties. She did not know them, nor did they disturb her. They had followed her all the way here, till the city gates of Beishuo. They looked at her quietly as they prepared to send her off on her final journey.

　　People from all walks of life were present, from the elderly to the children, from the foreigners outside the pass to the merchants from the eastern lands. The conscripts of Chidu, who had fought alongside her in battle against the Xia troops; the civilians of Beishuo, whom she had protected from certain death; the citizens of Shangshen, who had participated in the city’s reconstruction process; the shepherds under Huihui Mountains…they were all present. These people had gathered outside the city gates from early in the morning, forming a passageway on both sides for her to pass through. As she walked out, all of them gazed at her.

　　Chu Qiao could never forget the look in their eyes. Some of them displayed unwillingness, sadness, worry, and fear. However, these emotions combined together to form an awkward feeling of dead silence which lingered in the air. Even the young children did not speak a word, as they gazed at her quietly, ever so quietly. In that instant, she felt overwhelmingly sad.

　　She was aware of the responsibilities that she had to shoulder. Over the past year, she had traveled the land of Yan Bei, spreading her beliefs of peace to every nook and cranny of the country. She led them in rebuilding their homeland, to revive the economy’s productivity after the war, as they gave her their wholehearted support. The citizens of this country, which had been oppressed for hundreds of years, had placed their hopes of freedom and a beautiful life on her entirely. However, today, she was about to leave, breaking her promise to them. She was about to leave them and abandon her dreams which she had worked so hard for.

　　He Xiao led the way, along with 9,000 soldiers from the Xiuli Army. They were dressed in full combat gear and had packed up their belongings, as if they were following her on her long journey. There was nothing else to be said. She stood there in a daze, like a stone statue.

　　Suddenly, a small, soft hand grabbed at her waist. She looked down and saw a young girl, who was about ten years old. She remained silent as she stared at her, looking up at her stubbornly. Tears welled up in the girl’s eyes, but they did not fall. Pingan ran towards them from behind and tried to separate his young sister from her, but to no avail.

　　Pingan was a soldier in the army back then. When he was dispatched to the inner mainland by Yan Xun for the first time, his young sister, Jingjing, had followed her for over a year.

　　“Sister,” Jingjing finally cried out as tears streamed down her face. “You don’t want me anymore? Do you not want me anymore?”

　　The child started to cry. The civilians stood in neat rows as someone amongst the crowd knelt on the ground. Slowly, the entire crowd started to follow suit; the elderly folks started to cry out and ask, “General, don’t you want us anymore?”

　　“General, without you around, I will be re-captured as a slave again.”

　　“General, where are you going? Can I follow you?”

　　…

　　The cold winds blew on the snow on the ground. Chu Qiao let go of her horse’s reins and looked up towards the sun. Tears streamed down her face, onto her hair below. The heavy responsibilities exerted its weight on her shoulders, rendering her breathless. She knew the mastermind behind this ploy, but she could not do anything about it. He knew her too well. With this small trick, she would be trapped within his clutches.

　　That day, her tears dried up. As she stood on the snowy ground, she felt like a kite with no thread that had been restrained. Even if she wanted to escape, she would not know where to go. Just like this, she stayed in Yan Bei and resided in the area of Huihui Mountains for two years. During these years, she watched on as he strengthened his position as the ruler of Yan Bei, as he drafted conscripts into the armies, imposed taxes on the cities, attacked various lands, eliminated his subjects, and imposed his iron fist onto his military forces. From time to time, she felt that life was an intriguing thing. At times of desperation, the light at the end of the tunnel would appear, enabling one to persevere on. At times where one neared towards a lifeline, it would extinguish their hopes with a basin of cold water.

　　Ultimately, Yan Xun succeeded in his motives. Under his purview, the Xia Empire was oppressed by him. After Zhuge Yue’s death, the Zhuge family tried to clear their names by disowning him. They did not bury his body in the family’s mausoleum. However, despite this, they were still implicated. Their status in the Elders’ Clan was heavily diminished, as Zhuge Huai was shunned repeatedly. Zhuge Muqing’s efforts to salvage the situation by supporting the other side families proved fruitless as well.

　　As Zhuge Yue’s direct superior, Zhao Che was not spared either. The prince, who had gone through a series of ups and downs, was once again exiled to the remote northeastern borders to supervise a totally unnecessary military reconstruction project, ending his involvement in the Xia Empire’s political scene.

　　What was most unexpected was that the 14th prince, Zhao Yang, formed an alliance with the Wei family. Under Wei Guang’s support, Zhao Yang became the inherent heir to the royal throne, earning the title as the king of Zhou. Wei Shuye was promoted as well, as he assumed full control of the forces at Yanming Pass.

　　Although the Xia Empire underwent a full political reshuffle, it was easy to spot that they no longer had the domineering airs they once had. Faced with the strong forces of Yan Bei, they were unsettled. Although Wei Shuye was well-versed in the art of warfare, he was no match for Yan Xun. Coupled with the internal political disturbances in Xia, he had to adopt a more defensive stance towards the war. Over the past year, they had started to show signs of fatigue.

　　Presently, the continent of West Meng was divided into four parts. In Tang, Li Ce had assumed the position of emperor; in Song, the eldest princess, Nalan Hongye, took charge of the country’s affairs; in Yan Bei, Yan Xun assumed total control. There was no longer any dominant superpower in West Meng.

　　However, despite this, Yan Xun did not dare to attack Xia recklessly. Towards the southwest of Helan Mountains, a new political force appeared under everyone’s eyes. No one knew the origin of the political force, nor the number of people they had. The only thing they knew was that the leader of this force named himself the “King of Qinghai”, from the merchants that passed by and the scouts sent out to fish out information.

　　Qinghai was a piece of land situated south of Helan Mountains, and to the west of Cuiwei Mountains. It was rumored to be a barren, no man’s land, with a harsh climate. Wild beasts roamed the land devoid of any grass. Over 2,000 years ago, prisoners from various empires were exiled to this piece of land; it was known that none of the people who were dumped over there survived. They were either eaten alive by the beasts or killed by mysterious illnesses. The phrase, “exiled to Qinghai”, became an indirect slang that assumed the meaning of certain death. It was extreme to the point where people would rather die in West Meng than step foot in Qinghai. Over the years, countless prisoners at Cuiwei Pass had committed suicide.

　　However, a new political force was born out of the blue in this piece of land, which was ruled by venomous insects and wild beasts, without a trace of human life.

　　It was the 17th day of the seventh month in the year 778. 70,000 troops, personally led by Yan Xun, attacked the southern gates of Yanming Pass. As they were about to succeed, the enemy appeared out of the blue at the southwestern part of their rear forces. They were agile and seasoned in combat; their movements were fast and ruthless. They sliced into the left side of Yan Bei’s forces effortlessly, disrupting their formation. However, when Yan Xun made his way to the back to retaliate, they had vanished into thin air. It wasn’t until a long time later that the scouts discovered that they were at Cuiwei Pass, and that this man, known as the King of Qinghai, had taken control of that place.

　　This was a horrid nightmare for Yan Bei. As Cuiwei Pass was situated near Helan Mountains, west of the rivers, this meant that Yan Bei had another enemy to deal with, other than the Quanrong people outside of Meilin Pass. What was even worse was that Meilin Pass was in Yan Bei’s hands, while Cuiwei Pass belonged to the king of Qinghai.