Listening to Steward Li's confident words, Xu Yuan felt a mild headache coming on.
Wait?
Wait for what?
Wait for the protagonist to come out of the Changhong Valley dungeon and slaughter all of you?
Xu Yuan felt a wave of helplessness.
It wasn't that these subordinates were brainless or foolish. After all, none of them possessed the God's-eye view he once had.
With insufficient information, the constraints of protocol, and conventional common sense guiding them, it was entirely natural for them to make such a judgment.
Xu Yuan did not yet know how wide the gulf between the Eighth Rank and the Seventh Rank was, but he had a rough idea of the gap between the Ninth Rank and the Eighth Rank.
Leaving aside the improvement in physical constitution, a Ninth Rank cultivator's Source Qi reserves were only a third of an Eighth Rank's, and the circulation speed of their cultivation technique was half as fast.
Given such a disparity, for a team led by two Seventh Rank experts and accompanied by a pack of Eighth Ranks to be completely wiped out could only mean that Qin Mo truly lived up to his status as the protagonist.
However, Qin Mo heading to Changhong Valley at least allowed him to confirm which route the other party was taking.
The Old Grandpa route.
Murphy's law never failed.
He sighed softly.
The reason the protagonist was heading to Changhong Valley in this plotline was simple:
guidance from the Old Grandpa.
Changhong Valley concealed a secret realm, and inside that secret realm was a spiritual herb capable of helping the Old Grandpa restore his soul power.
Of course,
besides helping his resident Old Grandpa, by the sacred rule that a protagonist never leaves a dungeon empty-handed, Qin Mo would emerge from that secret realm significantly stronger after slaughtering monsters, popping pills, and leveling up.
According to the plot of *Cangyuan*, that newly gained strength would be just enough to deal with the Xu Manor guards blockading the entrance.
He would fight his way out, exhausting every trick up his sleeve, until he finally reached the original Xu Yuan waiting at the mouth of the valley.
Indeed, Changhong Valley was one of the original Xu Yuan's burial grounds.
In the Old Grandpa route of *Cangyuan*, the original host brought Su Jinxuan and a retinue of subordinates to the entrance of Changhong Valley to wait for the protagonist.
He intended to execute Qin Mo right before Su Jinxuan's eyes to crush her hopes once and for all.
And then the tables were turned, and he was killed instead.
As the thoughts flashed through his mind, Xu Yuan gave the order directly:
"Call back the men keeping watch."
"Pardon?" Steward Li looked taken aback.
Xu Yuan stared at him for two seconds and repeated,
"I said, call them back."
Steward Li was baffled, but he quickly bowed his head and complied:
"Understood, Third Young Master."
Xu Yuan let out a cold snort and pointed toward the courtyard gate ahead.
Seeing this, Steward Li knew the Third Young Master was dismissing him to carry out the order. Cupping his hands, he said,
"Third Young Master, this old servant will see to it at once. I shall take my leave."
With that, Steward Li bowed once more, turned, and hurried away.
Watching him vanish around the corner, Xu Yuan cast his eyes down as he walked forward.
He felt somewhat troubled.
Qin Mo on the Old Grandpa route was like a porcupine, and now there was also an unknown Qin Weijiu lurking in the shadows.
Even with Ying'er and the other two Grandmasters by his side, attempting to blockade the valley and force a kill was unrealistic—it might even result in them being turned upon and wiped out.
Unless…
A black block of ice subconsciously surfaced in Xu Yuan's mind.
Unless Ran Qingmo came looking for him at this very moment.
After all, when they parted, he had told her that if she had no other way to save the Sword Sect, she could find him in Jingjiang Prefecture.
Cashing in a favor to have her help would probably be enough to go straight to Changhong Valley and trap Qin Mo.
Of course, that was mere wishful thinking.
Rather than counting on Ran Qingmo to seek him out, Xu Yuan might as well hope his old man in the Imperial Capital would show a little more respect to this Qin Mo.
After all,
that "Old Grandpa" had been a Saint in life.
In this world,
one had to transcend mortal bounds beyond the ranks before they could be called a Saint.
Walking in silence, Xu Yuan went from the northwest courtyard to the edge of the wetland lake.
The bleak, cold winter lake wind brushed against his face.
Xu Yuan walked ahead, reading the secret report as he went, while Ying'er followed behind.
Suddenly,
a faint smile curved the corner of Xu Yuan's lips.
After finishing the dispatch, his mood improved considerably.
The situation on Su Jinxuan's side was nearly identical to what he had guessed.
Moreover, he realized that idiotic teammates were not a specialty unique to his side.
That Mister Qin's subordinates also had plenty of greedy, foolish teammates.
With a thought, Xu Yuan stored the secret report into his Sumeru ring and asked,
"Ying'er, did you go see that vixen just now?"
Ying'er replied softly, "Not yet, but I questioned the maidservants attending to her."
"How is she?"
"Her mental state seems to have deteriorated. Even after the restraints were removed, she merely curled up in the corner of the bed without speaking."
"Is that so…"
Hearing this, Xu Yuan was hardly surprised.
It was only to be expected.
In his previous life, confining someone in a dark room where they could still move around for three days was enough to drive them mad, let alone keeping them buried in soft quilts where their limbs could not budge an inch.
It was no wonder that a dead silence akin to falling endlessly into solitude would break a person's mind.
Pausing, Xu Yuan said in a low voice,
"It's best not to drag out this punishment too long. It will drive her completely insane."
Ying'er nodded slightly, a rare hint of inflection coloring her tone:
"Yes. When I questioned the maid who administered the spirit spring water, she said the Bewitching Soul Fiend Physique suffered immense agony over these ten days. Her body writhed and struggled incessantly upon the bed, resting only for brief moments when she was entirely exhausted."
Pausing,
Ying'er looked into Xu Yuan's eyes with utter seriousness:
"This torment is bizarre and ingenious. It may be inducted into the Hundred Torments of the Black Scale."
"……" Xu Yuan was speechless.
Ying'er continued of her own accord,
"I have already reported this punishment to Lady Lou Ji. By regulation, a reward will be granted to the Third Young Master."
Xu Yuan's eyelid twitched.
Lou Ji was one of his father's fiercely loyal confidants, the one who held overall command of the Black Scale Guards.
In the game's character art, she was a venomous, seductive woman dressed in exceedingly skimpy attire.
He recalled seeing her in the Chancellor's Manor back in the Imperial Capital; she was indeed alluring, and indeed dressed very revealingly.
Still, Xu Yuan had never imagined that inventing a torture technique could earn a reward from the Black Scale Guards.
Exhaling softly, Xu Yuan asked,
"What reward?"
"Lady Lou Ji said that once the young master returns to the Imperial Capital, she will deliver it to you in person."
"……"
Hearing those words, a few unpleasant memories surged into his mind. Once Xu Yuan caught himself, he let out an amused smirk:
"Heh… pass along a message to that old aunty Lou Ji: this young master has no interest in her rewards."
Ying'er fell silent for a brief moment, but she nodded nonetheless:
"I will inform Lady Lou Ji."
Xu Yuan waved his hand.
"Enough of that. Where is the vixen right now?"
"Over in the North Court."
"Take me to see her. I have business with her."
"……"
They walked in silence.
Several minutes later, inside a secret chamber in the North Court.
Only after channeling Source Qi into his eyes could Xu Yuan faintly make out the pitch-black stairwell around him.
Ying'er had not followed him down.
At the end of the long, narrow flight of stairs lay a modest, cube-shaped secret room. Aided by his Source Qi, Xu Yuan vaguely discerned a large bed set in the center of the chamber.
*Tap, tap… tap.*
The sound of approaching footsteps seemed to offer a sliver of hope to the person on the bed.
*Rustle, rustle…*
A faint rustling gradually rose from the mattress.
In the end, Xu Yuan came to a halt beside the soft, expansive bed.
After standing in silence for a long while, Xu Yuan breathed out a gentle sigh and lightly brushed the back of his hand across the woman's tear-streaked cheek.
Unexpectedly,
she offered no resistance.
Instead, like a drowning soul at sea catching hold of a floating plank, she gently rubbed her cheek against this sole touch of reality she could feel.
Chapter 59