By the time Long Yan brought Feng Jiu’er inside, Lan Yue had just finished the midday meal and was practicing swordplay in the rear courtyard.

Feng Jiu’er caught sight of that tall, slender figure from a distance, and a feeling of genuine tenderness arose in her heart.

He was a beautiful man — strikingly so. Just looking at the old manor master’s features made it clear that his children could never be anything but handsome.

Although the old manor master was advanced in years, and although these years of heartache had made him look even older than he was, his features were fine and well-defined — clearly the face of a greatly handsome man in his youth.

Only, worn down to this state by age, his youthful appearance could no longer be traced, though one could still faintly make out the handsomeness beneath.

Lan Yue now appeared to be around thirty. In another age, a man of thirty was in the finest prime of his life — too young seemed callow, too old seemed past his peak, but thirty was just right.

Had his face not been ruined, he would surely have been another beauty who could overturn kingdoms.

She suddenly raised her hand — with a snap — and broke off a branch from a tree nearby.

Holding the branch, Feng Jiu’er leaped upward in a single motion. Channeling her inner energy through it, she sent it sweeping toward Lan Yue in the distance.

Lan Yue was already aware that someone had trespassed into his domain. Seeing it was Feng Jiu, he had originally intended to ignore her — but he had not expected the girl to be so bold as to come flying at him without a care for her life.

The sharp force of her true energy was noticeably more advanced than during their last confrontation a month ago. Feng Jiu’s rapid progress was something that even Lan Yue could not help but find astonishing.

Momentarily caught off guard, Feng Jiu’s branch was already before his face.

Lan Yue raised his hand. With a clear ring of metal, long sword met branch — a small section of the branch was sliced away, but it was clear the other party had no intention of genuinely striking to harm.

Feng Jiu’er curved her lips in a smile, and with a swift motion, she thrust the branch at Lan Yue again.

Long Yan, who had hurried over, was growing nervous. The Manor Master despised being pestered above all things. He had already been displeased today over the “Uncle” Feng Jiu had called him several times. Now, with Feng Jiu coming to pester him further — what if he accidentally injured her?

But Feng Jiu’er seemed utterly unaware that she was placing herself in danger. She traded moves with Lan Yue using the branch, and not only showed no sign of backing off — on the contrary, her strikes grew more and more ferocious.

Lan Yue’s dark eyes narrowed, and he said coldly, “Keep making a scene, and don’t blame me for not holding back.”

“All right then — why don’t you try not holding back, Manor Master? I’d like to see for myself whether I’ve actually made progress this past month.”

This girl — she truly had no fear of death!

The Manor Master grew angry. He sent a swift sword strike straight toward Feng Jiu’s vital point at her chest.

In truth, if Feng Jiu had kept her wits about her, she could have dodged that strike — the Manor Master had not put his full force behind it. And Feng Jiu’s inner energy and technique were indeed considerably more formidable than a month ago; it would have been no problem at all for her to evade.

But what left Long Yan utterly dumbfounded was that Feng Jiu not only failed to dodge — she actually kept right on going, driving the branch straight at Lan Yue’s face.

Long Yan was so frightened that cold sweat nearly broke out on him, and he called out anxiously, “Miss Feng, watch out!”

Feng Jiu’er seemed as though she had not heard — or rather, had not even registered that she was in danger — without the slightest sign of any intention to defend herself.

Lan Yue’s brow furrowed deeply. He could see clearly that the tip of his long sword was on the verge of piercing through Feng Jiu’s vital point at her chest. He turned his wrist, swung the sword aside, and let the force of the blade release downward — with a sharp sound, it carved a sizable gash across the ground.

But at that very moment, Feng Jiu’s five fingers tightened. With a flick of the branch, it struck squarely against Lan Yue’s mask.

A cracking sound rang out. The strap of the mask that Lan Yue had worn across his face for so many years snapped clean through.

A very soft, very faint sound — the mask falling to the ground. Yet that faint sound seemed, in an instant, to freeze the very air around them.

Long Yan did not dare breathe. He was utterly shaken by what had just unfolded.

Feng Jiu’er stared at Lan Yue’s face without blinking — at this face — “So beautiful…”

She was almost bewitched. A man of peerless beauty — surely this was what it meant.

He was completely unlike the Ninth Imperial Uncle in the kind of striking handsomeness he possessed. He… possessed a beauty that was delicate yet not at all feminine — a beauty that ought to have been radiant and bright, but had been worn by years of shadow into something edged with fragility.

Although there were several blood-red lines across his face, as though something were concealed just beneath the surface of the skin, Feng Jiu’er had in that single glance taken in his features with perfect clarity.

He was truly… so beautiful.

Why did such beauty feel so hauntingly familiar?

Lan Yue’s fingers tightened, his expression darkening in an instant. A cold and absolute aura enveloped him from all sides, sending a chill into the bones of all nearby.

Even Long Yan in the distance was frightened. This Miss Feng was still staring at the Manor Master’s face — staring as if her soul had left her body… could one use those words to describe the way Miss Feng looked right now?

She truly was… staring at the Manor Master’s face with what could only be described as the look of someone about to drool…

Lan Yue’s long sword suddenly lifted, its cold edge radiating menace.

“This is bad!” Long Yan’s heart seized. He moved at his fastest speed and swept Feng Jiu behind him with one arm.

“Manor Master, she’s just… just a child playing around. Manor Master, please don’t stoop to her level!”

Lan Yue paid no attention. The tip of the long sword pointed at the two of them, the sword force slowly gathering.

“Don’t fight anymore — anger doesn’t suit you.” Feng Jiu’er actually stepped out from behind Long Yan without the slightest concern for her own wellbeing, met Lan Yue’s gaze — cold enough to kill without leaving a trace — and said evenly: “Your face was not caused by external injury. You were poisoned.”

——

By the time Long Yan escorted Feng Jiu’er out of the World’s Foremost Manor, he felt as though all the strength had drained from his body, and he nearly lacked even the energy to walk.

“Long steward, why are you frightened to this extent? Isn’t everything fine now?” Feng Jiu’er cast him a sideways glance with a look of mild disdain. “Your courage really is too small, isn’t it?”

“You…” Long Yan shot her a look. He had truly been scared out of his wits today.

It was not that his courage was small — what had just happened was genuinely dangerous, did she understand that!

“You were nearly killed by the Manor Master’s sword just now!” He restated this, intending only to give her a bit of a fright, so that she would not be so reckless next time.

But quite plainly, this girl was not the least bit afraid — in fact, she was still buzzing with excitement.

“What of it? Am I not still standing right here before you, perfectly intact? Look — I’m completely fine, not a scratch on me. Besides, your Manor Master actually let me take his pulse, didn’t he? Isn’t that a good thing?”

Feng Jiu’er blinked, her expression of innocence so genuine it was impossible to stay angry with her.

It was true that the Manor Master had finally been willing to let Feng Jiu take his pulse, and Feng Jiu seemed to have identified the root of his condition — that was naturally a good thing.

But just now — it had truly been dangerous!

Did she know — when Feng Jiu’s branch knocked the Manor Master’s mask off, he had seen genuine killing intent rise in the Manor Master’s eyes?

The Manor Master had genuinely come very close to killing this girl, and yet she was completely oblivious — without the slightest trace of fear!

Feng Jiu’er was truly unafraid. She was even filled with curiosity about Lan Yue: “Why does he dislike me so much when I call him Uncle?”