Several piercing screams echoed throughout the valley.
Huang Yan’s expression changed dramatically when he saw Mu Yunjin fall off the cliff. He immediately looked toward Xiumei, “Carry me and fly down there.”
“You take Qiqi and leave this cliff first,” he said, then turned to look at Lei Yan and Hua Ying.
Everyone nodded and split up to take action.
…
As Mu Yunjin fell, the entire flock of eagles followed her closely, surrounding her in the center, tearing at her flesh.
“Bang—”
With a heavy thud, Mu Yunjin’s body shuddered as she crashed onto a flat piece of ground. A trace of consciousness remained in her mind, but her body was unable to move. At this moment, she had only one feeling—
Pain throughout her entire body.
…
…
The eagles’ cries still echoed in her ears. Mu Yunjin clenched her fist, thinking self-mockingly that who would have thought she would meet her end at the hands of these eagles this lifetime.
Without even the strength to fight back, she could only wait here obediently for death.
After an unknown period, Mu Yunjin still hadn’t received the final attack from the eagle flock, yet their cries never ceased.
In her hazy state, Mu Yunjin heard the faint sound of footsteps.
The footsteps drew closer and closer. Finally, Mu Yunjin saw a pair of small pink shoes appear before her eyes. After a moment, a little girl’s voice came through, “Grandmother, someone else has fallen here. She seems to still be alive.”
The voice was childishly sweet and somewhat obedient. After the little girl spoke, another set of footsteps approached from not far away. “That old ghost has released his eagles to harm people again.”
“Grandmother, should we save her?” The little girl pointed at Mu Yunjin and looked toward the elderly woman who approached.
The old woman glanced at Mu Yunjin lying on the ground. At this moment, Mu Yunjin’s clothes were stained with blood, and her disheveled hair covered her face. After looking at her for a while, the old woman shook her head at the little girl beside her.
“No rescue.”
“Grandmother, why won’t you save her? All those who fell before were dead people, but this person is still alive.” The little girl didn’t understand the old woman’s actions.
“Precisely because she’s alive.” The old woman placed her hand on the little girl’s shoulder. “Yu’er, do you know, in this abyss thousands of feet deep, so many people have fallen and died, why is she the only one still alive?”
The little girl shook her head.
“If she didn’t have profound martial skills, she would likely have been smashed to a pulp like those people in the past. You and I, master and disciple, have been hiding here for many years. If outsiders discover our whereabouts, I fear we will never have peaceful days again.” After the old woman finished speaking, she looked toward Mu Yunjin, her eyes revealing killing intent.
Mu Yunjin heard the conversation between the old woman and the child. From their dialogue, she also understood some things.
Those eagles were indeed raised by someone. And this master-disciple pair had deliberately hidden themselves in this place.
“Oh, Grandmother, look…” The little girl seemed to have seen something and excitedly ran to squat beside Mu Yunjin, pointing at her tattered clothes on her back.
The old woman followed her gaze, suddenly froze, her eyes showing shock. She opened her mouth, walked over, and similarly squatted beside Mu Yunjin, looking at her back before tearing away a bit more of the clothing on her back.
“This, this…” The old woman looked at the pattern on Mu Yunjin’s back in disbelief. After a moment, she pushed aside some of the hair covering Mu Yunjin’s face, examining her features.
Mu Yunjin decided to continue pretending to be dead.
When the old woman saw Mu Yunjin’s face, the shock and astonishment in her eyes expanded even more. With a trembling voice, she said to the little girl beside her, “Yu’er, go help Grandmother get a Condensed Dew Pill.”
“Grandmother, didn’t you say we wouldn’t save her?” The little girl was surprised by the old woman’s sudden change.
“Just go get it first.”
The little girl nodded and ran off in one direction.
Mu Yunjin, who was pretending to be dead, slightly lifted her eyelids when she heard the old woman was going to save her, just in time to meet the old woman’s searching gaze.
The old woman also looked at her and softly uttered a sentence, “It seems all this is heaven’s will.”
Before long, the little girl returned with the medicine. Upon seeing her, the old woman signaled for her to feed the pill to Mu Yunjin.
The little girl nodded, squatted down, and seeing Mu Yunjin’s eyes open, she playfully smiled at her, “Big sister, this is a magical medicine made by Grandmother. Once you eat it, you’ll get better. Open your mouth, let Yu’er feed you.”
Mu Yunjin slightly opened her mouth, and the little girl called Yu’er fed the Condensed Dew Pill into Mu Yunjin’s mouth.
After Mu Yunjin took the pill, the old woman also channeled some true qi into her.
Mu Yunjin gradually regained some consciousness, and the pain and exhaustion in her body also dispersed considerably. Having just walked along the edge of death, Mu Yunjin seemed to feel life anew.
“Can you speak now?” The old woman withdrew her true qi and glanced at Mu Yunjin.
Mu Yunjin didn’t want to lie down and tried to prop herself up to sit. She thought it would be difficult, but she sat up with ease, and couldn’t help but cast an admiring glance at the old woman.
“Sister, isn’t Grandmother amazing?” Yu’er, seeing Mu Yunjin’s expression, spoke with a smile.
Mu Yunjin looked at this delicately beautiful little girl, who appeared to be only six or seven years old.
“Are you from the Mu family?” The old woman suddenly questioned Mu Yunjin.
“Yes.” Mu Yunjin nodded, seeing this mysterious old woman, she couldn’t help but feel some wariness in her heart.
The old woman asked again, “Not many people know about Pingfeng Cliff. How did you know about it?”
“I stumbled upon it by accident.” Mu Yunjin lowered her eyes and tugged at the corner of her mouth.
“A fine accident indeed. Do you know how many people have ‘stumbled upon it by accident’ and died here over the years?” The old woman’s voice was calm as she carefully examined Mu Yunjin’s eyes and brows.
Hearing this, Mu Yunjin curiously looked at the old woman, “Then why did Elder decide to save me?”
“You cannot die here in my domain.” The old woman spoke plainly, her tone revealing no other meaning.
Mu Yunjin’s mouth twitched, not knowing how to respond. Just as she was feeling somewhat helpless, eagle cries sounded from overhead.
Mu Yunjin looked up and realized that the eagles were still circling above. It seemed that a formation had been set up around the area, preventing them from approaching.
“Who is the person who raises these eagles?” Earlier, she heard the grandmother refer to them as “that old ghost,” but she wondered who this person might be.
“You don’t need to know that. You were passing through Pingfeng Cliff—where are you heading?” the old woman asked.
“To the Northern Ming Country.” Mu Yunjin answered honestly.
The old woman’s expression flickered momentarily, then she untied a pouch she carried and gave Mu Yunjin a pill. “Keep it in your mouth. It will help you avoid the eagles.”
After speaking, without saying anything more to Mu Yunjin, she took Yu’er’s small hand and walked back.
Mu Yunjin looked up at the cliff, which was so towering that she couldn’t see its end. “Then how am I supposed to get back up the mountain?”
Hearing this, the old woman paused for a moment and said, “Figure it out yourself.”
With that, she turned and left.
Mu Yunjin looked at this strange old woman and slightly furrowed her brow. She put the pill the woman had given her in her mouth, then tried using her lightness skill. Finding that her body could support it, she flicked her wrist, sending her Phoenix Tail Whip to latch onto a rock nearby. After securing it, she flew over.
Breaking through the formation, Mu Yunjin had been worried about the eagles, but when they saw her, they all flapped their wings and flew away.
They just left like that?
Mu Yunjin licked the pill in her mouth, wanting to taste what it was made of. But as someone not versed in medicine, all she could sense was some herbal flavor, unable to identify anything else.
After standing firmly on the rock, Mu Yunjin detached her Phoenix Tail Whip and secured it on a higher rock. Then, using her momentum and lightness skill, she flew upward.
After flying to a certain height, the sky began to brighten. Mu Yunjin looked down and saw that at the bottom of Pingfeng Cliff was a desolate island, surrounded by seawater.
She had fortunately landed on that island earlier and had a chance encounter with a hidden master.
Truly, heaven never cuts off all paths.
At this moment on the desolate island, two figures stood at the door of a wooden cabin, watching the figure climbing higher and higher up the cliff. Little Yu’er looked at the old woman, “Grandmother, why does that sister have a beautiful phoenix painted on her back? Can Yu’er have one too?”
The old woman gazed at the increasingly distant figure and took Yu’er into her arms. “Grandmother has heard people say she will help the world’s people. Grandmother has also heard people say she will harm others. What do you think, Yu’er?”
“That sister doesn’t look like a bad person. Good people are blessed by heaven, that’s why she fell from such a height and still lives.” Yu’er blinked her eyes. When she looked up at the cliff again, Mu Yunjin’s figure was already too far away to see.
…
“Princess Consort!”
Mu Yunjin heard Huang Yan’s voice when she was halfway up the mountain. When she turned her head, she saw Xiumei flying toward her with Huang Yan on his back.
Seeing these two, Mu Yunjin felt inexplicably emotional. This feeling of seeing loved ones was wonderful!
The moment Huang Yan saw Mu Yunjin, he also let out a long sigh of relief. If Mu Yunjin had been harmed this time, he probably wouldn’t need to return—he might as well end himself right here. Otherwise, Chu Li would certainly have his skin.
“Princess Consort, how are you? Are you all right?” When Huang Yan approached Mu Yunjin and saw her covered in blood with tattered clothes, he was quite concerned.
“I’m fine.” Mu Yunjin said, looking up. Seeing that the mountain peak was still not visible, she turned to Xiumei, “Take Huang Yan up first, then come back for me. I’m having a bit of trouble climbing.”
“No, no, no, I’ll climb up myself. Let Xiumei carry you. It would be terrible if those eagles came back,” Huang Yan immediately spoke up.
“It’s fine. I have a secret weapon. Those eagles can’t get near me. You go up first, don’t waste time.” Mu Yunjin said, giving Xiumei a knowing look.
Xiumei understood and quickly flew upward with Huang Yan.
Seeing this, Mu Yunjin’s eyes revealed some longing. If only she had a pair of wings, too.
…
After sending Huang Yan away, Xiumei quickly came back to get Mu Yunjin. This was Mu Yunjin’s first experience of soaring through the air, completely different from using the lightness skill.
Circling Pingfeng Cliff, Xiumei brought Mu Yunjin to a secluded forest where the others were waiting for her return.
“Master!” Qiqi, Hua Ying, and the others looked at Mu Yunjin with delight. Qiqi sat on the ground and tried to stand up, but Mu Yunjin waved her hand in refusal.
“How are your injuries?” Mu Yunjin looked at Qiqi, who had been hit by a whole boulder, and her injuries were not light.
“I’m fine, just broke a few bones. Brother Lei Yan has already set them for me. Master, you’re covered in blood—how did you escape?”