Soon.
Ji Rong withdrew his gaze.
He seemed to carry more of a mortal aura now, the chilling coldness of the underworld gone.
Ji Rong looked at Yun Shu. "That's enough. Let's go back to the carriage and talk."
"Alright," Yun Shu nodded.
A moment later.
They returned to the carriage. As the carriage slowly pulled away from the prison,
Ji Rong recounted what he had just witnessed.
"She wasn't Yun Yueyin. She was a maid from the Yun Manor, pushed into a sea of fire before she died," Ji Rong stated the facts simply.
The scene he saw was incredibly brutal.
He truly experienced the terror of an innocent maid being pushed into a raging inferno, her entire body consumed by flames, the pain gradually fading until life itself was extinguished.
He had personally endured that agony.
It was akin to the pain he felt when his right arm was severed.
And the most horrific death scenes that would resurface in his dreams from time to time.
Yun Shu nodded, sensing a slight unease in Ji Rong. "Did something happen to you recently?"
He seemed different from his usual self today.
She had seen Ji Rong's reaction to death before, and he had never looked as pale as he did now.
Ji Rong blinked, looking at Yun Shu with a touch of surprise. His eyes flickered, and he gave a faint smile. "I've just seen too many tragic deaths lately, and I'm feeling a bit drained. It's nothing serious."
"Why didn't you say so earlier?" Yun Shu frowned.
Ji Rong seemed unconcerned. "There's nothing worth mentioning. It's a common sight. You don't need to worry."
Yun Shu still felt something was off. After not seeing him for several months, why did Ji Rong seem somewhat detached, as if he were above the concerns of life and death?
"Let me take your pulse," Yun Shu decided.
Although Ji Rong had been largely fine for months, most of the time when he felt pain in his severed arm, it was a psychological suggestion. His true distress stemmed from his inability to overcome his own hurdles.
But seeing him again today, alone, Yun Shu felt something was amiss.
Ji Rong looked at Yun Shu's outstretched hand. Just as he was about to speak, the carriage suddenly stopped.
It seemed as if someone had blocked their path.
The carriage halted abruptly.
It almost collided with the carriage that had stopped in their way.
Fortunately, both occupants of the carriage were skilled in martial arts and managed to steady themselves in the critical moment.
"Qiu Lu?"
Jing Heng, seated outside the carriage, saw Qiu Lu on the opposing carriage and frowned.
Upon seeing Jing Heng, Qiu Lu quickly smiled. "My lord wishes to see Miss Yun the Second. He has matters to discuss with Miss Yun the Second."
"My master is not here," Jing Heng lied without batting an eye.
Blocking the road in the dead of night, it was clear the Night King harbored no good intentions!
Furthermore, how did they know his master was in the carriage?
And how could they accurately intercept them on the road?
It was obvious, even without thinking, that they must have been secretly monitoring his master's every move.
Yun Shu, inside the carriage, raised an eyebrow. Zhan Tian Ye?
Ji Rong, having recovered his senses, let out a quiet sigh of relief. He then lifted the carriage curtain to glance outside.
The opposing carriage that had blocked them was also a carriage.
Listening to Jing Heng's conversation with the other person, could the Night King be in that carriage?
Suddenly, he recalled what Ruan Xi had told him earlier that day.
A thought sparked in his mind, and he asked Yun Shu in a low voice, "Would you like me to help you?"
To help her ascertain if the Night King was someone she could entrust her life to.
Moreover, he was intrigued by the Night King's fate, wanting to know if he was a suitable partner for Yun Shu.
After all, he couldn't decipher Yun Shu's fate, but if his prediction about the Night King's fate was correct, he was sure to see it.
"Help with what?" Yun Shu raised an eyebrow.
Why such a random question?
"You just gave me a potent painkiller. In return, I'll take a look at the Night King's fate for you," Ji Rong whispered.
In the past year, he had rarely consulted the fates of others.
Everything had its pros and cons. He had seen too much of the heavens' secrets, and while altering others' fates, he was also changing his own.
Therefore, he had almost retired from such practices.
However, for Yun Shu, it was acceptable.
Just as Yun Shu was about to stop Ji Rong, a powerful gust of wind swept through.
It blew open the carriage curtain,
revealing Yun Shu and Ji Rong inside.
Simultaneously, Yun Shu's gaze swept outwards, meeting Zhan Tian Ye's eyes in the opposing carriage. She fell into the depths of his incredibly profound, captivating eyes, easy to drown in.
Following that.
His low, slightly hoarse, and frigid voice reached them.
"Yun Shu."
Just two simple words.
Her name.
At this moment, they seemed to contain a restrained and controlled emotion.
Yun Shu paused slightly.
Ji Rong also seemed taken aback.
Zhan Tian Ye then glanced at Ji Rong. When he saw Ji Rong, with his peerless noble demeanor in the moonlight, his aura seemed to become uncontrollable.
Such a man of extraordinary beauty, his gaze sent a clear sense of the unworldly grace of someone from the martial world.
He was no ordinary mortal!
The two sat in the carriage, and Yun Shu's hand, which had just reached out, seemed as if she were about to take the man's hand.
Their posture suggested an unusual familiarity.
Yun Shu collected herself.
She considered denying her identity as Yun Shu.
But she felt that doing so would be like trying to hide something obvious. Moreover, the fact that he had intercepted them here indicated he was well aware of her movements.
"Does the Night King require something?" Yun Shu asked.
When Zhan Tian Ye heard Yun Shu's indifferent question, his eyes darkened further. "Indeed, I do."
As he said this, his gaze swept over to Ji Rong.
Ji Rong sensed Zhan Tian Ye's hostility.
Even as a cripple, Zhan Tian Ye's presence was still formidable, his sweeping gaze carrying a strong sense of oppression.
Such individuals often possessed unwavering resolve, and their fates were sufficiently noble and resilient.
He observed him closely.
He was inwardly startled.
The Lone Star of the Heavens?!
A rare destiny!
An absolutely rare destiny of the Lone Star of the Heavens!
Most other Lone Stars of the Heavens could only live a lonely life, but they might still feel affection or even marry, yet their loved ones would not live long.
But the Night King before him was destined to live a solitary life, with no wife, no children in his fate!
For a moment, Ji Rong's face registered shock, followed by a deep frown.
He had only perceived this fate through his senses and physiognomy.
This destiny meant he would have no children.
Even if he had children, they would meet a tragic end.
As for women, they would also suffer a terrible fate, a tragic end!
"Who are you?" Zhan Tian Ye asked Ji Rong, his voice cold. Noticing the complex and inexplicable changes on Ji Rong's face within a short period, he questioned him sharply.
As Xiao Jing had said, it was indeed not Ruan Xi.
Upon meeting this man for the first time, Zhan Tian Ye felt that this person must be someone Yun Shu favored!
Ji Rong's heart was filled with shock and a touch of self-doubt. Hearing Zhan Tian Ye's question, he composed his expression, concealing his astonishment, and replied in a deep voice, "I am Ji Rong."
"Ji Rong?" Zhan Tian Ye murmured Ji Rong's name in a low voice, his eyes half-lidded.