Pei Wuheng watched coldly as the panicked female assassin flailed before him, his expression detached on that stern face carved as if by master artisans.
The warm spring waters enveloped his tall, slender frame.
The once-calm water surface disturbed by Ji Yunsu now rippled in waves with her frantic struggles.
Ripples spread outward in concentric circles, washing against Pei Wuheng’s half-exposed chest, fairer and more pristine than snow.
His deep phoenix eyes held intense vigilance, remaining utterly unmoved from start to finish by Ji Yunsu’s struggles in the water and her cries for help.
“Have you had enough of this act of pretending to drown?”
“If you think feigning weakness will get you close to this prince, abandon that hope now.”
His icy words drifted through the steam-filled hot spring air like shards of frozen debris.
As his voice faded, Pei Wuheng’s powerful legs, planted firmly on the pool floor, moved through the water with leisurely grace, step by step, advancing toward Ji Yunsu.
“Splash, splash…”
Ji Yunsu’s entire face was now submerged. As a complete non-swimmer with no sense of security in the water, she hadn’t heard a single word Pei Wuheng had just spoken.
Driven by survival instinct, she could only continuously thrash at the water, trying to free herself from this predicament.
For a moment, the steamy surface of the hot spring erupted with splashes.
Glittering droplets traced one beautiful arc after another through the air.
Like a celestial maiden scattering blossoms, drop by drop, they landed upon Pei Wuheng’s moist, thin lips pressed tightly together.
Instantly, Pei Wuheng’s distant-mountain-like thick brows furrowed slightly.
A trace of disgust flashed in his profound phoenix eyes. He immediately raised his elegantly long-fingered hand and wiped his mouth forcefully twice.
The water droplets clinging to his flawless jade-like fingers mingled with the splashes stirred up by Ji Yunsu’s flailing hands.
Both were water, intermingled, inseparable.
How could one distinguish yours from mine?
On one side, Pei Wuheng’s eyes filled with revulsion as he wiped away the water Ji Yunsu had splashed onto his cold, transcendent immortal face.
On the other, Ji Yunsu felt she was about to suffocate and die.
In her dazed state, she flailed wildly underwater, clawing at anything.
Suddenly, her hand seemed to grab onto something.
Straight, sturdy—like a leg?
Immediately, Ji Yunsu clung to it as if it were a lifeline, wrapping both arms around it and scrambling upward like an octopus, desperately climbing toward the surface!
Mother and Younger Brother are waiting for me to return—I can’t die!
At the same moment, Pei Wuheng—now used as a lifeline, climbed from leg to back, and tightly embraced—had a face as dark as the bottom of a pot.
The instant he felt violated, Pei Wuheng’s energy surged. With a “boom,” the water around him exploded into a massive crater from a powerful internal force!
Beneath the crater, Ji Yunsu’s bulky figure was exposed.
With the water pressure above her suddenly gone, Ji Yunsu gasped greedily for fresh air like a stranded fish on shore.
Simultaneously, she instinctively looked up toward the figure above her.
As a result, she saw a broad back covered by a cascade of jet-black hair.
Only then did Ji Yunsu realize that the person she had been clinging to like a lifeline, hugging and holding onto, was actually the Ninth Prince!
On her steamed-bun-like face tightly covered by the drenched veil, the only visible features—her clear, beautiful almond-shaped eyes—suddenly flashed with a trace of guilt.
Realizing she was currently draped over the Ninth Prince’s back, her limbs wrapped around his shoulders and lean waist like an octopus, Ji Yunsu immediately released her grip as if electrocuted!
Fortunately, her current position was very close to the hot spring’s edge.
With just a turn, she could cling to the bank.
In the blink of an eye, Ji Yunsu hastily let go of the man and, using the momentum of her descent, her plump body landed with a “thud” as she sprawled by the water’s edge.
“Whew—”
Ji Yunsu let out a long exhale, then pushed herself up with both hands, hoisting her swollen, heavy body nimbly out of the water!
Once ashore, she had no time to satisfy her curiosity about what the Ninth Prince looked like—she immediately took to her heels and fled!
“Thinking of running? Dream on!”
A sharp glint flashed in Pei Wuheng’s profound phoenix eyes as he stared intently at the plump female assassin who had just scrambled ashore and was attempting to escape, his voice low and unyielding as he growled.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Pei Wuheng’s powerful legs, submerged in the hot spring, suddenly exerted force.
With a “whoosh,” he leaped out of the spring water as if taking flight!
Under the moonlight, the man’s bare upper body glistened, while his soaked undergarments clung tightly to his lower body, perfectly outlining the muscular contours of his legs.
Pei Wuheng summoned his Qinggong, swooping down like a falcon hunting its prey, diving swiftly toward the direction Ji Yunsu had fled!
A cold, fierce wind roared behind her.
Feeling the overwhelming, domineering and icy aura closing in, Ji Yunsu shuddered violently.
He’s too strong!
How could this Ninth Prince be the frail royal of legend?
He was clearly a hidden martial arts master!
I’m done for, done for!
This time, I’ve really kicked an iron plate!
As her mind reeled, Ji Yunsu felt the oppressive force drawing nearer and nearer!
Closer!
Closer!
Pei Wuheng’s tall figure swooped down from mid-air, his hawk-like gaze firmly locked onto the woman who had dashed headlong into the bamboo forest.
Seeing this, the thin line of his lips curled into a mocking smile.
Thinking you can hide in the bamboo forest to escape? Overestimating yourself!
A hint of amusement flickered in Pei Wuheng’s deep phoenix eyes as, in an instant, his tall form descended toward the top of the bamboo forest.
His movements were graceful and ethereal, like a Transcendent Immortal descending to the mortal realm, landing silently amidst the bamboo!
Once inside the forest, everything was pitch black.
Although there was moonlight tonight, it struggled to penetrate through the gaps in the bamboo.
Ji Yunsu could only rely on her memory of the way she had come, groping her way forward in the dark as she ran wildly!
“Thud!”
While running, her smooth forehead abruptly collided with an unknown object!
With a “thump,” caught off guard, Ji Yunsu fell backward, landing hard on her rear, the pain making her grimace and grit her teeth.
Before she could even process what kind of “unidentified object” she had just collided with,
Ji Yunsu only felt that familiar sense of oppression looming over her head, like dark clouds gathering overhead.
In the darkness, Ji Yunsu couldn’t see Pei Wuheng and had no idea what was happening around her.
She only felt that the dangerous man was right before her, leaving her with no possible escape!