If it weren’t for Jun Buli’s sake, Baili Weisheng would have dealt with Consort Li on the spot.
As Jun Buli moved toward the right, Baili Weisheng followed with his eyes. At a time like this, in a place like this, who could possibly be coming?
Surely it wasn’t Meng Duo’er and the others come looking for them?
However, neither Jun Buli nor Baili Weisheng could actually see anyone.
Jun Buli wasn’t ready to give up. Just as he was about to step out of the green vine sphere, he faintly caught two familiar voices—unmistakably the Xiao patriarch and his wife!
Jun Buli was startled, and glanced back at Consort Li as if weighing some consideration.
Though Consort Li was foolish in many ways, having stayed by Jun Buli’s side for so long, she had gotten a fair read on his temperament.
“Your Majesty, I’ll wait for you here. Go quickly and come back quickly.” The way she said it was not only coquettish but laden with insinuation.
This set Baili Weisheng’s imagination running wild again—though at this point, his thoughts were entirely focused on the Xiao patriarch and his wife, unable to understand what the old couple was doing here in the dead of night.
This direction ran completely opposite to the mountaintop and the Jade Spring Lake of ice. If they’d left the Xiao estate, they should have been heading up the mountain to search for the person—unless they intended to go down the mountain instead.
“Stay here,” Jun Buli said, leaving Consort Li with just those two words before slipping into the dense forest. Baili Weisheng followed closely behind. Unfortunately, there were too many vines in this place, and Jun Buli quickly noticed someone behind him, stopping abruptly—so abruptly that Baili Weisheng nearly couldn’t dodge in time and almost collided with a tangle of thorny vines.
Jun Buli turned to look, and upon seeing it was Baili Weisheng, a flash of panic crossed his eyes—though it vanished almost immediately.
“What are you doing here!” he demanded sharply.
“I was about to ask you the same thing! I was tailing the Xiao couple all the way here and lost track of them,” Baili Weisheng said, lying without so much as a blush—he’d never known what it was to feel embarrassed about lying.
Given how perfectly the coincidences lined up, Jun Buli had no choice but to believe him.
He sidestepped the question, saying quietly, “The disturbance is up ahead. Let’s go take a look.”
Baili Weisheng nodded and moved to Jun Buli’s side, chasing after the sound together with him. As they went, he even asked, “So why are you here? Weren’t you supposed to be keeping watch at the mountaintop?”
“Got hungry. Came down to find something to eat,” Jun Buli said casually, someone who didn’t need to rehearse a lie before telling it.
Baili Weisheng sneered inwardly. Find anything? Still hungry?
The words carried a rather suggestive undertone, but Jun Buli, oblivious to the implication, answered flatly, “Not hungry.”
Soon, the two fell silent, because they had spotted the Xiao patriarch and his wife.
They found the Xiao patriarch standing at the exit of an underground secret passage, with the Xiao matriarch still inside it—the patriarch was pulling her up!
This elderly couple had clearly just emerged from an underground tunnel. Baili Weisheng’s baseless lie had already crumbled under its own weight.
For a moment, Baili Weisheng’s heart gave a great lurch, and he slowly turned his head to glance at Jun Buli.
Here, the moonlight reached them, and Jun Buli’s profile, illuminated by its glow, looked exceptionally stern. Baili Weisheng thought he might say something, but instead, Jun Buli said nothing at all—he didn’t even turn to look at him.
He merely stared coldly at the Xiao patriarch and his wife, who had no idea they were being watched.
Once the patriarch had fully pulled his wife out of the passage exit, he slowly closed it, covering it with vines and branches.
“My lord, in a few days, let’s still return through the secret passage. I think those two people are certainly still lurking nearby—it would be bad if they discovered us,” the Xiao matriarch said in a low voice.
The patriarch sighed. “This passage is easy to exit but hard to enter. We’ll see how things stand—if there’s another way, we won’t take this passage back.”
These words thoroughly exposed Baili Weisheng’s lie beyond any doubt. He found he no longer had any room to make excuses at all.
“Never mind all that for now, let’s go. Ninth Girl’s safety is what matters! We need to find that person quickly and have them think of a solution,” the Xiao matriarch said.
That person—who could it be?
Baili Weisheng glanced at Jun Buli, about to chase after them, when Jun Buli said, “Since you’ve already tailed them all the way here from the Xiao estate, keep at it.”
“Uh… you’re not coming?” Baili Weisheng asked.
“You’re enough on your own. I have other matters to attend to,” Jun Buli said.
“What matters?” Baili Weisheng blurted out.
“I’m heading back up the mountain to keep watch, in case something happens,” Jun Buli said, his reasoning airtight.
“There are poisonous beasts there. You should come with me instead—what if I… I… I lose track of them again?” Baili Weisheng said, forcing himself to say it.
Jun Buli patted Baili Weisheng’s shoulder, smiling. “You won’t. With your tracking skills, you’re bound not to lose them. Go on, I have faith in you.”
Jun Buli’s tone grew colder and colder as he spoke, and Baili Weisheng understood clearly—if he refused, this brat would surely fly into a rage and settle the score with him, demanding to know why he’d been tailing him in the first place!
This round, Baili Weisheng had lost.
“Go on. It’s likely you’ll find Shiliang there,” Jun Buli said, lowering his voice, but with utter seriousness.
Baili Weisheng glanced back at the green vine sphere once, and could only agree. “Watch yourself.”
With that, he set off after the Xiao patriarch and his wife. What Baili Weisheng didn’t know, though, was that no sooner had he left than Jun Buli dropped to one knee right where he stood, his back already soaked through with sweat, as if he were forcibly enduring something.
In the dim light, he knelt on one knee, head bowed, his expression hidden—only the resolute line of his profile visible, radiating a man’s raw, savage tenacity.
All around was silent, save for the sound of his breathing growing heavier and more ragged. He seemed to want to rise, yet dared not move, as if the moment he stirred, he would lose all control over himself.
Meanwhile, inside the green vine sphere, Consort Li waited anxiously. His Majesty had been gone so long—why hadn’t he come back?
Tonight was too unusual. If he didn’t return soon, something bad was bound to happen!
Consort Li paced back and forth, and finally, unable to wait any longer, she pulled up the torch stuck in the ground and followed the direction to the right in search of him.
When she spotted, from a distance, that familiar figure kneeling in the grass, tears welled up instantly in her eyes. “Your Majesty!”
“Your Majesty, what’s wrong!”
She rushed over urgently. Though usually a delicate young lady, she paid no mind now to the thorny vines tearing at her thin skirts, cutting bloody lines across her arms and legs.
The moment she reached Jun Buli, she hurriedly stuck the torch into the ground beside her and wrapped her arms around him, who had already begun trembling. “Your Majesty, it’s all right now, it’s all right, I’m here!”
Only then did Jun Buli turn his eyes toward her, his gaze filled with something bloodthirsty. His voice, deep and cold, seemed to come from the depths of hell itself. “Put out the torch.”
Consort Li hurried to comply, extinguishing the torch. In an instant, everything returned to darkness, and in that darkness, Jun Buli leaned forward and pushed Consort Li down…