Walking from the bustling main street to the quiet side road, Ji Yunshu’s footsteps showed no sign of slowing.

Small buildings towered around them. At the corners of each household hung red lanterns. Though the small road wasn’t lively, it had its own unique charm!

Two more streets and she would reach the Ji residence.

In the freezing cold, Ji Yunshu quickened her pace.

Perhaps because the surroundings were too quiet, the sound of roof tiles cracking on the small buildings rang out intermittently, extending from behind her all the way to both her sides.

Ji Yunshu’s steps gradually slowed until she stopped. Her eyes swept across the rooftops of the surrounding small buildings.

Under the dark night, nothing seemed amiss.

But based on a woman’s intuition, she dared assert that there were definitely people on the rooftops on both sides—and more than one person.

As she was pondering this in her mind, suddenly, a long arrow seemed to pierce through the darkness. The white feathers at its tail carried a cold, sharp gleam as it shot toward her like a meteor!

In that instant, Ji Yunshu had no time to dodge. In her ink-black pupils, that sharp arrow was gradually closing in, suddenly magnified.

The prime of her youth, not yet squandered—was she going to die?

She was utterly unwilling!

But at this moment, she knew that without a miracle, that sharp arrow would definitely pierce through her flesh and shoot toward her heart.

Who would have thought…

A large hand from behind wrapped around her waist, lifted her up, and swung her body to the side. In her eyes, that sharp arrow meant for her left her line of sight.

The incoming arrow, at this critical moment, was caught barehanded by Jingrong!

With one hand holding Ji Yunshu’s waist and the other gripping the arrow, his gaze fell on the arrow with an unprecedented cold light!

He was furious!

Yet the surroundings remained quiet enough to unsettle one.

Ji Yunshu was still panting from the earlier shock when Jingrong brought his lips close to her ear from behind and said softly:

“See that alley over there?”

Ji Yunshu looked over—five meters away.

She nodded!

“I’ll count to three. You run there as fast as you can. Understand?”

She nodded!

“One, two, three, run.”

Jingrong released her waist. At the same time that Ji Yunshu lifted her legs and desperately ran into that alley, from the previously quiet rooftops of the small buildings, over a dozen black-clad figures suddenly leaped down, wielding long swords as they thrust forward.

Several of the black-clad figures had even chased after Ji Yunshu.

Jingrong’s body leaped up. With a few kicks, he struck those black-clad figures in the chest, then blocked the alley entrance.

“Whose people are you?” Jingrong asked with a menacing voice.

Over a dozen black-clad figures surrounded the outside of the small alley. Though they wore black masks, one could still make out their fierce eyes and brows—they clearly came with killing intent.

The leader of the black-clad figures stepped forward twice: “Following orders from above—take the heads of two to report back.”

As the words fell, the black-clad figures raised their swords again, each strike merciless, each strike deadly.

Jingrong was no pushover either. His martial skills were excellent. He seized a sword and began fighting those black-clad figures.

Ji Yunshu was already inside the alley, pressing her heaving chest, somewhat out of breath, watching the fighting scene outside with extreme anxiety.

Though Jingrong hadn’t been defeated, she still couldn’t help but worry.

As the saying goes, two hands cannot defeat four fists!

Over ten people attacking him alone, and he still had to protect her safety—the situation was even more perilous.

While worrying, Ji Yunshu truly couldn’t understand why those black-clad figures had said they wanted to “take the heads of two to report back.”

When and where had she become entangled in this case?

If these people were together with those black-clad figures who had attacked at Yi Zhuang before, logically speaking, the one they should be assassinating was Jingrong!

How was it that now they had included her as well?

Could it be that this trouble came from meddling in others’ business?

Ji Yunshu clutched the garment at her chest, bit her lip, pressed her body against the wall sideways, and watched outside.

The battle was fierce. Jingrong’s agile body maneuvered among the dozen or so black-clad figures. The long sword in his hand had already killed several people. The sword was stained with dripping blood.

Suddenly, one black-clad figure had broken through Jingrong’s defense line and rushed toward Ji Yunshu.

“Die!”

Ji Yunshu’s eyes widened. Her footsteps retreated repeatedly until her back heavily struck a wall, making it impossible to move back even a fraction.

The garment at her chest was bunched into a ball in her grip.

Just as the long sword was only three centimeters from her, Jingrong kicked up a pebble with his foot and kicked it toward that person’s wrist.

The black-clad figure cried out in pain. His hand loosened, and the sword naturally fell to the ground.

Seeing this, Ji Yunshu immediately reached out and pressed hard on the joint at the black-clad figure’s shoulder. The black-clad figure cried out in pain and fell to the ground clutching his arm.

“Come here.”

Jingrong called out to her, standing at the alley entrance with his hand extended toward her.

She immediately ran toward him. In the darkness, she placed her hand in his broad palm, letting him grip it firmly and lead her as they ran.

Behind them, the black-clad figures pursued relentlessly!

The originally quiet winter night was covered with a layer of sinister atmosphere!

Ji Yunshu was pulled along by Jingrong as they ran. In her ears was the constant whooshing sound of wind.

Helplessly, Ji Yunshu simply couldn’t run anymore.

“Your Highness, don’t worry about me. You should leave quickly. I’ll drag you down.”

Jingrong’s eagle-sharp eyes were utterly determined as he gripped her hand tightly.

He said: “This prince will absolutely not abandon you. Life together, death together!”

Uh!

Ji Yunshu was slightly stunned. Her feet seemed to lose their weight. She was moved to pieces by his words. The heavy sense of crisis behind them seemed to drift away with the cold wind.

Even Ji Pei had never said such words to her!

After running a distance of over twenty meters, the two were ultimately still surrounded by the black-clad figures.

Jingrong protected her behind him and asked her sideways: “Master Ji, are you afraid?”

“Afraid.”

She had no need to speak falsely. Even though she was accustomed to seeing dead people, at the prospect of becoming one of those corpses, she was truly afraid.

If County Magistrate Liu’s brain went haywire and brought in a coroner to cut her open and examine her internal organs, wouldn’t that be even more torturous?

Clearly surrounded by danger on all sides, Jingrong was amused to laughter by her single word “afraid.”

He said: “Rest assured. Even if we descend to King Yama’s hall, this prince will keep you company. Whether you want to admire flowers or drink wine, this prince will definitely accompany you.”

Hey, hey, hey—you’re overthinking this! When people die and go to King Yama’s hall, they wear plain white mourning clothes, walk to the Bridge of Helplessness, drink Granny Meng’s soup, close their eyes, and are reincarnated.

Still admire flowers? Still drink wine?

Truly thinking too beautifully!

Ji Yunshu stood behind him. One hand was held by Jingrong, the other pulled at his wide sleeve.

She sniffled at the cold air at her nose tip and said: “I don’t want to admire flowers, and I don’t want to drink wine. If I really die, I hope Luan’er can burn a set of clean clothes for me, preferably with a pair of shoes too. Also, she must burn my sandalwood box for me too, because the things inside are all my treasures. And don’t burn paper money for me, because I’m worried the underworld is too damp and the money will rot. It’s better to burn a chest of gold and silver treasures. Oh right, and also…”

This was the first time Jingrong realized that Ji Yunshu actually had quite a lot to say.

She kept talking to herself, her eyes reddening.

But Jingrong frowned and asked her: “Who is Luan’er?”