“Insolence!” Ye Luosha’s vine whip came down again with her furious cry.

“Palace Mistress — enough, truly enough!” Liuli rushed forward and once more wrapped both arms tightly around her hand.

“Palace Mistress, the Young Palace Master is already this badly injured — please stop punishing him. You really will beat him to death!”

“I told you to get out of my way!” Ye Luosha made to shove her aside.

But Liuli held fast to her arm regardless, refusing to let go no matter what. “I beg you, Palace Mistress — I beg you.”

Ye Luosha looked at the young man who still knelt by the window — looked at the blood flowing down his back — and how could her heart not ache?

This was a child she had raised with her own hands. From the time he was small, she had shaped him into who he was today, piece by piece and little by little.

Seeing him hurt, seeing him bleed — how could she not feel pain?

And yet — he had saved the Zhan family’s people, and all for the sake of one woman!

To say he had done it solely to save Zhan Qingcheng was utterly impossible. The child she had raised was not so soft-hearted as to spare even an enemy.

He had done it for Feng Jiu’er, and Feng Jiu’er alone.

At last, Ye Luosha flung down the vine whip and snapped furiously, “You stay here and reflect on your errors! Think hard about what you have done wrong!”

She turned and walked out.

Liuli looked at the wounds on Mu Mu’s back, anxious and grieved. “Young Palace Master, please get up first — I’ll go and fetch some wound-salve for you right away.”

Mu Mu said nothing.

Liuli walked out the door, and there found the Palace Mistress standing in the front courtyard, listening to a report from one of her subordinates.

“…The Ninth Prince has remained at Butterfly Valley… Our people saw the people of Butterfly Valley carrying the unconscious Feng Jiu’er away — it appears they have brought her back into the valley. As for the Ninth Prince…”

Liuli paid it no mind, turned away, and went into the next room. She retrieved the wound-salve and hurried straight back.

But when she stepped through the door, she was dumbstruck. Where was the Young Palace Master?

A moment later, Liuli came rushing out of the room and ran up to Ye Luosha, flustered and breathless. “The Young Palace Master… he may have heard the news about Feng Jiu’er and… and gone.”

That night, the Ninth Prince had gone to bed very early. It was most likely because Mo Bai had sealed his acupuncture points earlier, causing his true energy to reverse — and exhaustion had overcome him, sending him into a deep sleep.

Even so, his sleep was far from peaceful. Although Yu Jingfeng had not witnessed it with his own eyes, simply standing guard outside the door was enough to sense the Prince’s unease.

What exactly was unsettling the Prince? He had never concerned himself with the things that happened to him. Not even during the most desperate battle he had ever fought had he ever shown so much as a flicker of unease.

Yet tonight, the sleeping Prince kept his palms clenched tight, and that bone-chilling aura — Yu Jingfeng could feel it through the door.

Mo Bai was the one personally attending the Ninth Prince, so he naturally knew the Prince was sleeping poorly.

Seeing Mo Bai come out, Yu Jingfeng lowered his voice and asked quietly, “What is wrong with the Prince? Is it… the Gu Poison acting up again?”

“No.” The Prince had most likely consumed a considerable amount of Feng Jiu’er’s blood earlier; the Gu Poison in his body had been temporarily suppressed, and should not flare up again over the next few days.

However, tonight Feng Jiu’er was not here, and the Prince had not drunk her blood. The Gu Poison within him had gradually begun showing signs of stirring once more.

As yet, Mo Bai had not managed to find a way to fully expel the Gu Poison from the Prince’s body. If this went on much longer, the poison would likely grow fierce again.

Yu Jingfeng walked with him some distance away before asking, “Even knowing the type of venom beetle — there is still no solution?”

“It is not that there is no solution. But it is very dangerous, and the success rate is very low. I… do not yet dare attempt it.”

“How low?”

“Less than one in ten.”

The Gu Poison in the Prince’s body had taken hold far too deeply. The venom beetle had dwelt within him for far too long, its roots now thoroughly entrenched.

Luring it out using a second venom beetle was the only method Mo Bai could currently conceive — but in truth, it was not a very feasible option. It was far too dangerous.

The greatest danger was this: if control was lost for even a moment, the second venom beetle would enter the Prince’s body as well. Two venom beetles within the same host would inevitably turn on each other, and the one that won would absorb the other’s venom, emerging far more formidable than before.

A venom beetle that powerful could utterly devour the Prince’s internal organs with ease. By then, even if the Prince did not die, he would be completely transformed into a “poison-person.”

What was called a “poison-person” was a being stripped of thought and soul — nothing more than an animated corpse, moving without will.

Yu Jingfeng felt a wave of bleakness wash over him. They had come all this way, and still could not be certain of curing the Prince. If things continued like this — what was to be done?

“If we were to use Miss Jiu’er’s blood…”

“If we used Feng Jiu’er’s blood, the Prince could naturally be saved.” From not far away, Hu Shuang’s voice broke in.

Yu Jingfeng’s expression shifted subtly. He stepped back to the door of the room and resumed his silent vigil outside the Prince’s door.

Hu Shuang had not come looking for him in any case. She turned to Mo Bai and said, “Mr. Mo Bai, our Lady wishes to invite you inside to discuss the matter of curing the Prince’s Gu Poison together.”

The place where the Ninth Prince was currently residing was a set of rooms outside Butterfly Valley used to receive guests. Because the Lady of Butterfly Valley did not permit men to enter the valley, Yu Jingfeng and the Feilong Shi’er Qi could not go inside.

And the Ninth Prince was unwilling to accept the service of women, so he had to stay in these outer quarters — even the Lady of Butterfly Valley could do nothing about that.

Mo Bai glanced back at Yu Jingfeng, signaling him to keep close watch over the Ninth Prince, then immediately went with Hu Shuang.

The Lady of Butterfly Valley was also a practitioner of medicine. Her knowledge of venom beetles far surpassed Mo Bai’s.

Mo Bai, after all, was merely a physician. The cultivation and refinement of venom beetles was never his area of expertise. This journey to the Southern Wilderness had taught him a great deal about such creatures — but he had not yet reached a particularly deep level of understanding.

At such a time, he was naturally very willing to sit with the Lady of Butterfly Valley and discuss how to save the Ninth Prince.

What he had not expected was that when he walked into Butterfly Valley and arrived at Butterfly Pond, he should find Feng Jiu’er lying asleep on a white jade bed at the water’s edge.

“Miss Jiu’er? Was she not already…” — was she not already sent away? Could it be that the Lady of Butterfly Valley had brought her back?

For without that, given Emperor Ji’s level of martial prowess, it would be virtually impossible for any ordinary person to take someone from his hands.

“If she had truly left, who would save your Ninth Prince?”

The Lady of Butterfly Valley smiled faintly. She was seated right beside the white jade bed, something in her hand — something indistinguishable — now resting upon Feng Jiu’er’s chest.

Mo Bai then noticed that Feng Jiu’er’s collar had been pulled open, and the place where her heart lay was exposed.

Seeing the dark, slender thing resting over her heart, Mo Bai’s expression shifted sharply. He took a large stride forward. “My Lady — what are you doing?”

She had placed a venom beetle upon Feng Jiu’er’s heart!

“This is a medicinal insect I have been cultivating.” The Lady of Butterfly Valley’s gaze remained fixed on the place over Feng Jiu’er’s heart, and the smile at the corner of her lips continued to deepen. “I only want a little of her heart’s blood.”

“You are out of your mind!” Mo Bai’s expression changed drastically, and he cried out urgently, “A venom beetle bores into the heart — she will die without question!”