Chapter 47: The Oathkeeper—Deng Ken! (Bonus chapter for patron FrankChiao)

Rain drizzled softly.

The weather in Britain was truly awful; just as the front line had stabilized, continuous overcast rain fell for two or three days.

A squad of knights hurried along a muddy road.

“No.”

“The stone roads built by the Empire need to be repaired again.”

Deng Ken glanced at the distant fortress, reined in his warhorse, and said, “Let’s rest for a while and shelter from the rain.”

Britain had no grand highways.

Lu Beiran went to the back hill, sat down on a bench in the pavilion, then pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

Li Shishi had only stepped into the kitchen for a moment, but when she returned, she noticed Aunt Wu seemed off.

Rostislav was not concerned by his actions; after all, free men joining a prince was only natural—even if they had once belonged to the Grand Prince of Kiev. What was there to worry about?

He poured more resources into Yinfan Gorod, and this city was exempt from taxes—all resources were funneled into reinvestment and regeneration.

He stared at the blazing fires of the Xianbei royal court, his hands gripping the reins of his warhorse tightly.

Li Shishi knew that Gongsun Qing had stationed twelve personal guards around her—there must be a possibility of danger.

Originally this was a family matter, and Li Shishi had no business getting involved; but Lady Chen didn’t care at all, and even brought Li Shishi along to interrogate the servants.

He was from Linyi in Langya, a descendant of Wang Ji, a censorial official of the Han dynasty. His grandfather, Wang Ren, had served as Inspector of Qingzhou under Han, and his father, Wang Rong, had retired from public life.

But now this “dead man” had returned—and what a transformation: he came back as a noble, flaunting his newfound status.

Both sides sheathed their weapons, pressed their palms together, then opened them—flames formed in their palms.

On the contrary, the Soul-Seizing Rod was subordinate to the Nine-Li Pearl! And Lin Shuihan was the Ninth Demon Emperor manifested by the Nine-Li Pearl—how could the Soul-Seizing Rod possibly absorb his essence and blood!?

In fact, since entering the tower, Hongjun had eaten nothing—thirty full hours, a new fasting record; his previous fast had lasted twenty-four hours, when he’d pouted at Chongming.

According to prior intelligence, the two Demon Monkeys had left to pursue the wounded Kunshen, then stopped in Luoyang—neither returning to Chang’an to report to An Lushan nor departing. Their lingering here was suspicious.

Li Jinglong lay on his bed with eyes closed, as if sunk into an impossibly deep dream.

The Liu family had observed a mourning period last year, so this year’s ancestral rites were more elaborate than usual. They had set up a ritual altar early to perform ceremonies, accumulating merit for the old lady in the netherworld and warding off calamities.

“So how could you expect anyone to believe you simply conjured a ‘Pure Soul Heart’?” This question was difficult for the maid—she didn’t know how to answer, biting her lip for a long, long time before whispering so faintly it was barely audible.

The color was white, yet not quite white, shimmering with radiant light. Piled on a jade tray, it floated as light as drifting clouds, soft as silk. Yet its substance was neither cotton nor silk, neither gauze nor satin. With his lifelong exposure to treasures of the world, Prince Xue pondered it carefully—and still could not discern its origin.

As Meng Xingchen’s smile grew ever more frequent, everyone in the Moon Mansion felt as if the rain had cleared and the sun had returned.

Perfect—now she’d have time to play with Nianyue’s little brother, and wouldn’t need to strain so hard doing her lessons.

But overall, humans were poorly adapted to darkness. As Ye Zheng entered this place, his alertness surged instantly! Who knew what lurked in the shadows? He had a strong sense of danger—but if the level gap between him and the threat was too vast, it would be useless.

The camera pulled away here—not from Charoli to Wolf, but after a shake, it appeared in a frozen, snowy wasteland.