She stared intently at the approaching bandit, backing away. “Um… can you tell me what you want? Besides my life, I’ll try to get it for you, okay?” 

“Heh,” the bandit raised his knife, his dark eyes gloomy and terrifying. “All I want is your life!” 

Yun Xinyue was so frightened that she raised her arms to briefly shield her eyes, scrambling forward with her hands and feet. 

Quite a while passed. 

The imagined sharp pain didn’t come, but she heard the sound of the knife hitting the ground. 

She squinted, fearfully looking back. 

For some reason, a white circle was wrapped around the bandit’s neck, and two small white tails were flicking out of his mouth. 

He used both hands to forcefully claw at the white thing on his neck, scratching off the skin. The gurgling sound echoed in the empty cave. 

Having grown up in peace, the young woman had never seen such a scene. Her stomach churned, wanting to vomit but unable to, she could only dry heave a few times, using her hands and feet to retreat a few steps, getting further away. 

Seeing the white thing getting tighter and tighter, even digging deeply into the flesh, the bandit’s face was flushed red, with a strange cyan tinge, turning his face into a terrifying demon mask. 

The scene was extremely horrifying. 

What was this?! 

She half-covered her face, almost unable to bear to watch. 

Splash— 

Water splashed nearby. 

A black head slowly emerged from the water. 

Thick eyebrows, curled eyelashes, a straight nose, red lips, collarbones… gradually revealed above the water. 

Only now did Yun Xinyue completely see the other person’s appearance. An androgynous, beautiful face, like a Dunhuang mural, could immediately capture one’s eyes. 

Especially those deep, mysterious eyes, as if they had just been washed by the Milky Way, were particularly dark and bright. 

His long, slightly curly black hair was loose, with a few strands braided, the ends adorned with conical silver ornaments, making crisp, ethereal sounds. 

Splash, splash— 

The young man slowly came out of the water, revealing broad shoulders and a narrow waist under his snow-white undergarment, which clung to his body, as well as his well-defined chest and abdomen. He lifted his slender legs… 

Yun Xinyue’s face turned red, and she quickly covered her eyes. 

Oh no, the white thing became a little transparent when wet. 

Only when the sound of footsteps approached did she slowly move her fingers away. 

Crack, thump. 

The bandit, his neck broken, fell powerlessly to the ground, his eyes bloodshot and wide open. 

Ah! 

How terrifying. 

Yun Xinyue quickly got up. 

The young man lowered his eyes, expressionlessly watching the sated silver snake re-coil around his boots, clinging to the maple leaf and butterfly pattern. 

He opened his mouth and uttered a few cold words: “You’re too noisy.” 

Yun Xinyue subconsciously covered her mouth. 

He glanced at the lifeless bandit, then turned his gaze to Yun Xinyue. 

Yun Xinyue waved her hands frantically, lowering her voice by several degrees: “I’m not noisy. Really.” 

The young man didn’t speak, but focused his gaze on her hands, as if looking at some strange object. 

She felt like she was a piece of pork hanging on a hook, and he was considering which piece to cut off. 

Wuwu. 

The atmosphere suddenly became eerily silent. 

Just then, another bandit, who had been lying in ambush for a long time, came out of the shadows, attacking the young man from behind. 

“Careful!” 

In the critical moment, Yun Xinyue, acting on instinct, pounced forward, pressing the young man’s shoulder and falling to the side. 

Unfortunately, there was only water there. 

Before falling into the water, the young man flung the silver snake in his hand, directly into the attacking bandit’s eyes. 

“Ah—” 

Yun Xinyue heard a scream. 

But she had no time to worry about it. When she struggled in the water, she accidentally bumped into the young man’s lips. His pupils trembled, and he grabbed her neck, surfacing and pinning her firmly to the shore. 

His deep pupils stared at her motionlessly. 

The light inside them, after settling down, was like an abyss, somewhat frightening. 

“S-sorry, I didn’t mean to kiss you.” Yun Xinyue apologized in a panic. “It wasn’t even a kiss, just a bump, you you you… um?” 

Feeling her chin being lifted, and the soft, cool touch on her lips, she was stunned. 

Then, the sound of a large group of people rushing in came from behind. 

“Princess!” 

“Holy Son!” 

The loud shouts stopped abruptly when they saw them. 

Yun Xinyue pushed the young man away with all her might and turned her head to see a general covered in blood, leading several attendants dressed in Xisui attire, along with a group of people in Nanling clothing, stopping not far away. 

Her rescuers had arrived! 

But— 

Holy Son? 

She turned her head to look at the young man who was staring at her intently, thinking, could this be the Miao Jiang Holy Son she was supposed to be seducing? 

She opened the image and compared them. It really was him. 

The warmth on her lips and neck disappeared. The Miao Jiang youth’s eyes darkened even more, somewhat displeased. He grabbed her hand and placed it on his neck. 

He stretched out his slender fingers, pinched the girl’s chin, and brought it close to his eyes. 

“Continue.” 

“Touch me.” 

The Miao Jiang youth didn’t know how to kiss. 

His soft, moist lips pressed tightly against Yun Xinyue’s, unmoving, just touching. 

This time, no matter how she struggled, he wouldn’t let her go. 

She pushed against his shoulders with one hand, messing up the hair that fell to his shoulders, the hollow conical silver ornaments on the ends swaying back and forth, ringing incessantly, mixed with the sound of water. 

“Let go.” 

The young man didn’t listen. One hand gripped her chin tightly, the other held her wrist firmly. His deep eyes, shimmering with the light of the water, stared at her with a hint of confusion, as if he was absorbed in looking at some unsolved mystery. 

The people behind them all lowered their eyes, no one daring to look at them, only the master of ceremonies hesitated to speak. 

But neither Xisui nor Nanling were major powers like the Central Plains, and they didn’t have those rigid rules. 

They turned away sensibly, pretending they didn’t see anything. 

With no other choice, Yun Xinyue had to open her mouth and bite his lip hard. When he flinched in pain and was stunned, she plunged into the water and came ashore on the other side. 

Unfortunately, she came ashore facing the unlucky ghost whose eyes had been drilled by the snake. 

One of his eyes was already a hollow socket, and a cheerful snake tail flicked out of the other, his death was extremely terrifying. 

Yun Xinyue, who had just supported herself to come ashore, almost lost her strength and fell back into the water. 

At this moment, a large, scalding hand reached over and pressed against her waist, pushing her up. 

After getting ashore, she quickly retreated, staying far away from the unlucky ghost, and almost stepped on her skirt in her panic. 

The beautiful Miao Jiang youth also came ashore, his jade-white chest covered in disheveled hair, inexplicably adding a bit of sensuality. 

Yun Xinyue glanced at him, recited “form is emptiness, emptiness is form” three times, and looked away. 

Seeing him walking towards her without stopping, she quickly covered her mouth, took a few steps back, and then lifted her skirt and ran towards the general. 

The young man’s eyes followed her closely. 

Watching the red figure running away, he lowered his eyes and stared at his palm, which still retained a soft touch. 

Strange. 

A person born without sensation, wouldn’t even feel pain if a knife fell on them, so why did she just touch him and… 

“Holy Son?” 

The master of ceremonies called out to him. 

“It’s getting late, we should return to Fengcheng Post.” 

Any later, and the city gates would be closed. 

“Mm.” Lou Bozhou raised his eyes, stepped forward, and stepped on the unlucky ghost’s outstretched palm. 

Crack— 

The hilt of the knife pressed into his palm, crushing the finger bones, piercing the skin, and oozing thick blood mixed with bone fragments. 

He didn’t even look at it, walking forward unhurriedly, bending down to pick up his clothes that had been kicked away by the girl. 

The master of ceremonies’ scalp went numb. 

Damn it, why did this evil spirit come out. 

The snake poked its head out of the dark eye socket, following behind Lou Bozhou, and as he bent down to pick up his clothes, it wrapped around his wrist along the dripping sleeves. 

After dressing neatly, he realized that two nail-sized hollow wind chime butterfly pendants were missing from the silver ornaments hanging on his waist. 

He didn’t care, and walked out. 

There was only one carriage to pick them up. Lou Bozhou naturally stepped into it, and ran straight into Yun Xinyue, who had just changed her clothes and was wrapped in a thin blanket. 

He glanced at the maids in the carriage, and without saying a word, he could intimidate them into taking the initiative to step down. 

“Hey—” 

Yun Xinyue reached out her hand to keep them, but failed to keep them. 

She glanced at the Miao Jiang youth who was staring straight at her, covered everything below her eyes with the blanket, and revealed a smile to ease the atmosphere. 

“Hehehe, the Holy Son also rides in a carriage?” 

The touch on his palm had disappeared, completely gone. 

He had returned to the predicament of not being able to perceive the shape of objects. Although he had long been accustomed to it over the years and had found other ways to balance it, Lou Bozhou still felt inexplicably irritable in his heart, raised his eyes, and looked at Yun Xinyue huddled in the corner. 

“Are you sitting so far away because you dislike me?” 

The base tone of Lou Bozhou’s voice was gentle, a clear young man’s voice, but behind it lurked an unpredictable perversity, a deep mystery. Like a quiet lake in late autumn, the surface of the lake is warmed by the high sun of the day. When you first reach out to touch it, you will mistakenly think it is warm and can’t help but indulge in it, but if you explore further, you will get a bone-chilling coldness. 

Yun Xinyue shook her head. 

It wasn’t so much that she disliked him, it was just that this matter was too much of a test of her face. 

Lou Bozhou didn’t understand what she meant, crossed his arms and leaned against the carriage wall, staring directly into her eyes, and stated his meaning directly: “You don’t want to touch me, why?” 

“Cough cough—” 

Yun Xinyue was frightened by his words. 

What tiger-wolf words were these! 

This was only their first meeting, even if ancient times paid attention to obeying the orders of the monarch, it didn’t have to be like this.