“Who are you?” Long Feiyan had not taken the newcomer seriously at first, but the moment she looked up at him, her heart trembled despite herself.

For no reason at all, she felt a tightness clutch at her heart — a feeling so strange that it left her with no will to even raise her hand against him.

A breeze swept past, stirring the hems of their robes, yet the two of them stood as if turned to stone atop the rooftop, simply staring at one another. The time it took for an incense stick to burn down passed, and still neither of them moved.

Qing Zhi looked at Qing Ye, her heart anxious.

She had followed their mistress for so many years, had watched her face countless enemies, but never before had she seen a scene like this.

Qing Ye did not know what to do either. But there was not the slightest hint of battle in the air above, so their mistress was clearly in no danger, which meant it would be inappropriate for her to rush up there now.

Could it be that their mistress had encountered an old acquaintance?

But their mistress was veiled behind a sheer gauze now, so there was no way the man could recognize her.

Just who was this man up there?

Qing Ye herself had been at Long Feiyan’s side for many years now — if this was someone her mistress recognized, perhaps she too might recognize him.

So she carefully edged backward. Though she did not climb onto the roof, she found just the right angle to clearly see the white-robed man’s face.

He was wearing a mask!

Qing Ye’s mind filled with confusion. One of them veiled, the other masked — even if they were old acquaintances, neither could possibly recognize the other!

Then why did it feel as though time itself had stopped? What did this mean?

Perhaps, in that moment, even the two people on the rooftop themselves did not know what they truly wanted to do.

Lanyue had come here burning with rage, intending to stand up for Feng Jiu, but the moment he saw this woman in white standing before him, he found he could not bring himself to strike.

Long Feiyan, for her part, had wanted to test this skilled fighter, curious whether the martial world’s experts, after all her years in seclusion, had grown to a level no longer comparable to those of the past.

But the moment she came up and saw this white-robed man, her hands seemed to slip beyond her own control, and she found it difficult even to gather her true energy.

A fierce battle seemed ready to erupt at any moment, yet neither of them showed the slightest sign of actually clashing.

Down below, Qing Ye and Qing Zhi could do nothing but wait.

No one knew how much time had passed before a chaotic clatter of footsteps suddenly rang out from outside — a large group of people was rushing in.

“Mistress, Emperor Qiwen’s men are here,” Qing Zhi called up in warning.

Long Feiyan looked at the white-robed man before her and said, her voice lowered, “Settling the matter between us is not something that can be decided in a single day. If you’ve come for Feng Jiu’s sake, then come back another time.”

At the mention of Feng Jiu’s name, Lanyue’s large hand clenched tight.

Having seen this masked woman in white, he had actually forgotten all about the matter of Feng Jiu!

Still, Emperor Qiwen’s men had been alerted. And just as the white-robed woman had said, settling their contest was clearly not something that could be done in a moment — this woman’s skill was no less than his own.

Lanyue glanced at her once more, then finally turned, his feet lightly touching down before his plain white figure vanished into the night.

“Mistress.” Once the white-robed man had left, Qing Ye leapt up and landed behind Long Feiyan.

“Mistress, that man… do you know him?”

“He wore a mask and disguised his voice. How could I possibly know him?” Long Feiyan still stood on the rooftop, gazing in the direction the white-robed man had gone, an inexplicable trace of loss flickering in her eyes.

It was as if some part of her heart had suddenly hollowed out — a feeling she had not experienced in a very, very long time.

Just as she had said, the man wore a mask and disguised his voice — she could not make out his true face, nor hear his true voice. How could she possibly recognize him?

And yet, despite herself, she could not help but feel her heart so deeply stirred…

“Long’er, what are you doing up there? Come down quickly, it’s dangerous up there.”

Down in the courtyard, Emperor Qiwen looked up at the figure on the rooftop, his face full of anxiety. “Long’er, your leg has only just healed — come down quickly.”

He wanted to climb up himself, but he had not practiced martial arts in so many years that he had no idea how his lightness skill would hold up now.

If he failed to make it up and fell halfway, wouldn’t that be a humiliating disaster in front of Long’er?

Besides, as the ruler of a nation, surrounded by people of low standing, he still had to preserve his dignity as monarch — he couldn’t go leaping about in front of everyone. What kind of decorum would that be?

But Long Feiyan had no intention of listening to him at all. She remained standing up there, gazing at the patch of night sky into which the white-robed man had vanished, a trace of inscrutable bewilderment surfacing in her eyes.

Emperor Qiwen had no idea what to do either, and could only turn to Qing Zhi beside him. “What happened just now? Who broke in? Has he gotten away?”

Since no one had been caught, the intruder had clearly escaped. Anxiety gripped him. “Is Long’er hurt? Should I summon the imperial physician?”

“He’s already gone. He never actually crossed hands with our mistress.” Qing Zhi had no wish to stay below dealing with this old man, so with a light tap of her foot she leapt up to stand beside Qing Ye, watching their mistress ahead of them.

No one knew how much time passed before Long Feiyan finally seemed to have stood there long enough, and leapt down from above.

That weightless, drifting figure left Emperor Qiwen dazed with admiration, but seeing her descend, his anxiety flared again and he hurried forward. “Long’er, your leg—”

“It’s already healed.” Long Feiyan’s expression was cold as frost, and her slender figure vanished into the room in an instant.

With a resounding bang, she slammed the door shut using a burst of palm force.

Qing Ye stood outside the door, looked at Emperor Qiwen, and said flatly, “My apologies, our mistress does not wish to see anyone. Your Majesty, please return.”

“What exactly happened here? Why are the guards lying wounded all over the ground? Who dared to break in?”

With the matter still unresolved, Emperor Qiwen was naturally unwilling to simply leave like this.

Still, over all these years he had grown used to being refused by Long’er. Now that she did not wish to see him, he dared not force his way in recklessly.

Ever since Long’er’s leg had healed, her coldness toward him had only just begun to soften, gaining a faint trace of warmth.

If he forced his way in now, he had no idea whether she would grow angry. And if she grew angry and left, where would he ever find his Long’er again?

“Long’er, can’t you… can’t you just explain it clearly to me?”

“My apologies, our mistress is not feeling well today. Please, Your Majesty, do not disturb her.”

Qing Ye and Qing Zhi continued to stand guard outside the door — once they said no visitors, there would be no visitors.

Watching this, the guards all felt it was beneath the emperor’s dignity. Why should he humble himself to such a degree for the sake of one woman?

After all, he was the Emperor of Bei Mu, the ruler of an entire nation!

But Emperor Qiwen paid this no mind at all, his voice even softening further. “Then… what exactly happened just now?”

“Just a petty thief, that’s all.” Qing Ye swept a glance over the guards who had only just managed to struggle to their feet, and let out a cold snort. “The people Your Majesty sent to protect our mistress have only this much ability — when trouble actually came, our mistress still had to deal with it herself.”

Emperor Qiwen’s old face flushed red, and fury surged through him at once. “Guards! Drag them all away and behead every one of them!”