Chapter 74: 70. Success (3.4K words - asking for subscriptions) Paperman Peak, Shadow Puppet Pavilion. "Brother Dao... have some tea..." Seeing Song Yan rest, little lady Yuzhuang brought him a steaming cup of Moonlight Tea. The temperature on the mountain was cold, and the snow that had fallen a while ago had never melted. In the distance, the wind occasionally carried bits of snowflakes, bringing a unique coldness imbued with the scent of earth and wood. Song Yan took the tea, sipped a mouthful, and the slightly sweet hot tea entered his stomach. The subtle Profound Qi within refreshed his spirit, making the next breath of air feel much fresher. "Did you add ginger today?" "Yes, it’s cold. I... saw in the ’Spirit Tea Chapter’ that Moonlight Grass is a versatile mystical herb, and it pairs well with anything. So I added some ginger to warm Brother Dao’s hands and feet." In order to serve her master better, little lady Yuzhuang was allowed to read some books related to "serving tea and pouring water." Song Yan smiled and said, "Then this must be Moonlight Ginger Tea." "Yes!" Little lady Yuzhuang nodded vigorously, her adorable little face resembling a fine jade sculpture, her big eyes sparkling as she looked at Song Yan. Perhaps because of the Furnace, Song Yan couldn’t help but think of the tragically killed Empress Fu. Looking at the little lady Yuzhuang in front of him, he affectionately stroked her cheek and said, "You should sit and drink with me. Safety and peace are all that matter." Little lady Yuzhuang hesitated for a moment. Song Yan pulled her to sit down and poured her a cup. Little lady Yuzhuang sat respectfully, not daring to make a sound. After spending some time together, she understood that the "master" truly cared for her to some extent. This gave her a slight sense of safety and reliance amidst her overwhelming fear. Song Yan held the Moonlight Ginger Tea, feeling the warmth from the cup, and his heart found a moment of peace and rest. The ’Hundred Forms Divine Control’ combined with the ’Skin Painting Strange Soul Technique’ truly was something. Without it, he wouldn’t be able to control the shadow puppet on the front lines, risking life against death, while sipping tea with the little lady in the rear. Anyone else, even the Stone Seat Elder who invented the ’Hundred Forms Divine Control,’ would carefully manipulate their shadow puppet, cautious to the utmost. Not to mention multiple puppets, even controlling just one would require their full effort. ... ... Great Wei Imperial Palace, deep within the palace, in front of an extremely secluded Cold Palace. The eunuch stopped in his tracks only because a palace maid suddenly emerged from a side room of the Cold Palace, watching him from afar, and said, "What brings you here, sir?" Song Yan didn’t waste words, his form shifted, and he transformed into the palace maid. The deformed soul inside his shadow puppet utilized a level of illusion technique stronger than that of ordinary Fox Demons. But there were higher ranking Demonic Foxes that could see through it, though it seemed... this did not include the one in front of him. The palace maid froze for a moment, displaying an "oh, one of our own" expression, and then said, "Did the Great Mama send you?" Outsiders called her the Great Granny. The fox cubs called her the Great Mama. Song Yan said, "The Great Mama sent me to deliver some important information. Gather everyone." The palace maid clapped her hands, and soon, another palace maid emerged. Of course, to Song Yan, they both appeared as their true Fox Demon forms. The palace maid looked at him and said, "Speak then, what’s the matter? It seems the Great Mama has some important task today, taking many brothers and sisters with her." Song Yan also clapped his hands, and another eunuch stepped out from behind him. That eunuch’s form shifted, transforming into a palace maid. "Everyone’s here," Song Yan said. Then, he gestured with his hand. The two Fox Demons approached. Once they were a little closer. Song Yan’s two shadow puppets suddenly struck, but instead of one-on-one, it was two against one. Two shadow puppets, one on the left and one on the right, suddenly raised their claws, swiftly grabbing at the foremost Fox Demon. That Fox Demon reacted quickly, instinctively raising a paw, but could only barely block one side, while the other paw already pierced through its chest, gripping the heart and crushing it with a "bang." The Fox Demon opened its mouth wide, baring fangs, but an overwhelming sense of powerlessness surged through it, and it... slumped. However, a strong sense of confusion and resentment flashed in its eyes. It could sense that the two foxes who attacked it weren’t much stronger. If an actual fight occurred, one-on-one, it would be "if it wanted to escape, the other couldn’t stop it," and once it fled, it would cry out for help, and in this deep palace, other foxes would soon arrive to support. Then they could find out why these two Fox Demons turned aggressive. But... there was no chance anymore. Two against one, a sudden attack, coupled with slightly stronger power, had already cut off all its paths to survival. Surprisingly, after the two shadow puppets killed the Fox Demon, they directly stopped. One of them then looked at the other remaining Fox Demon and said calmly, "Don’t worry, it’s by the Great Mama’s arrangement." The other Fox Demon was stunned by this sudden turn of events, but seeing that these two indeed didn’t intend to attack, it frowned and replied, "Impossible. Both it and I were placed here by the Great Mama. The Great Mama trusts us the most; how could she send you to kill it?" A shadow puppet said, "You know what the Great Mama is doing today, right?" The Fox Demon frowned slightly but shook its head. Fox Granny is cautious in her actions. Those not brought by her to the magical battle have no idea what she’s doing. Even those brought only find out on-site. Another shadow puppet lowered its voice and said, "We have a traitor among us." The Fox Demon looked at the already dead Fox Demon, puzzled, and said, "It’s a traitor?" The shadow puppet said, "Yes, and there are more, you must be careful. Those traitors are very cunning." The Fox Demon cautiously asked, "Does the Great Mama know who it is?" The shadow puppet said, "The Great Mama doesn’t know yet, but we’ve already found out. The Great Mama said, today she’s handling important matters, and the traitor will surely reveal themselves out of impatience. We were left behind just for this." The Fox Demon asked in confusion, "Then... who is it?" A shadow puppet stepped forward half a step, leaned a bit closer, then lowered its voice and said, "It’s me." The Fox Demon suddenly lifted its head. Two shadow puppets "swish swish" shot out. Once again, it was two against one. Again, the power was slightly stronger. In an instant, the fox demon also collapsed into a pool of blood, dying unwillingly. Then, two shadow puppets separated to work. One quickly handled the corpses to prevent the scent of blood from spreading, after all, the fox demon’s perception is strong, and as soon as they smell something off, they will appear immediately. Another swiftly entered the Cold Palace, starting to fiddle with the mechanisms. The mechanism had five metal ring-swallowing beast heads protruding from the wall, seemingly needing to be pressed in a certain order to open. Song Yan watched for a while. Back then, his wisp of divine sense only vaguely knew the way. How could he dare to watch it "enter the password" in front of the Elder Fox? He scanned around and searched the bodies of the two fallen fox demons. Indeed, reality is not a game; there is no "no matter how complex the mechanism, there must be a password within seven steps" situation... Returning once more to the password wall, he tried pressing the middle metal ring-swallowing beast head, pushing inward. With that press, the beast head instantly bounced back, causing the Cold Palace to be bathed in red light. Song Yan was stunned for a moment but quickly reacted, raising his fist and starting to forcibly smash the mechanism. Two shadow puppets, comparable to advanced demon beasts, acted swiftly. The "No-Body Illusion Crow" hidden in the dark also flew down. Boom! Boom! Boom! Under the joint attack of the three shadow puppets. The mechanism broke a hole. But footsteps were also heard from afar. Clearly, they had been discovered. Song Yan controlled a shadow puppet to quickly enter through the hole. Fortunately, this is a mortal world; setting up a long-lasting barrier or prohibition is impossible, hence why it’s this easy. Inside the hole, he quickly scanned the situation in the secret chamber. The secret chamber was just a small room, with a treasure rack on the left side, storing large items that couldn’t fit into narrow storage spaces. There were profound artifacts that seemed like trophies, unknown massive beast bones, a peculiar stone stele engraved with twisted characters, and some trinkets made of unidentified jade material resembling artworks... Trying to take these items would be as conspicuous as someone carrying a TV out of a community after sneaking in... In contrast to the dazzling array on the left, the right side appeared extremely simplistic. It was just a specially made metal cage. Inside the cage was a vague outline of a crawling black shadow, small in size, with ghastly white mottled patterns that merely looking at made one shiver. Song Yan looked closer and found that he could only see the patterned ensemble vaguely blurred, unable to make out specific details... Yet a nameless fear arose in his heart. He stared at the patterns as if gazing into hell. Each pattern was a fierce ghost crawling aimlessly forward, cursed, hesitating, head drooping, with limbs. But the black shadow seemed to be asleep, and so the numerous crawling ghosts didn’t notice him. Song Yan’s gaze quickly swept over, noting that the shadow’s limbs in the cage were shackled, with strange talismans affixed, and besides this, incense was burning before the iron cage. The incense emitted an odd scent that made one drowsy and sapped vitality, evidently no ordinary product. He never imagined seeing such a thing in Elder Fox’s little treasury. ’It looks like a demon at least... but why would Elder Fox imprison it?’ Meanwhile, the approaching footsteps grew nearer, and in no time, many fox demons hiding in the palace would converge here... and more after that. Song Yan’s three shadow puppets could deal with a few fox demons, but against so many... the only outcome would be them all being dismantled. ’Can’t make this trip for nothing! What should I take?’ Song Yan’s thoughts raced. His eyes swiftly flashed over the large items on the treasure rack, quickly settling on a profound artifact longsword. Whoosh! He drew the longsword and swiftly grabbed a jade product that could be used as a container. Then... The longsword suddenly stabbed into the mottled shadow lying dormant in the cage. The mottled shadow’s form shuddered. Swoosh! A spurt of blood shot out immediately. Song Yan hurriedly caught it in the jade container. The mottled shadow slowly opened its eyes, pupils filled with long-lost confusion, but in an instant... it seemed to recall something, immediately turning to bitter hatred. Those eyes suddenly flipped, casting a curiously thoughtful look at the person outside the cage drawing its blood. At this moment, Song Yan suddenly noticed a few droplets in the gushing blood like ruby-red thick blood, heavy in the container. In no time, the container was full. Song Yan hastily found something to stopper the jade container. The No-Body Illusion Crow swiftly darted in, wrapping the jade container tightly with its wings, then soared away fast. When the two shadow puppets exited the secret chamber, they saw bared fox heads on the high walls outside the Cold Palace gate. Whoosh! Whoosh! The two shadow puppets immediately split and fled. The fox demons gave chase. The No-Body Illusion Crow, among the most stealthy of intermediate demon beasts, augmented by the Deformed Soul, hid briefly among tree shadows, then intermittently flew, eventually escaping the Imperial Palace, out of the Imperial Capital, heading towards the Puppet Sect. Didn’t get Elder Fox’s "Multi-tailed Dragon Bo Cannibal Fox blood," but obtained unknown blood... After all, it wasn’t a total loss. But the three fox demon puppets might be remaining behind at the Imperial Capital.