Young Jiang Ziya

After the situation in Beichong stabilized somewhat, Han Ling found Ji Fa.

"Soldier Peak," the Crimson-browed Watcher said bluntly, "an abandoned fortress deep in the Frostbite Mountains, which was once one of our Watchers' most important strongholds in the North."

If you want to learn about the history of the Watchers, and how to completely eradicate the Blood Plague... that's the place you must go.

Ji Fa remembered that Han Ling had mentioned this place before, but at that time the situation was urgent and he did not have time to ask for details.

Now that the northern border has been secured, it is indeed time.

"Why do we have to go there?" Daji asked.

"Because Sergeant Peak preserves the most complete historical record of the Watchers," Han Ling said in a deep voice.

After discussion, the group decided that Ji Fa, Lü Shang, Shen Gongbao, Yin Jiao, and Han Ling would go to Junshi Peak.

Three days later, the five of them embarked on the treacherous mountain path leading deep into the Frosty Snow Mountain.

The higher you go, the lower the temperature and the thinner the air.

The mountain road was covered with snow, and steep ice cliffs were on both sides.

Han Ling walked at the front. He seemed very familiar with the road, and even though the wind and snow blurred his vision, he could still find the right direction accurately.

"Have you been here before?" Shen Gongbao asked.

"Many times." Han Ling's voice was muffled in the wind and snow. "Every time I recruit new soldiers, I bring them to Sergeant Peak so they can see the former glory and fall of the Watchers."

"Degenerate?" Ji Fa caught the word.

Han Ling did not answer.

After walking for another half day, a fortress hidden deep in the snow-capped mountains appeared before them.

Junshi Peak is less of a fortress and more of a massive stronghold embedded in the mountain.

The stone wall is made of black basalt and remains sturdy despite hundreds of years of wind and snow erosion.

However, many towers have collapsed and the city walls are full of cracks, indicating that they have been abandoned for a long time.

Most strikingly, the entire fortress was shrouded in a thin, ever-flowing layer of grayish-white mist.

The fog contrasted sharply with the surrounding white snow, giving one an ominous feeling.

"A crack in the sky." Shen Gongbao squinted. "The barrier here... is as thin as a sheet of paper."

"That's why the Nightmare Demon has been able to linger here for so long," Han Ling said, pushing open the heavy stone door.

The door hinges creaked shrilly, and the accumulated snow fell in a soft rustling sound.

The inside of the fortress looked more dilapidated than the outside.

The hall was littered with decaying furniture, rusty weapons, and... piles of bones.

"These are all..." Lu Shang's voice was dry.

"The soldiers of Beichong," Han Ling said calmly, "and... the Watchers."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a strange change occurred.

The skeletons in the hall, which had been silent for hundreds of years, began to creak and groan.

Grayish-white mist seeped from the skeleton's eye sockets, mouth, and nose, wrapping around the bones and "gluing" them back together.

One by one, the skeletons swayed and stood up, their empty eye sockets glowing with eerie blue flames.

"Watch out!" Yin Jiao drew his longsword.

The battle erupted instantly.

These skeleton soldiers move stiffly but possess incredible strength; even rusted swords can still inflict damage on them.

What's more troublesome is that even if the skeleton is broken up, as long as the gray fog is still there, they can quickly reassemble.

"Don't get entangled in combat!" Shen Gongbao shouted, forming hand seals. "True Fire Burns Evil!"

Crimson flames erupted from his palms, engulfing the hall. Wherever the flames passed, the skeletons let out silent howls, their bones crumbling in the intense heat, and even the swirling ash mist was burned away.

But there were too many skeletons. They poured out from every corner of the hall, as if the dead of the entire fortress had been awakened.

The five men formed a battle formation back to back and advanced step by step into the depths of the fortress.

Every time you advance a short distance, the area behind you will be filled with skeletons again.

"Why..." Ji Fa cleaved the skeleton in front of him with a single sword stroke. "Why would the Northern Chong army attack the Watchers? Aren't the Watchers a force fighting the Blood Plague?"

"This is the answer we've come here to find." Han Ling's voice was cold.

They finally broke through the hall and entered a corridor leading deeper into the hall.

On the walls on both sides of the corridor, there are many faded murals and inscriptions.

By the faint light from Yin Jiao's sword, one could barely make out the contents—most of them were scenes of the Watchers fighting against the Blood Puppets, and some were scenes recording daily life.

But at the end of the corridor, a huge mural made everyone stop in their tracks.

The mural depicts a fierce siege battle.

On the city walls stood warriors dressed in the attire of the Red Eyebrows Watchers, while below them stood the army of the Northern Chong.

The two sides fought fiercely, and blood stained the entire scene.

The most striking feature is in the center of the mural—a woman dressed in the armor of a Watcher Commander.

She stood atop the city wall, longsword raised high, and the watchmen behind her charged forward.

"Lan Ying," Han Ling said softly, "the last commander of Junshifeng."

"Why did she order an attack on the Beichong army?" Lü Shang asked.

Han Ling walked towards the next door. "You'll find out when you go in."

Behind the door was a huge operations command center.

The moment everyone stepped into the room, the surrounding scenery began to distort.

It's not an illusion, it's more like... an echo of memories.

The gray mist condensed into translucent human figures, recreating a scene from hundreds of years ago in the room—

A strikingly beautiful woman stood before the sand table, her armor stained with blood, and the crimson mark above her left eyebrow was vividly red.

She is Lan Ying from the mural.

"Chang Kui!" Lan Ying shouted sternly, "How many brothers are still able to move?"

A tall, thin watchman stepped forward: "Less than fifty men. The city walls have been breached in three places, and the Northern Chong army will arrive here in no more than half an hour."

"Half an hour..." Lan Ying gritted her teeth, "That's enough."

"Commander, are you really going to..."

"I've made up my mind," Lan Ying interrupted him. "The Marquis of Beichong has broken his promise. Since he won't give us a way out, then we'll fight our way out ourselves!"

She turned to face the other watchmen in the room.

Although the translucent figures were blurry, the despair and determination in their eyes were clearly visible.

"Brothers!" Lan Ying's voice trembled in the echo, "I know that summoning the Nightmare is taboo."

But we have no choice—either die here, or fight for a sliver of hope with our last resort!

"What if the Nightmare goes out of control?" someone asked.

Lan Ying ignored her, her eyes filled with madness: "Let them devour everything—the Beichong Army, this fortress, and ourselves. At least, our deaths must have meaning!"

The image began to blur, and finally dissipated into the air with a long sigh.

"She summoned the Nightmare..." Shen Gongbao murmured, "Using blood magic, at the weak point in the sky..."

"To fight against the Northern Chong Army," Ji Fa continued, "but the Nightmare Demon has gone out of control, attacking everyone indiscriminately."

"That's why Sergeant Peak turned out like this." Lu Shang looked around. "Everyone is dead, the Watchers, the Northern Expeditionary Army... all perished together."

Han Ling nodded: "But that's not the whole truth. Let's keep going."

For the rest of their journey, they encountered not skeletons, but true nightmares.

Those shadow creatures, born from negative emotions, thrive in the gaps in the sky.

However, the five of them have become much more coordinated.

Ji Fa and Yin Jiao led the attack, Shen Gongbao suppressed the enemy with magic, and Lü Shang waited for an opportunity to use his spiritual energy to finish them off.

After a fierce battle, they finally arrived at the commander's room, deepest part of the fortress.

The door was ajar.

The moment I pushed open the door, a bone-chilling cold rushed out.

The room was large and furnished like a nobleman's study rather than a military command post.

Bookshelves, a desk, and even a recliner covered with animal skins.

But at this moment, everything is covered with a thick layer of frost.

In the center of the room, a figure stood with his back to them.

She wore the armor of the Watcher Commander, but instead of arms, tentacles formed from shadows and ice crystals extended from beneath the armor.

Hearing the door open, she slowly turned around.

That face... you could still make out Lan Ying's features, but her skin had turned into a translucent bluish-gray, and a ghostly blue flame burned in her eye sockets.

"Someone else is coming..." Her voice sounded like a cacophony of countless whispers. "Was it sent by Marquis Beichong? Or... a new Watcher?"

Han Ling stepped forward: "Commander Lan Ying, I am Han Ling, the Guardian of Sergeant Peak."

"...The Watchers?" Lan Ying let out a hoarse laugh. "There haven't been any Watchers here for a long time. Ever since that betrayal..."

"We want to know the truth," Ji Fa said in a deep voice. "Why did the Beichong Army attack the Watchers? And why did you become...like this?"

Lan Ying stared at Ji Fa with her deep blue eyes for a long time before slowly speaking: "Because I was too careless."

She began to speak, her voice sometimes clear like a young woman's, sometimes a devil's whisper, weaving together a twisted history.

Lan Ying was the daughter of the Lan family, a noble clan in the Northern Chong region.

Thirty years ago, her family lost the competition for the throne.

The newly enthroned Marquis of Beichong did not execute Lan Ying, but instead offered a "merciful" condition: that Lan Ying undergo the Watchers' initiation ceremony.

"He said that if I survive the Red Eyebrow Trial, he would pardon my entire family."

Lan Ying's voice was full of sarcasm, "I survived. I became a Watcher, and even because of my noble birth and good education, I was quickly promoted to commander."

"But I have never forgotten the blood feud of my family. I have been secretly gathering strength and winning over the discontented members of the Watchers, planning to use the Watchers' army to launch a coup and reclaim everything that should belong to me."

She succeeded—at least initially.

She turned most of the watchers on Sergeant Peak to the other side.

They launched a surprise attack on the border garrison in Beichong, seized control of key roads, and were on the verge of besieging the city.

"But Marquis Beichong had already received word of it." Lan Ying's face twisted and contorted. "He sent a large army to besiege Junshi Peak. We are trapped here, with no food or reinforcements."

"So you summoned the Nightmare," Shen Gongbao said.

"It was Chang Kui's idea." Lan Ying looked towards a corner of the room, where there was a dusty desk.

"He said that the canopy over Junshi Peak is already thin, and if it is forcibly torn apart using blood magic, a large number of demonic nightmares can be summoned. The demonic nightmares will attack all living beings... including the Beichong Army."

She paused, her voice becoming hollow: "I agreed. Chang Kui presided over the ceremony, and we sacrificed ten Watchers... Nightmares emerged, and they did indeed attack the Beichong Army."

"But they also attacked us," Han Ling added.

Lan Ying nodded: "Chang Kui underestimated the ferocity of the Nightmares. They broke free of control and began to devour indiscriminately. Junshi Peak became a hellish place, and everyone died... except for Chang Kui and me."

"Is Chang Kui still alive?" Ji asked.

"He found a way to 'coexist'." Lan Ying's deep blue eyes flickered. "And I... was possessed by the Nightmare and became what I am now."

But I don't regret it. At least, I made Marquis Beichong pay the price—his elite force that besieged Junshi Peak was completely wiped out.

She looked at the crowd, her tendrils slowly extending: "Now, you've come at the perfect time. I sense... the celestial canopy of Beichong is thinning again. Was it you who did it? Tearing apart the celestial canopy, summoning the demonic nightmare into the world..."

"That was a mistake," Ji Fa said.

"A mistake?" Lan Ying laughed. "No, that's an opportunity. The thinner the canopy, the stronger the nightmare."

I will summon them, summon all the spirits wandering in the snowy mountains... to launch a counterattack against Beichong and complete my unfinished work!

Before she finished speaking, a thick gray mist erupted from her body, and her whiskers lashed out at the crowd like long whips.

"Retreat!" Yin Jiao shouted.

The five people quickly dispersed. Lan Ying's attack missed, leaving a deep trench in the ground, the edges of which quickly froze.

Battle broke out.

Lan Ying, possessed by the Nightmare, is more powerful than any of her previous enemies.

She can manipulate ice, summon shadows, and invade consciousness to create terrifying illusions.

What's even more troublesome is that her body seems to have no vital organs, and even if her tentacles are cut off, they will regenerate rapidly.

"We must find her weakness!" Lu Shang shouted. "The Nightmare Demon needs something to possess—it's the mark between her eyebrows!"

Upon hearing this, Han Ling rushed towards Lan Ying.

He neither dodged nor avoided, but instead used his body to smash away the lashing tentacles, tearing his armor and splattering blood.

But he managed to get close, grabbing Lan Ying's arm tightly with his left hand and thrusting his sword straight at her brow—the location of the Red Eyebrow Mark.

"Aaaaaah—!!!"

Lan Ying let out a piercing shriek. The mark touched by Han Ling began to flicker violently, with ghostly blue flames and crimson light clashing fiercely.

The gray mist surrounding her began to churn erratically.

"Now!" Han Ling insisted through gritted teeth.

Ji Fa and Yin Jiao made their moves at the same time.

The two swords crossed and slashed towards Lan Ying's neck.

Lan Ying's body began to disintegrate.

The armor fell off, the whiskers turned into black smoke, and finally only a female skeleton covered in frost remained, the red eyebrow mark on her forehead slowly fading.

The skeleton fell to the ground, shattering into a pile of ice shards.

Silence returned to the room, broken only by the heavy breathing of the five people.

"It's over..." Lu Shang murmured.

"No." Han Ling looked at the broken bones on the ground. "There's one more."

He walked deeper into the room and pushed open a hidden side door.

Behind the door is a spiral staircase leading upwards.

"Chang Kui is still at the top of the tower," Han Ling said. "He has been there for three hundred years."

***

The top of the tower is a huge circular room, which is more like a laboratory than a room.

The room was filled with all sorts of bizarre devices—bubbling glass containers filled with unidentified organs, shriveled limbs hanging from metal racks, and a mountain of scrolls piled on the desk.

In the center of the room, a tall, thin old man sat in a wheelchair.

"Han Ling...you've finally arrived." The old man's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper scraping. "And you've brought...outsiders with you."

"Lieutenant Chang Kui," Han Ling said in a complicated tone, "three hundred years have passed, and you're still conducting those forbidden studies?"

"A taboo?" Chang Kui laughed, revealing his few remaining teeth. "All I wanted was to unleash the potential of the Watchers and free us from the curse of short life."

"You know the fate of the watchmen," Chang Kui said.

"We consume the blood of the Blood Puppet to gain the ability to fight the Blood Plague, but at the cost of a severely shortened lifespan and eventual transformation into a Blood Puppet."

When the signs of blood puppet transformation appear, we must perform the "Red Ritual"—heading to the blood puppet gathering place deep underground, and killing as many enemies as possible before completely losing our minds.

He looked at the crowd: "But why? Why do we give everything, only to live for a few short decades? Why are we destined to die in agony?"

"So you've found a way to extend lifespan." Shen Gongbao stared at the devices, "to experiment on...the bodies of your own people."

"A necessary sacrifice." Chang Kui frankly admitted, "I used the bodies of dying Watchers for research and found a way to delay the blood puppetization."

We also found... a way to unleash potential.

"Is Lan Ying becoming like that also your 'achievement'?" Ji Fa asked coldly.

Chang Kui was silent for a moment: "That was an accident. I originally wanted to use Nightmare energy to strengthen her mark, but the Nightmare took over her... Well, it's good that she became the perfect test subject, allowing me to observe the possibility of Nightmare and Watcher coexisting."

"You're crazy," Han Ling said.

"No one has the right to judge me!" Chang Kui suddenly exclaimed, "The blood plague is raging, the warlords are fighting, the Watchers are being used, betrayed, and abandoned! I want to change all of this!"

He took a breath, calmed himself, and looked at Ji Fa: "You've come at the right time. I can give you my research results. A formula for a potion to delay blood puppet transformation, and even... a secret technique to temporarily stimulate potential and turn the tide of battle at crucial moments."

"Conditions?" Ji asked.

"Let me continue my research," Chang Kui said. "The sky above Junshi Peak is very thin, making it the best place to communicate with the heavens."

I need to stay here and continue my research. I promise I will not use live humans for experiments again—the data from these past few years is sufficient.

Ji Fa was deep in thought.

Shen Gongbao whispered a warning: "Your Highness, this person is dangerous."

"But the knowledge he possesses might truly be the key to combating the blood plague," Yin Jiao said. "The source of the blood plague, the Demon Lord, is nearly immortal, rendering conventional methods ineffective. If the power of the Watchers could be further unleashed..."

Ji Fa looked at Han Ling: "What do you think?"

Han Ling remained silent for a long time before finally saying, "Adjutant Chang Kui... was once the most outstanding scholar at Military Peak. If he really only conducts theoretical research... perhaps we can spare his life. But he must be closely monitored."

Ji Fa nodded and turned to Chang Kui: "I can spare your life and let you continue your research."

But three conditions:

First, stop human experimentation forever.

Second, all research findings must be shared with the Red Eyebrow Watchers headquarters and Xiqi.

Third, you must help us repair the canopy over Sergeant Peak—this place must no longer be a breeding ground for nightmares.

Chang Kui smiled, a smile that was aged but satisfied: "Deal."

Over the next three days, under Chang Kui's guidance, Shen Gongbao and Ji Fa began repairing the canopy over Junshi Peak.

This process is extremely complicated.

It requires pure spiritual energy as a guide, and then the power of a magic array to "stitch" the cracks in the sky little by little.

Chang Kui provided the crucial array diagram—the culmination of his three hundred years of research.

During the process, Lü Shang gained a deeper understanding of psychic energy, the Azure Sky, and the Sky Curtain.

On the evening of the third day, the last array pattern was completed.

The entire Junshi Peak trembled, and then the pervasive sense of oppression in the air began to dissipate.

As the gray fog gradually dissipated, sunlight shone into the depths of the fortress for the first time without obstruction.

"It's done." Shen Gongbao wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Although it's just a temporary repair, at least for the next hundred years, this place won't leak any more demonic energy."

Chang Kui sat in his wheelchair, gazing at the sunset outside the window, his eyes glazed over: "Three hundred years... This is the first time I've seen such clear sunlight."

Ji Fa walked up to him: "Remember your promise."

"I will," Chang Kui nodded. "Before I die, I will compile all my research into a book. Perhaps... we really can find a way to completely end the blood plague."

It was already dark when everyone left Junshi Peak.

Han Ling walked at the back, glanced back at the silent black fortress, and said softly, "Some history should not be forgotten. Some mistakes should not be repeated."