Feng Jiu’er stared wide-eyed, utterly bewildered as the palm came straight toward her.

This — was the answer her mother meant to give her?

Yet Feng Jiu’er had no way of knowing whether this strike would leave her with any chance to exchange another word with her mother.

Feng Jiu’er was not afraid of death. What she feared was separation — if this palm landed, would she and her mother be made to pass each other by once more?

“Mother…”

Before the word had fully left her lips, a violent pain surged through Feng Jiu’er’s entire body, and she lost consciousness in an instant.

Mother, do not leave. Jiu’er has not yet had the chance to truly talk with you. Do not leave. Do not…

Long Feiyan looked once more at the girl lying upon the cold stone, her expression unchanged.

But in the moment she turned to leave, one could see that the hand which had delivered the strike — was still trembling.

When Feng Li walked into the cave, Long Feiyan’s figure was already gone.

He looked at the girl collapsed on the ground, and his brow furrowed deeply as he strode over and crouched down beside her.

“Jiu’er.”

When he lifted her limp, slight form into his arms, it was not only his voice that trembled — his entire body was shaking.

A man who had never once flinched before a thousand troops, before ten thousand soldiers — he held this girl in his arms now, and his eyes glistened with the sheen of tears.

“Don’t be afraid. Nothing will happen. Don’t be afraid. Father is here, Jiu’er — don’t be afraid.”

Feng Jiu’er’s condition was far from reassuring. Feng Li no longer gave any thought to his own identity.

If she could still wake, he would acknowledge her without hesitation right then and there — what of it?

Holding the girl in his arms, he sat down on the dried grass, and gently steadied her until she was sitting up before him.

Feng Jiu’er had not a trace of breath left in her — if not for Feng Li supporting her, she could not even have remained seated.

One large palm pressed to her back, and a steady, continuous stream of inner energy flowed from his hand into Feng Jiu’er’s body.

It was only with this channeled energy sustaining her that Feng Jiu’er did not collapse.

When the situation had grown somewhat more stable, Feng Li released her small shoulders. His other palm then came to rest against her back as well.

He looked again at that back — no wider than the span of his two palms — and his brow creased deeply. He closed his eyes.

Feng Jiu’er seemed to realize she had not died, though as for what her actual condition was, she herself could not discern.

Searing pain radiated through her entire body, robbing her of the capacity for thought.

Yet somehow, before long, things began to improve.

Warmth crept through her body, and strength began to gather slowly within her.

At first, Feng Jiu’er was still able to bear the inner energy that Feng Li channeled into her, and the pallor began to gradually recede from her face.

She fell into a very long dream.

In the dream, she saw a face — extraordinarily handsome, and extraordinarily gentle.

“Fourth Imperial Uncle, Jiu’er is hungry.”

“Fourth Imperial Uncle, you are so very handsome!”

“Fourth Imperial Uncle, Jiu’er has come to find you — have you not missed Jiu’er at all?”

“Fourth Imperial Uncle, Jiu’er does not want to leave you.”

“Fourth Imperial Uncle…”

Feng Jiu’er smiled from time to time — a gentle, happy smile, radiant with contentment.

But this stillness did not last.

After an unknown passage of time, in Feng Jiu’er’s vision, the face that had seemed cold yet held infinite warmth disappeared.

Everything became scorching — very hot, unbearably, strangely hot.

Feng Jiu’er saw a great mountain, its peak spewing fierce crimson flames.

Molten lava rolled and surged, pressing relentlessly closer.

Feng Jiu’er desperately wanted to flee — but found that her legs were bound by something unknown and could not be moved even a single step.

Her body grew hotter and hotter, as though she were being roasted alive — a suffering unlike anything she had ever known.

The lava crept ever closer, drawing nearer with every moment.

“Help! Ninth Imperial Uncle, save me!”

“Save me! Ninth Imperial Uncle, Jiu’er is here! Ninth Imperial Uncle, save me!”

Feng Jiu’er still struggled to lift her legs, but her legs — which appeared to have nothing binding them — still could not be budged the slightest bit.

She clenched her equally immovable fists tight and watched helplessly as the scorching lava drew nearer.

The blazing red lava engulfed her legs without mercy, and more and more of it came flowing in, rising to her waist, then up to the acupoint over her heart.

Feng Jiu’er no longer even knew whether she was still alive. The all-consuming heat had long since made her forget the pain that had wracked her body before.

So hot, so hot! Surely she was going to die — to be buried alive within the lava.

When the lava closed over her eyes, Feng Jiu’er’s world became nothing but darkness.

“Ah—!” She screamed — and then there was nothing.

Feng Li spat out several mouthfuls of clouded blood, barely managing to hold the small, crumpling figure in his arms.

His face had never been so drained of all color. Even his breath came so faintly as to be nearly untraceable.

After great effort, he drew the little girl against him, guiding her to slump across his chest. Then Feng Li’s frame softened, and he slowly let himself lean back against the stone beside him.

The scorching heat gradually dissipated. Sensation crept back, little by little, into Feng Jiu’er’s body.

Thinking of the last face that had lingered in her mind, her heart clenched with a pain that made it hard to draw breath.

“Mother, don’t leave! Don’t… abandon Jiu’er again. Mother, don’t leave! Jiu’er cannot lose her mother…”

“I ask for nothing else — only you. Mother, please do not leave me again. Jiu’er cannot be without her mother…”

“Mother, I will not ask why you hurt me. But please — do not leave me…”

Weeping as she came back to herself, Feng Jiu’er realized she was lying within a broad, warm embrace.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes with both hands before the world before her came into focus.

“Fourth Imperial Uncle? Fourth Imperial Uncle, what has happened to you?”

Feng Li’s face was as pale as white paper. Feng Jiu’er stared at him as though her soul had left her body.

She knelt beside him, wanting to help him up — and yet found herself unable to summon the strength.

Her own body felt well — not the slightest discomfort, and her strength actually felt greater than it had been before she was struck so seriously.

It was not that Feng Jiu’er lacked the strength to raise Feng Li. It was that seeing him weakened to such an extreme, she could not bring herself to act — as though any wrong move might cost him his life entirely.

“Fourth Imperial Uncle, do not frighten Jiu’er — what exactly has happened to you?”

The tears in her eyes had not yet dried before fresh ones welled up once more.

“Fourth Imperial Uncle, where are you hurt? Tell Jiu’er — don’t sleep! Fourth Imperial Uncle, you must not sleep, you cannot sleep — do you understand?”

Looking at Feng Li’s current state, Feng Jiu’er had no way to put her feelings into words.

She only knew — Fourth Imperial Uncle could not die like this. Absolutely not.

Feng Jiu’er steadied Feng Li’s shoulders, intending to help him lie flat so she could examine his condition.

But unexpectedly, in the midst of her efforts, she pulled at him in a way that caused his robes to slip from his right shoulder.

Feng Jiu’er’s gaze swept across the exposed right shoulder — and she froze, eyes going wide. She nearly forgot entirely what she had been about to do.

At last, with great effort, Feng Li gathered just enough strength to slowly open his eyes.

“Jiu’er, I am fine.” He let the faintest curve touch his lips.

He wanted to reach out and touch that small face — but Feng Li found he could not even manage so small a movement.

Not wanting her to worry, he smiled again, faintly, and concealed the impulse beneath the surface.

Feng Li’s thoughts, Feng Jiu’er had not noticed at all.

She gazed without blinking at the pattern that had emerged upon his right shoulder, her vision growing blurrier with every passing moment.