“You…” Feng Jiu’er bit her lip, desperately wanting to slap this insufferably arrogant man into the ground.

Though, if she were honest, the force of her palm strike on him had felt about as effective as scratching an itch.

Just how profoundly deep was this man’s cultivation? It was not hard to imagine.

“It doesn’t matter. I want to go back and leave my friend a message.” She pressed her feet together and refused to move another step.

Di Wu Ya had not expected her to stop so abruptly. He gave her hand a tug — and the girl toppled forward like a rigid wooden statue.

He shot out a long arm and caught her, his gaze darkening in the same instant. “Are you tired of living?”

Of course Feng Jiu’er was not tired of living. She was merely conducting an experiment.

As she had expected — this man did not treat her poorly. Though she genuinely had no idea where such consideration came from.

Was he, in the end, really the Ninth Imperial Uncle? If not, why was he so kind to her?

Could it be that, like the Ninth Imperial Uncle, he required her blood to counter a poison?

If he was not the Ninth Imperial Uncle, how could it be that he, too, had been poisoned? And how could it be such a coincidence that this very same poison could be neutralized by her blood?

“You’re testing this seat, aren’t you?” The cunning gleam in her eyes did not escape Di Wu Ya’s sharp gaze.

Di Wu Ya’s expression soured, and he said with clear displeasure, “This seat despises being toyed with above all things!”

He gave her a sudden, sharp pull, and in an instant, Feng Jiu’er found herself hoisted up and slung over his shoulder. He carried her that way, hoisted across his back, as he strode forward along the path.

“You’ve stopped using your lightness technique because you know you cannot freely channel your true energy right now. The poison in your body has only just flared up again, hasn’t it?”

After coming this far, it was hard for Feng Jiu’er to convince even herself that he was not the Ninth Imperial Uncle.

But if he truly was the Ninth Imperial Uncle — why would he not come back for her openly and above board?

Could it be that he had some unavoidable reason, some circumstance that temporarily prevented him from appearing at the Longwu Academy under the identity of the Ninth Imperial Uncle?

“Di Wu Ya, I have no wish to make things difficult for you either. Carrying me as you walk along the cliffside will only increase the burden on your body. How about this — bring me back to the top of that cliff, and all I need to do is leave a signal for my friend so he knows I’m safe. Will that work?”

Di Wu Ya continued to ignore her completely, without even a flicker of reaction, and kept walking with her over his shoulder.

Feng Jiu’er bit her lip. She had tried every approach she could think of, and none had worked. Finally, she raised her fist and drove it into his shoulder, crying out in frustration: “If you won’t let me leave a message, then I… I’ll never speak to you again. Not a single word!”

“If I so much as say one word to you after this, may lightning strike me dead!”

The man’s footsteps stopped dead in their tracks. Judging from the heaviness of his breathing, this man had been provoked. He had been provoked into genuine fury.

Without warning, Feng Jiu’er was set down, dropped to the ground.

And yet even that gesture of “dropping” her was so gentle. Feng Jiu’er refused to believe he would ever truly hurt her.

She bit her lip, said nothing, looked at nothing, and gave him the complete and total silent treatment.

“Is he truly that important to you?” Di Wu Ya gave a cold huff.

She still said nothing. She even closed her eyes, as though he did not exist.

“You—!” How dare she be so disrespectful toward him! “Do you believe this seat cannot end your life with a single palm strike?”

She did not believe it for a second. But she had already sworn she would not speak to him, and she had sealed it with a solemn oath — so those words stayed unspoken, swallowed back down.

Di Wu Ya was well acquainted with this girl’s stubbornness. He simply had not anticipated that today, that same stubbornness would be aimed squarely at him.

He was furious. If this had been anyone else, they would likely have been sent flying off the cliff with one kick.

But this girl! Did she think that just because he had been indulging her lately, she could behave so outrageously and with such disrespect? “Do you believe this seat will leave you here and allow the Imperial Guards to drag you back and flog you until your skin splits and your flesh tears open?”