But why was Mo Ti Zhun hesitating? “You want to bring him back as a witness?”

“That was the idea.” Mo Ti Zhun said heavily, “But neither he nor my third disciple would qualify as witnesses. They left no communications or documents that could be used as evidence.” His gaze circled the young man twice, “Do you know who he is?”

Seeing his expression that screamed “Let me tell you,” Feng Miaojun was speechless: “Can I not know?” She didn’t want to understand the grudges between the powerful.

“He is Li Shilong’s third son, Li Yuanfa. Li Shilong is the Right Chancellor of Great Jin.”

She understood: “You don’t get along with the Chancellor?” Li Yuanfa wasn’t even twenty yet, what grudge could he have with the State Master?

“It’s Chancellor Li who doesn’t get along with me.” As soon as he finished speaking, Li Yuanfa made a couple of “ah” sounds, seemingly wanting to argue but unable to speak.

Mo Ti Zhun pushed his jaw back into place and then reset his dislocated limbs. Li Yuanfa immediately made a motion:

Biting his tongue.

Mo Ti Zhun didn’t stop him, just smiled and watched: “The Soft Tendon Pill has taken effect. You can’t even hurt yourself, so you’d better worry about how to eat later.” He grabbed him and threw him out of the cabin onto a horse. Li Yuanfa tried to struggle, but his limbs were indeed limp without any strength.

“Time is pressing, let’s set off.”

By that night, they had traveled more than four hundred miles, barely stopping except to change horses.

When they encountered a large city, Mo Ti Zhun bought two good horses again and continued eastward without a moment’s pause. The whole journey was at full gallop, and by now, the horses were steaming with sweat, their panting growing louder, showing complete exhaustion.

Mo Ti Zhun himself looked normal as if nothing had happened; Chen Dachang had some foundation and could barely endure, but Feng Miaojun couldn’t take it anymore. She was originally a pampered little girl—how could she endure such punishment, bouncing on horseback for six or seven hours straight?

Even dried food was eaten on horseback, jostling her until she nearly vomited.

Chen Dachang had her change to a side-sitting position and added two layers of soft padding below, hoping she would ride more comfortably. But after such a long journey, she was still exhausted, her face ashen and expression weary.

Several times Chen Dachang wanted to ask Mo Ti Zhun to stop and rest, but Feng Miaojun stopped him each time.

She understood Mo Ti Zhun’s intention in racing back so desperately: he wanted to reach the Jin capital before his opponent received news of the failed assassiKingdom.

Time had become the primary element in their power struggle.

Honestly, Mo Ti Zhun had already pursued dozens of miles the previous night but then turned back to fulfill his promise to Feng Miaojun, waiting until dawn to depart. This could already be considered the height of kindness, and she couldn’t ask for more.

As for Li Yuanfa, Mo Ti Zhun was already being polite by not taking his life, ignoring whether he lived or died all day. Though his dislocated hands and feet had been reset, his wounds remained untreated. After bouncing on horseback for so long, the wounds split open and closed again repeatedly, causing him to faint countless times.

Feng Miaojun suddenly wrinkled her small jade nose: “There’s water ahead.” The air was very humid, carrying the unique scent of riverside soil and green grass, suggesting that the water source ahead must be abundant.

Mo Ti Zhun led the three onto another mountain path, climbing higher and higher: “Once we cross the lake, we’ll be in Jin State. We can’t take him with us.”

In other words, they needed to decide now whether Li Yuanfa would live.

Chen Dachang turned to look at Li Yuanfa, who had just regained consciousness from his fainting spell and happened to hear these words. His face darkened slightly.

Even for a brave warrior who viewed death as returning home, after one failed suicide attempt, the desire to die diminishes a bit. After being carried along by Mo Ti Zhun for so long, he perhaps wanted to live again, but now death approached unexpectedly.

Sitting in front of Mo Ti Zhun, he couldn’t spit in his face, so he spat forward instead: “Old bastard, I’ll wait for you on the Yellow Springs Road!”

Mo Ti Zhun said eerily: “So eager to depart?” He turned to ask Feng Miaojun, “Do you think I should kill him or not?”

“Would what I say matter?” She was just a little girl—besides Chen Dachang, who else could she influence?

Mo Ti Zhun smiled: “How would you know without trying?”

This time even Li Yuanfa’s gaze fell on her, curious about her answer. People from the Li family all understood Mo Ti Zhun’s personality, and he couldn’t help but notice that the State Master’s indulgence toward this little girl was unusually high.

Even for the disposal of an important captive like him, Mo Ti Zhun sought her opinion. Who would believe this? Looking more carefully at the little girl now—she was still a budding flower, with a beautiful face and autumn waters gathering in her eyes, hinting at the splendor when she would bloom. But the world didn’t lack beauties—what made her so valued by Mo Ti Zhun?

The horse slowed down, and only then could Feng Miaojun speak to him: “If you wanted to kill him, you wouldn’t have brought him all this way.”

“It wouldn’t be troublesome to kill him now,” Mo Ti Zhun said. “Not at all.”

“Then kill him.”

Unexpectedly, Mo Ti Zhun responded with a “Good,” his large hand opening, about to slam down on Li Yuanfa’s forehead.

How great his strength was, Feng Miaojun didn’t know, but Li Yuanfa’s head would certainly split open. She had never seen blood splatter before her eyes, and at this critical moment, she couldn’t help but say: “Wait!”

Mo Ti Zhun’s palm stopped at her voice, hovering one inch above Li Yuanfa’s head, no more, no less.

A drop of sweat slid down the latter’s temple.

Feng Miaojun said helplessly: “Don’t kill him. Leave some face, for the sake of future meetings.” Mo Ti Zhun’s expression was about to turn stormy, so she quickly added, “What troubles you isn’t whether to kill him, but how to confront Chancellor Li, right?” It was just that the great State Master Mo couldn’t bring himself to ask her directly, so he was using intimidation and fear tactics on Li Yuanfa.

Fine, if he wanted to hear, she would speak, holding nothing back.

Mo Ti Zhun finally looked at her properly: “Continue.”

“I think you probably didn’t tell your disciple why you went to Dragon Rising Pool?”

Mo Ti Zhun nodded. Which master had the habit of reporting their itinerary to disciples? Besides, his quest for the Dragon Pearl was a secret mission. Even his own family didn’t know, let alone someone with the surname Li.

“This means that your fight with Yun Ya and subsequent injury was unexpected—your third disciple and the Li family couldn’t have predicted it. And this happened in Yao State.” Feng Miaojun slowly organized her thoughts, “Looking at it this way, Li Yuanfa and your disciple’s actions were improvised, seizing an opportunity.”

Indeed, that was the case. Mo Ti Zhun pointed at Li Yuanfa: “He was in the area on business and was in close contact with my third disciple. That unfilial disciple received many true teachings from me, and now used them all against me. Heh, and there’s the Heart Rot Poison—that was given to him by the Li family, wasn’t it?”

Li Yuanfa remained silent, and all three took this as tacit admission.

With just these few exchanges, Feng Miaojun could imagine how badly Mo Ti Zhun had been betrayed by his third disciple days ago. Besides being severely injured, he had accidentally ingested the Heart Rot Poison. This poison must be as troublesome as its name suggested, otherwise the mighty State Master wouldn’t have been reduced to being surrounded by guards without the strength to fight back.