The old snake died, and Wang Meimei was free. She left the village in the deep mountains with ripples and returned to Baguamen. After that, she never appeared in the Jianghu again.

With the outbreak of war between the Han and Mongol nations, rumors about the treasure map circulating in the martial arts world gradually faded away. People said it was a ploy to stir up trouble in the Jianghu, or even a scheme orchestrated by the current emperor to raise funds from the immensely wealthy Longxi Wang family for military purposes. In short, there were many theories and speculations flying around.

The Jianghu, or martial arts world, is like that—truth intertwined with falsehood, and falsehood masquerading as truth. During the three years of war between the two nations, the legend of FeiJian Xian Su Lian Yi arose within the Jianghu. Rumors spread about her mastery of flying swords, so profound and ethereal it seemed to reach a state of perfection.

Equally renowned as her swordsmanship was her beauty. She was said to be the closed-door disciple of the headmaster of Su Nü Palace, inheriting her master's mantle and possessing profound inner strength, which kept her appearance eternally at twenty years old.

Some of these rumors are true, while others have been exaggerated.

In the year that the war between the two countries ended, Su Min Yi, the palace master of Su Nu Palace, sensed her impending demise and sent a message to Lian Yi, urging her to return to Su Nu Palace as quickly as possible.

After receiving the transmission from Aunt Zhen, Lian Ri returned to Suxue Palace with Qi Qi and bid farewell to Su Min Yi for the last time.

"Ripples, you have already broken through the ninth level of the Xu Nu Xuan Gong, and you are now able to merge my internal energy. I will pass on fifty years of my own internal energy to you. I hope you can protect the Xu Nu Palace well."

"Master, rest assured. I will protect the Su Nü Palace well and live up to your expectations."

Liàn Yī knelt before Sù Gōng Zhǔ, solemnly making a vow.

The Palace Master transmitted ripples of internal energy to the disciple. The next day, she smiled and passed away. At the time of her passing, her countenance was still beautiful.

After Su Minyi's passing, Lian Yi inherited the position of palace master and became the next Su Palace Master. She never left the mountain again, dedicating herself to teaching disciples at Su Nü Gong. Su Nü Gong also removed its formations and reappeared before the world. Every five years, they would recruit a new batch of disciples.

The emperor fought against Tuoba Huan for three years. In the end, he was forced to surrender because of internal chaos in the Monan region and a lack of sufficient food supplies to continue the war.

Tuoba Huan presented a letter of submission to the Han Dynasty, pledging annual tribute and willing to become a vassal state of the Han.

But the emperor was a planner, he wasn't that foolish emperor of his past life. Though he shortened the war, leaving a year to prepare for the impending snow disaster, Tobar Han's ambition wouldn't vanish just because of defeat.

The emperor feigned acceptance of the surrender, but secretly dispatched his guards to massacre every member of the Tabgach clan. Tuoba Han was killed by the emperor himself. He then ordered the civilian population of Mongolia to be scattered throughout the Han empire, where they continued to graze their livestock—horses, cattle, and sheep—and accumulated enough meat to survive a coming snowstorm.

A year later, the snow disaster arrived as scheduled. The Han kingdom suffered from the disaster, and the emperor declared a state of emergency throughout the country and systematically carried out relief work.

The Suxian Palace has always been self-sufficient. Besides, Lianyi took back the portion of wealth that Wang Yingying left behind and split it evenly between Qiqi and Su Lin, leaving it to Su Lin to handle.

In fact, everything Wang Yinyin left behind is in the Yingze Mountain Villa, right in the escape passage that leads from the villa to the outside. The most dangerous place is also the safest.

That passage was paved with gold bricks disguised as stone slabs, and after the jade pendant left by Wang Yinyin was shattered, a piece of paper was found inside it, on which was written the location where she hid her wealth.

When Ripples was also in the mood, she took out the jade pendant and studied it, only to be caught by Qiqi.

When he was a royal guard, he was in charge of intelligence, and it was common practice to put intelligence in jade pendants. So when Qiqi got the jade pendant in his hand, he found that the weight was wrong. He ruthlessly smashed it open and only then did he get the important message.

"Mother is truly clever. Even if Xiangyi gets this, she will surely think it's a token, the key to obtaining treasure. She definitely won't break it easily, nor will she show it to others readily."

Ripples stirred the shattered jade, and it laughed.

"This is Mother watching over us from heaven, these things will eventually return to our hands."

Qi Qi sighed with emotion.

Also because of the existence of this gold, Sūnyǚgōng successfully weathered the year of the snow disaster and took in many orphans and widowed mothers, allowing them to survive and also strengthened Sūnyǚgōng.

After the Han kingdom successfully weathered the natural disaster, the emperor summoned Su Lianyi, the mistress of the Su Nü Palace, to the palace for an audience.

After receiving the message, Ripples instructed Su Lin to guard the mountain gate. This time, she had to go herself. She didn't want any entanglement between the Sushu Palace and the royal family.

The emperor met with Lianyi alone, and only at this time did Lianyi realize that this emperor was the tasker.

Both parties were also meeting other taskers in the same space for the first time. After a friendly exchange, they agreed on a time to return to the Temporal Management Bureau together.

Afterwards, the ripples returned to the Su Nü Palace and took in a disciple, the five-year-old girl she had rescued from the bandit's lair. The girl also took her surname, Su, and her name was given by her, Wen Lan, Su Wen Lan.

When Qi Qizi was fifty-seven, he reached the end of his life. Because he grew up in the dark guard camp since childhood, he had many hidden injuries. Although he reunited with Lianyi later and carefully recuperated for a while, it was still impossible to change his fate of decline. The only thing that comforted him was that he had children and grandchildren, and his sister Lianyi accompanied him on his last journey.

Because of this younger brother, Qiqi, Lianyi brought Wenlan to Yinzhe Mountain Villa. This was built by Qiqi after he obtained the wealth, on the original site, as the ancestral home for his lineage.

Qiqi's great-grandson was truly astonished when he first met this legendary aunt. He felt that she was younger than him, and more beautiful and elegant, with a noble bearing, just like a fairy descending to earth. He didn't even dare to look directly at her.

"Sister, you're here!"

Qiqi looked at the face that hadn't changed in the slightest, and smiled.

"Oh, why are you always so serious"

Ripples said with some disdain.

I knew you'd say that, but this is the last one. While I was waiting for you, I had a dream. In it, you weren't there.

I was sent by the emperor to the side of Xiangyi, that poisonous woman. The emperor indulged her and tolerated the Mongols. In the end, he was defeated by Tuo Ba Han. Right after that, a snow disaster struck, becoming the final straw for the already burdened Han people. The people suffered greatly, with starvation and death rampant. The desperate populace rose up in rebellion against the current emperor.

I took the opportunity to kill Xiangyi, avenging myself, and I was killed by the refugees who stormed the palace. My life was like a joke.

Qi Qi spoke, the light in her eyes dimming gradually.

Ripple sighed and took his hand, saying softly:

"All dreams are reversed. You suffered for the first eighteen years of your life, but you will live a carefree and happy life in the second half, with many grandchildren. Remember to be content!"

"I know, I just want to tell my sister, I saw Father and Mother."

Qi Qi left with a smile, her life in this world was complete.

As Qiqi's elder sister and the great-aunt of the Qi family, she presided over Qiqi's funeral and then returned to the Palace of Pure Girls.

Ten years later, when news of the emperor's critical illness reached Lian Yi, she summoned Wen Lan and instructed her to take good care of Wang Zhenzhen. After passing on all her life's internal energy to Wang Zhenzhen, Lian Yi returned to the Time Management Bureau with the task force after the emperor's death.control of the land, only the south was relatively peaceful because General Duan held sway. As a result, many people had come to the south seeking refuge with their relatives."Aren't you guys under th...