Jun Buli’s grip was far from gentle—whether from anger or urgency, it was hard to say—but even Situ Jing’er found herself startled by it.

In truth, she had already been startled once before. Although this fellow had lost his temper with her since she was a child, she had never taken his anger too seriously, because it had never seemed truly severe.

But just now, the look on his face had been like he wanted to devour someone alive. Whatever was happening seemed extremely serious.

She hadn’t actually planned to come back. It was Guxi who said he’d forgotten something and wanted to return to personally tell the young master, and that was why she’d followed him back.

Who would have known that the moment they returned, they’d witness a hail of cold arrows, with Guxi throwing himself forward without regard for his own safety to block them. Her first instinct too had been to block the arrows.

Her father was a martial arts master, and she herself was a prodigy born for the martial path. The very reason she dared to wander the martial world alone was because she relied on her formidable skills.

Of course she wanted to help them too. She didn’t know who the white-robed man was, only that he was clearly an enemy.

With so many cold arrows flying and the danger so pressing, what was wrong with using the white-robed man as a shield?

If Meng Duo’er hadn’t intervened in time, if they hadn’t used the white-robed man to block the arrows, it would have been Guxi and Jun Buli who got hurt instead!

Situ Jing’er couldn’t understand where she’d gone wrong, and even less could she understand why even Guxi was being so harsh with her.

She stood off to the side, staring blankly at them. No one present paid her any attention—even Sister Duo’er was crowded around the white-robed man.

The white-robed man was held fast in Jun Buli’s grip, unable to pull off any tricks.

She didn’t seem to be planning to struggle either. She kept her head lowered, as if resigned to her defeat.

But then, without warning, Jun Buli reached a hand toward her face. The white-robed man immediately jerked his head up and snapped angrily, “What do you think you’re doing?”

Jun Buli ignored him, his large hand groping roughly around her face. The white-robed man’s ears suddenly flushed red, the color quickly spreading to his cheeks as he protested repeatedly, “Jun Buli, let go! Kill me or maim me if you want, but keep your hands to yourself!”

Jun Buli had already found what he was looking for. He said coldly, “Dressing as a man—don’t you ever get tired of this game?”

The moment the words left his mouth, he ripped the human-skin mask off the white-robed man’s face in one brutal motion. And there it was—there it was, a pale, feminine face!

Delicate skin, exquisite features, and a pair of furious phoenix eyes that were especially captivating. It was only a shame that several deep scars marred the side of her face, ruining all that beauty!

Without those scars, she would undoubtedly have been a peerless beauty!

Everyone present, except the utterly forgotten and thoroughly dejected Situ Jing’er, recognized this face at once—it was Baili Xiaosheng’s face!

Though the girl had grown up now, around twenty years old.

And yet, these features, this expression—so similar to how she’d looked as a child, and combined with the distinctive scars on her face, everyone recognized her at a glance.

Exposed as a woman, Baili Xiaosheng was consumed with shame and fury. She wrenched herself free of Jun Buli’s grip without warning and moved to seize a hostage nearby. But Baili Weisheng immediately saw through her intent, grabbed her arm, and yanked it back hard, locking it against her own throat, pinning her completely.

“What exactly do you people want!” Baili Xiaosheng shouted furiously. Clearly, she had no recollection of anyone present, no memory of them at all.

Baili Weisheng then released her, shoving her hard so that she crashed against the wall of the barrier. He pressed his handsome face close to hers and said coldly, “You don’t even recognize your own master?”

“Master?” Baili Xiaosheng was bewildered, not understanding what they were talking about.

Jun Buli scoffed coldly. “Seems it’s not just me she’s forgotten—she’s forgotten herself too.”

“I don’t know any of you. If you’re going to kill me or maim me, get on with it—spare me the nonsense!” Baili Xiaosheng’s temper was just as fierce as it had been when she was a child—every bit as tough.

“Tsk, tsk, raised for nothing, it seems! You all keep an eye on her—I’m going to hunt down the truth behind this.”

With that, Baili Weisheng turned to leave. Whoever had loosed those cold arrows earlier was likely the very person who had abducted Baili Xiaosheng back then… Sheng Zimo.

If he wanted to know what had truly happened to Baili Xiaosheng, asking Sheng Zimo directly was the fastest way.

Meng Duo’er hurriedly broke open the barrier to let Baili Weisheng leave. As the others settled back down, Baili Xiaosheng tried to seize the chance to flee. Jun Buli reached out and blocked her path. She turned to go another way; Jun Buli shifted and cut her off again.

Baili Xiaosheng refused to give up, trying every which way to escape, but Jun Buli blocked her every single time. In the end, he simply seized her outright and had Meng Duo’er tie her up.

After her hands and feet were bound, Baili Xiaosheng struggled for a good while longer before finally settling down, lying on her side on the ground.

After such a fierce battle, there was finally a chance to rest.

Jun Buli sat cross-legged beside her, took a few sips of water, and then began his interrogation.

Meanwhile, fearing something might go wrong, Meng Duo’er personally kept watch over the poison corpse, Shiliang.

Through it all, Jun Buli never once looked at Situ Jing’er, and it seemed everyone else had forgotten about her too, off to the side.

Situ Jing’er watched them from a distance, gazing at Baili Xiaosheng, murmuring to herself, “So she’s actually an older sister… is that really Baili Xiaosheng?”

She hesitated for a moment, thinking of going over to ask, but then she caught sight of Jun Buli’s face and felt her irritation rise again, and decided not to.

So instead she looked toward Guxi. But it was only then that she noticed Guxi was sitting off to one side too, just as far away as she was—except…

Situ Jing’er had never seen Guxi wear an expression like this before. More precisely, she had never seen any man wear an expression like this before.

His features were handsome and clean-cut, his skin faintly tanned, and he looked quite good when he smiled. When he wasn’t smiling, he looked every bit the image of a hardened, iron-blooded man. So why would someone like that wear such a sorrowful, aching expression?

What was he grieving over? Who was he aching for?

Full of doubt, Situ Jing’er forgot all about her own lingering hurt feelings and followed the direction of Guxi’s gaze—only to discover that what Guxi was looking at was Shiliang!

For the first time, Situ Jing’er looked directly at Shiliang’s pale, corpse-spotted face, and she jumped in fright, immediately averting her eyes, terrified she’d have nightmares that night.

This left her utterly bewildered. Guxi… what was wrong with him? How could he show such a heartbroken expression over something so terrifying?

Situ Jing’er decided she must have seen wrong. Guxi was surely just zoning out, lost in thought about something else entirely!

So Situ Jing’er carefully crawled across the grass and sat down beside Guxi, tugging gently at the hem of his robe, and said in a low voice, “Brother Guxi, didn’t you come back to tell your young master something? Did you forget?”

Just then, Baili Xiaosheng’s shrill scream suddenly cut through the air. “You’re lying! I won’t listen! Shut up! Shut up!!”

Situ Jing’er and Guxi both turned their heads at once to look, and saw that Baili Xiaosheng’s furious face had twisted into something almost feral, glaring fiercely at Jun Buli.

Jun Buli had simply just told her the truth—including her real identity, including the Xiao family, Shiliang, and Sheng Zimo.

Baili Xiaosheng simply couldn’t accept any of it, shouting and screaming for Jun Buli to stop talking.

“Believe it or not, it doesn’t matter. When your master comes back, I won’t make things difficult for you,” Jun Buli said, rising to his feet as he spoke.

Having found both Baili Xiaosheng and Shiliang, and having taken most of the Beast Clan’s beast army, his mission here in Nanzhao was essentially complete. He had no desire to linger any longer in this godforsaken place. Tonight, he could finally take Consort Li and leave.