The young man had pulled her into the trap and used the momentum to vault himself upward.

In the end, Feng Jiu’er fell into the trap, while the young man emerged unscathed.

He stood at the edge of the pit, looking down at her. There was a flicker of guilt in his expression — though only the faintest flicker.

“You cut me with a blade just now. Consider this… consider this us being even. Take care!”

Jiu’er paid him no attention and carefully began studying the environment inside the deep pit.

The young man eventually left. To stay would have meant facing someone he could not quite look in the eye.

After all, she had helped him pull out the animal trap. And after all, she had warned him about the trap just moments ago.

And yet, in the moment of his own misfortune, he had pulled the unsuspecting her inside to cushion his fall — exchanging that for his own freedom.

It was not as though rescuing Feng Jiu’er would have been impossible. Finding some vines and throwing them down would have been enough. But finding vines would take time — what if that caused him to fall behind? What if it cost him his place?

So he chose to leave. Every person is out for themselves; such is the way of the world.

Jiu’er felt not the slightest surprise at his departure, nor did she concern herself with it. She continued to study the environment within the pit.

Before long, the sound of footsteps came from above. Then the footsteps stopped at the edge of the pit.

“Why didn’t you call out for his help just now? Rescuing you would not have been impossible.” A young man’s voice sounded.

Feng Jiu’er’s gaze continued to sweep across the earthen walls of the pit, inch by inch.

Nanmen Xu looked down at her and said with an even tone: “Being rescued by someone, only to then be betrayed by them — is that not a despairing feeling?”

Feng Jiu’er still paid him no attention, continuing to examine the earthen walls.

Seeing her this stubborn, Nanmen Xu had originally intended to leave as well — but in the end, he began searching the surroundings, looking to see if there were any vines or similar materials he might use to pull her out.

No one knew how much time had passed before he finally returned with a vine, and was just about to head over to the pit — when suddenly, an iron hook came flying up from within.

Immediately following that, Feng Jiu’er’s slender figure leapt up from the depths of the pit, landing lightly on the ground.

“You… if you had a hook, why didn’t you use it earlier?” He had wasted so much time — was she not afraid of being unable to catch up to the front three hundred?

“I only just found it.” Feng Jiu’er’s gaze dropped to the vine in his hand.

She had assumed he had left. She had not expected this blockhead to have gone off looking for vines to come back and rescue her.

“Thank you.” Feng Jiu’er’s expression softened slightly. “These traps were set by the examiners to test the students, so they absolutely would not be designed to completely kill us off.”

“Your meaning is…” Nanmen Xu was mildly startled. He had not expected that after falling into a pit and barely making it back out, her expression could still be this composed — nothing like the panic one would expect from an ordinary young woman.

“I know. They would never arrange a situation with no way out for us. They are also testing our ability to adapt.”

So after descending into the pit, she had begun observing immediately. And sure enough, the examiners had left a faint chance of survival for students who fell into the traps.

It was just that the chain hook had been buried deep enough in the earth that not everyone would manage to find it.

With that said, Feng Jiu’er turned and left.

Nanmen Xu had expected her to say something more — yet she simply walked away just like that.

Although the imperial decree had already been issued, and this young woman would in the future be his wife, she seemed to have given absolutely no thought to him as her future husband.

Nanmen Xu paid it no mind. Having lived for more than twenty years, there had been no shortage of people who paid him no attention. He was not short of one more.

The path over this mountain peak was the same for both of them, so Nanmen Xu walked behind her — not too close, not too far. Not following her, merely traveling the same road.

Unexpectedly, just as they crossed through that stretch of dense forest, they caught sight of someone ahead — strung up in midair, caught in a hunter’s net.