“How many Imperial Tutors exist in today’s world?”

“Six. Only one person per kingdom.”

“So that means most Imperial Tutors can’t draw it, right?”

“…” This logic seemed… not incorrect.

“Then, when that handsome brother saw the formation, he guessed who you were?”

The muscular man remained silent, implicitly confirming it.

Peng Bai softly added from the side: “The great Imperial Tutor Mo has sworn an oath never to kill children in this lifetime. This is famous and known throughout the world.”

So, since this man appeared, taking Hu Ping’s life and breaking Peng Bai’s arms, despite his fierce demeanor, he hadn’t touched a hair on her head because he had sworn not to harm children?

Actually, from the moment he identified himself, Feng Miaojun had believed him seventy percent, since one’s bearing couldn’t deceive people. Even if a mountain bandit broke in threatening to kill, they wouldn’t have this presence.

She remained quiet for a few seconds, then said: “So, the great Imperial Tutor Mo has come to my home to threaten a child?”

Mo Tizhun’s dark face slowly turned red, not from embarrassment but from anger. He forced a twisted smile, his tightly clenched knuckles making several crisp cracking sounds: “I truly wish I had never made that oath!”

In the next moment, Feng Miaojun spoke seriously: “Can the great Imperial Tutor Mo guarantee that what I say won’t be heard by a fourth person?”

Mo Tizhun snorted lightly: “I set up a barrier before entering. Everything happening in this courtyard is unknown to outsiders.”

No wonder her crying and Peng Bai’s screams hadn’t triggered any external reaction—they had been isolated, and Madam Xu and the servants couldn’t hear anything.

“Fine.” Feng Miaojun bit her lip, seemingly having made up her mind. “I’ll tell you—”

“—Actually, you killed the wrong person.”

Mo Tizhun narrowed his eyes, listening as she continued: “That day I had a conflict with Madam Wang and ran out of the manor in anger. Hu Ping, fearing for my safety, chased after me and stopped me near the abandoned embankment, wanting me to return with her. I refused, and in my agitation, I pushed her, and then… then…”

Mo Tizhun demanded harshly: “Then what?”

“She lost her balance and slid down the slope, and then… then disappeared!” Feng Miaojun stammered. “I went down and parted the grass, but couldn’t find a trace of her. I thought she had fallen down the embankment and searched nearby for a long time without finding her. Little did I know that after a few days, she reappeared.” In her heart, she silently apologized to Hu Ping, but the loyal cook had died protecting her, and she couldn’t let Hu Ping’s goodwill be in vain.

“And then?”

“She told me that she had rolled into a deep pool and had great difficulty getting out.” She timidly raised her eyes to look at Mo Tizhun. “So the person you’re looking for is her, yet you’ve killed her instead.”

Mo Tizhun listened expressionlessly, then suddenly smiled: “You mean to say that it was Hu Ping who fell into the Mountain-Moving Formation, and Hu Ping who was transported to the deep pool?” Suddenly, he struck backward, shattering the courtyard gate with a bang. “Do you expect me to believe a story meant for three-year-olds?”

She spoke softly: “I’m telling the truth. If you don’t believe it, there’s nothing I can do.”

“If it was her experience, what would you have to be reluctant to speak of, and how dare you say it would endanger you and your mother?” Mo Tizhun wasn’t fooled, saying ominously, “I see you truly don’t want to save Madam Xu’s life!”

Before she could respond, he took out a red walnut from his bosom and spread it on his palm: “Swear on this that everything you just said is true, and I’ll believe you.”

She warily stared at the walnut, noticing its color was as vivid as blood, and it was covered with countless tiny holes: “What is this?”

“An ant nest.” Mo Tizhun tapped the walnut, and from the small holes emerged about a dozen tiny ants. Each was as small as a speck of dust, yet possessed disproportionately large mandibles that occupied nearly half their body length. “These are called Heart-Devouring Ants. Small as they are, they can consume an adult’s heart in just five or six breaths. For a small child like you—” he looked Feng Miaojun up and down, “—it would take at most two breaths.”

Feng Miaojun stared at the ants in terror. She was already afraid of death, let alone such a horrific and painful way to die.

“I don’t harm children, but if you break your oath, these little creatures will punish you on heaven’s behalf. That would have nothing to do with me.” Mo Tizhun grinned, his white teeth gleaming coldly. “Make an oath, and you’ll pass tonight’s test. How about it?”

Her mouth closed tighter than a clamshell, her expression somewhat deflated.

In this world of supernatural powers, one might eat carelessly, but oaths must not be made lightly, because—they truly work.

She could only lower her head dejectedly: “Fine, you win.” She had merely made a small struggle, so she didn’t feel particularly disappointed.

Mo Tizhun folded his arms complacently as he heard her say: “That day I left the estate, feeling upset, and when I reached the embankment slope, I fell…” The details she had repeated several times didn’t need elaboration—skip, skip, skip.

His face twitched. Was this little demon fixated on the landslide? “And you happened to fall onto the Mountain-Moving Formation and were transported four hundred miles away?”

He was even anticipating her answers now. She looked particularly innocent: “You already know, yet you still ask me.”

Mo Tizhun laughed in extreme anger: “Do you think I’m so casual that the Mountain-Moving Formation I spent enormous resources to arrange could be triggered by just anyone?” What a joke—the Mountain-Moving Formation required specific incantations to activate. Otherwise, though the abandoned embankment was desolate, occasional people or wild pheasants and deer might wander there—would they all be directly transported away?

Heh, the value of those four purple spirit stones was enough to buy dozens of Juping Villages! Even he wasn’t so wasteful with money.

No, spirit stones of that caliber couldn’t be bought even with money.

Thinking this, his heart bled again.

Feng Miaojun’s face remained unperturbed: “You’re saying I first opened your transport… um, Mountain-Moving Formation, and then transported myself four hundred miles away? May I ask, how many people know the method?”

“No more than… three.” These words burst from between his teeth. When Mo Tizhun had privately directed suspicion toward her, he had already roughly investigated the Feng family, and Feng Miaojun’s background appeared unremarkable. This meant either she truly was an ordinary merchant’s daughter, or her disguise was exceptionally clever.

But regardless, she shouldn’t have learned the incantation to activate the formation. Besides himself, he knew the only other two people in the world who could. This little girl had no connection whatsoever to any of them.

This was an inexplicable deadlock, but it wasn’t the focus of his investigation, so he could only close his mouth, his eyes revealing a fierce light.

“When I awoke, I saw a huge monster at the bottom of the water, with a dragon’s head and a fish’s body…” Feng Miaojun shrugged and recounted her experiences in the cold pool, of course omitting the matters of the tortoise spirit and the second dragon pearl. The thrilling details in her story were quite convincing. Mo Tizhun examined several specifics, and she could answer without hesitation, particularly fluently.

The questions he raised were ones that not only would an eleven-year-old girl be unlikely to know, but even famous scholars might not comprehend. The possibility that she was fabricating everything was extremely small, so this time he basically believed her.