Under the sheer dark fortress of the Nether Shade, lava visibly lingered in the air. Groans of miserable souls reverberated coming from the innermost chambers of TaoYan city.
Lu XueCao, an infamous demonic cultivator seated at a topmost throne. Beside him was Lu Jie, a woman with white hair and pale skin. They have both ominous reputations of conjuring demonic disturbances amongst the mundane world.
Sounds of steps then closed in at the empty hall. Afterwards, a woman in a mysterious veil bowed in front of them. XueCao gestured for her to speak. The woman stood up and stated her purpose of coming.
"Senior Brother XueCao. I have a terrible news. The jade phoenix kingdom's leader found out about our plan."
"Imbecile! Haven't I told you to only wag your tongue if there was nobody around?"
"I deeply apologize Senior Brother XueCao... But His highness was a very crafty man."
"Tch. Go back to the Dragon Blade's kingdom. Kill the king with your own hands and make up for your carelessness."
"But I— Senior brother... I cannot do that."
"You should do that. You WILL do that."
"Sister YingLuo might hate me."
"You chose to follow the path of the Shuras now you will do as I say or...
I will burn Old Jianghu into ashes."
The woman was shunned. She could not speak more. After bowing, she exited the hall and removed her veil.
Zhao min sighed. She never wanted to be involved in demonic cultivation. But since she was disowned by her own family, her siphon of soul has been pulled out from her body and because of that, she could not go back to Emei and practice mastery of Yang Chi.
However, with the help of XueCao, she was able to replace her siphon by cultivating through capturing demonic specters and ascend back to Emei.
She had no choice.
Circumstances made her what she is.
Other options were closed doors with no keys.
Crying like a silent wind, Zhao Min returned back to the mundane realm. The portal that she conjured led her to the back palace of the kingdom of Dragon Blade. She silently crept up the stairs of the palace steps while withdrawing her daggers.
'I couldn't defy Senior brother XueCao... Or else... I have nowhere to go.'
Using her other hand, she creaked the door wide open and made her way through the corridors undetected. As she was nearing the door of King Fu's resting chamber, she saw some guards patrolling so she entered into stealth. The guards were talking about the things that had happened during the battle against Zhuge Liang. She overheard them while staying in a corner.
"Have you heard about the things that had happened last night?"
"Yeah? About the battle that shook the sky and our city?"
"Yes! Did you know that Miss YingLuo tried to stop that fallen God by summoning Sun Wukong?"
"That was a great feat! Miss YingLuo is a daughter of a mortal and an immortal but she summoned one of Buddha's servisitors, Sun WuKong."
"Where is Miss YingLuo now?"
"Right now, from what I have heard, Miss YingLuo was resting at an inn in ChuanXi city."
"How was she?"
"Well... She had deep wounds but doctors did say that she'll survive. Well what could go wrong? She's a Goddess right?"
"Right. Right..."
Tears streamed down Zhao Min's eyes after she heard about YingLuo's condition. She does not want to betray her but she promised that after she kills the Dragon Blade's King, she'll distance herself from YingLuo and her friends to avoid them from getting hurt even more.
She put on the veil and quietly opened the door of the King's chambers. King Fu laid in his back on the bed. He was asleep and no one was there. It was a great opportunity for her to engage the attack. Only a few candles were lit enough to illuminate the room and no one would suspect if she kills the king in a fast and silent manner.
She pulled her daggers and positioned it above the unsuspecting and sick king. Raising her daggers, she closed her eyes and swiftly thrusted both of the daggers into the king's neck but none of them reached the neck. Two butterfly darts hurled across the room piercing her hands that caused her to let go of the daggers.
She looked at the other side and saw a shadowy figure behind the silhouette changing room.
It was MoXiao! She decided to retreat after she was pierced with the darts carelessly leaving her daggers at the scene.
King Fu woke up and was alerted by MoXiao's presence but MoXiao told him that there was nothing to worry about and that the matter should be discussed this morning. King Fu went back to sleep and MoXiao confiscated the daggers that the veiled murderer left.
'It has the same mark as of Emei iron but has traces of demonic aura left from it. Whomever the murderer is, she's way dead serious about killing King Fu.'
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The next morning, an edict was proclaimed by King Fu. All of the women in the kingdom were gathered an inspected due to the King's recent poisoning and attempted murder. Zhao Min went inside the palace to join YingLuo and the others.
As they were busy chattering and sitting at the morning banquet prepared by the kingdom, MoXiao had his eyes on Zhao Min. His encounter with the murderer last night strengthened his intuition against Zhao Min after seeing two wounds on both of her hands.
MoXiao then seated beside her and carefully asked her some questions. He does not want to scare the snake by shaking the grasses. (to be obvious in asking the culprit)
"Zhao Min..."
"Yes brother MoXiao."
"Where did you get those kind of wounds? Have you fought someone somewhere?"
"A—Uh... No... I just... I was practicing last night and some maniac threw daggers at me. Hehe."
"Oh alright. You should clean and treat those wounds immediately. That maniac might have thrown poisonous daggers."
"The wounds are already cleaned brother MoXiao and there was no poison in the darts that he used."
"Alright. Behave well..."
It was obviously a lie. MoXiao ruffled her hair and went back to his seat. Pretending to turn a blind eye (doesn't care) , Zhao Min continued chattering and happily eating food while casually glancing at MoXiao.
After the feast, MoXiao went outside the palace walls bringing a long pipe cigarette with him. His stress levels are rising after the battle with Zhuge Liang. He inhaled through the pipe and afterwards blew a smoke in the air. He watched as the night sky was filled with happy chatters of people below. YingLuo approached at him and sat beside him at the stone walls.
Zhao Min wanted to talk with MoXiao but she stopped as she saw YingLuo with him. She listened to them as they talked.
"Sister. I have something to tell you."
"Ehh... Is it about LanRong?"
"No. No... It's different. Have you asked Zhao Min how she got those wounds in her hands?"
"I already have. She said that some maniac threw daggers at her while she was practicing last night."
"Enn. She told me the same thing but... You know sis... I went to King Fu's chambers last night."
"Huh? What did you do there? You're trying to peep at the king while he's asleep?"
"*facepalms* No! That's not it! Well... Someone tried to murder the king last night. I wounded her hands by my butterfly darts but the culprit escaped leaving only her daggers."
"That's strange. Well... The kingdom's rumors says it was a woman so normally, she would try to escape after encountering a man like you."
"Well... I'm doubting that the murderer is now here with us."
"What do you mean?"
"Zhao Min's wounds. They're not caused by ordinary darts. Only butterfly darts can cause wounds like the ones in her hands."
"Come to think of it..."
Zhao Min's breath almost slowed. Using a dark talisman, she conjured a portal back to the Nether Shade.
'They had already found out.'