Jiu’er understood perfectly — those were their brothers. If no one went to find them, they truly might never come back.
But Jiu Qing had just said chance.
Regardless of whether he was her Ninth Imperial Uncle or not, Feng Jiu’er knew that if something could make him say the word chance, then the matter itself was unimaginably serious.
A chance — meant even he had no guarantee.
“I’m going with you.”
“No.”
“If someone gets hurt, I can treat them on the spot.” She gripped Jiu Qing’s sleeve with both hands and refused to let go no matter what.
“I’m going with you. Please.”
Jiu Qing looked at her without speaking. Those cold, distant eyes held a refusal that brooked no argument.
Yet Mu Mu, who could never bear to watch Feng Jiu’er suffer, said evenly, “Since you know esoteric formations, there’s no harm in bringing her along.”
They were only going a short distance nearby, after all. Having Feng Jiu’er along might actually give Jiu Qing a measure of additional protection.
This man had just said chance, after all — and the truth was, Mu Mu’s thinking matched Jiu’er’s exactly. A chance meant he might enter and never come out either.
A man like Jiu Qing, once resolved to rescue someone, would give it everything he had. If he couldn’t find anyone, he would press deeper and deeper into the stone forest — he had no instinct to protect himself, out of sheer arrogance.
But with Jiu’er at his side, he would know to value a life. The life he would value was, of course, Jiu’er’s.
As long as he considered Jiu’er, he would not do anything without a guarantee.
Xue Gu had not fully understood at first why Mu Mu would agree to let Jiu’er — who had completely lost her martial arts — follow Jiu Qing. But thinking it through more carefully, she grasped his concern.
He was still worried about Jiu Qing. She simply could not fathom what kind of relationship Mu Mu had with the Ninth Prince.
On the surface, there always seemed to be a certain friction between them. Jiu Qing’s rank was so exalted, yet Mu Mu showed him not the slightest deference.
Yet the moment something truly serious arose, Mu Mu was so deeply concerned for the Ninth Prince’s well-being…
“I’m going with you. That’s final.” Jiu’er gripped Jiu Qing’s sleeve with all her strength, and refused to release it for anything.
Short of him striking her, she would not let go.
She would not allow Jiu Qing to take a chance on anything — at the very least, she would not let him go alone.
Anyone who had spent time with Feng Jiu’er knew she was usually easygoing, but when she became stubborn, she was as immovable as a mule.
Jiu Qing fixed his gaze on her unyielding face. That cold, piercing stare was enough to unsettle anyone.
Yet Jiu’er raised her head and met his eyes without flinching.
Whatever frost lay in them, whatever chill — she was not afraid.
After an indeterminate silence, Jiu Qing pressed his lips together and said flatly, “Let’s go.”
If you looked carefully, you could catch it — a faint trace of helpless indulgence in the depths of those eyes.
Under all the heavens, the number of people who could leave him helpless five times over was probably exactly one — the girl standing right before him.
Feng Jiu’er let out a quiet breath of relief, and kept her grip on his sleeve, walking just behind him.
She looked, for all the world, like someone terrified that her man might suddenly sprint away and vanish.
It was understandable — with Jiu Qing’s current level of inner energy, shaking Feng Jiu’er off would have been effortless.
But this girl was clever enough to know that Jiu Qing would never bring himself to do it.
The two of them stepped into the stone forest. Jian Yi suddenly came running after them. “I’ll go with you.”
“Stay here. If something happens, we’ll need one more person to help keep things under control.”
Jiu’er refused without hesitation. This kind of stone forest was not something that could be navigated by martial strength alone.
Even someone versed in esoteric formations wasn’t guaranteed to handle it — let alone Jian Yi, who knew nothing of such things.
Staying behind meant being one more pair of hands when the brothers started losing their minds.
Jian Yi watched the two figures grow smaller in the distance, until they disappeared entirely into the stone forest.
That small a distance — and they were already gone. To say this stone forest held no strangeness would have been an outright lie.
Jian Yi stared into the depths of the stone forest. Whether it was anxiety or something else entirely, a surge of blood energy began churning in his chest, faint but relentless.
The more it churned, the worse he felt. Every part of him wanted to rush in and see how they were — but he never forgot Feng Jiu’er’s instructions.
He was a member of the Celestial Mechanism Hall. He had to listen to the Celestial Mechanism Hall’s master.
But he so desperately wanted to go in — so desperately he was nearly coughing blood.
“Jian Yi, close your eyes — now!”
By the time Xue Gu noticed something was wrong, Jian Yi’s face had already gone white as paper.
Jian Yi did not react at all. He kept staring into the stone forest, his complexion growing more ghastly by the second, his chest heaving with each labored breath.
Mu Mu strode over in a few quick steps and dropped a hand onto Jian Yi’s shoulder, pulling him back with force.
“What are you doing?” Jian Yi snapped out of it sharply, and nearly threw a punch by reflex.
By some fortune, mid-swing, he recognized who had yanked him back.
Everyone was watching him with undisguised concern. What was going on?
Jian Yi drew a slow, unsteady breath, and only then realized how completely his breathing had unraveled — his energy was in total disarray.
“You were staring at the stone forest. The formation has injured your heart meridian. Sit down and circulate your energy immediately.” Xue Gu said urgently.
Jian Yi froze, then the realization hit him, and he sat down at once to meditate in the cross-legged position.
No wonder his chest had felt so suffocating while he stared at the stone forest — that surge of blood energy relentlessly churning inside him had nearly forced its way out of his throat.
This stone forest was truly this formidable.
He had known to be on guard before, and had not let his gaze linger on the stone forest. But now, with Feng Jiu’er gone inside, and his anxiety flaring — he had fallen straight into the stone forest’s trap.
If Mu Mu hadn’t pulled him back in time, he would likely have gone into a total qi deviation by now.
Everyone exchanged glances, the dread in their eyes deepening.
Jian Yi’s inner energy might not rival Mu Mu’s or Jiu Qing’s in depth, but he was undeniably a first-rate martial artist — even Qiao Mu was no match for him. Yet even someone of that caliber had been so easily struck by the stone forest.
How formidable this stone forest truly was defied all comprehension.
If it had been anyone with a shallower foundation, they would have had their mind completely overtaken by now.
“Xue Gu, what do we do?” Qiao Mu had caught Yanu trying to glance toward the stone forest more than a few times and had stopped him each time.
But Feng Jiu’er was inside, and Yanu was sick with worry — he would inevitably let his gaze drift that way without meaning to.
He had already been struck by the stone forest once before. If it seized his mind again, with Jiu’er absent, there was no telling how they would ever bring him back to his senses.
Xue Gu pressed her lips together. She swept a quick glance around their surroundings, then pulled her gaze back.
She looked at Mu Mu. “Tonight, we will have to guard this ground well. No room for carelessness.”
Mu Mu nodded. A brother had already been gravely wounded from being ensnared — who would dare let their guard down tonight?
The real fear was for those dozen or so brothers who had wandered deeper into the stone forest — and might truly never come back.
Mu Mu couldn’t help but send one last glance into the stone forest’s depths. His inner energy was the deepest of anyone there — yet even for him, staring too long brought a suffocating weight pressing down on his chest.
This time, they had truly met a formidable enemy.