After seven days of being on the road, the group from the Royal School finally reached Yan Capital, the capital of the North Qiu Kingdom. After ensuring that the group was settled in the dorms of the First School, Pan En then proceeded to bring a sulky Pan Yue back to the Royal Palace to report his return.

Gu Lingzhi could fully understand why Pan Yue was sulky the whole journey back to Yan City. After all, leaving the Xia Kingdom meant leaving Qin Xinran. Thinking back on the delight on Qin Xinran’s face when she heard that Pan Yue was going to leave made Gu Lingzhi feel sorry for Pan Yue.

Due to Rong Yuan’s status, after he arranged for a few people to stay behind, he was invited to attend a royal banquet. He did not want to tire Gu Lingzhi out after so many days on the road and did not ask her to follow along with him. He left Yuan Zheng and Wei Hanzi behind to protect her and left with a few servants.

Wei Hanzi was the girl that pretended to be the Black Thorn back at the Royal School. Her surname, Wei, was her mother’s surname. This was a symbol of the love her parents had for each other. However, due to the chaos and killings in the world, both her parents had passed on, causing her to be orphaned. Coincidentally, the Royal Palace was recruiting Death Troops for Rong Yuan and with no parents and relatives to turn to, she signed up. After going through grueling training, this orphan girl became a weapon under Rong Yuan. Her Martial Skills were no less than the captains of the Silver-Armored Troops.

After she received her mission of pretending to be the Black Thorn, she did not have any questions as she fulfilled her duty. In order to accurately mimic Gu Lingzhi, she took special note of the way Gu Lingzhi behaved. In half a month, Gu Lingzhi would also have believed that this girl before her was the Black Thorn if it were not for the fact that she had once assumed that identity.

“Master, do you want to rest?” Wei Hanzi enquired. Her voice was extremely familiar. It was the fake voice that Gu Lingzhi used when she was acting as Black Thorn. However, while Gu Lingzhi needed to take a voice-changing pill, Wei Hanzi only needed to control the way she talked to change her voice, which was already low, so that it was similar to the Black Thorn’s voice..

“Nope. It is rare that I am here in the North Qiu Kingdom. Shouldn’t I take this chance to explore the city?” Gu Lingzhi asked, feeling slightly troubled by the way Wei Hanzi addressed her.

Wei Hanzi had a brilliant mind and was honest. The only flaw about her was that she followed orders too strictly. Even when they interacted on a personal level, she refused to call Gu Lingzhi’s name and stuck to calling her ‘Master’. After multiple tries, Gu Lingzhi gave up trying to get her to change.

“I will go and prepare the carriage.” Wei Hanzi was about to leave when Gu Lingzhi held her back, “There is no need for a carriage, I will just walk around. Let’s bring Tianfeng Jin along!”

Wei Hanzi treated whatever her master said as a word of law and listened unconditionally. Having received the training of the Death Troops since young, Wei Hanzi obeyed and immediately changed direction and headed towards Tianfeng Jin’s room.

Looking at Wei Hanzi leave, Gu Lingzhi look frustratedly at Yuan Zheng, “You are both Rong Yuan’s subordinates, how can your personalities differ so much?”

Yuan Zheng’s lips stiffened, “Lady Gu, Hanzi received training from the Death Troops. Her only reason for living is to protect her master and thus, she behaves like a human weapon. Whereas I have had a normal and healthy childhood, of course our personality would differ.”

“Isn’t it too cruel to live like that?” After knowing her for a while Gu Lingzhi felt sorry for the emotionless behavior Wei Hanzi had.

“It is not cruel at all.” Yuan Zheng replied nonchalantly.

“There is a price for everything. At that time, seven-year-old Wei Hanzi agreed to be a Death Troop for His Highness in exchange for her parent’s inheritance and to chase her ungrateful relatives out of her parent’s house. Since the Royal Family fulfilled their promise, she had to fulfill hers. Also, the Xia Kingdom is magnanimous when it comes to choosing Death Troops. When they become of age, they are given another chance on whether to become a bodyguard or a Death Troop operating behind the scenes. She was the one that chose to be a Death Troop.”

Hearing Yuan Zheng’s nonchalant explanation, the corners of Gu Lingzhi’s mouth could not help but turn down.

How could a seven-year-old child be asked to take responsibility for their actions? Furthermore, her training to become a Death Troop influenced her decision later on. If she did not even feel any emotions, how could she be able to tell good from bad?

All Gu Lingzhi could do was feel bad internally for a moment. One thing that Yuan Zheng was right on was that the Xia Kingdom was truly magnanimous when it came to choosing their Death Troops.

Which child or member of a large clan did not have a few Death Troop bodyguards? Most of the time, Death Troops were chosen by force. The way the Royal Family selected for Death Troops was already considered very benevolent.

In the time that the two of them conversed, Wei Hanzi brought Tianfeng Jin over.

Wearing the Black Thorn mask, Wei Hanzi momentarily behaved as a completely different person. Her normally cold eyes were filled with a slight warmth as she looked at Gu Lingzhi, “Lingzhi, I have brought Xiao Jin over, should we leave now?”

“Mmhm, let’s go.” Gu Lingzhi nodded slightly as she smiled cooperatively.

Tianfeng Jin smiled as well. Initially, when she first saw the Black Thorn in Gu Lingzhi’s room, she had doubts on Black Thorn’s trustworthiness. But now, she no longer suspected her. The warmth in Gu Lingzhi’s eyes could not be faked. As Gu Lingzhi looked at the Black Thorn, there was a slight pity that reflected in her eyes and this matched what the Black Thorn had told her. Gu Lingzhi could not bear to let Black Thorn be killed by her enemies and hence asked Rong Yuan to protect her.

Seeing her two friends get along so well made her very happy. Occasionally, she would get a strange feeling that she could not pinpoint when she faced the Black Thorn. She pushed it aside thinking that she had misunderstood the Black Thorn.

The three of them, along with Yuan Zheng who protected them, headed towards the busiest city of the capital, the East City.

Rong Yuan who was currently attending to diplomatic affairs, gritted his teeth as he heard this news from his subordinates. In order to let Gu Lingzhi rest, he had decided to attend this extremely boring banquet by himself. But Gu Lingzhi had actually gone ahead and went to shop in the city with her friends. Next time, he decided to not be so thoughtful. When it was time to wear her out, he could not be soft-hearted!

He internally decided that in the future he would restrict her freedom so as to create a strong foundation for their future life.

Although he was grumbling, he did not forget that they were currently in the North Qiu Kingdom and if Pan En were to take action, it would be easier than if it were in the Xia Kingdom. He informed the messenger to tell Wei Hanzi to be even more careful.

While a part of the reason for asking Wei Hanzi to pretend to be the Black Thorn was to lift the suspicion of Gu Lingzhi, the other part was due to…his own selfishness.

As he grew up in the Royal Family, he had seen numerous instances where a small mistake resulted in an error and he was thus not as soft-hearted as Gu Lingzhi.

Wei Hanzi was his Death Troop and her life was controlled by him. By asking her to take on the Black Thorn’s identity, it was so that she would sacrifice herself when the time comes, in order to ensure Gu Lingzhi’s safety. However, he could not tell Gu Lingzhi this.

On the other hand, Gu Lingzhi was overwhelmed with excitement as she rushed to the streets of Yan City. However, before she could go any further, she realised that there was someone following them. It was Yan Liang. Ever since school had started, Rong Yuan had come up with numerous excuses to send him away on different missions.

Although the Royal School did not require students to go on missions, if the missions were given specifically by a teacher, it was special.

“Senior Yan, what a coincidence.” Seeing Yan Liang follow quietly behind her without saying anything, Gu Lingzhi could only say hello awkwardly.

However, it was obvious Yan Liang’s emotional quotient was extremely low as when he was found out, he did not even bother to come up with an excuse but instead replied with, “It is not a coincidence, I was following you.” As he finished talking, the tips of his ears turned a deep red. Although his expression remained cold and calm, his ears gave him away.

Everyone who saw this could not help but snigger slightly. Gu Lingzhi laughed dryly and said, “I didn’t know Senior Yan wanted to go to the East City to shop as well.”

“Mmhm, I will go wherever you go,” Yan Liang said slightly coldly. He then realised his words might have sounded inappropriate and explained, “After all, this is not the Xia Kingdom. It is good to be careful.”

Gu Lingzhi pursed her lips as she felt a tug at her heart. It was not that she did not understand Yan Liang’s intentions, but she had already clearly rejected him. However, his mind was unmoving and once he had set his eyes on something, he did not want to let go even if he knew that he had no hope. All he did was to continue to wait for her, which was causing Rong Yuan to feel jealous.

While it was one thing to feel touched, it was another when it came to love. With Rong Yuan already in her heart, all she could do was to try as much as she could to push him away. She hoped that he would give up and direct his attention to someone else.

“Yan Liang, you don’t have to worry about this. With me around, I will not let the Princess Consort get hurt.” Yuan Zheng laughed as he interrupted, purposely adding in the words ‘Princess Consort’. He said it extremely clearly as a reminder that Gu Lingzhi already belonged to someone.

Although he respected Yan Liang’s perseverance, he would not be soft-hearted when it came to his master’s happiness!

“It’s always better to have one more person to protect Lingzhi. It is never wrong to be extra careful.” Yan Liang persisted. Without Lu Feng to help him express himself, when it came to dealing with Yuan Zheng, he could only repeat the words to be “careful”.

Alas, Yan Liang persistence overruled and he joined Gu Lingzhi’s group in heading to the East City. In about an hour, they had made their way from the First School, located in the North City to the bustling East City.

Only a city as bustling as the East City was able to meet the demands of high-ranking Martial Artists.

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