The Bonded Hearts Lock was now in Jiu’er’s hands — so where was the Bonded Hearts Key?
No one knew where it was.
If the pattern on the floor of the chamber was a clue, then perhaps inserting the Bonded Hearts Key into the Bonded Hearts Lock would unlock some kind of mystery?
Though the whole thing was bizarre.
But Jiu’er remembering things from her past life was, in itself, already a bizarre matter.
Either you chose not to believe it at all, or once you did believe it, you had to commit to that belief.
“Could it be that the Bonded Hearts Key is still with the Third Young Master?” Ji Mingyu’s words voiced exactly what Jiu’er and Lu Beicheng were both thinking.
In truth, they had both suspected as much.
But right now, Lu Feifan was nowhere to be found, so this mystery couldn’t be solved for the time being.
They had to find Lu Feifan before anything could become clear.
“Jiu’er, are you staying here tonight, or going over to the Ninth Master’s?” Qiaoqiao came back from her bath outside, still trailing a damp mist of steam.
“The Ninth Master is in a bad mood. I’ll go keep him company.”
Seeing Qiaoqiao’s gaze instantly turn suggestive, Jiu’er froze, then blushed all at once.
“Don’t go thinking something weird. I’m just going to talk with him.”
The Ninth Imperial Uncle and Mu Mu were full brothers.
Although in this life it was an uncle-nephew relationship, Jiu’er had seen just how deep — how very deep — Lu Beicheng’s feelings for Lu Feifan ran.
“I know, I know. I really wasn’t thinking anything weird, honest!”
Qiaoqiao laughed and waved her hand.
Jiu’er shot her a look, picked up her medicine box, and left.
Although the poison Lu Beicheng had suffered from before had already been cleared from his system, and he had basically recovered.
She still made a habit of giving him acupuncture and massage at night, to help him fully restore his vital energy.
Just as she was about to leave, Zhen Jiu’er suddenly stopped, turning back to look at Qiaoqiao, who was tidying her clothes.
Qiaoqiao noticed her pause, glanced up at her, and smiled. “What’s wrong? Realized you’re still more attached to me? Don’t want to go sleep with your Ninth Master after all?”
“Qiaoqiao.”
“Hm?” Being addressed so seriously all of a sudden made Qiaoqiao a little self-conscious. “What is it?”
“Do you believe in past lives and present lives?” Jiu’er asked.
Qiaoqiao, thinking she was about to be asked something else entirely, grinned at her. “Of course I believe! In our past life, we must have been incredibly close friends — the kind who’d die for each other! Otherwise, how could we possibly be this close in this life?”
Jiu’er’s lips parted, as if to say something.
But in the end, she only smiled faintly and nodded. “Mm.”
In her past life, they truly had been friends bound by life and death.
And in this life, it was exactly the same!
Jiu’er left.
But Lu Beicheng waited a long time, and Jiu’er never arrived.
That night, past eleven o’clock, Lu Beicheng finally couldn’t help but go looking for Jiu’er himself.
The answer he got was startling: Jiu’er had gone to find him a little after nine.
Qin Fei, having spotted something on the road, came rushing back with quick strides, holding it up. “Ninth Master, look!”
Qiaoqiao and Lu Beicheng’s faces changed at once.
It was Jiu’er’s medicine box!
Lu Beicheng grabbed Qin Fei by the collar. “Where did you find this?”
“By… by the stream.”
…Jiu’er had been kidnapped.
The person who took her this time was also dressed in black, from head to toe.
His face was covered — nothing could be seen.
When Jiu’er woke up, her heart was strangely calm. “Third Master, what do you mean by bringing me here?”
The man in black froze for a moment, then burst into loud laughter. “Heh, still as sharp as ever, aren’t you? But too bad — why did you have to come here? Now that you have, do you think I’ll let you live? Feng Jiu’er?”