In a moment of impulse, I forcibly kissed my brother's best friend.

With the pressure on Cui Yutang greatly reduced, he changed his sword stance and stabbed the person closest to him to death.

Two out of the three members of the triangular trap formation were eliminated, causing it to collapse immediately.

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, the leader in black did not linger in the fight. He feinted with his sword and then fled with the remaining soldiers.

"Let them go, we'll hurry back to camp." Cui Yutang was extremely anxious.

Just as the group turned to leave, a scream suddenly came from the depths of the dense forest.

It was the voice of the black-clad leader, short and shrill, as if abruptly cut off.

Cui Yutang paused for a moment, but did not turn around to check. He gathered his energy and flew away again.

However, without warning, a thick fog rolled in and swept across the sky.

Cui Yutang's breath hitched, his foot slipped, and he plummeted from mid-air. Almost simultaneously, several muffled thuds came from behind him, and Luo Meng's curses echoed from afar: "Damn it... this fog is spooky..."

Before they could finish speaking, several people fainted.

Xie Yige was fast asleep when she was suddenly awakened by a sharp sound of fighting.

She struggled to open her eyes, and through the blur, she could only see Zhixia and Jingqiu fighting with a tall, thin, masked man, with swords flashing and shadows flying in the narrow space of the tent.

Bichun spread her arms wide, blocking her way to the bed, her whole body trembling.

Outside the tent, chaos reigned, with the sounds of clashing weapons and shouts mingling together.

Xie Yige instantly snapped back to reality. She propped herself up and asked in a low voice, "Bichun, what happened?"

Bichun turned around, tears finally falling: "My wife, you're awake! My nineteenth brother said a group of highly skilled assassins have come and asked me to guard you."

She quickly wiped away her tears. "He's out there fighting the enemy with Deputy General Cheng and Deputy General Li."

Xie Yige's heart jumped into her throat. Where was her husband?

Without thinking, she grabbed Cui Yutang's black cloak from the couch and wrapped it around herself. With a thought, concealed by the cloak, the cool little toy landed steadily in her palm—it was the M36 revolver.

Suddenly, the curtain was slashed open from the outside.

Two dark figures seized the opportunity to rush in. Cui Shijiu followed closely behind, slashing his sword horizontally to block their path.

Instead of retreating, one of them glared fiercely and shouted.

"Go to hell, I'll die!"

Ignoring Cui Shijiu's blade strikes, he threw himself at the blade, gripping it tightly with both hands. Hot blood splattered all over his face, but he held on fiercely, buying another assassin a precious moment of opportunity.

In that instant, a cold glint pierced through Bi Chun, who was blocking Xie Yige's path.

"Bichun—" Cui Shijiu shouted, kicking away the assassin holding the knife, but it was too late.

Just a moment before the knife tip reached Bichun's heart—

"Bang!"

A loud bang.

A bloody hole exploded in the chest of the masked assassin, and the knife in his hand clattered to the ground as he died instantly.

The deafening gunshots made everyone inside the tent's eardrums tingle, and even the sounds of fighting outside fell silent for a moment.

The tall, thin female assassin, who had been locked in combat with Zhixia and Jingqiu, suddenly narrowed her eyes. She watched helplessly as her companions fell beneath that terrifying black object, her gaze shifting from horror to ruthlessness.

Instead of dodging Jingqiu's stab to her shoulder, she used the momentum to thrust her knife straight at Xie Yige.

Xie Yige pulled the trigger almost instinctively.

"Bang!"

A second shot rang out.

The female assassin also had a bloody hole blown open in her chest. She staggered in the rush of air, fell to the ground, and never got up again.

The tent was so quiet that only the sound of breathing could be heard.

Xie Yige's hand holding the gun was trembling. It was the first time she had killed someone with a gun, and she had killed two people. Suddenly, her stomach churned, and she felt cold and numb.

She bit her lip hard.

The two thunderous gunshots seemed to shatter the chaotic night, throwing the black-clad assassins outside the tent into disarray and causing their coordination to falter.

The soldiers seized the opportunity to encircle and, amidst the sounds of their charge, the remaining assassins were all killed.

Those who weren't dead immediately bit into the poison sac between their teeth and committed suicide on the spot.

A total of eighty-nine bodies.

Cheng Chuliang looked at the neatly arranged corpses on the ground, his face grim.

"This group consists of highly trained, top-tier fighters who have come straight for the commander-in-chief's tent," he said in a deep voice.

Li Zhige squatted down and searched through the bodies in front of him, but found no markings.

"No need to look it up, it's the work of Li Jing, the third son of Prince Rong'an." Cui Shijiu walked out of the tent. He was tall and had blood splattered on half of his face.

"That bastard Li Jing! How dare he play dirty tricks!" Li Zhiwei had a shallow cut on her arm, blood soaking through her sleeve. "If you've got the guts, fight me head-on!"

"Zhiwei, your injury." Li Zhige frowned and tried to pull her back.

"It's just a minor injury, nothing serious."

Before she could finish speaking, Xie Yige walked out from inside, her eyes fixed on everyone present.

"Where is my husband?"

The scene fell silent for a moment.

Cui Shijiu stepped forward and bowed, saying, "Master has entered the dense forest."

The two loud noises were so loud, yet his master hadn't returned in time; his expression had turned extremely grim.

"Deputy General Cheng, Deputy General Li, I would like to take some men in to meet our master. Please keep a close watch on the camp and protect our mistress."

"I'll go in with you." Xie Yige's eyes were resolute, and her tone left no room for negotiation.

Cui Shijiu paused for a moment. He thought of the terrifying black weapon in her hand, and finally nodded.

"Yige, I'll go with you. I can protect you," Li Zhiwei said quickly.

"I'll go, you're injured. The Misty Forest is full of poisonous insects and illusions, it's more suitable for me to go." Sang Miao, holding the hand of the disheveled Xie Wanzhou, appeared out of nowhere.

Xie Wanzhou stood behind her, her face still pale with shock.

Despite Li Zhige's obstruction, Sang Miao ended up replacing Li Zhiwei and entering the Misty Forest together.

In the heart of the dense forest, amidst billowing fog, stands a thousand-year-old Illusory Blood Vine.

The tree trunk was so thick that ten people couldn't wrap their arms around it. The gnarled branches stretched out in all directions, and glowing red flowers grew on the tree, like blood-red lanterns, pulsating with light and shadow, as if some living thing was breathing under the petals, which was very eerie and terrifying.

Sixteen figures were bound to gnarled branches by blood-red vines, hanging in the thick fog, their fates indistinguishable.