“The harder I tried to see it, the less clearly it appeared,” Mu Mu said, with no reluctance at all about revealing the limits of his own cultivation.

If he could not see through it, then he could not. Was there anyone who actually could?

His gaze, without thinking, turned toward Jiu Qing.

Jiu Qing, however, simply turned and walked away.

Truly effortlessly aloof — a man without a single companion.

Had he seen through it, or had he not?

Feng Jiu’er stared at his retreating figure, momentarily dazed.

Xue Gu said, “This is only a formation. As for that pattern — there’s no need to look at it. Even if someone managed to see it clearly, it would serve no purpose.”

Feng Jiu’er nodded and looked at Mu Mu. “The mountain scenery here is dangerous. Tell the brothers not to look around carelessly — we must be cautious.”

“Understood.” Having experienced it himself, Mu Mu was well aware of how formidable this formation was.

Though — was the problem only in the distant scenery? Most likely, this was only the beginning.

They pressed on, but the road grew harder and harder with every step. The further they advanced, the louder the wind howled in their ears.

Though Mu Mu had already had Long Eleven and Long Yi pass the order down — no one was permitted to look at the distant scenery — there were always those who could not help stealing a glance or two.

And so all along this stretch of road, occasionally one or two brothers would collapse. Had it not been for Feng Jiu’er’s exceptional medical skill, there was no telling whether the journey could have continued at all.

At last, they reached the onset of night.

“Everyone, find a place and stop to rest,” Long Eleven called out loudly.

The brothers halted. Long Eleven was about to arrange the night watch rotation when Jiu Qing spoke in an unhurried, measured tone: “Tonight, everyone stays together.”

“Yes!” Long Eleven responded immediately and respectfully.

The moment the response left his lips, he caught himself — his manner had been entirely wrong — and hurriedly corrected, “Right, I’ll go and let everyone know now.”

Fortunately, no one had noticed the impropriety of how he had responded to Jiu Qing.

Long Eleven exhaled, and quickly went on his way.

Yanu took out supplies and was preparing to arrange some food for Jiu’er, only to discover that there was not even a stream nearby.

“This whole area is nothing but mountains and stones. Everyone will have to make do with dry rations for now.”

Xue Gu looked at Yanu. “You shouldn’t wander off either. Stay here quietly, and tonight, no one goes anywhere.”

There was strength in numbers. Remaining together, even if bandits came to cause trouble, it would not be such an easy matter.

Who knew what secrets might lie hidden among these strange boulders.

If they ventured in and found themselves unable to find their way back out, they might truly end up trapped there.

Yanu looked at Feng Jiu’er, hesitating slightly.

Jiu’er said quickly, “Dry rations are fine. Don’t go to extra trouble — we need to set off again early tomorrow morning.”

“Then let me at least make you a comfortable place to rest.” But all around them there was nothing but stone — barely a weed or a flower, let alone any trees.

Without branches or leaves, making a comfortable resting spot for Jiu’er to sleep would be no easy task.

Yanu lifted his head and glanced around him.

That was a mistake.

In the faint glow of moonlight, what had just been an expanse of mountains suddenly became the form of a ferocious tiger.

Its razor-sharp claws were aimed directly at him, its gaping maw lunging for him in a single bite.

Yanu’s face went chalk-white. From somewhere he drew a knife — neither he nor anyone could say from where — and slashed it forward.

Qiao Mu was standing just a short distance ahead of him. That slash, had she not reacted in time, would have struck her directly across the face.

“Yanu, what are you doing?” Jiu’er leapt to her feet, clearly seeing that something was wrong with him.

But Jian Yi was already a step faster — a palm strike came down hard on Yanu’s wrist.

With a clatter, the knife fell to the ground from Yanu’s hand, yet he clenched his fist tight and swung a punch at Qiao Mu.

“He’s not himself!” Seeing Jian Yi move, Jiu’er called out urgently, “Don’t hurt him!”

Qiao Mu cried out in alarm as well: “Don’t injure him!”

Jian Yi immediately pulled back that palm — instead, his long fingers descended, fingertips pressing down on Yanu’s shoulder.

Yanu was instantly subdued, stripped of all capacity to resist.

Feng Jiu’er had already drawn her silver needles. A long needle touched lightly to the Tianmen acupoint at the top of Yanu’s head, then was immediately withdrawn. She then pressed on several acupoints behind his ears and pinched hard at the philtrum point below his nose.

A sharp, stinging pain jolted Yanu toward clarity. Combined with the unblocking of his acupoints, the murky confusion in his eyes slowly gave way to lucidity.

He exhaled a long breath. Yanu’s gaze met Feng Jiu’er’s, and he was struck by a sudden wave of feeling — he immediately pulled her toward him, drawing her to his side.

“Yanu…”

“There’s a tiger!” Yanu’s breathing was ragged. Yet once he had Jiu’er pulled to his side, he found no trace of any dangerous beast in the surrounding area.

What he found instead was everyone staring at him with strange expressions.

Yanu pressed his lips together, and quickly came to his senses. “Just now I…”

“You saw a tiger?” Jiu’er looked at him briefly, then shifted her gaze to Xue Gu.

“It’s the formation,” Xue Gu said, glancing once toward the distance before withdrawing her gaze.

She now knew full well how formidable this formation was. Unless absolutely necessary, she would not look closely at anything.

With Xue Gu’s level of cultivation, as long as she did not look intently, she would be unaffected.

Qiao Mu stepped forward, eyes fixed on Yanu’s face — somewhat pale in the moonlight.

That face, in the silver light, held an unusual stillness — a quality that stirred something in the onlooker that could not quite be put into words.

“Are you all right? Were you hurt just now?”

Yanu looked at her, and in an instant recalled what he had just done. At the time he had had no idea what was happening — but now, it was all clear.

“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you just now?”

“No, no — I’m tough as nails! How could something like that hurt me?”

Jiu’er nearly rolled her eyes at Qiao Mu. Did this girl not know that sometimes a young woman should let herself seem a little vulnerable?

“Tough as nails”? If she wanted Yanu’s sympathy, saying something like that was certainly not the way to go about it.

But Yanu was staring at Qiao Mu’s face, his expression heavy with remorse. “I’m sorry. Your face…”

Everyone had been too anxious just now to notice — there was, in fact, a faint bloody mark on Qiao Mu’s cheek.

She raised a hand and touched it. The moment she felt the blood on her fingers, her knees nearly buckled with fright!

“I… I’m disfigured!” Qiao Mu stared wide-eyed. This time, she was genuinely terrified.

She had never been particularly pretty to begin with. Though she could not be called plain, standing beside someone like Xiao Yingtao or Jiu’er, she certainly ranked several levels below — and had none of the feminine grace they possessed.

And now — disfigured! Yanu would definitely find her even less appealing!

Qiao Mu was on the verge of tears. She had never cared in the slightest about her own face before. But now — she wasn’t sure whether it was because she had someone she wanted to be liked by — she found herself going soft in ways she never used to.

“I… I’m fine,” she said hastily. Not wanting to lose composure in front of Yanu, she spun on her heel and fled. “I’m tired — I’m going to rest.”

Yanu looked at Jiu’er for a moment, then looked again at Qiao Mu’s retreating figure. Something uneasy stirred quietly in his chest.

He knew full well the force behind that slash. Even though he had put no inner energy into it, he had still swung with genuine strength.

That the blade had not taken Qiao Mu’s life was already a mercy beyond measure.

But in the end — someone had been hurt.