That white-clad figure stood atop the roof, and in an instant it was as though he had merged entirely with the moonlight — beautiful, breathtakingly so, in a way that made it impossible to look away.

“The Ninth Prince!”

“It really is the Ninth Prince!”

The three dark silhouettes in the trees failed to react in the very first moment.

They had assumed that to lay eyes on the Ninth Prince, they would first need to eliminate everyone standing in their way. What they had not expected was that the Ninth Prince would simply step out to meet them of his own accord.

“It seems our reputation is truly not small. Brothers — laying eyes on the Ninth Prince, beautiful as a celestial being — how does it feel?”

The man at the forefront, perched in the lead tree, let out a broad laugh. A man below him immediately called back with a grin, “Even the most peerless beauty would fall short of the Ninth Prince’s bearing. I myself have no such particular inclination, but keeping someone like that close and enjoying the view — that would certainly be easy on the eyes.”

Even at this distance, that extraordinary and otherworldly elegance truly warranted the name of a beauty capable of toppling kingdoms.

“Ninth Prince — word has it you were recently injured, and quite severely at that. Why not come with us? We would be delighted to attend to you personally.”

If not for the rumors that the Ninth Prince had suffered grievous wounds, they would never have dared to come. As things stood now, however, it did not quite look as though anyone here was seriously injured at all.

Could the information have been wrong?

Still — a beautiful man right before their eyes, and one this extraordinarily beautiful — injured or not, bringing him back would be no loss.

Why was he not a woman? This beauty was so overwhelming that even they, fellow men, found it difficult to withstand.

“Ninth Prince, if you will not come to us, then the three of us brothers will come to you instead.”

“Insolence!” Huo Yan leveled his longsword and moved to strike down the one who had spoken.

Unexpectedly, a gust of wind swept past from behind him. Before he could even act, that white-clad figure had already streaked away on the wind.

“Ninth—!” Huo Yan and the brothers of the Longqi Army’s new recruits had no time to move. From below, three screams rang out in quick succession.

Three sharp impacts — two figures were hurled to the ground, hard.

“You—!” The lead black-clad man coughed up blood, his face a portrait of disbelief.

Had not the Ninth Prince suffered from a debilitating illness since childhood — and been seriously wounded again recently on top of that?

And yet here he stood, not injured at all — his skills so completely beyond what anyone had anticipated.

It was not only the three men in black who had gone pale with shock. Even Huo Yan and the brothers he commanded were left utterly dumbstruck, one after another.

There were rumors that the Ninth Prince was a master of martial arts, but what he was most celebrated for was his extraordinary battlefield strategy and his matchless appearance.

As for the Ninth Prince’s actual martial prowess — those who had personally witnessed it were, in truth, quite few.

Throughout history, there had been no shortage of brilliant strategists whose personal martial skill was limited at best. And most critically, there had long been a rumor at court that the Ninth Prince had been plagued by chronic ailments since childhood.

How could a man beset by chronic illness possibly cultivate supreme martial ability?

Tonight, the Ninth Prince had finally left everyone completely thunderstruck.

Mu Mu sent one of the men flying with a single kick, launching him off into the darkness of the night — no one could tell where he had landed.

In the next blink of an eye, both the black-clad man and that white-clad figure were gone without a trace.

On the second floor, a window settled shut — and after that, not a sound. By all appearances, the Ninth Prince had retired to rest.

No one could say how much time passed before Huo Yan finally snapped to his senses and immediately ordered his men to capture the two black-clad figures still lying on the ground.

As for the one the Ninth Prince had kicked away — should they even bother to pursue him?

That kick from His Highness had been, in all honesty, wonderfully mischievous. Was it intentional — letting the man go on purpose? Or had the kick sent him flying with enough force that he was already… beyond breath?