As a junior, speaking so bluntly was far too presumptuous.
But when Feng Xianxian saw how calm Cheng Yao looked, she sensed that something was wrong.
Afraid that saying more would only make things worse, she could only put on a meek expression. “I was just worried about Eldest Sister-in-law after she was gone for so long, so I spoke without thinking. I was wrong, all right?”
Her apologetic tone sounded almost coquettish. Most people would have softened at that.
But Zhan Haochen’s eyes held nothing but disgust. “When my mother and I fell off the cliff and passed out, Sister-in-law went to great lengths to save us with the help of an old hunter.”
His expression was cold. “From now on, anyone who maliciously speculates about Sister-in-law had better not blame me for showing no mercy.”
He wore a somewhat worn moon-white brocade robe. The collar and cuffs had developed a fine, barely visible fuzz, yet they only made his tall, straight figure resemble an even more upright pine.
His brows and eyes had not yet fully lost their youthful softness, but his pupils shone like stars tempered in ice.
His gaze was icy. “Also, I stood outside for a while just now, and I heard everything you all said. You’re willing to share wealth and glory, but not hardship. I’m very disappointed in all of you.”
The youth was like a freshly unsheathed sword, its edge only beginning to show—enough to make people afraid to meet his gaze.
As long as he followed this path, his future would be limitless. No one could afford to offend him.
Everyone looked awkward and somewhat guilty, not daring to say another word.
Shao Yutong had never expected Zhan Haochen to return, much less to appear here with hardly any injuries.
She instinctively wanted to hide, but then thought better of it. Hiding would not solve anything. She pinched herself hard, making her eyes redden as tears gathered in them, and stumbled forward.
Her voice trembled with sobs. “Ninth Cousin, I waited for you by the cliff for so long. When you didn’t come up, I came back to find people to rescue you.”
“My feet were almost worn raw before I finally found my way back, and it took me a long time… I did ask everyone to go save you. Please don’t be angry with me, all right?”
Zhan Haochen shifted aside, avoiding her hand. The movement was not particularly large, but it was unmistakably distant.
He lowered his eyes to look at her.
The young girl’s delicate brows were slightly furrowed, her eyes glistening with tears and the tip of her nose red. She looked utterly pitiful.
Yet he knew only too well what kind of cold, heartless nature lay hidden within that frail body.
“You did ask everyone,” he said. “I heard you. But did you tell them that my mother and I had fallen off the cliff?”
His voice was hoarse, heavy with exhaustion and disappointment. “You watched it happen with your own eyes, yet you didn’t mention it at all. You simply didn’t want anyone to know that you had abandoned my mother and me to save yourself, did you?”
Shao Yutong’s face instantly went deathly pale. Her fingers tightened around her sleeve as she tried to defend herself. “That’s not it, Cousin. Listen to me, it was…”
“Enough.” Zhan Haochen cut her off, his gaze as cold as a frozen pool. “I’m not asking you to save me. But you could at least have cried for help and brought people to rescue us. Yet you did nothing. You wanted my mother and me to die at the bottom of that cliff!”
“On the way back, I thought about it. From now on, I’ll consider it as though I never knew you.”
Zhan Haochen turned around, his back resolute. “You don’t need to pretend to be pitiful anymore. From now on, stay away from my family.”
Shao Yutong stood frozen in place, staring at his retreating figure without a trace of hesitation. She felt as if something important in her life had just slipped away from her.
Her tears truly began to fall, but they could not make him look back.
The corners of Cheng Yao’s lips lifted.
This heroine was rather stupid. She had ruined her destined worshipper’s favorable impression of her so quickly, and Cheng Yao had not even needed to do anything yet.
It seemed Zhan Haochen would no longer be useful to her.
Right—there was also Zhan Haoting…
Cheng Yao instinctively looked over, meeting his eyes. They were like a deep pool of cold steel.
His pupils were so dark that they seemed to absorb all the light around them. Only a faint, imperceptible chill lurked deep within, enough to make anyone uneasy.
Cheng Yao’s heart skipped a beat. She pretended to be unaffected, walked over, and crouched beside him, taking his large hand in hers. “How are you feeling? Is it any better?”
Zhan Haoting’s long fingers curled inward before he clasped her hand in return. His hoarse throat forced out two words: “You’ve worked hard.”
Cheng Yao froze. Then overwhelming delight surged into her eyes. “Your hand can feel again?”
The corner of Zhan Haoting’s mouth lifted almost imperceptibly.
“That’s wonderful!”
Cheng Yao laughed and leaned forward to kiss him on the lips. “My husband is amazing.”
The soft touch landed on him without warning. He stiffened where he sat, his breathing stopping for half a beat.
His long lashes fluttered twice in rapid succession, and the sharp, cold corners of his eyes quietly flushed with the faintest hint of red.
He was shy!
A smile spread through Cheng Yao’s eyes. Deliberately, she leaned in a little closer.
His body tensed visibly. His pupils contracted slightly, and his long lashes fanned rapidly as he tried to conceal the emotions in his eyes. All his usual severity and authority had vanished without a trace.
Cheng Yao found it amusing. She reached out and lightly brushed her fingertip against his trembling lashes.
When she saw his pupils contract sharply and even the tips of his ears turn red, her smile grew wider. “Husband, are you afraid of me?”
Her words shattered the calm he had been forcing himself to maintain.
He abruptly seized the hand she had been using to tease him, embarrassment and annoyance roiling in his dark eyes.
But when he met her bright, sparkling gaze filled with mischief, the words he wanted to say caught in his throat. In the end, he could only grit his teeth and force out, “Don’t be naughty.”
His voice carried a helplessness he himself failed to notice.
Those eyes that had always seemed to control everything were now fixed firmly on her, as though he wanted to carve her image into his very bones. A burning intensity lay hidden within them.
Cheng Yao tapped the tip of his nose. “Don’t you have anything you want to ask me?”
Zhan Haoting’s Adam’s apple bobbed. With his finger, he wrote two words in her palm: “Hidden guards.”
He had hidden guards following him the entire way. They were his trump card and his secret. Telling her about them was an immense sign of trust.
What he meant was that he had already ordered Xiao Fu to send the hidden guards out to search for people. Everything she had encountered would be reported to him by those guards.
Cheng Yao merely smiled.
Just now, she had sensed two groups fighting not far from the procession.
If she had guessed correctly, one group had come to assassinate him, while the other was his hidden guard detail.
They were fighting with all their strength to protect him, so how could they possibly spare anyone to search for others?
Xiao Fu and Hongxiu had yet to return, after all. That meant the danger had not been dealt with yet.
…
The procession struggled along the rugged, winding mountain road. The surrounding forest was so dense that it blocked out the sky, its interwoven branches and leaves seeming ready to swallow the entire group.
The stifling air pressed heavily against everyone’s chest, making it hard to breathe.
The road beneath their feet was uneven and muddy. Every step was an ordeal.
Those carrying the injured had an even harder time moving forward.
Second Madam Zhan was carried by her three sons in turns, but none of them could go very far before they had to switch.
Old Madam Zhan was carried by several of her sons, while members of the Zhan clan, such as Zhan Yunhe, occasionally took over for them.
The eldest household, however, had it far easier.
On the surface, Xiao Fu and Zhan Haochen were carrying Zhan Haoting. In reality, Cheng Yao was secretly using her spatial teleportation ability. She would move ahead and hide him, let the others carry him for a short stretch, then take over again.
Zhan Haoting’s hidden guards were completely dumbfounded. They had clearly watched her struggle forward while carrying someone, yet in the blink of an eye, she would vanish. Before long, they would discover that she had somehow made it farther ahead.
They could not make sense of it, so they simply assumed that Cheng Yao was a master of lightness kung fu.
