In a high-level martial arts game, a wife is given to you at the start.

Iron Wall City was rougher than Lin Qiye had imagined.

The city wall, constructed from single blocks of black rock, was a full three zhang thick, its surface covered with ancient marks of chisels and axes, as if the city had fought something for thousands of years. The city gates were wide open, and most of the people entering and leaving carried swords and bows, their skin dark and their eyes wary. Blacksmith shops lined the streets, the clanging of hammers echoing from morning till night, the air filled with the metallic smell of burning iron.

The rules here are simple—might makes right.

Lin Qiye blended into the crowd and entered the city without attracting much attention. He first found an inconspicuous inn to stay in, washed his face, changed into clean clothes, and then asked the innkeeper about the Gu family.

"The Gu family?" The shopkeeper, wiping the counter, didn't even look up. "The Gu family, one of the three great families of Ironwall City, headed by Gu Ruolan. What business do you have with the Gu family?"

"I'm staying with relatives," Lin Qiye said. "Distant relatives."

The shopkeeper glanced at him but didn't ask any further questions, only saying, "The Gu family lives on West Street; there are two stone lions guarding their entrance. They're easy to spot."

Lin Qiye thanked him and left the inn.

West Street was quieter than the main street, its bluestone pavement polished smooth by time. The Gu family mansion was easy to spot—two stone lions, taller than a person, stood guard at the entrance, and a large plaque with the character "Gu" in gold on a black background hung above the door. Two servants stood ramrod straight in front of the gate.

Lin Qiye stepped forward and cupped his hands in greeting: "Please inform them that the person who saved your young lady's life at Dry Bone Ridge has arrived."

The servant looked him up and down, told him to wait, and turned to go inside to report.

Before long, a middle-aged steward in a dark blue robe strode out, his manner polite but his eyes scrutinizing: "Sir, Miss is still recovering from her serious injuries and is unable to receive guests. The Gu family will remember your kindness in saving her—this is a small token of our gratitude, please accept it."

The servant behind him carried a tray with a bag of source crystals on it.

Lin Qiye glanced at the bag of source crystal coins but didn't take it: "I don't want this."

The manager was slightly taken aback.

"I'd like to see Miss Gu," Lin Qiye said. "There are a few things I'd like to say in person."

The steward looked hesitant and was about to speak when a clear, cold voice came from behind him: "Steward Chen, let him in."

Lin Qiye looked up.

Gu Qingshuang stood by the moon gate of the second courtyard, wrapped in a thick cloak. Her face was still pale, but she could stand. Her gaze fell on him, calm yet with a hint of scrutiny.

"Miss, your injury—" the manager said anxiously.

"I told you to let him in," Gu Qingshuang interrupted him, turning to walk inside. "Take him to the flower hall."

Lin Qiye followed the steward into the Gu residence, passing through two courtyards, and arrived at a simply furnished flower hall. Gu Qingshuang was already seated in the main seat, with a pot of hot tea in front of her. She poured herself a cup and pushed it to the seat opposite her.

"sit."

Lin Qiye sat down, picked up his teacup, and took a sip.

"You arrived faster than I expected," Gu Qingshuang said. "I thought you would go check under the crevice first."

"I looked at it." Lin Qiye put down his teacup. "I didn't go down."

Why?

"That thing can't escape."

Gu Qingshuang glanced at him, remained silent for a moment, and then suddenly smiled.

"Honest people live longer," Lin Qiye said. "Miss Gu, what did you see at the bottom of Dry Bone Ridge?"

Gu Qingshuang's smile vanished.

She remained silent for a long time, her fingers unconsciously tracing the rim of her teacup, before finally speaking: "Have you ever heard of Blood Raven?"

"I just heard about it today."

"Blood Ravens, the most troublesome group in the Lost Lands," Gu Qingshuang said. "They specialize in collecting ancient artifacts—stones, bones, scrap metal, anything. But they don't collect them to sell for money; they collect them to piece together something."

"What is that?"

"A map," Gu Qingshuang said, "a map marked with 'sealing points.' They pieced together the residual aura from those ancient artifacts, deducing the location of the sealing points bit by bit. I tracked them down for three years, all the way to Dry Bone Ridge, only to find they were already prying open the underground seal."

She paused, her voice lowering, "When I went down, I saw something. That thing… I can't describe it. I only know that it absolutely must not be released."

The flower hall fell silent for a moment.

Lin Qiye didn't reply immediately. He thought of the heart in the crevice of Black Wind Valley, the runes on the altar of the Azure Bone Mountain Range, and the faint blue light deep within the rift of Dry Bone Ridge.

"Blood Raven has someone backing it," Lin Qiye said. "Someone is guiding them."

Gu Qingshuang suddenly looked up at him.

"The Dry Bone Ridge, Black Wind Valley, and Azure Bone Mountain Range are hundreds of miles apart, yet they're like beads on a string," Lin Qiye said. "The Blood Ravens wouldn't have connected these three places themselves—someone told them."

Gu Qingshuang stared at him for a long time, then slowly exhaled: "You noticed too."

"I've discovered more than just that," Lin Qiye said. "Miss Gu, you and I both know that the Gu family alone can't bring down Blood Raven. You're short-handed, you're short of someone who can fight."

"so?"

"So I've come to discuss a business deal with you," Lin Qiye said. "You provide the intelligence and the foothold; I'll provide the manpower to help you take down Blood Raven's stronghold outside Ironwall City. As for the person behind Blood Raven—" He paused, "they'll surface sooner or later."

Gu Qingshuang didn't immediately agree. She picked up her teacup, took a sip, then put it down, and suddenly asked, "Why are you helping me?"

"Because Blood Raven is also after me," Lin Qiye said. "What they want is the same thing I have."

He opened his palm, and the dark gold emblem on his palm was faintly visible.

Gu Qingshuang's gaze fell on the emblem, her pupils contracting slightly. She stared at it for a long time, until the air in the flower hall fell silent, before slowly saying, "Deal."

After the cooperation was finalized, Gu Qingshuang kept her word and quickly sent him a detailed intelligence report on the Blood Ravens: their distribution of strongholds, their activity patterns, their usual routes, and the goods they frequently traded.

She had been investigating Blood Raven for many years, accumulating a thick stack of intelligence, showing that she had invested a great deal of effort.

Lin Qiye spent two days reading through the intelligence reports, and then personally went to the outskirts of the city to check the locations of several marked outposts.

He didn't rush into action. Blood Raven had been operating in Ironwall City for many years and had deep roots. It would be better to find a pretext to lure them out than to act rashly and alert them.

At this moment, Gu Qingshuang mentioned the night-blooming cereus.

"The Gu family posted a request on the mission marker: find the Night-Blooming Jasmine," she said. "It's the main ingredient for refining the Purification Pill, and the Gu family has used it for generations to suppress the pollution beneath Ironwall City. These past few years, the herb is almost gone, but none of the herb gatherers have returned."

Where is the medicine?

"Three hundred miles east of the Holy City, on the banks of the underground river in Falling Star Hills," Gu Qingshuang said, "it blooms once every three years, and the flowering period lasts only one night. Blood Raven knows about this; their people have been keeping watch in that area, waiting for someone to gather the herbs so they can intercept them."