The wind and snow had not stopped, and the long night had not ended yet.
In the dormitory, the restless sound of wind and snow outside was filtered by the doors and windows and turned into a hypnotic "whirring" sound, peaceful and quiet.
On the mahogany pear bed, Yun Yiyi's closed eyes were slightly squeezed, her brows trembling, and her bangs were wet with cold sweat and stuck to her forehead as if she was experiencing the torture of a nightmare but could not wake up.
*Creak---*
The door slowly opened a crack, and a slender woman looked around the room from outside the door. She saw that the bedding on the maid's bed directly opposite the door was messy, but no one was lying on it, and her heart skipped a beat.
Her name was Yu Shuiting, and she was originally a disciple of the **Night Tide Peak**. Last month, her cultivation partner Ye An said he had found a big job: to kidnap the Eldest Lady of the Yun family.
When she heard about this matter, of course she insistently opposed it, but Ye An refused to listen. He said, *"After this deal is completed, we can buy a house and no longer have to live in a common dormitory,"* and, *"I just need to kidnap someone and hand her over, and I don't have to worry about anything else."*
She couldn't resist Ye An's persistence, so in the end, she reluctantly agreed. However, because she was worried about his safety, she decided to accompany him in this "big deal". This way, they could look out for each other, and if anything unexpected happened, they would leave this world together rather than being left alone in the world.
Yu Shuiting closed her eyes and took a deep breath. With the sword in her hand, she pushed open the door and listened carefully for any movement inside the room. After confirming that Yun Yiyi's personal maid was not there, she tiptoed toward the pear wood bed.
When she reached the bedside, she looked at Yun Yiyi, who was frowning and sweating on the bed, and took out a piece of cloth from her sleeve. She pinched Yun Yiyi's cheeks and clumsily stuffed the cloth into her mouth.
"Mmm?!"
Yun Yiyi instantly woke up, looking at the masked woman standing by her bed in horror. Immediately, she raised her hand and tried to kick and push her.
However, lying on the bed, Yun Yiyi had no fulcrum to use her strength and was no match for Yu Shuiting, who was on top of her.
"Mmm?! Mmm!"
Seeing her struggling so fiercely, Yu Shuiting glared at her and said, "Miss Yun, if you want to live, be quiet."
Yun Yiyi paused, hearing her title. She immediately understood that this was probably a disciple of the Sword Sect. She stared and groaned a few times, indicating that she had something to say to her. "Wu wu...wu--"
Seeing that she stopped struggling, Yu Shuiting also breathed a sigh of relief. This was her first time doing such a thing as kidnapping, and she was very anxious. She then turned Yun Yiyi over on the bed and used an *Immortal Binding Lock* from the storage bag to tie her hands behind her back, and then her feet.
Yun Yiyi saw that the other party did not intend to kill her, and she relaxed a little. She turned her head and looked behind her. "Wu wu -- wu?"
Glancing at Yun Yiyi's questioning gaze while tying the rope, Yu Shuiting said, "Miss Yun, please rest assured. We need to take you away unharmed; we won't hurt you in any way."
"Wu? Wu wu..."
After tying up Yun Yiyi, she grabbed her waist and lifted her onto her shoulders. However, seeing her thin silk pajamas and considering the strong wind and snow outside, afraid that she would feel cold, she put her back on the bed, wrapped her in a blanket, then lifted her again before opening the window on the east side of the house and jumping out.
Yu Shuiting carried Yun Yiyi onto the roof, braving the wind and snow. She jumped back and forth on the eaves of several buildings until they arrived at the lotus pond behind the *Cloud Mansion*.
A man in a gray cloak was waiting in the pavilion next to the lotus pond. When he saw her coming back with a quilt on her shoulders, he stood up to greet her.
He glanced at Yun Yiyi, nodded, and asked, "Were there any events?"
"No, it went smoothly. I didn't run into patrols, trigger mechanisms or formations, or even use a sword."
"That's good..." The man nodded, then looked at the sky and glanced in the direction of Ye Anping's bedroom. "They are so slow. Is that guy Ye so difficult to deal with?"
Hearing this, Yun Yiyi was startled and opened her eyes wide. "Wuwuwu---!!! Wuwu---!"
"..."
"Wuwuwu!!"
Seeing her making such a fuss, the man hesitated, then stepped forward and pulled the cloth out of her mouth.
Yun Yiyi, who had been very calm until now, had a panicked look on her face.
She had a high-level magic weapon with defensive capabilities on her, so she wasn't worried about being hurt by these people. She originally planned to use herself as a decoy and leave a few tracks along the way to lead the **Flowing Water Peak** disciples to this group's headquarters once they discovered she was missing.
However, when she heard what the man had just said and learned that these people seemed to be targeting her husband, she panicked.
"What are you going to do?!"
Facing Yun Yiyi's questioning, the man sneered and said, "Kidnap you and kill that Young Master of the ***Hundred Lotus*** Sect while we're at it."
"How dare you?!!" Yun Yiyi glared angrily, but the next moment, the man stuffed the cloth back into her mouth. "Damn you! If you dare... mmm..."
"Mmm...! Mmm...!"
Yun Yiyi struggled and quickly infused spiritual energy into the jade talisman in her underwear, preparing to use the magical weapon to force the villains back. However, at this time, another person covered in blood jumped into the pavilion.
Ye Anping glanced at Yun Yiyi, who was now making a fuss on Yu Shuiting's shoulder, and said in a hoarse voice, "It's solved, but Brother Qi and Brother Liu are dead, and that guy Ye was pretty difficult to deal with."
Yun Yiyi's eyes widened in disbelief as she looked at him. "Huh? Huhu---huhuhuhu---!!"
Ye Anping ignored her and glanced sideways at Yu Shuiting and the other man. Seeing that Yu Shuiting had been staring at him all along, he felt a slight sense of alertness rising in his heart. He got ready to summon his sword from the storage bag.
Yu Shuiting didn't notice anything strange at all but felt distressed looking at the wounds on Ye Anping's body. She asked, "My lord Ye, what's wrong with your throat?"
My lord?
Could this woman be the "Yu Shuiting" written on the jade pendant?
Ye Anping hesitated and didn't dare to talk too much. He only replied, "I got hit in the neck... there's some blood in my throat..."
"Oh... then I'll take a look later."
The man glanced at both of them, took another look at the sky without saying anything more, turned around, and walked out of the pavilion. He went to the side of the rockery next to the lotus pond and moved it slightly.
"Let's go to the rendezvous point. The people from **Night Tide Peak** and **Sword Wine Peak** should already be waiting."
After saying that, he took the lead and jumped down into a small hole under the rockery.
Yun Yiyi, carried on Yu Shuiting's shoulders, heard this and stopped focusing on the spiritual energy accumulated in the jade pendant in her underwear.
She clenched her teeth on the white cloth in her mouth and stared at Ye Anping, who was covered in blood, with a murderous look.
However, the next moment---
Ye Anping stepped forward and hit her on the back of her neck with the edge of his hand.
"Ugh..."
Yun Yiyi's head swayed, and she went limp, losing consciousness.
Yu Shuiting saw this scene, and frowned slightly, having the nagging feeling that her "Lord Ye" seemed a bit different, but she couldn't say what was different and didn't think too much about it. Following the person before, she quickly jumped into the small hole under the rockery with Yun Yiyi.
Ye Anping followed closely behind. After jumping down, he moved the rockery back to its original position from below. Then, he followed the two people through the underground passage toward the mountain slope of the **Flowing Water Peak.**
