With a warehouse full of supplies, I stood alone as king in this chaotic world, gun in hand.

"Nangong Xun sent your father to Qingfeng Village, which shows that he already sees you as the biggest threat and the biggest obstacle to his ascension to the throne," Bei Chenyan reminded her.

"Want to ascend the throne? He'll have to be destined for it!" Nangong Wu sneered.

"Although Nangong Xun is imprisoned, he still has a chance of winning. He has hidden forces that we don't know about; the 20,000 private soldiers in Qingfeng Village and the 50,000 troops in the East Suburb Camp are all his men."

He has the Empress Dowager's support within the palace, and he certainly has people in the Imperial Guard as well; outside the palace, he has Xuan Qingzi's help.

When the time comes, the 70,000-strong army will storm the capital, and with the help of both inside and outside forces, they can control Emperor Mingde, or even kill him. The Empress Dowager is the emperor's biological mother, and with one imperial edict from her, Nangong Xun can rightfully ascend the throne.

Even with opposing forces like King Li and King Mu, as long as Xuan Qingzi stands up and says that Nangong Xun is the true Son of Heaven, who in the world would dare to question the Grand Preceptor's words? Bei Chenyan analyzed the situation for her.

"I know all of this." Of course, Nangong Wu knew the connection between them.

"Unfortunately, with me around, Nangong Xun is destined to fail!"

He shouldn't have plotted to seize the Huo family's assets to pave his way to the throne, and he even schemed to have my father arrested.

"Indeed." Bei Chenyan looked at her with deep eyes. "Nangong Xun originally had the advantage, but he was too arrogant, looked down on everyone, and was too greedy."

"The Prince of Zhenyuan's mansion commands the 300,000-strong Zhenyuan army, yet Nangong Xun still fears it, which is why he plotted to capture your father."

Nangong Wu suddenly clenched the letter in her hand, her dark eyes reflecting the flickering candlelight.

She had to rescue Huo Jing before Nangong Xun raised his army, otherwise he would use her father to blackmail her.

"Get some rest. We'll go rescue them tomorrow." Bei Chenyan got up and left.

Nangong Wu closed the door, focused her mind on the space, took off her clothes, and walked into the hot spring pool.

This space of hers was passed down from her ancestors. It was originally a transparent ring. Once a contract was successfully formed with the ring, it would completely merge with a person's body until the person died, at which point the ring would detach from the body.

The ring's previous owner was my grandfather.

The ring fell off his finger on the day his grandfather passed away.

The father was the grandfather's eldest son and should have been the first heir to the ring, but he failed to make a contract with the ring. So he had to call everyone together and decide who would get the ring if they could make a contract with it.

Grandpa had three sons and one daughter, and twelve grandchildren in total. He had tested the blood of all of them, but she was the only one who successfully formed a contract.

She discovered a small spring in the area that constantly emitted warm water, so she modified the spring.

They built a hot spring pool for soaking in the hot springs and even piped water to their bedroom for washing up.

After soaking in the hot spring water for a while to wash away the day's fatigue, I returned to my bedroom and lay down on the huge, soft Simmons bed to sleep.

She slept soundly through the night without any dreams, only waking up when Bei Chenyan knocked on the door.

She finished washing up and opened the door, only to find Bei Chenyan standing outside with a food box in his hand.

"I bought some of your favorite foods." He came in and placed the food on the table.

There were xiaolongbao (soup dumplings), steamed dumplings, and thick, sticky millet porridge.

"Very good, thank you." Nangong Wu didn't stand on ceremony and picked up a small spoon to stir the millet porridge.

"I didn't expect you to be so caring."

Bei Chenyan glanced at her lazily, "I've only ever taken care of you."

"Am I very lucky?" Nangong Wu chuckled.

"One should not speak while eating or sleeping."

"Tch, so many rules."

Two quarters of an hour later, they left the inn.

This time, they disguised themselves as middle-aged male merchants, each with a mustache pasted on their face. They also changed their warhorses to thin horses and carried some goods as they headed towards Qingfeng Village.

After walking about twenty miles, we began to enter the deep mountains, and the road became rugged and uneven.

After walking a few more miles, a narrow canyon appeared ahead. Nangong Wu and Beichen Yan exchanged a secret glance and went inside.

"stop!"

Suddenly, more than thirty burly men rushed out from both sides of the road, each wielding a knife and a gun, blocking their path.

"Whoa!"

Nangong Wu and Beichen Yan pulled on the reins and stopped the horse.

"What do you want to do?" Nangong Wu pretended to be scared.

At this moment, dozens more people appeared behind them, blocking their way in both directions.

"Leave your things behind, or I'll spare your lives and get out of here!" a tall, muscular man shouted.

"No!" Nangong Wu said in a panic, but she held the horse's reins tightly. "If you take this grain, our family will starve to death."

A tall, thin man said, "Boss, we're short-handed in our stronghold. Why don't we take them and their goods with us?"

"No way." Gao Da Kuai glared at him. "Take the stuff with you. If they don't leave, throw them off the cliff."

Several robbers rushed forward, snatched the reins from their hands, and led the horses away.

Nangong Wu pretended to be terrified and fell to the ground.

Bei Chenyan was also pushed to the side of the road by them.

Only after all those people had disappeared did the two of them stand up.

Bei Chenyan walked to Nangong Wu's side and said, "These people are all from Qingfeng Village. Let's follow them."

Nangong Wu nodded slightly, "Okay."

Bei Chenyan picked her up and left as fast as lightning.

Qingfeng Village has a complex and treacherous terrain, with both visible and hidden sentry posts, making it virtually impregnable.

However, these measures can only protect against ordinary people; they are useless against someone as skilled in martial arts as Bei Chenyan.

Using the complex terrain and the cover of trees, they quickly reached the main peak of Qingfeng Village.

Bei Chenyan suddenly stopped, raised his hand abruptly, and shot two hidden weapons at a large tree.

"Ahhh..."

Two screams rang out as two people fell from the tree, each with a hidden weapon lodged in their throat.

Bei Chenyan walked over and saw that both of them were dressed in soldiers' uniforms.

"We changed into their clothes."

"it is good."

The two men dragged the body into the bushes.

A moment later, the two men came out, having changed into the soldiers' clothes.

To avoid being questioned, they tried to avoid direct encounters with people after they went up to the mountain stronghold.

"Wait for me a moment," Bei Chenyan suddenly said to her, and then flew away.

He returned shortly afterward, carrying someone on his back, which he then threw onto the ground.

This was a soldier who looked about seventeen or eighteen years old, staring at them with terrified eyes.

Bei Chenyan activated his speech and numbness acupoints.

"Don't shout if you don't want to die." Nangong Wu pressed a dagger against his neck.

"What...do you want to do?" The young soldier's face turned pale.

"Where does the leader of the Serpent Spirit Society live?" Nangong Wu asked.

"He...I saw them come down the mountain this morning..." the young soldier said, his voice trembling.

"What about the people he brought back a couple of days ago? Where are they locked up?" Nangong Wu asked again.