Feng Jiu’er was applying medicine to Mu Mu’s wound. At the touch of her fingertips, she quickly sensed that his body temperature was running slightly high.

She looked again at Mu Mu’s face — a very handsome face, now flushed entirely red, even to the tips of his ears.

“Ahem,” Shan Yidao finally managed to swallow the piece of snack in his mouth, mumbling with some difficulty: “That… Jiu’er, have you… really seen a man take his trousers off?”

Feng Jiu’er didn’t even raise her head, continuing to clean Mu Mu’s wound.

“If Mu Mu’s wound were on his thigh, would he or would he not need to take his trousers off?”

Xiao Yingtao was so mortified she nearly bolted out the door. She couldn’t fathom how Jiu’er, a young lady, could speak of such things as taking off trousers without so much as a blush or a skipped breath.

Mu Mu let out a quiet cough, his complexion the color of a ripe tomato. “I… my legs have no wounds.”

“What is there to be embarrassed about? I didn’t realize your skin was so thin either.” Jiu’er shot him a glance. No wonder his temperature was running high — he was simply flustered.

Really now. This man who always wore such a stern expression — he could actually go red in the face over a sentence or two?

Mu Mu said nothing more, though the flush on his face stubbornly refused to fade.

Feng Jiu’er re-bandaged his wound, then began tidying her things. “The wound isn’t deep. It should heal in two or three days.”

“Though for these two or three days, try to keep it away from water — otherwise it could become inflamed… which is to say, it would get considerably worse.”

“Understood. Many thanks.” The flush on Mu Mu’s face had finally receded somewhat.

Seeing that Jiu’er was about to leave, he looked faintly surprised. “Won’t you sit a while longer?”

“Sit a while?” Feng Jiu’er blinked, puzzled. “What for? Do you have something to say to me?”

Mu Mu said nothing, his body temperature still running just a fraction high.

Beside them, Xing Zizhou said with a smile, “Little Jiu’er, are you always this direct? Even if you knew he had something to say to you, there’s no need to put it so bluntly as to make someone feel awkward, is there?”

Feng Jiu’er shot him a glance. “How was I to know he embarrasses so easily?”

“Jiu’er, you’ve misunderstood — I’m not…” Mu Mu stopped himself mid-sentence.

This wasn’t something he was accustomed to saying, nor something he typically did. It was simply that with Xiao Yingtao still present, he had assumed Feng Jiu’er would also stay behind to chat for a while.

After all, they were members of the same squad. He had just failed to account for how late it already was.

In the dead of night, a young lady entering a man’s chamber could easily invite gossip. As a man, he naturally didn’t mind — but her reputation might suffer.

Yet he still hoped she would stay…

“Oh.” Jiu’er gave a vague nod as though she half understood, drew the chair closer, and sat back down by Mu Mu’s bed.

“Are we discussing what to do going forward?” That, Feng Jiu’er was genuinely interested in.

“Jiu’er,” Mu Mu looked at her. After a brief silence, he said seriously, “Today’s assassins… were not staged.”

“You noticed that too?” Feng Jiu’er looked back at the others. “Then you all…”

“Before you arrived, we had already unanimously agreed — the assassins were real.” Shan Yidao nodded.

Xiao Yingtao tilted her head. “Even though I believe that now, why would the Academy Elder say it was an evaluation?”

She thought for a moment, then suddenly let out a surprised cry. “Could the Academy Elder be in league with the assassins?!”

Feng Jiu’er nearly rolled her eyes at that, though — well, Xiao Yingtao was lovely to look at. Beautiful women were allowed to be a little less sharp.

Neither Shan Yidao nor Mu Mu said a word. Xiao Yingtao knew, of course, that they must find her theory laughable.

Xing Zizhou said with a smile, “It’s all right — you are simply pure and kind-hearted. They just don’t know how to appreciate that.”

Knowing she had guessed the wrong direction, Xiao Yingtao pressed her lips together and fell silent. But Mu Mu was watching only Feng Jiu’er. “My guess is that someone important here did not wish to see us eliminated.”