The moment the dagger came out, blood sprayed everywhere along with it!

Ziqing’s sudden action terrified everyone. But then again, when had this woman ever done anything without being certain of the outcome?

The instant the dagger was out, she snapped sharply at Xiong Xiaobao, “What is a real man crying for? Summon your Bear Daddy, quickly!”

Bear Daddy?

Xiong Xiaobao froze for a moment, then quickly came to his senses, understanding at once!

His Bear Daddy’s saliva had an incredibly powerful blood-clotting ability—back in the poison beast world, it had saved them more than once!

“Bear Daddy! Come out now!”

Xiong Xiaobao shouted, releasing the Cosmic Poison Pouch. Sure enough, the great foolish bear appeared out of thin air. The instant it caught the scent of blood, it seemed to recognize it as Ziqing’s, and let out several mournful cries before charging toward her, its footsteps thundering against the floor.

Jun Beiyue, Jue Mingzi, and Baili Weisheng all stared, dumbfounded, unable to understand what was happening.

They could only watch as the great foolish bear lunged toward Ziqing, its massive back blocking everything from view—they couldn’t see a thing.

Jun Beiyue and Baili Weisheng nearly moved forward at the same instant, but Xiong Xiaobao stopped them. His young, tear-streaked face broke into a brilliant smile, as if even his teardrops were smiling.

“Don’t worry, my Bear Daddy is Mommy’s lucky charm. With him here, I guarantee nothing will happen to her!”

Xiong Xiaobao preened even as he silently cursed himself for panicking so badly that he’d forgotten Bear Daddy’s ability. He thought, a little timidly, that he still wasn’t mature enough—he really needed to cultivate harder, and become as calm and composed as his father as soon as possible!

But then, on second thought, he realized that ever since his father had met his mother, he hadn’t exactly been calm and composed either.

Jun Beiyue would never gamble with Ziqing’s life. Too impatient to bother with Xiong Xiaobao’s obstruction, he frowned and grabbed the boy by the collar, hauling him off to the side.

Just as he was about to step forward, the great foolish bear turned around. Even with blood still on its lips, its honest, simple-minded expression and its shifty little eyes somehow gave Jun Beiyue a strange sense of reassurance.

“Growl…”

The great foolish bear seemed to be protesting Jun Beiyue’s doubt, deliberately blocking his way, refusing to let him see Ziqing, growling low at him repeatedly.

“Ziqing, what’s happening? How are you?” Jun Beiyue asked, forcing patience, well aware of what this great bear meant to Xiong Xiaobao and Ziqing.

Perhaps because Jun Beiyue was frantic with worry, Baili Weisheng had already sidled over and caught a glimpse—Ziqing was perfectly fine!

Under normal circumstances, forget a bear standing in his way—even if it were a mountain, Jun Beiyue in a rage might have punched straight through it. And yet, at this moment, he still forced himself to be patient.

“Ah well, comparing people to people makes people furious—no, no, comparing people to beasts makes people even more furious!” If Baili Weisheng didn’t say something like this, he wouldn’t be Baili Weisheng.

The great foolish bear seemed to understand Baili Weisheng’s joke and immediately growled even more cheerfully.

Jun Beiyue shot Baili Weisheng a cold glare. Baili Weisheng shrugged, his face full of playful provocation.

Jun Beiyue’s figure flashed forward in an instant, right in front of him. Baili Weisheng immediately backed away, retreating ten paces, putting as much distance as possible between them.

It was only then that Jun Beiyue realized he’d been so frantic he hadn’t thought clearly—from Baili Weisheng’s angle, he could see Ziqing perfectly well.

Ziqing sat on the couch, dagger still in hand, and the wound on her abdomen had, miraculously, actually stopped bleeding. She was looking at him now, smiling faintly—part happiness, part shyness, and part as if she were laughing at him.

The heart that had been suspended in midair finally settled back into place. Jun Beiyue walked over step by step, then pulled her into his arms without a word, burying his face against her and biting down hard on her shoulder!

It hurt, but it caused no injury—the kind of pain that brought clarity.

“You’re the real fool. How could I ever bear to leave you two? Even if you’d destroyed the blood zither, I still would have woken up. I still would have been fine.” Ziqing murmured softly.

The husband and wife embraced, murmuring quietly to each other, forgetting entirely about the others in the room.

“Ahem!”

Baili Weisheng had never liked playing third wheel, nor had he ever been one to tactfully excuse himself. He cleared his throat a few times, and seeing neither of them react, said, “Physician Jue, shouldn’t you check the wound and confirm the extent of the injury?”

At these words, Ziqing let out a small laugh, and Jun Beiyue finally released her, letting Jue Mingzi examine her.

The great foolish bear had indeed proven to be a “clotting miracle”—not only had it stopped the bleeding, it had also licked the wound clean, leaving nothing but the injury itself.

Jue Mingzi carefully treated it, then checked Ziqing’s pulse, confirming there was no serious danger. Only then did he relax, immediately prescribing recovery medicine for Hongyi to brew.

Jun Beiyue and Baili Weisheng waited nearby.

Jun Beiyue glanced at Baili Weisheng and said flatly, “Someone, summon the imperial physicians.”

“Why summon the imperial physicians? That pack of useless quacks you keep around—are they actually any good?” Baili Weisheng asked bluntly.

He still remembered how, when his head had been splitting with pain, every single doctor in the Imperial Medical Bureau had been utterly helpless.

“To check you for any lingering effects,” Jun Beiyue answered with great seriousness, effectively silencing Baili Weisheng with a single line.

But it also reminded Baili Weisheng of something.

“Hey, Xuanyuan Lige hid something inside the blood zither! He told me I absolutely had to tell Ziqing—it’s something he left for her!” Baili Weisheng exclaimed.

At these words, everyone suddenly remembered, and all eyes turned to the blood zither.

This instrument—Jun Beiyue had tried nearly every night to bond with it, but no matter what, he still couldn’t dispel its bloody aura, not even one-tenth of it.

Ziqing hadn’t heard clearly what Baili Weisheng had said earlier, but now it suddenly registered, and her heart gave a great lurch. She turned quickly to look at the blood zither.

That instrument sat there, silent as its former master, and beneath that silence lay a power beyond imagination.

Something?

What could it be? Had Lige really left something behind?

At last, all the joking came to an abrupt halt.

“He… before he…” Baili Weisheng disliked sorrowful moods, though truthfully, he still hadn’t fully recovered from Xuanyuan Lige’s death.

“Before he left, he entrusted two things to me. One was about Yelu Qianqian—that was a demonic sound illusion, not real. The second was the blood zither. He said something hidden inside it was meant for you, it was…”

At this point, Baili Weisheng thought hard, then shook his head helplessly. “I don’t know if I just didn’t hear him clearly, or if he didn’t finish before… Anyway, I don’t know what the thing is, just that it’s hidden inside the blood zither!”

Ziqing tried to walk over, but felt a little dizzy—after all, she’d lost a lot of blood and had only just woken.

“Sit, I’ll bring it to you!” Jun Beiyue helped her sit back down and went to fetch it himself.

Everyone stared at the blood zither, unable to figure it out—it was just an instrument. What could possibly be hidden inside it?

Soon, Jun Beiyue brought the blood zither before Ziqing. He smiled faintly. “Look for it yourself.”