Miss Fairy, Please Hear Me Out

Listening to the confidence in Steward Li’s voice, Xu Yuan felt a headache coming on. Wait? Wait for what? Wait for the protagonist to come out of the Everbow Valley instance and slaughter every last one of you?

He felt a little helpless. It was not fair to call his subordinates brainless idiots. They did not have the godlike bird’s eye view he used to have. With incomplete information, rules hemming them in, and a pile of common sense they had long since taken for granted, it was only natural for them to make a judgment like this.

Xu Yuan did not yet know exactly how big the gap between the eighth and seventh rank was, but he had a rough idea of the difference between the ninth and eighth. Even without counting the improvements to one’s physique, a ninth rank cultivator only had about a third of an eighth rank cultivator’s source qi reserves, and their cultivation method ran at barely half the speed.

With a gap like that, for two seventh ranks leading a pack of eighth ranks to still get wiped out, there was only one thing to say. Qin Mo really did deserve to be called the protagonist.

Still, the fact that Qin Mo had gone to Everbow Valley at least let Xu Yuan confirm which route the man was taking. It was the old-grandpa companion route.

Murphy’s Law doesn’t lie, after all. Xu Yuan let out a faint sigh.

The reason the protagonist went to Everbow Valley in this part of the story was simple. The old grandpa had told him to. A secret realm was concealed there, and within that secret realm was a spiritual herb that could help the old grandpa recover his soul power.

Of course, helping the old man in his portable cheat was only half of it. By the sacred rule that protagonists never come back from a dungeon empty-handed, Qin Mo himself would also clear monsters, pop pills, level up, and come out vastly stronger than before.

According to the plot of Azure Point, that increase in strength was just enough for him to deal with the Xu estate guards waiting outside to block him. He would carve his way through the whole lot of them, throwing out every trick he had, until at last he reached the Third Young Master waiting at the mouth of the valley.

Yes, Everbow Valley was one of Xu Changtian’s burial grounds. In the old-grandpa route of Azure Point, the Third Young Master brought Su Jinxuan and his entourage to wait at the entrance of Everbow Valley for the protagonist.

He planned to kill Qin Mo right in front of Su Jinxuan, so she would give up on him for good. But then he got killed instead...

The thought flashed through his mind, and Xu Yuan immediately gave the order. “Call back the people guarding the place.”

“Huh?” Steward Li stared at him, stunned.

Xu Yuan looked at him for two seconds and repeated himself. “I said call them back.”

Steward Li was baffled, but he still hurriedly lowered his head and answered, “Yes, Third Young Master.”

Xu Yuan gave a cold snort and lifted a hand, pointing toward the courtyard gate ahead.

Seeing that, Steward Li understood that the Third Young Master was dismissing him to carry out the order. He cupped his hands in salute at once. “Third Young Master, this old servant will go take care of it immediately. Please allow me to withdraw for now.”

After saying that, Steward Li bowed once more, then turned and strode off in a hurry.

Xu Yuan watched him disappear around the corner, his eyes lowered as he continued forward. He felt thoroughly annoyed. Qin Mo on the old-grandpa route was like a hedgehog bristling with spikes, and now there was also that unknown Qin Weijiu lurking somewhere in the dark.

Even with Ying’er and two other Grandmasters at his side, going over there to block the exit and force a kill still was not very realistic. If anything, there was a real chance he would be the one killed instead.

Unless... Without thinking, Xu Yuan pictured a certain woman-shaped iceberg in his mind. She happens to come looking for me right about now.

After all, when they parted, he had told her that if she wanted to save the Sword Sect and had no other options, she could come to Stillwater to find him. If he spent that favor and got her to help, then camping the exit at Everbow Valley and killing Qin Mo there would probably be very doable.

Of course, that was only wishful thinking. Counting on Ran Qingmo to come find him was about as realistic as counting on that old man back in the Imperial Capital to show Qin Mo a little more respect.

After all, that old grandpa had been a Sage in life. In this world, only by stepping beyond the mortal ranks could one be called a Sage.

Xu Yuan walked on in silence, leaving the northwestern courtyard behind and arriving at the marshy lakeside. The winter wind blowing off the lake was damp and biting. He walked in front, reading the secret report as he went, while Ying’er followed quietly behind him.

Then, suddenly, a faint smile curled at his lips. After finishing the report, his mood improved considerably. The situation on Su Jinxuan’s side was more or less exactly what he had guessed, and he had also discovered that useless teammates were not a specialty exclusive to his side. Mister Qin had quite a few greedy, self-serving idiots under him too.

With a thought, Xu Yuan stowed the report into his Sumeru Ring and asked, “Ying’er, did you go see that little vixen earlier?”

Ying’er answered softly, “Not yet, but I have already spoken with the maid attending to her.”

“How is she doing?”

“It seems her mind has... suffered a bit. Even after her restraints were removed, she only curled up in the corner of the bed and refused to speak.”

“So it’s like that...” Hearing this, Xu Yuan was not particularly surprised. Really, it was exactly as expected.

In his previous life, just three days in a dark isolation room, even one where a person could still move around freely, was enough to drive people half mad. Let alone being buried deep in soft bedding, unable to move arms or legs at all. That kind of dead silence, the kind that felt like falling forever into absolute loneliness, would drive anyone insane.

After a pause, Xu Yuan said softly, “This punishment really shouldn’t last too long. It’ll drive a person insane.”

Ying’er gave a slight nod, and for once there was a faint ripple in her voice. “Yes. I questioned the maid responsible for feeding her spirit spring water. She said the pain from the Bewitching Soul Devil Body has been extreme throughout these past ten days. Her body keeps twisting and struggling on the bed until she exhausts herself, and only then does she stop for a brief moment.”

She paused, then looked Xu Yuan straight in the eye, utterly serious.

“This punishment is unusual. It deserves a place in the Blackscale Hundred Punishments.”

Xu Yuan fell silent.

Ying’er, meanwhile, calmly continued speaking to herself. “I have already reported this torture method to Lady Lou Ji. By the rules, Third Young Master will receive a reward.”

Xu Yuan’s eyelid twitched. Lou Ji was one of his father’s diehard confidantes, the woman in overall command of the Blackscale Guards. She was a venomous beauty straight out of a character portrait, dressed scandalously lightly and wearing the face of a seductive snake.

In his memories, he had seen her before at the Chancellor’s estate in the Imperial Capital. She really was seductive, and she really did dress very lightly.

Still, what Xu Yuan had absolutely not expected was that coming up with a new torture method could actually earn a reward in the Blackscale Guards.

Letting out a slow breath, Xu Yuan asked quietly, “What kind of reward?”

“Lady Lou Ji said that when Third Young Master returns to the Imperial Capital, she will give it to you personally.”

At those words, a few unpleasant memories surfaced in his mind. Noticing them, Xu Yuan gave an amused little laugh. “Heh. Pass a message to that old hag Lou Ji for me. This young master has no interest in her reward.”

Ying’er fell silent for a moment, but still nodded. “I will inform Lady Lou Ji.”

Xu Yuan waved a hand. “That’s enough. Where is that little vixen now?”

“In the north court.”

“Take me there. I need to see her.”

The rest of the way passed in silence.

About a quarter of an hour later, Xu Yuan arrived in the secret chamber beneath the north court. Only after pouring source qi into his eyes could he barely make out the pitch-black staircase around him.

Ying’er had not come down with him.

At the end of the narrow stairway was a small square chamber. With source qi strengthening his vision, Xu Yuan could vaguely make out a large bed placed in the center of the room.

Tap... Tap... Tap... The sound of footsteps seemed to bring hope to the person on the bed.

Rustle... rustle... A faint stirring gradually came from atop the bed.

In the end, Xu Yuan stopped beside the soft mattress. He stood there silently for a long while, then slowly let out a breath and brushed the back of his hand across the woman’s tear-streaked cheek.

Unexpectedly, she did not resist. Instead, like a drowning person in the open sea who had finally managed to seize a floating plank, she gently rubbed her face against that one and only scrap of solid human contact she could still feel.