Lei Shenbao had escaped, Chen Hong had vanished, and now the most pressing matter was that Jian Yi still hadn’t returned.

Feng Jiu’er stared in the direction where Jian Yi and Chen Hong had disappeared, her brows knitting tightly.

That woman Chen Hong was full of cunning schemes — she shouldn’t have left her for Jian Yi to handle alone.

Jian Yi’s swordsmanship was excellent, and his lightness skill was nearly unmatched.

But Chen Hong understood formations, was practiced in dark arts, and there was no telling whether she carried hidden poison as well — Feng Jiu’er was truly worried.

“Sister Hua.” Qiao Mu’s voice pulled Feng Jiu’er’s mind back to the present.

When she turned around, she saw Yue Jianfei and his wife supporting each other.

“Sister Hua, Brother Yue, how are you feeling?” Qiao Mu handed them each a pill.

After the couple swallowed the pills, they sat holding each other.

The white powder Lei Shenbao had left behind had been blown toward the crowd along with the force of his palm strike.

By now, there was no more poison powder where Yue Jianfei and Tang Xiaohua stood.

But the two of them had been right beside Lei Shenbao earlier, and had still inadvertently inhaled some of the powder.

Qiao Mu had always dealt with medicines, testing drugs from time to time, and having consumed so many over the years, her body was sturdier than most — she hadn’t been affected.

Seeing this, Feng Jiu’er strode over.

She picked up Yue Jianfei’s hand and checked his pulse, then did the same for Tang Xiaohua.

“Jiu’er, how are Sister Hua and the others?” Qiao Mu, crouching down, furrowed her brow tightly.

She remembered the medicine bottle in her own hand and glanced up at the brother beside her.

“Quick, take this and hand it out to everyone.”

The brother took the bottle and left.

When Qiao Mu looked back, Feng Jiu’er was sitting cross-legged behind Yue Jianfei and Tang Xiaohua, both hands pressed against their backs.

“It’s fine, I’ll channel my energy to force the poison out — go check on the other brothers.”

“Alright.” Qiao Mu let out a small breath of relief and stood up.

A quarter of an hour later, Long Shiyi arrived with the main force.

Feng Jiu’er’s antidote was fairly effective; the several dozen brothers had all taken it in time, and even those who weren’t quite right weren’t in mortal danger.

The poison Lei Shenbao had scattered as he fled hadn’t only been inhaled by Feng Jiu’er’s brothers.

At that moment, over a hundred guards lay collapsed on the ground, foaming at the mouth.

Several hundred more sat slumped, some being supported by others, barely clinging to life.

More than two thousand guards who had already retreated some distance gradually began closing in.

Watching their brothers in such a state, everyone fell silent.

Long Shiyi arrived with the main force and surrounded the area in heavy ranks.

As he rode in on horseback, Yang Sheng was also among the crowd entering.

“Yang Sheng.” Suddenly, one of the surrounded guards ran forward.

“Yang Sheng, ask Miss Long to save our brothers.”

“Master Lei — no! That man surnamed Lei isn’t even human. To save himself, he scattered poison and fled.”

“Now hundreds of our brothers are poisoned with deadly toxin. Yang Sheng, I beg you, ask Miss Long to save them.”

“Yang Sheng, please!” The guard who had spoken dropped to his knees.

The standing guards knelt down in waves, one after another.

“Miss Long, please save our brothers. From now on, our lives belong to you, Miss Long.”

“Miss Long, please save our brothers. From now on, our lives belong to you, Miss Long.”

All at once, more than two thousand guards were shouting the same plea.

Yang Sheng only paused for a moment before continuing forward alongside Long Shiyi and Zhao Yusheng.

“Jiu’er, are you alright?” Zhao Yusheng arrived in the crowd and dismounted.

“Miss Jiu’er, are you hurt anywhere?” Long Shiyi was anxious too.

On the way here, they had seen so many people collapsed — needless to say, they couldn’t help but worry.

“I’m fine.” Feng Jiu’er glanced at everyone. “Send someone to fetch Xiao Yingtao. Some brothers are injured — tell her to bring plenty of medicine.”

“Understood.” Zhao Yusheng nodded and turned to send someone off.

Seeing that Feng Jiu’er was unharmed, Yang Sheng also let out a breath of relief.

The guards not far off were still shouting; he glanced over once before looking away.

“Jiu’er, them…”

“There’s still antidote left — handle it as you see fit.” Feng Jiu’er waved a hand and crouched down again in front of Yue Jianfei and Tang Xiaohua.

After checking their pulses, her expression relaxed somewhat.

“Jiu’er, how is it?” Qiao Mu was still anxious.

“They’re fine now. Two days of rest and they’ll recover.” Feng Jiu’er stood up and faced Qiao Mu.

“Qiao Mu, leave matters here to you, Long Shiyi, and Zhao Yusheng. I need to go find Jian Yi.”

Feng Jiu’er’s gaze returned once more to the direction where Jian Yi and Chen Hong had vanished.

Half an hour had already passed — why hadn’t Jian Yi come back yet? She was truly worried.

That fellow Jian Yi had no leisure or personal life to speak of at all. Ever since she had taken him for herself, his entire life seemed to revolve around protecting her alone.

So why, this time, had he been gone for over half an hour without returning?

He knew full well that she would worry, didn’t he?

Feng Jiu’er’s mind was in turmoil. After giving her instructions to Qiao Mu, she raised her hand to her mouth and whistled.

Hearing the sound, Zhuiyue neighed and ran out from behind the crowd.

Feng Jiu’er leapt up onto the horse’s back in one motion.

“Jiu’er, don’t be reckless!” Zhao Yusheng blocked her path.

On his other side stood Yu Jingfeng.

“Miss Jiu’er, you truly cannot act alone right now.”

Long Shiyi came over as well, positioning himself behind Feng Jiu’er.

“Miss Jiu’er, you mustn’t!”

The three of them surrounded Feng Jiu’er, hemming her in.

“Move aside!” Feng Jiu’er stared at Zhao Yusheng. “It’s been nearly three quarters of an hour — Jian Yi must be in danger.”

“You should all know how important Jian Yi is to me. I cannot just leave him be.”

“I’ll go with you.” Zhao Yusheng said softly.

“I’ll go too.” Yu Jingfeng and Long Shiyi said in unison.

“Jiu’er.” Qiao Mu walked over from where Yue Jianfei and Tang Xiaohua were.

“We’re all worried about Jian Yi’s situation.”

“But now that the main army has arrived, if you leave alone, what becomes of all our brothers?”

“The brothers still have all of you. But who else does Jian Yi have?” Feng Jiu’er didn’t turn around.

It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought of her brothers — but what about Jian Yi?

“And what if you get captured too?” Qiao Mu’s voice rang out again.

“I believe that if you were caught, every one of our brothers would gladly trade their lives for yours.”

“Jiu’er, Jian Yi belongs to all of us, not just to you. You’re worried — we’re worried too.”

“Right now, the most important thing is to regroup our forces and decide on our next move.”

“Jiu’er.” Before Feng Jiu’er could speak, Qiao Mu called out again.

“Get down!”

After shouting it, Qiao Mu seemed to realize her voice had been a bit too loud.

She reined in her emotions and continued, “Jian Yi will be fine. We will definitely bring him back safely. Don’t worry!”

Their Jiu’er had always responded to gentleness, not force — why was she shouting so loudly?

Qiao Mu understood Feng Jiu’er’s feelings. In Jian Yi’s life, there was only this girl Jiu’er — and to Jiu’er, he was an equally important presence.

If Chen Hong had truly done something to Jian Yi, then even before Jiu’er could act, she herself would tear Chen Hong to pieces!

—