070 The Soldier’s Extraordinary Journey

Although she approached the main boss’s base as if she were cheating, there were still guards stationed at the entrance. The sentries at the gates were not the sort one could simply sweep aside; their strength and levels rose in tandem with their boss’s. Thus, it was easy to imagine the sharp and formidable figures flanking the false king.

Fortunately, she had a cheat code of her own—a soldier personally assigned by Sang Qing. With his complete familiarity with the terrain, the soldier led her to a blind corner of the map, a spot so close to the king’s bedchamber and yet utterly concealed from prying eyes.

Holding a leaf between her fingers, she tossed it into the air. The soldier, puzzled, asked, “What are you doing?”

She raised a finger to her lips in a gesture for silence, eyes narrowed in mock mystery. “This is an ancient ritual to bless the start of a war. If the ritual goes smoothly, our mission will be favored by fortune.”

Her mysterious performance cowed the soldier into quiet reverence. Together, they watched the leaf drift slowly downwards. Just then, a breeze caught it, sending it fluttering away, powerless to resist, as if it departed with tears in its eyes.

“The wind blows toward the palace—heaven is on our side…” She gazed upward in a posture of deep gratitude.

“So… this was a method for checking the wind’s direction?” The soldier’s expression darkened with embarrassment.

Her heart skipped a beat. Judging by his face, she must have made some rookie mistake. But to admit it now would be to lose face, so she simply snorted dismissively, wearing an air of serene indifference, waiting for the innocent soldier to continue.

“But aren’t you a wind mage? Wouldn’t sensing the wind element be more accurate…?” As he noticed her expression—one that seemed to say, “How could someone as lowly as you possibly understand me?”—his voice grew quieter and quieter.

“Of course, you don’t need to tell me that.” Suddenly realizing she could use her wind magic, she hastily began gathering wind elements around her. “I was using magic to sense the wind all along. Tossing the leaf is just a ritual we nature-loving mages perform before battle!” She put special emphasis on the word “just.”

The soldier, both puzzled and awestruck, nodded as though he understood. “And so, was the result of the ritual good or bad?”

She glanced skyward, but the leaf she’d chosen at random was long gone. So she closed her eyes as if communing with some mysterious force, then, pinching her fingers together, pronounced, “It seems this time, fortune will surely favor us.” A mysterious smile played at her lips—a perfect charlatan.

Yet her odd little performance was enough to leave the soldier, who had never met a mage before, completely taken in. “That’s amazing—just by sensing, you can divine the meaning of a leaf?”

She maintained a composed, knowing smile, then drew out the powder she’d prepared earlier. Channeling the surrounding wind element, she wrapped a portion of the powder and guided it toward the king’s bedchamber.

Controlling the wind herself was so much better; tears nearly came to her eyes as she watched the invisible current carrying the powder. Without wind element perception, she would never have known where it went. Just moments ago, she’d considered scattering the powder with the wind—who knows how much would have been wasted, or what unintended consequences might have resulted?

Her mind spun with visions of powerful, dizzying fogs and sandstorms.

The guards at the king’s chamber were nothing if not diligent, their unwavering gazes betraying the rigorous selection they’d undergone. But even heroes can’t resist sleep forever. None could have expected that, after a gentle breeze, their usually inexhaustible energy would be overcome by the sudden, irresistible need for a bed.

And yet, this strange urge beset them all at once.

She watched as, one by one, the guards fought a losing battle with their eyelids, nodding off just as she used to in high school classes—clumsily, easy prey for any teacher’s scrutiny.

Soon, the nodding guards toppled over, one after another. A few with greater willpower tried to sound the alarm but were swiftly dispatched by the soldier, who had been lurking nearby, ready to act.

She surveyed her handiwork. Her expression was hardly one of delight—if anything, her features twisted into embarrassment. Her eyes seemed to ask, “How did this happen? Weren’t these supposed to be the king’s elite guards? What happened to their vaunted combat skills, vigilance, and alertness?”

The soldier replied quietly, unruffled, “These are the replacements sent by the chancellor after dismissing the original guards. They’re a ragtag bunch. With their puny arms and legs and laughable anti-assassination skills, it’s no wonder they fell so easily. If the men trained by our lord were here, you would have been discovered and detained for questioning long ago.”

She stood speechless. Did this guy not realize that their lord’s strength was exactly why he’d been sidelined? What was there to brag about?

Still, for the sake of their temporary alliance, she held her tongue. Let these battle-hardened types reflect on their own when this was over.

The soldier carefully checked the surroundings, ensuring there were no ambushes or counterattacks, then motioned for her to follow. She crept forward, watching as he found an inconspicuous spot, blending into the shadows of the palace columns, and silently approached the window of the king’s bedchamber.

She couldn’t help but wonder: With such practiced movements, had he dreamed of regicide, running through assassination plans in his mind until this moment came?

The soldier ignored her wandering thoughts, opening the window a barely perceptible crack and signaling for her to act.

Reacting instantly, she used a breeze to waft the last of her powder through the gap and into the chamber.

Inside, the king’s quarters were brightly lit, but the reflections made it difficult to pinpoint his exact location. She was unfazed. With a thought, she summoned the wind elements in the chamber; through the shifting air currents, information came to her, and soon a vivid map of the room, every detail accounted for, appeared in her mind.