Miracle

The experience of falling off a cliff and narrowly escaping death felt like an absurd dream. Gu Shenwei still felt as if he were in a dream even after returning to the surface. The stone fortress before him suddenly seemed small, as if he could stomp it into smithereens with a single step.

The two great roc birds acknowledged the human as the savior of their chick. Their hostility completely vanished. The male bird even pecked out the eyes of another grey wolf and kindly offered them to the human for consumption.

The chick was overbearing from birth, leaping upward like a ball, trying to snatch the food from its father's beak.

Gu Shenwei made a series of complex hand gestures to "politely decline" the well-intentioned offer. He couldn't help but feel uneasy, knowing that his life could be forfeit if the roc birds misunderstood. Yet, there was no way he could eat the bloody wolf eyeballs.

The male bird was intelligent and lowered its head to feed the wolf eyeballs to the chick.

Gu Shenwei used many more gestures to express his fondness for the magnificent bird's nest, but explained that he had fallen from above and wished to return.

The roc birds were quite intelligent and quickly understood the human's intentions. The female bird took flight first, seemingly to scout the way. The male bird then gently gripped the human's shoulders with its iron claws and flew below him.

The chick was a bit reluctant. As Gu Shenwei took to the air, it swooped down and pecked his soles fiercely twice.

His feet hurt, and his shoulders ached, but neither compared to the wondrous feeling of flying through the air. Gu Shenwei felt like a kitten being carried in its mother's mouth, afraid to exert any force. Clouds swirled past him layer by layer as he descended. Several times, he had the illusion that he wasn't descending but falling.

Finally, they returned to the ground. The two roc birds nodded majestically at him and quickly flew away, seemingly disliking the stone fortress.

Gu Shenwei collapsed into a heap. The giant cliff was deserted; Shangguan Yushi and Shangguan Ru were gone. The scattered debris was no different from before he had fallen.

After recuperating for a good half hour, he took a deep breath, managed to stand up, and limped past the edge of the giant rocks. Supporting himself against the wall, he followed the alleyway towards the East Fortress gate.

As Gu Shenwei gradually moved deeper into the fortress, the world around him became real again. The hatred, temporarily obscured by the extraordinary encounter, re-emerged with clarity. He was still the young man with a great vengeance to exact; nothing had changed, except for Shangguan Yushi – she had to be eliminated immediately.

Gu Shenwei stumbled for a long time before returning to the stone house. He collapsed onto the kang and immediately fell asleep. With his body covered in wounds, it was too difficult to contemplate a plan for murder.

He opened his eyes to complete darkness. It was late at night, and he still hadn't reported the day's events to Xue Niang.

Xue Niang must be very angry, he thought, and rolled over to sleep again.

He woke up on time the next morning. His entire body was bandaged, the work crude and clearly not done by a doctor. He sat up abruptly. The pain was the same as yesterday, not lessened at all, but his mind was clear, and he could think normally.

The person who had bandaged him was naturally Old Zhang. The taciturn old man had already gone to feed the horses. A large bowl of rice, piled high with meat, sat on the edge of the kang.

Gu Shenwei forced himself to finish all the food, then headed directly to the giant cliff as usual. Since he was still in Golden Peng Fortress, he had to fulfill Huan Nu's duties.

Outside the gate, he glanced towards the direction of the stables. The towering tree of hatred in his heart loosened slightly, but immediately became clouded again. He used the image of Shangguan Yushi to fill the roots with a thick layer of soil.

The giant cliff remained unchanged. Gu Shenwei gathered a few things and was exhausted. His injuries had not healed, so he had to sit under the wall to rest for a while. He sat there until noon.

He couldn't and didn't want to seek medical treatment within the fortress. If the imperial physician didn't give him a good prognosis, he might be sent to Kindling Courtyard to slowly await death.

Sitting here was no different from waiting to die.

As Gu Shenwei was lost in thought, three youths walked in from outside the giant rocks, laughing and talking.

All three were companions to the twins, with the same duties as Huan Nu. They usually arrived late, and today was no exception.

Upon seeing Huan Nu sitting by the wall, the smiles on their faces instantly vanished. Their mouths fell open, and they stood rooted to the spot at the narrow entrance.

"Oh my god!" someone exclaimed. The three youths turned and fled, crowding at the entrance before tumbling out together.

Gu Shenwei was baffled, then understood. In the youths' eyes, Huan Nu was already a "dead man" who had fallen off a cliff.

He had always believed that Golden Peng Fortress was full of hidden guards. If he had walked back to the stone house alive, the guards should have discovered it long ago. Why were the companions still unaware?

Perhaps the news was not flowing properly; the guards might know something but wouldn't necessarily pass it on to a group of young servant boys.

Not long after, the sound of a large group of people running could be heard from outside. As Gu Shenwei stood up, leaning against the wall, Shangguan Ru rushed in.

But like the three companions before her, she froze upon seeing Huan Nu, halting her steps and adopting a posture that was neither fleeing nor challenging. Behind her, countless eyes peered inside, but no one followed.

"You, are you a human or a ghost?"

Shangguan Ru demanded sternly, unable to completely hide her panic.

"If I were a ghost, I wouldn't need to bandage these wounds."

Gu Shenwei said with a smile, finding it amusing.

"He has a shadow!" Ninth Young Master Shangguan Fei shouted from outside. After speaking, he also squeezed in, standing behind his sister and scrutinizing Huan Nu as if seeing him for the first time.

"How are you not dead?" Shangguan Ru still didn't quite believe it.

"I was blocked by trees when I fell. I was stunned for a while and climbed back up myself. By then, you and Young Master Yu had already left."

Gu Shenwei concealed the matter of the roc birds.

Shangguan Ru's expression gradually softened. Suddenly, a brilliant smile appeared on her face, and she ran to Huan Nu's side, taking his hand and saying, "Come with me!"

The two ran out. The youths at the entrance parted ways. They still hadn't fully convinced themselves that Huan Nu was alive, but they all followed from a distance.

Keeping up with Shangguan Ru's running was a difficult task. Gu Shenwei felt that more than one of his wounds had reopened, but he endured it, wanting to know what Ninth Young Master intended.

Outside the East Fortress gate, Qing Nu paced anxiously with five or six people. He hadn't been able to persuade the two young masters to go see a "ghost," and he didn't have the courage to follow himself, so he was as restless as an ant on a hot pan.

Shangguan Ru pulled Huan Nu over the threshold and came face to face with the people outside. Qing Nu looked up sharply. Despite being in his thirties, he still cried out, "Oh my god!" and his legs went weak, causing him to fall into the arms of the men behind him.

Shangguan Ru burst into laughter, her steps not faltering. She continued to pull Huan Nu along, not towards the study hall or Moon Holding Courtyard, but winding through alleys to a courtyard Gu Shenwei had never entered before.

This courtyard was located on the central axis of Golden Peng Fortress. It wasn't large and didn't seem inhabited.

Shangguan Ru pushed the door open and shouted loudly, "Young Master Yu, Young Master Yu, come out quickly! He's not dead."

Gu Shenwei had been wondering why he hadn't seen Shangguan Yushi. So, she had been hiding, fearing revenge from a ghost.

Shangguan Ru called out three times. A trembling voice came from the east wing room: "You, you're not lying to me, are you?"

"No, look, he's alive and well. He's injured, and he still has a shadow. He's definitely not a ghost."

The door creaked open, and Shangguan Yushi poked her head out. She looked terrified. Her usual arrogant and aloof expression was gone, replaced by the same panic as any ordinary fourteen-year-old girl.

"Speak, who are you?" Her voice tried to remain firm, but it only betrayed her nervousness.

"Huan Nu. Young Master Yu, don't you remember me?"

"How are you not dead?"

"I fell off a cliff yesterday, but a tree caught me. I was dazed for a while, and then I felt many people supporting me and talking to me, saying that Young Master Yu was just playing around and that I shouldn't take it seriously..."

Before Gu Shenwei could finish speaking, Shangguan Yushi screamed and pulled her head back, closing the door again.

Shangguan Ru impatiently shook Huan Nu's hand. "It's good that you're okay, but why did you scare her?"

"Ninth Young Master, this servant is telling the truth. I didn't dare to frighten Young Master Yu. Perhaps I had hallucinations when I fainted."

Shangguan Ru seemed to believe him, or perhaps not entirely. She pushed Huan Nu and shouted towards the east wing, "Young Master Yu, come out quickly, or we're coming in."

Shangguan Yushi pushed the door open and walked out, regaining about seventy to eighty percent of her composure. If she had to see a "ghost," the sunlit outdoors was certainly safer than indoors.

"What do you want?"

Gu Shenwei couldn't do anything. He took out a dagger from his robes, held it with both hands, and respectfully offered it to Shangguan Yushi. "This servant is fortunate to be alive. I only wish to serve the two young masters and Young Master Yu for the rest of my life. This belongs to you."

Shangguan Yushi slowly reached out and suddenly snatched the dagger. The brief contact with Huan Nu dispelled her last shred of doubt. This was a person, not a ghost.

"Actually, I didn't mean to... What's the matter, if Ninth Young Master hadn't said..."

Shangguan Ru darted past Huan Nu and grabbed her cousin's arm, interrupting her. "Don't say it, don't say it. Anyway, Huan Nu is fine, and everything is back to how it was."

Gu Shenwei was the opposite of "fine." Covered in wounds, his hatred burned fiercer than ever. If anything was the same as before, it was his resolve to kill every single person in the Shangguan Family.

But he was still a little curious. What exactly had Shangguan Ru said to make Shangguan Yushi so consumed by jealousy that she wanted to kill him?

He didn't ask. On the surface, he had to be a sensible and good servant. Since his master had forgiven him, he had to show gratitude. As for an apology, how could a master apologize to a servant? Such thoughts were best not entertained.

Shangguan Ru, holding her cousin's hand with one hand and her servant's with the other, said with mock seriousness, "We are an assassination team. Only the three of us count. So, from now on, we must trust each other, help each other, love each other, and never betray each other. Anyone who breaks this oath, I... will never speak to them again for the rest of my life."

To this childish oath, Gu Shenwei and Shangguan Yushi both outwardly agreed and repeated it. When they reached the words "love each other," they both unconsciously revealed expressions that said, "Revenge is a gentleman's duty," but fortunately, Shangguan Ru was too happy to notice how unreliable her assassination team was.

An oath? Gu Shenwei snorted inwardly. He had made countless oaths over the past year, but only the first one was truly valid: to kill everyone in the Shangguan Family.

Huan Nu's miraculous survival after falling off the cliff caused quite a stir among the young men. Many people, ignoring Qing Nu's angry glares, deliberately came over to talk to him and touch him, wanting to confirm for themselves that this was indeed a human body.

The encounter with Xue Niang was entirely different.

Xue Niang didn't believe in ghosts. What she was unhappy about was Huan Nu pushing things too far and offending Shangguan Yushi, making it seem like he was solely responsible for the assassination attempt.

She punished Huan Nu with her iron finger, inflicting another internal injury.

Therefore, the next morning, when Gu Shenwei arrived at Giant Rock Cliff alone, he was unable to do any work. He could only lie in the sun, half-asleep, idly pondering how he could get revenge on Shangguan Yushi without implicating himself.

He had no idea that on this very day, he would experience the pain of qi deviation for the first time, and with it, a sliver of guilt over Yao Nu's death.