She looked back—no one there.

Li Hanyu’s eyes had already brightened. He smoothly grasped her fingers, gently caressing them in his palm. “Naturally I’m willing. I’ll undress for you right now…” He pulled her hand toward his collar.

He was actually wearing a high collar too, tightly fastened and strung with pearls. Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford those exquisite rare pale gold large pearls, only gold-inlaid white pearls that looked quite vulgar.

Jing Hengbo had just noticed this pearl when her eyebrows shot up. She really wanted to spit on that pearl—copying this too! Disgusting!

She smiled and let her hand be pulled over, stroking that pearl. With a slight application of force, crack—the pearl shattered.

“Oh dear, sorry about that. Heavy-handed.” She apologized without the slightest trace of guilt.

“No matter.” Li Hanyu actually thought this showed her eagerness. Thinking that the Queen was indeed dissolute as rumored, he intentionally brushed his collar aside, wanting her to see his smooth skin.

Jing Hengbo smiled sweetly and flicked her finger, striking right at his swollen cheek. Li Hanyu cried out and tilted his head away, his face burning with pain. He wanted to lash out but suddenly remembered the role he was supposed to play, quickly sitting up straight and coughing lightly.

“Your appearance and temperament really do resemble that old friend of mine…” Jing Hengbo gazed at him “infatuatedly.”

Li Hanyu turned his face and gave her what he thought was a faint smile, imagining himself as mountain peak snow, heavenly moon—coolly noble.

Jing Hengbo nearly retreated before this twisted expression. After her eighteenth attempt at self-persuasion, she smiled brightly and touched his face, saying softly: “I still have matters to attend to. I’ll come see you again later. I must go now.”

Hearing this, Li Hanyu became anxious and quickly grabbed her hand. “I fell in love with you at first sight. Could you… could you stay by my side?”

“The people around you are hostile toward me.” Jing Hengbo didn’t withdraw her hand or turn around, saying quietly, “I’m not suitable to be with you.”

“They have nothing to do with me!” Li Hanyu blurted out. “I’m also being coerced into staying here. Come away with me.”

“That wouldn’t be quite right.” Jing Hengbo shook her head. “I also have a group of people around me, and we all have things to do. They wouldn’t accept a stranger of unknown origins.”

Li Hanyu became even more agitated, gripping her hand tightly. “No matter! I can prove I’m very useful to you. Your people will accept me.”

He had already thought it through—why make wedding clothes for others? Rakshasa Gate was grooming him as a chess piece, but what would be his fate after being used? Not being silenced would be extremely fortunate. The best outcome would be returning to Rakshasa Gate to become one of the Gate Master’s hundreds of male favorites. How could that compare to being the Queen’s royal consort?

Even if she was a puppet queen, at least he’d lack nothing in wealth and honor for life.

“How would you prove it?” Jing Hengbo looked at him with a bright smile.

“What do you need?” He didn’t want to expose her identity, only waiting for her to reveal it herself.

“You couldn’t help me. Thanks, but perhaps we’ll meet again when there’s opportunity.” She turned to leave, but her clothes were grabbed again.

“I can!” Li Hanyu said urgently. “Trust me! I’m very familiar with everything in Daomao!”

Jing Hengbo sneered inwardly—there was a line in a song: painting skin and flesh is easy, painting bones is hard. What idiot had found this idiot to impersonate Gong Yin? Too much of a scam! Apart from having a bit of Gong Yin’s feeling when standing still, once he opened his mouth, everything was ruined.

“Really?” Her eyes lit up. “Then do you know the specific situations of the Three Gates, Four Alliances, Seven Major Gangs, and Thirteen Guardians? I need their internal intelligence—the more the better!”

Li Hanyu hesitated a bit, thinking of the consequences of leaking certain secrets.

Jing Hengbo turned and walked away. “I was very happy to meet you, but I have urgent matters to handle. Let’s meet again if fate allows!”

“Wait!” He gripped her hand tightly, as if grasping a dream of wealth and honor. “…I know! I know everything! I’ll tell you!”

Jing Hengbo, with her back to him, slightly curled the corner of her lips like a cat seeing a fish take the bait.

…

A quarter-hour later, Jing Hengbo returned to her room. On the way, she leaned against a wall corner to wipe her mouth, suppressing a certain urge to vomit.

No choice—looking at that face just made her want to hit him. Not only could she not hit him, she had to smile charmingly while extracting information, occasionally acting attracted to him. Poor her, enduring such hardship.

She told Li Hanyu that she had some matters to handle recently and it wasn’t convenient to be with him now. Once she finished her business, she’d come get him. She asked him to record everything he knew about the internal affairs of the Three Gates, Four Alliances, and Seven Gangs, as well as any martial world secrets he was aware of. She would come collect them later. Of course, in the future, half the military merit would be hers and half his. After their success, they’d share Daomao together, mwah.

Li Hanyu was naturally coaxed into a daze. He immediately held her hand with deep feeling, expressing quite eloquently his unwavering devotion. Just before Jing Hengbo reached her breaking point, he finally released her, agreeing to another date tomorrow night if she was free.

Jing Hengbo decided that once she got the intelligence he provided, she’d sell him to some male brothel—being a rabbit was the most suitable profession for him.

The room was quiet. The bedding was still as she’d left it, covering Master Mu from head to toe. Jing Hengbo was startled—surely she hadn’t smothered him to death?

She lifted the blanket and got another shock—Master Mu’s eyes were open.

His dark pupils stared fixedly at her, his gaze confused.

Jing Hengbo thought he wasn’t fully awake and waved her hand in front of him. His eyeballs moved following her motion.

Jing Hengbo exhaled a long breath. Good, no problem. If she’d rescued him only to carelessly smother him to death, that would be too much of a scam.

“How are you?” she asked, very much hoping he’d say he was fine, no problems, thank you miss, I’m leaving now, goodbye.

Instead, he shook his head and slowly raised his hand, pointing to his chest. His hand seemed weak and powerless—it dropped after pointing halfway.

Jing Hengbo stared at his chest—what did he mean? Was something hidden there? Last words? Entrusting treasures? Entrusting an orphan?

His dark, clear eyes seemed to hold a pleading look. It appeared he wanted her to feel around.

Jing Hengbo figured she might as well feel around since she’d already seen everything anyway.

She reached into his chest area. The touch was warm—didn’t seem like he was dying. In an inner pocket was a small cloth pouch, which she took out.

In that moment of contact with his gaze, she felt his eyes seemed somewhat strange.

Satisfied yet helpless, with a hint of resentment…

Overthinking!

She looked away and felt the pouch—there seemed to be some small, granular objects inside. Just as she was about to pour them out, he pointed at her hands and made a washing gesture.

What the hell, a germaphobe!

Being a germaphobe at a time like this!

Jing Hengbo wanted to lose her temper again. Her hands were very clean, thank you very much. After touching Li Hanyu for so long, she’d already washed her hands when she returned.

But that guy stubbornly pointed at her fingers. Being despised like this for the first time, she really wanted to throw him into the outhouse to let him understand what truly unclean meant. However, after a long staring contest with an injured person’s stubbornness, she ultimately couldn’t resist and angrily shook her hands, found the basin in the room, poured water from the teapot to wash her hands, and only then was allowed to pour out the contents of the pouch.

The pouch contained several packets of powder, emitting a heavy and strange medicinal smell. They looked like medicine he regularly took. This guy’s face was a bit pale, and he was disabled—he seemed to be somewhat ill.

The powders needed to be boiled a bit, which was troublesome. She sighed and decided to see the good deed through to the end. She covered him with the blanket again, changed back into her regular clothes, opened the door, and told the two guards outside that her stomach hurt and she needed to go to the kitchen for hot water. They let her pass.

Just after she left, the person on the bed threw off the blanket and, quick as wind, flew out through the window.

…

Li Hanyu watched Jing Hengbo leave, feeling nothing but joy in his heart. He lay down happily to sleep, fantasizing about his future beautiful dreams as royal consort. Before sleeping, he deliberately applied another layer of ointment to his face.

After lying down, he suddenly felt a bit cold. Thinking he might not have closed the window properly, he wanted to get up and close it, but discovered he couldn’t get up.

He fell into a strange sensation. Lying there, his consciousness half-awake and half-confused, able to sense changes in the outside world but unable to move his body, as if pressed down by a huge transparent finger.

This feeling was somewhat like sleep paralysis, but he had just lain down and wasn’t asleep at all.

His heart began pounding. Unable to struggle free, he sensed that someone seemed to be by the window again. His heart leaped with joy, thinking perhaps the Queen couldn’t bear the lovesickness and had returned to see him. But the person by the window made no movement, seeming to just stand there, coldly watching him.

He could even feel that gaze—cool, indifferent, full of condescension, yet containing faint mockery and contempt.

This feeling made him uncomfortable all over while causing enormous unease, but at this moment he was powerless.

He felt like a weak ant being coldly stared at by a powerful beast.

A wind came in.

Slightly cool, enveloping him from above.

He again felt that looking-down gaze fall on his collar and hands.

For that instant, he worried his neck might separate from his body, or his hands might break off.

Suddenly there was a sound in the distance, like someone dropping a teapot or something. Something round rolled on the ground.

That cold wind stopped, then drifted away.

He suddenly opened his eyes, discovered he could move, and felt his back was cool and damp with cold sweat.

Had that been a dream? Reality?

His gaze fell on the window. The window was properly closed, and that fine ointment jar remained in its original place. In the darkness, the jade bottle reflected a cold light.

…

Jing Hengbo looked somewhat annoyed at the floor where water had pooled.

Unaccustomed to such work, she hadn’t noticed the kitchen floor was greasy. She slipped and knocked over a pot of water.

Fortunately, she wasn’t scalded, just got her shoes wet. She sat down and rolled up her skirt hem, pulling out her damp trouser cuffs. The skin on her ankles was snow-white, showing no red marks from burns.

She suddenly stopped, alertly looking behind her.

No one there. Everything in the kitchen was shrouded in the faint light coming through the small window.

Jing Hengbo felt she’d recently developed another ailment called “paranoid suspicion that others are always spying on her.”

On the table was a pot of water being kept warm in a grass nest. She decided to use this to brew Master Mu’s powder.

Carrying the water back to the room, Master Mu was still sleeping deeply on the bed. When she brought the medicine over, he opened his eyes, his gaze calm and clear.

He even smiled slightly at Jing Hengbo—a smile both pure and beautiful, yet seemingly tinged with a trace of shyness. Like a red spider lily blooming half its petals in the night.

Jing Hengbo felt a strong sense of incongruity. She clearly remembered at the banquet, this guy sitting on the cabinet behind her, pressing his hand on her neck while speaking in soft, cunning tones.

Smiling so purely it was almost seductive—what was he up to now?

“Drink your medicine,” she said irritably. “Don’t think about playing tricks. You’re my prisoner now.”

He seemed very obedient, immediately raising his hand to take it, but his hand trembled so much he couldn’t hold it steady. Seeing it was about to spill on the bedding, she quickly reached out to catch it.

“Is it really necessary?!” she scolded once, having no choice but to hold the medicine bowl and help him sit up.

He leaned against her shoulder, soft and weak, seemingly without any strength.

Precisely because of this softness and weakness, she didn’t sense any danger of being taken advantage of. Holding the medicine bowl, she fed him. Since she hadn’t brought a spoon and wanted to pour it down his throat in one go, her movements were a bit hasty. He coughed lightly, and medicine spilled from the corner of his lips.

Without thinking, Jing Hengbo used her own sleeve to wipe the corner of his mouth.

Only after doing it did she feel it was inappropriate. Looking down, she saw him staring fixedly at her.

For an instant, his gaze was clear as wind and bright as moon, yet also misty and confused like smoke over water, reflecting countless worldly concerns.

That gaze was too complex, making her momentarily dazed. But as soon as her gaze fell, he looked away.

She also averted her eyes and fed him the medicine mouthful by mouthful with a stern face. The room was very quiet, with only the soft sound of him drinking medicine. The air seemed to become thick, pressing in hotly.

She felt his body was strange, seeming alternately hot and cold. Could this person have some serious illness?

After finishing the medicine, she set down the bowl. The crisp sound of porcelain touching the table seemed to shatter the thick atmosphere. Both of them, now awake, were somewhat dazed.

After drinking the medicine, he seemed a bit better and finally spoke: “Thank you…”

His voice was light and weak. Somehow, Jing Hengbo felt that mysterious, thick sensation surrounding her again.

Wanting to break this strange feeling, she deliberately laughed carelessly and randomly.

“Aha, it’s nothing! I’m a very kind person! Not just you—I’d save any cat or dog…”

While laughing, she glanced at him, wanting to see what he looked like angry. But he only smiled faintly and said: “Do you also take care of cats and dogs this way?”

In the darkness, his eyes sparkled with apparent good humor, as if stars were flashing throughout the room, dazzling to behold.

“Yes,” she answered somewhat annoyed and casually. “All the time.”

“Who?” he asked.

Her mind wandering, she naturally recalled that scene in the snowy valley that day. She had once cared for Yelu Qi this way too. She wondered how things were going at his hall.

Speaking whatever came to mind, she said: “Yelu Qi.”

As soon as these words left her mouth, she felt a chill.

As if blown by cold wind, she turned around—the window was closed.

Looking back at him, he had already closed his eyes and said quietly: “I want to sleep for a while.”

“Oh.” Jing Hengbo looked at his pale face, sensing he had suddenly become moody. Subconsciously she said: “Then I’ll help you lie down.”

After helping him lie down and covering him with the blanket, she suddenly realized—hey, why am I taking such gentle care of him?

Hey, isn’t he my prisoner? Why can he give me orders?

She stared at the blanket in annoyance, really wanting to throw it off and toss him out the door to protest her inexplicable caregiving. But seeing his peaceful sleeping face, she couldn’t quite manage such a rogue act.

Finally, she could only angrily let go and sit aside to prepare for meditation.

The room had only one bed, one table, and one chair. The chair wasn’t large—sitting cross-legged wasn’t very convenient.

He opened his eyes and said: “You come up on the bed too.”

“In your dreams,” she immediately replied.

He closed his eyes and said: “True. I’m also afraid you might get handsy.”

She immediately stood up, threw back the blanket, and pushed him toward the inside.

He didn’t make a sound, obediently curling up against the wall, wrapped in half the blanket like a large pet that had been bullied but was used to enduring it.

She let out a cold laugh: “I did get handsy—come hack me down if you can.”

His voice came muffled from under the blanket: “Do you often get handsy like this? You’re quite practiced at it.”

She felt this sounded very strange and immediately retorted: “I’m also very practiced at killing people. Want to try?”

He stopped talking. Under someone else’s roof, one must bow one’s head. He even automatically moved closer to the wall in a wronged manner, sleeping flat against it.

Jing Hengbo’s mood greatly improved. She snorted coldly and mocked: “Even eating human flesh—disgusting!” She turned her back to him and closed her eyes to meditate.

She quickly entered a meditative state. Within her body, hazy bright moonlight was born, its radiance flowing and illuminating the twelve celestial stars.

After entering the Bright Moon Heart Method, twelve star palaces formed within the body. Each palace required extensive cultivation and accumulation. Like all top-tier cultivation methods, it became increasingly difficult later on. She had just passed the first star palace. Calculating this progress, by the time she was seventy or eighty, she could probably complete the heart method.

She wasn’t discouraged. She was naturally a casual person who, when forced to the brink, would do her best, and if one path didn’t work, she’d switch to another without pushing herself to death. If she could master the Bright Moon Heart Method, that would be best. If not, she felt she still had teleportation and object control abilities. These powers, refined through Purple Micro’s training into many subtleties, would equally allow her to roam the martial world.

Perhaps this very carefree and easygoing mindset aligned with the true essence of the Bright Moon Heart Method—the moon’s waxing and waning follow natural law, so why ask about heaven’s way?

Just like Yi Qi, Purple Micro had said he was among the Seven Killers the only one with a truly clear and untainted heart, which was why he alone achieved the Bright Moon Heart Method.

For Jing Hengbo, the main reason for diligently practicing this heart method was hearing that it would make one increasingly beautiful and preserve one’s youth for a long time.

No need to question its truth—just look at Purple Micro to know.

Tonight was the same as usual. That bit of pitiful true qi she had just cultivated lingered around the first star palace, showing no signs of breaking through.

She was about to give up and rest when suddenly the person behind her turned over, bumping into her back.

She felt her back go numb, as if several acupoints had been struck. Then it was as if countless switches were pressed—a current like electricity shot through her body. That weak thread of true qi suddenly condensed and surged forward with great force.

As if hearing a thunderous sound, light was born.

The second star palace was illuminated. Her true qi strengthened by one level, and a white light gathered into a wheel, flowing toward the depths of her dantian.

She entered a mysterious state where heaven and earth were clear and empty, all things were void. In the eternal darkness, only a bright moon shone through the ages, and what she needed to do was step on the endless star bridge to rush toward the moon.

Her consciousness floated between the ethereal and mystical, temporarily cut off from the outside world. She couldn’t discover that he was behind her, his elbow pressed against her waist, nor did she hear his low murmur: “I only want to devour you…”

…

When Jing Hengbo opened her eyes again, the first thing she saw was a bird dropping a feather on the distant eaves.

The feeling was strange, like a person who’d been nearsighted for years suddenly wearing proper glasses, though she was certain she hadn’t put on any glasses.

Perhaps this was the benefit brought by the Bright Moon Heart Method—moonlight illuminating all, making everything clear.

She turned sideways and saw Master Mu sleeping motionlessly against the wall, very quietly.

This quietness made her feel dazed again—waking up in the morning like this, seeing a man sleeping with his back to her, wasn’t this a scene that should only exist between old married couples?

And she actually had no strange reaction to such a scene or such a night, as if… it was perfectly natural.

Was she becoming increasingly relaxed, or had such things happened so often that she’d gradually become numb?

Spending the night with strange men—thinking about it, since leaving Dige, there had indeed been quite a few such occasions.

There was movement behind her. She turned back to see Master Mu hugging the blanket and turning over, sleeping with messy hair and bleary eyes, seemingly not yet fully awake.

Like a lazy cat.

That strange feeling came over her again—his posture of turning over in bed and looking at her with bleary eyes, wasn’t it the same as an ordinary husband waking up at home in the morning?

“Awake?” Master Mu was actually greeting her, taking a natural attitude toward waking up in her bed hugging her blanket.

This tone, this expression—that “domestic life” illusion came over her again.

She felt she couldn’t take it.

“Awake?” she asked him back, smiling rather fakely. “Seeing your good color, I imagine your injuries have healed. Congratulations, congratulations. Have a good journey, I won’t see you off.”

She moved to throw off his blanket, preparing to ask him to get lost quickly.

He lay there without moving.

“I’d like to take shelter here for a while.”

“Ah?” Jing Hengbo decided to pretend she hadn’t heard. “Want to leave immediately? Good, I’ll see you out.”

“I’m not leaving,” he said again.

“The people outside have gone to eat breakfast. It’s the perfect time to leave now.” She was busy folding the blanket.

Her hand folding the blanket was pressed down. She paused, her gaze falling on the back of his hand—long and clean fingers, very attractive, just a bit pale, though fortunately his nails were slightly red, which had its own beauty.

“Mm?” This sound was nasal—she felt it was quite intimidating.

Unfortunately, this intimidation didn’t exist for him. He lifted his head, meeting her eyes, and said clearly: “Let me take shelter here for a while.”

“Not happening.” She scoffed. “You think you’ve got me figured out? Why should I provide you shelter? I’m not your sister.”

“The traitor should be searching the whole city for me now,” he said to himself. “I’ll hide here for a day. When I’m a bit better and it’s dark, you can escort me back to Shadow Pavilion headquarters.”

“Dream on,” she said.

“There might be some danger on the road, but I have methods.”

“What’s that to me?” she said.

“After escorting me to headquarters, I’ll thank you with generous gifts.”

“Did I agree to… eh? What generous gifts?”

“What you want,” he emphasized. “Many necessary things for surviving in Daomao.”

She stopped talking, cupping her chin, her eyes darting about as if making precise calculations.

He seemed to have nothing more to say and lay back down comfortably, indeed looking like he had her all figured out.

She really wanted to make him lose face, but now she was no longer that simple woman who only sought her own pleasure in everything. She had learned to put personal wishes aside and consider benefits first.

That Shadow Pavilion could squeeze into this ironclad martial world when Dahuang’s forces were already well-established everywhere showed considerable ability. The benefits Master Mu could provide might really be worth her taking some risks.

Speaking of which, if she wanted to become Queen of Black Water Marsh and control Daomao, she couldn’t make enemies of all Daomao forces. Normally, she should support the ostracized, win over the weak, and suppress the strongest. Now that Master Mu was being secretly harmed by Daomao’s martial world forces working together, he was exactly the right target for her to recruit as an ally.

Though she was willing in her heart, she wouldn’t soften her expression. She snorted and said: “Give me some deposit first.”

This was originally meant to squeeze him. She thought that being injured and abroad, how could he possibly be carrying anything good? Who knew he actually reached into his sleeve and pulled out a round, vine-woven object to hand to her.

Jing Hengbo took it and felt it had quite some weight in her hands, clearly with something wrapped inside the vines. The vine felt warm and soft to the touch, looking extremely resilient. She tried tearing at it and indeed couldn’t tear it open.

“Jinluo vine,” Master Mu said. “A specialty of Ji Kingdom. Fears neither fire nor blade and never rots. It has a nourishing effect on anything wrapped within it. Noble ladies of Ji Kingdom make clothes from it.”

“What’s inside the vine?” she asked.

“Don’t know,” he answered wonderfully.

“You don’t know and you’re giving it to me? What if there’s poison inside?”

“Jinluo vine is extremely precious. Anything worth wrapping in it must be even more precious. Even if it’s poison, it would be precious poison. You won’t lose out.”

“That may be so, but since this vine can’t be opened, what use is it to me?” She played with the thing, feeling its appearance was quite ordinary—couldn’t tell what might be inside at all.

“The vine can’t be opened by external force, but since this is woven from vines, it can naturally be untied,” he said. “It’s just woven extremely complexly and needs to be studied slowly. This is women’s work, not suitable for us men, so I’m giving it to you.”

Seeing she still looked unsatisfied, he added: “Jinluo vine is called ‘jinluo’ because the vine itself has the effect of warming and nourishing the skin, making it delicate and smooth as brocade and gauze. Even if you can’t untie this vine, wearing it on your body will have benefits.”

These words hit Jing Hengbo’s interests. She smiled and said: “Wouldn’t have guessed that you, a big man, would be as thoughtful as a woman.” She placed the item in the sachet at her waist, not wearing it close to her body, planning to have Si Si examine it for poison after they reunited.

After putting it on, she looked up to see him gazing at her waist with rather strange eyes. They seemed joyful yet melancholy, and deeply lonely.

Seeing her look over, he looked away again. The two fell into awkward silence again. After a moment, he picked up the human skin mask and silver mask beside him, putting them on one by one.

Watching him slowly smooth out the seams of the human skin mask, she felt a strange sensation and couldn’t help needling him: “Want me to find some powder to smooth out those seams better?”

His hand paused, then he said lightly: “That would work. Remember to get high-quality Heavenly Palace powder.”

She let out a cold laugh: “Why not get women’s skin to paste another layer on you?”

His hand paused again, the corner of his mouth curved up: “Could you not be so disgusting?”

“Eating human flesh isn’t disgusting?” She rolled her eyes so dramatically they looked flirtatious.

His voice seemed like a sigh: “I didn’t.”

“I saw it,” she said with disgust, stepping back. She couldn’t forgive him for actually putting that hand in her plate.

Even if it was just going through the motions for those martial world bigshots, she felt such a man lacked backbone.

He fell silent, seemingly not planning to explain further. The corner of his mouth held a trace of smile, still that faint shyness, yet it took on the charm of a mature man—a very unique temperament.

He didn’t seem to care much what she thought, finding joy in his own existence.

Jing Hengbo felt that mysterious, thick sensation coming over her again. She quickly changed the subject, asking him: “How’s your spirit today?”

He looked like he was about to lie down again: “Not good.”

Light filtered through the window cracks as dawn broke—a new day was beginning.

Jing Hengbo climbed onto the bed, kneeling beside him, looking down at him with a malicious smile: “Is being injured boring? Want me to perform a magic trick for you?”

He stared at her fixedly.

Then his expression slowly changed.

Jing Hengbo’s face began to change gradually. On her snow-white skin, patches of yellow appeared, like yellow mud gradually spreading across snow, painting the ground with mottled stains.

This sudden change was indeed rather terrifying. She looked at him with a cold smile, pressing her hands on his shoulders, preparing to lean in and play ghost to give him a good scare when he tried to get up in fright.

But he didn’t cry out or sit up. Instead, he slightly raised his hand as if wanting to touch her face, and his expression…

His expression showed nervousness, and seemingly… pity.

He raised his hand halfway then let it fall, not losing composure—because he saw the mischievous look in her eyes.

This look let him know that there was actually nothing wrong with her face.

Seeing him lying steadily there, she felt somewhat disappointed. She snorted coldly and released him uninterestedly, sitting up to arrange her hair.

Opposite was the table with a mirror on it. In the mirror she could see half of herself and half of him lying in the bedding.

Jing Hengbo’s hands arranging her hair suddenly paused.

She discovered he was looking at her.

The blurry bronze mirror couldn’t reflect clear features, but she could feel his gaze.

Not disgust, not disdain, but… pity.

Deeper and more obvious pity than before.

As if he saw her efforts and sacrifices from this mottled face.

Efforts to become a qualified strong person, sacrificing the beauty she had once cared about most.

Pitying her journey, where gaining so much meant losing so much, slowly changing herself beyond recognition through hardship and struggle.

Jing Hengbo’s combing fingers paused, and she let out a cold laugh.

For some reason, seeing such a gaze made her particularly irritated.

As if long-suppressed emotions were stirred up, time’s giant hand gently patted, and the past came rushing before her eyes with a crash.

No, don’t.

She hastily tied up her hair and smiled: “Finished looking?”

Behind her was quiet for a moment. He showed no embarrassment at being discovered, only saying softly: “You changed position. I can’t see anymore.”

The implication being: hurry up and change back so I can look again.

Jing Hengbo was amused by his thick skin and laughed: “Then let me show you something exciting.”

She waved her hand, and with a crash, roof tiles flew off the roof. Some broken tiles fell down, smashing through the bed canopy as dust cascaded down. He pulled up the blanket to block it.

Jing Hengbo waved her hand again, and he flew up wrapped in the blanket, rolled around on the bed canopy, and crashed back down onto the bed with a thud.

Mud and dust rolled down from above, covering his head and back.

Jing Hengbo showed a smile of successful revenge, but screamed from her mouth:

“Ahhhh who are you? Ahhhhh help!”

Her screams carried penetrating power as they transmitted outside. Master Mu was still struggling with the bedding.

The door was kicked open with a bang as those people from Rakshasa Gate and Flame Gang rushed in. The leader was that leading man, looking hurried as if he’d just returned, asking urgently: “What happened?”

“He—” Jing Hengbo pointed at Master Mu, her face full of alarm. “He just smashed through the roof and fell on my bed. Scared me to death!”

The group of men had heard the sound of the roof breaking. Looking up now, they indeed saw a big hole in the roof, while the person on the bed was lying face down, covered in dust—clearly fallen from the roof.

These underworld men looked gravely serious. The leading man waved his hand, and the others drew their weapons, approaching Master Mu.

Master Mu, lying prone, slowly turned his head to look at Jing Hengbo.

Jing Hengbo stood with her hands behind her back, smiling cheerfully at him—told you to look, told you to be smug, told you to impose on me. Now you should be panicking, scared, right?

As a result, she was disappointed again.

Master Mu not only showed no disappointment or panic, but even winked at her.

He seemed not to suffer at all from being sold out, as if this were just a game.

Jing Hengbo blinked at him, staring. He blinked back, looking at Jing Hengbo.

Jing Hengbo felt this was really a contest of determination, and she seemed about to lose.

The blade of the frontmost Flame Gang member was about to touch his throat.

He still smiled faintly, the corner of his mouth curved, only looking at her as if he’d truly entrusted his life to her, yet also as if this were his test of her.

Jing Hengbo felt bewildered—this stranger meeting for the first time, with whom her first impression wasn’t even good, how could he dare be so confident? How could he dare entrust his life to her?

Then just die, hmph.

The blade was about to slash down.

He still didn’t move.

She had no choice but to shout: “Ah!”

This cry was full of surprise. The descending blade stopped, and that group of men all turned to look at her.

But Jing Hengbo only said this one sentence before closing her mouth tightly—unwilling in her heart, she had to see what he would do.

The man on the bed finally moved, tremblingly reaching out his hand, saying hoarsely: “…Peony, don’t you remember me?”

Peony?

Peony!

Jing Hengbo almost spat out a mouthful of blood, her face cycling through green, red, white, and blue—she seemed to have lost again…

She gritted her teeth but had no choice but to rush up “surprised and delighted,” blocking that knife-wielding man’s arm, shouting loudly: “Ah! So it’s you, Brother Ying! Why are you wearing a mask? And how did you suddenly become so effeminate, just like Brother Rabbit from the male brothel in our town? I didn’t even recognize you!”

Whether Master Mu’s face went dark or not, she didn’t know, but she knew her eyes were full of malice.

Unfortunately, Master Mu seemed to be a skilled actor too. As if he hadn’t noticed her viciousness, he coughed while laughing: “…Got injured a bit, was poisoned… fell down here… didn’t expect to meet you.”

Jing Hengbo secretly praised him—this flesh-eating guy’s mind was truly quick. Without any prior rehearsal or even seeing the script, he somehow knew what she was planning and immediately picked up the act.

This acting was much better than Pei Shu’s.

“Who is he?” the leading man asked warily.

Jing Hengbo smiled sweetly: “Brother Ying! I saw him often recently. He’s a very good person.” She tiptoed and whispered in the leading man’s ear: “He was with the beautiful sister you’re looking for. I heard her call him Ying Bai. We all call him Brother Ying.”

The leading man’s eyes lit up.

Ying Bai!

In the rumors, he’d been dismissed by the State Preceptor and expelled from Dige, afterward reportedly joining the Queen.

But wasn’t Ying Bai supposed to have very high martial arts? How could he fall to such a wretched state? Could something have happened on the Queen’s side?

The leading man was Wang Jin, a small leader under Rakshasa Gate. He was ordered to bring people to search for the Queen’s whereabouts to use the beauty trap to first win over the Queen. Last night when Rakshasa came to Guanjia River, he rushed to attend and report progress here. Who knew the Jade Tower incident would occur, the Gate Master was severely injured, and Rakshasa Gate was clearly about to undergo major changes. He was anxious and fearful, worried that as the Gate Master’s trusted aide, he would soon be purged when the Gate Master lost power. Last night when he rushed to see the Gate Master, the Gate Master was gravely wounded and also worried about having his authority seized. He urged Wang Jin to accomplish the Queen matter no matter what—if they could capture the Queen, that would still be powerful leverage, making it difficult for others to seize power.

Wang Jin therefore hurried back to the small courtyard, determined to find the Queen. Hearing this person was Ying Bai, he was overjoyed.

Ying Bai would naturally be with the Queen. Now that he was injured and stranded here, it meant the Queen hadn’t yet joined with the Thirteen Guardians—they still had a chance to find the Queen first and win her heart.

“Since he’s your friend, we naturally should treat him well. We can also ask him to help find that sister of yours.” Wang Jin whispered to Jing Hengbo: “Help me ask how he became like this. We’ll set out again shortly, how about it?”

“Great, great.” Jing Hengbo smiled cheerfully, saw the people out, closed the door, and let out a sinister laugh at Master Mu.

“Quite composed,” she said. “Did you figure out that I’m very kind and wouldn’t really sell you out?”

“Oh,” he said slowly. “I was just having an injury flare-up and couldn’t speak for a moment.” After a pause, he said sincerely: “Didn’t expect you to be so reluctant to part with me. I’m very moved. Peony, thank you, thank you.”