Sir, be gentle with me!

"Assassinate the daughter of Qingzhou's governor?!"

Mu Yuwei seemed determined to shock them to their very cores. The moment she spoke, both Yin Jiuyou and Qi Shanhe were shaken.

"Yes, and the bounty is extremely high—so high that neither the underworld nor the lawful factions can refuse it!"

Her words plunged the two men into deep silence.

Qi Shanhe and Mu Yuwei, in particular, were natives of Qingzhou.

Naturally, they knew just how much weight the name Zhuge Qing carried.

The cherished pearl in the palm of Qingzhou's governor!

She had been well protected from birth, but that very protection had filled the little girl with curiosity about the world outside.

Zhuge Jingcheng wanted to raise her as a refined young lady, but Zhuge Qing had no interest whatsoever in literary pursuits. She preferred swords, spears, and staffs.

Zhuge Jingcheng had scolded her countless times over it.

Later, he happened to discover that Zhuge Qing had some talent with blades, and reluctantly nurtured it.

As she grew older and gained some fighting skills to bolster her confidence, the little girl's interest in the outside world only grew.

Finally, on the day of her coming-of-age ceremony at fourteen (in ancient times, girls came of age two years later than boys), she ran away, calling it "roaming the world to uphold justice."

One girl, one sword, righting all the wrongs beneath heaven!

To date, she had run away from the governor's residence no fewer than ten times.

"Those soldiers who mobilized in such a hurry earlier must have been looking for Miss Zhuge, right?"

Recalling the scale of the earlier mobilization, Yin Jiuyou and Qi Shanhe grew increasingly grave.

Running away was nothing serious. All of Qingzhou City belonged to the Zhuge Family.

The problem was that these were extraordinary times. Qingzhou's governor, Zhuge Jingcheng, must have learned that someone had set their sights on his daughter.

That was enough to scare the life out of him.

"Have you found out who put a bounty on Zhuge Qing's life?"

Yin Jiuyou asked.

He had started out as an escort guard in his younger years, and knew perfectly well how tempting an astronomical bounty could be in these troubled times.

Especially to martial artists like them, who licked blood from the edge of a blade to make a living.

Enough food each day, warm clothes, and a bed beneath them.

That was enough.

Good and evil sometimes mattered far less.

Mu Yuwei shook her head. "We couldn't find out. But anyone who can offer that kind of money, with the governor's daughter as the target, must hold considerable status..."

Yin Jiuyou's and Qi Shanhe's expressions shifted dramatically.

During the struggle for imperial power years ago, Qingzhou's governor, Zhuge Jingcheng, had chosen the right side, joining the camp of the current empress, Mu Xuehuang. That was how he had risen to prominence.

But it had also earned him enemies among many rebel factions.

Those factions that had backed the various princes years ago had largely been purged, but a hundred-legged insect does not stiffen even in death. Many remnants still survived in the world.

Remnants like those were the most frightening, because they lurked in the shadows and had nothing left to lose.

A man willing to be flayed alive would dare drag the emperor from his horse!!

Rumble...

Just then, a deep, muffled boom sounded in the distance.

It sounded as though something had been shut.

"It's Qingzhou's city gates!"

Mu Yuwei cried out.

Beneath the veil of night, security in Qingzhou City visibly tightened another notch.

A thick, grim air of impending bloodshed filled the streets.

"This is bad. If Qingzhou's gates are shut, we won't be able to leave or rendezvous with headquarters..."

Yin Jiuyou sighed. "It looks like entering Qingzhou City at this critical juncture has dragged us into a clash between political factions..."

"Who has come to kill the governor's daughter?"

"There are roughly three major agencies involved from the Escort Guild: the Flying Eagle Escort Agency, the Starsea Escort Agency, and the Dragon Gate Escort Agency."

All three escort agencies were renowned for their abundance of experts!

"On the Cave of No Worries side, the main figure is the Yin Lotus Cult's holy maiden!"

In these troubled times, all manner of bizarre cults ran rampant.

The Yin Lotus Cult was one of them.

"No one has seen what the Yin Lotus Cult's holy maiden or holy mother looks like. All we know is that they're exceptionally beautiful, able to bewitch anyone, and particularly skilled at using heartless gu to control people's minds."

"Once someone is infected, they obey the Yin Lotus Cult's holy maiden unconditionally, letting her do whatever she pleases with them! Even I wouldn't want to face her..."

Mu Yuwei herself was an expert in hidden weapons, poisons, and disguises. If even she wanted to avoid an encounter, that showed just how troublesome the Yin Lotus Cult's holy maiden was.

Inside the Flower Delight House, the fragrance of cosmetics filled the air.

Liu Ningzhi was still massaging the pressure points on Ning Que's head.

Her movements were practiced and gentle, wonderfully soothing.

On top of that, one sat above the other, with barely any distance between them.

Her face looked all the more breathtakingly lovely. Between her bell-like laughter and her skillful massage, Ning Que grew dazed, seeing double as he gazed at Liu Ningzhi before him.

Liu Ningzhi parted her red lips. "Sir, do you like this?"

"I do."

That was Ning Que's reply.

"I have something you'll like even more, sir..."

Liu Ningzhi giggled, a crimson blush spreading across her pretty face.

Then she began loosening her clothes. Her already loose garment slipped farther down, exposing a snow-white shoulder and a sharply defined collarbone.

Her undergarment offered only partial cover. Her pale, tender skin was as smooth as congealed cream, and a seemingly bottomless ravine peeked through her neckline, the towering, jade-like snowy peaks dazzlingly white.

"Hmm?"

Ning Que: (⊙ˍ⊙)

Girl, a massage is a massage. Do you really have to go this far?

Still, to be fair, greatness does come with capacity...

Ning Que, still a gentleman for the moment, discreetly stole one glance, then two... then many more.

"Don't be shy, sir. I'm yours..."

With a soft giggle, Liu Ningzhi leaned down, pressing her delicate, shapely body against him.

"Come, sir..."

As Liu Ningzhi bent over him, she gently blew a breath toward Ning Que.

A tiny crawling insect actually appeared in Liu Ningzhi's hand, then began making its way toward Ning Que's mouth.

The smile on Liu Ningzhi's face grew increasingly seductive, and her clothes were on the verge of slipping off entirely.

"Hmm? Where did this fly come from?"

Smack!

Yet just as the gu insect was about to enter Ning Que's mouth, he suddenly opened his eyes.

He slapped the gu insect dead.

"Huh?"

For a moment, Liu Ningzhi stared in a daze.

The smile vanished from her face, and she froze on the spot.

Then her eyes widened so far they looked ready to pop out.

What just happened?

The heartless gu was slapped to death?

That couldn't be real, could it?

Liu Ningzhi refused to believe it.

From the moment they had entered, she had played the zither, massaged him, and flirted with him, all for this one moment.

No man should have been able to resist her charms. Who would have any attention left to spare for flies or mosquitoes?

Yet this fellow had spotted it at precisely the wrong moment.

Was it a coincidence?

"Flies in this weather? What the hell..."

Ning Que muttered, then smiled at Liu Ningzhi. "Never mind it. Keep going."

"Ah, all right..."

Liu Ningzhi gave an awkward smile, a cold glint flashing through her eyes.

Just as she was about to release a second gu insect.

A voice sounded beside her ear. "Miss Liu, why don't I attend to you instead?"

Liu Ningzhi's heart jolted. She discovered that Ning Que, who should have been lying in her arms, had somehow sat up.

He rolled over, pinning her beneath him instead, and looked down at her from above.

For some reason, Liu Ningzhi felt uneasy. The situation before her was slipping beyond her control.

But she still did not lash out. Her body trembled slightly. "Sir, you must be gentle with me..."

A cold smile curved Ning Que's lips. "Don't worry. I'll make sure to get in touch with you properly..."

Ning Que's hands traveled steadily upward, crossing lofty mountains and gliding over grassland.

At last, they settled on Liu Ningzhi's snow-white neck.

Both hands slowly closed around her throat, tightening, then squeezing harder and harder...