They were friends—such good, such good friends! Friends who had faced life and death together, comrades who had braved hardship side by side!

Back when something had happened to the Ninth Imperial Uncle, Mu Mu had willingly risked his own life to take his place and go off to war. Back then, they had been united in heart, and although it had been difficult, at least their convictions had aligned.

As long as everyone stood united, no matter what difficulty arose, A’Jiu wouldn’t have given it a second thought.

But once she discovered that they hadn’t actually been so united after all, the truly difficult part had only just begun.

It turned out that bloodshed wasn’t the frightening part—what was frightening was when a traitor appeared within their own ranks.

If he were willing to explain, could she truly manage to trust him again, without any lingering resentment?

The person behind her said nothing. A’Jiu drew a deep breath, and was just about to say something when her expression suddenly darkened.

That wasn’t right—these weren’t Mu Mu’s footsteps!

Just as she was about to turn around, suddenly something was drawn into her nose, and her vision blurred, her legs going weak, nearly causing her to drop to her knees.

A blast of palm force came at her from behind, aimed at her back. She gathered her strength into her palm and swept around to strike back.

Had she not assumed it was Mu Mu following behind her, she absolutely wouldn’t have let her guard down like that!

It turned out that, whether she was willing to admit it or not, in her heart she still trusted him after all.

She had trusted that he wouldn’t harm her, trusted that even though she had witnessed something so private and so serious, he still wouldn’t do anything to her.

Had it not been for trusting him so much, would she really have fallen for this person’s trick?

The two forces collided in midair. Feng Jiu’er, her true energy already weakened by the drug, swayed on her feet, and was immediately sent flying by the internal force behind the other party’s strike.

Yet even in midair, she managed to fold her legs and, upon landing, although her footing was somewhat unsteady, she still managed to barely stay standing.

“Miss Feng really is different—after being struck with bone-softening powder, she can still hold on this long!”

The man in black’s voice was hoarse, not entirely unfamiliar, yet she couldn’t quite place who it was for the moment.

He stepped forward, laughing. “If it were anyone else, by now they’d certainly already be lying on the ground, completely at someone else’s mercy.”

Feng Jiu’er tried to gather true energy in her palm, but although her constitution wasn’t the same as ordinary people’s, and she wasn’t as fearful of poison, it wasn’t as though being drugged or poisoned could simply be undone on the spot.

It would take time, and right now, she clearly had no time left.

She turned around, intending to run first no matter who it was who’d come after her.

But this time it seemed they had already anticipated that she would simply flee without another word, and had prepared for it in advance. The moment she turned, a figure shot toward her like an arrow, a palm strike aimed straight at her shoulder.

A’Jiu gritted her teeth and forced out a counter-strike with her palm.

But the power of the bone-softening drug truly was formidable—this strike of hers carried less than thirty percent of her usual strength.

A sharp pain shot through her shoulder, and this time, A’Jiu finally found her legs giving way, dropping to one knee.

“You… attacking in secret, taking advantage of someone in trouble—that’s no true victory!”

“That you still haven’t fallen even now—Miss Feng’s potential is truly beyond my expectations!” A flicker of light passed through the man in black’s eyes, a trace of excitement flashing beneath.

“Whoever obtains the Phoenix Maiden obtains the world. Perhaps you truly do carry some secret beyond anyone’s expectation—how exciting indeed!”

This term, “Phoenix Maiden”—this wasn’t the first time the man in black had brought up these words.

Feng Jiu’er didn’t understand. Phoenix Maiden? He said she was the Phoenix Maiden? What was a Phoenix Maiden? Whoever obtains the Phoenix Maiden… obtains the world?

“You… you’ve mistaken me for someone else!” She could barely hold on any longer; the fact that she hadn’t yet collapsed or fainted was already the result of exhausting every last bit of her strength just to endure.

But even A’Jiu herself knew full well that she couldn’t possibly hold on for more than a few more seconds.

“I’m not whatever Phoenix Maiden you’re looking for. I… Mu—”

The man in black struck her shoulder with another palm of equal force, scattering all the words of her cry for help into nothing.

A’Jiu’s body went limp, and this time, she truly fainted away.

The man in black stared at her tightly closed eyes, and to deny her any chance of resistance, he immediately struck several of her major pressure points.

This girl really had truly fainted. Just a moment ago, he’d even worried that she might be feigning unconsciousness, hoping to seize a chance to resist and flee.

He had never seen a woman with such formidable willpower—even most men couldn’t compare to her.

The Phoenix Maiden truly was extraordinary!

The man in black hoisted her over his shoulder and immediately strode away…

…

A’Jiu had no idea where she had been taken. In her hazy, half-conscious state, she only felt as though someone had hoisted her up and carried her along, traveling some distance.

Her body felt as though it were floating and sinking, as if upon a light boat, and later, her entire body seemed to become weightless, falling continuously from some unknown height.

The wind cut across her face—so cold, and it hurt!

After some unknown stretch of time, her body finally settled and steadied.

She had been set down, dropped in a place whose very scent was utterly unfamiliar to her.

In the surrounding air there seemed to be a faint fragrance of flowers. In her unconscious state, A’Jiu’s brow furrowed; she wanted very much to open her eyes, but her eyelids felt as heavy as a thousand pounds, impossible to lift even the slightest bit.

Something was wrong with that floral scent! It was so intensely fragrant—far too unusual!

But this bit of floral fragrance had no effect on her whatsoever.

A love-confusing perfume? They clearly had no idea who she was—a tiny bit of seductive incense like this, she wouldn’t even take seriously.

But hadn’t that person known her constitution was different? Why would they still be foolish enough to try to seduce her with a fragrance like this?

A’Jiu couldn’t make sense of it. She wanted to lift her hand, only to discover that her body had gone utterly limp, as soft as a heap of mud.

Her hands and feet were equally limp and weak; even moving them slightly felt difficult, let alone trying to get up on her own.

Damn it! Those people had sealed her meridian points with some secret technique!

Now, Feng Jiu’er’s situation was truly in quite a sorry state. She could disregard that bit of seductive floral fragrance, but the bone-softening powder still had some effect on her body, leaving her entire body weak and sore.

Although the drug’s potency was rapidly being dispelled by her own detoxifying ability, her major pressure points all over her body had been sealed!

With three things working against her at once, simply waking up at all was already a stroke of luck—in short, the situation was very dire indeed.

In her hazy state, she seemed to hear voices speaking outside.

“Master, where is A’Jiu now? What have you all done to her?”

That voice… why did it sound more and more like… Mu Mu?

Mu Mu had come!

“You’re this anxious—could it be that the reason you protect her isn’t because of her identity as the Phoenix Maiden, but because you’ve actually fallen for this girl?”

That voice—who else could it be but Mu Mu’s master? They had actually all come to the imperial city, this many people together—just what exactly were they trying to do?

And also, that “Phoenix Maiden” she spoke of—did it truly refer to her?

What exactly was a Phoenix Maiden? In her memory, it seemed she had heard of it before, and yet also seemed not to have.

A’Jiu’s memories had always been somewhat jumbled to begin with, and now, with her feelings in turmoil, she found it even harder to recall.

Mu Mu didn’t answer his master’s question, only saying anxiously, “Master, is A’Jiu inside there?”

“What’s this? For that girl’s sake, you’d even raise a hand against your own master?” Ye Luocha’s expression darkened. “Have you truly fallen for that girl?”