Chapter 16: 16. Princess Consort, Multi-tailed Dragon Bo Cannibal Fox (asking for monthly tickets, asking for continued reading) Qiu Lianyue waited from morning until afternoon. During this time, she saw Xu Changjun return while Song Yan didn’t, and she knew Song Yan had passed the test. She began to wait excitedly. But as time passed, her heart slowly cooled, and a sense of despair and fear began to rise. With trembling hands, she grasped a scraper, "hzz hzz" scraping against the rough beast hide, the empty seat opposite her giving her a sense of suffocation. She dared not think about the "what if"... So many "what ifs"... Yet, in the blink of an eye, the afternoon had passed halfway, and she had already completed making one double-headed wolf puppet. She had already looked outside the door one hundred and fifty-six times, almost every few minutes, yet still hadn’t seen that figure. She already felt the mocking stares from the servants around her, and even the man who once shared a room with her and wanted to possess her seemed about to stand, grinning luridly and approaching... The sunlight waned, and Qiu Lianyue’s heart finally cooled completely. She took a deep breath, put down the puppet, her complexion pale. She already heard the surrounding laughter and whispered conversations. But in the next instant, all that mockery froze. Just because a young man outside the door called out, "Lianyue, let’s go." She hurriedly looked up, only to see Song Yan standing in the light outside the door, wearing a Profound Robe. In an instant, her eyes reddened, she quickly stood up and responded, "Coming!" As she walked outside the door again, the gazes shot toward her were no longer mocking but filled with jealousy... She cried, then began laughing, raising her sleeve to wipe away her tears, hastening over. ... ... Moving, there wasn’t much to move. Just taking the Strengthening Ginseng Pill, dagger, and such over. Then, Song Yan led Qiu Lianyue to change her identity. But when they asked during the change, they realized "it only requires the forfeiture of her servant status," outwardly... it was as if they died. The Furnace of an Official Disciple inherently has no identity, all they need to do is stay in the Cave Mansion, or follow around the Official Disciple. If they privately escape, they become people without identities... Anyone could cut them down or seize them. This actually wasn’t much better than being a servant. Yet Qiu Lianyue refused to be a servant once more. ... ... A moment later. Song Yan’s Cave Mansion. The mechanism stone door "ka-ka" closed, but there was still light inside the cave. Light came from a skylight, which was a natural hole fitted with transparent crystal. The light of the setting sun was obliquely slanting down from above, casting an oval red glow. In the cave mansion, it didn’t have the kind of "dullness, mildew smell" he remembered from before transmigration, instead it had an extremely fresh atmosphere, where one can clearly sense comfort and peace of mind. Zhang Yin had told him, Puppet Palace has a strange double helix Profound Vein, which is a large Profound Vein composed of two Profound Veins, one vein’s core above Paperman Peak. Therefore, Paperman Peak is also the head of Puppet Five Peaks. There’s another vein core not among the Five Peaks, but scattered in the deep mountain Evil Land, where the foul mist rises, not suitable for cultivation, hence nobody bothers with it. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎 As for Shadow Puppet Peak, it is also on the main trunk of this Profound Vein, considered rather decent. South Bamboo Peak, though on the edge, the place it occupies is also considered "remaining vein". The disciples’ cave mansions are built according to "remaining vein", totaling sixty-two rooms. The disciples promoted from servants all cultivate here. If one manages to break into Refining Profound First Layer, then one can leave South Bamboo Peak, and be enlisted into the deeper regions of Shadow Puppet Peak. This period approximately lasts six years. In other words, the cave mansion Song Yan occupies now, is likely a cave mansion vacated by a disciple who has surpassed Refining Profound First Layer and left, since according to Song Yan’s observation this year, only about ten servant disciples managed to cultivate successfully and become Official Disciples. Ten per year, sixty in six years; those who break through the Realm leave, and the empty spot is filled by newcomers. But what if they don’t break through? Moreover, at this rate, the total number of disciples at Shadow Puppet Peak certainly exceeds six hundred. Which already implies something not needing further explanation. The Demon Sect’s death rate in battles are high too, hence... the number tends to maintain at a relatively stable figure. Simple observation, slightly deeper inference, made Song Yan suddenly understand: he has only six years... afterwards, inevitably changes will occur. He wasn’t worried about his inability to break through, as he had already reached Refining Profound Second Layer. He worries about what will happen six years later...? This lingering concern did not affect his mood today, because today he could finally get a good night’s sleep. But suddenly, he recalled what Zhang Yin said about a "female with Great Wei Royal Family blood" also being assigned in his cave mansion, so he began searching. The cave mansion was a two bed one hall, each room with hanging curtains. He lifted one, not there. Lifts another, there she was. Inside, there was an exquisite noble lady, her limbs bound, curled up in the corner of the stone bed, A stone pillar for prisoners was embedded between the corner walls, as thick as a human arm, with ropes winding through it, making it impossible for the noblewoman to move an inch. The daylight revealed her appearance: a delicate face, surpassing Lady Qiu, with a natural allure deep within the bloodline of the Multi-tailed Fox Race in her brows and eyes. Her long legs were curled up, causing the split-colored silk robe to drape down from the root of her legs, revealing fair skin. Song Yan’s keen perception picked up a faint fragrance, clearly indicating that the noblewoman had bathed before coming. Upon seeing Song Yan, the noblewoman’s eyes displayed an extreme expression of hatred. If looks could kill, the noblewoman would have killed Song Yan a hundred, a thousand times by now. Nearby on the table, a bottle of "Love Powder" was placed. Both their gazes simultaneously fell on the Love Powder. The noblewoman showed a look of indifference. She already knew her fate. She closed her eyes, waiting with disgust and aversion. Song Yan asked, "Who are you?" The noblewoman did not answer, knowing her identity might only fuel the desires of the villain in front of her. So she said coldly, "The Wei King will never let you go, today’s debt, paid in blood!" Song Yan waved to the back. Qiu Lianyue approached. Song Yan asked, "Do you recognize her?" Qiu Lianyue looked and immediately showed an expression of disbelief, then instinctively said, "Princess Consort!!" Then she looked at Song Yan and said, "She is the Princess Consort of the Great Wei Prince Zhen Nan, Cao Xuerou... she..." Song Yan asked, "What about her?" Qiu Lianyue said, "She... she is the mother of the Crown Prince of Prince Zhen Nan Mansion, and also the First Madam there, she..." Lady Qiu was already speaking incoherently. Song Yan directly asked, "How old is she?" Lady Qiu thought for a moment and said, "The Crown Prince of Prince Zhen Nan Mansion is brave and mighty, nearing thirty, Princess Consort Cao should be at least fifty..." The noblewoman opposite cried out angrily, "I am not Cao Xuerou, you have mistaken me." Song Yan was somewhat speechless. He sorted through it, more or less making sense of it. The bloodline of the Multi-tailed Fox Race of the Mountain and Sea Kingdom was indeed powerful; a woman in her fifties appeared as a twenty-year-old beauty at first glance, both in looks and skin, though closer inspection revealed some mature signs in her brows and eyes. Therefore, in the Puppet Palace, the allocation of "Furnaces" to the disciples below wasn’t based on identity. Instead, the upper echelon simply kept the youthful and beautiful bloodlines of the Great Wei Royal Family, while the older noblewomen were distributed among ordinary disciples. After all, even at fifty, they still surpassed ordinary women considerably. If Lady Qiu hadn’t mentioned it, Song Yan wouldn’t have been able to tell she was a woman in her fifties. "Princess Consort." Song Yan felt a headache and rubbed his temples. But the latter did not respond, instead glaring at him with eyes filled with intense hatred. "Forget it..." Song Yan sighed softly, then burned some hair with the cave fire into ashes, mixed it with the Love Powder, and poured it into his hand, then approached the Princess Consort of Prince Zhen Nan Mansion. Cao Xuerou looked at him coldly. Song Yan gently blew the Love Powder into her nose. After roughly the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, Cao Xuerou’s previously cold demeanor began to change. She clearly remembered who she was but could not suppress her feelings for the young man in front of her, filled with yearning yet intensely conflicted. Song Yan observed for a while, seeing she was completely tamed, then quickly untied her ropes and said, "Princess Consort, from now on, you will live in this room. I will not touch you." He did feel a stirring, but he could not bring himself to act on it against such a woman, whose nation and family were ruined. The conflict in Cao Xuerou’s heart disappeared instantly, and she couldn’t help but feel an uncontrollable affection for the young man before her. She was a mortal, completely unable to resist such a peculiar drug mixed with cultivator’s techniques. After a long time, she sighed deeply and said, "You don’t need to call me Princess Consort; call me Xuerou, and say it outside too." At this moment, she wanted to think about Prince Zhen Nan and the Crown Prince, but the drug’s power was forcibly twisting her thoughts, making it difficult for her to suppress her focus and care for the young man in front of her. Song Yan thought for a moment and said, "You just said the Wei King won’t let us go, what do you mean?" Cao Xuerou said, "I only vaguely know my royal brother, that is, the Wei King, has some sort of connection to the Mountain and Sea Kingdom." Song Yan said, "Even so, the Mountain and Sea Kingdom wouldn’t make a move for a Mortal Realm, would they?" Cao Xuerou shook her head slowly; she could know this news due to her high status; the rest... she did not know. Song Yan asked again, "What is the Mountain and Sea Kingdom?" Cao Xuerou said, "It is a terrifying Cannibal Demon Country, with dozens of tribes, so also known as the Hundred Demons Country. The trace of bloodline hidden within us belongs to the Multi-tailed Fox Race. And the Multi-tailed Fox Race, also known as... Multi-tailed Dragon Bo Cannibal Fox Race. Cannibalism means they are extremely fierce and terrifying; Dragon Bo means they are huge in size and strong in vitality. Therefore, our Great Wei Royal Family, even when old, looks like a young one, maintaining... eternal youth." ... ... Appendix: Beginning of the month, Peach Blossom Cake requesting monthly tickets, thank you!