After walking out the door, Mu Yunjin’s steps faltered slightly. From the moment she entered until she left, it had been only a brief moment, yet Chu Li had looked at her only once, and with such coldness.

Based on her recent interactions with Chu Li, even if he was in the worst mood, he would never show such a look toward her.

Strangely, Mu Yunjin recalled the question Huang Yan had asked her when she was leaving.

Looking for something…

Mu Yunjin was startled, turning back to look at the closed meditation courtyard, then bit her lip and sighed softly. He shouldn’t know about it.

…

Mu Yunjin returned to Peaceful Heart Hall and resumed copying scriptures, but she couldn’t calm her mind, constantly looking outside.

Even as the sky completely darkened, only she remained in Peaceful Heart Hall.

Would Chu Li stay here tonight?

Mu Yunjin wasn’t certain.

Shortly after, a young monk brought food to Mu Yunjin. As he was about to leave, she stopped him, “Is Prince Ning still in the temple?”

The young monk paused, then answered, “Prince Ning left an hour ago.”

“Mm.” Mu Yunjin nodded, glancing sideways at the darkened sky. If he had left an hour ago, then he probably wouldn’t come tonight.

After the young monk left, Mu Yunjin sat at the desk with her arms crossed, feeling a sense of disappointment.

But vaguely, she also detected something amiss. When Qiqi reported to her today, she mentioned that forces from Western Yuan were also seeking the Heavenly God’s Command.

Those forces… could they be Chu Li?

Otherwise, why would Huang Yan ask such a suggestive question today? And she inexplicably recalled some events from when she first transmigrated here.

Back when she first encountered Chu Li, she knew he was secretly searching for something. Could it have been the Heavenly God’s Command?

The thought terrified Mu Yunjin.

After a while, she could no longer sit still. She rose and left Peaceful Heart Hall, looking around before hurriedly walking toward the temple gate.

Tonight, no matter what, she had to see Chu Li.

She had thought the path would be unobstructed, but just as Mu Yunjin was about to reach the main gate of Water Cloud Temple, numerous hidden guards suddenly appeared around her, blocking her way.

“Princess Consort of Prince Ning, your confinement period has not ended. You cannot defy the imperial edict and leave the temple,” a hidden guard stepped forward and bowed to Mu Yunjin.

Mu Yunjin raised an eyebrow. Since arriving at Water Cloud Temple, she had been freely moving within it, never knowing that a group of hidden guards had been watching her all along.

It seemed her skills were still lacking.

“Which eye of yours saw that I was trying to leave the temple?” Mu Yunjin snorted with a laugh, walking a few steps forward to bend down and pluck a weed from the flower bed near the temple gate. She played with it in her hand, then turned back.

Seeing this, the hidden guards concealed themselves once again.

On her way back, seeing that she couldn’t leave through the main gate, Mu Yunjin bit her lower lip, her gaze constantly wandering, seeking another exit.

Although she could now use qinggong to leave, many highly skilled martial artists in the temple would surely notice. Additionally, those hidden guards were all individuals with exceptional skills, not easily fooled.

Mu Yunjin was conflicted.

Returning to Peaceful Heart Hall, she lay on the small bed for a while. Seeing that Chu Li truly wasn’t coming tonight, Mu Yunjin sighed heavily, increasingly feeling that it was because of the Heavenly God’s Command.

Had Chu Li misunderstood her?

Mu Yunjin turned over, her hand pillowing her head. Hong Ling’s words from earlier in the day kept echoing in her ears, preventing her from calming down.

Staring at the ceiling, Mu Yunjin lay there for who knows how long before finally giving in to her thoughts. She rose, put on her shoes, wrapped herself in a cloak, and left the small room.

Standing in Peaceful Heart Hall, Mu Yunjin looked around, suddenly realizing that in the days since her arrival, apart from lingering at this desk, she had never carefully observed this hall.

After some thought, Mu Yunjin slowly approached the Guanyin statue to see if she could find an exit or something similar.

Upon approaching, Mu Yunjin first bowed three times to the statue, then looked around, circling to the back of the Guanyin statue…

“Eh…”

Behind the Guanyin statue, Mu Yunjin discovered a window. Seeing this, she felt inexplicably delighted. On her first day here, she hadn’t dared approach this Guanyin statue, so she didn’t know there was a window behind it.

Mu Yunjin walked to the window and gently pushed it open. The next moment, her brow furrowed.

Outside the window was not the exit she had imagined, but a dimly lit corridor. Through the night’s darkness, Mu Yunjin could barely see the end of the corridor.

Mu Yunjin sighed in disappointment and was about to close the window when she vaguely saw a row of writing on the corridor wall.

This is…

Curiosity rose in Mu Yunjin. She went to the side, took a candle holder, and leaned on the windowsill, holding up the candle to get closer to the wall.

The red candlelight illuminated the dark corridor. Mu Yunjin saw a wooden door at the end of the corridor, and the writing on the wall was now clearly visible in the candlelight.

Glimpsing the writing, Mu Yunjin’s eyes widened and her breath caught—

“Formation Breaking Clue 1: Wooden Door’s End.”

Seeing the Arabic numeral 1, Mu Yunjin couldn’t help but think of Master Kongshi, and then recalled something she had forgotten for a long time.

Before, at the prince’s mansion, Master Kongshi had left a cloth strip, stating that all clues to breaking the formation were hidden within Water Cloud Temple.

She had been quite interested at the time, but later, with various matters occupying her, she had put it out of her mind.

If she hadn’t accidentally seen this today, she might never have remembered this matter for the rest of her life.

Mu Yunjin sighed. At this point, she didn’t know if breaking that formation still had any meaning…

Looking at the closed wooden door, Mu Yunjin felt goosebumps rising on her arms as she stood at the window, hesitating for a moment.

After a while, Mu Yunjin mustered her courage, stepped through the window, and walked toward the wooden door.

Taking a few steps, Mu Yunjin felt her footsteps were heavy. She pressed her lips together, lamenting that she should have called Qiqi to come along.

After walking for a while, Mu Yunjin arrived at the wooden door, slowly raised her hand, and gently touched it.

“Creeeeak—” The wooden door opened.

Seeing the door open, Mu Yunjin strangely felt less fearful. She pressed her body against the wall outside the door, her left hand holding the candle holder, shining light inside.

Inside seemed to be a book chamber.

Mu Yunjin walked through the door, placed the candle holder on a nearby table, and looked at the room full of decrepit bookshelves and dust-covered, yellowed books, frowning.

Where was the clue?

After looking around and finding nothing suspicious, Mu Yunjin figured she had been tricked by Master Kongshi and angrily stomped her foot.

“Thump, thump—” The floorboards beneath her feet made a crisp sound.

Mu Yunjin looked down, puzzled that the floorboards beneath her were hollow. She went to the side to get the candle holder and discovered that where she had been standing was marked with a square.

“This Water Cloud Temple truly has hidden mysteries.”

Mu Yunjin felt as if she had entered a level-clearing game. She took out a dagger from her sleeve and pried along the edges of the square.

Soon, a wooden board was removed.

Mu Yunjin saw stairs leading downward.

Standing at the edge of the stairs for a while, Mu Yunjin stepped down, slowly descending.

The stairs weren’t long; soon Mu Yunjin was standing on level ground, but it seemed endless. Trying to walk forward a few steps, Mu Yunjin seemed to hear the sound of water.

What kind of place was this?

Mu Yunjin dared only to silently ask herself.

Tonight, driven by curiosity, Mu Yunjin continued walking along the path beneath her feet. This adventurous and thrilling feeling seemed to bring her back to her days as a special agent.

…

After walking for an unknown length of time, the candle in her hand was about to burn out. Mu Yunjin saw stairs leading upward. Looking up, the candle suddenly went out, leaving everything in darkness.

“Damn…” Seeing the candle extinguished, Mu Yunjin gently placed the candle holder on the ground and groped her way up the stairs in the dark.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Mu Yunjin pushed against the stone slab above her head. As soon as her palm touched the stone, she felt water.

Then, clear water sounds came from above.

Mu Yunjin was surprised. She gritted her teeth and pushed the stone slab open with force. As soon as the slab revealed a crack, water poured down from above, drenching Mu Yunjin from head to toe.

Mu Yunjin spat out water, covered her nose and mouth, and climbed up forcefully.

The sound of flowing water was all around. After climbing out, Mu Yunjin saw by the beautiful moonlight that she was sitting on a rock at the foot of a mountain, with a waterfall cascading down, soaking her completely.

In front of her was a stream of rapidly flowing spring water.

Looking around, Mu Yunjin suddenly realized she had left Water Cloud Temple…

Greatly delighted, Mu Yunjin rose and swam to the shore, then turned back to look at the mountain and the place she had just emerged from.

“So I stumbled upon Water Cloud Temple’s secret passage to the outside,” Mu Yunjin said.

With that thought, Mu Yunjin got up, used qinggong to fly up to a large tree, surveyed the surroundings, and, after determining her bearings, flew toward Prince Ning’s mansion.

…

Inside Prince Ning’s mansion.

“Your Highness, Miss Qin has arrived,” Ding Xian said, looking toward Chu Li, who was sitting in the courtyard pavilion drinking tea.

Chu Li nodded, glancing at Qin Muyue, who was slowly walking toward them.

Qin Muyue had been seriously injured by Mu Yunjin that day and had lost a lot of blood. Even after resting for several days, she still appeared somewhat weak.

“Brother Li…” Walking close to Chu Li, Qin Muyue couldn’t hide her joy, “I’ve come.”

Chu Li ignored her.

Seeing that Chu Li wouldn’t even look at her properly, Qin Muyue bit her lip slightly, then curved her lips again, “You once promised to fulfill a wish for me. Now I’ve come to claim that wish.”

“You dare?” Chu Li’s gaze finally fell fully on Qin Muyue as he narrowed his eyes, which were filled with severity.

“Is Prince Ning someone who goes back on his word?”

“Although I initially deceived you by posing as the Phoenix Lady, the promise you made cannot be taken back.”

“Brother Li, my wish is very simple. Let me spend one night with you. This has been my wish for many years. After fulfilling this wish, I will never bother you again.”

“What do you think? And it seems you wouldn’t lose out either…”