“What did you just say?” the Third Prince asked calmly.
Only then did Mu Xueshi remember the reckless words he had blurted out moments earlier. Embarrassment washed over him at once.
The prince’s tone sounded perfectly calm, yet Mu Xueshi could clearly sense the danger hidden beneath it.
Steadying himself, Mu Xueshi suddenly widened his eyes and shouted toward the empty patch of grass behind the Third Prince.
“What’s that?!”
Before the words had even faded, he spun around and dashed away.
Because of the discomfort in his body, his running posture looked extremely awkward—almost stumbling as he fled deeper into the flowerbeds.
The first time Mu Xueshi had used this trick, the Third Prince had remained completely unmoved. Now that he tried the same ruse again, it seemed almost laughably foolish.
The prince gave a faint snort of amusement and walked into the flowers.
Mu Xueshi had only intended to stop for a moment and catch his breath when suddenly his feet left the ground.
He immediately understood what had happened.
The Third Prince had lifted him by the back of his collar.
Higher and higher he was raised, and Mu Xueshi flailed wildly in midair, baring his teeth and waving his arms in a desperate attempt to frighten the prince into letting him down.
But the Third Prince paid him no mind.
In fact, he looked as if he were half-tempted to throw him.
“Waaah—! Put me down! You tyrannical aristocrat oppressing the common people! I’ll eliminate you on behalf of the masses—!”
Before Mu Xueshi finished shouting, his body suddenly flew through the air.
Terrified, he shut his eyes and braced himself for the moment when he would smash into the ground and break his head open.
Yet after waiting for quite a while…
He still hadn’t landed.
Mu Xueshi cautiously opened one eye.
Then he discovered that he was hanging from the fork of a tree.
This time he was genuinely frightened.
All traces of bravado vanished from his voice as he hurriedly pleaded for the Third Prince to bring him down.
After he was finally lowered to the ground, Mu Xueshi glanced nervously at the distance between the spot where the prince had thrown him and the tree branch where he had ended up.
He couldn’t help sighing inwardly at his own good fortune.
“You really had the heart to treat me like that?” Mu Xueshi complained while brushing dirt from his clothes. “If I weren’t so lucky, I might have died—or at least been crippled. Do you really think so little of me?”
“Why shouldn’t I?” the Third Prince asked indifferently.
Mu Xueshi puffed out his neck stubbornly.
“If I were the one throwing you, I wouldn’t have the heart to do it!”
Seeing the aggrieved expression on Mu Xueshi’s face, the Third Prince actually felt a faint stir of hesitation.
His voice softened slightly.
“Do you know what kind of tree this is?”
Mu Xueshi shook his head.
Though he was still a little angry, the fact that the prince had taken the initiative to speak eased his temper somewhat.
The Third Prince stepped closer to the tree and pointed toward the middle of its trunk.
“This is called a Twin-Born Tree. In truth, it is two trees that have grown together until they appear to be a single trunk.”
Mu Xueshi frowned slightly and stepped forward to examine it. He ran his hand over the bark.
“But even if they’re twin trees, shouldn’t there be two trunks or two main branches? This one is completely fused together. There’s no place where it splits at all.”
The Third Prince replied quietly,
“This tree will only divide into branches if the blood of two brothers mingles together and is dripped into the soil beneath it.”
“How amazing!”
Mu Xueshi’s curiosity instantly returned. Forgetting his earlier grievance, he began circling the tree, touching and inspecting it with fascination.
Watching his childlike enthusiasm, a faint smile appeared at the corner of the Third Prince’s eyes.
As Mu Xueshi continued examining the tree, his brow slowly furrowed as if he were thinking deeply about something.
A moment later, he suddenly raised a hand and pointed accusingly at the Third Prince.
“I remember now! You were changing the subject, weren’t you?”
He snorted triumphantly.
“Good thing I’m so vigilant. Otherwise I’d have fallen right into your trap again.”
The Third Prince paused.
He immediately understood what Mu Xueshi meant. To his surprise, the fellow was still dwelling on the joke from earlier.
Just as the prince looked toward him—
Mu Xueshi lunged forward.
For reasons he couldn’t quite explain, the Third Prince suddenly found himself amused and decided to play along.
When Mu Xueshi chased him, he ran ahead just fast enough to keep slightly out of reach—always letting Mu Xueshi come within a hair’s breadth of catching him.
At last Mu Xueshi ran out of patience.
With a dramatic flop, he collapsed into the grass and lay there panting heavily toward the sky.
“I’m not playing anymore… Hmph. You bully honest people.”
The Third Prince lay down beside him, propping himself up on one elbow as he looked at Mu Xueshi.
“How exactly have I bullied you?” he asked deliberately.
Mu Xueshi shot him a sidelong glance and said resentfully,
“You know perfectly well.”
The Third Prince said nothing more.
He simply watched Mu Xueshi in silence.
Gradually the surroundings fell quiet.
The only sounds left were the little tune Mu Xueshi hummed under his breath and the faint smile lingering on the Third Prince’s face.
“If only things could stay like this forever…” Mu Xueshi murmured softly.
He even wished he could bring his mother here someday—but he knew he could never say such words aloud. It was impossible.
The Third Prince chuckled quietly but offered no response.
Suddenly Mu Xueshi felt his nose sting. He forced back the tears with effort and said,
“Do you know something? Since I was little, aside from my family… you’re the closest person I have.”
“You remember things from before?” the Third Prince asked.
Mu Xueshi shook his head helplessly.
“No… I don’t remember. It’s just a feeling…”
At that very moment—
The Third Prince suddenly raised his hand and caught a flying arrow mid-air.
The movement was so fast that by the time he set the arrow down, Mu Xueshi had only just realized what had happened.
“What’s wrong?” Mu Xueshi sat up abruptly.
Without answering, the Third Prince lifted him onto the horse in one swift motion and mounted behind him.
They galloped toward the direction from which the arrow had come.
From the force of the shot, the Third Prince had already judged roughly how far away the hidden attacker had been.
The wind roared past Mu Xueshi’s ears as they raced forward. Still confused, he clung to the saddle as the prince urged the horse onward.
At last they reached a large natural lake.
The path ended there.
Only then did the Third Prince pull the reins and bring the horse to a halt.
“Who attacked us from the shadows?” Mu Xueshi asked anxiously.
The Third Prince gave no reply.
Instead, he leapt down from the horse and hurried toward the lakeshore.
“Let me down!” Mu Xueshi shouted from atop the horse.
Suddenly the prince’s foot struck something hard.
He crouched and pushed aside the thick grass.
A foul stench immediately filled the air.
Holding his breath, the Third Prince carefully examined the corpse’s intact face—and his expression changed instantly.
Though he rarely dealt with corpses, his knowledge told him the man had died less than two days ago.
But how could that be?
This man was Ning Yue—who was supposed to have died two weeks ago.
The Third Prince reached out and pressed firmly against the stiff face, examining it closely.
There were no signs of disguise.
It was truly Ning Yue.
Meanwhile, Mu Xueshi, annoyed that the prince hadn’t called him over at such an important moment, began awkwardly trying to climb down from the tall horse by himself.
“Don’t come down!” the Third Prince ordered sharply.
Hearing the urgency in his voice, Mu Xueshi froze.
The leg he had just lowered quickly withdrew again as he craned his neck from afar, trying to see what was happening.
Futile Devices Scans 
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