At this moment, Feng Jiang was indeed somewhat captivating, but Qiao Mu quickly reined in her wandering thoughts.

“Feng Jiu’er.” She withdrew her gaze and looked at Feng Jiu’er, her voice carrying a soft warning. “Don’t make me sound like some lecherous woman! I’m nothing like you.”

“Tch! Food and beauty are basic human nature — who doesn’t appreciate beautiful things? People are visual creatures. Surely you, Qiao Mu, wouldn’t just fall for any boorish lout?”

“Regardless, I’m not interested.” Qiao Mu pulled her attention back, remarking flatly.

“Not interested in what?” Suddenly, a gust swept through, and a tall male figure landed before the two of them.

When Qiao Mu looked up, Feng Jiang’s gaze was still resting on her.

“What does it have to do with you?” Qiao Mu shot Feng Jiang a dismissive glance and couldn’t be bothered to pay him any further attention.

Feng Jiang didn’t press for more either, and he seemed to be in rather good spirits.

“What is it? Did you find some good news?” Feng Jiu’er looked at him and asked softly.

“If I recall correctly, two years ago, the stone forest ahead was laid out in the formation of an array diagram. I didn’t expect that it seems to no longer exist now.” Feng Jiang said with a smile. “This way, we should certainly be able to leave the ravine before daybreak.”

“After passing through the mountain range in this area, there will be a decent stretch of flatland where everyone can rest properly.”

Feng Jiu’er wasn’t sure whether what Feng Jiang meant by “no longer existing” referred to something that had long since vanished, or whether the array formation had been deliberately destroyed.

The Ninth Imperial Uncle had taken Zhao Yusheng and left just like that. She had originally assumed the matter with the breeding ground was their doing, but it turned out it was her Third Imperial Brother who had been quietly lending a hand from the shadows.

Since Third Imperial Brother hadn’t run into the Ninth Imperial Uncle and Zhao Yusheng at the breeding ground, did that mean they had already entered the Dark Lands earlier?

This fellow, leaving without even consulting her — honestly!

“Alright, let’s move. We’ll figure things out once we’re out!” Feng Jiu’er nodded.

The group continued forward, and before long they entered the stone forest Feng Jiang had spoken of.

Feng Jiu’er returned to Feng Li’s side, while Feng Jiang and Qiao Mu continued to walk at the very front.

“Jiu’er, pass the word back — tell everyone not to stray from the group. If someone can’t keep up, they must say so in advance.” Feng Jiang’s voice carried over. “Anyone who gets separated in here will be very difficult to find, and there’s even a real possibility of losing one’s life.”

“Understood.” Feng Jiu’er called back.

From the rear, voices relaying the message rippled through the group. Feng Jiang climbed nimbly up onto a small cliff ledge in just a few strides.

Qiao Mu paused, looked up for a moment, then withdrew her gaze. With a light tap of her foot, she was beside Feng Jiang.

“How does it look?” she asked evenly.

“No problem.” Feng Jiang gazed attentively into the distance and replied with only a casual word.

Qiao Mu said nothing, her gaze falling upon the vast expanse of stone forest ahead. She studied it carefully as well.

Dense, towering stone pillars stretched as far as the eye could see without end. Even she, who had grown up in the mountains, was left utterly bewildered.

There was no denying it — this fellow truly did have some ability.

Not making heads or tails of it, she cast Feng Jiang a sidelong glance, then leapt backward to return to where she had been.

“Jiu’er, do you want to go take a look? It’s somewhat…” Unable to find the right words to describe the stone forest, Qiao Mu finally squeezed out a single word: “Chaotic.”

“With thousands upon thousands of stone pillars, one wrong step and how long would it take to find your way back?”

“Didn’t my Third Imperial Brother say there’s no problem?” Feng Jiu’er looked up at Feng Jiang, her eyes holding a trace of admiration. “If he says there’s no problem, then there’s no problem.”

“Very well, then we follow his lead.” Qiao Mu raised an eyebrow. “As long as everyone gets out safely, whoever we listen to — that’s for Jiu’er to decide.”

The group paused for roughly a quarter of an hour before pressing forward again.

This stretch of the path was indeed far more difficult to traverse than what had come before. Fortunately, after two hours of walking, they finally emerged from the stone forest.

After walking another half hour across the open flatland, the sky gradually began to brighten.

“Jiu’er, let everyone rest here for a moment. I’ll go scout the forest up ahead.” Feng Jiang turned to look at Feng Jiu’er, showing not the slightest sign of fatigue.

“Alright.” Feng Jiu’er nodded. “Take care of yourself!”

“Mm.” Feng Jiang dipped his head and turned to leave.

Watching his departing figure, Qiao Mu felt a flicker of unease and quietly followed after him.

Once they had moved away from the group and entered the forest, Feng Jiang asked softly, “Why have you been following me all this time?”

Qiao Mu glanced at his tall figure with mild disdain and replied flatly, “Jiu’er asked me to protect you.”

“Watch yourself. This place is nothing like the forests outside — there are venomous creatures everywhere.” He left that remark hanging and continued forward.

Qiao Mu glanced around in all directions, then leapt lightly ahead and fell into step behind him.

Venomous creatures everywhere — she hadn’t spotted any herself, but she did have a duty to keep him safe. After all, he was someone Jiu’er cared about.

Gradually pushing deeper into the forest, small creatures began appearing more frequently.

Feng Jiang scouted the path ahead while Qiao Mu was no less diligent on her end.

With animals around, did that mean everyone wouldn’t have to eat dried meat today?

Never mind how dreadful that dried meat tasted — just thinking about it made her feel ill.

If anyone ate it for eight or ten days straight, it would be a miracle not to fall sick!

Small animal cries sounded intermittently from behind, but Feng Jiang paid them no attention and kept pushing forward.

No significant obstacles had been encountered along the way, so he simply kept going.

Suddenly, a low cry rang out from behind him, and Feng Jiang immediately halted.

In the blink of an eye, his figure had vanished from the forest.

When Feng Jiang turned back, he found Qiao Mu perched atop a tree branch.

Looking carefully, one could still make out that those long legs of hers were trembling quite noticeably.

Feng Jiang followed Qiao Mu’s line of sight and looked ahead. There, a mass of black, writhing shapes surrounded a bundle of snowy white, gnawing away at it.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Feng Jiang looked up at the woman standing on the tree branch and called out.

Qiao Mu’s face had gone completely pale, and she hadn’t even noticed when Feng Jiang had arrived.

His voice gave her such a fright that her legs went weak, and she plummeted downward from above.

What made it worse was that just as she regained her wits and tried to find her footing on a lower branch to steady herself, she spotted a dark, furry creature darting across the very branch she was reaching for.

“Ahh—!” Qiao Mu squeezed her eyes shut with a jolt, and her scream rang out through the forest.

Feng Jiang watched helplessly as the person fell from above. In the end, he spread both arms wide and caught Qiao Mu firmly.

Their eyes met. Qiao Mu blinked a few times before finally coming back to her senses.

“Let go!” She shot Feng Jiang a glare and immediately flipped herself off of him with nimble ease.

Being held by someone for the first time left her thoroughly uncomfortable all over. The moment she got down, she even swayed a little before steadying herself.

“Too heavy.” Feng Jiang tossed out those two words, pulled out a small whistle, and gently blew it.

Just as Qiao Mu opened her mouth to complain, that skin-crawling, squeaking sound erupted even louder than before.

She swept her gaze toward the terrifying darkness and saw that the black mass was now scattering in all directions.

In an extremely short span of time, the spot that had moments ago been swarming with a great writhing heap of creatures was left with nothing but the wild rabbit she had killed herself.

“You… how did you do that?” Qiao Mu looked up at Feng Jiang standing not far away, her earlier fear momentarily forgotten.

Feng Jiang put the whistle away and turned to look at her.

Their eyes met again, and Qiao Mu found herself thinking back to what had just happened.

Thinking it over — this fellow had gone and held her, and on top of that had called her heavy — Qiao Mu’s expression darkened.