Hearing Yelu Qianqian’s words, a flicker of suspicion crossed Situ Haonan’s eyes. “The Second Beast Young Master told you this?”

“No, I asked around and heard about it from someone else! That fellow is far too upright—he’d never tell me anything,” Yelu Qianqian said, her guilty conscience showing as she quickly denied it.

“Makes sense. If he told you, that’d be suspicious,” Situ Haonan said casually. The Second Beast Young Master really was quite upright—if he’d leaked information to Yelu Qianqian, that would raise serious questions about his true motives.

“Come on, let’s go before someone else finds it!” Yelu Qianqian urged hastily. She knew a shortcut straight to that spot, and besides, the Second Beast Young Master had told her that no one else would easily stumble upon that place—the perfect spot for her and Situ Haonan to have some time alone!

“If I said I wasn’t going, would that stop you?” Situ Haonan asked helplessly.

“No. For these next two days, you listen to me. If I say go east, you can’t go west. If I say go west, you can’t go east. If I tell you to climb to heaven to pluck stars or dive into water to fetch the moon, you can’t refuse either!” Yelu Qianqian declared, utterly self-righteous.

Situ Haonan rolled his eyes hard. “Are you telling me to go die?”

“You absolutely must!” Yelu Qianqian answered at once, without a moment’s thought.

Situ Haonan gave her a thumbs-up. “You’ve got guts!”

Yelu Qianqian immediately brightened, delighted just from bantering with him, and raised her whip to head up the mountain. What could Situ Haonan do but go along with her? If he didn’t, he’d only end up waiting for this girl to cause trouble until they lost the competition, forced to howl like a beast in front of everyone back at camp before sunset the day after tomorrow!

He couldn’t afford that loss of face—and neither could the Situ Clan!

Situ Haonan followed Yelu Qianqian up the mountain, noting the same strangeness about it—they’d already reached the midslope, yet hadn’t seen so much as a shadow of any game!

Could it be someone had already swept through here, and they’d simply arrived too late?

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Situ Haonan asked, dissatisfied.

“Can’t be wrong!” Yelu Qianqian said, reining in her horse at a fork in the path ahead. She remembered clearly—the Second Beast Young Master had repeatedly reminded her to follow the upper path all the way here, then turn left at this fork, and keep going until she found the rabbits.

Whatever she did, she absolutely must not go right—the right path was extremely dangerous, hiding many fierce beasts.

“Which way?” Situ Haonan pressed. Yelu Qianqian earnestly distinguished her left from right, then pointed ahead. “Straight from this fork, we’re almost there!”

Situ Haonan remained suspicious, staying alert to any movement around them. Though there was no game here, everything seemed calm enough—at least he couldn’t sense any immediate danger.

Still, even facing danger, he was no ordinary young master of the Situ Clan—protecting Yelu Qianqian was well within his abilities.

As the two figures gradually disappeared into the distance, the Second Beast Young Master silently dropped down from the dense tree canopy above, cradling a rabbit in his arms, his long fingers gently stroking it. Whatever his expression might have been at that moment, even the mere motion of his hand was enough to send chills down anyone’s spine.

“Go on. Guiding Princess Qianqian is an honor for you,” he murmured softly, like a lover’s whisper. The rabbit’s ears immediately perked up, and the moment he released it, it shot forward like an arrow!

Watching the rabbit’s retreating shadow disappear, the Second Beast Young Master’s wicked smile finally faded, replaced at once by an anxious expression—played to perfection. He called out “Princess Consort” several times, hurrying toward the right fork.

“Princess Consort, wait for me, don’t go that way!”

“Princess Consort, where are you? Say something—there are fierce beasts here, you can’t go this way!”

…

His shouts, one after another, were pitched with remarkable precision, meant to reach only Ziqing’s ears.

At that moment, Ziqing was still hunting rabbits, having discovered this place was a warren teeming with them—and strangely enough, this particular breed of rabbit seemed to be the most timid variety imaginable. She hadn’t even needed to strike yet; the rabbits froze in terror the instant they saw her, trembling in place without moving at all!

A cunning rabbit has three burrows, all underground. Ziqing’s fierce wind blades sent the rabbits hiding in their burrows scattering in every direction like headless flies—some bolted out of the ground only to freeze in fright at the sight of her, while others were simply stunned unconscious by the wind blades whizzing past.

Before long, Ziqing had amassed quite a haul.

Rabbits like these would have been quite the rarity anywhere else, but here in the beastfolk’s hunting grounds, they were fairly ordinary—after all, this place held the greatest concentration of rare beasts anywhere.

Ziqing had no interest in coming in last, nor in taking first place—she simply wanted enough game to make a respectable showing.

“Princess Consort, where are you! It’s dangerous around here—wait for me!”

“Princess Consort, I’ll tell you a secret if that helps!”

…

Finally, Ziqing made out the Second Beast Young Master’s shouts clearly.

“Danger?” she wondered, suspicious. She’d been moving quite fast, so losing him along the way wasn’t unusual—even with intimate knowledge of the terrain, someone of merely average martial skill would have real difficulty keeping up with a master like her.

“I’m over here, can you hear me? What danger? There are plenty of rabbits here!” Ziqing shouted back. Naturally, she took his warning of “danger” seriously.

The hunting grounds were hardly lacking in fierce beasts and venomous snakes—unless absolutely necessary, she’d rather avoid them.

Soon, she heard his reply. “I understand—stay right where you are, don’t move! I’m coming, there’s a leopard nearby!”

A leopard!

At this, Ziqing felt a jolt of alarm.

A leopard! Leopards were nothing to trifle with. She’d sooner face a tiger, a lion, even a bear than encounter a leopard.

Leopards weren’t as large as tigers, lions, or bears, but they were every bit as ferocious—and what made them truly terrifying was their speed!

Just as Ziqing’s heart lurched with alarm, all the rabbits hidden underground suddenly swarmed out at once, scattering in every direction to flee, and even the previously frozen ones snapped out of their daze, scrambling wildly to escape.

Had they sensed something?

Ziqing had only just registered the gravity of the situation when a tawny-colored shadow suddenly darted out right in front of her, moving with such incredible speed that she couldn’t even make out its shape—a pair of sharp claws lunged straight at her. Had the Second Beast Young Master not warned her it was a leopard, she wouldn’t have had the faintest idea what this creature even was.

Fortunately, Ziqing’s reflexes were quick—she leaned back and dropped to the ground just in time, and the leopard immediately lunged after her. Ziqing quickly drew Liuguang, aiming a strike straight for a vital point, only to notice one of the leopard’s hind claws swiping straight at her!

Ziqing hesitated for an instant, and the blade struck slightly off-target instead, only further enraging the leopard. With a terrifying roar, it opened its massive jaws, fangs bared, and lunged in without regard for where it struck.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Yelu Qianqian and Situ Haonan, chasing a rabbit, were heading straight toward this very spot!

“Hey, didn’t you say the rabbits here don’t run from people?” Situ Haonan asked suspiciously. In a forest this vast, chasing a cow would have been easier than chasing this one little rabbit.

Yelu Qianqian was about to answer when Situ Haonan suddenly clamped a hand over her mouth. “Quiet, listen… I think I hear something…”