Chapter 1346: Sorrow

In the Kingdom of Jing, Dragon's Head Prefecture, within the Grand General's Manor.

Today was the day the beloved daughter of the Dragon's Scale Guard Grand General, the second-ranked inner palace expert under Heaven, Huang Shelizi, would "wash her hands in a golden basin."

In the courtyard stood a grand basin crafted from crimson gold, its stand of yellow pear wood resting firmly upon the ground.

Two ranks of soldiers stood on either side of the courtyard, holding halberds facing each other, clad in gleaming armor, serving as an honor guard.

The graceful and valiant Huang Shelizi, her yellow robe trailing the ground, stood proudly before the golden basin.

Within the basin was sweet spring water, clear as shattered jade.

Huang Shelizi's hand hovered above the water, showing a hint of hesitation.

She was not "retiring from the martial world" at the prime of her life, nor did she harbor any thought of becoming a recluse.

She was merely washing her hands, as one ordinarily does.

But why was the washing imbued with such ceremony?

Because she had not washed her hands for a full two months...

To be precise, ever since the day Jiang Wang claimed victory at the觀河臺 and they shook hands, her right hand had remained unwashed until this very day.

Today was the twenty-seventh day of the ninth month, in the year three thousand nine hundred and nineteen of the Daoist Calendar.

According to the Dragon's Scale Guard Grand General Huang Fu, after much calculation with his fingers, this day was the Day of Beautiful Hands.

Washing one's hands on this day would garner the blessings of deities and buddhas, bringing continuous good fortune, and one's hands would become smooth and soft, beautiful beyond compare.

Thus, after much coaxing and persuasion, Huang Shelizi finally agreed to wash her hands on this day, bringing an end to over two months of cherished memories...

And it was sufficient.

Huang Shelizi was not one to be greedy for fleeting beauty.

She would simply shake hands again next time!

However...

It truly was a memory worth savoring endlessly.

The handsome Jiang Wang's heroic bearing on the 觀河臺 was truly like a meteor in person and a bright moon in swordplay. Especially when he manifested the form of a sword immortal, that swirling fire, that unfurling frosty white cloak, that illuminating gaze... it was simply breathtakingly beautiful in the mundane world!

And she, Huang Shelizi, was right there on the platform, and she got to hold the handsome one's hand.

How many envied and begrudged her, while she, being near the water, was the first to catch the moon's reflection.

Though only for a few short breaths, with her skill in the Twenty-Four Scattered Hand Techniques of Salvation, she had squeezed and felt it repeatedly.

Her heart, too, had pondered it a thousand times. Even now, upon reflection, a lingering fragrance remained.

"That..."

Squatting like an old farmer beside her, wearing a melon-skin cap and holding a dry tobacco pipe, the Dragon's Scale Guard Grand General could not help but speak, "Lass, the auspicious time has arrived. Quickly wash your hands, and let's practice the Twenty-Four Scattered Hand Techniques of Salvation. We haven't practiced in two months!"

"You're not tricking me, are you, old man?" Huang Shelizi turned her head, looking at him suspiciously. "What Day of Beautiful Hands? Is it just to trick me into practicing your broken scattered hand techniques quickly?"

The Twenty-Four Scattered Hand Techniques of Salvation require a heart like a clear mirror and hands like glazed glass... To put it simply, the hands must be clean, free from any dust.

Hands unwashed for over two months would naturally find it difficult to meet this standard.

"How could that be?" Huang Fu flicked his dry tobacco pipe and stood up excitedly. "Your father calculated for a long time, even the Buddha nodded! How could I trick you? It's beautiful indeed!"

Huang Shelizi pouted, "Alright then."

Although she was a bit dissatisfied with her old father's unchanging ways of trickery over the past ten years, she still withdrew her gaze and let her hand descend into the water basin.

"Report!"

A soldier happened to land outside the courtyard gate at this moment, half-kneeling to deliver the message.

Huang Fu casually tucked the dry tobacco pipe into his waistband, turned his head to look, and asked, "What is it?"

Meanwhile, he extended a hand to Huang Shelizi and gestured for her to continue, "You wash yours."

Huang Shelizi, of course, did not comply, and was already widening her curious eyes to look.

If one had not seen it with their own eyes, it would be hard to imagine that this old farmer wearing a melon-skin cap was actually the Dragon's Scale Guard Grand General who commanded awe throughout the Kingdom of Jing with a single stroke of his universal salvation demon-subduing staff.

The soldier respectfully presented a sealed letter with fire lacquer, saying, "His Majesty has ordered this message to be disseminated to all prefectures and counties; all generals must be informed."

Huang Fu casually took the letter, tearing it open as he asked, "What kind of message is it?"

Huang Shelizi quickly bounced over, "What message is so urgent? Let me see, let me see!"

Huang Fu simply unfolded the letter and read it with his daughter.

Normally, a message transmitted by direct order of the Jing Emperor would be considered classified and should only be seen by the Grand General himself. But Huang Shelizi often casually played with Huang Fu's Grand General's Seal, and the soldiers in the courtyard were also accustomed to it.

As soon as the letter was unfolded, and after reading less than two lines, Huang Fu felt that something was amiss and was about to roll it up.

But it was already snatched away by Huang Shelizi.

"Give it here!"

This was a letter summarizing the important intelligence from the morning.

What the Jing Emperor wanted Huang Fu to see was naturally the public statement from the Three Punishment Palace, the significant damage to the credibility of the Mirror World Platform, and the potential chain reactions following the focus on the Kingdoms of Jing, Qi, and Mu.

Under the current circumstances, the Kingdom of Jing, located in the Northern Domain alongside the Kingdom of Mu, also had considerable strategic options, which had to be carefully considered.

But what Huang Fu saw, and what he knew would make his daughter's eyes light up, was still the news that Jiang Wang had broken historical legends and achieved the status of the foremost inner palace expert of all time...

"Splendid!" Huang Shelizi flicked the letter and burst into laughter. "He's already the foremost inner palace expert in history! Truly worthy of being the man who reached the final platform with me!"

"Lass," Huang Fu said with a distressed look, "Why don't you wash your hands first, and then we can happily..."

"Wash my ass!" Huang Shelizi tucked the letter into her bosom and strode outwards. "This hand was touched by the foremost inner palace expert in history! It's much more reliable than your Buddha! I'm going to keep it like this until I see the handsome Jiang Wang again, to show my sincerity!"

Huang Fu glared fiercely at the soldier who delivered the message, then turned his head dejectedly and said, "Hey, don't just show this letter to anyone, it's very classified!"

Immediately, a crumpled ball of the letter was thrown back at him.

Huang Shelizi's voice had already drifted out of the courtyard, "It's so troublesome, you keep it yourself!"

Huang Fu caught the paper ball, then squatted down like an old farmer again. With his left hand, he unfolded the wrinkled letter, his eyes continuing to ponder the message on it, while his right hand held the dry tobacco pipe, and he took a puff with a worried expression.

"Trouble!" he sighed.

First the Kingdom of Shen, then the Kingdom of Rong, after a long journey, he finally arrived at the Kingdom of Zheng.

Jiang Wang's mood could also be described as "troubled."

If not for Yu Beidou displaying incredibly terrifying strength in the Broken Soul Gorge, he would even suspect that his "Remembrance" secret technique was misleading him again.

How could he have been searching for so long and still not find anyone?

The whole world was singing his name, yet he was still unaware.

He was just stubbornly following the hints of his Remembrance technique, rushing about everywhere.

He had witnessed the evil of demonic humans.

As early as in the Kingdom of Yong, when he saw these demonic humans cooking and killing cultivators from the Qingyun Pavilion, he couldn't help but reveal himself to save people. If he could have killed them then, he would have killed them then!

Now that he held a long sword in his hand and saw the enemy's tracks, there was no reason to let them go.

This young genius, currently enjoying the greatest fame under Heaven, was completely unaware that he had been fully cleared of suspicion of being connected to demons, and was still honestly hiding his identity with items like a bamboo hat and a dragon-head cane.

Walking through the small city in the Kingdom of Zheng, just like many other times in foreign lands over the years.

He suddenly stopped.

His Remembrance technique had come to a halt.

And before him, was an inn.

A vertical plaque hung down.

Named—

Welcome Guest Building.

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