A man wrapped entirely in black clothes was binding another man dressed in dark red attire when he met Liu Ji’s unexpected gaze.

Two faces, four eyes, one icy stare brimming with murderous intent, one wide-eyed with shock at being discovered.

Six eyes locked, the air froze in that instant.

Liu Ji’s eyeballs shifted left and right, a sluggish thought popped into his mind—I seem to have stumbled upon an assassination scene!

The murderous intent in the eyes of the man in black was intense enough to burst forth.

The sharp dagger originally poised on the neck of the man in dark red attire slightly shifted. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

This brief encounter, seemingly long, was actually less than half a breath.

In a flash, almost by instinct, Liu Ji sidestepped and dove to the ground, rolling away!

With a "swish," a blade slashed past his head, cutting through his flying disheveled hair, severing a section which drifted slowly down in front of his eyes.

His heart raced wildly, and without hesitation, he scrambled up and ran back, shouting while he ran: "My lady, save me!"

The man in black squinted, full of disdain, his murderous intent intensified.

The man in dark red attire tried to block, but having inhaled a substantial amount of knockout powder, lacked the strength, and was harshly kicked away by the man in black, only managing to shout a low: "Watch out!"

Before his voice faded, Liu Ji sensed his collar suddenly grabbed fiercely from behind. He turned his head to see the single exposed eye of the man in black brimming with surging murderous intent.

The dagger aimed at Liu Ji’s raised neck came slicing over.

Yet, despite being on the brink of meeting King Yama, Liu Ji did not show the slightest fear; instead, he curled his lips into a devilish grin.

Liu Ji’s face was truly exceptional; this grin, coupled with his wild, flying hair, was captivating and possessed an enchanting allure seemingly about to drag someone into a trap.

The man in black’s gaze darkened, and his hand sped up instantly, determined to swiftly eliminate this provocative witness!

Suddenly, a sharp stone flew through the air, "clink," striking his wrist.

That small stone, only the size of a date pit, carried a thunderous force, along with a bloody and painful sensation. A bloodied hole appeared on the man’s wrist, causing him to lose control of the dagger, which fell abruptly within half a finger’s distance from Liu Ji’s neck.

Liu Ji’s face now bore a more arrogant smile, making one grind their teeth in vexation.

The man in black couldn’t afford to care about him, quickly looking up to find a slender figure suddenly appearing before him, delivering a fierce punch!

The man in black wanted to evade, but this thought barely flashed through his mind before his body failed to react.

That seemingly slow, yet actually swift punch sent him flying hard!

The man in black looked like a torn rag, punched into the ground, his body trembling violently, with a "wow," he spat out a mouthful of fresh blood and fell into semi-unconsciousness.

Qin Yao needed only one punch, and he could no longer get up.

Beside him, the man in dark red attire kneeled weakly on the ground, eyes wide open, with a slightly dazed expression.

He couldn’t believe that the man in black, who had almost killed him just now, didn’t even have the chance to strike and was already down.

Raising his eyes cautiously towards the woman who had suddenly appeared, she stood quietly there and instantly sensed his gaze, her eyes lowering to glance askew, her formidable aura like a giant beast opening its bloody mouth to devour the sky and earth!

An ordinary being like him was nothing more than an ant before her.

"My lady~" Liu Ji whispered excitedly to the woman before him.

She just stood there, not needing to make any gesture to bring him a profound sense of safety.

Qin Yao looked at the two fallen figures, one black and one dark red, before him, her eye twitching wryly: "You really have good luck, don’t you?"

On such a bright day, he could still encounter such a troublesome affair!

Liu Ji grinned wide at her, the guilt in his eyes hard to hide.

Knowing that any explanation now would be futile to her, Liu Ji made an effort to get up from the ground, dusting off the dirt on his knees and tidying his messy hair. He picked up the stick he’d dropped earlier and boldly stepped forward to interrogate the man in black.

But before the interrogation, he first knocked the man on the head with the stick to vent his anger: "Trying to kill me, I’m going to beat you to death!"

He scanned the man from head to toe, clicking his tongue disdainfully: "What odd thing is this, wearing all black in broad daylight, you’re really laughable. Speak up, who are you? If you confess honestly, this handsome master will let my lady leave you a whole corpse!"

Unexpectedly, the man seemed provoked, suddenly opening his half-squinted eyes, glaring fiercely, trying to rise and kill him.

Liu Ji screamed "Ma’am!" in shock, quickly retreating behind Qin Yao.

Qin Yao: "..." Sometimes, the urge to slap someone was really strong.

After a while without hearing any movement, Liu Ji cautiously peeked out.

The man in black hadn’t gotten up at all and was still lying in the human-shaped pit he had made himself.

Liu Ji laughed heartily, smug, approaching again, and stabbed the struggling-to-get-up half-body of the man in black with his stick, gloomily saying: "Speak! If you don’t, I’ll bury you right now!"

The man in black laughed disdainfully, "Huh!"

Liu Ji gaped, "You dare ridicule your master?"

Furious and humiliated, he turned to shout at Qin Yao: "My lady, kill him.".

Just bury him, right in that pit he’s lying in!

The man in black continued mocking, his cheek under the black cloth suddenly swelling, biting through the poison, which instantly reacted, causing his body convulsions.

"Oh no, quickly pry open his mouth!" The dark red attired man urged frantically.

Unfortunately, neither of the couple moved.

Liu Ji gawked at the man in black convulsing, within just a single breath, he fell rigidly to the ground, lifeless.

Don’t ask why he didn’t go forward to pry open the man’s mouth and retrieve the poison; it was his first time encountering such a thing.

To him, assassins and men in black were things he had only seen in storybooks.

A living one like this, he truly hadn’t reacted.

Moreover, since his lady hadn’t instructed, why should he heed the words of the man in dark red attire?!

"Tsk tsk," Liu Ji clicked his tongue, disdainfully dropping the stick he’d used to jab the man, vigorously wiping his palms clean on his clothes before retreating to stand obediently behind his lady.

Qin Yao gazed at the dark red man’s inscrutable expression, turning indifferently to call to Liu Ji: "Let’s go."

The roasted lamb was almost ready, sizzling with aromatic hot oil.

Song Yu flipped the lamb on the rack, watching his lord and lady emerge from the bushes unharmed, let out a quiet breath of relief.

Coming out for this trip with Madam, he had gained some understanding of her temperament and martial prowess.

Thus, regarding whatever happened in the bushes, he neither asked nor spoke, merely serving the roasted lamb once done.

Qin Yao contentedly accepted the wooden bowl filled with roast meat, calmly eating as if nothing had happened.