Princess Embroidered Jade jumped back like a startled rabbit, throwing her hands up in front of her eyes and shouting, "You—don't come any closer! Don't move! Oh, and put away that glowing bead, quick!" Good grief, if Jade knew the phrase "blinding dog eyes," she'd totally relate right now. Just moments ago in the darkness, The Fool made her feel safe, his voice steady, especially when he grabbed her wrist to lead her—he even felt a little reliable.
But now, the moment she realized the truth, that the person leading her all that time was actually a butt-naked man, she felt like she was about to have a mental breakdown.
"Why?"
"Don't ask!!" Jade finally couldn't hold back and screamed, eyes shut tight. "You—you—you shameless rogue! Even if your clothes are torn, you can't just go completely naked! Are you doing this on purpose to humiliate me?!"
"I'm wearing underwear, though." The Fool looked genuinely confused, totally not getting what was up with this woman. "And aren't you kind of in the same boat?"
"Me?" Jade cried out in disbelief when she heard that.
"Yeah, when you came out of the water, you were pretty much just like me—nothing to hide behind. By your logic, didn't you humiliate me too? I’d say we’re even."
"You—you shameless rogue!!" Furious and embarrassed, Jade’s anger boiled over, and her No-Dust Mind State was thrown straight out the window. Her eyes blazed, teeth clenched, and suddenly she lunged, palms out, aiming a double push right at The Fool’s chest. Never, ever in her life had she experienced anything like this! It was honestly worse than death—she couldn’t think or care about anything else. Jade gathered her strength and struck with all she had.
The temperature in the cave instantly dropped, and in a flash, frost formed on the walls. With speed and power maxed out, Jade's strike was almost back to her pre-poisoned strength—about eighty percent. And since she was furious, not many in the world could take a hit like that.
The Fool's eyes narrowed. Right now, Jade’s power far surpassed the Golden Blade King—this strike was seriously deadly.
But halfway through her strike, Princess Embroidered Jade’s face went pale and her momentum vanished. The fierce attack fizzled into a clumsy stumble, and in The Fool’s eyes, her energy suddenly turned chaotic—contradicting itself, colliding inside, like she was about to suffer a full-blown Qi deviation from advanced internal martial arts.
With a thud, the staggering Jade fell right into The Fool’s arms.
She gritted her teeth, trying to struggle and muster her strength, but The Fool suddenly barked, “Don’t move!”
Jade’s heart skipped a beat at his shout, and she finally went limp, not moving anymore. Honestly, she couldn’t move if she wanted to—her internal energy was in total conflict, and she was already on the verge of a Qi deviation. She wasn’t too far gone yet, so it could be fixed. But if she kept pushing herself, it wouldn’t just be a pale face—she’d be in real danger.
Once she calmed down, all the stuff hidden under her anger started bubbling up. Lying solidly in The Fool’s arms, she could feel his muscles, skin, heat, and heartbeat—enough to make her want to die from embarrassment.
“Let me go!” she snapped.
The Fool thought for a moment, but in the end didn’t let go right away—so there was no dramatic scene of Jade collapsing and cracking her head open. He gently laid her flat on the ground and sat beside her. The glowing bead was still shining, and The Fool looked Jade straight in the eyes, “Your internal energy is all over the place. That’s Qi deviation, right? Why are you so angry?”
“You—you!” Jade’s anger flared again as she glared at The Fool. To her, this wasn’t even a question—like asking why the sky is blue or grass is green, it was just obvious! Asking stuff like this was just adding fuel to the fire! But The Fool’s clear eyes made her mind go blank for a second, and before she knew it, she blurted out, “Any woman would be angry at that sort of behavior.”
A memory flashed through The Fool’s mind—he’d been in a similar situation before. Something about trying to help someone with a bath, but got punched out for his trouble. So he nodded, “Don’t really get it, but I get it.”
The Fool’s reaction left Jade speechless—and feeling all kinds of complicated.
A dust-free mind, no distractions, no worldly desires. The Fool’s gaze was so pure, it was like a kid singing, “Thunder means rain, Leo! If it rains, grab an umbrella, Leo!”—just the innocent eyes of a child who doesn’t even know the difference between boys and girls. Even if he barged into the women’s bathhouse, nobody would bat an eye. That’s the kind of look he gave.
Faced with that look, Jade was both angry and frustrated, but she had nowhere to vent. No matter how mad she got, he’d never understand why, and he’d never feel guilty about it—assuming The Fool really was that innocent. But if he wasn’t… well, she’d settle the score once she fixed her injuries!
Jade gritted her teeth and glared at The Fool, demanding, “Just now you said, ‘I’m pretty much the same’—how do you know? Did you see something?!” If he dared to say ‘yes’, their friendship was officially over!
But The Fool just looked at her like she was the silly one: “No light source, so obviously I couldn’t see.”
“Whew…” Jade finally breathed a sigh of relief. Right, in total darkness, how could he have seen anything? At least she could comfort herself with that thought. But The Fool’s next words almost made her explode: “I felt it.”
“Felt?!” Jade nearly blacked out from shock.
“To be precise, I sensed it through my skin,” The Fool replied honestly. “My sense of touch is pretty sharp. When I carried you ashore, I could tell your clothes were all torn.”
Jade was speechless. She stared at The Fool, then muttered after a long pause, “I—I don’t believe it! I don’t!”
“Why not? It’s actually pretty simple.” The Fool’s gaze wandered all over Jade. “Even without touching, you can tell by the wrinkles on the clothes, or by listening to the sound of fabric and skin rubbing together. Your chest, lower back, underarms, and belly button are all torn, but your internal energy froze the water and fabric together like ice on your skin—oh, it’s starting to thaw now. Your body temperature’s rising. Are you sick?”
As he spoke, he reached for her collar, ready to help her out of her wet clothes: “Qi deviation means your resistance is low. Don’t catch a chill—better take off those wet clothes.”
“No! Stop! Get away!” Jade stared at The Fool’s hand in terror. “Don’t touch me! Don’t look at me! Don’t listen to me! Don’t come near me!” She was completely flustered now. The Fool’s super senses were terrifying—put together, they were almost like x-ray vision. She had more clothes than him, but suddenly it felt meaningless. In front of this fool, she might as well be naked. She had no idea what to do anymore.
Normally, Jade wouldn’t be like this. If she were calm, she’d just frown and look puzzled if someone stared at her while she was healing. But now her nerves were shot. Part of it was the shock, but mostly it was the second effect of the Tenfold Evil Soul-Scattering technique. Even the toughest people can break down when their willpower is shattered—emotions get sensitive and fragile.
That’s why Jade ended up with Qi deviation. Speaking of which, she couldn’t move at all now, lying helpless in front of The Fool. If he really wanted to do something, she’d be at his mercy.
Just as she thought this, The Fool’s eyes suddenly changed. In a flash, he grabbed the glowing bead.
The glow vanished, plunging everything back into darkness. Jade almost screamed from the sudden change, but a strong hand clamped over her mouth, silencing her. Then another arm wrapped around her waist and lifted her up.
Jade felt hopeless—her eyes grew cold with resolve. She was about to risk everything and reverse her energy flow, even if it meant self-destruction. She couldn’t let this scoundrel get away with it. But The Fool whispered in her ear, “Lady Simone is coming.”
“Huh?” Jade snapped back to her senses and heard a strange sound in the air. It was low and hard to notice, but it made her dizzy—the signature sound technique of Lady Simone’s school.
Lady Simone wasn’t dead after all!
Jade suddenly realized that her earlier screams must have traveled far and drawn Lady Simone here. Just her luck—she’d gone into Qi deviation at the worst possible moment!
It was all The Fool’s fault! If not for him, she wouldn’t have screamed or lost control. She was so mad she wanted to bite him. While Jade fumed, The Fool was busy listening to the sounds, picking up even more information. His focus sharpened—something had changed.
The Fool sprang into action, pressing Jade face-to-face against his chest, their bodies tightly locked together. Before Jade could protest, he grabbed the sleeves of her kung fu outfit, gave them a twist, and wrapped her arms securely around his back. With a rip, another piece of her tattered skirt was torn away. Then he lifted her legs and wrapped them around his waist, tying her in place.
In less than two seconds, Jade was firmly fixed to The Fool in a ridiculously close pose—so tight she could barely breathe. Chest to chest, something was getting squished, and Jade just wanted to die from embarrassment.
“You—”
“Don’t panic, don’t move, hold tight!” The Fool said seriously, crouching slightly for a burst of power. “She’s found us and is coming fast. We have to run!”
Boom! Dirt flew as The Fool stomped and shot forward, dragging Jade along at breakneck speed. In the pitch-black maze, he charged like a maniac.