“Your Highness, the Princess…”

“I said I don’t want to hear any news about her!” Before Tian Yuan could finish, Xiao Huayong threw down the book he was reading and said coldly.

Tian Yuan fell to his knees with a thud: “The Princess fell from her horse and is missing, her fate is unknown!”

Xiao Huayong rose abruptly: “What did you say!”

“The Princess, she…”

Before Tian Yuan could repeat himself, Xiao Huayong strode towards the door. Tian Yuan immediately lunged forward and grabbed Xiao Huayong’s legs: “Your Highness, if you go out like this, you’ll expose yourself…”

Xiao Huayong’s steps faltered. He pushed Tian Yuan away: “Where did she fall? What caused her to fall?”

While questioning, Xiao Huayong removed his outer robe and put on a plain one instead. By the time he had changed his clothes, Tian Yuan had finished relating all the details. Grabbing a mask, Xiao Huayong disappeared from the courtyard in the blink of an eye.

Guards were already rushing to search for Shen Xihe. Xiao Huayong circled along steep paths, avoiding the searching guards. His keen eyes swept the area, and he quickly swooped down, finding the waterfall.

Shen Xihe had fallen into the pool. Though not deep, the powerful waterfall created turbulent currents. She wasn’t a strong swimmer to begin with, and after choking on water, her mind wasn’t clear. The current swept her downstream into a deeper pool.

The impact made her vision go dark, but she knew she couldn’t lose consciousness or it would mean certain death. She forced herself to relax, letting her body float up slowly, avoiding the area where the waterfall crashed down with its rapid currents.

Using her last bit of strength, Shen Xihe tried to swim to shore, only to discover countless colorful small snakes gathered at the nearby bank. She instinctively reached for her waist, fortunately finding her sachet hadn’t been lost in the tumble.

Unable to swim toward the bank, she could only retreat to the side near the cliff wall, which for some unknown reason was free of the spine-chilling small snakes.

She had swallowed several mouthfuls of water and was gasping for air when she felt the surrounding water move with a strange force. The water pattern gave her an ominous feeling. She steadied her breathing and waited quietly for a moment until things seemed to calm down, making her wonder if the earlier glimpse had been an illusion.

Just as Shen Xihe was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a huge shadow flashed through the clear spring water. The water rippled up from below in that spot, making Shen Xihe’s heart race.

This racing caused the searing pain in her chest to return. She had to take several deep breaths to suppress it.

Something was in the water below. Shen Xihe couldn’t determine what it was. With snakes on the shore, she couldn’t act rashly. As she quickly considered how to handle the situation, an anxious, worried call came: “Youyou!”

It was Xiao Huayong’s voice. Shen Xihe thought she was hearing things, but then it came again: “Youyou!”

Shen Xihe confirmed it was Xiao Huayong. His voice drew closer, but she dared not call back loudly. Seeing moss on the cliff face before her, she grabbed some, formed it into a ball, and threw it in the direction of his voice.

Xiao Huayong had tracked from above. He judged Shen Xihe should be in this direction but hadn’t seen anyone. Thinking about how high the upper pool was from here, if she had truly fallen, perhaps she would…

Just the thought that she might have lost her life made Xiao Huayong’s hands and feet turn ice cold. He was filled with self-reproach, so regretful he wanted to strike himself dead. Why had he been so sulky? Why had he been so moody?

If not for that, how could she have encountered such danger?

For the first time in his life, he experienced what it meant to be truly panic-stricken. He was afraid, truly afraid, afraid he would never see her again.

Only now did he understand that his pretense of indifference was because his love had penetrated to his very bones, yet his pride wouldn’t let him compromise.

He just wanted her to be safe, just wanted her to be well. Everything else was fine.

Whatever she wanted would be fine. He would no longer make demands, no longer hope for anything, just wish for her to live, to live without worries.

As long as she was happy, he could bear anything.

Just as Xiao Huayong was nearly despairing, thinking he had misjudged the direction, a shadow flashed past his peripheral vision. He stopped and looked over. After a moment, another object was thrown.

Shen Xihe worried Xiao Huayong hadn’t heard, threw another handful. Xiao Huayong’s calls had stopped, and she thought he had left. Just as her heart was sinking, she saw a tall figure standing on the bank.

It was a stranger wearing a mask.

Just as Xiao Huayong was about to leap over, Shen Xihe waved him off, pointing downward, warning him about something in the water. If he leaped over, he might startle whatever unknown creature was below, bringing deadly danger to them both.

Xiao Huayong put his hand to his lips and whistled. The sea eagle’s proud cry split the sky, and simultaneously Xiao Huayong leaped forward, graceful and swift as a celestial crane spreading its wings. As he leaped toward Shen Xihe, he saw a huge black shadow flash through the pool. His expression darkened slightly as he grabbed Shen Xihe.

Almost the instant they leaped up and left the water’s surface, a massive head emerged from the water with a splash, snapping at them. Shen Xihe, clinging to Xiao Huayong’s shoulder, got a clear look at a giant python.

She had never seen such a huge snake in her life. Its head was thicker than her waist, beyond her imagination.

Just as the giant snake snapped at them when Shen Xihe could already smell its horrible stench, the sea eagle swooped in diagonally, its sharp beak wounding the python’s eye and knocking its head aside.

Only then could Xiao Huayong carry Shen Xihe clear of the deep pool. They had barely landed when the small snakes that had been clustered at the bank all came slithering out at the giant snake’s hiss.

Shen Xihe was already prepared. She pulled off her waist sachet. Due to her sensitive sense of smell, her sachet wasn’t wrapped in gauze but in a more tightly sealed oilcloth, so the powder hadn’t gotten wet.

She poured out the powder and sprinkled it on Xiao Huayong, especially around his feet. The attacking snake swarm retreated.

“Let’s quickly leave this place,” Shen Xihe said to Xiao Huayong. “Crown Prince…”

At first, she hadn’t recognized him, but once in Xiao Huayong’s arms, she smelled the familiar strong medicinal scent.

“Bear with it a little longer,” Xiao Huayong instructed gently, then swiftly carried Shen Xihe away from the eerie deep pool.

The giant snake seemed unwilling to leave the pool, giving the sea eagle a great advantage. Before Xiao Huayong and Shen Xihe had gone far, the sea eagle led guards to them, with large numbers of guards swarming in, blocking Xiao Huayong’s path back.

“Your Highness put me down.” Xiao Huayong couldn’t be exposed.

If a masked person of unknown identity appeared in the hunting grounds, these guards might shoot to kill without hesitation.

“You think these guards truly wouldn’t dare to harm you?” Xiao Huayong turned in a different direction while holding Shen Xihe. “Don’t underestimate Changling.”