"You're leaving?" Bai Zheng raised her eyebrows. "You should know that once you leave today, you'll never be able to return to the stronghold as the second-in-command."
"Who the hell cares!" The burly man spat on the ground and said impatiently to Bai Zheng, "Are you coming or not?"
Bai Zheng took a step back and looked at him. "I don't understand. What on earth are you after?"
"What am I after?" The burly man raised his eyebrows.
Bai Zheng nodded. "Even if you wanted to rebel, my offer just now didn't conflict with your original plan. If you'd escorted me and the marquis out safely, we'd still have honored our promise and given you a hundred thousand taels of silver.
If I were you, I'd jump at the chance to make the whole stronghold suffer and pocket a fortune at the same time. Why would you want to harm me and the marquis?
So, I really don't understand what your motive is."
"You're wrong. I didn't originally intend to kill your marquis," the burly man sneered.
Bai Zheng was slightly taken aback. Then she heard the burly man drawl, "From the very beginning, I only wanted to harm you."
Bai Zheng suddenly widened her eyes. "You were sent by Bai Di?"
Although it was a question, the answer was already clear.
If a man only wanted to rebel, his motives would be simple.
In his eyes, the only things that could tempt him were either enough profit or sufficient damage to the organization he wanted to betray.
But this burly man in front of her wanted neither. He only had it in for Bai Zheng.
What other possibility could there be besides Bai Di's orders?
Seeing that Bai Zheng had understood, the burly man didn't deny it. He sneered and said, "You're not too stupid after all, considering you've fallen off a cliff once.
It's a pity that last time when I egged on Old Qin to capture you, he failed. And this time, just when I finally managed to get you back to the stronghold, Old Qin made a deal with you behind my back.
If I didn't act now, I'd have a hard time explaining myself to my master."
"Clap, clap, clap!" A round of applause rang out.
Bai Zheng finished clapping her hands. A smile curved her lips, and her face was full of admiration. "You're truly loyal and worthy of respect. I didn't expect Sister Bai Di to send you, a valuable pawn, just to deal with me."
The burly man's eyes turned cold. "Miss Bai, has anyone ever told you that you've gotten smarter?"
"Thank you for the compliment," Bai Zheng said, smiling even more serenely.
"However, smart women usually don't end up well." As soon as the words left his mouth, the burly man lunged forward at Bai Zheng.
On the quiet mountaintop, a full moon slowly emerged from the clouds and hung in the sky in the distance, casting a faint light on the mountaintop. The cool spring night breeze carried the fragrance of unknown flowers. There was no trace of fear on Bai Zheng's face, only a mocking smile.
"Boom!" A loud noise echoed.
Before the burly man could reach Bai Zheng, he was sent flying by a powerful force from behind.
In the moonlight, the wooden planks covering the secret passage shattered into pieces, no longer recognizable.
Feng Linyuan soared through the air. His ink-black hair fluttered in the wind, looking like a delicate ancient painting.
"Zheng'er!" His cold eyes suddenly softened when they landed on Bai Zheng. He flew forward and landed in front of her.
Before Bai Zheng could react, she found herself in a warm embrace.
The fire in the distance grew brighter, and the sound of footsteps drew closer. Bai Zheng was tightly held in Feng Linyuan's arms. She couldn't see what was behind her, but she heard Mo Li's familiar voice, as if he'd let out a sigh of relief. "My lord, Miss Bai, I'm late."
Feng Linyuan grunted and slowly released Bai Zheng. He instinctively protected her behind him.
"Were you okay down there?" Bai Zheng asked in a low voice.
Feng Linyuan replied with a faint smile. "It was just a petty trick. Not worth mentioning."
Actually, when Bai Zheng saw the broken arrow fly up, she knew Feng Linyuan could handle the situation below.
After all, if he had the time to throw up a broken arrow, he should have been able to get out safely long ago. The only reason he didn't come up was probably to play along with Bai Zheng and stage a show.
As it turned out, the show hadn't been in vain.
A faint smile played on Bai Zheng's lips. She looked at the ground not far away, where the burly man - the second-in-command of the stronghold - lay motionless after being sent flying by Feng Linyuan's palm.
Behind them, the leader of the stronghold, whose hands and feet were tightly held by Feng Linyuan's men, was brought before them. The man Bai Zheng had seen leading the fight in the valley was also among them.
The man had been struggling all the way, but when he saw the burly man in the distance, he stopped dead in his tracks and shouted, "Second brother, what are you doing here?"
Hearing the shout, the burly man suddenly raised his head. When he saw the man, his eyes were filled with undisguised unwillingness and mockery. "Why? You had to make a deal with them behind my back. Now you've lost both your men and your fortune, haven't you?"
The man's pupils constricted, and he shouted, "I did it for the whole stronghold!"
Hearing this, the burly man became extremely agitated. Although he couldn't move, his furious bloodshot eyes revealed his anger.
"Shut your stinking mouth! You selfish, money - grubbing bastard! You forced your own sister into Yicui Pavilion back then, and now you're dragging the whole stronghold down with you!"
Yicui Pavilion?
The moment she heard this name, Bai Zheng couldn't help but look up at the leading man, who was trembling all over from the scolding.
She seemed to have heard this name somewhere in her memory, but she couldn't quite recall it.
Feng Linyuan frowned. He reached out and covered Bai Zheng's ears, then gave Mo Li a look.
Mo Li immediately stepped forward and deftly tapped the burly man on two acupoints. The burly man instantly fainted.
"Drag away those who need to be dragged away, and don't miss anyone who needs to be interrogated," Feng Linyuan said calmly.
Mo Li nodded. "Yes, my lord."
At this moment, the stronghold was deathly quiet.
Bai Zheng didn't know what Feng Linyuan planned to do with the people in the stronghold, nor did she know what methods he would use to extract information from the burly man and the leading man.
She just felt that she had done so much in the past few days, and now, it finally seemed that she could take a break.
"Right!" Bai Zheng suddenly remembered something and said to Feng Linyuan, "Where's Doctor Zhou?"
Feng Linyuan lovingly smoothed Bai Zheng's hair, which was now in a complete mess. He smiled and said, "He should be drinking your red plum wine in the estate in Yongding by now. Don't worry about him."
"That's good," Bai Zheng said, nodding. She relaxed all over.
She leaned against Feng Linyuan. The night breeze mixed with the fragrance of flowers blew over. Feng Linyuan's body was warm and reliable. Everything was so comfortable, so perfect... for sleep.
"Go to sleep," Feng Linyuan's voice was like a lullaby. Bai Zheng's eyelids grew heavy, and she soon fell asleep leaning against Feng Linyuan.