“I’m right here — I’m not going anywhere. What danger could possibly reach me?”

Yet the weightier Xing Zizhou’s warnings became, the more unsettled Xiao Yingtao felt.

Not for her own safety — but for Xing Zizhou, Jiu’er, and the others, and what they were about to do that night.

A vague, inexplicable unease crept through her, though she could not have said what exactly it was she was uneasy about.

Only once even Xing Zizhou’s silhouette had faded from sight did Xiao Yingtao pull her scattered thoughts together and turn toward Lady Lian’s room.

Lady Lian had been sleeping for quite a while. She ought to be waking soon.

When she reached the door, Xiao Yingtao caught the faint sound of something — a soft noise. She froze, then immediately pushed the door open.

“Lady Lian, what’s wrong?” Lady Lian was propped up on her arms, sitting half-upright in bed, her face twisted in obvious pain.

“I think… I think…” Lady Lian looked at Xiao Yingtao rushing toward her, panting in shallow, rapid bursts. “I think the baby is coming!”

After Jiu’er’s group exited the city, night had fully descended.

They changed into their night-travel attire and immediately pressed toward the cliff that Xing Zizhou’s contact had identified.

In less than half an hour, all five stood atop the cliff’s edge.

Looking down into the gorge, there was nothing but thick darkness — not a thing could be made out below.

Xing Zizhou said: “Our contact only saw the weapons being brought up from below. As for the exact cliff face or which particular mountain it is, he wasn’t sure.”

“Was your man seen?” Feng Jiu’er kept her eyes fixed on the base of the gorge as she asked.

“Not as far as he knew — he got away quickly enough that no one spotted him.” Though there was perhaps a one-in-a-hundred chance he had been seen without knowing it. That slim possibility was not nonexistent.

Jiu’er nodded and said nothing more, her gaze still trained on the depths below.

Feng Yinan said: “Master, allow me to assess the situation first.”

“Go ahead.”

With Feng Jiu’er’s consent, Feng Yinan dropped to the edge of the cliff and immediately pressed his hands together at his lips, producing a low, resonant call.

Before long, two moles emerged from below. However Feng Yinan communicated with them, he rose to his feet shortly after and looked at Feng Jiu’er, a hint of suppressed excitement in his eyes.

“Master, there are traces of many people having passed through ahead, though I cannot confirm whether it was those weapon forgers. What I can say is that we appear to have found the right place.”

Jiu’er nodded. “Can the trail left by those people be tracked?”

“That shouldn’t be difficult.”

“Good. Have them lead us there.”

Being able to track footprints at all was already remarkable. Though Feng Yinan could communicate with small animals to some degree, true communication as between humans was simply impossible. What he possessed was an innate gift, not a supernatural power.

“Move.”

The group followed the two moles down from the cliff face — not by descending the cliff directly, but along the path those who had come before them had taken.

Before long, however, the two moles seemed to disagree, lingering in indecision between two diverging routes.

After some further exchange with them that no one else could follow, Feng Yinan looked at Feng Jiu’er and said: “There was more than one group of people.”

“Understood.” Jiu’er nodded, then looked back at Xing Zizhou and Snow Maiden. “Snow Maiden, your martial skill is the strongest here — you and Xing Zizhou take the other path.”

“As for Feng Yinan and me — our martial skill is not equal to yours, but with Feng Yinan to guide us by the animals, our path should be somewhat easier than yours.”

Snow Maiden hesitated slightly. Her duty was to protect Feng Jiu’er — if Jiu’er were not at her side, she would never be fully at ease.

Even so, Jiu’er’s reasoning was sound. Feng Yinan could follow the animals’ trail — but now that the trail split, there was only one Feng Yinan to go around.

She hesitated only briefly before giving a nod. Her loyalty to Feng Jiu’er was absolute.

Xing Zizhou gave Feng Jiu’er a slight nod. “I’ll leave markers along the way.”

“Good. Tonight’s purpose is reconnaissance only — unless absolutely necessary, do not engage with anyone. If either of you discovers something, find a way to inform the Second Prince immediately.”

“Understood.”

Xing Zizhou and Snow Maiden departed. Once they were out of earshot, Feng Jiu’er looked at Qiao Mu. “I can’t shake this feeling of unease.”

“Why?” Qiao Mu felt some unease of her own, but things had reached this point — they needed to go and locate the weapons forge regardless.

They would simply take extra care on the descent. At this stage, there was no turning back.

“Qiao Mu — go back and watch over Xiao Yingtao.” Feng Jiu’er said, suddenly.

“What?” Qiao Mu’s expression was one of pure disbelief. If Jiu’er felt uneasy, did that not mean the road ahead was all the more treacherous and uncertain?

Why, at a time like this, was she being sent back?

“I can’t say why exactly. I just have this feeling… of unease.” Feng Jiu’er raised her eyes to the sky and drew a slow, deep breath. “Trust me. Go back and watch over Xiao Yingtao.”

Xiao Yingtao was careful and thorough in her work, and Jiu’er was confident in her ability to look after Lady Lian.

But Xiao Yingtao’s one weakness was that her combat ability was the poorest among all of them. She could handle caretaking tasks without peer — meticulous, attentive, with nothing escaping her notice. Yet in the face of an external threat, her ability to defend herself was the weakest of anyone.

Qiao Mu understood this perfectly well, but she still did not agree. “As long as nothing unexpected happens on Xiao Yingtao’s end, she can manage.”

If Jiu’er’s concern was the matter of Lady Lian’s delivery, Qiao Mu trusted that Xiao Yingtao was more than capable of handling it.

“And you know yourself it’s ‘as long as nothing unexpected happens’ — what if something unexpected does?” Jiu’er was not consulting her. She was persuading her.

“Lady Lian’s side cannot afford a single mistake either. If we find no evidence of the First Prince’s weapon manufacturing tonight, then the child Lian’er is carrying will be the most powerful proof that she and the Second Prince share no illicit connection.”

Compared to the weapon manufacturing, it might carry less weight in shaking the Meherke King’s conviction — but what if the manufacturing itself turned out not to be real?

“Jiu’er — are you worried that the news about the First Prince forging weapons might have been deliberately spread by someone?”

Qiao Mu had watched Jiu’er’s unease throughout the evening.

“I trust that Xing Zizhou’s people would never sell us out. But whether someone is deliberately spreading misinformation and setting a trap to lure us in — that is still an unknown.”

“I’ve already warned Xing Zizhou as well — at the first sign that something is wrong, retreat immediately. I would sooner abandon this entirely than press forward recklessly.”

After all, it was still uncertain whether the weapons forge truly existed.

“But if someone is deliberately spreading this information, they may already know where we are staying.”

Feng Jiu’er fixed her gaze on Qiao Mu. “Go back now. Assess the surroundings. If anything seems off, take Xiao Yingtao and Lady Lian and leave immediately. If necessary, go to the Second Prince.”

“I understand.” Qiao Mu let out a long breath and gave a reluctant nod.

“You waited until after Snow Maiden had gone before sending me back. That was intentional, wasn’t it?”