Her mind suddenly froze, sensing something was wrong.

Who had saved her? At this moment, who else could possibly save her?

She opened her eyes and was startled to discover she was still on the cliff face. Above the cliff wall, there was a massive dark object. She blinked, hardly daring to believe it, but before she could see clearly what it was, a joyful cry had already burst forth: “Gong Yin!”

The thing remained motionless. Gradually she could make it out clearly – it was indeed the bottom of the carriage. Only about half the carriage body remained, but somehow it was wedged in a crevice between the mountains. A short pine tree protruded from the cliff face, supporting the carriage body. But she could tell that relying on this short pine alone couldn’t possibly hold up the heavy carriage. Yet the carriage sat steadily above her, with a silk rope hanging down, tied around her ankle.

She trembled with joy all over, nearly crying – this high-altitude bungee jumping, dancing between life and death, was pure heart-stopping terror!

At this moment she was hanging head-down. With one shake, the top also shook, pine needles rustling with heart-stopping creaking sounds. Gong Yin’s voice came from above: “Don’t shout, be careful or you’ll shake us loose!”

Hearing his voice, she wanted to tremble again. Surviving desperate straits, being rescued from the extreme pain and regret of having killed him – it was like making a round trip between heaven and hell, truly deserving of the phrase “as if awakening from a dream.”

With great effort she controlled herself, only then clearly seeing her situation. At a glance she could see they weren’t far from the canyon floor – perhaps four or five stories down. She could imagine that when Gong Yin’s carriage had fallen, it was almost at the very last moment that the carriage successfully wedged itself between the mountain walls to save itself. The danger involved was equally a matter of life and death in an instant.

She was furious enough to grit her teeth. She and Gong Yin were certainly at their worst state now, but being forced into such a wretched situation by someone else was truly memorable.

Find that bastard for her – if she didn’t flay him alive, she’d take his surname!

The scenery in all directions was beautiful. The waterfall hung like white silk from the heavens. In the canyon meandered green forests and pale yellow mountain paths. The cliff walls were verdant, with floating white clouds. From time to time there were verdant pines, catching wisps of mist like silk gauze, then being scattered by the mighty heavenly winds. Yet she had no heart to appreciate it, helpless in this vast heaven and earth.

Her ankle suddenly trembled – her body was being slowly pulled upward. Jing Hengbo shouted in terror: “Don’t! Just leave me hanging like this, I’ll figure out my own way down. If you pull me up like this and something goes wrong, even you’ll fall down too!”

She actually hadn’t thought of any way to get down the cliff. Although they weren’t far from the canyon floor, she was still some distance from the cliff wall. The slightest movement would shake the carriage body.

She just felt that no matter what they did would be dangerous. Having finally seen that carriage safely above her, she really didn’t want to watch the carriage fall again with her own eyes. That heart-burning taste – experiencing it once in a lifetime was already enough.

Gong Yin paid her no heed. She continued moving steadily upward. Jing Hengbo stopped shouting too. If he was going to do this, she would cooperate with him, holding her breath and concentrating, not moving at all.

With great difficulty she approached the short pine. It took even longer to drag her inside. The closer she got to the carriage body, the more highly tense she became, terrified of failure at the final moment, that the carriage might be pulled over and crash down before her eyes at any second. This caused all her muscles to contract tightly, rigid as a corpse.

When she finally touched Gong Yin’s hand, she let out a long breath. All her muscles instantly relaxed, twitching chaotically and tugging at her wounds, making her grimace in pain.

His hand was also trembling slightly, his breathing rapid, so much so that he didn’t even have the strength to touch her again. After shaking for a while, she soothingly placed her hand on his knee.

He caught his breath and pressed his hand to her shoulder. There was a wound on her shoulder that originally wasn’t serious, but because of the later desperate horse riding and fighting to hold up the carriage, it had been torn until the flesh gaped open. Her head was full of dust, frost mist condensed on her eyelashes, and she kept trembling lightly, yet her fingers gripped his knee soothingly and tightly.

Earlier, whether throwing the flying hook to nail the carriage or using the flying rope to pull her up, his hands had been steady and consistent. Now, pressing against her wound, it was as if he were touching that needle in his own body, the pain surging like overturning seas and rivers, piercing to the bone marrow.

Because of the cold and tension, she didn’t feel much pain at the moment. Leaning against him made her feel at peace. After her breathing steadied, she began examining their situation. Looking up, she saw that only half the carriage remained. Everything inside had fallen to the canyon floor. She and Gong Yin had half their bodies in the carriage and half on the short pine. Looking further up, a rope stretched diagonally upward, its iron hook catching on a protruding rock. On the left and right sides, there were also ropes hooking onto protrusions on either side of the mountain crevice. This way, though the carriage looked dangerous, it actually had support from above, below, left and right. The chosen position was also extremely clever, sufficient to support two people.

It was hard to imagine how Gong Yin, inside the carriage as it fell rapidly and tumbled, in the spinning chaos with unclear vision, had managed in that instant to identify the most accurate positions on the cliff face for support, throwing three hooks in succession to position himself for self-rescue.

This was nearly miraculous. Calling him a great god really wasn’t unfair.

Jing Hengbo vaguely saw rocks still falling from the mountain wall, with long drag marks above, showing that the carriage hadn’t managed to stop in one try – it had been extremely close.

Gong Yin explained from the side: “Apart from the hooks that were already there, the other two hooks were makeshift, not hard enough, couldn’t withstand sliding all the way down. Fortunately we encountered the mountain crevice and got wedged in.”

She could imagine how dangerous that moment had been. Both celebrating and joyful, not daring to move recklessly, she hugged his knees and rested her face against his thigh.

Making this pose, she suddenly felt piercing pain in her shoulder. She buried her face in his leg, muffling that cry of pain.

But he seemed able to hear her thoughts. He pressed her shoulder and tore off a strip from his shirt hem. Without asking her permission, he began unbuttoning her collar.

Jing Hengbo was both angry and amused, biting his kneecap: “Hey hey! Hey hey!”

“I don’t mind,” he said. He was always the type to do his own thing regardless of others, moving quickly. The buttons were swiftly undone, and he smoothly pulled down.

Jing Hengbo didn’t know whether to scold him as a rogue or thank him for being efficient. Either way would be affected. She also thought about how beautiful her shoulder had originally been, but now in this ugly state, he couldn’t see her beauty, only seeing her grimy disheveled appearance. It was really too disappointing.

Seeing the expression on her face, Gong Yin knew she was distracted, probably worrying about the wound looking ugly. This beauty-loving woman.

His gaze fell on the wound. Her shoulder had originally been crystalline in bone and flesh, with beautiful lines, tight and smooth skin, as exquisitely beautiful as jade. Now it was covered in scrapes, that wound with flesh turned inside out, blood-stained, contrasted against that beautiful skin, making it all the more regrettable and heartbreaking.

There was a dull pain in his heart. He just felt she was truly unlucky – being with him, she’d never had a single good day.

Seeing him neither moving nor speaking, she glanced sideways and knew this fellow was secretly feeling heartache again, probably blaming himself too. She quickly slapped his knee and said: “What are you looking at! Don’t let your eyes wander downward!”

This was practically slander. He’d pulled her clothes very moderately, exactly to the edge of the curve. The crucial scenery – even looking downward he couldn’t see it.

Though he really wanted to look downward, here between cliff walls, on a short pine, any major movement would be courting death. Dying under peony flowers might be romantic, but being able to pick flowers while alive was true romance.

He steadied his mind, pressed his lips together, and quickly bandaged her wound. This woman seemed delicate but was actually resilient. He was here feeling heartache while she was trying to divert his attention. Why burden her further?

His movements were quick, but his fingers gentle. She actually didn’t feel much pain. That person like ice and snow had fingers like spring breeze plucking strings, light and tender, plucking gentle spring rain from her heart.

His breath brushed her shoulder, slightly warm and moist, even a bit ticklish. Her heart also felt moist. The exhaustion after the life-and-death ordeal came flooding in. She stretched her body, not wanting to worry about anything, not wanting to care about anything. Suddenly she felt that if she could cast everything aside and live in seclusion with him in a small house in these mountains, with him chopping wood while she hunted, and in their free time having him freeze all the mountain trees into an icy snow world for her to see – how wonderful that would be.

Thinking this way, a smile appeared at the corners of her mouth. She heard him asking from above: “What are you smiling about so happily?”

“I’m not telling you.” She hummed, answering in a buzzing voice, imagining the secluded life to herself – thinking they could ice skate in winter, soak in hot springs in summer, sleep until naturally waking in the morning, reach out in the morning light to touch the windowsill, and casually pick many flowers to weave a flower crown to marry the great god.

How wonderful.

Thinking and thinking, she spoke aloud: “…hunt and sing mountain songs…”

His fingers paused, then he gathered the cloth strips, tucking one end into the bandage. The wound was bandaged completely, neatly and simply – his style.

Looking down at her, there was a rare tranquility in her brows. A faint smile at the corners of her lips, as if yearning for something.

He knew what she was yearning for.

Mountain villages and fields, secluded life, just her and him, loving only him and her.

In her bones, she was a lazy woman who enjoyed comfort. Fighting, struggling, bloodshed and harm were all helpless struggles under necessity. In her heart, she would never like such things.

During this time when he’d seen her, there was faintly more hostility between her brows, and her actions seemed to have matured – decisive in killing, courageous and resourceful. But when she quieted down, when she truly relaxed, between her brows and in her heart there was only faint weariness.

The knot in her heart from the Dige incident had mostly resolved recently. With her tolerant, lazy nature, unwilling to calculate too much about anything, the killing intent and determination from that day of cutting down the flag atop the city wall and angrily leaving the capital had diminished considerably. He seemed to see her fighting spirit melting away like ice and snow.

If possible, he would also wish her fighting spirit to melt away, to grow old peacefully in his embrace.

But the prerequisite for that was that he could accompany her to old age.

Jing Hengbo raised her eyes and glanced at Gong Yin. His features were sunk in dim light, still deep as water.

She sighed softly in her heart.

Her words just now were unintentional, but also a test. When he remained silent, she knew some things were ultimately wishful thinking.

They still had to move forward, directly face killing and conspiracy. He was a distant mountain veiled in clouds and mist, seemingly right before her eyes but actually not yet reached.

Unable to cast aside everything, they had to face everything. She didn’t know if, once they crossed the life-and-death boundary and each returned to their positions, with old affairs and power struggles coming one after another, they could still embrace so calmly as now, caring about nothing.

From when had it become that only crisis could make the two of them set aside their barriers and open their hearts?

Were she and he also the type of lovers who could share hardship but not wealth?

Gong Yin gazed at her. She closed her eyes, expression calm, but her brows twitched slightly – this was her sign of having something on her mind.

She had ultimately matured. With too much in her heart, she had learned not to speak it aloud.

His heart felt pain or pity, he couldn’t tell. He couldn’t help but lean down and kiss her lips lightly.

She didn’t open her eyes. If she opened them, it might be another world. She closed her eyes and responded to his kiss, her tongue tip tracing his lips over and over, licking every contour.

This time I want to remember you deeply, so that no matter how you disguise yourself a thousand times, I’ll recognize you at a glance.

Gentle love and sweet tenderness, soft and lingering. At this moment they dared not make large movements, only expressing their unspeakable feelings in the grinding of lip against lip.

In each other’s breath of blood and dust, they still sensed the bone-deep fragrance of skin – that scent that had seeped into each other’s lives.

The short pine began trembling subtly at some point, perhaps affected by the carriage body. The rustling, shaking pine needles quickly returned to stillness. A long sigh came from the half-carriage.

Jing Hengbo took a deep breath of fresh air. This kiss, though not passionate, was endlessly long, making her feel like she’d become a deflated inflatable doll.

A faint scent permeated the carriage, one that stirred restless feelings when breathed – it was the pheromones they secreted, teasing the irrepressible desires of young bodies. Her eyes were misty, seeing what seemed like a blush on his cheeks too. She couldn’t help having some restless associations, remembering everything she’d seen traveling with him day and night in the carriage. Her throat grew increasingly dry. She swallowed hard, afraid of transforming into a wolf and having to battle bloodily even while severely wounded in crisis. She quickly spoke first: “That person just now was Sang Tianxi.”

The name Sang Tianxi had seemed unfamiliar when she heard it at the bottom of the cliff, but she quickly remembered who it was.

Sang Dong had an excellent son. Sang Dong had a son who had run away. She knew about this and had been quite wary initially, having people investigate. But after Sang Dong died and the Sang family was destroyed, no one came forward for the Sang family. Sang Dong’s corpse had been buried on Gong Yin’s orders. Even Sang Dong’s sister Sang Qiao had been kept in the heavenly prison all along with no rescue.

Sang Tianxi – was he absolutely heartless and patient, or was he a useless person? Which type was he?

This doubt had faded as Sang Tianxi failed to appear for so long. She hadn’t expected this person to choose such a moment to appear.

Her question now had its answer. He was the former type.

Once this name was mentioned, the romantic atmosphere vanished instantly. Gong Yin raised his eyebrows slightly with a questioning “Hmm?”

She couldn’t tell if this was surprise or doubt. Her heart was also in chaos as she said: “This person has finally appeared.”

Gong Yin was silent. A trace of warm light from the horizon gradually reflected on his brow. He said lightly: “His timing of appearance is quite coincidental.”

“Is it really such a coincidence?” Jing Hengbo asked him back. “Not appearing for so long before, then appearing at the most crucial moment. Too miraculous.”

He smiled: “Excellent question.”

Jing Hengbo paused, then said softly: “It’s good that he appeared. Coming from darkness to light is ultimately beneficial for us. Also…” She smiled, “I left him a little memento.” As she spoke, her fingertip curved up, smiling as she pointed at a certain part of Gong Yin.

Gong Yin looked down and frowned: “You seem to have an obsession with attacking men in that area.”

“Oh ho ho ho, scared now?” Jing Hengbo chuckled. “So remember not to offend me in the future, or be careful you won’t be able to be a man for life.”

“That would be your own loss,” he answered smoothly.

Jing Hengbo gave the narcissistic fellow a quintuple eye-roll.

He thought even her eye-rolls were the most beautiful.

The horizon gradually brightened. With good visibility in daylight, perhaps they could find a way down. Both gradually relaxed. Jing Hengbo suddenly remembered a question: “I’ve always had an unresolved doubt I wanted to consult our great state preceptor about. Why didn’t such an awesome figure as the founding empress pass the throne to her own children? Also, why set up such a damaging situation as Dahuang – this is clearly the rhythm of forcing the empress to death!”

This doubt had circled in Jing Hengbo’s mind for a long time. She’d even suspected because of this whether the founding empress, so beloved by the Dahuang people, might also be a time traveler. But she’d been to the bedroom hall and hadn’t seen any time traveler style.

But if not a time traveler, where did such unique concepts come from? The throne actually wasn’t passed down?

She suddenly sensed that Gong Yin’s silence was lasting a bit long. Looking up at him, he had actually turned his head away the moment her gaze swept over.

This made her heart jump, feeling she seemed to have touched on a crucial great secret, so much so that even someone as deep as Gong Yin was afraid he couldn’t control himself and let her discover clues.

“You’ve read the Imperial Map Silk Book – don’t you have any insights?” After a while he threw the topic back to her.

“I can’t understand it.” Every time this thing was mentioned, her heart ached faintly. She couldn’t help remembering that day’s aggressive confrontation before the empress’s bedchamber, remembering Jing Jun’s hateful face and Cui Jie’s blood-stained corpse.

This made her tone inevitably cold and hard.

Hearing such a tone, he also felt blocked up, immediately unable to bear completely ignoring it. He lowered his eyelashes and said lightly: “Legends aren’t all true. The Imperial Map Silk Book seems important but is actually just a disaster. The Dahuang situation seems foolish but is actually just the deliberate arrangement of someone with intentions.”

“You’re saying the founding empress deliberately set up such a situation,” Jing Hengbo immediately said, “She didn’t want future empresses to hold power, right? This is strange. If really so concerned about the throne she passed down, just pass it to her own children. Why be so contradictory?”

Gong Yin fell silent. Her question struck at the heart of the matter, yet he couldn’t answer.

Jing Hengbo also stopped talking. She felt she was very close to the answer, and this answer definitely related to many very important things, related to what Gong Yin had always refused to speak clearly about.

She suddenly said: “Where are the descendants of the founding empress now?”

This was truly an important question, but strangely, no one had ever mentioned it, so much so that she herself had forgotten.

“When the empress was alive, she bore three children and established a crown prince,” Gong Yin said. “But… they all died suddenly.”

Jing Hengbo drew in a sharp breath – could this be the reason the empress didn’t pass on the throne, changed to a reincarnation system, and set up such a strange arrangement?

She couldn’t pass it to her own children, so she felt unwilling?

She felt it couldn’t be so simple and wanted to ask more, when suddenly they heard what seemed like shouting from above. Both instinctively looked up.

…

At the canyon’s edge, a man in brocade robes stood with his sleeves fluttering, carrying that enormous bundle.

Ten zhang behind him was the Emerald Army, vast and mighty, surrounding him in a deadly trap.

The man in brocade maintained that same carefree yet indifferent expression, one person sufficient to look down upon a thousand troops.

He had been frantically pursued by the Emerald King’s army all the way to the edge of Tianlie Canyon. The Emerald King’s army was quite excited because the kidnapper had been driven to a dead end. The man in brocade was also quite satisfied because Tianlie Canyon and the great waterfall had excellent scenery – eating delicious food in such scenery would surely be enjoyable.

“Put down the prince and we’ll spare your life!” someone shouted from behind.

The man in brocade squinted at the horizon – sunrise was coming soon. He’d watch the sunrise first.

The dawn light at the horizon was brilliant, like a splendid scroll that spread and vanished instantly. The sunrise in such vast spaces had a fierce intensity that made one dare not look directly. Everyone closed their eyes, except the man in brocade, whose gaze never wavered.

He seemed to possess some natural gift – walking in darkness yet unafraid of sunlight.

After a long while, he sighed deeply and murmured: “How much like Little Cake’s sunny-side-up eggs…”

Seeing their ultimatum was ineffective, the pursuing troops behind gradually advanced with swords and spears. They were full of confusion, not knowing what tricks this madman planned to play after being driven to a dead end.

The man in brocade looked down over the edge, then sighed again: “So high.”

Hearing this tone, everyone felt it didn’t sound like fear, but rather… excitement?

Excited about what? Excited that the cliff was high enough to kill someone?

The man in brocade set down his bundle, pulled out a boy of about ten from it, dangled him in his hand, and smiled: “You want him?”

The pursuing troops’ eyes were full of “Nonsense!” – after chasing for three days and nights, you still don’t know we want him?

The man in brocade’s next words made everyone want to vomit blood again.

“But I don’t want to let him go,” he said. “I haven’t eaten the cake he made yet.”

“Put down the prince and everything can be discussed!” The leading general saw him dangling the boy in his hand, the boy’s entire body suspended above the canyon, and shouted urgently in alarm.

“If I let him go, will there be cake to eat?” he asked.

“Yes, yes!”

“Dream on!” the boy interjected, struggling to lift his head. “I’d rather make it for ghosts than for you!”

“Your Highness!” the generals cried out, fearing the boy would anger the demon.

His Highness was the great king’s only son, beloved as life itself. If even his skin got scratched, everyone would suffer.

“Oh?” The man in brocade smiled playfully. “Then go make it for the ghosts!”

Before his words finished, his hand released.

“Whoosh.” The boy vanished from the cliff.

The pursuing troops had never expected this person to let go just like that. They stared with eyes wide, foolishly looking at the empty cliff edge. Only after a long moment did they react, letting out heart-rending roars.

“Your Highness!”

…

At this moment, Jing Hengbo and Gong Yin were looking up listening to the commotion above, embracing each other as they sat in the half-carriage watching the sunrise. This should have been a rare and unique experience of their lives, but neither had any mood to appreciate it. Through gaps in the clouds and mist, they could see a human figure swaying back and forth above, ghost-like.

“What’s happening? Is someone going to jump off the cliff?” Jing Hengbo said with a worried heart. “Please don’t jump down – if they hit us we’ll be finished…”

Before she finished speaking, “Swoosh!” – the shadow above shot down like a cannonball.

“Ah ah ah don’t hit us!” Jing Hengbo’s screams echoed through the mountainside.

…

The man in brocade heard the screams from the mountainside. He looked down curiously. The clouds and mist had been dispersed by sunlight, revealing something small and house-shaped protruding from the green cliff wall.

This shape immediately aroused the man in brocade’s interest.

He felt that position – with mountains at the back, facing the waterfall, watching sunrise and eating delicious food – would be the highest realm of life.

At this moment, the pursuing troops were both shocked and furious, shouting “He killed His Highness! Kill him!” as they charged forward.

The man in brocade looked down, seeing the child’s figure was about to approach that house-shaped object, and lifted his hand.

…

Jing Hengbo watched that cannonball-like mass crashing down, continuously growing larger in her vision. It was clearly a person, and the landing point was right on their carriage. She couldn’t help but hug Gong Yin tightly and shout: “In the end we still have to die together!”

But Gong Yin was busy tying the silk rope in his hand to the tree trunk, staring intently at the falling figure – the silk rope around Jing Hengbo’s ankle hadn’t been removed yet. He still had a chance to make Jing Hengbo escape the carriage again the moment the figure crashed into it.

Hanging in midair was better than being crushed to death.

The figure rapidly enlarged, bringing tremendous wind noise. Just as the boy’s head was about to hit the carriage roof and Gong Yin was preparing to push Jing Hengbo down, suddenly golden light flashed in the air.

Jing Hengbo tightly closed her eyes and hugged Gong Yin, knowing nothing. Gong Yin saw it clearly, his gaze flashing.

He stopped his action.

The next instant, the boy’s body suddenly halted, then was pulled upward. At a distance of only one person’s height from the carriage roof, he swung once, then again.

Jing Hengbo held her breath and waited for a while. When the earth-shaking crash didn’t come, she nervously lifted her head and saw the child hanging in midair. She let out a long breath, patted her chest and said: “Scared me to death. One more time and I’d have a heart attack…” Then added: “This pose looks like mine just now.” Looking more carefully, she saw a steel ring embedded in the boy’s boot, with golden thread connected to the ring. It was this golden thread that had suspended the child in midair. The thread was perfectly straight, clearly someone above was holding it.

“Who’s so wicked, using a person to play on swings?” Jing Hengbo muttered. “Better hold tight, don’t let it happen again…”

Gong Yin suddenly coughed. His voice carried considerable helplessness.

Jing Hengbo looked up and was once again shocked speechless.

…

Above, the man in brocade lifted his hand and caught the child, then suddenly heard screaming again. The voice seemed somewhat familiar.

His eyes flashed with even greater interest.

At this moment, the pursuing troops opposite, furious beyond restraint, loudly ordered: “Release arrows!”

Arrows shot like rain, like dark clouds, wildly surging forward. Behind the man in brocade was nowhere left to hide.

He smiled lightly, extended his hand, and a golden thread appeared in his palm. Leisurely he said: “The person isn’t actually dead, still hanging, but if you shoot, then he’ll really die.”

“Stop—” The general who had ordered the arrow release was terrified, frantically shouting to stop, but arrows released from bows couldn’t be recalled.

“Remember, you killed the prince yourselves!” The man in brocade smiled with satisfaction and lay backward.

“Whoosh.” Ten thousand arrows swept past his face as he fell into the high cliff in a reclining position.

His long hair and robes billowed up, clear wind and white clouds filling his embrace. Like returning to the earth’s embrace, he felt this pose was incomparably graceful.

The thousand troops on the cliff were turned to clay sculptures and wooden carvings.

Such an inexplicable person – kidnapped the prince, wanted nothing, just threw him off the cliff. When throwing him off the cliff he held back but didn’t say so, forcing everyone to act. After they acted, he told them oh actually I didn’t kill him but now that you’ve acted you’ve really harmed him.

The rhythm of making people vomit blood every minute.

Where did this madman come from?

…

Jing Hengbo raised her head again and again saw a dark shadow falling down.

“Ah ah ah ah…” Jing Hengbo’s screams once again echoed through the universe. “You can’t really do this again…”

Amid the screams, the boy had already crashed down with a bang, landing right in front of Jing Hengbo. With a loud crack, they watched helplessly as the short pine broke.

The next instant, all three would tumble down together.

Gong Yin lightning-fast pushed Jing Hengbo away. Jing Hengbo lightning-fast embraced him back – if they were to fall, fall together; if they were to die, die together!

However, the two couldn’t fall down, and even the boy who had landed on the pine’s crown didn’t fall.

Because suddenly with a “swoosh,” the pine tree beneath the three stopped breaking and then, at a speed visible to the naked eye, began growing thicker and wider, sprouting countless lush pine needles. The main trunk even extended countless branches outward, and the branches grew more leaves, fluffy and soft, supporting the boy’s falling form.

This scene was like a myth. Even Jing Hengbo stared wide-eyed.

The next instant she raised her head and cursed angrily: “Snake spirit disease! I knew it was you!”

The next instant, golden light flashed. A human figure elegantly flipped in midair and crashed for the third time onto the precarious carriage roof. The half-carriage, having been violently struck repeatedly, finally couldn’t hold up and rumbled downward. Gong Yin dodged quickly, or he would have nearly fallen with it.

With this pressure, the pine tree creaked again and looked about to break, but Jing Hengbo was no longer nervous – a troublemaker had arrived. Though he caused all sorts of trouble, he wouldn’t really cause any deaths.

With a crack, the pine tree broke and four people fell. As Jing Hengbo fell, she cut the silk rope around her ankle and hugged Gong Yin.

During the fall, they encountered trees protruding from the mountain cliff twice more. With the man in brocade’s life revival ability, he forcibly made those two small trees instantly grow into large trees, catching the four people for a moment. When the trees broke again, the four were not far from the ground.

Such a magical cliff-falling experience was a first for anyone – high-altitude bungee jumping without ropes, listening to tree branches breaking beneath their feet one after another, was truly alternative and stimulating. Jing Hengbo finally lost her nervousness and gained interest. In the midst of the chaos, she even poked her head out from Gong Yin’s embrace to look at the scenery in all directions, singing loudly: “Just like this I’ll conquer you…”

Gong Yin pressed down her restless head – didn’t she know singing while falling could cause breathing problems!

With several successive crashes, the four landed one after another. The canyon floor was soft grassland. The boy had the man in brocade holding him with golden thread, so he wouldn’t be injured. Jing Hengbo and Gong Yin embraced each other, rolling a large circle on the grassland and tumbling down to the foot of the slope.

On one hand to reduce impact force, on the other to stay away from the man in brocade – this guy didn’t play by normal rules, so keeping distance was better.

After completely stopping, Jing Hengbo couldn’t get up. Once released from the tense state, her wounds acted up.

She tried to get up but felt dizzy and weak, so she could only moan: “Let me rest, let me rest…”

Gong Yin checked her pulse and called to that direction: “Lend medicine!”

The man in brocade appeared on the slope, still with fluttering robes and elegant bearing. Seeing the dying Jing Hengbo, she wanted nothing more than to pin him down and beat him senseless.

His first words were: “Oh, you’re finally going to die?”

Jing Hengbo sprawled out and retorted sarcastically: “Has your hair grown back?” Then said to Gong Yin: “Why borrow from him?” She extended her hand: “Give medicine, give food.”

“Why should I give you anything?” The man in brocade looked at her with great interest.

“If you have the ability, kill me,” Jing Hengbo expressed her disdain with nasal sounds. “Otherwise, you’ll have to endlessly face all kinds of asymmetrical things, all kinds of dirty things, all kinds of dense things, like honeycombs, ant holes, densely packed squirming things…”

Before the man in brocade finished listening, he threw a tube of ointment at her and said to Gong Yin: “For the sake of the assistance I’ve given you, control your woman.”

Gong Yin found the latter sentence quite pleasant to hear, so he didn’t argue with him. But Jing Hengbo asked alertly: “What assistance? What secret deal do you have with him? Hmm?”

“What business does a wounded person have with so many idle concerns?” Gong Yin pressed her down to re-medicate and bandage her. The boy suddenly walked over, looked at the wound, and said: “The wound should be washed first. I’ll go get some water for you.” After speaking, he glanced at the man in brocade. Seeing no objection, he got up to find water.

Jing Hengbo smiled, thinking this was a clever child. Having just escaped danger, he could already see the enemy-yet-friend relationship between her, Gong Yin, and the man in brocade. This was showing goodwill to them, seeking backing.

At this moment, however, she had no heart to mind others. She grabbed Gong Yin’s sleeve and pressed: “What exactly is your deal with him?”

Her intuition told her this question was very important.

Gong Yin said lightly: “When coming to Chentie to save you, I encountered obstacles. He helped.”

“Why would he help you for no reason?”

“Because he’s sick,” Gong Yin said. “You understand.”

The man in brocade listened with a smile.

“What kind of help?”

“Just driving away enemies,” he answered lightly.

“Nonsense. You don’t need others to help you drive away enemies. Besides, that psycho would be too lazy to do something as unchallenging as driving away enemies.” Jing Hengbo’s gaze was burning. “Speak! Do you two have an affair!”

Both men nearly spat out. Gong Yin inhaled: “Him?”

The implication was as if he’d been greatly insulted.

The man in brocade sighed: “Him?” He chuckled.

“Anyone can see he’s abnormal. Wandering around outside for so long shows he doesn’t have a wife either. Don’t let him turn you bent…” Jing Hengbo advised earnestly.

Gong Yin was too lazy to deal with her strange words. When this woman wasn’t being an empress, her head was filled with who knows what.

“Fortunately I like women. Fortunately the woman I like isn’t your type,” the man in brocade patted his robe and said lightly. “Among all women in the world, only Little Cake…”

He suddenly stopped.

At the same time, Jing Hengbo made a “hiss” sound – Gong Yin had unwrapped the cloth strips from her wound.

Then she raised her head, feeling she seemed to have heard some familiar words: “What did you just say?”