This time, Feng Jiu’er finally understood, in full, what it truly meant to witness a contest between masters.

No — in truth, they did not cross blows at all; this was purely a competition of lightness technique.

Every time Mu Mu carried her and managed to lose their pursuers, the several figures behind them would close in again before long.

Mu Mu’s alertness was extraordinarily sharp. As a rule, when they were at a mountain summit, he would detect the approaching party while they were still only halfway up the slope.

Were it only Mu Mu alone, shaking off those pursuers would not have been especially difficult. The difficulty lay entirely in the fact that beside him was a Feng Jiu’er whose lightness technique could generously be described as non-existent.

Jiu’er had never once in her life felt so utterly helpless. She had always been the one doing the rescuing — yet now, she was the one who had been dragging Mu Mu down the entire time.

From dusk all the way to deep into the night, the sweat at Mu Mu’s temples never ceased.

“Just who are those people?” At the top of yet another mountain, the two of them had managed, just barely, to catch a moment’s breath.

Feng Jiu’er stood on the high ridge, using the moonlight to scan as far as she could see along the slope below.

Right now it still appeared calm, but she knew — perhaps very soon, those people would have tracked them here as well.

“The Imperial Guards Academy is a place of hidden dragons and crouching tigers, experts without number. It is impossible to distinguish who among them these are.” Mu Mu sat down on the ground and began circulating his energy to recover.

Jiu’er herself was not tired at all, since throughout the entire chase, her two legs had been completely without purpose.

Seeing Mu Mu sit down, she immediately went over and drew out her silver needles. “Let me apply the needles to stimulate your circulation. It will hurt a little, but the effect is better than pressing the acupoints directly.”

“All right.” Mu Mu did not stand on ceremony. After being chased for most of the night, even a person forged from iron would have moments of exhaustion.

He had, in truth, already begun to show signs of it.

“Don’t panic. We may be tired, but so are they — they’re probably gasping for breath themselves right now.”

At a time like this, this man still had the presence of mind to crack a joke to set her at ease! Feng Jiu’er let out a breath and smiled, nodding.

“At least you have someone attending to you. They have no one — they must be even more exhausted than you.”

“I should have known not to eat so much at noon. Eating too much only adds to the weight I put on you.”

Mu Mu opened his eyes, and looked at the small girl who was so carefully tending to him with her needles, his expression complex.

“I’m sorry,” he said suddenly.

“Hmm?” Jiu’er glanced up at him for just a moment, then immediately dropped her gaze back to the silver needles in her hands. “Why are you suddenly apologizing?”

“For bringing you with me — you haven’t even had a proper meal.” From dusk to now, this girl had consumed nothing but two mouthfuls of water, not a single bite of food.

He raised his hand, intending to touch her face.

Feng Jiu’er hurriedly shifted back out of reach. “Don’t — no sentiment, please. I’m begging you — think of me as a comrade, not as a woman.”

Mu Mu still kept his gaze on her face, something in the depths of his eyes that no one could quite read.

After a long moment, a faint smile touched his lips. “Yet you are, in the end, a girl.”

Jiu’er had no wish to argue this point with him. She withdrew the silver needles from her left leg, crouched down at his right leg, and was just preparing to insert the next needle.

All at once, Mu Mu’s expression changed again, and he caught her hand.

“Again?” Feng Jiu’er collected her silver needles in an instant, tucking them back into her satchel.

Those people were simply relentless — they had barely sat down for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, and the pursuers had already caught up.

Did those people truly have no need to rest themselves?

“Don’t panic. I’m here.” The look on Mu Mu’s face was one that was rare to see — cold and severe as stone.

He sprang up from the ground and pulled Feng Jiu’er with him to move, but this time, just as his arm came around her waist, he drew it back.

With a sharp crack, his palm struck a tree branch some distance away, splitting it clean. The palm force swept outward, and the branch was sent flying to become a long staff. With a rush of air, the staff swept wide — the undergrowth nearby rustled and scattered under the force of his powerful inner energy.