“Pfft.”

Jing Hengbo spat out all the rice in her mouth very ungracefully onto the ground.

Across from her, Gong Yin looked at her very earnestly, his eyes actually sparkling with the light of seeking knowledge. Jing Hengbo didn’t believe he truly didn’t understand at all – he could immediately guess the meaning of “one clock,” so how could he not guess “one pole of purple bamboo”?

She coughed for a long time, and Gong Yin reached out to pat her back. After finally stopping the coughing fit, just as she was about to change the subject, he said again: “Actually, what I find even harder to understand is ‘the old ox gazing at the moon and swallows flying in pairs.'”

After saying this, he looked at her with a completely serious expression of academic discussion.

Jing Hengbo was amused by his anger. She put down her bowl, moved her stool away, and suddenly reached her hand into his collar, slowly downward, downward… and pinched.

She expected to hear a sharp intake of breath, but there was no reaction. When she looked up, she saw that certain someone with his dignified appearance and otherworldly purity was staring at her chest wrap, saying: “It’s crooked.”

Only then did Jing Hengbo realize that her movements had been too vigorous. Her chest wrap, which already barely contained what was above and below, had shifted to one side. Not only was a bouncing mound of snow-white fullness exposed, but even her cherry fruits nearly provided a feast for someone’s eyes.

She pulled her chest wrap upward, but then Gong Yin’s gaze fixed on her exposed waist, his eyes appraising, as if measuring whether her waist was still as slender as before.

This gaze made Jing Hengbo feel guilty, so she simply lay against his abdomen and licked his half-open collar. Gong Yin’s collarbones were very refined, straight as a line, like a pair of perfectly polished jade handles. The skin of his collarbones was taut, with perfectly curved indentations below. Jing Hengbo thought coins could be placed there, eggs could be placed there, or perhaps even fish could be raised there?

Gong Yin’s breathing became slightly rapid as he held her waist tighter. She was lying sideways across his body, and from his angle, he could see her undulating curves, which were also astonishingly curved, reminiscent of mountain peaks covered in soft deep snow. If one fell into them, they could bounce up high. The crevice between such peaks was narrow and compact, capable of holding paper sheets or copper coins – perhaps even wine bottles…

Both of them had inappropriate thoughts swirling in their minds, and their hands became dishonest, touching and groping, kneading and squeezing. In the crude room with dim candlelight, increasingly rapid breathing floated and sank. After a long while, Jing Hengbo let out a soft “mm…” and melted like water against Gong Yin’s body. Gong Yin stroked her hair and suddenly said: “I thought…”

Jing Hengbo’s heart beat faster, her whole body heated up. She barely suppressed the hot current within her body, clamped her legs together and lifted her face. The blush on her cheeks hadn’t faded, and with seductive eyes like silk, she made another “mm?” sound – her voice soft and sweet, sounding less like a question and more like a moan.

Hearing this sound, Gong Yin smiled bitterly, his expression actually showing a trace of helplessness as he said: “I thought you would take the initiative… but you seem to have been quite abstinent lately.”

Jing Hengbo’s heart jumped in alarm. When she looked up into his thoughtful deep black pupils, she felt a wave of guilt. She simply wrapped around his shoulders like an octopus, buried her face in his shoulder, and mumbled incoherently: “I’m worried about your body. I still don’t know what’s wrong with you… Gong Yin, tell me, are you going to die?”

Gong Yin paused in stroking her hair, and after a long while said: “All people die.”

Just as Jing Hengbo was about to scoff at this utterly uncreative statement, she heard him continue: “…But I will always give you an explanation.”

“An explanation? What explanation do I want?” Jing Hengbo laughed coldly. “The explanation I really want is for you to be perfectly normal, for us to have no more troubles, to spend a lifetime together regardless of wealth and honor, regardless of longevity – just to be able to live together peacefully and steadily for a while. Tell me, is that possible?”

The candlewick crackled and popped, making the room seem terrifyingly quiet by contrast. Gong Yin’s fingers threaded through her hair, gently stroking downward, downward. Her hair was like satin, bright like satin and smooth like satin, reminding one of flowing water and time. The days spent with her were also like flowing water, like time – in a flash they had passed. Only when occasionally looking back at the banks of the River of Forgetfulness and seeing the clear reflections of past events did one realize how long had been wasted, how much had been missed.

Those who occupy high positions and overlook the world cannot obtain the simplest happiness of the mortal realm.

His fingers combed from the strands to the ends, unconsciously braiding them into small plaits, but because her hair was too smooth, when it reached the tips, it suddenly scattered.

Perhaps even destiny forcibly twisted together could not withstand the final hand of fate in the end.

He released his hand and said quietly: “Yes, it’s possible. It definitely is.”

Jing Hengbo said nothing, her head resting against his hand as she said quietly: “Your martial arts – they’re diminishing, aren’t they?”

Gong Yin paused before saying: “Just some damage to my true energy.”

“Is it because of saving Yélu Qi?”

Gong Yin’s silence was his answer. Jing Hengbo sighed deeply. Outside, there were sounds of wooden clogs clip-clopping past again, and someone knocked on the window, laughing exaggeratedly: “Sister, playing the flute? It sounds really nice.”

“Not as good-looking as your swallows flying,” Jing Hengbo retorted. There was a burst of ribald laughter outside, and the wooden clog sounds clip-clopped away. Jing Hengbo sighed again, murmuring: “Sometimes I even envy them…”

Gong Yin turned his face, his pure white profile seeming to glow in the darkness.

Jing Hengbo’s voice gradually lowered – she was already tired and fell asleep just like that, leaning against Gong Yin. Gong Yin pulled her onto the bed, and she automatically rolled to the inside, turning her back to him. The bed had no bedding, only hard wooden boards. When she slept, she unconsciously curled into a ball. Gong Yin lay on his side, propping his head up with his hand and watching her for a while, then moved over and held her in his arms.

Jing Hengbo didn’t struggle either, but instead nestled deeper into his embrace. She was so warm and soft, like a young bird with downy feathers. He held her tightly, his chin rubbing against her smooth hair. What he held wasn’t a young bird, but a phoenix capable of spreading its wings above the ninth heaven. For his sake, she was willing to humble herself and linger in this dark, cramped place, facing the coldest hardships and cruelest realities of this mortal world. He should let go, but how could he let go?

Without realizing it, he also fell asleep. Their light breathing intertwined. This night was both noisy and quiet, clamorous yet composed. The candle flame quietly shed thousands of tears, accumulating into a small pool of amber on the mottled table surface, reflecting the greenish dawn sky… Day had broken.

Day had broken, and the area around the courtyard became quiet instead, which immediately woke Jing Hengbo, who had grown accustomed to a night of noise. Upon waking, she felt sore all over, especially her shoulders, but her body was warm with support behind her.

She smiled slightly, very much liking this feeling of him being right behind her the moment she opened her eyes, not even a fraction of distance away. However, this smile spread halfway before quietly fading.

She was awake, but Gong Yin still hadn’t woken up.

She stared blankly for a while before carefully getting up, thinking that if Yélu Qi and Pei Shu hadn’t found her yet, she should figure out how to find the renowned doctor in this slum full of hidden talents.

Her movement disturbed Gong Yin. Before opening his eyes, he said to her: “Good morning.”

“Good morning.” With one foot straddling over him, Jing Hengbo looked back at him greeting her in the misty morning light with his hair slightly disheveled, and suddenly felt this was the most sexy and down-to-earth version of him.

“Going out?” he continued asking.

He was always so perceptive. Jing Hengbo thought for a moment and said: “I think I still can’t leave.”

“You need to go out for a while to meet my people,” Gong Yin said instead. “People from the Long Ying family have been near me all along. They must be searching for me now too. It’s perfect timing for you to meet them all.”

“Like an ugly daughter-in-law meeting her in-laws?” Jing Hengbo laughed.

“Like clan disciples meeting the matriarch,” Gong Yin’s lips curved slightly.

“I like that title,” Jing Hengbo’s smiling eyes also curved.

“Just make contact with them,” Gong Yin taught her the contact method. “Don’t panic and seek random medical help for my problem. Just bring the Long family people here – perhaps we have our own solutions.”

Jing Hengbo nodded. If possible, she didn’t want to seek out that mysterious so-called renowned doctor either.

“Don’t you need a token?” she wondered how she could gain the trust of the Long family disciples without reason.

Gong Yin gently patted her belt. Jing Hengbo looked down – on her belt was embedded a round, vine-woven object. This was what Gong Yin had given her when he was still Mr. Mu. At first she didn’t wear it, but after understanding that Mr. Mu was Gong Yin, she had embedded this item into her belt. Sometimes when looking at this flat, round shape, she would think of the jade box that had fallen in the snow that night at Imperial Song Plaza.

Sure enough, Gong Yin said: “I actually gave this to you twice. You used it once, at Imperial Song Plaza. Later, I modified it a bit, changed identities, and gave it to you again.”

As expected. Jing Hengbo removed the flat, round object and said: “A Long family token?”

“It’s a Long family token, and also the real founding empress’s jade seal,” Gong Yin said. “Now very few people probably know that the founding empress’s jade seal was only passed down for one generation. When the empress abdicated to her crown prince, it disappeared because the crown prince died suddenly. After that, the jade seals used by successive queens were substitutes.”

“The Long family token and the founding empress’s jade seal are the same thing…” Jing Hengbo suddenly widened her eyes. “The founding empress’s so-called curse…”

“If I’m not mistaken, it was the Long family who did it,” Gong Yin said lightly. “The founding empress was originally a household slave of the Long family. When the Long family rebelled, she distinguished herself. She had once sworn loyalty unto death before the Long family head’s tent. She was naturally gifted, fought with cunning strategies, was invincible in battle, and was also utterly loyal. The family head trusted her and appointed her as the main general. When attacking the most important city, he entrusted both the token and the entire army to her. Who knew she would betray them on the battlefield, occupy the city, and then assassinate the family head, drive away the Long family forces, take over the army, and use this token as her own jade seal.”

“How could the Long family tolerate such betrayal? They would certainly make her fulfill her original oath,” Jing Hengbo said. “They wanted to show the world that those who break faith and betray their masters for glory would ultimately be consumed by their own oaths.”

Gong Yin neither confirmed nor denied this, then continued: “The empress’s designated heirs died one after another. When the crown prince died suddenly, even the jade seal disappeared. The empress knew it was the Long family’s doing. Later she implemented policies to drive out and exterminate the Long family, generation after generation. Combined with the Long family’s bloodline problems, eventually the Long family had to disappear from the world’s view.”

“So what exactly does this thing do? Besides commanding your Long family?” Gong Yin had already unwrapped the vine strips, revealing the jade-like, stone-like flat round hollow box inside. Jing Hengbo examined it repeatedly. She remembered using this thing only once, on that snowy night at Imperial Song. She had originally just planned to throw the box away, but unexpectedly it flew up into the air, emanating ghostly green light, and actually blocked a wave of pursuers for her.

She remembered that there seemed to be patterns in that light curtain, but it was only a fleeting glimpse, difficult to recall.

“That green light is actually hidden weapons – countless hidden weapons so fine they’re invisible to the naked eye. Because they move so fast, they look like a burst of light,” Gong Yin said. “Those patterns are the martial arts inheritance of the Long family, and also the inheritance of Snow Mountain martial arts. The Long family, Sky Gate, and Kunlun Palace originally shared the same source hundreds of years ago. The three families’ martial arts complement and counter each other – Kunlun counters the Long family, the Long family counters Sky Gate, and Sky Gate counters Kunlun. So this Long family token is also something Sky Gate has always wanted to obtain. Sky Gate has imprisoned our Long family people for years, not only to understand the Long family bloodline poison, but also to constantly search for this dragon box.”

“Can this thing be used against that Sky Gate sect leader’s wife?” Jing Hengbo’s eyes lit up.

Gong Yin shook his head. “Too much time has passed, the family has declined. Now there’s no one left who knows how to open the dragon box or receive its inheritance. As early as the founding empress’s era, she hunted down and killed all the important core members of the Long family. She deliberately let the Long family’s inheritance be severed, leaving Sky Gate as such a formidable enemy to permanently restrain the Long family, to achieve her descendants’ goal of returning to the throne of Dahuang. If I’m not mistaken, this dragon box still needs other things to work with it to truly obtain its secrets. And these things should be stored in the empress’s underground palace – things that others can never obtain.”

“Things that others can never obtain…” Jing Hengbo murmured, suddenly having a strange thought – just because others can never obtain them doesn’t mean she can’t, right?

She put the item away, keeping it. Perhaps in the future it could be used to deal with that sect leader’s wife. That person who had caused Gong Yin great harm in early years, recently tormented Yélu Qi to near death, and once again indirectly harmed Gong Yin – how could such revenge not be repaid?

Time was getting late, and Gong Yin urged her to hurry and make contact. Jing Hengbo was worried but had no choice but to leave. Therefore, after leaving the door, she flashed quickly all the way, heading straight for the most open area at the very edge of this urban district.

In broad daylight, this area actually seemed to have fewer people. Because she was anxious, she didn’t pay attention to concealing her tracks and flashed quite rapidly. This area had crisscrossing alleys that were very easy to get lost in. She crashed into the same alley three times and had to flash out again and again.

That alley looked ordinary, just particularly deep, with not many houses inside. At this moment, several elderly men were sitting at doorways sunning themselves and chatting, all half-squinting their eyes, drowsy.

The first and second times Jing Hengbo flashed past the alley entrance, none of these elders noticed – after all, it was just a shadow flashing by.

The third time she flashed past, one elder in the group suddenly opened his eyes and looked quietly toward the alley entrance. Then he got up and walked inside.

Jing Hengbo finally found the correct route and left an inconspicuous but easily recognizable mark for Long family people at the most conspicuous location entering this area. Then she hurried back.

Just from this brief outing, she could feel the atmosphere on the streets was unusual. There were very few pedestrians, the atmosphere was very tense, and even those present came and went hurriedly.

The city was still under martial law, and more incidents must have occurred. She couldn’t worry about that now and returned to the Zhao family’s half-closed inn. Before reaching the door, she saw a large group of people coming out.

Her heart tightened immediately, and she rushed forward. As they passed each other, she carefully observed and didn’t notice anything unusual in these people’s expressions, nor did she see blood or dust – they didn’t look like they had fought. She immediately felt relieved and stepped aside to let this group pass first.

Because this group was talking as they walked, she slowed down, walking while listening, vaguely hearing them discussing something about good merchandise at tonight’s Myriad Phenomena Market, how they were now distributing invitations everywhere. It sounded like an important matter.

Just as the group was about to pass by, suddenly a blue-faced, scarred burly man in the center of the group stopped and glanced at her sideways, looking her up and down.

That gaze – Jing Hengbo knew immediately that trouble was coming. She was all too familiar with this kind of look – amazement, naked predatory desire.

No way – even dressed up this disgustingly, someone still took interest?

She didn’t know that in this western part of the city where the lowest classes gathered, with many rough people, the standards for appreciating women were different. Refined, reserved, scholarly ladies and high-class courtesans had no market here. These lust-heavy men valued women’s figures more, especially full, alluring, and voluptuous ones. Unfortunately, Jing Hengbo’s figure belonged to the extreme top grade among top grades.

That man’s eyes immediately lit up. He suddenly reached toward Jing Hengbo’s chest, laughing: “What a pair of magnificent breasts! Let me feel if they’re real or fake!”

Jing Hengbo was greatly alarmed.

Sexual harassment was one thing, but his voice was so loud – Gong Yin would definitely hear! How could he bear it?

If he couldn’t hear, she could still play along, but what now?

Dealing with such a group of small-time thugs would be effortless, but it would alert everyone. Now that she hadn’t made contact yet, how could she ensure both her and Gong Yin’s safety?

There was no time to think more – that hand with coarse black hair was about to touch her chest. Jing Hengbo raised her hand, seemingly smiling seductively as she met him, already holding a needle between her fingers.

Suddenly another hand reached over, boldly draping over her shoulder, and a lazy voice said: “Hey, why are you touching my woman?”

“Smack” – the burly man’s hand was slapped back, nearly hitting his own face.

Jing Hengbo turned her head to see a strange young man in gray clothes and a small hat, arm around her shoulder, grinning with half his mouth while glaring sideways at the burly man opposite.

The burly man’s eyes widened, about to get angry, when the youth spat and said: “Don’t Black Third Master’s rules count anymore? In the west city you can rob and kill, but absolutely cannot force women. A claimed streetwalker has an owner – you want to steal her? Have you asked about Black Third Master’s rules?”

The man’s face changed. He stared at the youth, then at Jing Hengbo, turned around and said “Let’s go!” Without another word, he hurried away.

The youth laughed heartily. Just as Jing Hengbo was about to thank him, the youth ignored her and just pushed her shoulder saying: “Go in, go in,” urgently pushing her inside.

Jing Hengbo thought this wouldn’t work – this person wouldn’t really be planning to book her for the night, would he? She quickly smiled awkwardly, pointed to her room, and said: “Customer, according to Black Third Master’s rules, this… this slave has already been booked by someone…”

The youth slowly widened his eyes, then suddenly burst out laughing with a “pfft,” laughing more and more uncontrollably, shaking all over, bending over with continuous “oh my’s.”

Laughing until Jing Hengbo propped her elbow and touched her chin, her gaze gradually becoming dangerous – damn, is it necessary to laugh like this? Is it necessary to laugh so disdainfully? Are you trying to insult me?

“Oh my dear mother… oh my customer customer… oh my this slave has already been booked… oh my this outfit this appearance this getup… haha haha the whole person is ruined… haha haha they were all lying after waiting so long… haha haha they’re all lying…” That guy laughed while rolling on the ground, “…this dialogue is too beautiful I dare not listen…”

Jing Hengbo narrowed her eyes – this laughter is courting death!

“Oh my this slave has already been booked…” That guy was still holding his stomach cackling, mockingly imitating her coy tone, imitating it so disgustingly that at least Jing Hengbo got goosebumps all over.

“Oh my even if I went crazy I wouldn’t dare book someone like this…”

“Bang.”

A brick fiercely smashed onto that boy’s head.

The mockery stopped abruptly. The boy’s eyes slowly rolled upward, then slowly became dizzy with big, big whirlpools. A moment later, “thump” – he fell backward to the ground.

Even fallen down, his eyes still stared straight at her.

“A scholar can be killed but not humiliated; a woman can be slept with but not scorned,” Jing Hengbo tossed away the brick, cleanly and efficiently patted her hands, towering over him with hands on hips pointing at his nose. “Learn this lesson. You can criticize a woman for being stupid, naive, or sweet, but you cannot criticize her for being ugly, vulgar, or old. Understand!”

That boy lay straight, his eyes rolling around. Suddenly he reached out to grab her skirt hem, weakly saying: “Auntie…”

“Still dare to call me auntie! Still dare to call me auntie!” Jing Hengbo was furious, jumping up with a series of Foshan shadowless kicks. “Incorrigible wretch, sister will personally beat you awake today! Beat! Beat! Beat!”

“Stop hitting!”

That seemed like Gong Yin’s voice?

“Don’t… hit… anymore…” The dusty guy under her feet grabbed her skirt hem, tearfully raising his sauce-shop-colored face. “Gong Yin is my only blood-related closest uncle, and I’m his closest nephew… Auntie!”

Jing Hengbo: “…”