Please do not die.

Soon, Wan Changning came down, and the group boarded a carriage and left the city.

An hour later, they arrived at a desolate and uninhabited deep mountain.

Deep in the mountains, there was a cliff that looked as if it had been cleaved in half by a single blade, with the two halves pulled apart by a distance of several hundred zhang.

Both sides were sheer precipices, thousands of ren deep, wreathed in clouds and mist.

"Is this the Heart-Testing Bridge?" Lin Yuejiao pointed at the iron chain bridge and said, "Such thin chains, swaying back and forth like this—if you fell, you wouldn't even hear a sound."

Wan Changning smiled and said, "Don't worry, I've tested this bridge many times; it's very sturdy. As long as you walk to the opposite cliff, you will find the passion flowers growing there."

Standing beside Lin Yuejiao, Rong Yu reached out and took her hand.

Lin Yuejiao was startled and tried to pull her hand back, but her struggle was in vain.

"You?" Lin Yuejiao could only glare at him. This fellow was so rude.

Rong Yu looked back at her expressionlessly and coolly. "Your leg injury has not yet healed. If you accidentally fall, how will you pluck the passion flowers?"

*I injured my leg, not my brain,* Lin Yuejiao muttered inwardly. *There are iron chains blocking both sides, how could I possibly fall?*

Standing before the Heart-Testing Bridge, Wan Changning’s expression was no longer as natural as it had been at the Rouge Pavilion. Seeing them flirt aroused a flood of memories within her, stirring up a deep and bitter hatred.

Holding Lin Yuejiao’s hand, Rong Yu stepped onto the Heart-Testing Bridge.

The Heart-Testing Bridge swayed and wobbled, making one feel as though the thin chains could snap at any moment.

Looking down, the clouds and mist blocked the view, rendering the abyss bottomless.

"What is going on?" Lin Yuejiao wrapped her arms around Rong Yu's waist, barely managing to stand steady, and shouted back at Wan Changning, "What is wrong with the bridge?"

Wan Changning looked at them as well, her smile completely gone, her voice icy. "This bridge can only bear the weight of one person. The two of you have exceeded the limit. Therefore, it is about to fall. Don't even think about running back or rushing to the other side—it's too late."

"Wan Changning! We have no enmity between us. Even if you don't want to give us the Stone of the Heart, why lure us here to murder us?" Lin Yuejiao was furious.

With no prior grudges, this woman had suddenly decided to kill them—something even Lin Yuejiao had not anticipated.

Who would have thought that someone, over a minor disagreement, would try to kill two total strangers?

Moreover, Wan Changning had not recognized their identities at all, so it certainly couldn't be a past feud.

"Miss Lin, you are wrong. I do not want to kill you, and I told you both earlier: once you come, do not regret it." Looking at Lin Yuejiao, a crazed smile appeared on Wan Changning's face. "Do you know why this is called the Heart-Testing Bridge? It tests the heart. Are you not husband and wife? Only one of the two of you can live. Will your husband want you to die, or will he jump down himself? You will find out very soon."

Lin Yuejiao suddenly understood. "All that nonsense about passion flowers is fake! You lied to us!"

"The passion flowers are fake, but the Heart-Testing Bridge is real." Wan Changning smiled in a way that was both pitiful and terrifying. "The man I loved most and I came here once. After that, every year I would bring a man from the Rouge Pavilion who claimed to love me and was willing to die for me to test it out here. But without exception, they all failed. Actually, I really didn't want to bring you two here. I told you before, there's no need to see things too clearly; living in blissful ignorance is a blessing. You chose to come here yourselves, so don't blame me."

Listening to that chilling laughter and hearing the desolation in it, Lin Yuejiao realized this was a woman whose heart had been thoroughly broken by a man—and whose mind had been warped into madness by the trauma.

"Your Highness, this woman was deeply hurt by someone in the past and driven mad. I never expected that we would lower our guard and capsize in the gutter." Lin Yuejiao turned to look at Rong Yu.

At this moment, they were in the middle of the bridge, and the iron chains were snapping even faster. With a series of cracking sounds, the whole thing could plummet down at any second, and flying to either side was simply too late.

The only way out was for one person to jump.

"Your Highness, if it weren't for Yi'er, you wouldn't have been dragged into such a perilous situation because of me. I only ask of you one thing: when I am gone, please take care of my family. With Your Highness around, I believe you can keep them safe for a lifetime." As she spoke, Lin Yuejiao grabbed the edges of the iron chains, preparing to jump.

It wasn't that Lin Yuejiao had developed such deep feelings for Rong Yu that she was willing to die for him; she had been reborn and still had so many things to do. However, she knew herself to be no match for Rong Yu—could she possibly push him down instead?

She couldn't beat him.

Besides, Rong Yu had come this time for Lin Yi, and he truly had been implicated by her.

Wan Changning on the other side was also stunned.

"You haven't even married me; this Prince never takes care of other people's families." Rong Yu pressed a hand firmly onto her shoulder, a smile curving his lips. "Walk back to the cliff yourself. This bridge is in disrepair, and having anyone stay on it is unsafe."

Lin Yuejiao was momentarily stunned, not yet understanding what he meant.

Then she saw Rong Yu flip over the edge, plunging directly into the bottomless abyss.

"Your Highness!" Lin Yuejiao cried out in shock, looking down only to see swirling clouds and mist, with no trace of his figure.

Why?

Rong Yu, why would you do this?!

"Why!" For a fraction of a second, Lin Yuejiao didn't know what she was feeling—a churning mix of emotions—but the man could no longer give her an answer.

Rong Yu had jumped.

He had actually jumped!

Why did it hurt so much in this moment, a heartache so sharp it felt like suffocation?

"Rong Yu!" Lin Yuejiao screamed like a madwoman toward the fathomless abyss. "Say something! How could you possibly die! Answer me! Rong Yu! Rong Yu!"

"Come back! Rong Yu, don't die, come back!" Lin Yuejiao shrieked until her voice broke, her emotions completely collapsing under the bolt from the blue, unable to accept the reality.

On the other side, Wan Changning was also completely dumbfounded.

Lin Yuejiao walked back step by step, staring at Wan Changning standing at the edge of the broken cliff, nothing left in her eyes but icy coldness.

"Kill her, and avenge Rong Yu!"

This bridge—they had crossed it holding hands on the way here, and now only she was left to return, solitary and alone.

Of course she wouldn't foolishly jump down to accompany him. Because she was Lin Yuejiao, and the road ahead was still too long and far; she had to keep walking, to keep going.

Lin Yuejiao walked step by step back to the cliff edge. The psychological shock Wan Changning had just suffered had caused her to break down completely; she sat foolishly on the ground, unmoving.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Lin Yuejiao rushed straight forward, raining a barrage of punches and kicks upon Wan Changning—every blow landing solidly on flesh, every kick striking like a hammer.

"Wan Changning, we had no enmity with you! You are a lunatic." Lin Yuejiao punched Wan Changning hard in the face.

Wan Changning finally snapped out of her trance. Looking at Lin Yuejiao, she murmured, "He actually didn't push you down... He actually jumped himself..."

"Damn you!" Lin Yuejiao's eyes were red with anger as she struck Wan Changning in the face with her elbow again.

Wan Changning offered no resistance, letting Lin Yuejiao beat her as tears streamed down her face. "Ten years, do you know? For ten years, every man has said he would be willing to die for me, but every single one of them chose to push me down instead. Men in this world are fickle—are they all so heartless? Did he simply make the choice any man would make? His words back then trapped me for ten years, and I am not resigned to it! I wanted to find someone to prove that he was the fickle one, that true lovers still existed in this world. But I couldn't find one. Ten years have passed, and I am utterly disillusioned. I never expected—truly never expected—that I would witness this scene one day..."

"You suffered trauma and your mind is diseased—that's your own business! What kind of excuse is that for murdering others? Wan Changning, don't think that just because you have the Stone of the Heart, I wouldn't dare kill you. I don't want the Stone of the Heart anymore; I am going to kill you right now to avenge him." Staring at Wan Changning, Lin Yuejiao tightened her fingers around Wan Changning's neck.

Wan Changning wanted to speak, but Lin Yuejiao was attacking too ruthlessly, choking her until she could only make muffled, whimpering sounds, unable to utter a single word.

"Lin Yuejiao, don't strangle her to death; we still need to ask her the whereabouts of the Stone of the Heart."

A magnetic voice came from behind.

Unable to believe it, Lin Yuejiao stiffly turned her head and saw a figure in white standing tall at the cliff edge, robes fluttering in the wind.

The man possessed a strikingly handsome face that made one fall in love at first sight.

"Your Highness!" Lin Yuejiao almost suspected she was hallucinating. Disregarding everything else, she dashed forward like a flash of lightning, stopping just inches away from him.

She stretched out a hand and lightly touched his arm.

Solid, alive, not a phantom.

In an instant, she could no longer hold back the redness in her eyes.

Unwilling to let him see her tears once they overflowed, she quickly turned her back to him.

Yet, the moment she turned away, she was pulled into Rong Yu's embrace as he wrapped his arms around her. "Lin Yuejiao, I'm not dead. I'm back."

She had heard every single word she shouted earlier.

She had said, *Rong Yu, don't die, come back.*

And he said, *I'm not dead, I'm back.*

At this moment, Wan Changning wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and said, "I truly never intended to kill you. There is an iron net beneath the iron bridge; even if you jump, you won't die. For ten years, I've been pushed down ten times, or else I would have died long ago."

She had only wanted to see how they would choose.

Rong Yu replied, "There is an iron net below, so you didn't want me to die, but you lied to us—you deserve to die."

"I will give you the Stone of the Heart as compensation. You don't need to kill me, and I've lived enough anyway. For ten years, I've wanted to die; what supported me until today was merely the desire to see if true love truly existed in this world. Now that I've seen it, when I descend to the netherworld, I can tell him that he was wrong back then." Wan Changning smiled bitterly.

Returning to the Rouge Pavilion, Wan Changning handed the Stone of the Heart to Lin Yuejiao.

"You don't need to seek death, and we won't kill you. Now that we have the Stone of the Heart, this matter is closed." After a moment of thought, Lin Yuejiao said coldly.