The manor suddenly fell silent, awkwardness hanging thick in the air. The wind ceased, and the once-swaying flowers froze in place, a dullness settling on every face present.
As the center of attention, Nongli was no exception.
Her silver, delicately arched brows furrowed, her crimson eyes full of confusion as they scanned the messengers, maids, children, and the still flowers around her. After two seconds of gathering herself, she suddenly laughed out loud.
She raised a hand to cover her sharp teeth and said, “Look at how scared you all are. Is it that unbelievable to hear such words come from my mouth?
I just think you should all consider that everyone in this world is complicated. Maybe I’m not as good as you think.”
With that, Nongli winked playfully, and the myriad flowers seemed to lose their color.
At that moment, a maid was the first to laugh and walked over to link her arm with Nongli’s, chiming in, “Lady Nongli, that’s not right. Don’t say that—who in this manor, or even this city, doesn’t know you are the kindest person in the whole world?”
With those words, others began to join in agreement. Nongli said no more, only forcing a dry smile. The maid and the messengers livened up the atmosphere, the children laughed again, and soon everything was warm and cheerful once more.
Nongli resumed her usual routine of tending the flowerbeds with the maids, acting as a teacher to the children. After finishing, she returned with the messengers to a study inside the manor.
The study was lined with many books, one prominently titled How to Get Along with Eastern Foxkin Maidens, authored by none other than Nongli herself, who had never revealed her real name.
As soon as she sat down, most of her smile faded, leaving only a faint, instinctive curve to her lips. The messenger who followed in adopted a colder demeanor.
Sitting down, she opened the letter again and skimmed through it before asking, “Is there anything else to report?”
“The Church of the Rose Kingdom recently uncovered a secret about the Saintess Moonlan, involving an illegal magical potion on the black market.”
Nongli raised an eyebrow and inquired, “Oh? What secret?”
“Moonlan is linked to prohibited magical drugs, a grave crime strictly forbidden by the Church. If we can confirm this, we might use it to bring Moonlan down.”
Nongli glanced sideways, thought for a moment, then shook her head. “Bringing her down is unlikely. Moonlan’s influence in the Church far exceeds what we and our allies expected.
But this is indeed an opportunity. Let them continue investigating.”
She tapped the letter with a finger, about to ask more when she changed course. “Any news about Aoki?”
“No leads yet. We still need to go after Saintess Moonlan herself.”
Disappointment crossed her face. Nongli pushed the letter away. “What about Lin Qiyou? Tell me everything!”
Seeing Nongli’s particular concern, the messenger nodded.
“Lin Qiyou is of Eastern descent, a white-clad swordswoman, skilled at—”
Nongli interrupted, “No need for personal details. Get to the point.”
She was more familiar with these matters than anyone else.
“Alright. Lin Qiyou first appeared in Zenda, a town outside the Demon King’s Castle border…”
The messenger recounted Lin Qiyou’s hunting of the bear goblins, continuing:
“Afterwards, she met a halfling priestess companion named Akya. The two seem inseparable and get along well—they even share a room.”
Nongli scoffed, “One sister dead wasn’t enough, now she’s dragged another into this? A real troublemaker. Getting close to her brings nothing but bad luck.”
Messenger: “Lin Qiyou and Akya registered together for the Rose Kingdom’s hero selection and traveled through countless trial points, heading straight to Rose Kingdom’s capital.”
Nongli frowned. “If it’s just a hero trial, any place would do. But she deliberately chose Rose Kingdom’s capital—where Saintess Moonlan resides. Could she know Moonlan might be connected to Aoki?”
Messenger: “During a monster attack at the Rose Kingdom’s border checkpoint, Lin Qiyou single-handedly slew a young dragon but lost her sword in the process.”
Nongli brightened. “So the white-clad swordswoman is her… But just one young dragon broke the Phantom Sword’s blade? She’s weakened—traveling through that other world must have cost her much power.
That’s a good thing, a very good thing.”
Messenger: “Because of this incident, she was summoned by Saintess Moonlan and currently remains in Rose Kingdom’s capital.
Our funded saint candidates suspect she’s an accomplice of Moonlan.
After failed attempts to recruit her, they believe Lin Qiyou is a huge threat and will cause trouble later.
So, to eliminate her threat, they sent assassins to kill the saint but were unexpectedly attacked by another faction. The initial suspicion is that Saintess Moonlan sent those to protect Lin Qiyou.”
Nongli said, “Hmph. What did Moonlan say to her?
And the fact that the Phantom Sword Immortal needs someone to protect her—isn’t that suspicious?”
Messenger: “Also, our funded hero candidates know Lin Qiyou.”
Nongli nodded, reaching for the letter again, reading aloud, “So the letter says the saint candidates want us to join forces with the hero candidates to kill Lin Qiyou, correct?”
“That’s right. They think that way.
Lady Nongli, if I may be so bold, Lin Qiyou seems extremely dangerous. I also recommend we eliminate her while everything is still quiet!”
The messenger made a swift, decisive gesture, eyes full of murderous intent.
Kill Lin Qiyou!
Nongli had thought about this for quite some time.
Centuries, even.
Since Lin Qiyou hunted her, Nongli had been contemplating it—right up to the moment Aoki died in her arms because of Lin Qiyou…
It was all Lin Qiyou’s doing!
Everything, every last bit of it, was tied to Lin Qiyou.
Lin Qiyou had caused too much trouble. Without her, Nongli wouldn’t be here desperately searching for Aoki’s whereabouts.
Whether Aoki was her master or disciple… it was because of Lin Qiyou that they were separated.
Thinking this, Nongli anxiously rubbed her nose, poured herself a cup of cold tea, and fished the tea leaves out to toss them in the trash.
But… neither the saint candidates nor the hero candidates were close enough to Saintess Moonlan.
Lin Qiyou, however, was extremely close to Moonlan. Could she reconsider, use Lin Qiyou to find Aoki?
“I need to think this over. No rash conclusions yet. Let me think.”
Drinking the now cold tea, Nongli muttered to herself.
“The tea’s gone cold, Lady Nongli.”
The messenger approached, took the teapot, and began brewing fresh tea.
When she looked back, Nongli had already turned away, gazing out the window over her beautiful manor.
“Aoki… where are you?”
Nongli’s nine tails swayed anxiously.