“If we’re found out, then we might truly end up getting married right then and there. They have a hundred ways to turn us into a done deal.”

Mu Mu knew Ye Luosha’s methods all too well. Though he understood that his master meant well, he did not want to put Feng Jiu’er in an impossible position.

Jiu’er heard this and her face instantly went bright red.

Turned into a done deal — surely they wouldn’t drug her and Mu Mu to make them truly become husband and wife?

Her body did have a natural resistance to medicinal substances, but being drugged would still affect her to some degree — only with a shorter duration and lighter effect on her body than it would have on most people.

If they were truly given a heavy dose, it was not entirely impossible that she and Mu Mu might do something that couldn’t be taken back.

The thought was genuinely alarming.

“But your master clearly doesn’t like me — why is she so set on having me marry you?”

It wasn’t as though she hadn’t noticed. If the Palace Master had a choice, she’d probably rather pick a well-behaved, obedient girl like Liuli — not her. And yet she was insisting that Mu Mu take her to wife. It all seemed a little strange.

“Are you still not leaving? Do you want to be found?” Mu Mu didn’t want to continue down this thread and deliberately changed course. “Once we’re found, we probably won’t be able to leave at all. I can’t raise a hand against my master — do you understand?”

Feng Jiu’er only looked at him and said nothing.

After a brief silence, she finally stood.

“The debt I owe your master — I will repay it one day.” She simply wasn’t ready to think about marriage right now.

Her feelings toward Mu Mu were not bad — she didn’t reject him, and being with him was genuinely enjoyable. But in this era she was only fifteen or sixteen years old, still a far cry from the age of marriage, wasn’t it?

Then again, no — in ancient times, fifteen or sixteen really was considered marriageable. Sigh…

“If it truly came to it — if you were truly asked to marry me — would you really refuse?” At the doorway, Mu Mu suddenly stopped and looked down at her.

Jiu’er hadn’t expected him to suddenly ask that. She was caught off guard, struck momentarily speechless.

“Do you truly find being with me so distasteful?” Something flickered in his eyes — faint, but a little dim.

“You’re so handsome — how could I possibly find you distasteful?” She was, after all, a proud and devoted member of those who valued appearances above all else.

“Then why are you so unwilling to marry me?” Perhaps even Mu Mu himself couldn’t quite explain why, at this particular moment, he felt such a need for an answer from her.

“I’m not unwilling…”

“Then you’re willing?” A glimmer of brightness surfaced in his eyes.

Feng Jiu’er didn’t know how to answer that. Not unwilling didn’t mean she was willing — what she felt for him wasn’t quite that kind of feeling…

She couldn’t find the words to express it. In short — it simply wasn’t that particular feeling. And yet she somehow felt she really ought to be with him.

This head of white hair — was it still not enough to move her heart?

What on earth was going through her own head?

“Alright — I was just joking. Hurry up. Any longer and we’ll be found.”

He pushed the door open and walked out.

Feng Jiu’er followed behind him, watching that head of white hair that looked better and better the more she saw it, and something still ached a little in her chest.

This white hair — it had ultimately come about because of her…

At last she walked forward and fell into step beside him. “Mu Mu…”

“Don’t say anything about repaying me. The only form of repayment I will accept is yourself.”

“……” So some words were better left unsaid.

They turned down a long corridor, then quickly cut into a narrow path, passing through the path and past several floral thickets in the back courtyard — from there they could slip out through the rear gate.

At this hour, there weren’t many people in the back courtyard. Mu Mu knew the layout of this place well and knew exactly which routes to take to avoid the patrol.

What he hadn’t expected was that there was one person they couldn’t avoid — Liuli.

“I’m not here to stop you.” Liuli bit her lip, looking at the two of them, her voice carrying a faint roughness. A pack was slung over her shoulder; now she held it out toward Feng Jiu’er. “Miss Jiu’er, this is some dried meat and provisions I prepared for you. Please take it and share it with the Young Palace Master along the way.”

In truth, the route back to the capital passed mostly through towns, so there was no great need for provisions.

But Liuli’s kindness was something Feng Jiu’er naturally wished to accept. This girl truly had a good heart — what a pity; the goddess’s heart was willing, but the man of her dreams was unmoved.

“Thank you.” Feng Jiu’er took the items, and before she could even sling them over her shoulder, Mu Mu had already taken them from her and hung them on his own.

The corners of Liuli’s eyes stung a little. Watching the Young Palace Master dote on Feng Jiu’er like that — it would have been impossible to say she felt no envy.

But Miss Jiu’er was a good person. As long as she was willing to treat the Young Palace Master well, Liuli could be at peace with that.

“Young Palace Master, the Palace Master and Elder Shi are in the main hall discussing your wedding. If you truly intend to leave, go quickly — any later and you’ll be discovered.”

“Alright.” Mu Mu gave her a nod, and his long arm settled around Feng Jiu’er’s waist. With a light tap of his feet—

In an instant, both figures had swept across the floral thickets of the courtyard and landed atop the high wall.

By the time Liuli turned to look, all she could make out were two silhouettes gliding through the dark of night — one blink later, and they were gone entirely.

Tears finally slid from the corners of her eyes. She had held them back so long, but in the end could hold them no more.

After parting today, she had no idea when she might see the Young Palace Master again. He had barely left, and she was already missing him.

She harbored no great hopes for herself where he was concerned — she only wished to go on seeing him, even from a distance.

In the future, when he and Miss Jiu’er had children, she could help look after them. To spend her whole life that way — that would already be very, very good.

Young Palace Master — when will we meet again?

……

Feng Jiu’er and Mu Mu had truly escaped. They left Mo City and entered Black Tiger Mountain.

The terrain was relatively gentle, but the sky tonight was not favourable — from the look of things, rain was coming.

“Should we find a cave to wait out the rain first?” Feng Jiu’er glanced up and asked.

As she spoke, she lost control of her true energy for an instant and nearly toppled from the treetops.

Mu Mu’s quick eyes and faster hands snatched her back — only then did the girl manage to stand steady again.

“We can’t stop. We have to pass through Black Tiger Mountain and reach the next town. The best way to hide is among crowds — that way we won’t be easily found.”

“Understood.” Feng Jiu’er said nothing more. She gathered a deep breath, set off, and pressed forward.

Mu Mu kept pace just behind her, his gaze soft as he watched her figure grow ever lighter and more fleet.

Her inner energy was steadily releasing, her lightness skill was continuously growing — the Phoenix Mark surfacing within her, bringing about changes she herself had not yet noticed.

But who, in all those years past, had sealed away her Mark? It would have taken someone of extraordinary skill to accomplish that. Back then, at Feng Jiu’er’s side — was there a master of such caliber?