He would truly lose his life over this!

The Gu Poison had been flaring up with increasing frequency, draining his vitality. He had already expended his true qi earlier, and the protective energy surrounding his body could barely suppress the poison toxins within him any longer.

At a time like this, if he were to channel his energy to heal Feng Jiu’er, the poison inside him would break free completely — it could flare fatally at any moment!

Ninth Imperial Uncle, please don’t do this. She truly did not need him to do this!

No one wants to die, yet even so, she feared something happening to Ninth Imperial Uncle far more than she feared her own end.

Don’t do this. He cannot keep going like this. He truly would not survive!

Ninth Imperial Uncle, please, please take better care of yourself…

A group of people came rushing over — it was Yu Jingfeng leading the Longqi Army.

The Longqi Army surrounded the entire area, forming a defensive formation around the Ninth Prince.

Yu Jingfeng, however, was so frightened by the scene before him that his soul nearly left his body.

“Your Highness, you cannot keep channeling your energy!” He crouched down, his complexion draining to a deathly pallor alongside the Prince’s — though in his case, it was sheer terror that had drained the color from his face.

Zhan Qingcheng paid no attention to anyone. His eyes held only the little girl cradled in his arms — that small face, pale and utterly bloodless.

Her meridians were nearly destroyed, her vital organs had been shaken by the force of the internal strike, and with the amount of true qi she possessed, she could not even maintain her own body’s defenses.

His true qi could help unblock her meridians, stabilize her foundation, and restore her channel pathways in the shortest possible time.

How could Yu Jingfeng not understand what His Highness intended? But did His Highness also understand the meaning behind what those people had said?

He dropped to his knees with a heavy thud. The rest of the Longqi Army — though heavy-hearted — dared not relax for even a moment against the threat of a surprise attack. A disciplined army to the last man, each soldier remained at his post, standing ramrod straight.

Mu Mu’s gaze swept across the Longqi Army and finally returned to Feng Jiu’er’s face.

With the Ninth Prince’s true qi protecting her, Ninth should survive — but the Ninth Prince himself… things looked far from favorable.

As for the Ninth Prince’s Longqi Army — what a formidable force. A mere twenty-some men, yet their skill and formation were the equal of armies numbering in the hundreds or even thousands.

He would wager that these twenty-some men, pitted against a thousand soldiers, would not come out at a disadvantage.

In terms of martial skill and physical conditioning, these men had surpassed the students at their academy to a degree that was simply beyond reach.

No wonder the Longqi Army required a full year of selection and training before one could be chosen.

Even after being chosen, one likely had to endure rigorous trials and further training before finally becoming a true member of the Longqi Army.

The Ninth Prince’s army was, quite simply, the stuff of legend.

Small wonder that the Ninth Prince, whenever he took the field, had never once known defeat.

Yet the Ninth Prince did not relish going to war. He was not a man who loved battle — unless border nations caused so much trouble that he could no longer ignore them, he preferred to stay his hand. But once he chose to act, his army swept through without a single defeat.

Gazing at the man before him — that white-robed figure of peerless, devastating beauty — watching the color drain ever more from his face, Mu Mu suddenly felt, for reasons he could not explain, a sharp and piercing pain stab through his chest.

An inexplicable, peculiar pain — so acute it even made breathing difficult.

Mu Mu furrowed his brow, quickly averted his gaze, and stepped back to a distance of roughly ten feet. He joined the Longqi Army in standing guard over this place.

“Your Highness!” Yu Jingfeng knelt beside Zhan Qingcheng and, at the risk of his own life, remonstrated: “Your Highness, it is not that your subordinate wishes to abandon Young Miss Ninth — but Your Highness, your own condition truly cannot afford to worsen.”

“Your Highness, please withdraw. Your subordinate will do everything to save Young Miss Ninth. If anything happens to her, your subordinate will offer his own life in her stead!”

“Your Highness, please allow your subordinate to try! Your Highness, please!”