The two men were about to reach Feng Jiu’er, yet Jiuqing’s large hand still held her wrist firmly.

Just as Feng Jiu’er, anxious and breaking into a sweat, was on the verge of losing her composure, Jiuqing’s hand loosened, and he finally let her go.

Jiu’er let out a deep breath of relief.

It wasn’t just the two of them right now—if it had only been that, the Ninth Imperial Uncle could simply have taken her and left.

But now, with over a hundred brothers trapped in the cave, if the two of them left, what would happen to the brothers?

Fortunately, in the end, the Ninth Imperial Uncle had finally calmed down.

“What do you want?” Feng Jiu’er glared at the two bandits standing before her.

One of them said coldly, “Our Old Master wants to see you.”

“Don’t waste so many words on her, just take her!” said the man standing outside impatiently.

Hearing this, the two subordinates immediately hauled Feng Jiu’er up, escorting her out of the cave.

Jiuqing’s large hand kept clenching tighter and tighter, but he had already reined his aura back under control.

Watching the group walk off into the distance, Xuegu finally let out a breath of relief and looked toward Jiuqing, saying in a low voice, “Although these people are bandits, they don’t seem like utterly vicious, cruel types.”

“Since Jiu’er said half an hour, perhaps we should wait a bit first…”

“Two sticks of incense!” Jiuqing closed his eyes, saying not another word.

Two sticks of incense—once the Ninth Prince had said it, that was that. If Jiu’er hadn’t returned within the time it took two sticks of incense to burn, he would go out directly to find her.

Two sticks of incense, then, so be it—in truth, with Jiu’er taken away alone, Xuegu wasn’t at ease either.

This was, after all, a bandit stronghold—there was no telling exactly what those people intended by taking Jiu’er away.

If those men just now had shown even the slightest disrespect toward Jiu’er, Jiuqing likely would never have let them take her away at all.

Once everyone had left, Jiuqing stood up and walked to the cave entrance.

Outside were rows upon rows of small wooden huts. The cave was somewhat dark, which actually provided him with cover.

He stood at a spot just inside the cave entrance—as long as the people outside didn’t look carefully, they wouldn’t notice his figure.

Xuegu didn’t know what he was thinking, but with Jian Yi and Mu Mu both still out there—had the Ninth Prince left any markers for them along the way they’d been brought here?

She herself had fainted and knew nothing of it, but that person she’d seen, that voice she’d heard, right before fainting…

Looking again at Jiuqing, still standing just inside the cave entrance, his proud, unyielding figure gradually began merging in her mind with another tall, imposing figure.

She suddenly found she could no longer quite tell them apart!

Shaking her head, Xuegu took a deep breath and looked at Jiuqing again.

His silhouette was cold and tall, but in the end, it was different from that other person’s.

…

Feng Jiu’er was brought to a side hall.

Inside the side hall were several people, a few of them clearly elderly, seated in their places.

By the window stood a young man, along with two women.

From the moment Jiu’er walked in, everyone’s gaze fell entirely on her, as if they were all studying her.

She had no idea what they were studying her for, but the man standing by the window seemed to have his eyes filled with resistance from the very first moment he laid eyes on her.

What had she done, out of nowhere, for this man to find her so detestable?

Judging by his expression, it didn’t seem like hatred exactly—either way, it was simply distaste.

Suddenly, one of the middle-aged men seated in a chair spoke. “Is this the girl?”

“Reporting to the Old Master, yes, this is the girl.” Elder Feng sat to one side, looking at Feng Jiu’er with a face full of smiles.

Jiu’er’s gaze had originally been fixed on the Old Master, but the moment Elder Feng spoke, her attention was suddenly drawn over to him instead.

He was a man with quite a few scars on his face—though she could tell at a single glance that the scars were fake.

Not everyone’s disguise techniques were equally masterful—some people’s were merely average.

Noticing her staring fixedly at his face, Elder Feng looked startled for a moment before suddenly laughing. “Little girl, do you really like such an ugly face that much?”

“Whether the real you is ugly or handsome, I wouldn’t know,” Feng Jiu’er replied flatly.

Elder Feng looked taken aback for the briefest moment, and then suddenly burst into hearty laughter. “Heh, this girl is rather interesting.”

To think she could see through the disguise on his face with a single glance—not bad at all!

Although he himself knew his disguise wasn’t an especially refined technique, it had at least managed to fool quite a number of people.

For this girl to recognize it with just one look meant her discernment, at the very least, wasn’t lacking.

The Old Master studied Feng Jiu’er carefully for a good while longer, still seeming somewhat dissatisfied.

“Old Feng, this girl… isn’t she a little too thin and frail!”

Thin and frail? What did that even mean? She was only a little thin—where exactly was she frail?

This Old Master’s eye for judging people was honestly worrying!

Elder Feng said with a smile, “This girl isn’t very old yet—at most around sixteen. Being a little thin and frail is nothing to worry about.”

“It seems Old Feng is quite satisfied with this girl?”

Elder Feng had been with their stronghold for so many years, having made no small number of contributions to it—the Old Master practically followed his every word without question.

However, this time the matter concerned his own son’s lifelong happiness, so things still couldn’t be handled too carelessly.

As for his own son, he now stood by the window with arms crossed, watching them coldly, as if none of this had anything to do with him at all.

He almost seemed to be watching the whole thing as some kind of joke.

Elder Feng glanced sidelong at the young master, Zhao Yusheng, not taking his resistance seriously at all, and let his gaze settle back on Feng Jiu’er.

The way he looked at Feng Jiu’er, his eyes constantly held a hint of hidden amusement, appearing thoroughly satisfied.

“This girl can cure the brothers who accidentally wander into the stone forest’s maze formation.”

“Is that true?” The Old Master, upon hearing this, instantly sat up straight, staring at Feng Jiu’er. “You can really cure people who’ve wandered into the stone forest?”

“No, no, wait a moment.” The Old Master seemed to have thought of something and waved a hand. “It depends on how much time it would take.”

Brothers who accidentally wandered into the stone forest’s maze formation would lose clarity of mind, even violently attacking their companions—becoming extremely aggressive.

This was a drawback of the Black Valley where their Zhao Family Stockade was located—in fact, there would inevitably be more brothers who wandered into the stone forest’s maze and came back injured.

Sometimes, they would even end up injuring their own companions.

Because of this, the Old Master had been troubled over it for quite some time.

However, brothers whose minds had been harmed by the maze formation would naturally recover on their own, as long as they were tied up and given a few days—three, five, or seven—to calm down.

If her method of treatment also required that much time, then in truth it would be of no help to them at all.

Elder Feng naturally knew what he was thinking, and said with a smile, “This girl can bring a brother whose mind has been clouded by the stone forest’s maze formation back to lucidity in just a short moment.”

“A moment?” These words not only made the Old Master’s eyes light up, but even made the young master, Zhao Yusheng, frown, his gaze at last falling seriously on Feng Jiu’er.

She truly was beautiful, but if his father went and arbitrarily arranged some kind of match for him, then no matter how beautiful the girl was, he’d find her detestable regardless!