As Feng Miao Jun swam closer, she could see that this fish demon was rolling in the water. Though the fish’s face had no expression, from its movements, it was no different from a person rolling on the ground.
Feng Miao Jun also noticed that the scales near its gills were no longer shimmering brightly, but instead displayed an eerie dark green color.
What was happening?
Princess Han Yue had somehow fallen from the fish’s mouth, but with her hands bound, she couldn’t swim and was gradually sinking. She also saw Feng Miao Jun and frantically shook her head, begging for help. In her eyes, the person before her was a small Yao soldier, short in stature and unremarkable in appearance, but at least able to rescue her to shore, right?
The fish demon struggled for a while, its movements becoming increasingly sluggish until finally, it ceased to move. Feng Miao Jun swam over and tapped the enormous fish’s body a few times, and it drifted downward.
It seemed to have truly died.
Only then did Feng Miao Jun dare to embrace Princess Han Yue.
With the fish demon dead, her action of rescuing Princess Han Yue was purely saving a life, and would not be considered a violation of the contract.
Indeed, as she quickly brought her friend to the surface, she saw only the blue sky and bright sun, with no lightning descending from above.
Princess Han Yue took several breaths and said urgently, “Take me to shore, quickly!”
Feng Miao Jun, without a word, seized Princess Han Yue and headed toward the shore. Whenever their forms descended, she needed only to lightly touch the water surface to glide steadily forward several zhang.
This water-walking skill was originally taught to her by Yun Ya. Thinking of this, Feng Miao Jun pressed her lips tightly together.
Princess Han Yue suddenly said, “Watch out for my hand, don’t get pricked!”
Feng Miao Jun was moving forward with her arm around Princess Han Yue’s slender waist. Looking down, she saw a long needle protruding from the top of the ring on Han Yue’s right ring finger. The needle tip was wet, gleaming faintly in the sunlight—with a green light!
She immediately understood: so this was what Princess Han Yue had used!
This ring was a protective item given to his daughter by the Jin King. Originally, the crystal embedded in it was filled with precious poison, fatal upon contact with blood, and said to be unbearable even for the immortals of ancient times. Now the ring face had become transparent, clearly showing that the poison hidden inside had all been injected into the fish’s gills, causing the fish demon to collapse after only a brief struggle.
Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but sigh that Princess Han Yue was still as reckless as before. When she administered the poison, she was still in the fish demon’s mouth. That creature’s mouth was full of razor-sharp teeth that could cut her in half like butter. Wasn’t she afraid it would clench its jaws in extreme pain?
Princess Han Yue was also somewhat surprised, not expecting this person dressed as a small soldier to possess such divine abilities.
In the blink of an eye, they reached the shore. Before Princess Han Yue could give any instructions, this person threw her onto the shore, then with a flash of movement, disappeared into the forest.
Hey, shouldn’t a rescuer complete the rescue? Hadn’t this person seen that she was still tightly bound?
After entering the bamboo forest, Feng Miao Jun ran for over four hundred zhang. From ahead came the sound of chaotic footsteps and the clanking of armor.
It was a unit of Yao troops.
She continued without stopping, heading straight toward the Yao army. With cultivation far superior to the black-clothed man and others, she had heard the commotion from the Yao troops much earlier. By now, she had already taken out a bow and arrow from her storage ring and leaped to the top of a tall bamboo branch.
About three hundred Yao soldiers rushed to this area. The lieutenant in charge was about to divide them into three routes for searching, but before he could speak, a whistling sound came from ahead, followed by two long arrows shooting into the ground at his feet!
Signal arrows?
“Enemy attack!” The lieutenant looked up and saw a Yao soldier standing on a bamboo tip three hundred zhang away, swaying with the wind as if floating on water.
He was slightly stunned. The person shot a fourth arrow, also approaching with a sharp whistling sound. The lieutenant stepped aside, and this arrow exploded, with considerable power. Two or three people were injured by the blast, and four or five in the front row were splattered with mud.
The lieutenant had protective energy around his body and wasn’t in such a sorry state. With a tense face, he ordered, “Pursue!” Was this a provocation? Unacceptable! Though this person wore a soldier’s attire, what ordinary soldier could possess such skill?
Seeing them giving chase, Feng Miao Jun immediately changed direction and ran. She leaped from bamboo tip to bamboo tip, which was somewhat slower than running on the ground. These Yao soldiers saw the distance between them narrowing and pursued with even more enthusiasm.
Before long, the view suddenly opened up.
The bamboo forest ended, and ahead was the lakeshore. The strange small soldier had vanished, but two people were lying on the shore—one in black clothes, unconscious, and the other…
The lieutenant’s eyes widened upon seeing her. Whoever they were chasing before was now completely forgotten.
He rushed over and untied the bindings of the esteemed Crown Prince Consort.
Princess Han Yue flexed her numb hands and said with urgency, “My child has been kidnapped, go rescue him quickly!” The Yao soldier who had rescued her to shore was somewhat strange, but she was anxious to save her child, and this matter was quickly pushed to the back of her mind.
“Yes.”
Everyone became energized, searching along the shore with far more vigor than they had shown in pursuing Feng Miao Jun.
Princess Han Yue appeared to be safe now.
Seeing this scene, Feng Miao Jun, hidden in the forest, finally let out a long sigh of relief and turned to leave.
Her earlier action of luring the Yao troops over also had a purpose—it could be considered as attacking Wei’s opponents and then fleeing, with the direction of her flight just happening to be toward the lakeshore. If the Heavenly Way understood, it could not judge her as assisting Yao.
Indeed, this time she did not trigger any celestial phenomena, indicating that the Heavenly Way had tacitly approved of her approach. Any contract has loopholes to exploit, and the agreement between her and Wei Kingdom was no exception.
She found a quiet place, took out Bai Ban and placed it in her palm, saying with concern, “It’s my fault, how are your injuries?” If she hadn’t been so careless, Bai Ban wouldn’t have been hurt.
Bai Ban had been roasted to a crisp on the outside while tender inside, like a charcoal lump, unable even to change shape. Its body still radiated intense heat, showing how severe the lightning strike had been. It weakly said, “I won’t die, but I’m injured too severely to help my mistress for now.”
The Heavenly Way kept its word; since it said “warning,” the lightning strike was intended as a punishment to warn, not fatal, just severely injuring. But being injured at this time meant Feng Miao Jun was unexpectedly deprived of a capable assistant.
She took out a piece of fine metal and gave it to Bai Ban, saying apologetically, “It’s alright, you just rest.”
Bai Ban didn’t refuse, barely managing to wrap around the entire piece of fine metal before becoming motionless, allowing Feng Miao Jun to put it away. When cultivators are injured, they can extract spiritual energy from spirit stones to recover. Liquid metal demons, however, have a different method—special metals are the best supplements for them.
Knowing that Bai Ban’s life wasn’t in danger greatly relieved her, but during this delay, most of the Wei people had retreated to the main hall, and the Yao army’s encirclement had already formed. It would not be easy for Feng Miao Jun to infiltrate now.
She could hardly attend to both Princess Han Yue and Yun Ya. Feng Miao Jun rubbed her brow and sighed at this mess.
Outside the Imperial Garden, several more riders galloped up, and the guards at the gate stopped them as per protocol.
The person in the middle pushed back his windproof hat veil, revealing a handsome face with distinct features. The Yao guards at the gate were immediately stunned.
Not because of his handsomeness, but because of this face—they had seen it not long ago!
The man raised his thick eyebrows and said in a deep voice, “Jin Kingdom’s State Preceptor Mo Tizhun, requesting to see the Crown Prince of Yao!”