“Cough…”

A faint cough, so soft it was almost imperceptible, cut through all the quarreling in the room.

Ye Luosha’s heart lurched. The force of her palm strike snapped back instantly. Her line of sight was blocked by Qiao Mu, yet she had just clearly heard—

“Cough, cough.” Two more coughs, hushed and light, but this time every person in the room heard them plainly.

That was not Feng Jiu’er’s cough. That was… a man’s low, hoarse voice.

“Mu Mu!” Xiao Yingtao’s heart leapt with joy. She spun around, and when she saw the man in the bed open his eyes, her breath caught and her legs gave out — she truly sank to her knees on the floor.

“Mu Mu!” Ye Luosha forgot to breathe. She was just about to rush forward when Qiao Mu pulled her firmly back.

“Senior, forgive me, but…” Qiao Mu glanced back at Jiu’er and Mu Mu, deliberately lowering her voice. “Senior, please be patient.”

“I know, I know.” Mu Mu still looked so terribly frail — how could Ye Luosha dare do anything rash?

Not only Ye Luosha — even Emperor Ji only stared toward the bed, not daring to move a single inch.

Elder Shi gently patted Ye Luosha’s hand, wanting to offer a few words of comfort, yet found that when the words reached his lips, he could not utter them either.

He too was so overcome he could scarcely contain it himself. When the Young Palace Master had first been wounded, he had even contemplated death as atonement. If it had not been for Feng Jiu’er saying there was still a thread of hope, he might truly have followed the Young Palace Master from this world, to serve him in the netherworld forever.

And now, the Young Palace Master had truly recovered. How could he not be moved?

Mu Mu had awakened. Those deep, dark eyes now held little light, but as they opened and fell upon Jiu’er still seated at his bedside, still working needles into him, the dim, empty gaze gradually came into focus.

The pale lips moved slightly — it seemed as though he wanted to speak — yet whether because he had been unconscious for so long, even speaking felt like an effort.

The others did not dare move, did not dare speak, even dared not breathe too loudly, as though afraid of startling Mu Mu, who had only just woken.

Feng Jiu’er glanced at Mu Mu, her voice soft and gentle: “I’m still treating you. You don’t need to speak. Whatever you want to say can wait until you’re better.”

“Don’t worry. We’re all here at your side — all of us.”

With those words, Feng Jiu’er meant to tell him that everyone was safe and unharmed.

Mu Mu’s thoughts were unreadable. Though his gaze had sharpened enough to focus, his eyes still held very little expression.

He simply stared at Feng Jiu’er — his hands unable to move, his legs without strength — and watched her in silence.

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll be watching over you. It will hurt a little, but it’ll pass quickly.”

With Mu Mu looking so vulnerable right now, Jiu’er spoke to him as one would coax a child — careful and gentle.

She began to undo his outer robes, and she noticed Mu Mu’s expression shift — a faint darkening, as though he were displeased.

Jiu’er immediately glanced around at everyone in the room. “Any woman in here — turn your faces away, and don’t look.”

Xiao Yingtao and Qiao Mu turned around at once, their backs to the bed, not daring to steal even a half-glance.

Ye Luosha had forgotten that she was a woman. Not only did she not turn away — she even moved to step forward.

Elder Shi reminded her: “Palace Mistress, you are also a woman.”

“But I’m Mu Mu’s—” Ye Luosha stopped herself mid-sentence. After one long, lingering look at Mu Mu, she too turned around, her back to them.

Though she had watched Mu Mu grow up from the time he was small, it was also precisely because of that that she knew him well.

Feng Jiu’er was about to undress him. Of course he would not welcome the gaze of a woman right now.

Yet he could accept Feng Jiu’er’s touch — and was even willing to let Feng Jiu’er see his body…

Ye Luosha could not suppress a silent sigh. What a tangle of fate this was. Both Mu Mu and Di Wu Ya were in this state — yet there was only one Feng Jiu’er. What would become of all this in time?

Jiu’er paid no attention to the others. She opened Mu Mu’s robes, and the deep, severe wound came into view — the scar fully revealed.

Earlier, that wound had still been raw and bloody. After this period of recovery and treatment, it had gradually begun to heal.

Jiu’er took up her silver needle, her movements swift and precise, and sent it into the acupressure point.

Shortly after, Mu Mu began coughing again. But this time, once the coughing subsided, his eyes grew clear.

“You…”

“It’s all right. What he was coughing up just now was only stagnant blood. Getting it out is a good thing. Now he should truly be able to come back to full awareness.”

Ye Luosha and Emperor Ji heard these words, and a wave of guilt swept through both of them at once.

So what Mu Mu had been coughing up was stagnant blood — and it had been necessary to expel that stagnant blood for him to genuinely regain clarity.

Yet Ye Luosha had almost turned on Qiao Mu and Xiao Yingtao just now, and had even been on the verge of pulling Feng Jiu’er away from Mu Mu’s side.

If Mu Mu had not awakened just in time, she would very nearly have committed a grave and unforgivable blunder.

Ye Luosha closed her eyes, her feelings beyond words. Why did she keep making this same mistake, time and again, and still not learn to reflect on it?

Feng Jiu’er truly meant to heal Mu Mu. Why could she still not trust her completely?

Had her prejudice against Feng Jiu’er grown too deep?

Before long, Jiu’er finally withdrew all the silver needles, helped Mu Mu dress again, and then steadied him, slowly helping him sit up.

“All right — you may all come over now. But he has only just woken up and his mind is not yet fully clear. Do not let him become agitated.”

Jiu’er put away her needles, then wrung out a warm towel and used it to wipe away the remaining traces of stagnant blood from the corner of Mu Mu’s lips.

Looking at Mu Mu now, though he had only just awakened, his color was noticeably better than it had been before.

He had truly, finally woken. And this awakening signaled that his injuries had improved by yet another great measure. If he continued on like this, a full recovery was not far off.

Ye Luosha and Elder Shi had witnessed Mu Mu’s wounds with their own eyes. At the time, Ye Luosha had inwardly despaired.

She had never imagined that, having been wounded to that degree, he could still survive — and yet here he was before her, alive.

All of it — every bit of it — was thanks to Feng Jiu’er. Whatever she might feel about this young woman, Mu Mu could no longer do without her now.

“Mu Mu…” Ye Luosha walked over. Feng Jiu’er had said Mu Mu must not be agitated, so she did not dare even raise her voice.

Yet simply seeing Mu Mu with his eyes open, sitting up, his gaze meeting hers — in this single moment, Ye Luosha was so overcome that her eyes burned. This woman, so stern and exacting with everyone, so rarely shaken — was now very nearly about to shed tears before all of them.

“Mu Mu…” Beyond calling his name, Ye Luosha found she could not say a single other word.

Elder Shi softly patted Ye Luosha on the back. He had wanted to say something reassuring, but when the words reached his lips, he too found he could not speak.

He was so moved he could barely contain himself. When the Young Palace Master had been wounded, he had even contemplated taking his own life as penance. If it had not been for Feng Jiu’er saying there was still a thread of hope left, he might truly have followed the Young Palace Master into death, to serve him in the netherworld forever.

And now the Young Palace Master had truly recovered — how could this not move him to his very core?

Yet right at the moment when everyone was so overcome with emotion, Mu Mu looked steadily at Ye Luosha and asked, in a calm, measured voice:

“Who… are you people?”