Ziqing had no awareness at all of what was happening in that moment.

Days and nights without sleep, her nerves stretched taut to their breaking point — once she finally collapsed, it was inevitable that she’d be utterly, completely exhausted, both body and mind.

Her reactions now were purely the body’s instinctive response to the drug. In her hazy state, she felt only a crushing mix of discomfort and fatigue, with no capacity left to think through what was happening.

The moment she grasped Xuanyuan Lige’s cold arm, she couldn’t let go, as though it were her last lifeline.

An overwhelming urge to take, to seize something, rose within her — though she had no idea what it was she wanted.

Xuanyuan Lige froze. Veins bulged along his pale forehead, one after another, his tall frame rigid with tension, those veins straining as though they might burst at any moment.

Those clear, cold eyes, unmoved for years, flashed with a panic he had never before experienced. Abruptly, he braced one hand against the ground and wrenched himself free of her grip.

“Don’t go!”

The moment he pulled away, she cried out in alarm.

Amid her total loss of consciousness, this was her only thought — don’t let him leave.

He braced himself, forcing his weight down, turning his face away, refusing to look at her.

What was he to do? If he didn’t find a way soon, this woman would surely be consumed and destroyed by the drug’s effects!

But at that moment, Jun Beiyao’s furious voice rang out from beyond the cave mouth.

“Young Master Xuanyuan, you were right on the mark! Father didn’t touch Second Brother at all — instead he had Ouyang Yibo stripped of his position, and handed his military command over to Second Brother!”

“And what’s more, Jun Beiyue is searching everywhere for that woman right now. Should we…?”

Before he could finish, a streak of white shot out from beside him and out of the cave, vanishing far into the mountain forest. It took Jun Beiyao a long moment to recover, crying out, “Young Master, there are guards searching these mountains everywhere!”

But the white figure had already vanished into the night, giving no response at all.

Racing through the darkness, the wind howled past. The woman in his arms writhed restlessly, and his cold, indifferent face had never once, in his entire life, held such a complicated expression as it did tonight — his handsome brow locked tight, unyielding.

Finally, his figure came to an abrupt halt in midair. He pulled her tight against him, and in a sudden midair spin, plunged straight downward.

Below lay a deep pool, carved out by a cascading waterfall.

The pool was several zhang deep. Their two bodies, locked together, shot down like an arrow, plunging straight to the bottom of the pitch-black water!

The water was cold as ice, immediately lowering her body temperature — but nothing compared to the icy cold of his lips.

Yes. His lips pressed against hers, passing his breath to her.

In the darkness, nothing could be seen — only felt. She did calm considerably. But this was only ever a stopgap measure, never a real cure.

In the end, he sighed inwardly. He’d known from the start that this poison had no cure — why hadn’t he simply been decisive about it?

His saving her — was it ever purely an act of rescue? But this outbreak of the drug was entirely unexpected. Would he really end up costing her her life instead?

He laughed to himself, helpless. Well, so be it…

Without warning, he pulled her close again and shot straight upward, breaking the surface. The moment they emerged, he released her lips.

He was no gentleman — but neither was he a man who preyed on women.

Dripping wet, they landed on solid ground, soaked through, their clothes clinging to their bodies. Only now could one see that his already slender frame was even thinner than expected, as though he’d suffered from some chronic illness.

He was just about to walk off when, in that very moment of stepping forward, the small hands that had been clinging tightly to his neck suddenly went slack, and she collapsed backward, all strength gone.

He lunged forward urgently, catching her, his heart lurching with alarm. How could this be?

In that single instant, she seemed like an entirely different person — gone was the restlessness, the anxiety of moments before. Now she lay limp and quiet in his arms, like a child utterly exhausted beyond measure.

The Enchantment Fragrance — cured?

Impossible!

What was Enchantment Fragrance? It was the most terrifying drug of all! Once administered, only death could make it disappear — otherwise, it could only pass endlessly from person to person, man to woman, forever.

And this woman had somehow forced her way through it, unaided?

He hurriedly checked her pulse, as though refusing to believe what he’d found. Gently, he cut a small line on her arm, drew a bit of blood, and touched it lightly to his tongue. His already-furrowed brow tightened further, refusing to relax.

He could still faintly detect traces of the Enchantment Fragrance — but the Begonia poison from the wolf’s fangs was completely gone.

How could this be?

He’d heard tell that among the fiercest tribes of Nanzhao, history recorded individuals immune to all poisons — no matter the toxin, at most they’d show signs of its onset, but it would never prove fatal, fading away naturally after a few days.

Begonia was a deadly poison. After lingering in her system for several days, it had vanished entirely without even showing the telltale signs of onset.

Enchantment Fragrance, however, was neither purely poison nor purely medicine — and so it remained lodged in her body, occasionally flaring up.

Was that truly what had happened? If so, then this constitution of hers — could it possibly mean…

A complicated look flickered through his clear eyes as he studied the wound still faintly bleeding on her leg, deep in thought. “Nanzhao… the isolated islands…”

Suddenly, his brow tightened sharply, and without warning his grip went slack. Ziqing slumped backward onto the ground, while he himself dropped to one knee, one hand braced against the earth, the other pressed tightly against his chest.

Pain. A searing, gut-wrenching pain. It was happening again.

Everyone knew him as the greatest zither master under heaven — but few knew that his medical skill was equally unmatched in all the world. And yet, though he could save everyone else, he could not save himself.

His ambitions unfulfilled, his mission incomplete, and thirty years old — with so little time left…