After the mind-reading and gossip-eating incident, officials in the imperial city were demoted one a

Ye Lian came up but didn't see Ye Yaoyao. He clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turned white from the force, and his body trembled slightly.

"Uncle, where's my little sister?"

"Li An, we...we're late." Liu Lingchuan looked guilty.

"Little sister... little sister..."

Ye Li'an stared in disbelief at the empty cliff and shouted, striding forward as if to jump off.

"No, I'm going down to check."

"Li An, no! Don't you know how dangerous it is here?"

Looking down from above, there was no bottom in sight. Liu Lingchuan held him tightly and shouted loudly.

"Uncle, I want to go downstairs to find my little sister."

“You can go down, but not from here. Yaoyao’s life is hanging in the balance. You can’t be hurt. Think about whether your mother can bear it.”

Ye Lian regained her senses.

"Prepare torches, everyone go down the cliff and search for Yaoyao all night."

"Yes!" The group quickly sprang into action, preparing to descend the cliff to search.

Ye Li'an's eyes were bloodshot, and the hatred in them seemed to want to destroy everything.

"Li An, Yao Yao is a lucky person, everything will be alright."

"Miss Ye may have been rescued," said Granny Li.

"Granny Li, what have you discovered?"

Ye Li'an looked at Granny Li anxiously, as if grasping at a lifeline.

“I didn’t kill those people down the mountain who died in one blow, and these two also died in one blow,” Granny Li said, pointing to the corpses on the ground.

"Yes, yes, my little sister only has poison on her. With an expert here, she'll be fine. I'm going down to the bottom of the cliff to check on her."

Ye Li'an murmured to himself, a glimmer of hope rekindling in his heart.

At this moment, Ye Yaoyao was sitting on a tree trunk that grew out of the stone wall in mid-air, next to a man dressed in black and wearing a mask.

Ye Yaoyao called the system a few times, and realized that the system had been frightened and disconnected.

The person next to her was injured, and Ye Yaoyao sat quietly waiting for him to rest.

Looking down at the steep mountain below, it's truly a blessing from heaven that I survived such a disaster and can now sit halfway up a cliff and enjoy the scenery.

I thought that even if I didn't die from the fall, I would be half dead, but I never expected to be sitting safely in mid-air.

She slipped and fell, plummeting rapidly, when a vine was thrown over and tied around her waist. A masked man in black then flew down the cliff and caught her.

The man in black led her to the tree growing in the crack of the rock, and the two sat there.

"Who are you? Why are you here? Why did you save me?"

Ye Yaoyao stared intently at the man, finally breaking the silence. She no longer believed he was a good person.

Now that she knows she's worth a little money, and this person doesn't know right from wrong, there's no guarantee she won't kill her in the end and take her head for the reward.

The man did not respond; he simply closed his eyes slightly, seemingly adjusting his breathing.

After a while, the man finally answered her:

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you."

"Then who are you? And why are you here?"

"My master sent me to protect you in secret."

"Who is your master?" Ye Yaoyao knew he was a secret guard.

"I can't tell you."

"Then I'll ask you a few questions. You don't need to answer, just nod, okay?"

The man thought for a moment and nodded.

"Is your master an official?"

The man hesitated for a moment before nodding.

Do I know him?

The man nodded.

"King Jing?"

The man didn't move, so it couldn't be him. Ye Yaoyao couldn't figure out who it was, so she didn't ask any further, but she was still worried about him.

Can I see your face?

"Is it alright?" The man removed his mask.

The man appeared to be in his early twenties. He always wore a mask and had very fair skin. His features were not particularly striking, but they were pleasing to the eye when put together.

"What's your name?"

"Hanming".

Ye Yaoyao stared at him for a while, "Hanming, that's quite a unique name."

"The master has chosen a name."

Ye Yaoyao nodded; it seemed this person was very loyal to his master.

How are your injuries?

As darkness fell, Ye Yaoyao considered how to get down.

"Does Miss know I'm injured?" He was already injured when he arrived.

"I have a keen sense of smell, I can smell it. How about it? Can I go down?"

Going up is not an option; they can only go down. They need to get to the bottom of the cliff as soon as possible, or they'll probably freeze to death in the middle of the night.

Han Ming stood up, observed the surrounding environment, and pointed in a direction, saying:

“There looks like there’s a place over there that we can climb and get a foothold. The fastest way would be for me to take Miss down, but I’m injured and it would be risky to take her down.”

Ye Yaoyao looked in the direction he pointed, her lips twitched a few times, and she said:

"It's alright. I don't even know if I can crawl down. Hanming, if I can get out of here alive, I will repay you in the future."

"Miss, protecting you is my duty, there's no need for repayment."

Ye Yaoyao didn't say much more, "Then let's hurry down!"

"Yes!" Han Ming picked up the mask and was about to put it on again.

"Hey! Wait a minute, you don't need to wear the mask yet, I'll hold it for you!"

Ye Yaoyao was afraid the mask would block her vision, so she reached out and held it for him.

"Miss, I'm going down now, don't be afraid."

Han Ming put his arm around her waist and leaped down. When they reached the bottom of the cliff, there were jagged rocks and a small path leading down to them.

After they came down, it got even darker. Han Ming took out a tinderbox and lit it. They couldn't get out of here now, so they had to find a place to start a fire.

Han Ming carried Ye Yaoyao down the cliff, but his wounds reopened and bled again. Ye Yaoyao gathered herbs as they walked.

"Hang Chih Chih..."

A shout came from not far away.

"Oh no, wild boar! Miss, be careful!"

Sure enough, two wild boars came out to forage not far away.

Han Ming shielded Ye Yaoyao behind him, watching the two wild boars warily. They were huge, with sharp tusks, and looked extremely ferocious.

The wild boar was excited by the smell of blood and quickly ran towards them.

A wild boar launched the first attack, charging towards Han Ming. Han Ming dodged to the side, but the movement aggravated his wound.

Ye Yaoyao knew of a herb that could scare away wild boars, but there wasn't any here, so she picked up a fallen branch to use as a weapon.

The wild boar, with its thick hide and tough flesh, was not afraid of being hit at all. It kept charging at Ye Yaoyao, who dodged a few times but was knocked down.

Han Ming successfully carried her down the cliff, but with her wounds reopened, she was no match for the wild boar.

Just as the wild boar was about to bite Ye Yaoyao, it let out a miserable cry and fell heavily to the ground.

Ye Yaoyao looked ahead and saw a familiar figure.

"Handsome man!" Ye Yaoyao exclaimed in surprise. Qin Jingyu had actually appeared here.

"Is it okay!"

Qin Jingyu stepped forward and helped her up, looking her over. Apart from being a little dirty, she didn't seem to be injured.

"I'm fine! My foot just hurts a little."

Falling off a cliff and losing a shoe isn't a big deal.

Qin Jingyu looked down and picked her up.

"Ah!" Ye Yaoyao suddenly leaped into the air and quickly wrapped her arms around his neck.