He dared not hold it, for fear of hurting him.

"Heh..." The boy laughed, gripping his fingertips with all his might: "Alright, Ling Qing, if there is an afterlife, I will go back with you. You must live well and wait for me to come back to you in the Cold Imperial Palace. At that time, you must protect me, as promised for all eternity."

"Don't worry about the next life, I'll take you away now." Black Owl saw the light gradually fading from the boy's eyes, and his heart turned cold. He hugged him without thinking.

The bloodstains on the boy's body stained his white clothes red, like blooming red plum blossoms.

"Ling Qing, there's no going back." The young man gripped his hand tightly, leaning against him, and said with his last strength, "Don't hate her, don't seek revenge for me; when I return, I'll find you a good girl who can believe in us. You will always be the aloof and noble Ling Qing, and in my heart, you will always be..."

The cold fingers loosened and fell down.

The boy's clear phoenix eyes closed forever, never to open again.

Black Owl felt as if a thousand arrows were piercing his heart. The pain of being torn apart by invisible torture made him feel as if the world was collapsing. He opened his mouth to scream, but could not make a sound.

A long, long time later.

The man's remorseful low growl filled the blood-red world, echoing across the endless wilderness: "I didn't, I didn't... I should have kept you from the beginning, Yunxiao, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I wanted to keep you... You said you were willing to come with me, I should have taken you then... I let you down, I burdened you, I'm sorry..."

In a dark room.

Black Owl's narrow, almond-shaped eyes were slightly closed. Beneath his thick, upturned eyelashes, two drops of bloody tears slowly seeped out. His brows were furrowed, and his forehead was covered in fine sweat. He was on the verge of collapse.

Ji Fengyao was worried about Hei Xiao, so she rushed back to the mansion without stopping.

After settling in at the mansion, she went to the secret room to check on Black Owl's situation.

Seeing the blood and tears on his face, and the signs of him going mad, Ji Fengyao exclaimed, "I knew you were too sensitive and couldn't handle it yourself. Luckily, I came back in time!"

As she spoke, Ji Fengyao quickly took out a spirit stone and held it in her hand. Then, she used silver needles to assist him with spiritual power, gritting her teeth to help him guide the spiritual power in his body and unblock his acupoints.

Two hours later.

Ji Fengyao, who was already weak and had not yet recovered, finally pulled Hei Xiao back from the brink of going berserk just before he reached his limit.

Black Owl opened his eyes groggily, and through the haze, he saw the little bandit's clear phoenix eyes. A joyful smile appeared on his lips, and he hugged the little bandit tightly, calling out repeatedly, "Yunxiao, Yunxiao, you've come back to find me, you've finally come back to find me!"

Ji Fengyao: "..."

Who is Yunxiao?

Why does this name sound so familiar? I feel like I've heard it somewhere before.

"Brother Xiao Chen, wake up, it's me, Feng Yao." Ji Feng Yao knew that Hei Xiao must be having a nightmare, so she used a wake-up spell to whisper in his ear. It wasn't that she was deliberately being so gentle, but rather that she was too weak and could only manage to use the last bit of her spiritual power to produce this faint sound.

The three maids had almost finished tidying up the courtyard.

After Lin Shuang set out the food, she went to the secret room to call Ji Fengyao to eat.

As they reached the corner of the dark room, Lin Shuang was about to call out to Ji Fengyao.

Suddenly, she saw Ji Fengyao and Hei Xiao embracing each other, looking extremely "obsessed" and "intoxicated".

Ji Fengyao whispered tenderly in Hei Xiao's ear.

This intimate scene had appeared countless times in Lin Shuang's dreams; it was something Lin Shuang longed for but could never obtain no matter how hard she tried!