Actually, this doubt had already been lingering in Feng Jiu’er’s mind since the night before.

It was just that, with Jiuqing about to go in to search for people at the time, she’d been too anxious and had pushed the matter to the back of her mind.

Later still, even she herself had entered the stone forest, searching for the brothers together with Jiuqing.

Too many things had happened afterward, and that fleeting thought that had flashed through her mind was completely buried.

Now that she thought of it again, her doubts had multiplied all at once.

All the brothers had gotten separated, yet Long Yi had managed to come out so easily, even bringing back the medicinal herbs she needed.

But strangely, after Long Yi came back, he hadn’t participated in anything related to the brothers’ disappearance at all—not even in the discussions.

He’d simply sat in the corner, seemingly having lost all sense of presence…

“Something’s wrong.” Feng Jiu’er set down the bowl in her hands and suddenly stood up.

“Jiu’er, what’s wrong?” Qiaomu stood up too, searching through the crowd alongside her. “Jiu’er, who are you looking for?”

“Where’s Long Yi?”

“He was here just a moment ago, serving congee to everyone.” Could there be something wrong with Long Yi? Then…

Qiaomu’s expression changed, and she said urgently, “Not good. He was the one who led the brothers to bring the water back. What if—”

With a clatter, some brother’s bowl fell and shattered on the ground—his legs gave out, and he actually collapsed onto the ground.

After that, brother after brother collapsed in succession, each one going limp all over, with not a shred of strength left!

“What’s going on?” Qiaomu and Feng Jiu’er were about to go over.

Qiaomu suddenly grabbed Jiu’er’s wrist tightly, her brow furrowing as if she were holding something back. “Jiu’er…”

“Qiaomu!”

“The congee… has been drugged.” Qiaomu was fairly experienced and worldly herself, but this drug was colorless and odorless—not only could she not detect it, even Xuegu couldn’t tell.

Not far away, Xuegu stumbled, barely managing to steady herself against a rock wall.

Beside her, Tuoba Keyan struggled for a moment before finally succumbing to the drug’s effects and collapsing to the ground.

“Yanu!”

Seeing Yanu collapse not far off, Qiaomu wanted to rush over, but a sudden wave of dizziness struck her, and she too collapsed.

Only Feng Jiu’er remained standing amid the crowd.

Her body swayed somewhat, but not enough to make her fall.

Looking up, she saw Jiuqing not far away, standing firm against the wind, his large hand clenched tight, his whole body radiating a chill.

Jiu’er shook her head at him—the Ninth Imperial Uncle exchanged a glance with her; his body was immune to ordinary drugs.

Fortunately, what had been put into the congee wasn’t a deadly poison, only a drug that left whoever ate it limp and without strength.

It wasn’t only weakness—watching the brothers fall unconscious one by one, Feng Jiu’er felt anxious in her heart, but with all the brothers down now, if they wanted to put up a fight, they still had to consider the brothers’ safety first.

After struggling for a while, Qiaomu also closed her eyes, leaving only Xuegu still clinging to consciousness.

Feng Jiu’er let herself fall, staring at Jiuqing as he started to come over to support her, and blinked.

Jiuqing pressed his thin lips tightly together, and finally, he too let himself fall, closing his eyes.

Jiu’er finally relaxed—for someone as proud as the Ninth Imperial Uncle, pretending to have been struck down wasn’t an easy thing to do.

Still, her Ninth Imperial Uncle did seem to be growing more and more willing to listen to her.

Xuegu remained clear-headed even now, though she knew herself that she couldn’t hold out much longer.

In truth, Jiu’er felt a little dizzy too. Although ordinary drugs had practically no effect on her, there was always at least some slight effect.

Still, not enough to make her faint.

The Ninth Imperial Uncle’s condition might not be as good as hers, but it wouldn’t be much worse either.

The Ninth Imperial Uncle’s body had also grown up since childhood under the assault of all kinds of toxins—ordinary poisons had little effect on him.

Seeing the Ninth Imperial Uncle close his eyes, Jiu’er then looked at Xuegu, her lips moving slightly.

Xuegu clenched her palm tight—Jiu’er was telling her not to force herself, to faint when she needed to. But how could she just give up like that?

They’d already been struck down, and those people would be coming out any moment now. If even she couldn’t hold on, who would protect Jiu’er?

But this drug kept eroding her willpower, and no matter how unwilling she was, her consciousness began slipping away little by little.

Finally, even Xuegu couldn’t hold on any longer!

A clamor of footsteps suddenly rose up nearby, as a large group of people burst out of the stone forest.

Everyone was cheering excitedly, and someone gave the order: “Take all these people back!”

So there really had been an ambush!

Xuegu clenched her palm tight with all her strength, but in the end she still couldn’t withstand the drug’s assault.

In the moment she was about to faint, she slightly lifted her eyelids.

A figure entered her field of view, and that figure made her heart jolt—miraculously, she managed to open her eyes wide.

He stood among the crowd, his features somewhat blurred, but his voice was one Xuegu could never forget in her entire life: “There are seriously injured people over there. Be careful when carrying them back.”

Xuegu could no longer actually make out what he was saying, but his voice was like a blade, stabbing into her heart over and over.

It was him! It was him!

How could it be him! He was actually still alive!

If he was still alive, then… what about “him”?

A wave of dizziness struck, and Xuegu’s eyes closed—this time, she fainted completely away…

“Elder Feng, there are eighty-two people in total.” Someone came to report.

Elder Feng nodded and said flatly, “Take them all back. Let the Old Master decide what to do with them.”

“Yes!”

Jiuqing was also hoisted up by someone. Seeing that he wasn’t resisting, Jiu’er finally felt at ease.

Her head felt a bit dizzy, and more importantly, having not slept at all the previous night, she now genuinely felt sleepy.

She wanted badly to yawn, but feared being noticed, so she could only force herself to hold it in.

After that, she too was hoisted up, with two men carrying her into the stone forest.

At first, Feng Jiu’er had wanted to use the opportunity to memorize the path through the stone forest, but after trying for a good while and realizing she was powerless to do so, she finally let her head tilt to the side and fell asleep.

Since she didn’t need to walk herself, she figured she might as well get a good sleep.

…

This sleep was anything but peaceful—those men kept walking the whole time, and even in her dreams there was a sense of being jolted and displaced.

She had no idea how much time had passed, but eventually she was set down, falling onto a cold, hard patch of ground.

The ground was also somewhat uneven, making it truly uncomfortable to sleep on.

Jiu’er turned over in her sleep, and suddenly, it seemed as if someone had pulled her into their arms.

After that, she ended up sleeping on someone’s lap—well, his leg was a bit hard, but leaning against him was actually quite comfortable.

She slept like that for a good while longer, until the noise around her gradually grew louder. Only then did she rub her eyes, yawn, and wake up completely.

The leg she’d been sleeping on did indeed belong to Jiuqing.

The Ninth Imperial Uncle’s long legs were so comfortable to hold onto—so comfortable that she hadn’t even wanted to wake up so soon.

She even wanted to keep holding onto his sturdy thigh, forever and ever.

“Now that you’re awake, get up.” Jiuqing sat leaning against the rock wall, his eyes lowered to look at her.

Seeing that after opening her eyes, the girl had lazily closed them again, he said flatly, “Everyone is watching.”