This was a bright and unrestrained girl, independent and unique, a bit narcissistic, a bit crude, seemingly a little foolish, but absolutely flexible when it mattered. Beneath her slightly seductive appearance, she displayed brilliant, completely unguarded thoughts.

Looking at her was like seeing a fire in winter—soaring and gorgeous, drawing people closer, yet they were startled by that unbridled wildness and dared not approach.

Jing Hengbo laughed boldly, her collar opening slightly again. He didn’t want to explore further downward, so his gaze traveled up along her pristine neck and settled on her beautiful red lips. She laughed without restraint, her teeth like arranged shells, gleaming with crystalline light.

His gaze drifted away, his expression thoughtful.

Jing Hengbo pointed the roasted rabbit at his mouth and laughed, “Don’t speak, don’t speak. I’m a lady, so I go first.”

Gong Yin smiled without speaking, his heart warm and soft like a beach under spring sun, yet gradually heated by the sand grains that rubbed and caused slight pain.

“You’re so skilled at making straw sandals, why don’t you know how to roast rabbit?”

“I never ate roasted rabbit as a child, and later rabbits didn’t need me to roast them personally.”

“That’s not right. If you know how to make straw sandals, you naturally walked through mountains and forests often as a child. When walking in mountains and forests, you live off the land—how could you not have opportunities to roast wild game?”

“I had opportunities, but it wasn’t my turn to eat.”

Jing Hengbo fell silent for a moment, looking at his crystalline fingernails, finding it hard to imagine how he had been a loser in childhood.

“Let me interview you,” she leaned over with great interest. “How does a loser become tall, rich, and handsome? Was it because you met a wealthy young lady with an eye for talent?”

Gong Yin seemed to be lost in thought and answered casually, “How did you know?”

Jing Hengbo was stunned, not expecting this to actually be the answer.

Huh? He really had lived off women to get where he is today? Who was the rich woman who kept him? The previous queen? The rich woman kept a pretty boy, then was killed by the pretty boy?

This story was quite logical, yet she felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Gong Yin’s gaze swept across her face, clearly seeing her confusion and faint disappointment. His heart stirred slightly, then he smiled silently.

Was she overthinking it?

There was indeed such an encounter, but meeting was worse than not meeting. His ability to emerge from those poor mountains and troubled waters had never been because of those white hands that reached out from the golden carriage that autumn.

The past was also a fallen leaf fluttering in the autumn wind—one side rippling with strange love and possession, the other hiding deception, betrayal, anger, and brutality. The edges and corners had been shattered in the wind, unable to piece together the complete truth.

His gaze fell on her face. This face before him actually bore some resemblance to that person from back then. Speaking of which, it was quite strange—when queens of successive dynasties reincarnated, it was their souls that transmigrated, but he’d never heard of their appearances being similar too.

Was this an arrangement of fate and reincarnation? For him, was this a blessing or a curse?

Both fell silent. Jing Hengbo quietly roasted the rabbit, the aroma gradually spreading. She took down the rabbit and shakily tried to tear off the lemongrass. “Hiss… hot! Hiss… hot!”

A hand reached over, casually taking the rabbit, peeling away the lemongrass, tearing off two legs, and handing them to her.

Jing Hengbo propped up her chin, wondering if this counted as the great god showing her care.

The rabbit meat with lemongrass was indeed fresh, tender, and delicious. She finished gnawing the two legs in the blink of an eye. When she looked up, she saw Gong Yin still methodically eating his first leg with quite elegant movements. Jing Hengbo snorted with contempt and jealousy, preparing to tear off some rabbit meat, when she suddenly discovered that the rabbit body beside her had disappeared.

Behind her came fine scraping sounds like a mouse burrowing. She turned around and saw that Feifei was stuffing the last bit of rabbit bone into its mouth.

“Hehe hehe, so it’s Feifei.” Jing Hengbo, who had been ready to scold, immediately put on a loving, flattering expression. “Was it fragrant? Are you full? If you’re not full, I’ll have Gong Yin catch you a roe deer. How would you like to eat it? Braised or steamed?”

As she said this, she vaguely felt something was not quite right, but when Feifei looked up and blinked at her with those purple, round, large eyes that seemed to wear colored contacts, she immediately forgot what she was going to say.

“Roe deer? Hmm? Roast another one?” Her face was full of loving radiance.

Feifei returned the favor by patting its little belly, indicating it was already full. Jing Hengbo was delighted—this Feifei was intelligent!

“Of course it’s full,” Gong Yin said coolly from the side. “It didn’t even leave bones.”

This understated remark made Jing Hengbo’s scalp explode with alarm. Only then did she remember what was wrong. This Feifei had just finished eating an entire rabbit larger than its own body in an instant, making no sound and leaving not even bone fragments. How terrifying was that speed, how sharp were those teeth, how savage was that eating manner? At this speed, it would only take five minutes to eat a person…

She shivered. But when Feifei blinked slowly at her again, displaying its colored contacts, she quickly reassured herself—maybe it was just hungry. Eating quickly wasn’t that bad.

After finishing the rabbit, they rested for a while. Gong Yin stuck a branch tip into the ground, then pulled it out to examine the soil, saying, “From the mountain terrain, there’s likely an exit to the southwest.”

Just as they were about to set off, the Feifei suddenly leaped from Jing Hengbo’s arms and darted forward like lightning. Jing Hengbo was about to call out loudly when she realized it was heading southwest. Her heart stirred, and she quickly followed. Sure enough, Feifei appeared and disappeared in the grass, always staying within her sight, as if it were leading the way.

“Look, it really is a good child who repays kindness. I think it wants to guide me out of the mountains,” Jing Hengbo beamed with joy.

“It might also be leading you to a mass grave,” Gong Yin’s bland, venomous tongue made Jing Hengbo’s hair stand on end again. She glared at him hatefully, but Gong Yin paid no attention to her fierce exterior hiding inner cowardice, keeping his gaze fixed on Feifei.

After walking for quite some time, before sunset, Jing Hengbo wailed that if she took one more step she would commit suicide. Feifei also stopped with telepathic understanding. Jing Hengbo lay down on the spot, planning to flatten herself out, but Feifei jumped onto her belly and pointed ahead repeatedly. When Jing Hengbo ignored it, it bounced up and down on her stomach. Jing Hengbo felt that if it kept jumping, it might cause her to excrete something, so she grabbed it weakly and asked, “Hmm?”

Feifei frantically pointed ahead. Jing Hengbo lazily rolled over to look and saw a large, flat, clean stone ahead, backed against a cliff—indeed a good place to sleep.

“I’m going to sleep there.” She pointed at Gong Yin. “You’re not allowed to come near, not allowed to peek, not allowed to…”

Gong Yin rolled over with his back to her.

“Don’t come near me, don’t peek at me, thank you.”

“Look at your sister! When has this lady ever looked at you? Which of this lady’s eyes could fancy you? What do you have that’s worth looking at? Hmm? Neck? Collarbone? Adonis belt? Biceps?” Jing Hengbo’s slender finger almost poked his forehead, her voice loud and shameless.

Gong Yin expressed sincere admiration for Miss Jing’s ability to “forget upon turning around” and “refuse to admit even unto death.”

Jing Hengbo lay down comfortably, planning to sleep and then wake up to roast the roe deer they had brought. With Feifei and Gong Yin beside her, she wasn’t afraid of wild beasts.

She slept very deeply.

In her dreams, there were red leopards roaring away. The next second, Gong Yin burst from the water and strangled the leopard’s throat. The leopard bared its snow-white teeth at her. She stood trembling in place with horror when suddenly a vague dark purple light flashed by. Gong Yin hurled the bloody leopard in his hands at her. Wind howled, and wet leopard blood fell on her face. Startled, she stepped back, “Ah—”

The scream woke her up. Her arm suddenly tightened, gripped firmly by a warm palm, and a familiar voice sounded angrily beside her ear, “Wake up!”

Jing Hengbo opened her eyes.

The first thing she saw was a cliff.

For a moment, she almost thought she was still not awake, back in that nightmare of falling off a cliff from a few days ago.

Then she realized this cliff was different. This cliff wasn’t high—she could see some things at the bottom emitting white light.

After that, she discovered that one of her feet was already hanging over the cliff edge, and the other foot was already halfway off the cliff edge too.