No matter how you looked at it, all this would only make the already terrible situation worse.

Therefore, as long as Princess Hanyue escaped from Qingyuan Town, the outside world would be her oyster. So far, she had completed the most difficult step: escaping from Mo Tizhun’s watchful eye.

Feng Miaojun didn’t know how she had managed it. She had firsthand experience of how formidable the great State Preceptor’s surveillance skills were, so she suspected Princess Hanyue must have some hidden treasures that enabled her to take such a desperate gamble.

She had almost succeeded.

Just a tiny bit of luck short, just a tiny bit.

Feng Miaojun nearly covered her face with her hands. Princess Hanyue must have forgotten to burn incense for good fortune before taking action. Otherwise, with Qingyuan Town being so large and the sandbar so vast, how could she have had the misfortune to run right into Yun Ya and Feng Miaojun?

Having completed her disguise, Princess Hanyue quickly stripped off the maid’s outer garments, then reached to undo the clasp at her own neck—since she had changed her face, she naturally needed to change her clothes as well, followed by her hairstyle and accessories.

Watching this, Feng Miaojun became somewhat anxious. Princess Hanyue didn’t know a man was hiding behind the tree, but she did!

Looking at Yun Ya, he still maintained that composed demeanor, as if planning to enjoy watching the princess undress.

This man truly had no moral standards!

Seeing the princess’s delicate shoulders and neck already exposed, Feng Miaojun had no choice but to cough lightly.

The sound wasn’t loud, but in the silent forest, to Princess Hanyue’s ears, it sounded like a thunderclap!

She spun toward the source of the sound and shouted fiercely: “Who’s there!” Meanwhile, she didn’t forget to hastily cover herself with the half-removed clothes.

Even with this startled shout, she kept her volume extremely low, clearly wary of attracting Mo Tizhun.

Yun Ya glanced at Feng Miaojun, tilting his head slightly to indicate that since she had caused this trouble, she should handle it.

That glance contained amusement rather than blame for Feng Miaojun’s interference, so she knew this fellow had been waiting for her to speak up. Yun Ya knew she and Princess Hanyue had once been good friends, and he probably noticed how she had avoided eye contact with the princess at the bonfire. Now he was forcing her to confront the princess directly, just so he could enjoy the show.

This man was truly bored and black-hearted!

While inwardly cursing, she could only steel herself and step forward, saying softly: “Young lady, you’ve disturbed my master.”

She controlled her throat muscles to change her voice, not worried about being recognized by Princess Hanyue.

“My master!” These four words caught Princess Hanyue’s attention, and her gaze immediately turned to the darkness beside Feng Miaojun as she said coldly: “Come out.”

If it had just been this maid alone, it would have been fine since they were both women, but who would have thought there was a fourth person here?

Feng Miaojun understood that since Yun Ya was standing silently here instead of walking away, it meant he wasn’t going to let Princess Hanyue go. Earlier, when the princess had Mo Tizhun’s protection, Yun Ya might not have wanted to make a move against her, but now that she had run away on her own… It was like a mouse deliberately parading in front of a dozing cat—it would be embarrassing for the cat not to extend its claws.

With her call, Yun Ya had no choice but to slowly walk out from the tree’s shadow: “I didn’t expect that while taking a digestive walk at night, I’d witness such an interesting performance.” His maid was no pushover either.

Princess Hanyue only vaguely recognized the disguised Feng Miaojun, but when Yun Ya emerged, she realized he was the special envoy from the Lang Yu Kingdom—someone completely unrelated to her situation, which was a blessing amid misfortune. She quickly composed herself and said tersely: “It’s just a misunderstanding.”

Yun Ya pointed at the unconscious maid on the ground: “You call this a misunderstanding?”

Princess Hanyue quickly responded: “We’re strangers, why bother with this idle—” The final word “matter” was still in her mouth when suddenly two objects shot out from her sleeve, aiming directly at Yun Ya and Feng Miaojun’s throats!

These objects moved with incredible speed, capable of piercing the throat bone in a tenth of an eye blink. More remarkably, Princess Hanyue hadn’t even raised her hand—there was no preliminary movement, yet the objects had self-adjusted their direction after being launched.

Feng Miaojun didn’t dare use her Star Sky Cone to block, fearing the princess would recognize it. She only drew a dagger to slash at the incoming object.

To her surprise, the thing made a midair turn, avoiding the dagger tip, but still targeting her throat!

She had deployed her protective energy shield, yet this object seemed unaffected.

Yun Ya showed no intention of helping. Perhaps in his view, if Feng Miaojun couldn’t even block this thing, she wasn’t worthy of serving at his side.

Feng Miaojun remained calm. As it flew to within a hair’s breadth, she suddenly parted her lips and spat out a small date nail, which collided perfectly with the incoming object. The latter was deflected, hitting a tree with a soft “chi” sound, as if in pain.

This thing was alive.

It was a strange-looking small bird with a needle-like beak, yellow with black markings. At first glance, it resembled a large bumblebee, but it could hover in midair by flapping its wings. Having read extensively on various unofficial histories in the Yanhai Tower, Feng Miaojun exclaimed as soon as she saw its black and yellow patterns: “Qinyuan bird!”

This was a peculiar bird that dwelled in the Chikan Forest, a thousand times more venomous than a wasp. Its sting could kill beasts and wither trees—lethal at first contact, truly “see blood, seal throat.”

Princess Hanyue had no talent for cultivation and had only practiced some basic martial arts. The deadly Qinyuan bird, however, could take the life of an ordinary cultivator and was presumably one of her life-saving measures, never revealed before. Even Feng Miaojun hadn’t known about it.

The other Qinyuan bird aimed at Yun Ya naturally couldn’t succeed. He simply caught it by the mouth with his hand and with a twist—

The little creature didn’t even have time to screech before he broke its neck!

During this brief moment, Princess Hanyue had already turned and run five or six paces away. Her thinking was clear: these two hadn’t seen her true face, so if she could escape into town and change her face and clothes again, no one would recognize her.

But no matter how well she calculated, how could she escape from Yun Ya’s grasp?

He gave a low laugh, but before he could raise his hand, Feng Miaojun had already darted past him in direct pursuit of Princess Hanyue!

Her movements were decisive and resolute.

Because Feng Miaojun knew that if she hesitated even slightly, Princess Hanyue might end up with her head separated from her body!

For Yun Ya, killing her would be no more difficult than killing an ant.

Only if Feng Miaojun showed initiative could Princess Hanyue have a glimmer of hope.

However, the princess running ahead wasn’t the least bit grateful. She turned back briefly to release a shower of silver needles, their tips glowing blue, all coated with deadly poison.

These were launched from a mechanical device—thirty-nine needles at once, with enough force to pierce straight through a small tree.

Feng Miaojun’s cultivation has greatly improved over the past two months. Her body swayed like a willow branch in the wind, easily dodging all the needles. With two more strides, she caught up to Princess Hanyue and grabbed her by the neck.

Feng Miaojun pressed on her artery, exerting a gentle force. Princess Hanyue felt her body go numb, her strength completely drained, and her legs unable to move. She had once possessed several protective magical devices, but they had all been used up during the incident in the Cliff Mountain Underground Palace. Otherwise, Feng Miaojun wouldn’t have been able to subdue her so easily.

Even now, Feng Miaojun’s thoughts were racing, trying to figure out how to save Princess Hanyue’s life. With Yun Ya trailing behind, hoping to let Princess Hanyue escape was simply a fantasy. The best approach was to employ delaying tactics until Mo Tizhun came looking for her, at which point she could hand this difficult problem over to the two State Preceptors…