Yinzhen and his entourage hurried into the city. Zheng Yong remained silent the entire way, feeling as if he had overlooked something.

As he approached the city gate and waited for it to open, he became increasingly suspicious. Xu Huaiyu broke through the encirclement, and the imperial guards immediately gave chase, but they vanished in an instant.

Where could the two of them escape to? The villa was surrounded by imperial estates.

Zheng Yong racked his brains. If he were Xu Huaiyu, where would he choose to hide? Almost instantly, he thought of a possibility: the most dangerous place is the safest place.

A separate courtyard.

They captured the man in black and left in such a hurry, Xu Huaiyu... is in trouble.

Zheng Yong's face darkened. Damn it, how could he have overlooked such an important matter?

He immediately wanted to turn his horse around, but when he caught sight of the two riders in front of him, he felt the urgency of the situation and forced himself to speak, "Fourth Master, Thirteenth Master, this servant..."

"Hey, Fourth Brother, someone from your residence has arrived and is waiting for you at the city gate?" Thirteen suddenly asked.

Following the direction of his finger, the real Gao Wuyong saw Yinzhen's figure, rushed over, bowed, and hurriedly reported, "Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! The Third Princess has suddenly developed a high fever that has not subsided for a day and a night. She is now unable to eat or drink, and the imperial physicians are helpless. Consort Nian is extremely worried and has fainted. The Consort has ordered me to ask you to return to the manor immediately."

Yinzhen's expression tightened. He glanced at the prison cart beside him, and Thirteen hurriedly said, "Fourth Brother, leave the rest to me. Third Princess is more important. You should go back to the manor first."

Yinzhen nodded and rode away.

Thirteen watched his fourth brother's figure disappear through the city gate, then, as if remembering something, asked Zheng Yong, "By the way, Guard Zheng, what were you trying to say just now?"

"It's nothing. I just remembered that there is still one thing to finish. I will leave the interrogation to the Thirteenth Prince. Thank you for your trouble. Farewell."

Zheng Yong clasped his hands in a fist salute, then spurred his horse back along the same route.

Thirteen was slightly taken aback. Unfinished business? What else in the villa required this mysterious imperial guard to personally handle? Strange.

Fourth Brother kept Zheng's identity a closely guarded secret, which only fueled his growing curiosity.

When Zheng Yong arrived at the villa, the garden was quiet and silent. This shouldn't be the case; even if someone was asleep, there should still be some presence in the house.

He searched the garden inside and out, and finally found Qingyun and the others hiding in a secluded storeroom.

"Where is your master?"

Xiao Shunzi helped Qingyun up, his face contorted with grief. "Guard, we don't know what's wrong with our master. Two men in black have hidden in the garden. They're fighting fiercely with our master, Li Yi and Li Er. Our master won't let us out, and we don't know where they are."

Just as I expected.

"They won't be coming back. You can go back to your rooms and wait for my news," Zheng Yong instructed. He took out the Scent-Seeking Butterfly from his sleeve. It was familiar with Nan Yi's scent and could easily find it as long as the distance wasn't too great.

At this moment, Nan Yi was hanging on a tree branch on the edge of a cliff. For half an hour, all he could hear was the whistling wind, and there was nothing but silence.

Her hands, exposed to the air for so long, were freezing cold; her fingers were stiff and numb. Beneath her feet lay a bottomless, dark valley. Not wanting to die, she could only instinctively grip the tree branches tightly.

Nan tried countless times, but there was no foothold on the cliff face. It was too dark; he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Going up or down seemed impossible.

She couldn't hold on much longer. If no one came in another half hour, she feared she would perish here.

Hopefully, Qingyun and Xiaoshunzi can successfully notify Fourth Uncle and have him send people to search for and rescue her.

Li Yi and Li Er were also at a loss. Xu Huaiyu's strength made them dare not underestimate him. While they were focused on dealing with Xu Huaiyu, they did not notice that they had become separated from them.

When she kicked Xu Huaiyu away, Xu Huaiyu grabbed her, and she fell down as well, but luckily a tree branch stopped her.

For now, this not-so-thick branch that extends horizontally from the cliff face and bears her entire weight and hopes is still a reliable option.

Time passed second by second, her arms grew sore and numb, and she almost lost her grip on the branches several times. She wanted to climb up the branches, but she was worried that the branches could not support her weight.

Why hasn't anyone come yet? Is it because Xiao Shunzi hasn't found her, or because Fourth Uncle has already set off and is on his way to find her?

With that thought, she told herself that she had to persevere and not just die like that.

The key point is that if you fall, the way you die is too gruesome. You might have your brains splattered, your bones shattered, or you might become a wandering ghost.

Suddenly, a blurry image appeared in Nan Yi's mind: who told her that those unclaimed souls and those who died unjustly, especially those who could not be buried, would not be able to be reincarnated and would only wander in the underworld forever until their souls dissipated and finally turned into a wisp of resentment.

The underworld's heavens have remained perpetually gray and gloomy for millennia, likely due to the deep-seated resentment within. Even though one person once made a grand vow—"I will not become a Buddha until hell is emptied"—he…

What about him?

Nan shook her head, wondering why she had thought of this. It was completely inexplicable.

Her fingers grew weaker and weaker. She glanced at the dark ground beneath her feet and gave a bitter smile. Despite repeatedly telling herself to persevere, her hands were already too weak to do anything.

She looked up at the sky above, and as she was about to die, Nan Yi realized that she wasn't sad at all.

Soon I'll be going back. A strange, intense excitement rose in Nan Yi's mind. This time I'm really leaving. To hell with the Qing Dynasty, heh heh, farewell, Fourth Master, Ah Tang Xiao Xi...

She slowly released her grip, closed her eyes, and a joyful smile appeared on her lips as she waited for the feeling of weightlessness to come.

"Nan Yi"

"Nan Yi"

"……wipe!"

The sound suddenly entered his ears, and Nan Yi, who was falling rapidly, instinctively reached out and grabbed anything he could grab.

"Nan Yi"

"Damn it, I can't even die if I want to." She clung to a protruding rock on the cliff face, stopping her fall, and gasped for breath, clearly quite angry.

Why is it so hard to find a way to die?

Judging from the voice, it was undoubtedly Zheng Yong; only he could find himself in the pitch-black wilderness.

Should she respond or not?

Nan Yi was conflicted. She fell silently down, bidding farewell to this world forever... She looked up at Zheng Yong, who was screaming at the top of his lungs, and felt inexplicably guilty.

Leaving like this feels a bit unfair to Zheng Yong, who went to great lengths to find her in the middle of the night.

At the edge of the cliff, Xunxiangdie chased to the edge, flapped its wings and stopped moving. Zheng Yong's face darkened. Nan Yi... had fallen off the cliff.

He was late.

Upon hearing the news, a deep sense of guilt overwhelmed him instantly. It was all his fault for reacting too late and causing Nan Yi's distress.

Recalling how he met her, as if it had happened just yesterday, he walked with deep regret to the edge of the cliff, where sand and pebbles rolled down his feet.

Below the cliff, the person hanging on the rock face was doused with mud and sand. Sand flew into his mouth, and Nan Yi coughed out suddenly, "Cough cough~ ptooey, ptooey."

Zheng Yong, a master of internal martial arts, naturally didn't miss the sound from below the cliff. Overwhelmed with shock, his voice became exceptionally shrill, "Nan Yi, was that you? You're not dead?"