Taking a deep breath, Feng Jiu’er raised her eyes for a brief look at Qiao Mu’s face.

Following the woman’s somewhat unfocused gaze, Feng Jiu’er’s eyes came to rest on Feng Jiang, who was standing guard outside.

“Qiao Mu, just go ahead and moon over my Third Imperial Brother. I am about to scrape away the flesh on your wound that has been corroded by the venom — it is going to hurt a great deal!”

“Don’t say that — he is not Feng Jiang, he is Yanu.” Qiao Mu pulled her gaze back and looked at Feng Jiu’er.

“Jiu’er, tell me — the one who saved me just now was Yanu.”

Her gaze shifted again, and she looked once more at Feng Jiang’s silhouette.

“I think I can only tell myself that, and then the pain won’t frighten me.”

Feng Jiu’er shook her head and exhaled a soft sigh.

“All right — the one who saved you was Yanu, not Feng Jiang. It was Yanu, the Yanu you think of day and night.”

She was still speaking, but her hand holding the short blade moved quickly and precisely downward.

“Ah—” Qiao Mu could not hold back her cry. “It hurts! It hurts so much!”

“Feng Jiu’er, do you have any idea what you are doing — hiss — are you trying to cause this young lady so much pain she actually dies?!”

Outside, Feng Jiang’s expression grew somewhat anxious, yet he did not dare turn to look.

Recalling the moment Qiao Mu had pushed him out of the way, Feng Jiang even wondered whether that injury had been one she had taken in his place.

Every time he thought of it, his heart felt wretched.

“Feng Jiu’er, lighter! Ah — it hurts, it hurts! Can you truly not — be gentler?”

“Please, please be gentler! Great Lady Feng, this small one really cannot take any more of this…”

Qiao Mu’s wails were heard by everyone.

The expressions on all their faces grew somewhat heavy — especially the brothers whose lives she had shielded.

“You did not make a sound when you were wounded. And now you wail like this — have you no shame?”

Feng Jiu’er was offering what comfort she could. Her heart ached, but at least the fact that Qiao Mu could cry and shout meant her condition was not as grave as it might have been.

“When fighting — ah — lighter! Lighter! When fighting, everyone was blazing with spirit — who would… call out in pain?”

“Besides, can you even — is this working? I’ve never had to — Feng Jiu’er, be gentler! This young lady cannot take any more of this!”

“…”

If her Third Imperial Brother had not sealed the acupoints, Feng Jiu’er genuinely wondered whether she could manage to treat the wound properly at all.

Miss Qiao’s strength was truly extraordinary — it was not something she alone could hold in check.

With Xue Gu absent and no other women present, could she possibly ask her Third Imperial Brother to come in and hold Qiao Mu down?

Once the wound was sewn shut with silk thread, the medicine applied, and the bandage bound, a certain young lady finally went quiet.

Whether from having worked up a sweat or from the medicinal pill beginning to take effect, Qiao Mu’s color appeared considerably improved.

Cheeks still flushed crimson, she looked at Feng Jiu’er, whose forehead was dripping with sweat, and the corner of her mouth finally curved upward by just a fraction.

“Not bad at all — this young lady is better now.”

“Feng Jiang, come over here right now and release my acupoints. I refuse to keep lying here — the ground is uneven and this old lady’s entire body is aching.”

“Is he not Yanu?” Feng Jiu’er curved her lips faintly, lowered her head, and helped wrap Qiao Mu’s clothing back around her.

“That was just to distract myself, you know. How could you not realize — I genuinely thought I was about to die just now.” Qiao Mu smiled as she said it.

Her gaze flicked outward, and Qiao Mu called out again. “Feng Jiang, get over here and release my acupoints right now.”

“Dying is not that easy!” Feng Jiu’er tied off the knot on the robe’s sash.

“Jiu’er, may I come in?” Feng Jiang stood with his back to the two of them, still not daring to turn around.

“Come in then. She does not even care herself — what have you to be embarrassed about?” Dropping that line, Feng Jiu’er rose to her feet.

The makeshift open-air tent was not very tall, but as long as no one came too close, nothing inside could be seen.

Feng Jiu’er recognized Jian Yi’s outer robe and picked it up, then pulled out his sword along with it.

Third Imperial Brother truly had considerable face — Jian Yi was a swordsman who never parted from his blade, yet here he had not only given up his sword but ended up losing his robe along with it.

“Take care of her. I’ll go check on the other brothers.”

With that said, Feng Jiu’er hurried off to return both the sword and the robe to Jian Yi.

As expected, Jian Yi did not look particularly pleased.

Faced with this entirely predictable outcome, Feng Jiu’er could do nothing about it.

“Here you are.” She held out the robe in one hand and gripped the sword in the other, offering them to Jian Yi.

Jian Yi took the outer robe and draped it over himself carelessly, then received his sword back.

“None of the brothers were wounded by the venomous beasts, but several of them appear to be heavily poisoned — their legs were gnawed with many wounds.”

“Jiu’er, I will take you to see them.”

Jian Yi secured his sword, turned and began walking forward, pausing only to fasten the sash of his robe on the way.

Feng Jiu’er treated the injured brothers, while Jian Yi and the uninjured ones assisted at her side.

Not far off, Zhan Qingcheng, Mu Mu, and Long Yi were discussing something among themselves. A short distance away, several men were kneeling on the ground.

Feng Jiang stood before the trembling men, gazing at those on their knees, his eyes half-narrowed.

“Who are you people? Why are you here? And these venomous creatures — what is the explanation for all of this?”

This matter concerned the safety of the Feng Clan. He had to handle it with great care.

“We were merely hired hands, Great Hero — please spare our lives!” The man who had been seized by Zhan Qingcheng and brought here was kneeling at the front.

“Whose money did you take? To do what? Explain yourself clearly!” Feng Jiang’s low, steady voice rang out again.

“We…” The man looked up for a moment, then immediately lowered his head again. “Someone paid us to breed venomous creatures in this location.”

“We do not know who the other party is. The first batch of venomous creatures was brought by a mysterious individual.”

“They said as long as we could breed more of them, they would pay us generously. We only handled the breeding and never hurt anyone — please, Great Hero, see this clearly for what it is!”

“Never hurt anyone?” With a sharp sound, Feng Jiang brought his long sword to rest against the speaking man’s neck.

“Your venomous creatures injured so many of my people — and you call that not hurting anyone?”

His gaze swept briefly over the brothers, then settled on Qiao Mu, who was resting against a tree trunk. Feng Jiang could barely restrain the urge to drive the blade home.

“Great Hero, you came… suddenly charging in here, and we had no choice.” The man stared at Feng Jiang, his face filled with dread.

“The mysterious one said that everything here must not be made known to outsiders. Otherwise, they would take our lives.”

“Just look — yes, your brothers suffered some injuries, but we spent a whole year raising these venomous creatures, and more than half of them are now dead. I too have no way to account for this…”

As he finished speaking, the man lowered his head.

“I am sorry! But we had no choice either.”

“No choice?” Feng Jiang lifted his long sword and drew it across the man’s head.

“Great Hero, spare — spare me…”

Watching helplessly as his own hair fell to the ground, the man’s body went rigid and he did not dare move a single muscle.

“For the sake of your own gain, you disregard the lives of others entirely, and you call that having no choice?”

“Has the count of those who have met their end at the hands of the venomous creatures you raised been so few over the years?” Feng Jiang’s voice was extremely low — like something rising from the depths of the underworld.

He furrowed his brow, and the long sword came down once more.

A sharp, anguished cry rang through the entire forest.