“Hey, long time no see. I can’t believe you still despise women. How is it? My two pets have been giving you a lot of bother, haven’t they?”

Every time they met, there was animosity between the two.

Lin Mengya did not know if it was because she would be unconsciously childish every time she met Zhu Yan, or because she just thought Zhu Yan looked so cute when he was embarrassed.

…

Of course, the person who felt hurt would definitely be Zhu Yan.

However, neither Lin Mengya nor Zhu Yan was bored with it. The two continued to banter with each other, and there was always the roar teemed with the partiality from the two beasts.

Zhu Yan looked at Lin Mengya in front of him, appearing sulky, and the ferocity of a wild animal gradually came into his eyes.

However, it only lasted for a brief moment.

For even the fiercest beasts knew the difference between their enemies and their own people.

This woman, though, was one of his own, who he wished he could grab her by the throat.

“Humph! Your two pets are just as useless as you.”

With his lips curled, Zhu Yan turned away with a defiant look on his face.

Looking at his puny physique, Lin Mengya stopped provoking him.

Smiling, she touched the big heads of two small beasts. Not long after they were apart, their fuzz was almost gone.

Beneath their sleek coat were strong muscles.

If Lin Mengya had not kept them in captivity, they would have been the kings of beasts.

Or they might have died in the mouth of some ferocious beasts.

However, Lin Mengya did intend to release them back into the forest.

After all, they were not domesticated kittens or puppies. One day, she would have to set free them back to the mountains.

“Thank you for taking such good care of them.”

Her voice was soft and gentle, a far cry from the way she was so imperious just now.

Zhu Yan was stunned, but he just raised his head and did not continue to satirize her.

Although he was rude, he was not stupid. At least, he could see that Lin Mengya treated him sincerely.

And everyone here really liked him from the bottom of their hearts. Even though he was always a handful, no one sneered at him.

It was a very different world from the one he had been in before.

Here he could be unrestrained and free from bravado.

Besides, he might not have been so happy and relaxed in the forest if the two beasts had not protected him desperately.

Lin Mengya looked at Zhu Yan, who was walking out with his head raised. The smile on her face kept growing.

In fact, Zhu Yan was just like her two little beasts.

They all had vicious claws, but at the same time also had a childlike, pure heart.

It was the best way to let him be with the two little guys. Apart from anything else, the two little guys’ well-proportioned bodies and smooth fur should be the result of Zhu Yan and the two little guys helping each other.

“Snow, baby tiger, if I really can’t come back, you have to protect our family. Do you understand?”

The two huge heads were playing on her knees, but they did not understand the struggle in Lin Mengya’s tone.

Before she left, however, she wanted to get everything in order.

Only in this way could she fight for a chance for her own to live safely without hesitation.

After playing with the two little beasts, Lin Mengya went back to her own yard and threw a lavender cloak over her shoulders.

With a slight sigh, she took Qinghu secretly into an inconspicuous small carriage.

The carriage went on quietly all the way, and finally, it seemed to stop at random in a small country house.

After he gently tapped on the door three times, a secret sign she had agreed on, a pair of eyes popped out of the ancient door.

Having seen who it was, the man opened the door gently.

After making sure that no one was around, Lin Mengya and Qinghu ducked into the small courtyard.

As soon as she entered the room, she smelled the fragrant smell of medicine.

The smell of herbs reassured her. Since she smelled the extremely strange fragrance, Lin Mengya increasingly felt that the fragrance of herbs was more elegant than any perfume.

“Mr. Baili is inside. Your Highness, this way please.”

The guard arranged by Lin Kui was not only responsible for Baili Rui’s safety but also for his daily life.

Therefore, Lin Mengya specially chose a person who was steady. After nodding slightly to him, she lifted the door curtain and went into the inner room.

In the sparse room, Baili Rui was studying his precious herbs.

Since coming back from Yun State, Baili Rui began to be interested in venomous insects, as if possessed.

Moreover, perhaps all the masters were like him who could grasp the whole category after he grasped a typical example.

In such a short time, Baili Rui really made some achievements in his research.

Lin Mengya stood quietly at the door, afraid to disturb her teacher who was immersed in his thoughts.

“Little girl, why are you standing at the door? Come here and let me feel your pulse.”

As soon as he turned around, Baili Rui saw the two standing at the door.

He immediately put down the item in his hand, waved his hand, and looked at his student kindly.

“Never mind. I don’t dare to disturb you, Mr. Baili. Are you used to being here? I’ve ordered my people to bring all the things in the stone chamber here, but I don’t know whether they’ve damaged your things.”

Lin Mengya sat down in the chair opposite Baili Rui, and then obediently held out her right hand.

As there was someone Long Tianyu had arranged here, it was inappropriate for Yunzhu to come.

Fortunately, Long Tianyu had told her that he had already managed to deal with Baili Rui’s matter.

Soon Baili Rui would be able to choose for himself whether to remain in Prince Yu’s Mansion or to be free.

Lin Mengya knew that if he did choose to leave, he would most likely go to her Sanjue Hall.

Anyway, he would not be used by others.

“Your pulse is… Little girl, you can’t delay any longer.”

Baili Rui meant something other than what he was saying, probably because he was afraid Long Tianyu’s people would overhear him.

Lin Mengya nodded slightly as she quickly wrote a few words in his palm with her finger.

“I feel a little tired these days. I guess that’s because I didn’t get enough rest. Are there any good pills here, Mr. Baili? Give me some, will you?”

Lin Mengya sounded as usual, but Baili Rui’s face suddenly changed.

He turned over his hand, and wrote in Lin Mengya’s palm.

At the same time, he answered, “Well, I knew you were coming to ask for my precious pills. Wait a moment, I’ll get some for you.”

Lin Mengya looked at Baili Rui with a sad expression on her face.

She tugged at her teacher’s sleeve. Baili Rui could not bear to see the pleading look on her face.

Finally, he gave a soft sigh and nodded. He turned to his medicine cabinet and took out a white pill about the size of a peanut.

He wrapped it up with a small piece of paper and handed it to Lin Mengya, along with the medicine he had prepared.

“Thank you, Mr. Baili. I… I’ll come back and see you again.”

Her teacher’s kindness to her had been too great for her to repay.

However, as the only person close to the teacher, she had to eat the poison concocted by her teacher himself.

Actually, it was also a very painful thing for Baili Rui.

“Go now. I hope you’ll bring me some good news when you come next time.”

Baili Rui looked at his student reluctantly. Although they had only known each other for a year, this smart and naughty girl had long been treated as a daughter by him.

Looking at her teacher, Lin Mengya suddenly turned around and gave him a big hug. Then she smiled and walked out of Baili Rui’s sight.

She hoped that everything would go well and that she could go back to these people again.

In the carriage, Lin Mengya remained silent; even Qinghu, who had always been noisy, was quiet beside her.

It was not until they were back in Liuxin Courtyard that the quiet Qinghu broke the silence between them.

“Don’t you have a chance of living even if we don’t go looking for herbs?”

Lin Mengya looked up at Qinghu’s face in front of her. He looked so pretty that it was hard to tell whether he was a man or a woman.

With a feeble smile, she lifted her snow-white hands and put them on Qinghu’s hands.

“Touch them and you’ll know.”

Qinghu gently covered her delicate little hands, but they seemed unusually cold.

Suddenly, Qinghu grabbed her hands tightly and for the first time, his eyes were filled with fear.

It was a fear worse than when he had heard of his own death.

“How could this be—”

Lin Mengya pulled back her hands and kept rubbing them together. It seemed that only in this way could her hands have a normal temperature.

“You see? I don’t want to go, but this is just the beginning. My body is very strange now. My hands are slowly losing their normal temperature. Even their sensitivity is beginning to wane. I’m afraid that when my heart gets cold, I’ll live a life worse than death.”

Moreover, a gradual drop in her body temperature meant her blood circulation was slowing down.

She could only take some warm nourishing herbs and hot water to alleviate the symptoms and to prevent others from noticing it.

However, without blood circulation, her nerve endings would gradually die.

If she really lost all her limbs, she would prefer to die.

“Let’s go! Let’s go now!”

For the first time, Qinghu panicked. In the past he had not the slightest fear even with a steel knife around his neck, but now he was really afraid.

He was afraid that it would be really like what Lin Mengya had said. If he would watch her drift towards death, he might as well let her make the last effort.

Even if he would be the person who killed her.