Mu Mu squeezed his eyes shut, his head still swimming in a haze.

He reached out, pressing his large palm against the wound on his own arm, and suddenly gripped it with force.

Fresh blood seeped out. The wound screamed in agony. His reason snapped back in an instant.

Feng Jiu’er stared at the blood trickling between his fingers, a torrent of complicated feelings sweeping through her heart.

Since he had joined them in deceiving her, even using her against her will, there was no point in continuing to put on an act in front of her.

What was the purpose of all this?

“Do you think I’ll believe you anymore?” She turned her face away and closed her eyes, working hard to let her strength recover as quickly as possible.

Mu Mu said nothing. He suddenly stepped forward and walked toward her.

Feng Jiu’er clenched her palm tight. Though she still lacked much strength, some of her true qi had returned.

The moment Mu Mu lifted her into his arms, Jiu’er bit down and unleashed the last thread of true qi she had, driving her palm outward.

Her strike landed against his heart’s gate. The force was not heavy, yet a thin line of blood still slipped from the corner of his lips.

Jiu’er’s eyes flickered. He had swiftly dispersed his protective aura on purpose, allowing himself to be struck by his own defense — her blow alone had meant nothing to him.

Why was he in such a hurry to lower his guard? Was it because he was afraid of… hurting her?

“What are you doing?” She had been lifted into his arms, and Feng Jiu’er was already trying to struggle free.

“Don’t move. I’m… still not feeling well.” Mu Mu’s voice came out hoarse beyond description. “The smell in this room is wrong. Let me take you out of here first.”

He walked to the window, paying Jiu’er no further attention. With a light tap of his feet, he swept outward in a flash.

Feng Jiu’er said nothing along the way. Yet as they left the room, Mu Mu casually flicked his hand, and something fell over her face.

Everything before her eyes plunged into darkness, and she could no longer see anything at all.

So this was their base, after all. He was not allowing her to see it — was it because he feared she would bring people to encircle and destroy them one day?

“Your heart belongs entirely to the Ninth Prince. If you knew where this place is, you would certainly lead his men here.”

Mu Mu smiled, a desolate edge to it, his footsteps never once faltering.

Her heart truly did belong to the Ninth Prince alone, and there was not a soul in the world who could deny it.

Nor was it something that could be denied.

His heart ached with a dry bitterness. He had lived more than twenty years and never once tasted an emotion like this, a feeling like this.

But in this moment, all he wanted was to take her away. There was no room left in his mind for feelings or flavors.

The wind blew fiercely, carrying a chill that seeped into the skin.

Jiu’er had no idea where they were. She only knew that they seemed to be climbing steadily upward.

Yet before long, he stopped, as if catching his breath.

“Since you helped them drug me, surely you knew there was an antidote to undo it?”

His breathing was badly off. The effects of the floral drug had not yet dissipated from his body. Feng Jiu’er was uncertain whether she should reach up and remove whatever was covering her face.

It was not unlike being abducted. Sometimes, one truly could not look upon the face of one’s captor.

Just as now — she did not know whether she was permitted to look at the surrounding environment.

Once she saw it, perhaps she would lose even the chance to get out alive.

Mu Mu looked at her, the bitterness in his heart deepening.

She had already decided that he was in league with his Shifu and the others. She had already convicted him of knowing the floral scent in the room was poisoned.

Perhaps she did not entirely lack doubt. Perhaps she had not truly made up her mind about his guilt. But this girl’s nature — he had always understood it well.

She was far too cautious. Even if a tiny flicker of uncertainty stirred in her, even a faint trace of trust —

That sliver of trust, weighed against her caution, amounted to nothing.

After all, he had been deceiving her from the very beginning.

He drew a deep breath and managed, with some effort, to settle himself a little. Mu Mu lifted her into his arms once more and began to move.

But after only a few steps, he stopped abruptly, his brow creasing sharply.

Two figures swept through the darkness of the night and landed soundlessly before them in the blink of an eye.

Mu Mu looked at them, his face expressionless. Feng Jiu’er could bear it no longer and tore the cloth from her head with one hand.

A barren, wild mountainside.

Her suspicion had drawn a step closer to the truth — yet why was it Mu Mu? When the black wolves had ambushed them before, Mu Mu had also been there.

Had Mu Mu not been wounded himself at the time?

Why was it him?

And when the Ninth Imperial Uncle had come for her, nearly losing his life to save her — the black-robed figure from that night, could he also have been someone on Mu Mu’s side?

Could all of this have been connected to Mu Mu from the very beginning?

Jiu’er’s face suddenly changed. Her hand flew to her head, and the pain was so intense she nearly cried out.

It came back to her. She and the Ninth Imperial Uncle had not merely been acquainted — they had pledged their lives to one another!

The Ninth Imperial Uncle had been gravely wounded saving her, the Gu Poison erupting within him, nearly costing him his life.

How could she have forgotten him? How could she have forgotten every single moment they had shared?

“It hurts…” Feng Jiu’er clutched her head and wailed in agony. “Ah…”

“Jiu’er!” Mu Mu tightened his hold on her, only to see her face go deathly pale, the pain so severe that blood seeped from the corners of her lips.

“Why? Shifu, what did you do to her? Why is she suffering like this?”

Night Rakshasa’s gaze swept toward Elder Shi. Elder Shi walked forward, reaching out to grasp Feng Jiu’er’s wrist.

Jiu’er was in so much pain she had lost all sense of who she was. Her eyes were glazed and unfocused, and she was on the verge of losing consciousness, with no awareness left to refuse him.

Yet Mu Mu tightened his arms around her and stepped back, giving Elder Shi no opportunity to touch Jiu’er.

“If you won’t let Elder Shi examine her, no one will know what is happening to her right now.” Night Rakshasa spoke in a low, firm voice.

Mu Mu drew a deep breath. In the end, holding the utterly unconscious Jiu’er, he stepped forward to stand before Elder Shi.

Under those wary, guarded eyes fixed upon him, a heaviness settled over Elder Shi’s heart as well.

There had been a time when the Young Palace Master had looked at him with reverence and devotion. And now… when children grew up, they had their own thoughts. That much was beyond even the Palace Master’s control.

Jiu’er had been brought back, and she now lay in bed without any sign of waking.

“Heartless Gu?” Mu Mu’s large hand clenched tight, a wave of cold fury radiating from his entire body. “Shifu, you actually placed a Gu on her!”

“Feng Jiu’er’s life was saved by me. Whatever I do to her, I have the right.” Night Rakshasa sat in her chair, utterly unmoved. “No one receives another person’s goodwill for nothing. I saved her. She ought to do something in return.”

“Shifu, what exactly do you want Jiu’er to do for you?” She was his Shifu — the family who had raised him to adulthood. He could not raise a hand against her.

The debt of nurturing was greater than the heavens. Even if it cost him himself, he must never harm her by even a hair.

“Whatever Jiu’er owes you, I will repay in her place, Shifu. Whatever you want, tell me and I will do it.”

Even if it meant assassinating the Ninth Prince — that too, he could do.

As long as — she would stop letting Jiu’er suffer.

“Shifu, remove the Heartless Gu from Jiu’er’s body. From this day forward, I will obey your every word.”