"Whatever the mission may be, it is none of my business," Prince Zhanying muttered as he cast the tea set before him away. "Now that I know my cunning, little maid indeed does have a hidden agenda, I am done with my discussion with her. Phantom General can feel free to have her."

Before the Prince could stand to leave, Jingrui clutched onto his sleeve and desperately pulled him back to sit. "Your Highness, it's understandable if you don't want to get involved in our business. But are you really going to abandon me?"

Prince Zhanying tilted his head to the side, unable to understand what she was implying.

Jingrui cleared her throat. "Now that you know I'm not at the Palace to be a maid, and that I don't come clean, are you really going to cast me away from your Palace? Punish me? Or leave me on this barren mountain once you've regained your eyesight?"

After she had recited those questions, her heart grew heavy, and she didn't want to hear his usual nonchalant answers.

Prince Zhanying ran his hand through his hair as he angled his face her way. "What should I do with a maid who has an ulterior motive? What should I do with you, Bao Bao? I've long been lenient with you and treated you too well. And now that I know you don't have the intention to serve me, what should I do?"

She bit her lip and looked down from his deep gaze. "I-I'm at your disposal."

"Do you wish to leave the Floating Abyss Palace and be freed?" his voice was stern. "Do you wish to leave me?"

At his question, Jingrui suddenly found much to ponder over. If on the Jade Dragon Mountain really laid the answers to her sister and master's passing, then she would have accomplished her mission and all that she had set out to do by entering the Heavenly Palace. She would have no real reason to return there and become a maid for her whole lifetime. She could live happily with her senior and find later opportunities to convict the culprit.

There was nothing worth cherishing within the gloomy Floating Abyss Palace. Nothing at all for her to hold on to. It would be a stupid decision to return there if it were not necessary, and since the first day she entered Heaven, she had been desperate to escape the colourless palace consumed by shadows.

But did she want to leave him?

"I don't want to leave you." Her voice betrayed all her sense of reasoning. "I'm your maid, and that will never change. You've saved me countless times, I won't ever leave you."

Jingrui quickly covered her mouth with her palms, realising that she had just volunteered to stay—to become a maid for all eternity. And when she wanted to take back her words, she couldn't seem to find her voice. Something strange must have possessed her at that moment, and she wanted to beat herself to death for it.

When she finally calmed herself down, she breathed in hard and looked up at him. All her sense of reasoning clashed back into her, and she added, "I won't leave you as long as you would help me seek justice. . ."

"Then you may leave me." The Prince's harsh reply stabbed her heart to pieces.

That was right. Who was she to bargain with the God of War? What in the world did she hold to bargain with Prince Zhanying? Before she could melt down in tears, she saw Xiao's urging gaze, coercing her to butter up to him.

Make him our weapon, he'd be our most powerful pawn! She could hear his screams from his flaring eyes.

More like, we'll become his sacrificial pawns.

Jingrui took a deep breath as she tugged on Prince Zhanying's sleeve again. "Your Highness. . ." She inched closer to him. "You are the handsome, strong, and invincible God of War, helping someone with something as small and insignificant as this should be an easy feat for you, right? If you help me, I'll . . . I'll always protect you, even if it's with my life!"

Her voice blended into the silence, and the room hung still with deep tension. She gulped several times, and Xiao had visible sweat lining his forehead. After what seemed like a millennium, Prince Zhanying grunted as he placed his hand on his forehead. "You better not go back on your words."

Jingrui felt the heavy mountain in her heart had lifted, and she jolted up with joy. "Your Highness is the best! I won't ever go back on my words." She grinned.

Prince Zhanying let out a weary sigh that didn't seem to give him any relief and turned to Xiao. "So, tell me, Phantom General, what have you noticed from spending time within this Phantom Sect?"

Xiao gave Prince Zhanying's question a long thought, his expression became wholehearted after the Prince gave his word to help them. "Well . . . although this sect is, most of the time, ordinary, the sect is very much like a cult. The Phantom Lord is kind to me, but I've heard that he has an obsession with some kind of strange practices and a deep hatred for the Celestial Tribe.

"The rules here are overtly strange too. There is one rule which every disciple at this sect must keep in mind: no one is allowed to love. If any disciple is caught with an affair, they will be punished with the most severe punishment within the Phantom Sect. That's why I've never told anyone here that I'm married." Xiao shivered before he brought out a jade knot from the strap around his waist. "Oh, and also, everyone within the sect that has been admitted as a disciple is given this jade knot. I was given one, and I realised it looked exactly like Master's jade knot, the one he gave to Jingyi when she left to the Hell Palace."

Prince Zhanying was interested after hearing of the jade knot, and the nonchalance on his expression tore apart. "The jade knot?"

Jingrui's mouth fell agape when she remembered that her master's jade knot was still with the Prince. "Your Highness didn't lose it, right?"

To answer her question, Prince Zhanying brought out the blood-stained knot and laid it on the table. "I. . ." his voice turned icy cold, penetrating her bones. "I have one too."

Jingrui's eyes widened. "You have one? But you were never a disciple here, or. . ."

Prince Zhanying ignored her as he summoned a jade knot exactly identical to Xiao and Master's into his palm. "This was given to me by my mother." He tilted his head towards the ceiling. "It seems like there's a lot more hidden within this mountain than meet the eye."

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