Looking at it for too long becomes addictive.

"If it pounces on us later, we run in opposite directions. Whoever can escape will survive, and the rest is up to luck." Lin Yuejiao fixed her gaze on the tiger, lowering her voice as she instructed Lin Zijin.

Lin Zijin bit her lower lip, tears swirling in her eyes. "Eldest Sister, I'm sorry. It's all because of me that you're in danger..."

"If I were the one missing, Zijin would have come to look for me too, wouldn't she?" Lin Yuejiao smiled.

At that moment, the tiger could no longer restrain itself and lunged forward fiercely.

Lin Yuejiao aimed the dagger in her hand straight for its neck. The sharp blade sank in only a fraction before jamming into the bone.

Not expecting this single blow to have much effect, Lin Yuejiao shoved Lin Zijin aside and shouted, "Run!"

With that, she spun around and bolted as well.

Provoked by the pain of its injury, the tiger flew into a frenzy. With a roar, it raised a paw and swiped viciously toward Lin Yuejiao's face.

In a split second, just as the tiger's razor-sharp claws were about to descend, a figure plummeted from the sky and threw himself over Lin Yuejiao.

He faced Lin Yuejiao directly. Three thousand strands of silver hair cascaded like a waterfall, and he wore red robes like an enchanting demon. His handsome face was ice-cold, and his deep, dark pupils resembled bottomless whirlpools possessing a soul-capturing allure.

The tiger's claws, which should have raked across Lin Yuejiao's face, landed squarely on his upper left shoulder.

"Your Highness..." Lin Yuejiao stared at him, his sudden appearance feeling like an illusion.

Rong Yu wrapped one arm around her waist while raising a long sword with the other. Without looking back, he reversed his wrist and hurled the blade backward. The sword seemed to possess eyes of its own, piercing straight through the tiger's heart and leaving a gaping hole.

His gaze remained fixed on Lin Yuejiao's face and body, ensuring she was completely unharmed before his expression softened back to its customary serenity.

"You?" Lin Yuejiao instinctively raised her hand, her fingertips brushing against Rong Yu's handsome cheek. The cold sensation was real.

It was real!

Coming back to her senses, Lin Yuejiao hastily pulled her hand back, but the man had already caught her wrist. His brows furrowed when he noticed the several bloody scratches left by thorns on the back of her fair hand. "You're scratched?"

"Just scraped by wild grass a moment ago, it's nothing..." Lin Yuejiao began, before suddenly freezing. Wait?

Can the Prince see in the dark too?

Are all martial arts masters this formidable?

Rong Yu casually retrieved a white jade bottle from his robes and sprinkled a small amount of white powder onto the scratches on Lin Yuejiao's hand. Lacking gauze, he reached out to tear off a corner of his own garment to bandage her, but Lin Yuejiao quickly stopped him. "Your Highness, I have a handkerchief..."

With that, using her uninjured hand, she fished a pristine white silk handkerchief from her bodice and handed it to Rong Yu.

She offered it so he wouldn't have to ruin his clothes.

Rong Yu accepted the white silk she extended, catching a faint, delicate fragrance that carried her scent.

Rong Yu glanced at Lin Yuejiao, calmly tucked the handkerchief into his own robes, and proceeded to tear a long strip from the edge of his sleeve to bandage her wound.

Lin Yuejiao was dumbfounded.

Wait a minute, my handkerchief?

A moment later, after the bandage was secured, Lin Yuejiao suddenly recalled the earlier claw strike. "Your Highness, are you injured? Let me see."

"Are you certain you want to strip off my clothes to take a look?" Rong Yu raised an eyebrow.

Lin Yuejiao choked instantly.

Why did those words make her sound like a rogue? Who wanted to strip off his clothes? It wasn't as if she hadn't seen them before.

Wait, what was wrong with that? What kind of messy thoughts was she having?

"I'm fine." Seeing her struck speechless, the corners of Rong Yu's lips curved upward.

Lin Yuejiao looked at him and asked, "How did Your Highness come to be here?"

Before her voice had even faded, the sound of a crowd approaching echoed through the trees. The man in the lead was none other than Li Moqian. Upon catching sight of them, he let out a relief-filled sigh and said, "We finally found you. Fourth Miss, Seventh Young Lady, are you alright?"

As it turned out, after parting ways with Lin Yuejiao and the others, Li Moqian had stumbled blindly to the front gates of Black Wind Fortress, only to discover that the forces attacking the stronghold belonged to Rong Yu.

"It was so perilous! Just a moment ago, Eldest Sister was almost hurt. Your Highness, thank you, thank you so much," Lin Zijin said earnestly, her eyes red-rimmed. Her blood had run cold and she had felt struck by lightning when she watched the fierce tiger pounce toward Lin Yuejiao earlier.

Lin Yuejiao also looked at Rong Yu. "Thank you."

She did not wish to owe him any favors, yet this time, she had no idea how she could ever repay him.

With too many words of gratitude stuck in her throat, those two were all she could manage.

Rong Yu's gaze lingered on her, his expression still mild, though inwardly he mused that this young woman had previously insisted on settling accounts and clearing all debts with him every single time, yet now she failed to mention it at all.

"Bring him forward," Rong Yu said, turning his gaze toward the guards at his side.

Yun Jian dragged forward a heavily bound man and tossed him before Lin Yuejiao. It was the One-Eyed Dragon.

"Who is the person behind you?" Lin Yuejiao demanded, her tone carrying an unbidden authority.

She had heard every word he uttered before he went to rescue Lin Zijin earlier.

There was a woman behind him who wanted to sever Lin Zijin's hands.

The One-Eyed Dragon chuckled. "Just kill me. I won't say a word."

"Even if you refuse to speak, I can guess seven or eight parts of it," Lin Yuejiao's gaze turned icy. "My seventh sister has been raised in the inner courtyard since childhood and has no enmity with anyone. Aside from the ivory bamboo token, only her association with Li Moqian could provoke such jealousy and hatred. If someone feared that Zijin had obtained the token and wished to prevent her from participating in the selection to eliminate a rival, they wouldn't go so far as to cut off her hands. At most, they would have locked her away somewhere for a few days to make her miss the evaluation. To insist on severing her hands means treating Zijin like a mortal enemy."

Lin Yuejiao sneered. "My earlier probing was spot on. When I exposed Li Moqian's identity, you didn't dare lay a hand on him, likely because you were afraid of incurring the wrath of the person behind you. Naturally—had you harmed the man beloved by your mistress, you wouldn't have needed us to act; you could have killed yourself in apology."

"To my knowledge, there are two women who are deeply infatuated with Li Moqian and have harbored a long-standing jealousy toward my seventh sister. The first is Lin Qingxu. Frankly, I suspected her more at first, given our grievances within the Lin family. But the moment I saw you, I knew it couldn't be her; Lin Qingxu commands no men of your caliber. Besides, Lin Qingxu lost her mind and has yet to recover," Lin Yuejiao stated.

When Lin Zijin went missing, Lin Yuejiao's very first thought had been that Lin Qingxu was behind the foul play.

"The second is Si Yingxi. However, for the foremost talented woman of Xinzhou to entangle herself with bandits truly overturns her pristine reputation," Lin Yuejiao remarked, casting a mocking glance at the One-Eyed Dragon.

The One-Eyed Dragon's expression darkened. "Guess all you want. You'll never guess correctly."

"Still trying to put up a front? Did you really think I wouldn't know Si Yingxi hired you?" A harsh voice rang out as Sang Lin strode forward and delivered a kick to the One-Eyed Dragon's ribs. "Did you think that because I take money to do jobs, I wouldn't bother checking who the employer was? I watched the one who hired you walk right through the gates of the Si residence with my own eyes! I didn't expose it earlier because I didn't want to blow our cover, but what you pulled was despicable. I treated you like a brother, and yet you were a spy?"

The One-Eyed Dragon's expression shifted drastically. "Y-You... how did you know..."

"As I said just now, I intended to use Lin Zijin to strike a bargain with the Lin household, and yet you planned to chop off her hands—betraying me? Heh, betrayal brings only one end: death." Enraged, Sang Lin drew his blade, intent on carving a pair of holes into the One-Eyed Dragon.

Yun Jian intervened, "He is a prisoner of war. Since when do you have the right to act presumptuously in front of the Prince? The man captured by His Highness is not for you to discipline."

Though Sang Lin wanted to retort, the sight of Rong Yu instilled in him a deep sense of caution.

Li Moqian had never imagined that the person behind the assassination plot was Si Yingxi, nor that Lin Zijin had been targeted solely on his account. His typically gentle face grew clouded with anger. "I never expected this matter to stem from me, causing Seventh Young Lady such terror and dragging Fourth Miss into danger as well. I will certainly not let Miss Lin Zijin suffer this ordeal in vain."

Lin Yuejiao replied, "Si Yingxi certainly wouldn't leave behind any evidence implicating herself; Young Master Li need not push yourself. There are countless people in this world who adore you, and I daresay many fight and claw out of jealousy over you. How could something like this possibly be blamed upon Young Master Li?"

"That's right, Young Master Li, it was simply my own foolishness that allowed me to be tricked. It is entirely my fault and has nothing to do with Young Master Li," Lin Zijin hastily echoed.

Li Moqian said no more, but he had already resolved to deal with Si Yingxi.

"This man is yours to dispose of," Rong Yu told Lin Yuejiao, gesturing toward the One-Eyed Dragon.

Lin Yuejiao offered Rong Yu a faint smile before turning her attention to Lin Zijin. "Zijin, he is entirely at your disposal."

"I..." Lin Zijin froze; this was her first time encountering such a situation.

"An eye for an eye. Sever his hands and send him to the authorities," Lin Zijin said through clenched teeth.

Lin Yuejiao pressed her lips into a smile. "Very well."

Lin Zijin possessed a kind heart and sharp intelligence, qualities Lin Yuejiao appreciated, but she detested those whose kindness crossed into foolishness, meeting malice with virtue. Fortunately, Lin Zijin was no fool.

Showing no leniency or misplaced charity toward enemies was the proper way.

"I'll handle it!" Sang Lin volunteered eagerly, harboring a reservoir of fury toward the fellow who had betrayed him.

Rong Yu offered no obstruction. With a flash of steel, Sang Lin brought his blade down and cleanly severed both of the One-Eyed Dragon's hands.

Li Moqian's injuries could brook no further delay. Once Lin Yuejiao and her sister regrouped with the others, the party descended the mountain together. Shang Lu shared a carriage with Li Moqian to administer treatment. Fretful over his condition and abandoning all maidenly modesty under the guise of assisting Shang Lu, Lin Zijin remained inside that same carriage.

Consequently, Lin Yuejiao and Rong Yu found themselves sharing a carriage alone.

The procession moved in a grand, sweeping march toward the foot of the mountain.

"I hadn't expected Your Highness to be suppressing bandits in these parts. Thanks to your timely arrival, we were rescued," Lin Yuejiao said politely.

Privately, she figured Rong Yu was certainly not engaged in mere bandit suppression, though she naturally had no intention of prying into his secrets.

Before Lin Yuejiao could ask further, Rong Yu spoke in a soft, elegant tone. "Sang Lin is the son of the sole survivor who escaped from the Azure Dragon Stronghold years ago."

"What?" Lin Yuejiao stared at him in utter astonishment.

As it turned out, Sang Lin's father had been the accountant for the Azure Dragon Stronghold back in the day.

Originally a scholar, he had once been captured and dragged up the mountain. When his impoverished family failed to pay the ransom, the band of thugs plotted to sell him into a brothel as a male companion.

Judging by Sang Lin's appearance, his father must have been quite striking in his youth.

*Clatter—*

Just as the two of them were discussing the Cheng family case, the left wheel of the carriage inadvertently wedged into a deep depression along the rugged mountain path. The carriage body jolted violently, tipping sharply to the left before settling heavily, wedged at an angle inside the pit.

Lin Yuejiao, who had been sitting on the right side, was flung forward by the sudden tilt, crashing directly into Rong Yu opposite her.

Rong Yu let out a muffled groan, yet instantly extended his arms to clasp Lin Yuejiao to his chest, preventing her head from striking the wooden carriage wall.

"Your Highness..." Completely unprepared to plunge straight into his embrace, Lin Yuejiao panicked and tried to scramble away, only to find herself firmly pinned in place by his arms.

"Don't move, or the carriage will overturn," came his low, magnetic voice.

Lin Yuejiao realized the truth of his words; the carriage was currently suspended at a half-slant and could easily flip over at the slightest shift.

From outside came Yun Jian's anxious voice. "Pardon my incompetence, Your Highness; the wheel accidentally caught in a rut. Please wait a moment, I shall have it freed directly."

"Mn," Rong Yu acknowledged.

The convoy ground to a halt as several guards steadied the carriage to prevent it from rolling over while others fetched tools to extricate the wheel.

Lin Yuejiao remained rigidly plastered against Rong Yu's chest.

This was not the first time she had been pressed this close to him, but previous encounters had all occurred under extraordinary circumstances, leaving no room for idle thoughts.

Only this time, confined within the narrow carriage with just the two of them, body pressed against body, a thick, sultry ambiguity began to brew.

His physique, his scent, the cascade of silver hair falling across his shoulder, his deep, intoxicating gaze, and his breathtakingly handsome face.

Their eyes locked.

Lin Yuejiao lowered her gaze, lacking the courage to hold his look.

Rong Yu was simply too arresting; gazing at him too often threatened to become habit-forming.

A sharp tang of blood drifted past the tip of her nose.

"You explicitly claimed you weren't injured," Lin Yuejiao blurted out in accusation, her watery eyes involuntarily simmering with a trace of vexation.

Rong Yu blinked in surprise. "Lin Yuejiao, are you angry?"

Following the tiger attack, Rong Yu had immediately sealed the acupoints around his shoulder blade to stem the bleeding, intending to treat it properly upon returning to Yunsheng Water Pavilion.

He simply hadn't anticipated that Lin Yuejiao's sudden collision would dislodge those sealed points, breaching the dam and causing blood to rush forth like a torrential flood.

"Why would I be angry? I'm not angry at all," Lin Yuejiao averted her face, refusing to look at him.

Her fists clenched tightly, her emotions tumbling into a chaotic mess.

Why had she felt angry just now? Her feelings seemed entirely beyond her control.

Rong Yu chuckled softly, sounding thoroughly amused as his laughter grew increasingly lighthearted.

"Stop laughing. You're straining the tendons in your shoulder, and you're bleeding even faster," Lin Yuejiao muttered, eyeing his crimson robes stained with fresh blood before impulsively pressing her hand against his upper left shoulder.

Warm blood stained her palm, seeping out between her trembling fingers.

For reasons unknown, a nameless flutter of worry bloomed in the depths of her heart.

He was actively bleeding, yet he found it so amusing.

"Lin Yuejiao, this is the first time you've ever been angry with me," Rong Yu murmured, looking down at her, the smile on his handsome face bewitching. "In the past, you never dared to be angry with me. No matter how much I teased you, even when you were grinding your teeth with hatred, you would still put on a smiling face. Seeing you angry now... it's a rare sight indeed."

At that very moment, she was no longer the Lin Yuejiao wearing the mask of a virtuous young lady; she was simply herself.

At that very moment, she was not viewing him as the loyal and righteous Prince, but simply as Rong Yu.

Even if it lasted for only a fleeting moment.

Unwilling to listen to such remarks that threatened to unsettle her state of mind and complicate her emotions, Lin Yuejiao pulled a blank, impassive expression and declared, "Please exercise self-restraint, Your Highness."

Yet as she remained draped across his chest with her slender fingers pressed over the wound on his shoulder blade, no amount of impassive posturing could disguise the utter intimacy of their posture.

*Clatter—*

With another jolt, the carriage was righted by the men outside, returning to an even keel. The curtain at the doorway was lifted, and Yun Jian clasped his fists. "I am at fault for failing in my duty and startling Your Highness. Please forgive me."

"Miss, are you alright?" inquired Yuanwei anxiously from outside the carriage.

Yet the moment she hooked the curtain aside, she was met with precisely this scene.

Lin Yuejiao was sprawled across Rong Yu's embrace with one hand pressed against his shoulder (effectively covering the wound on his upper back), while Rong Yu held her securely in his arms.

Yun Jian was petrified like a stone statue, while Yuanwei gasped aloud, rubbing her eyes in sheer disbelief at the sight before her.