Jing Hengbo did not leave, but searched around the back courtyard.

The resentment in her heart had not subsided, and she still wanted to beat someone up. Additionally, she wanted to find the whereabouts of that young woman. A severed arm wouldn’t necessarily cause death. Earlier, in her extreme anger, she had only wanted to punish the girl, but now that she had calmed down, she felt that saving people was more important.

However, in that small room, aside from bloodstains, there was nothing else. All four walls had been cleaned very thoroughly. She found the back door, but couldn’t make out any clues either.

That young woman seemed to have just vanished from the courtyard like that.

Was this entire Daomao perhaps a man-eating monster, where countless people disappeared every day in various ways? Leaving family members waiting at their doors, never again seeing their loved ones return home in the evening.

She felt a bit tired and finally sat down on a pile of firewood. She wanted to enjoy the evening breeze and calm her emotions.

After sitting down, however, Master Mu suddenly flashed through her mind.

This mysterious man.

His martial arts should be quite high. Although her own martial arts weren’t particularly impressive at the moment, her supernatural abilities compensated for the lack of martial prowess. Both Ying Bai and Pei Shu had said that with her abilities, she could now protect herself wherever she went. When a master encountered her for the first time without preparation for her abilities, they would likely suffer losses. The masters who could detain her were already few – either their martial arts were extremely high, or they were extremely familiar with her abilities and had made preparations.

Which type was he?

His voice, form, speech, and the temperament he displayed were all unfamiliar. That slightly lazy quality was somewhat like Yelu Qi, but brighter than Yelu Qi, without Yelu Qi’s romantic splendor and that feeling of a night-colored sovereign.

A figure flashed through her mind, and she immediately shook her head. Why must she think of him first when looking at anyone? Even less like Yelu Qi than that. Although she had only glanced at him briefly before, she had already noticed that his temperament, appearance, and voice were completely different. More crucially, she had previously seen Master Mu’s information, right there in the Thirteen Guardians’ basement materials she had obtained, attached to an inconspicuous small booklet that she had almost missed at first.

It wasn’t any secret, just some scattered records documenting the main activities of Master Mu and his organization from its establishment until now. From these, one could see that Master Mu had been establishing his power in Daomao for several years, and during this time he hadn’t been completely absent – he had even presided over some major events. She had calculated that some of these events completely conflicted with Gong Yin’s timeline. For example, during the Dige incident years ago, Master Mu’s organization was just beginning construction in Daomao; last year, when Master Mu’s organization had a major personnel change and Master Mu personally intervened to reorganize the group, she and Gong Yin were in the palace at that time.

One could see that those who studied Master Mu couldn’t reach any conclusions about him either, and could only record events chronologically.

This character now gave her the same feeling as all the other forces in Daomao: mysterious, impossible to distinguish friend from foe.

She couldn’t determine whether his final move earlier had been holding back, or because he didn’t know about her supernatural abilities and was preparing to give her a harsh lesson.

That last strike aimed at the lute bone was clearly intended to cripple her martial arts.

Some people still needed more interaction to determine their true nature.

As she sat on the woodpile behind the building contemplating life and men, she suddenly heard footsteps approaching, heading straight for the woodpile. Instinctively, she turned and hid.

Those few people stopped in front of the woodpile and began pulling out firewood while talking.

“I heard something happened up front…”

“Silence! How did Big Brother warn you all? Not one word about the big bosses’ affairs is permitted.”

“Fine, I won’t mention it. I just don’t understand – weren’t they saying earlier that there wouldn’t be any hot baths? How come they suddenly need to bathe again? Making us rush to reheat the pool water.”

“Hot baths after dinner were originally a fixed entertainment program, and we had prepared for it today too. But Big Brother said today’s guests were rather special and might not have an enjoyable meal, so the hot bath would likely not happen, and we could forget about it. Who knew something would happen up front just now, and everyone’s clothes got dirty, so now they have to bathe.”

“When I went in to serve earlier, I saw the bosses being very enthusiastic toward that Master Mu. How could it be unpleasant?”

“That’s not something you and I can guess about. Let’s hurry up with the work.”

A flurry of urgent wood-gathering sounds followed, then the creaking of cart wheels as that group dragged the firewood off to quickly heat the pool.

Jing Hengbo emerged from behind the woodpile, looked in the direction those people had left, and let out a cold laugh.

Why were they suddenly enthusiastic toward Master Mu?

Because he had saved their lives!

If Master Mu hadn’t intervened earlier, all those martial world bigshots would have become sieves today.

Hehe, Old Mu had originally faced a Hongmen Feast today, but he was also formidable – he actually managed to use her incident to establish connections with the Three Gates, Four Alliances, Seven Gangs, and Thirteen Guardians.

Those people today owed him their lives. In the martial world, loyalty was paramount – no matter how unwilling they might be in their hearts, they had to show gratitude on the surface.

From now on, this Shadow Pavilion could be considered to have gained a firm foothold in this complex Daomao.

Then what were these bastards planning to do? Bathing, massage, and sauna?

Would they arrange for some ladies to serve them after the bath?

Then let this Emperor personally serve them.

…

The Jade Tower’s west building had a specially designated large pool for the bigshots to soak in hot baths after drinking, chat, drink tea, and sleep.

People of Dahuang loved bathing, and this was especially true in Daomao. Because of the Black Water Marsh, Daomao’s air quality wasn’t good – in modern terms, there was smog containing trace toxins. Therefore, wealthy families paid great attention to medicinal bath soaking, using steam sweating methods to expel toxins accumulated in the body.

The large pool in Jade Tower West was connected to a row of quiet rooms, with wooden walkways, small elegant windows, and complete facilities, all arranged very tastefully for the bigshots to do whatever they wanted after bathing.

The pool itself was designed simply – just a large square pool with a dome overhead. The pool was as large as two rooms, with hot water heated in the adjacent furnace room and delivered through pipes.

The saying goes that when friendship deepens to its core, one should meet with complete honesty. Stripped of clothes, everyone becomes a bare white pig – no one can harm anyone else.

When the bigshots wanted to express trust and discuss matters not quite suitable for broad daylight, they would engage in neighborly bonding with this approach.

The group was heading toward the pool, with the rumbling sound of wheelchair wheels mixed in. Second Guardian Lei Shengyu was personally pushing Master Mu’s wheelchair.

Since entering the Jade Tower, Master Mu’s bodyguards had been left outside the door like those of the other bigshots, with only Second Guardian Lei Shengyu remaining by his side.

This was the rule. When martial world overlords gathered, they couldn’t bring subordinates, only one trusted aide of respectable status, to show respect for the others.

Normally, even this trusted aide couldn’t remain – all the bigshots would be alone – but because of Master Mu’s inconvenient condition requiring someone to push his wheelchair, an exception was made.

The bigshots showed rare tolerance for this. Apart from refusing the bodyguards’ request to push the wheelchair, they raised no objections to Lei Shengyu pushing it, and even invited him to join them for a bath.

Martial world overlords were indeed martial world overlords. Although their clothes and faces had been splattered into a complete mess, forcing them to bathe before they could decently leave, they had already recovered their jovial conversation.

They were actually in quite good spirits.

The Rakshasa incident had occurred, and he had been sent back. The decline of Rakshasa Gate was almost a foregone conclusion. So while organizing their clothes earlier, the bigshots had already reached preliminary agreements on dividing up Rakshasa Gate’s territory and influence.

Seizing territory had to be done early, otherwise once the remaining deputy gate masters of Rakshasa Gate took the opportunity to compete for the master’s position and reorganize their forces, it would be too late to act.

The bigshots were also very satisfied with Master Mu, because he had humbly expressed that as a junior with shallow roots, he had no expansion plans for now, and wouldn’t interfere in Rakshasa Gate’s affairs.

With Shadow Pavilion withdrawing from the division of Rakshasa’s power, everyone was happy.

Hot water poured into the large pool wave after wave, steaming hot, almost obscuring everyone’s faces.

Everyone was sticky with soup and grease stains, already feeling uncomfortable all over. Seeing the hot water ready, they couldn’t wait to strip naked and plunge in one by one with splashes.

Those who soaked in the pool all showed comfortable expressions. Several of them slapped the water’s surface and laughingly called to Master Mu: “Master Mu, come on, don’t be polite!”

“Don’t tell me you’re embarrassed? We’re all men!”

“Look at Master Mu’s delicate skin – he wouldn’t be a lady in disguise, would he?”

The bigshots burst into laughter, their crude laughter carrying hints of probing.

Misty vapor rose and floated around Master Mu, his features somewhat unclear, his pupils gleaming black in the pale white mist.

“I had bathed before coming, but since all you elder brothers sincerely invite me, this younger brother naturally dares not decline.”

He began to undress. This pool was designed for everyone to “meet with complete honesty,” so there wasn’t even a changing screen.

The bigshots soaked in the pool, making crude jokes with each other, their gazes all intentionally or unintentionally glancing at him.

Master Mu undressed very composedly, with graceful posture – clearly from good breeding with refinement ingrained in his bones.

His clothing was also of fine quality. At first glance it seemed ordinary, but closer inspection revealed either exceptional materials or unique embroidery, with a kind of understated luxury.

Only his pace of undressing was very slow.

…

Jing Hengbo slipped into the water-heating furnace room.

The person crouched outside adding firewood only felt a slight chill behind him, as if there was wind, and then knew nothing more.

The room was full of hot steam, where one person couldn’t see another. Jing Hengbo calmly hid behind a large pot, took off her skirt, and changed into a servant’s yellow cloth garment.

No one noticed – everyone was doing their own work.

After changing clothes, she removed her hairpins and ornaments and tied up her hair, hid the person in a dark corner, and bundled her skirt into a small package, hiding it under the loose coarse cloth garment. She was keeping this dress for future use.

Just after finishing and sitting down, someone poked their head in. Through the steamy mist, they beckoned to her, “Wang Er Laizi, someone’s needed up front to serve, you go.”

“Oh.” Jing Hengbo answered in a rough voice, stood up and went out. The person was dressed like a supervisor and didn’t look at her, pointing to a box nearby and saying, “These are clothes prepared for the distinguished guests to change into. Help me carry it over.”

Jing Hengbo agreed and picked up the box. Fortunately, it was all clothes, not heavy. The box could also hide her face.

As she followed the supervisor to the front building’s bathhouse, several people gradually followed behind them, but no one approached her – they seemed to just be going together to handle business.

At the bathhouse, the supervisor ordered her to deliver the clothes to the changing room, right next to the bathhouse, separated by several openwork screens. The supervisor told her to place the clothes beside each bed, then watch the rhythm of the bigshots’ bathing and prepare hot water and tea in advance. When the bigshots came up from the pool, she needed to have the tea and clothes all ready, then withdraw.

Jing Hengbo felt that these procedures were quite similar to the club-style bathhouses of the modern world she remembered. It seemed that regardless of how much time and space separated them, men’s methods of enjoyment would naturally emerge, all roads leading to Rome.

In chaotic places especially, this kind of enjoyment would be more sought after – when survival was difficult, one should seize pleasure while possible.

She arranged the clothes and turned around. Opposite was the bathhouse.

Looking over, she froze.

On the other side of the openwork screen, a group of naked men, but the first thing she saw was Master Mu undressing.

She saw him unfastening the last layer of snow-white undergarment. She instinctively wanted to look away, but somehow didn’t.

Misty vapor swirled, clothes fell gently, his movements in unbuttoning were light, his fingers long and refined.

She saw a glimpse of straight collarbones, stretched with clean, taut skin, and below that an equally smooth chest… without scars.

She immediately decided not to look anymore and averted her gaze. From the corner of her eye, she caught him removing his clothes and handing them to Lei Shengyu, his arms reaching up, revealing a long, bamboo-like but not thin build, a section of smooth, lean waist, flexibly and gracefully leaning slightly forward.

His skin gleamed with warm luster in the faint mist, reminiscent of pearls that generated their own light in dark nights.

A faint gulping sound, as if someone was swallowing saliva – who among these bigshots might have peculiar preferences was unclear.

Jing Hengbo was indifferent to appreciating this scene – she had always enjoyed watching bodybuilders and such – but inexplicably, that smooth chest suddenly ruined her mood.

She hated herself for always having all sorts of random thoughts in her head. Too weak.

With a splash, laughter erupted from the pool, someone shouting loudly: “Little Mu, this old man has never in his life seen anyone bathe with pants on – you’re definitely the first.”

Amid the laughter, she hugged her arms, somewhat dazed, suddenly wondering about those around her – if they encountered such a situation, would they bathe? Would they undress?

Yelu Qi would definitely bathe, definitely undress. He was indifferent to everything, smiling through it all before seeking revenge afterward.

Pei Shu would drive everyone away or kill them, then drag her to watch him bathe and undress.

As for him…

She shook her head – impossible!

Mountain peak snow, heavenly moon – he wouldn’t even want to be tainted by earthly dust, let alone discuss soaking in a pool with this group of crude, foul-smelling brutes.

He would vomit.

Jing Hengbo let out a cold laugh and slapped her forehead again. She was increasingly disgusted with herself.

What was she thinking!

The bathing outside would continue for a while. She saw Master Mu’s Second Guardian loyally guarding by the pool’s side, repeatedly declining others’ invitations to join the bath with gracious smiles, appearing very dutiful.

No one had entered this partition room, so she closed her eyes slightly, taking this opportunity to regulate her breathing.

Within her body, hazy mist seemed to generate bright moonlight, reflecting all phenomena of the human world, even sensing external movements.

They were discussing the division of Rakshasa Gate’s influence, probing Master Mu. Master Mu hadn’t said much throughout, seemingly focused on bathing, occasionally responding once or twice, his voice even lazier, sandy with a bit of nasal tone, like fingers stroking sandpaper, making one’s heart itch.

After soaking for a while, someone found it too hot and sat on the pool’s edge. After another while, Master Mu said: “This one is weak in constitution and cannot soak long in hot pools, so I’ll get out now.”

Someone in the pool laughed with a muffled voice: “Go ahead, we’ll come out shortly too, then we can drink tea and chat together. If you like, we’ll find you a good girl to keep you company.”

Master Mu rose from the pool. Due to his mobility issues, he could normally use lightness skills, but getting up from water wasn’t very convenient. Lei Shengyu hurried to assist, and the few people sitting on the pool’s edge also laughingly moved over to lend a hand.

Jing Hengbo suddenly felt her heart skip.

Master Mu’s upper body emerged from the pool.

Lei Shengyu’s hand barely caught his extended hand.

The others sitting on the pool’s edge supported Master Mu’s arms.

Just as their hands were about to make contact.

Lei Shengyu’s palm suddenly struck forward viciously, slapping toward Master Mu’s chest!

Master Mu abruptly raised his head, eyes shocked, wanting to struggle free, but the hands supporting him on both sides suddenly became strong as iron clamps, clamping him so he couldn’t move!

“Slap.” A sound, the dull noise of flesh colliding. Master Mu’s head tilted back as this palm strike sent him flying backward. In midair he spat out blood that fell into the bathhouse like rain.

Almost simultaneously with Master Mu being attacked, before Jing Hengbo could move, with a “cha” sound, countless blades and swords suddenly sprang from the wall behind her and the bed beside her, scissoring down at her!

Wild laughter rang out from outside.

“Fool! You already attempted assassination in the private room, did you think we’d have no defenses afterward?”

Before the laughter finished, a surprised exclamation: “…Where is she?”

In the partition room, Jing Hengbo had already vanished.

The next instant she appeared above the bathhouse.

In the swirling mist she crashed through the screen, stepping on waves as she came, her feet landing on the heads of those bigshots in the water.

“Fools! If I could kill you once before, I can naturally kill you forever!”

“Whoosh.” A figure flew toward her – it was Master Mu, sent flying by that palm strike.

In midair, his wet long hair hung down, his posture frail and light, like a feather about to break.

Jing Hengbo hadn’t intended to catch him, but as if possessed by a ghost, she extended both hands.

With a thud, Master Mu fell into her arms.

She was pulled downward by his weight, causing whoever’s head she was stepping on below to sink further underwater.

Looking down, she saw Master Mu had already fainted, a trace of blood dark at the corner of his lips.

Holding him, she felt somewhat dazed, thinking that her earlier appearance in his direction—could her subconscious have been to catch him?

This subconscious impulse wasn’t good.

What to do now? Drop him?

The man in her arms had lips pale as a touch of spring cherry blossoms.

She really wanted to let go and watch him float and sink underwater—that should be quite satisfying too. Who told him to ruin her plans earlier?

Thinking this way, her arms instead tightened, holding him closer. Looking down at the group of naked bigshots crawling up, her gaze turned vicious.

“You dare show yourselves with such figures? Get down!”

I’ll stomp! I’ll stomp! I’ll stomp stomp stomp!

Heads bobbed in the water, all serving as her stepping stones. She viciously trampled on those pale or dark bodies, like stepping on disgusting pigs.

Some bigshots rushed out naked, while others tried to fight back. But her movements were too ghostly, truly like a specter flitting about. Whoever tried to take the lead would be stomped even harder. After a few attempts, those people simply dove to the pool bottom and stayed there.

People charged in from outside, weapons in hand, but didn’t dare shoot. The bigshots inside had brought no weapons to show their openness—any fighting now would only hurt themselves.

The shopkeeper standing at the front had a grim expression. They had discovered Jing Hengbo and deliberately lured her here, wanting to eliminate her with an ambush in the partition room. Who knew this person was too extraordinary—whoever encountered her suffered losses.

Jing Hengbo could now control daggers and kill them one by one, but she was considering Master Mu’s words.

Would killing these people be useful?

Kill an emperor, and another emperor would simply take his place. Kill these bosses, and new bosses would quickly emerge.

The bloody power struggles during personnel changes would affect Daomao’s stability. Daomao’s blood was already martial world blood—you couldn’t suddenly replace all the blood or Daomao would die.

This would be the land she depended on for her footing. What she wanted was submission, not destruction.

Master Mu in her arms hadn’t awakened yet, and she didn’t know how seriously he was injured.

She waved her hand, summoning his clothes to wrap around him.

The people in the bathhouse, abandoning all dignity, began rushing outside. Someone shouted loudly: “Shoot arrows! Shoot arrows!”

Sharp cries added to the chaos as a rain of arrows pierced the pale white mist, shooting toward the space above the bathhouse.

Continuous sharp sounds rang out as wall plaster and water splashed. The bathhouse surface was soon covered with a layer of black arrow shafts, unstained by blood.

Everyone looked at each other again, cold dread rising from their hearts.

The space above the bathhouse was empty, with only silent mist drifting about.

That mysterious woman who came and went like a ghost, along with Master Mu, had once again vanished before everyone’s eyes.

…

After a moment of extreme silence in the room, everyone reluctantly returned to normal.

“That woman is strange—send people to investigate.” Almost all the martial world overlords gave this command to their subordinates.

“Yes.”

The snake-waisted leader of the Jade Belt Gang walked toward Lei Shengyu, faint amusement glimmering in his eyes.

All the martial world overlords looked deeply at Lei Shengyu.

“Well done.” Jade Belt Gang leader Yang Jia patted Lei Shengyu’s shoulder. “You’ll get what you want.”

Lei Shengyu respectfully bowed, not a trace of unease about his betrayal in his eyes.

What he wanted was naturally the identity of Shadow Pavilion’s master and the future position of a martial world overlord.

Shadow Pavilion was established by Master Mu, but over these years, it was he and Xianyu Qing who had developed it with their own hands and feet. Master Mu had been away from Daomao for years, appearing only rarely. Though he had always remotely controlled Daomao’s affairs, everyone in Shadow Pavilion only recognized him and Xianyu Qing.

Originally he had grown accustomed to this arrangement—second only to one person but above everyone else in Shadow Pavilion. He was even the true pavilion master—Xianyu Qing was an honest man, uninterested in power and management, and often traveled, his thoughts always on Master Mu. Most of the pavilion’s major and minor affairs were decided by him.

However, Master Mu had returned.

Reportedly to take full control and settle permanently in Daomao.

Then what was he?

Was the foundation he had worked so hard to build just making wedding clothes for others?

This naturally wouldn’t do.

In his resentment, he sold some of Shadow Pavilion’s important secrets to a mysterious client. Including hall distributions, code words and signals, personnel arrangements, structural composition—these crucial elements of a gang, he sold at a high price.

He didn’t know who the buyer was, presumably one of the bigshots present, but he wasn’t interested in investigating. Living in the martial world, he deeply understood martial world rules—don’t hear too much, don’t listen too much, don’t say too much. Preserving life was paramount.

Regardless, selling these secrets for a large sum of money was equivalent to paving himself an escape route. With this money, he could advance or retreat as needed.

However, what he hadn’t expected was that after buying such important secrets, the other party didn’t immediately move against Shadow Pavilion. Shadow Pavilion remained perfectly intact, while Master Mu was returning.

Once he returned, would he discover that Lei Shengyu had sold Shadow Pavilion’s secrets? He was very anxious. Though he hadn’t had much direct contact with Master Mu, anyone who could establish roots in such a place was definitely no ordinary person.

Should he strike first, or find a way to make amends?

He hadn’t figured it out when the martial world overlords approached him. Just now, after the banquet incident when Master Mu agreed to the hot bath, these quick-acting people had half-threatened, half-tempted him to kill Master Mu.

Master Mu had only brought him along—he was the only trusted aide to enter the building, making him the most likely to succeed.

When drowsiness met a warm pillow, he agreed without much hesitation. His retreat was about to be cut off—he needed backing.

Only…

Thinking of how Master Mu might not necessarily die, and how magical that woman who saved him was, a faint shadow couldn’t help but fall over his heart.

Opposite him, Yang Jia seemed to sense his unease. The corner of his mouth curled in a slanted, sinisterly gloomy smile.

“Master Mu escaped,” he said. “You were the one who struck. If you don’t eliminate the roots, they’ll grow again in the spring wind. You know what to do. Of course, we’ll also provide some small private assistance.”

He could only express his thanks. Glancing at these bigshots with their ambiguous smiles, faint contempt rose in his heart.

What talk of martial world brotherhood, what claims of clear-cut gratitude and resentment. When profit was involved, people were worse than dogs. In the end, it was simply because everyone had previously accepted Master Mu’s favor and feared he might later demand repayment, so they decided to strike first, killing him on their own territory and then blaming it on assassins—unknowing and undetected. From then on, they wouldn’t need to acknowledge Master Mu’s favor or show gratitude, and could also divide up Shadow Pavilion. How wonderful.

As for feelings and loyalty—having mixed in Daomao’s black cesspit for so long, the martial world was no longer a clean martial world. Perhaps the bottom-level thugs still maintained some martial brotherhood, but these bigshots worshipped ruthless means and excelled at heartless betrayal.

He felt somewhat uneasy. Dealing with these people, how good an ending could he expect?

However, at this point, he could only continue forward. If Master Mu didn’t die, he would soon die miserably.

He turned and rushed anxiously outside to the guards waiting there: “The master has been assassinated and taken by the assassin! Quickly summon all subordinates to pursue the assassin!”

…

The rainy night alley was desolate and long. Distant lamplight made the ground gleam with oil, while wild cats leaped nimbly on the wall tops, always racing against a shadow but losing every time.

That shadow was naturally Jing Hengbo.

She had teleported out of Jade Tower with Master Mu but hadn’t decided what to do next.

Send him back to his headquarters? She didn’t know where it was.

Abandon him? Good idea, but actually doing it seemed somehow impossible.

Take him with her? She needed to hide her own identity—how could she bring someone along? Especially someone with his identity who could be discovered at any moment.

She looked down. The person in her arms was quietly unconscious, his silver mask wet.

Was this actually him or not…

Without hesitation, she removed the silver mask.

Beneath the mask was a handsome young man’s face, slightly pale but otherwise appearing normal.

She carefully observed his neck but saw no seams.

After thinking, she decided that saving someone halfway was as frustrating as stopping halfway through sex—she should take him back first.

Returning to that courtyard, it was still empty. She knew this group included people from Raging Fire Alliance, Rakshasa Gate, and Flame Gang. The leader was from Rakshasa Gate, and now that Rakshasa had problems, Rakshasa Gate was definitely unstable too. These people might temporarily be unable to spare time, which conveniently allowed her to save people.

The two guards at her door were already asleep. She brought the person in undetected.

Jing Hengbo placed Master Mu on the bed and quietly studied his sleeping face. She didn’t know how to heal internal injuries with true qi, nor did she have medicine for internal wounds—she could only wait for him to wake up on his own.

Sitting beside the bed, her mood was quite complex. Strictly speaking, Master Mu counted as her enemy. Among those she intended to punish, he should have been included, yet in the end, through strange circumstances, she had saved him.

That handsome face in the dim light looked unfamiliar no matter how she studied it. She suddenly thought—perhaps this was still a mask?

Thinking led to action. She immediately unfastened his collar. The collar wasn’t tight, the buttons loose. Somehow, she suddenly thought of tightly bound high collars and pale gold pearls.

This made her somewhat irritated. Since she couldn’t light a lamp, she leaned her face close to carefully examine his neck and behind his ears. If a mask was attached, there might be seams at the neck and behind the ears.

With poor lighting, she didn’t realize she had already opened his clothes and nearly pressed her face against his chest.

Behind his ear was clean and white, showing the skin’s pale blue undertones. No seams. She looked up somewhat disappointedly, her lips brushing past his ear.

She went to examine his neck, not noticing that in that instant, his earlobe flushed red like coral beads.

His chest naturally showed clear muscle definition, smooth and sleek as marble. But she felt something was wrong and couldn’t help reaching out to rub it.

She rubbed and rubbed on his chest…

Lifting her hand, her fingertips showed a trace of white. She almost laughed out loud.

This guy had actually powdered his chest!

Was he afraid it wasn’t white enough?

This powder was quite adhesive, clinging to the skin so it had to be rubbed off—even bathing hadn’t removed it.

However, once this powder was wiped away, she could indeed barely make out that seam on his neck—it really was still a mask!

A mask beneath a mask—this was inspiration from martial arts novels she’d read in her modern world, a classic plot from Gu Long’s novels.

She gently lifted that layer of mask, her heart suddenly beating fiercely.

What would the face beneath this mask look like?

With only a corner left unremoved, her heart was nearly jumping out of her throat. She simply stopped, caught her breath, cursed “How ridiculous!” and yanked it off in one motion.

In the dim light appeared a refined and elegant face.

Pure and beautiful, like an udumbara flower suddenly blooming in a rainy night.

And the naturally shy smile lines at the corners of his lips, also like udumbara flowers, mysterious yet pure and clean in their temptation.

Despite such a pleasing countenance, Jing Hengbo felt her vision darken.

Her heart settled back into place with a thud.

That feeling, whether disappointment or relief, returned.

Since leaving Dige, this damned feeling had haunted her persistently, clinging to her until now.

Jing Hengbo cried once, then laughed once, feeling she must have already gone mad.

Perhaps she’d been crazy for a long time, but crazy in a normal way, so no one had noticed.

She stared blankly for a long while, then raised her hand and slapped herself, sighing.

“Damn, do I really love this deeply? Or hate this deeply?” The self-directed words slipped out, and she gave herself another slap.

Mustn’t think about it. She still had a long road ahead. She still had to become Queen of Black Water Marsh, fight back to Dige, become Queen of Dahuang. Even if she went crazy, it had to be after angering those who deserved it—she couldn’t let pointless emotions bind her steps and affect her judgment now.

She was no longer alone. She now carried many people’s hopes and futures.

After spacing out for a long time, Jing Hengbo finally turned around reluctantly, preparing to arrange Master Mu’s clothes properly so he wouldn’t think he’d been assaulted when he woke up.

While helping him fasten his collar, somehow she found herself lying against his neck again, rubbing and kneading… After working at it for a long time without finding another seam, she had to give up. She couldn’t help slapping herself again, cursing her unchanged nature.

There was no such thing as wearing three layers of masks—that would suffocate someone.

Master Mu still hadn’t awakened. Jing Hengbo couldn’t be bothered with him anymore and went to change clothes with a cold laugh. She still had things to do.

She untied the clothing bundle from her waist and changed into the snow-white dress with purple silk she’d brought back earlier.

This was an ordinary courtyard’s ordinary room, naturally without partitions. She hid behind the bed curtain to quickly change clothes.

Removing the servant’s outfit revealed the undergarments Zirui had made for her—different from Dahuang’s loose, baggy underclothes, these were form-fitting. In the room’s dim light, they outlined her figure’s curves.

Someone quietly opened his eyes, watching her silhouette. As the loose outer garment slipped from her fingertips, her waist was slender and soft as a willow, yet not willow-weak. Her curves were full of the tautness and elasticity of long training. A gaze falling upon them seemed ready to be elastically bounced away.

His gaze lingered for several moments before he controlled it well.

Beautiful things shouldn’t be coveted, lest excess become inadequacy.

While dressing, Jing Hengbo kept feeling someone was secretly watching. She whipped around suddenly—Master Mu on the bed was sleeping peacefully.

She shrugged and continued dressing. While tying her skirt, she suddenly turned around again.

Behind her was still peaceful silence.

Jing Hengbo felt she’d truly become neurotic.

She quickly finished dressing, pulled a blanket over Master Mu’s head, and exited through the window.

The bed was silent, with the blanket covering the person from head to toe.

After a moment, a hand emerged, gently pressing down the blanket’s edge.

…

Jing Hengbo, wearing that queenly beautiful dress, headed for Li Hanyu’s room.

Li Hanyu hadn’t slept yet—his light was still on. Having been beaten into a pig’s head today, he was naturally too pained to sleep well.

Jing Hengbo had already loosened her hair arrangement and now simply let it flow freely. Against the snow-white dress, she appeared ethereal as an immortal, displaying yet another different charm.

In the night, her silhouette was like the Moon Goddess descending, alighting on Li Hanyu’s window frame.

Li Hanyu was sitting by the window, using a wooden stick to dab ointment from a bottle and carefully apply it to his face. He made his living with his looks and didn’t dare be careless.

He suddenly smelled a faint fragrance—rich but not vulgar, noble and bold, reminiscent of peonies blooming furiously in summer.

At the same time, from the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of snow-white silk gauze embroidered with scattered diamonds, dancing leisurely in the night wind.

He looked up and suddenly felt breathless.

At some unknown time, a woman in snow-white clothes and purple silk had sat by his window, slightly lowering her face to look at him. Distant lantern light was faint, yet her backlit face seemed to naturally emit radiance.

For that instant, he felt watched by a goddess, becoming intoxicated in those eyes that were deep as seawater, bright as a clear lake, yet charming as rising dawn.

Not until she tapped the window frame did he suddenly awaken, opening his mouth, suddenly hating his disfigured face.

The goddess’s face showed no hostility, only faint curiosity and inquiry.

His heart stirred, his breathing involuntarily quickening slightly.

Jing Hengbo sat by the window, observing Li Hanyu’s changing expressions while coldly smiling inwardly.

She tapped the window with a bright smile, propping her elbow, and said melodiously: “My, what happened to your face?”

Hearing her familiar tone, Li Hanyu was startled. “…Miss… do you know me?”

“I don’t.” She waved her hand.

Li Hanyu’s expression showed disappointment.

“But you look very much like someone I… knew before.” Jing Hengbo showed a melancholy expression. “I noticed you this afternoon, but how did you become like this tonight?”

Li Hanyu was startled again. After thinking, he exclaimed: “You are… the fe—”

He shouted halfway before seemingly remembering something and quickly shut his mouth, but his face showed joy and undisguised smugness.

Searching everywhere to no avail, finding it took no effort at all.

Who would have thought that just entering Guanjia River, he’d encounter the Queen, who had actually noticed him and secretly followed, coming to see him at midnight.

Didn’t this prove Rakshasa Gate Master’s speculation was correct—that the Queen had special feelings for those with this face?

Then didn’t he have great opportunity?

Thinking of how quickly he’d successfully gained the Queen’s attention, faint pride rose in his heart. Remembering those people’s awful attitudes toward him earlier—if they knew he’d gained the Queen’s favor, would they still dare treat him that way?

Of course, he thought, he wouldn’t tell. He wouldn’t expose the Queen’s identity either. He would treat her gently, comfort her, and win her heart.

She was the Queen and so beautiful—she was worth his effort.

“Miss, your clothes are thin—are you cold?” He looked up, imitating a cool yet noble faint smile, though his pig-head face greatly affected the aesthetic.

Jing Hengbo suppressed her urge to vomit, leaned forward slightly, lifted his chin with her finger, and smiled: “Would you remove your clothes to keep me warm?”

Saying this, she suddenly felt a chill behind her.