“Very well, this official will certainly comply. Does the esteemed guest have any other instructions?” Magistrate Li nodded repeatedly, taking Mu Yunjin’s words to heart.

Mu Yunjin curved her lips. “Nothing else. I’m leaving.”

“This official will see the esteemed guest out,” Magistrate Li said, making to escort Mu Yunjin to the door.

“No need. I’ll go by myself.” Mu Yunjin waved her hand and then strode out of the magistrate’s office.

Walking back to the main street, after being caught up in this sudden affair, Mu Yunjin had lost all interest in shopping and decided to find that small alley to return to the residence.

When passing by the pastry stall that had been overturned by He Hu, Mu Yunjin saw several guards now helping the old woman repair her stall.

Seeing this, Mu Yunjin smiled slightly, suddenly feeling that she had perhaps done a good deed.

…

After passing through the alley, Mu Yunjin arrived at the residence. After pushing open the main gate, she again sensed the presence of that air current.

But there was no invisible barrier like the one she had encountered at the foot of the mountain.

Walking into the residence, Mu Yunjin’s gaze followed a small path directly ahead. She vaguely remembered from this morning that there should be a small garden there.

With this thought, Mu Yunjin stepped forward.

After just a couple of steps, she heard the sound of a door opening behind her. She paused and turned to look. Ding Xian was pushing the door open and walking in front, with Chu Li following behind him, entering with measured steps.

Upon entering, Chu Li immediately spotted Mu Yunjin standing directly opposite the gate. His eyes showed a hint of surprise. “You just got back?”

Mu Yunjin nodded, then instinctively glanced at the sky—it was nearly dusk.

Without realizing it, she had wasted another afternoon.

“Have you finished your business?” Mu Yunjin smiled, curving her lips, and stepped toward Chu Li.

Chu Li nodded slightly.

Just then, the main gate opened again, and a kindly-looking elderly woman walked in from outside, carrying a basket of vegetables.

As soon as she entered, she smiled at Chu Li and said, “Young Master, this old servant was chatting too long outside today and got delayed a bit. I’ll go prepare dinner now.”

After speaking, the elderly woman turned into the kitchen.

Seeing this, Mu Yunjin felt somewhat bewildered and, after a moment, looked at Chu Li with surprise. “You even found a cook to prepare meals here?”

“Yes,” Chu Li responded with a light affirmation.

Mu Yunjin slightly raised her eyebrows and spoke teasingly, “No wonder you don’t return to the mansion for weeks or even half a month at a time. It seems you’re living quite comfortably out here.”

Hearing this, Chu Li smiled faintly.

…

That night, at the dinner table.

After Madam Zhang brought the last dish to the table, she stood to the side, her face unable to hide her joy.

“Madam Zhang, what’s making you so happy?” Ding Xian tilted his head to look at Madam Zhang, asking with particular curiosity.

Hearing the question, Madam Zhang immediately beamed with joy and said cheerfully, “You don’t know, but today a female hero came to the city and eliminated a local bully for the citizens. Even City Lord Ling was implicated and is now locked up in the magistrate’s prison.”

“That villain He Hu had been terrorizing River Moon City for a long time, always with City Lord Ling supporting him from behind. Now he’s been brought down by a young woman—how can I not be happy?”

Hearing Madam Zhang’s words, Mu Yunjin nearly choked on her food. She took a sip of tea and continued eating with her head down, not looking at Madam Zhang even once.

Chu Li’s expression remained calm. He wasn’t interested in what Madam Zhang was saying, but for some reason, he instinctively glanced at Mu Yunjin.

Seeing her uncharacteristically eating with her head down, his eyes showed signs of contemplation.

Mu Yunjin quickly finished her meal and then found an excuse to return to her room.

Chu Li remained seated, glancing at Ding Xian and speaking dispassionately, “Go find out who this woman Madam Zhang mentioned is.”

Ding Xian nodded and promptly left.

Mu Yunjin lay down on the couch in her room, suddenly feeling that following Chu Li for half a month hadn’t been very meaningful.

Although she was curious about the matters behind Chu Li, he was guarding against her at every turn, and she couldn’t discover any information at all.

The only thing she knew was about the Black Lotus, and that mountain had been sealed off with mystic arts by Chu Li.

It was truly uninteresting.

Had she known, she would have stayed in the Prince’s mansion, idling away her days eating and drinking.

…

“Your Highness, this servant has verified that the woman Madam Zhang mentioned is indeed the Prince’s Consort.” Ding Xian stood in Chu Li’s chamber, respectfully speaking.

Hearing this, Chu Li wasn’t surprised. He lowered his eyes slightly and said, “If it’s her, then it’s not surprising.”

Ding Xian smiled and nodded. After a moment, he seemed to recall something. “Oh, right. During my investigation, I heard people say that the Prince’s Consort injured He Hu with a phoenix-tail whip and killed one of the City Lord’s guards with hidden weapons. I don’t know if this is true or false.”

“If it’s true, then the Prince’s Consort must know martial arts?”

Chu Li sat in his chair, his fingertips gently rubbing the rim of a cup. After a moment, his lips parted slightly. “With her, anything is possible.”

Ding Xian seemed to both understand and not understand.

Just as they were speaking, a black shadow flashed outside the door, steadied itself, and lightly knocked. Then a secret sound reached their ears—

“We have a lead.”

…

Half asleep, Mu Yunjin felt several black shadows flashing past her window, causing her to sit up from her couch, fully awake.

After the shadows had all disappeared, Mu Yunjin got off the bed and walked toward the door. Reaching the door, she pressed her ear against it, listening for any sounds outside.

After a while, there was no sound at all.

So, they probably weren’t assassins like last time.

When Mu Yunjin pushed open the door, several lanterns were hanging in the courtyard, but in the direction of Chu Li’s room, it was completely dark, without any light.

Seeing this, Mu Yunjin frowned slightly and stepped forward, knocking gently on the door.

There was no response.

So it seemed they had disappeared overnight again.

Mu Yunjin sighed lightly, and just as she was about to turn back to her room, a sharp pain suddenly came from her wrist, followed by a golden light. The phoenix feather mark, which had been missing for a long time, appeared.

The spirit mark appearing—was it predicting danger?

“Meow~” A cat’s call came from one side, followed by a flash of pink light. Qiqi’s figure appeared in the residence.

“Master, Qiqi is here.” Qiqi approached Mu Yunjin and looked at the spirit mark on her wrist. “The spirit mark has lit up, so something significant must be about to happen.”

As Qiqi finished speaking, she pointed with her fingertip, channeling her inner force. Instantly, a stream of pink true energy flowed out, pointing in an eastward direction.

“Master, let’s go check over there.” After speaking, Qiqi pointed eastward, ready to use her lightness skills to leave.

Mu Yunjin stood in place, somewhat troubled. “I don’t know lightness skills.”

“Huh?” Qiqi nearly dropped her jaw in shock. She scratched her ear and said, “That shouldn’t be right. The Phoenix Feather Pavilion’s spirit mark being able to attach to your wrist means you have inner force and true energy inside you, otherwise, this spirit mark couldn’t appear at all.”

“I understand now, perhaps you just don’t know how to use lightness skills!” Qiqi recalled that Mu Yunjin had said she was human last time, so she probably hadn’t encountered mystic arts and similar things.

After hearing Qiqi’s words, Mu Yunjin lowered her gaze to look at her wrist. “Didn’t you say something significant was about to happen? What should we do now?”

“Master, first try circulating the true energy from your dantian. If you truly have inner force, wouldn’t it be a waste not to use it?” Qiqi raised an eyebrow and extended a finger, drawing a circle at Mu Yunjin’s dantian.

“Come on, take a deep breath and try to circulate your energy,” Qiqi instructed Mu Yunjin from the side.

Mu Yunjin pursed her lips and, following Qiqi’s instructions, took a deep breath. Sure enough, she felt a current of energy flowing slowly through her body from her dantian.

This feeling was familiar, as if…

On the way back after taking over the Phoenix Feather Pavilion, she had this feeling. Could it be that when Consort Rong passed the Phoenix Feather Pavilion to her, she also passed on inner force to her?

With this thought, Mu Yunjin lightly tapped her toes and instantly felt her body become somewhat lighter. Looking down, she saw her toes had already lifted off the ground. Mu Yunjin was overjoyed, and in that moment of bewilderment, she felt something both familiar and strange.

“See? Qiqi said Master isn’t an ordinary human. How could you not know lightness skills?” Qiqi said somewhat proudly. “Master, time is of the essence. Let’s hurry after them!”

“Alright.” Mu Yunjin nodded.

Afterward, the master and servant displayed their lightness skills, flying toward the eastern direction.

Along the way, Mu Yunjin couldn’t hide her excitement and joy. In just a short time, she could completely control the strength and true energy of this lightness skill.

After flying for an unknown amount of time, Qiqi stopped at a large tree. Mu Yunjin, following beside her, also stopped at the tree.

“Strange, I can’t sense them anymore.” Qiqi attempted to use her inner power again, but the pink true energy that had appeared in the courtyard earlier couldn’t be manifested no matter how she tried.

“You know tracking arts?” Mu Yunjin raised her eyebrows slightly, looking at Qiqi.

Tracking arts—had she gotten the name right?

“Yes, this servant’s attribute is that of a cat. Sense of smell and vision are my strengths, so my tracking ability is the best in the pavilion.”

After speaking, Qiqi paused and frowned slightly. “But…”

“The people today seem to be very powerful, even able to cut off my tracking arts. I can’t detect their presence at all now.”

Mu Yunjin pursed her lips and looked around. This area seemed to be in wild mountains, pitch dark, with nothing visible at all.

Chu Li, a person suffering from jay blindness, went out so late—what was it for?

“Forget it, since we can’t find them, let’s go back,” Mu Yunjin said softly. If Chu Li returned before them and found her missing, he might become suspicious of her.

She couldn’t reveal to Chu Li that she had already been in contact with Consort Rong.

After all, Consort Rong had entrusted her with tasks.

“Alright.” Qiqi nodded.

Just as the two were preparing to leave, they heard footsteps approaching. The two people hiding in the tree immediately moved further in, concealing themselves.

The footsteps were faint, gradually approaching the tree. After a moment, two figures in black appeared beneath the tree.

“This time, the false information we’ve spread will surely lead Chu Li to go to the Eastern Bordering Country himself. Then, according to His Highness’s wishes, we can ambush Chu Li in the Eastern Bordering Country and seize the opportunity to eliminate him!”

“Indeed, at that time, the two of us will certainly be highly valued by His Highness. The position of Crown Prince will belong to our master.”

“Yes, it’s all because Chu Li has been fixated on that thing for years; otherwise, we wouldn’t have this opportunity.”

“Hahaha, no need for more words. Let’s go back early to claim our reward!”