Jiang Li stood dazed as that person released her. When she could see clearly what was before her, she saw that the man in front of her had both hands severed cleanly at the wrists.

Jiang Li couldn’t see clearly how his hands had been severed. She only saw that Ji Heng’s fan was stained with a bit of blood. He pulled out a snow-white silk handkerchief from his sleeve and, with a look of disgust, wiped clean the bloodstains on his fan before casually tossing it away.

The handkerchief floated lightly down onto the body of the man on the ground. The man on the ground held up his bare stumps, screaming miserably, rolling about as if in extreme agony, his cries heart-rending. Zhao Ke walked over and pierced his throat with a sword, ending his life.

Only then did Jiang Li see clearly that the other four were already lying on the ground, all killed with a single strike to the throat. These must have been Zhao Ke and Wen Ji’s handiwork. As for the one before her eyes, he had probably received the special honor of Ji Heng personally taking action, having his hands severed by Ji Heng’s fan.

“Someone died,” Wenren Yao said. He sighed and put his palms together. “Sinful, sinful.”

What a display of compassion for all living things. If he hadn’t run around everywhere at the start, how would he have drawn these people here?

Lu Ji was unconcerned, as if accustomed to such things. He said to Ji Heng, “Then let’s continue on our way.”

Lin Yao was young and frightened, tears streaming down continuously. He didn’t dare cry out loud though, his eyes red, making one’s heart ache to see. Jiang Li looked toward Ji Heng. Ji Heng looked at her, smiled, patted her shoulder, and said, “It’s alright now.”

Just those words, “It’s alright now,” seemed to put Jiang Li’s heart at ease. She only felt as if all the strength in her body had been exhausted, becoming weary in an instant. Just as she was about to speak, suddenly from not far away came the sound of horse hooves mixed with people’s curses and shouts.

Everyone froze.

Lu Ji said, “Not good. These people aren’t stragglers—there must be others. Judging by the sounds, there are quite a few. We’d better leave quickly.”

Everyone hastily boarded the carriage. Zhao Ke and Wen Ji didn’t dare delay and cracked their whips to run. Sitting in the carriage, Jiang Li found the mountain road bumpy, but her mind was still on what had just happened. No one had anticipated such an incident midway. They didn’t know how many soldiers were behind them in total. Both Wenren Yao and Lu Ji had grave expressions. Ji Heng showed no particular expression, but Jiang Li knew things weren’t as easy as she had imagined.

Lin Yao sat pressed nervously against Wenren Yao, his eyes red with grievance. He was very well-behaved and didn’t make much fuss. The carriage was completely silent.

Jiang Li felt somewhat anxious and restless. When she lowered her head, she suddenly froze. A section of red cord was visible from her neckline—the red cord that had bound the civet cat jade pendant. Now the red cord was still there, but the bottom hung light and empty. The jade pendant was already gone.

She was stunned at first, then somewhat panicked. Thinking it over carefully, it must have been accidentally pulled off and lost when struggling with those soldiers earlier. Jiang Li felt some regret. That was the jade pendant her father had given her, evidence of being Xue Fangfei. She had always carefully preserved it, never expecting to lose it here.

But there was no help for it. They couldn’t turn the carriage around to search for it. They didn’t even know who was following behind. If they happened to encounter Prince Cheng’s troops, the gains probably wouldn’t be worth the losses—they’d be sacrificing the important for the trivial. Therefore, Jiang Li quietly grasped the red cord, pulled it down, crumpled it into a ball, and stuffed it into her sleeve.

Just as she was feeling regretful, Ji Heng suddenly said, “Stop the carriage.”

The carriage came to an abrupt halt. Zhao Ke and Wen Ji asked from outside, “Your Lordship?” Probably also wondering why Ji Heng would stop the carriage at this time.

Ji Heng said, “I have something to do. I’ll leave markers along the road and meet up with you tonight.”

“Your Lordship, you mustn’t,” Lu Ji became anxious upon hearing this. “Prince Cheng’s troops are behind us. Although we don’t know how many there are, it’s at least a squadron. We’re about to exit the mountains. If you’re alone and encounter them, what will you do?”

“I have my own sense of proportion,” Ji Heng said. “Continue forward, don’t worry about me.” After saying this, he got off the carriage. Lu Ji still wanted to dissuade him, but Ji Heng had already disappeared.

Zhao Ke and Wen Ji had always only listened to Ji Heng’s words. Since Ji Heng told them to continue forward on their own, the carriage began racing forward again. Lu Ji frowned, repeatedly saying, “Reckless, reckless!”

Wenren Yao was also startled. After Ji Heng left, he thought to ask, “What did A Heng go to do? Why did he suddenly leave? Hey,” he lifted the carriage curtain to look, then said, “The direction he left in is actually going back the way we came. What’s he doing?”

“How would I know?” Lu Ji answered irritably, then looked at Jiang Li and asked in a gentler tone, “Does Miss Jiang know why His Lordship went?”

Jiang Li shook her head blankly: “I don’t know either.”

A flash of disappointment crossed Lu Ji’s eyes. He sighed repeatedly and said nothing more.

Jiang Li’s heart was also filled with puzzlement and tension. Throughout the journey, Ji Heng had never separated from them. They had agreed to return to the capital together, so why did he suddenly leave alone at this critical juncture? What was he going to do? Was it something that couldn’t be seen by others? Although she knew Ji Heng didn’t like others prying into his secrets, Jiang Li still felt somewhat annoyed.

This was truly too worrying.

Just then, her fingertips touched the ice-cold scissors in her sleeve again. The moment before Ji Heng severed that soldier’s hands, she had pulled out the scissors and stabbed viciously at the soldier. Later, when Ji Heng saved her, in her daze, Jiang Li had put the scissors away.

Now, thinking about it calmly, she seemed to remember… these scissors of hers had actually stabbed someone, hadn’t they?

Jiang Li pulled out the scissors from her sleeve.

The silver scissors were small and delicate, gleaming coldly. However, there was some congealed red on them. Jiang Li froze. Wenren Yao suddenly saw Jiang Li pull out a pair of scissors and asked strangely, “Where did these scissors come from… Second Miss, what did you use them for? Why is there blood?”

In Jiang Li’s mind, that moment immediately surfaced—Ji Heng blocking in front of her, his red robe protecting her body. When he said “Don’t be afraid,” his body seemed to tremble slightly.

It had all happened too quickly, and in her confusion and helplessness, she had actually overlooked something. When Ji Heng blocked in front of her, the scissors hadn’t had time to be withdrawn and had stabbed him. She just didn’t know exactly where they had stabbed. He had acted as if nothing had happened, and his red robe had concealed the wound, so she couldn’t see anything. She hadn’t known he’d been injured by her, nor that he was enduring the pain while disguising it with such apparent ease.

Jiang Li closed her eyes.

He was already injured, alone and gone to do who knew what, yet the current situation was fraught with danger at every step.

She could do nothing, couldn’t help at all. She could only pray silently in her heart.

Pray that he would be safe and sound.

…

Zhao Ke and Wen Ji truly listened to Ji Heng’s words. When Ji Heng told them to continue forward without stopping, even though Ji Heng wasn’t present, Zhao Ke and Wen Ji kept traveling without rest. However, every stretch of road they covered, Zhao Ke and Wen Ji would stop to leave a marker. Jiang Li couldn’t understand their markers, but Ji Heng probably would. She didn’t know if it was good luck, but by nightfall, they actually found a thatched cottage in the mountains.

This cottage appeared to have been uninhabited for a long time, probably left behind by people who came up the mountain to hunt. Even the door wasn’t closed. Upon entering, the ground was covered in spider webs. There were two rooms, each with a bed platform, but the platforms had no bedding, and the windows were only covered with paper. In the kitchen there was a stove built of stones, with some firewood inside.

“Let’s stay here,” Lu Ji said. “At least there’s a place to rest.”

Wenren Yao went to search for dry firewood. This time he didn’t dare wander as far as before, just picking up some dead branches nearby. He planned to boil some hot water. Jiang Li took the broom by the door and cleaned the inside and outside of the cottage a bit. Since no one had lived here for a long time, dust was everywhere. After tidying up, it was much better.

Zhao Ke and Wen Ji wore grave expressions as they walked a circle around the cottage, probably surveying the surrounding situation. The surroundings were very quiet, and it appeared no one usually came here.

After everything was tidied up, everyone entered the cottage and sat down. Zhao Ke and Wen Ji sat by the door. Wenren Yao sat on the ground. There weren’t even stools here, so they could only find stones to move inside and sit on.

“Why hasn’t A Heng returned yet?” Wenren Yao said. “Do you think something happened to him?”

“His Lordship will be fine,” Lu Ji said. “We just don’t know if he’s encountered some trouble.”

“Even if he encountered trouble, with A Heng’s abilities, he should be able to handle it,” Wenren Yao looked at Jiang Li. “He can handle it, right?”

Jiang Li: “…I don’t know.”

She was already panicking, not knowing where on Ji Heng her scissors had stabbed. If the injury was severe, would it affect Ji Heng?

“Don’t worry,” the normally taciturn Wen Ji actually spoke up. He said, “His Lordship has his own sense of proportion. He won’t do anything too dangerous.”

These words somewhat reassured everyone. Ji Heng was resourceful and calculating, such a shrewd person. If something could truly threaten his life, he naturally wouldn’t go do it alone. He was extremely good at weighing pros and cons and wouldn’t make meaningless sacrifices.

By nighttime, everyone had gone to sleep. Jiang Li actually had a room to herself, being a woman. However, she couldn’t sleep. Zhao Ke and Wen Ji slept outside to prevent sudden incidents from occurring.

Jiang Li was always restless, so she simply sat up and walked outside. Zhao Ke and Wen Ji had laid out a mat on the ground and slept on the floor as if it were a bed. Just as Jiang Li walked out, she saw someone walk in.

It was actually Ji Heng.

Zhao Ke and Wen Ji also woke. Ji Heng waved his hand at them, and the two pretended not to notice. Jiang Li couldn’t help but walk forward, pulling Ji Heng into her own room.

Wenren Yao, Lu Ji, and Lin Yao were in the other room. Jiang Li was afraid of waking them. She pulled Ji Heng along, and since there were no stools in the room, she had him sit on the bed platform.

There was no lamp, only the clear bright moonlight. She lowered her voice and asked, “Are you… are you alright? What did you go do?”

The young man opened his palm. His palm was slender and powerful. Lying in the center was a jade pendant with a naive-looking civet cat on it.

Jiang Li froze.

“I picked this up,” he smiled.