The night before, on the terrace of the border court, Rover finally met the Magistrate of Jinzhou again, Jinhsi.
Jinhsi raised her right hand into a sword gesture and placed it in front of her chest, giving an elegant and dignified military salute, "Please allow me to formally introduce myself once again. I am Jinhsi. It's a pleasure to meet you, Rover."
Under the moonlight, her body seemed to emit a faint sacred glow. Her white dress swayed gently with the wind, truly like a fairy from the moon palace untouched by worldly dust.
Looking at that elegant and moving figure, even Rover was momentarily stunned.
It was just a pity she was a girl. If she were a boy, no matter what, she would definitely chase this girl.
While Rover was observing Jinhsi, Jinhsi was also observing her.
A pretty face that combined cuteness, a bit of silliness, and authority at the same time. The red makeup at the corners of her eyes added a hint of charm. Cold, yet also like a little cat.
Within her slender and graceful figure was power enough to destroy everything, especially those long legs that almost took up half her height. The lines were just right, any more would look too heavy, any less too thin.
'No wonder he's is attracted to her…' Jinhsi thought. Seeing someone who combined beauty and strength like this, even she felt a slight stir in her heart.
But of course, Rover knew nothing about all this. Compared to that, what she cared more about was, "What happened three years ago?"
Jinhsi was slightly stunned when she heard that, then seemed to realize something. A faint amused smile appeared on her fair face.
Poor Scar racked his brain trying to pull Rover into the Fractsidus, telling stories and manipulating her, and even after losing, still putting on a "I'm doing this for your own good" face. Meanwhile, Jinzhou had already won right from the starting line.
It was just a pity that even after ending up in prison, Scar still thought he lost to Jinhsi.
Thinking of the tragedy from three years ago, a look of sadness unconsciously appeared on Jinhsi's face.
"The sacrifice of those soldiers was my failure…" Jinhsi paused and took a deep breath.
"That incident was actually orchestrated by some opposition forces who were dissatisfied with me becoming the Magistrate."
"They knew very well that I always had Teacher Changli and Sanhua by my side, so it was difficult for them to act against me."
Hearing this, how could Rover not understand? The entire attack plan revolved around Zane.
And their goal was to kill Zane, who was Jinhsi's younger brother, causing the frontline defense to collapse, and then use that to attack Jinhsi's position as Magistrate, claiming she lacked the ability to lead and had caused the defense to fall.
For this, they didn't hesitate to intercept and kill injured soldiers returning to Jinzhou City to recover and report, and to block all messages sent back from the frontline.
They created the illusion of peace and prosperity, until the afterimages reached the city gates.
"This is completely insane!"
Rover's brows shot up as she clenched her fists in anger.
"For power and status, are these people really willing to ignore the lives of the citizens? Once the frontline falls, all the people in northern Jinzhou will be under the blades of the afterimages!"
Combined with Scar's earlier words, Rover could easily deduce that the red enemies that appeared back then were from the Fractsidus.
From this, a conspiracy targeting Zane gradually took shape in her mind.
First, the opposition, dissatisfied with Jinhsi becoming the Magistrate, couldn't act against Jinhsi or Changli, so they chose Zane, who was at the frontline and could die at any moment.
Then, they contacted the Fractsidus, had them disguise themselves as a merchant caravan, and used the opposition forces to request Zane's aid, drawing him away from the defensive line.
At the same time, the Fractsidus also wanted to achieve their own goals, so the two sides hit it off.
But who would have thought that Zane didn't die in that attack, and quickly realized there was a traitor in Jinzhou. He led the survivors back to the frontline and organized a defense against the Fractsidus.
Enraged and humiliated, the opposition, upon hearing this, decided to go all in. They sent people to intercept messengers and wounded soldiers, cutting off supplies to the frontline, trying to trap Zane's isolated force to death.
But their actions were accidentally discovered by Changli while she was checking supplies.
After learning the situation, Changli secretly sent people to the frontline to investigate while quietly gathering troops with General Jiyan. At the same time, she began collecting evidence of the opposition's crimes.
By the time the messenger sent by Changli returned to Jinzhou with a battle report, three days had already passed since Zane's attack.
"When I led the troops and arrived at the frontline after a day's journey, all the soldiers at the outpost had already been wiped out. Not a single body was intact…", Jinhsi spoke softly, her voice filled with sorrow.
It was both grief for the fallen soldiers and anger at her younger self for failing to foresee the attack.
"Even with their bodies torn apart, none of them left the defensive line. Even dragging their broken bodies, they still tore flesh from the enemy."
"Watchtowers, training grounds, barracks, even the control room… everywhere was covered in blood…"
With sadness in her heart, Rover walked up to Jinhsi and gently patted her shoulder.
This was only what outsiders could see. As for Zane, who was at the center of it all…
Rover didn't dare imagine it, nor did she want to.
"We didn't find Zane's body in the outpost. So with a sliver of hope, we left the camp and followed the trail of afterimage corpses forward."
"Finally, about a hundred meters outside the frontline, we found him."
Jinhsi's eyes were filled with sorrow, as if she was immersed in the shock and grief of that moment.
"His blood mixed with the enemy's blood, forming a hardened layer around his body, like he was wearing a red suit of armor. He had five fatal wounds, and countless other injuries…"
"But even so, even with his body in ruins, even with no one left by his side, he still drove the invaders to a hundred meters away from the camp, didn't he?"
Rover looked at Jinhsi. In her golden eyes, besides sadness, there was also a deep sense of pride from the bottom of her heart.
"Yes.", Jinhsi nodded. She slowly closed her eyes, then opened them again after a moment. At this moment, she was not only Zane's senior sister, but also the ruler of Jinzhou.
"Only after seeing us arrive did his shattered body finally collapse."
Rover knew very well that Zane not only held his ground but even pushed the invaders away alone, not just for the countless citizens behind him, but also so that those people behind the scenes couldn't use this to attack Jinhsi.
From that point on, his body began to react to the Silent Zone.
"However…"
Jinhsi frowned slightly. "There is something strange. According to the doctor who treated him at the time, Zane's heartbeat had already stopped."
"What did you say!?", Rover cried out in shock, disbelief filling her golden eyes. From Jinhsi's words, Zane had clearly already died once.
But how was that possible?
Coming back to life after death…
"Although his heart started beating again a few minutes later, there's no doubt that during those short few minutes, he experienced death once…"
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