Before Feng Jiu’er had time to react, Zhan Qingcheng had already turned and walked away, following the long corridor toward the bank of the lake.

The moment he moved away, that heavy, pressing weight lifted with him.

Feng Jiu’er let out a quiet breath of relief. She ought to have felt lighter — but instead, as a gust blew in off the lake’s surface, the departure of her Ninth Imperial Uncle left a strange coolness in its wake.

She reined in her wandering thoughts and hurried after him. “Ninth Imperial Uncle, where are you taking me?”

He still hadn’t answered her earlier question — had they known each other before?

Foolish as the question was, Jiu’er simply wanted an answer. An answer that came from his lips.

Her Ninth Imperial Uncle’s silence was likely because her question had been too foolish and too pointless for someone of his stature to bother with.

Ah, well…

The two of them moved along the narrow path, one ahead of the other, and not a single word passed between them the entire way.

Feng Jiu’er had no destination of her own. She simply followed in Zhan Qingcheng’s wake, and just like that, the two of them left Ninth Prince’s Manor behind.

The Prince going out at this hour of the night was enough to give the gate guards a fright. But who dared question anything the Prince chose to do?

Still — why was only Feng Jiu’er behind him? Where was Sir Yu? He hadn’t followed the Prince out… was that not improper? Should someone go and notify Sir Yu?

The moment they stepped out through the manor’s rear gate, Zhan Qingcheng’s foot gave a light tap — and in an instant, he had covered a distance of thirty meters.

Thirty meters! In the time it took to blink.

The sight of it sent a jolt of awe through Feng Jiu’er. She drew a sharp breath, told herself not to overthink it, and immediately set off to follow.

Her Ninth Imperial Uncle moved ahead of her at what appeared to be a leisurely pace — each step seemingly slowed on purpose.

And yet, despite those slow and measured strides, Feng Jiu’er found herself chasing after him with heaving breaths, still unable to close the gap.

But she was not someone who gave up easily. If she couldn’t catch up, she would keep trying. All the way, she focused her mind entirely — nothing but the pursuit of her Ninth Imperial Uncle filled her thoughts, everything else left behind.

At last, Zhan Qingcheng came to a stop.

He moved and halted as he pleased, without the slightest trace of hesitation. But Feng Jiu’er was another matter — having run so hard, she now found herself unable to stop in time.

With a thud, she crashed straight into Zhan Qingcheng’s back and was immediately sent bouncing backward, landing on the ground with a heavy smack.

“Ugh…” Her nose was throbbing with pain, bad enough to bring tears to her eyes.

“Is this how you train, ordinarily?”

Zhan Qingcheng turned to look at her. The night wind caught his long hair and lifted it gently — a sight so breathtaking and striking it seemed to reach into the soul.

Feng Jiu’er had been convinced, a moment before, that her nose genuinely hurt. But now, looking up at her Ninth Imperial Uncle with his hair billowing in the moonlit dark, she inexplicably, inexplicably found that it didn’t hurt quite so much anymore.

Beauty needs no lure — anyone gazing upon this moonlit figure would bewitch themselves. This breathtaking man in the moonlight could enchant a soul right out of its body.

How could there be a man in this world beautiful enough to reach this kind of extreme?

She sat on the ground, head tilted back to look at the man standing not far before her, and entirely forgot what she was supposed to do next.

“Is the ground so comfortable that you’re reluctant to rise?” The man looked down at her, his starlit eyes narrowing slightly. “Apparently, you can’t bring yourself to get up.”

“Ah!” Feng Jiu’er started — and only then remembered where she was and what she was doing.

She had been staring at a man and gone completely dizzy with infatuation, forgetting her own surroundings entirely!

She hastily gathered herself and scrambled up from the ground, only to realize her nose was still throbbing terribly. She rubbed the tip of her nose and shot him a glare, indignant.

“Ninth Imperial Uncle, why did you stop so suddenly? That collision hurt!”

“If I hadn’t stopped, would you have preferred I jump straight off the cliff?” Zhan Qingcheng’s gaze was as calm as still water — quiet, and faintly cool.

“Jump off the cliff?” What did he mean? Feng Jiu’er glanced behind him.

That glance — it would have been better not to look. The moment she did, her courage nearly shattered entirely.

The place where he had been standing was right at the edge of a cliff. Right at the very edge — one more step forward and there would be nothing but a fall.

Yet just now she had been completely unable to stop herself, and had barreled headlong into him. With that much momentum behind the collision, how had she not sent him tumbling over the edge? It was nothing short of a miracle.

“How did you stay so completely rooted? The force of my collision was nothing small!” Just look at how she had bounced back and been sent crashing to the ground — that alone showed how much force had been behind it. Even now, her backside still ached.

Yet he had truly stood like an immovable mountain. His frame had not shifted even a fraction.

Zhan Qingcheng still looked at her with that calm, unhurried gaze — the way one might look at a child who didn’t know better.

Feng Jiu’er could only sigh and accept it. Her Ninth Imperial Uncle was her Ninth Imperial Uncle. He was simply on a level beyond ordinary people — how could a small fry like her ever comprehend that?

Still, her Ninth Imperial Uncle’s inner power was genuinely terrifying. In the future, if there was any kind of combat or sparring event, the moment she caught sight of him she would have to flee to the farthest possible corner.

“Ninth Imperial Uncle, why did you bring me here?” Bring her to the edge of a cliff in the dead of night? Perish the thought — he had surely just brought her to admire the view from the cliff’s edge, hadn’t he?

Though in all honesty, the darkness here was absolute, and there was nothing to be seen at all.

But with her Ninth Imperial Uncle present, there was already scenery enough. Wherever he chose to stand became the most beautiful sight in all the world. Looking at him was more than sufficient. Scenery was quite beside the point.

“To jump off the cliff.” The man’s low, resonant voice drew her scattered thoughts back in an instant.

“Oh.” Feng Jiu’er gave a small nod. What her Ninth Imperial Uncle said was what would be. If he said they were jumping off the cliff, then off the cliff they would jump.

But… jump off the cliff?

A jolt shot through her. Feng Jiu’er’s eyes flew wide open. “Ninth Imperial Uncle, you mean — ah! Ninth Imperial Uncle, what are you doing?”

Heavens above! He was actually carrying her off the cliff!

His long arm reached out and pulled her into his embrace — and just like that, he stepped into the wind off the cliff’s edge and leapt into the darkness below.

The wind screamed past her ears and face. The descent was so fast she could not even draw breath.

She was truly going to die. At this speed — even with her Ninth Imperial Uncle’s skill, there was no recovering from this.

If nothing was done right now, it would be too late. What on earth was her Ninth Imperial Uncle thinking?

Feng Jiu’er desperately wanted to speak up — because with acceleration, their downward speed would only grow faster and faster.

This was not something to take lightly. This was something that could kill a person in a matter of seconds. And yet her Ninth Imperial Uncle treated it as though it were nothing — was he simply too confident in himself, or was he being utterly reckless?

Who in the world actually jumped off cliffs? Though she did not know what he intended, Jiu’er was certain that her Ninth Imperial Uncle had not come here to die.

Yet the way things stood now — if nothing was done to change it, was this not the same as seeking death?

“Ninth—” The wind was too strong. Her voice barely left her lips before it was utterly swallowed and scattered by the gale.

Jiu’er felt her breathing grow more and more labored. The wind scoured her cheeks like blades, razor-sharp and burning.

Then, all at once, a large hand came to rest on the back of her head and pressed it gently against his chest.

She breathed in the familiar scent of him. In that moment, every trace of fear was swept clean from her heart.

In an instant, something in her felt a complete and absolute surrender — as though she were placing herself entirely in his care.

It seemed as though, as long as her Ninth Imperial Uncle was by her side — even if they were to fall and be shattered to pieces together — she would have no regrets for this life.