This young man had never, in his entire life, had anyone dare raise their voice at him! And today, of all days, he’d been called a dog, and… and wet-behind-the-ears no less!?

How could he possibly accept this? He completely abandoned his earlier scheming, pointing straight at Ziqing in a towering rage, every pore on his body trembling with fury. “You’ve got guts—say that again, damn you!”

Did she say it just because he told her to? Ziqing simply pretended not to hear, her sharp eyes sweeping up and down over the young man, naturally taking note of his silver garments as well.

Jun Beiyue stepped through the doorway, saying coldly, “Are you the master of this place?”

The young man felt a wave of overwhelming, oppressive pressure wash over him and inexplicably felt himself shrink into inferiority, his attitude involuntarily softening. “You… you… who exactly are you people, and what are you doing in the Boundless Deep?”

“Answer my question first.” Jun Beiyue said with some impatience, stepping closer step by step. The silver-clad guards immediately retreated, retreating so far that the young man grew embarrassed, coughing heavily several times.

Unexpectedly, the silver-clad guards’ full attention remained fixed on Jun Beiyue. With each step he took closer, everyone grew more on edge—this imposing, overbearing man radiated menace without even trying, and given how furious he’d been just moments before, everyone present understood exactly how frightening he could truly be.

“Are you the master of this place? Don’t make me ask a third time!” Jun Beiyue’s voice grew even heavier as he continued closing in, until finally the entire ring of guards had been pushed right up against the young man, leaving nowhere left to retreat.

Faced with such overwhelming presence, such commanding authority, the young man—who had never truly seen the world and had let arrogance go to his head—found his legs trembling with fear. “I… I’m not! I’m not the master! It’s my mother! You… stay back, don’t come any closer!”

Jun Beiyue paid the young man no mind, sweeping a cold glance across the guards instead, then suddenly barked, “Get lost!”

The moment the words left his mouth, every single guard scattered without a trace. Seeing this, a flicker of malice crossed the young man’s eyes. “You!”

No one answered—they’d all fled long ago. Only the guard captain remained, sprawled off to the side, watching everything unfold with timid apprehension.

Jun Beiyue closed the last remaining distance, now standing face to face with the young man.

He furrowed his brow. “Who set that poisoned trap?”

“It was… it was…” the young man mumbled evasively, while his hand, concealed behind his back, suddenly pressed down hard on a hidden mechanism. In an instant, the trap beneath Jun Beiyue and everyone behind him sprang open, and the ground vanished beneath their feet—everyone plummeted straight down!

Xiong Bao let out a startled cry, “Ahh…”

Below was pitch black, nothing visible at all—who knew how deep it went!

The young man peered down, saw no one, and let out a breath of relief before smirking coldly. “Trying to outsmart this young master? You’re all still far too green! Hmph!”

With that, he lounged back lazily in the seat of honor, crossing his legs, nose tilted skyward. “Dare to call this young master a dog—I’ll show them exactly what it means to drown like a dog!”

With that, he tilted his head back and burst into loud, triumphant laughter.

“Drown like a dog?” Suddenly, a cold voice cut through the air. The young man froze for a moment, then whirled around sharply to look—but before he could even fully register what was happening, Jun Beiyue, who had fallen into the trap, suddenly appeared, closing the distance instantly, grabbing his right hand and yanking him bodily upward!

With a single turn, Jun Beiyue settled into the seat of honor, while the young man’s foot slipped at the trap’s edge, instantly sinking downward—but because his right hand remained caught in Jun Beiyue’s grip, his entire body got stuck at the trap’s edge, half his body dangling into the pit, half suspended in midair. His face went deathly pale with terror, and before he could even process what was happening, he could only scream, “Help! Help!… Don’t let go, please, whatever you do, don’t let go, I’m begging you!”

He knew all too well what lay beneath that trap!

A simple trap like that, meant to scheme against Ziqing and the others—had he even bothered to ask who these people really were?

At that moment, Ziqing and the rest of the group were seated atop the summoned Ounce Great Beast’s back, slowly rising upward, leaving the surrounding guards utterly dumbstruck, jaws hanging open in shock!

Heavens, what… what on earth was this creature?

The young man turned to look as well, his entire face draining white. These people, these people who possessed the Flowing Light Dagger—who exactly were they? Since when had Nanzhao’s Meng Clan gotten tangled up with beasts?

Amid the wave of terrified stares, Xiong Bao sat perched at the very front of the Ounce Great Beast, arms crossed over his chest, looking impossibly smug and pleased with himself.

Baili Weisheng couldn’t help but shoot him a sidelong glance. “Was that you screaming just now?”

“Mm-hm!” Xiong Bao nodded very seriously.

“What a sorry excuse for bravery!” Baili Weisheng scoffed, settling down beside him with disdain.

“If I hadn’t screamed, how would I have fooled him?” Xiong Bao retorted, utterly self-righteous.

Baili Weisheng rolled his eyes again. “Someone that stupid, and you still needed to trick him?”

As he spoke, he finally took a proper, careful look at the young man before them—handsome features, dressed in silver garments that appeared plain at first glance, but caught the light to reveal a dazzling, resplendent sheen, unmistakably reminiscent of the Flowing Light Dagger resting at Ziqing’s calf.

Baili Weisheng had already stopped dwelling on it, but for some reason, the moment he laid eyes on this young man, that familiar yet foreign, complicated sensation surged back into his mind all over again.

Baili Weisheng wasn’t wrong to call this young man a fool!

Even now, facing such dire straits, the boy still didn’t think to beg for mercy, still hadn’t bothered to answer Jun Beiyue’s earlier question—all he knew was fear!

Jun Beiyue clearly had no intention of waiting for an answer anymore. He tightened his grip on the young man’s right hand, leaning in close, staring intently at his five fingers.

“Ziqing, lend me the Flowing Light to play with for a moment.”

At these words, the surrounding guards, along with the guard captain, all visibly stiffened, and even in the young man’s terrified eyes flickered a trace of hatred—but everyone’s attention remained fixed entirely on the young man’s tightly gripped fingers, and no one noticed this strange reaction at all.

Ziqing immediately drew the Flowing Light Dagger from her calf and tossed it through the air toward Jun Beiyue.

At this, the surrounding guards immediately stirred restlessly, and the guard captain shouted urgently, “Don’t move!”

At this, the guards who had impulsively moved to rush forward and seize it finally settled back down.

The guards’ earlier retreat had merely been an act—now that their master had been captured, of course the guards would grow tense; at least, that was the only explanation Ziqing and Beiyue could think of!

Only Meng Wanyue watched the surrounding guards with a cold gaze, a sneer of contempt curling deeper and deeper at the corner of her mouth. She seemed almost gleeful about someone’s misfortune—though it was unclear whose misfortune, exactly, she found so satisfying.

The moment Jun Beiyue caught the dagger, he immediately pressed its tip against the young man’s fingertip, glancing at Ziqing—clearly intending to avenge her.

The blade pressed into the fingertip, about to pierce through, when suddenly the young man could bear it no longer and shouted, “I’m warning you, if you dare touch a single hair on me, my mother will make sure you all die right here! No one’s leaving this place alive!”

A warning?

“Is that so? I was actually hoping to meet your mother.” Jun Beiyue’s expression remained utterly blank as he drove the blade straight in!

“Aaah…”

A stabbing pain shot straight to the heart from the fingertips—heaven knew how agonizing it was. The young man let out a scream like a pig being slaughtered, blood immediately welling up from his fingertip. He thrashed violently, but how could he possibly escape someone held in Jun Beiyue’s grip?

One fingertip, one ruthless stab—and when the Flowing Light Dagger pressed against his fingertip once more, the young man finally broke, screaming, “I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything, just let me go! I’m begging you, let me go!”

Yet Jun Beiyue merely said coldly, “We came as guests, and you set traps to entrap us for no reason at all. You’d better give me a good reason.”