“What’s going on?” Jian Yi caught Feng Jiu’er as she collapsed and helped her sit back down on the bed.

Jiu’er drew a deep breath. Her breathing was ragged and her head still spun dizzily — yet she had not truly fainted.

“I think… I’ve been poisoned.”

“Poisoned?” Impossible! He had personally inspected tonight’s food and verified it before letting her eat. This remote wilderness village was unlikely to harbour ill intent under ordinary circumstances, but as an assassin he had long cultivated the instinct to guard against every contingency. There was no way anything could have been wrong with the food — so how had she…

“I have been poisoned.” Feng Jiu’er sat on the bed and worked to regulate her breathing. “It’s fine. My body carries its own toxins. Ordinary poison won’t have much effect on me — at worst it’ll make me dizzy for a moment.” She studied Jian Yi’s face. “But this place…”

Suddenly Feng Jiu’er’s heart lurched. She stared hard at Jian Yi. “You…”

Jian Yi’s hand clenched in his palm. He had already sensed something wrong — he too had been poisoned! How could this be? Had Elder Sister Mei really tampered with the food she sent over? But he had tested every single dish with his silver needle, and had even checked the tea they drank. Where in the world had the poison been hidden?

Feng Jiu’er seemed to see something. She suddenly seized his hand. “Don’t move!”

Before Jian Yi’s eyes the room blurred, and his towering frame swayed slightly. Had his other hand not shot out to grip the wooden bedpost, even he would have buckled and gone down.

Feng Jiu’er turned his hand over and spread his palm open. She had not expected it — his entire palm had turned black!

She looked down at her own foot. The skin around her ankle was equally dark.

Both their gazes fell at the same moment on the medicinal ointment lying nearby.

The poison had been hidden in the ointment!

Clearly those people knew how cautious they were. Had the poison been placed in the food, Jian Yi might well have detected it easily. But who would ever think to look at an ointment?

“Jiu’er…” Jian Yi’s body lurched; he nearly toppled over.

Feng Jiu’er quickly steadied him, yet her own head felt heavy and her legs light — she could barely remain seated herself.

Outside, voices drifted in faintly.

“I’ve already placed the thing in the ointment. My Lord, please don’t hurt my son.”

“Where are they?” An unfamiliar man’s voice — vicious and menacing.

“They’re… they’re in the room… Ah——”

Elder Sister Mei let out a wretched scream. It was not hard to imagine what had happened to her — she had already been killed.

Afterward, a flurry of chaotic footsteps bore down on them rapidly…

Feng Jiu’er looked at Jian Yi. Those people had come prepared. They were both poisoned now. What were they to do?

Jian Yi’s palm tightened into a fist. He suddenly drew a deep breath, straightened his frame, and swept Feng Jiu’er up into his arms.

“No, you can’t—” Jiu’er’s words were not yet finished when Jian Yi had already carried her and burst out through the window.

He leapt upward and in an instant was racing along the treetops.

From the small cottage behind them came several voices.

“Bad — they’ve escaped!”

“They’re poisoned — they can’t get far. After them, quickly!”

“Yes!”

The men in black gave swift chase, but at their speed it was no easy matter to catch up with Jian Yi and Feng Jiu’er now.

But Jiu’er knew: they truly could not get far.

“Jian Yi, stop! Don’t keep going!” He was poisoned. If he kept forcing himself to run by channelling his qi this way, he would only speed the toxin through his body.

If they stopped now and she applied her needles to expel the poison, there might still be a chance.

Any later and it would truly be too late.

“Jian Yi, stop — you’ll die!”

He was moving too fast. The howling wind swept past her ears and snatched her words away the moment they left her mouth.

“Jian Yi…”

Suddenly something cool and wet struck her face. Feng Jiu’er raised her hand to wipe it and found the back of her hand smeared entirely in dark black blood.

It was Jian Yi’s blood — he was coughing it up!

“Stop, stop running!” Jiu’er began struggling frantically in his arms.

This fool — if he put her down and left on his own, perhaps he might still have one sliver of a chance. Poisoned as he was, carrying her as he fled — where could they possibly escape to?

“Those people are after me. Put me down and go on ahead yourself!”

She shouted aloud, yet Jian Yi did not pause in the slightest.

Feng Jiu’er shoved him hard. “Put me down now. Weren’t you going to bring my hand back to Feng Qingyin? Go first — come back tomorrow and deliver my corpse to her. Your debt to her will be settled in full.” She was not being dramatic saying this to him — there was truly no other way now. If those people killed her, her corpse would be of no use to anyone. This fool was too stubborn. He owed Feng Qingyin and would know no peace for the rest of his days if he did not repay that debt. Since her corpse was worthless, letting him bring it back to Feng Qingyin would at least buy back his freedom. She disliked him very much for insisting on chopping off her hand — but if she thought about it honestly, this man was a good person. Good people deserved to live on well.

“Jian Yi, put me down — do you hear me?”

Jian Yi simply would not listen. She no longer knew how long they had been running when his legs suddenly gave way, his breath failed, and the two of them plunged straight toward the ground.

At the last moment before impact, Jian Yi turned himself so that his body came between her and the earth.

With a heavy thud, the fall was without question severe.

Jian Yi’s thin lips parted — a torrent of blood surged out.

Feng Jiu’er, badly frightened, scrambled off him and helped him into a sitting position. “Jian Yi, are you all right?”

He said nothing. He opened his mouth and out came another gush of black blood — not a single word could pass.

Jiu’er reached down her body and felt around. Thank heaven — her needle pouch was still at her waist!

She tried to pull it free, but his large hand closed around her small one and held it.

“Too… late.” If they did not leave now, those people would catch up to them!

“No. I have to apply the needles to you right now — otherwise, you’ll be… too late as well.” Poisoned this deeply, if the toxin was not driven out in time, his life truly could not be saved.

But before Feng Jiu’er could push Jian Yi’s hand away, footsteps already sounded from the slope below.

The men in black had arrived!

Seeing Jian Yi’s heavy brows knit together, Feng Jiu’er grew frantic and called out under her breath, “You mustn’t!” But Jian Yi paid her no heed at all. His large hand tightened its grip; from the ground he sprang up and once again swept Feng Jiu’er into his arms.

This time, however, he had absolutely no way to return to the treetops. He could only carry Jiu’er and employ what little lightness skill remained to him, moving along the ground.

“Don’t be afraid. I’ll get you back safely.”

Jiu’er understood what he meant by “getting her back” — and where. But this place was far, far too distant from Phoenix City, and the toxin in his body could no longer wait to run its course.

Jian Yi’s vision began to blur. With every step he took, a thread of dark black blood slipped from the corner of his mouth.

No matter how Jiu’er pleaded, he would not stop.

Because he knew: the moment he stopped, the girl in his arms would fall into the hands of those people.

It was he who had taken her away from those people at Tianji Hall. It was he who had led her into this danger. Since it was he who had brought her out, he would get her back no matter what it took.