Feng Jiu’er sat to one side roasting the chicken, a piece of fruit in her hand that she was nibbling on.

On the fire nearby hung two small pots. One pot bubbled with millet porridge, while the other occasionally released the scent of herbal medicine.

Jian Yi sat by the fire, occasionally adding a few pieces of wood to the flames, saying nothing.

After satisfying their hunger, Feng Jiu’er found a small cave, settled Jian Yi in, and quickly went back out.

When she returned, her arms were full of medicinal herbs.

“Why aren’t you resting? Didn’t I tell you to sleep for a while?” Even in tattered clothing, Feng Jiu’er’s striking beauty was undiminished.

She set the herbs down, casually wiped her hands, and sat down beside Jian Yi.

“Sit up.” Looking down at the person beside her, Feng Jiu’er said softly.

Jian Yi obediently sat up, then shifted backward and moved away from Feng Jiu’er.

“Jiu’er, I cannot keep taking your vital energy. Your complexion looks poor.”

Jian Yi understood clearly that if Jiu’er had not been continuously using her own vital energy to stabilize his breathing, he might not have been able to manage even the most basic self-care by now.

Yet he truly could not bear to watch Jiu’er exhaust her vital energy for his sake any longer.

“Stop talking nonsense!” Feng Jiu’er leaned in toward him, took hold of his right arm, and turned him to face her.

“I have my father’s passed-down divine art of the Feng clan. What is a little vital energy?”

“Besides, if we give up now, wouldn’t all the effort we’ve made so far have been for nothing? Our brothers are waiting for us to return. Pull yourself together!”

Jian Yi met her gaze, unwilling to disappoint her, and so crossed his legs, closed his eyes, and surrendered.

Feng Jiu’er looked at the strikingly handsome man before her, drew a deep breath, extended her palm, and pressed it against him.

This scene was deeply familiar to Jian Yi — everything that had come before was no dream.

Jiu’er had used her own vital energy to heal him countless times already, all for the sake of saving him.

When would he finally recover? And when would she collapse? Jian Yi could give himself no answer.

A kind of indescribable pain stirred in his chest — not from the wound.

After an hour had passed, Feng Jiu’er slowly withdrew her palm.

As expected, the moment her support was removed, Jian Yi — who had fallen into an unconscious sleep — toppled forward.

With reflexive speed, Feng Jiu’er caught him and laid him flat on the dry grass.

Gently lifting the dressing over his wound, Feng Jiu’er picked up her needle case and medicinal oil.

The silver needles were soaked in the oil for a moment before she pinched them out and applied them to Jian Yi.

Inserting needles, kneading acupoints — the simple actions repeated and repeated for nearly another hour.

Feng Jiu’er was not without exhaustion herself; she was tired to the point of struggling.

Whenever drowsiness threatened to overwhelm her, she would press a needle into her own arm.

The pain brought her back to clarity, and the treatment continued.

In his haze, Jian Yi could still clearly sense the fatigue of the young woman beside him.

He desperately wanted to wake up and let her rest for a while, but he was powerless to do so.

After the needles were withdrawn, Feng Jiu’er immediately went to sort out the herbs she had gathered.

Sorting, grinding, steaming and boiling — after a series of steps, she at last produced a satisfactory result.

She returned to Jian Yi’s side once more, gently lifted the dressing on his wound, and layered the medicine she had prepared onto it one by one before wrapping it with a bandage to hold it in place.

She glanced back at the slowly dying fire, then lay down beside Jian Yi and closed her eyes.

This time, Feng Jiu’er slept quite deeply — not intentionally, but during this stretch of time she had been severely deprived of sleep, and her body was struggling too.

Even knowing the pursuing soldiers would soon realize they had been tricked and change direction, she had still decided to rest well.

She sensed the person beside her shift faintly, and Feng Jiu’er instinctively came awake.

Jian Yi turned his head and looked at the person who had snapped her eyes open. The look in his eyes instantly changed.

“Jiu’er.” He called out in a low voice, his voice carrying a faint hoarseness.

Seeing that his condition was relatively stable, Feng Jiu’er paid it no mind and sat up, stretching her arms above her head lazily.

“Now that you’re awake, get up. Drink your medicine. We need to get back on the road.”

She straightened her clothing, stood, and stretched languidly again.

Youth was truly a blessing! A light sleep, and her energy had returned.

As Jian Yi slowly sat up, Feng Jiu’er had already poured the medicine out from the pot and turned to bring it back.

“This medicine is worth a fair amount. You had better drink every last drop.”

She came to Jian Yi’s side, cradling the medicine in both hands and sitting down.

“There is one particular herb in this that I searched for several days without finding, yet here it was in this forest.”

She placed the medicine in Jian Yi’s hands and said with visible delight, “I’ve prepared extra as well and tied it to the horse.”

“Tomorrow we continue with the second treatment. If all goes well, once we can enter a city in three days, I’ll arrange the surgery for you immediately.”

“All right.” Jian Yi drank every last drop of the medicine and nodded.

Feng Jiu’er took up his large hand and rested it across her own lap, her slender fingers settling on his pulse.

She took his pulse for a moment, then glanced sideways at him.

“Fortunately, you have a strong enough constitution.”

With an injury to the heart, even surgery could be postponed — such a case Feng Jiu’er had never encountered before.

In truth, if it had been possible, Feng Jiu’er would have wanted to perform surgery on Jian Yi on the spot at the time, but she had been given no opportunity.

Being able to stabilize his condition temporarily using her own methods was something Feng Jiu’er was truly grateful for.

“Get up.” She took hold of Jian Yi’s right arm and helped him to his feet together with her.

Yet in the very instant they stood, both furrowed their brows at the same moment.

“Jiu’er, they’ve caught up to us.”

“Yes.” Feng Jiu’er steadied Jian Yi and moved quickly toward the cave entrance.

The cave was shallow — more accurately, it wasn’t truly a cave at all, merely a hollow depression in the rock face where one could shelter from wind and rain.

The moment they stepped out, they could see figures surging in the distance.

Feng Jiu’er steadied Jian Yi and in one leap they both landed on the horse’s back together.

She glanced back once, then gave the horse a firm smack. In a nimble bound she launched herself upward, landing steadily on a tree branch.

Startled by the strike, the horse immediately bolted forward. Jian Yi caught up the reins with a casual reach.

“Jiu’er.” He looked back at the figure on the branch.

“Go! Keeping yourself safe is the greatest help you can give me.”

“I can track you by the scent of the herbs on your body. Jian Yi — protect yourself. Don’t disappoint me.”

She fixed Jian Yi with a gaze full of certainty, then turned and headed back.

Watching the retreating figure, Jian Yi’s brow creased. He pulled the reins taut and quickened his pace away.

Sensing the sound of hoofbeats fading behind her, Feng Jiu’er curled the corner of her lips and drew a short knife and medicinal powder from her sleeve.

She had endured long enough for this fight. If Feng Qingyin wanted to destroy her, it would not be so easy.

“Miss Lingling, the fugitive is over there!” The lead guard shouted.

“Yes, she’s truly there.” Another guard called out in a lower voice.

Lingling spurred her horse forward at speed, overtaking the lead guard and moving to the very front.

“Feng Jiu’er, don’t think of escaping! You harmed our Noble Consort. You won’t get away!”

Feng Jiu’er moved through the treetops and looked at the woman riding toward her head-on. The expression on her face grew increasingly cold.