Volume 3, Chapter 347 – The Kidnapper

Huang Xifeng’s expression was grave.

“Your Majesty already has a suspect in mind?”

“There is truly a traitor within the Fox Clan?”

Until now, Huang Xifeng had never considered the possibility that Song Shiyuan had left through the Fox Clan’s hidden passage.

Only those of the Fox Clan could open a hidden passage, and only a powerful cultivator well-versed in Fox Clan secret techniques could have taken Song Shiyuan through one.

Yet the Fox Clan had always been tightly knit. Nothing of this sort had occurred in all its centuries of history.

Had the Fox Monarch not pointed it out, Huang Xifeng would never have thought to look in this direction.

And judging by the Fox Monarch’s reaction, she seemed to have known all along that a traitor existed within the Fox Clan.

If there truly was a traitor within the Fox Clan’s ranks, then had the secrets of Lingxu Sword Sect already been exposed to outside enemies?

The thought sent a shadow of worry across Huang Xifeng’s brow.

“…” Lu Zhuxin’s expression remained dark.

She raised a hand and gently pressed her fingers against the bridge of her nose.

If it was Ming Zhaoxi, she certainly had the ability to take Song Shiyuan away.

But what was that red fox trying to do?

What was the point of taking Song Shiyuan?

And besides. Given that idiotic fox’s level of intelligence, had she even stopped to think before doing this?

Did she not have a grudge with Song Shiyuan to begin with?

Or was this simply about getting back at me?

Surely she didn’t think that kidnapping Song Shiyuan as leverage would give her a hold over me?

Or was it that, because she had lost her little game, she decided to go snatch someone else’s toy?

Ha.

What kind of childish nonsense was this?!

Lu Zhuxin let her fingers drift idly into her own hair.

Though, it was genuinely a little infuriating.

Rеαd oո ΚαtRеαdіngСаfе

It had been a long time since Lu Zhuxin had felt this kind of anger. She raised her head and said slowly, “There is indeed a traitor within the Fox Clan. Song Shiyuan was certainly taken away by that traitor.”

“For now, however, we must first determine where Song Shiyuan has been taken before we deal with the traitor.”

“Your Majesty.” Huang Xifeng’s brow creased. “The hidden passage and the linked dreamscape are the Fox Clan’s most closely guarded secrets. If the traitor were to leak this information…”

“She won’t.” Lu Zhuxin raised her eyes and spoke to the sword cultivator before her. “With her temperament, if she had ever intended to leak these secrets, she would not have waited until now.”

The concern Huang Xifeng had raised was something Lu Zhuxin had naturally already considered.

Ming Zhaoxi was the Fox Monarch. No matter how deeply she hated Lu Zhuxin, she would not turn against the ordinary folk of the Fox Clan.

Besides, leaking those Fox Clan secrets would do nothing to harm Lu Zhuxin, the imposter Fox Monarch.

Lu Zhuxin’s heat period was a different matter entirely.

So given Ming Zhaoxi’s temperament, she would come for Lu Zhuxin directly. She would not go around harming ordinary foxes.

With that in mind, Lu Zhuxin continued, “The exit of Lingxu Sword Sect’s hidden passage is not far from the sect itself. Sect Master Huang, take some people and check the area near the exit. See if there are any clues left behind.”

Huang Xifeng heard this and gave a nod. “Understood. I will make arrangements at once.”

Hu Mei’er escorted Huang Xifeng out of the dreamscape.

Then Lu Zhuxin turned her gaze to Huang Shangshang.

“Your Majesty…” The girl, like a small yellow chick, was crouched on the ground staring up at Lu Zhuxin with a pitifully forlorn expression.

Lu Zhuxin drew a slow, measured breath. “Stand up. This is not your fault. If that person truly intended to take Song Shiyuan away, even if you had never left her side, you could not have stopped her.”

“Huh?” Huang Shangshang looked up at Lu Zhuxin with a blank expression. “Your Majesty, who is the traitor who took Song Shiyuan? Who is she?”

Lu Zhuxin lowered her gaze slightly and said quietly, “Someone very dangerous.”

In her mind, she turned over what she knew of Ming Zhaoxi’s character.

Ming Zhaoxi was a prodigy of the Red Fox Tribe, hot-tempered and proud. With that arrogant disposition of hers, she had always looked down on stooping to make a move against the weak. By all reasoning, Song Shiyuan and Ming Zhaoxi had no real enmity between them. Grievances had their origins and debts had their debtors. Even if Ming Zhaoxi wanted revenge, she should not have been going after Song Shiyuan.

And besides, if she was already on human territory, wouldn’t coming to Beihe Commandery be more direct? Why go all the way to Lingxu Sword Sect, a place heavily guarded with powerful cultivators stationed within it, just to cause trouble over Song Shiyuan?

There was something odd about this. It did not quite fit Ming Zhaoxi’s style.

As she calmed down, Lu Zhuxin began to notice a few things that felt off.

System 03 had seemed unaware that Song Shiyuan had been taken by Ming Zhaoxi.

Reαd οn ΚαtReаⅾіոɡCаfе

Given how fixated 03 was on Song Shiyuan, there was no way it would not have been keeping a close watch on her.

If 03’s words were truthful, that confirmed one thing: Ming Zhaoxi and System 03 had no connection to each other.

Thinking back to the conclusions she had drawn from her earlier probing of Ming Zhaoxi, there seemed to be some kind of restriction on these systems, which was why System 03 had not exchanged intelligence with an Awakener the way Ming Zhaoxi apparently had.

As for the Human Empress finding Lu Zhuxin, that must have been because she had first used the Pheromone Detection Stone to locate her in Beihe Commandery, allowing her to confirm Lu Zhuxin’s identity before sending Wei Qingyu to make contact.

But if System 03 had not exchanged intelligence with any Awakener, what about between the Awakeners themselves?

Had Ming Zhaoxi and that “second Qu Qingtang” ever been in contact with each other?

Previously, Lu Zhuxin had taken it for granted, by default, that Ming Zhaoxi and the Human Empress were in communication.

But what if they had no connection at all?

A new possibility was now taking shape in Lu Zhuxin’s mind.

Ming Zhaoxi did not know where she was. With no way to go after her directly, she had settled for the next best option: find Song Shiyuan first, then use Song Shiyuan to draw her out.

That would also explain Ming Zhaoxi’s motive for taking Song Shiyuan.

But… could it really be like that?

Was that truly possible?

Lu Zhuxin was deep in thought, turning it over and over.

No evidence. No clues. No way to be certain.

“…”

Just then, Hu Mei’er spoke up. “Your Majesty, Sect Master Huang has returned.”

“Oh?” Lu Zhuxin tilted her head slightly. “That quickly. Did she find something?”

Hu Mei’er formed a hand seal and pulled Huang Xifeng back into the dreamscape.

“Your Majesty.” The moment Huang Xifeng saw Lu Zhuxin, she came straight to the point. “Someone just delivered a letter to Lingxu Sword Sect.”

“A letter?” Lu Zhuxin’s brow drew together. “What did it say?”

Huang Xifeng looked at Lu Zhuxin, a strange expression creeping across her face. “The letter says that Song Shiyuan’s Dao Companion is to bring one million spirit stones to Hongxia Mountain in exchange for her release…”

“And the letter emphasizes that Song Shiyuan’s Dao Companion must come in person. Otherwise, they will kill Song Shiyuan…”

Reаԁ οn КatRеаdіոɡСαfe

“The signature reads… Ash Moon.”

“…”

“…”

Silence. A long, drawn-out silence.

Both Huang Xifeng and Hu Mei’er exchanged glances with each other and chose, wordlessly, to say nothing.

After a long while, it was a soft burst of laughter that finally broke the uncanny quiet.

Lu Zhuxin pressed a hand to her cheek, laughing with genuine amusement, her whole frame shaking with it.

She was laughing out of sheer exasperation.

Not only because of the ransom letter, but because of herself.

“I really am a fool… truly…” she murmured softly to herself. “I actually tried to analyze this idiot’s behavior for rational meaning and purpose…”

“Your Majesty…” Huang Xifeng finally could not help but ask. “Who exactly is this person?”

Lu Zhuxin propped her head in her hand and said lightly, “Hongxia Mountain. Sin Moon Tower.”

Hongxia Mountain was where the heaven-mandated male lead Song Shixuan had brought Sin Moon Tower to heel.

Lu Zhuxin was, of course, no stranger to the place.

In the original story, during the middle stages of the plot, the Sin Moon Tower’s headquarters had been accidentally exposed. In order to eliminate this threat before the campaign against the Demon Territory, cultivators from every sect and faction had converged on Hongxia Mountain to annihilate Sin Moon Tower.

Song Shixuan, however, had served as the vanguard and executed a strategy of misdirection: openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing through Chencang.

Before Sin Moon Tower could be wiped out, he had already secretly absorbed it into his own forces.

The so-called extermination had been nothing more than a performance staged entirely by Song Shixuan himself. He let Sin Moon Tower vanish from the world’s eyes, then folded it completely into his own power base.

That blood-red moon was Sin Moon Tower’s emblem.

“Sin Moon Tower, ha… so that’s where you’ve been hiding…” Recalling the plotlines surrounding Sin Moon Tower from the original story, Lu Zhuxin could not stop the quiet laughter from escaping her lips.

And to think she had been racking her brain over Ming Zhaoxi’s actions.

In the end, with just a few lines of text, Ming Zhaoxi had handed Lu Zhuxin every answer she had been trying to figure out.

Song Shiyuan was an unmarried young woman. Where would she have gotten a Dao Companion?

Rеаԁ οո КatReaԁingCαfe

The only people who knew of her relationship with Lu Zhuxin were those directly involved in the Fox Palace incident.

Ming Zhaoxi had made it explicit that Song Shiyuan’s Dao Companion was to come forward and pay the ransom. Who else could she have meant but Lu Zhuxin?

So her purpose in taking Song Shiyuan was to draw Lu Zhuxin out.

With that established, several of Lu Zhuxin’s earlier theories could now all be confirmed.

Ming Zhaoxi and the Human Empress absolutely had no connection. If they had, there was no way the Human Empress would have let Ming Zhaoxi do something this foolish.

The Human Empress had already found Lu Zhuxin’s whereabouts. She had no need for Ming Zhaoxi to go to such unnecessary lengths.

And besides. What kidnapper willingly reveals their own hideout?

What kidnapper arranges a handoff right near their own hidden base of operations?

Every time the thought crossed her mind, Lu Zhuxin could not hold back her laughter.

And Ming Zhaoxi’s current identity was most likely that of Sin Moon Tower’s master: Weisheng Jinyue.

“How utterly… unsurprising.”

“Your Majesty… what do we do now?” Huang Xifeng asked. “Should we send people to Hongxia Mountain to ransom Miss Song back?”

Lu Zhuxin shook her head. “Her target is me, and she has no intention of releasing anyone.”

Huang Xifeng still looked puzzled.

Lu Zhuxin thought for a moment, then continued, “It would be inconvenient for Lingxu Sword Sect to get involved in this matter. It would draw suspicion. You only need to maintain the status quo for now.”

Huang Xifeng understood. “Then how does Your Majesty intend to rescue Miss Song?”

“I will go and get her.” Lu Zhuxin paused. “But when I do, I will need to borrow someone else’s hand.”

Ming Zhaoxi’s goal was to draw Lu Zhuxin out. Which meant that until Lu Zhuxin actually appeared, Ming Zhaoxi would not do anything to Song Shiyuan.

The Fox Clan’s reach within human territory was limited, no match for Sin Moon Tower’s at all.

And even if Lu Zhuxin intended to take Song Shiyuan back from Ming Zhaoxi, she would not put herself in danger to do it.

She already had a rough plan forming in her mind.

She ought to thank Ming Zhaoxi, actually. Without her, Lu Zhuxin would not have been able to get a clear picture of their situation this quickly.

“Ming Zhaoxi, Ming Zhaoxi. Snatching someone else’s toy comes with a price.”