An eerie silence.

All three of them froze in place.

Jing Hengbo’s mind went blank, momentarily stunned. She never would have imagined that Nan Jin actually knew about that incident in the pine forest last time and would actually say it out loud.

Nan Jin regretted her words as soon as she spoke them, her face completely blank. She seemed not to have expected that she would have such a moment of hot-headedness. Only when she looked up did she see Jing Hengbo’s shocked face behind Gong Yin.

Nan Jin, who was like a wooden sculpture, was also shocked—how could Jing Hengbo be here?

The two women stared at each other blankly, then both turned their gazes toward Gong Yin simultaneously.

They didn’t get to see Gong Yin’s expression clearly.

Because Gong Yin suddenly flicked his sleeve, and Nan Jin’s body whooshed up into the air, flying through the window and out of the room to who knows where. They only heard exclamations from outside and a bang—someone must have caught her.

Another “bang” as the window slammed shut.

The moment the window closed, Jing Hengbo tried to make a quick escape!

Her body had just started to move when Gong Yin grabbed her hand. She tried to struggle free, but a great force struck her. The world spun around her as she was lifted into the air, then with another “bang,” she was heavily thrown onto the bed.

Jing Hengbo reacted quickly, flipping over to sit up and run, but the blanket behind her tumbled down and tangled her legs. By the time she pushed the blanket aside, Gong Yin was already sitting on the edge of the bed.

He sat there, slightly frowning, as if still thinking about what to do. His previous actions had been purely instinctive reactions in his shock—instinctively not letting her leave, instinctively throwing her onto the bed. But now he was stunned, not having thought through what exactly he wanted to do.

He seemed to want to punish her. Such a thing was simply unimaginable, and worse yet, someone else had seen it. His masculine dignity seemed to have hit rock bottom in an instant, and he didn’t know how to pick it up for a moment.

But how should he punish her? When it came to her, hitting or scolding were absolutely impossible. Should he do to her what she had done to him…

Only then did he remember the madness in the carriage’s traveling palace last time. He had always felt something was off—Jing Hengbo had seemed too practiced, lacking the shyness and reactions a virgin should have, and she always wanted to flip over on top… At the time, these strange thoughts had flashed by vaguely. Because he deeply believed in her purity and didn’t want to have any doubts about her, he had automatically ignored them. Now he finally knew she was indeed practiced—she had already rehearsed once on his body before…

The bed creaked heavily as Jing Hengbo bounced up again to escape. Without thinking, he reached out and yanked hard, but used too much force. Jing Hengbo fell backward, her head hitting the bed frame hard with a muffled “bang.” Gong Yin quickly reached out to protect the back of her head, but Jing Hengbo flipped over and tried to get off the bed. Gong Yin blocked with his arm, grabbed her shoulders with both hands and pressed her down on the bed. This time she hit the pillow with a muffled thud. Jing Hengbo’s mind actually flashed with an inappropriate thought at this moment—”wall slam”?

Both had been acting on instinct, and only now did their movements stop. Jing Hengbo felt the force of his hands pressing on her shoulders, was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed—why run? Why feel guilty? So what if she had taken the initiative to sleep with him? She had given him a huge advantage, hadn’t she? They had already gone that far, so what was there to fear about punishment? If he had the guts, let him sleep with her back.

Gong Yin wasn’t as clear-headed as she was at this moment. He pressed down on her heavily, his mind somewhat chaotic. He seemed angry, but also secretly pleased. His heart’s blood seemed to surge slightly. He just instinctively stared at her, thinking about how to make this increasingly lawless woman restrain herself a bit. But suddenly he saw her smile—her red lips like fire, blooming so brilliantly, revealing white teeth. The red and white were each pure in color, crystal bright and dazzling. Her lips were slightly thick and upturned, always sexy and alluring. This kind of smile at this moment, combined with thoughts of her behavior, thoughts of her undressing and offering herself to him, made her seem even more wanton and seductive. Suddenly, images of her white body flashed through his mind—the perfectly proportioned curves, those full and abundant parts, those slender and restrained areas, those long and delicate features… As if that night in the carriage was happening again, heaven and earth swaying slightly, hot blood rushing to his head, he suddenly lowered his head.

Jing Hengbo didn’t refuse, but instead moved forward to meet him. The moment their lips and teeth touched, he seemed to hum with annoyance, completely changing from his usual reserved passivity. His tongue stirred, sucking and entangling, almost fierce. Jing Hengbo felt her tongue tip hurt slightly and laughed with a hiss, thinking so this was how to shake the iceberg—her previous methods had been completely wrong.

Long hair mingled with bed curtains, falling in disarray. This time the movements were somewhat rough, the golden hooks at the head of the bed trembling constantly. Gong Yin’s kiss was like punishment, carrying a boldness never seen in his usual manner. It seemed like revenge, and also like the release of long-suppressed feelings. Jing Hengbo was accustomed to his restrained self-control, so facing such a domineering CEO-style Gong Yin, she found it both fresh and interesting. Unable to help herself, she felt heat rising in her body as well, and her hand suddenly slipped inside his collar.

Gong Yin trembled, pressing his body down more tightly, saying in a low voice: “You’re not allowed to be wanton anymore…”

Jing Hengbo laughed: “Not wanton, not wanton.” While answering, her hand slipped to his waist and with practiced ease, pulled once—Gong Yin’s belt came loose.

This action was like adding fuel to fire, immediately reminding Gong Yin of when he was “being taken advantage of”—had this woman made the same movements then? Thinking of how he couldn’t move or feel anything at that time while this woman had her way with him, and that it was even discovered by Nan Jin, yet this woman still showed no remorse whatsoever, he immediately felt a surge of real anger and almost wanted to pull her hands away. But Jing Hengbo very sensibly immediately moved aside, sliding forward to gently caress his neck and chest. Her fingers seemed to carry electricity and fire—wherever they touched, the skin heated up, the blood beneath boiled, and the organs below seemed to tremble. That heat made Gong Yin almost unable to bear it. His whole body ached slightly, but more than that was a surging impulse. He pressed down heavily, pinning her restless hands, and reached out with quick movements. Before Jing Hengbo could react, her chest felt cool—her clothes had also been unfastened.

She was somewhat surprised and wanted to laugh, not expecting this guy to have such strong learning ability. In his memory there was only that one time in the carriage’s traveling palace, yet his movements were already so skilled. His clothes-removing actions were both fast and fierce, buttons flying off with popping sounds. She understood in her heart that it didn’t really need to be so fierce, but men’s pride always needed to be salvaged—she understood.

Under the snow-white bed curtains, a light red dress slipped down, silently falling onto the purple lacquered footstool. Jing Hengbo embraced his waist, feeling the slightly cool breath from his dantian, sensing his urgency. Somewhat confused, she thought about how messed up everything was—before, she had wanted him to take the initiative but he wouldn’t, and now when they couldn’t make love, he finally got the idea. While thinking this, she sighed, and taking advantage of one of his preparatory movements, suddenly slipped toward the bottom of the bed.

Before she could grab her clothes, her ankle was suddenly gripped tightly. She groaned inwardly and turned back with an awkward smile to see Gong Yin’s pair of dark eyes in the darkness, clear light flickering, carrying three parts anger and seven parts persistence, staring at her intently.

“Want to run?” he said. “Dare to act but not take responsibility?”

She could only laugh and say: “No, no, I take responsibility, I dare to act…” Very consciously returning to the bed and obediently lying beneath him. He seemed to finally regain some face because of her cooperative attitude, his lips seeming to curve slightly. She also smiled, but shifted her body slightly, and when he leaned down, suddenly reached out and grasped him.

Gong Yin trembled violently.

Jing Hengbo wasn’t surprised at all by his intense reaction. The restrained and self-controlled Gong Yin, in this regard, how could he compare to those experienced men who had been influenced by modern adult videos? Any little bit of teasing was a tremendous stimulation for him.

At this moment, she only thought that it hadn’t been three months yet, so intimate relations weren’t suitable. To escape, she could only appease the CEO Gong who was radiating kingly dominance. While trying hard to recall memories from watching Japanese films in her modern life, she worked hard to “apologize to CEO Gong.”

The golden hooks swayed slightly with delicate sounds, masking the low murmurs.

“…Do you like it…”

“Her Majesty the Queen is personally serving you… isn’t it fresh and interesting?”

“Can this count as an apology?”

…

Inside the swaying curtains, only her voice could be heard. A certain extremely reserved person gritted his teeth, drew breath, remained silent, and said nothing. He only used body language to express his satisfaction with Her Majesty the Queen’s sensible apology.

Finally, there seemed to be a long exhale from within the bed curtains, mixed with Her Majesty the Queen’s muttering: “Damn, my hand is so sore…” Someone inside the curtains seemed to hum softly.

Then a hand reached out from the curtains, groping for a towel that was always kept by the bedside, and another hand reached out and pressed down. Jing Hengbo said softly: “How can wiping get it clean? I’ll find some water to wash.” Taking advantage of the situation, she got off the bed.

Getting off the bed, she dressed calmly and naturally. Gong Yin watched through the curtains, suddenly feeling this scene was somewhat strange, but his mind was still sparkling with stars, inevitably savoring that wonderful feeling like surging tides, too lazy to think much.

Jing Hengbo smiled while dressing—didn’t this scene look like a man pulling up his pants and leaving after the deed while the woman was still lying lazily in bed?

But men, especially Gong Yin, definitely wouldn’t react at this time. Poor ascetic iceberg, where would he have seen such “wanton” techniques? He’d probably even forgotten about punishing her.

Of course, before he came to his senses…

Jing Hengbo calmly and quickly finished dressing, walked to the washstand, said “No water,” and twisted her body.

A moment later.

The curtains were suddenly pulled open.

Gong Yin, wearing his robes, glanced at the basin full of water and for the first time in his life roared angrily: “Jing Hengbo!”

…

The small mountain village at the foot of the snow mountain seemed to maintain its thousand-year tranquility as always.

But recently, the atmosphere in the village had been somewhat unusual. Some mysterious rumors were quietly spreading between villages.

These rumors were all similar in content, saying that a white shadow had been appearing on the mountain at midnight recently. The white shadow was clearly a ghost, with feet not touching the ground, wandering in mid-air. Wherever it passed, branches and leaves swayed and the wind howled like a whistle. Several people who had gotten up during the night saw it from afar and were so frightened they wet themselves.

When more people had seen it, during the day some bold hunters would team up to go up the mountain to investigate. They naturally couldn’t find the white shadow, but they did see that in hidden corners or mountain hollows, wild animals were often found dead, all of them fierce beasts, with very gruesome death conditions. The hunters would carry the prey back, only to discover that while these wild animals appeared to have intact limbs, they were all missing one or two internal organs. People didn’t pay much attention and divided the meat to eat. Afterward, some people died suddenly, with the most tragic family being completely wiped out.

Death always carried a dark aura, wandering everywhere and causing fear and unease. Later there were theories that the dead were unwilling and still wandered in the village. Some people had seen black shadows entering and leaving the extinct family’s house. The mountain village that had been peaceful for many years was now filled with panic, and people began to move away. Many places in the village became empty, making nights even more desolate. Villagers closed their doors early and no one dared to go out at night anymore. The village chief was quite responsible and went out yesterday to seek help from outside. Although this was a lawless area, it was close to the border of Ji Kingdom, and if there were life-and-death matters, the border checkpoints of Ji Kingdom would also intervene.

Night deepened again.

At the east end of the village stood a dilapidated small courtyard with its gate tightly closed. White paper streamers fluttered on the wall, looking like pairs of pale hands. This was the home of the hunter family who had eaten the beast meat and died completely—it had now become a forbidden place.

A black shadow emerged from the darkness, and in an instant was treading on moonlight, floating over the courtyard’s earthen wall.

If the villagers saw this now, they would probably cry out that this was exactly the ghost that haunted the extinct family’s house at midnight.

The “ghost” floated over the courtyard wall, and moonlight illuminated his face—his features were more beautiful and enchanting than the moonlight.

Yelu Qi.

He seemed very skilled at playing a ghost, taking advantage of a gust of wind to float over the wall and land in the courtyard.

Beast meat from that day still hung on the courtyard wall, already dried by the wind. Since the incident, no one dared approach this place, so naturally no one had cleaned it up.

Yelu Qi walked to that piece of beast meat. He had been coming to observe this beast meat for several days, and had sent part of it to his sister. According to Third Young Master’s meaning, Xu Pingran was practicing some kind of vicious technique from Tianmen legends. The wild animals were her practice targets, but the different internal organs that were removed had another meaning that Third Young Master didn’t know.

Through testing in food, Yelu Qi discovered that Xu Pingran’s practice frequency was becoming more urgent, the timing earlier, and she was eating less and less. Today before dark had even fallen, she had already gone up the mountain, which was why he could come out freely to examine the situation of those villagers who had died mysteriously.

Yelu Qi had observed the corpses of those wild animals. Xu Pingran’s method of killing beasts was beyond what ordinary people could imagine, and the toxicity left in the beast meat was obviously stronger each time. Her skill was rapidly increasing, while he still hadn’t found an opportunity to approach and kill her.

So tonight he wanted to examine the corpses of those villagers who had died suddenly.

After those people died, because it was suspected to be plague, they didn’t dare carry them to the village cemetery but buried them directly underground behind the courtyard, declaring the surrounding area a forbidden zone.

To examine them properly, he had put considerable thought into it, spending several days tampering with Xu Pingran’s personal maid. Calculating the time, tonight Xu Pingran would be particularly irritable, go up the mountain earlier, and return later.

Yelu Qi began digging. In the distance, on a tree, was a motionless black shadow—that was Yelu Xunru keeping watch for him. To avoid being discovered by Xueshan disciples about their connection, no matter whether it was safe or not, the two had never had close contact.

Yelu Qi dug for a while, then looked at that motionless black shadow in the distant tree, feeling faint comfort in his heart.

Being able to see his sister in the tree, peacefully watching this world, knowing that Jing Hengbo was well, being able to continue striving to survive for these two women—he felt that only now did his life have meaning.

He had vaguely heard about the Yelu family incident in Linzhou. Xu Pingran’s side hadn’t given up on gathering outside information. Although he hadn’t heard the complete truth, Yelu Qi intuitively believed this matter was related to Jing Hengbo.

She was still stirring up trouble and ruining people’s good deeds—this was very good.

Thinking of Jing Hengbo, his movements quickened. Soon a deep pit appeared in the ground with several thin coffins inside. He jumped down and was about to open the coffins when he suddenly heard strange sounds above. Looking up, he saw the distant tree’s branches and leaves swaying—exactly the danger signal from Yelu Xunru. Looking forward, he saw a white shadow flowing like light down from the mountain, entering the village in the blink of an eye and heading straight in this direction.

The white shadow’s clothes fluttered as it floated without touching the ground, and it seemed to be carrying a person in its hand.