Qin Xuange slowly opened her eyes from her cultivation, a sharp light flickering within them. Her overall aura surged, dark light swirling around her while the faint, rhythmic roars of a dragon echoed from her body.
‘The cultivation effect in this place is indeed excellent,’ she thought. ‘My bottleneck is becoming increasingly loose. I’m almost at the point of breaking through to achieve Divine Transformation.’
Ever since she became Jiang Huai’s maidservant, her mental blocks had cleared, and she found herself drawing closer to the Divine Transformation Stage. This filled Qin Xuange with joy, yet she also found the situation somewhat peculiar.
Her life as Jiang Huai’s maidservant had consisted of little more than occasionally serving him tea or attending to him. He had never subjected her to any of the humiliations or mistreatment she had previously imagined.
Perhaps it was simply Jiang Huai’s nature. Even though he had so many concubines, she had never seen him act bossy or lose his temper with any of them. At the very least, in terms of personality, he was far better than most geniuses—especially compared to Chihuang.
Qin Xuange secretly compared them in her heart. ‘If it were Jiang Huai, he certainly wouldn’t mock the decline of the Black Dragon Clan.’ This was true despite the fact that she herself held no affection for the Black Dragon Clan because of Senior Qin Qingyue.
She touched her own face and pulled out a small mirror. Looking at the reflection of her features and her dragon horns in the glass, she wondered if the reason Jiang Huai treated her so well was because of her resemblance to Senior Qin Qingyue.
‘At the very least, that has to be one of the reasons he kept me by his side,’ she thought.
A sudden wave of indescribable bitterness and strange emotion welled up in her heart. What was this feeling supposed to be?
Qin Xuange shook her head, her high ponytail swaying with the movement. She was unwilling to dwell on it any longer and cast the thoughts to the back of her mind.
She stood up and looked out the window at the fading twilight, suddenly realizing she had been in the room for quite some time.
Jiang Huai, however, had yet to return. What could he possibly be discussing with Clan Leader Chi Hong for this long?
If he intended to stay overnight, he would have surely sent someone to inform her, given his usual consideration.
‘Could something have happened?’
Qin Xuange furrowed her brows slightly but quickly dismissed the notion with a shake of her head.
Clan Leader Chi Hong’s attitude toward Jiang Huai was quite pleasant. Furthermore, the Red Dragon Clan lacked both the courage and the necessity to move against him. Besides, the character of a Clan Leader should be reliable; how could the leader of a clan harm their own savior?
However, as a maidservant, she felt it was inappropriate to continue cultivating in such a relaxed manner while her master’s situation was unknown.
Qin Xuange straightened her long dress and carefully checked herself in the mirror. She meticulously inspected her “Senior Qin Qingyue imitation makeup” to ensure it hadn’t smeared before putting on a cold, aloof expression.
‘Excellent. This is perfect.’
She stepped out of the room and entered the courtyard.
There was no one around. It seemed no one was secretly monitoring her, which proved the Red Dragon Clan was indeed treating them with proper etiquette and further suggested that Jiang Huai’s situation was fine. After all, no one would place a distinguished guest under constant surveillance.
Qin Xuange left the courtyard and looked around. Avoiding the few Red Dragon maidservants waiting to be summoned, she headed toward the core area.
Most of the maidservants here did not have high cultivation, reaching the Nascent Soul Stage at most. Although they were members of the Red Dragon Clan, their status was likely low, similar to Su Lian, and they were relegated to menial labor. This was a testament to the respect shown to a distinguished guest.
In a major race, it was impossible to avoid chores, but many such tasks were usually delegated to mixed-blood dragons with impure bloodlines. Such servants would be even less likely to detect Qin Xuange’s movements.
She was well aware of this, as all Five Great Dragon Clans operated this way—the Black Dragon Clan was no exception.
Relying on her intuition and memory, Qin Xuange found the general location and walked toward the clean room where Chi Hong stayed.
“Wait — wait — “
“Let your disciple stop… ah!”
Just as Qin Xuange was wondering exactly where Jiang Huai might be, she suddenly heard a familiar voice. It was Jiang Huai.
Her brows knitted tightly, and her expression became very grim. Judging by the sound, Jiang Huai’s situation was not good. He seemed to be groaning, as if enduring something.
‘What does this mean? Is the Red Dragon Clan actually doing something to him?’
‘What’s going on? Are they beating him? Are they torturing him? What kind of implements are they using?’
At those thoughts, Qin Xuange was about to summon her spear to rush in and rescue Jiang Huai. However, on second thought, if the person inside was Chi Hong, her strength would be useless even if she were already at the Divine Transformation Stage.
Moreover, she wasn’t at the Divine Transformation Stage yet—only at the Half-step Soul Transformation. Chihuang might even be in there as well, and this was their territory.
Qin Xuange lowered her hand, suppressing the urge to summon her spear. Her heart began to race with anxiety as the groans from inside grew louder.
“You… your tongue!”
*Slap.*
A sound like something hitting a back rang out. Qin Xuange focused her mind and continued to listen.
‘What does he mean? Someone is using their tongue? There is even a torture like that?’
Her expression turned strange. She was secretly debating whether she should return to the Nine Heavens Palace to get Su Yingman and White Dew to come and save him.
Qin Xuange couldn’t help but find it odd. Jiang Huai was someone who had once single-handedly faced many Extraterrestrial Demons with the help of the previous generation’s Yin-Yang Body. His strength should be greater than several Great Ascension Stage experts, right?
Why would he be trapped here by Chi Hong? Had they used some kind of trickery?
“Oh, what’s wrong, Husband Lord? It’s fine,” Chi Hong’s soft, flirtatious voice drifted out, sounding full of joy and excitement. “It doesn’t matter if Chihuang does this. Just think of it as helping you and me more smoothly…”
Hearing the words “Husband Lord,” Qin Xuange’s body trembled. Her expression became exceptionally colorful, and she opened her mouth slightly as if she couldn’t believe her own ears.
She couldn’t help but step forward a few paces. Had she misheard?
She even wondered for a moment if “Husband Lord” was some kind of formal address used during interrogations.
However, that thought was quickly shattered by Chihuang’s voice.
“Honored Master, when will it be my turn…” Chihuang was sitting on the floor. She looked up but couldn’t see Jiang Huai, only her master. She spoke with a hint of resentment. “You’ve already — ” Judging by her tone, she was clearly growing impatient.
Chi Hong stopped and patted Chihuang on the head, laughing playfully. “This is a form of cultivation too, don’t you understand?”
“Just focus on what you’re doing.”
“There might even be a dragon eavesdropping,” Chi Hong said pointedly, glancing toward the window.
Chihuang snorted and sighed. “What dragons are there? Who would dare come here? Honored Master is lying to me.”
“I’ll just do the work, seriously,” she muttered, her red lips glistening.
At this point, Qin Xuange’s face had turned completely black. She no longer bothered to hide her presence and strode toward the clean room with indignant steps.
She finally understood what the three of them were doing in there. They were even using terms like “Husband Lord.”
For some reason, an inexplicable flare of anger rose in Qin Xuange’s heart. If she hadn’t come to investigate out of concern for Jiang Huai’s safety, she wouldn’t have known how long these three intended to carry on with their pleasure.
“Young Lord Jiang!” she suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs, her voice infused with Lingli.
Inside the room, Jiang Huai jumped in fright, his shoulders trembling.
(TL NOTE: The author directly jumped from Chapter 278 to Chapter 284, we didn’t miss or skip any chapter.)