The Woman in Daoist Robes

In a side hall of the Yang Residence, Guan Ya's eyes lit up upon hearing that someone wanted to see her. Starting with Xie Lingxi, everyone who had come to the Yang Residence asking to see her had been a teammate. So she immediately instructed, "Bring them to the side hall." A palace maid acknowledged the order and departed. Guan Ya looked at the three women in the room and said cheerfully, "Yuanshi is here." The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter tossed aside her book, Xiao Yuan ceased her meditation, and Xie Lingxi rushed out the door ahead of everyone. With skirts fluttering, the four walked together to the side hall to wait. Three or four minutes later, the palace maid led two people inside. Seeing a burly, middle-aged eunuch with greying temples, a wave of disappointment washed over the four women. Immediately afterward, Guan Ya noticed the yin corpse and the small loudspeaker hanging from its waist. "Yuanshi?" Guan Ya asked tentatively. The yin corpse took down the megaphone and held it high, mimicking Commandery Princess Yinyao. "My lovely beauties, a day apart feels like three autumns. Have you missed Us?" Seeing that he didn't dare act intimately with her in front of Xiao Yuan and the Palace Master, Guan Ya couldn't help glaring at him and sneered, "Your Majesty has three thousand beauties in the imperial harem and still visits brothels after leaving the palace. Why would you need women of common willow-like grace like us to miss you?" The yin corpse didn't bat an eye. "I was merely out gathering material to broaden my horizons." "And how did that material gathering turn out?" the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter remarked coolly. "Lingxi, close the door. Let everyone hear the fruits of His Majesty's research." *The moment they hear I went to a brothel, not a single one gives me a pleasant face...* Zhang Yuanqing said, "First, let's all share our respective main and side quests." After a discussion, Zhang Yuanqing learned Guan Ya's main quest: Help the Yang family gain the emperor's trust. Side quest: Search for the emperor who has fallen among the common folk. These were the quests activated the day before yesterday after uncovering the Zheng family's rebellion and the emperor's flight from the imperial palace. The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter's main quest remained unchanged; her side quest, "Protect the emperor to survive for 72 hours," was already completed, and her current side quest was "Find the Northern Dynasty spies planted in the capital." Xie Lingxi's dungeon progress was stuck, with neither her main nor side quests updating. Xiao Yuan was in the same boat. After hearing them out, Zhang Yuanqing sighed and said, "Sister Guan Ya, I'd like you to write a letter to the front lines and ask Fu Qingyang if there's a way to switch factions." The members belonged to different factions that conflicted with one another; without changing factions, none could clear their quests. Hearing this, Guan Ya looked at Xiao Yuan. The latter said, "I've already been to Linxia." She promptly relayed Fu Qingyang's reply to Zhang Yuanqing. *Demonic Eye surrendered to the Southern Dynasty before all the soldiers and declared his allegiance to Fu Qingyang, thereby switching factions... So the crux is public proclamation. Hmm, it also requires sufficient credibility. Fu Qingyang is the supreme commander of the Southern Dynasty's defending army, so he has the authority.* *I can use my identity as the emperor to issue a proclamation announcing that Beauty Wan, Lady Ya, and Songstress Wang have forsaken darkness to step into the light, proclaiming it to the whole world... But that will have to wait.* Reining in his thoughts, Zhang Yuanqing said, "I understand. Next, let's talk about the dungeon. First, I'll recount what I've been through recently..." Once he finished, Xiao Yuan, Guan Ya, Xie Lingxi, and the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter began recounting their experiences and observations during this period. Hearing about Guan Ya's tactic of setting up a sign outside a shop, Brother Red Chicken grumbled, "Did you guys never consider the possibility that a teammate might not be able to read traditional characters?" The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter mocked, "Everyone knows how to read except you." *You damn bastard...* Brother Red Chicken only dared curse in his heart. Zhang Yuanqing furrowed his brows and pondered. "Fu Qingyang's side can hold out for half a month at most, and at least seven days. Two days have already passed. In the worst-case scenario, the front-line army will retreat to the capital in five days. Before that happens, we must gain control of the capital so that we can unite our forces against the Northern Dynasty army." Brother Red Chicken sighed. "Not much time left for us. Yuanshi plans to show up at the Heaven-worshipping ceremony to expose the Zheng family's conspiracy and let everyone know they are rebelling." Guan Ya's expression shifted slightly. "That won't work!" "Why?" Everyone looked at her together. With a grim face, Guan Ya said, "The Southern Dynasty's last fifty thousand elites are all at the front lines. The only elites left in the capital right now are the City Defense Army and the Imperial City Division. Of the City Defense Army's thirty thousand soldiers, twenty thousand are in the hands of the Zheng family. Of the eight thousand men in the Imperial City Division, more than half belong to the Zheng family. If you expose the Zheng family publicly at the Heaven-worshipping ceremony, you'll be forcing them to openly rebel. What are the chances of winning? Don't forget, you are a fatuous ruler. Once the Zheng family rebels, apart from the Yang family and the imperial clan, most of the nobility and dignitaries will choose to wait and see, and the common people might even support the Zheng family. Moreover, the Zheng family has the backing of the Imperial Preceptor, a Dominator-level expert, who also commands immense prestige among the populace..." Her words sent a chill through everyone's heart. Brother Red Chicken gave his standard response: "Then what should we do?" Zhang Yuanqing sat stiffly and raised the loudspeaker: "The Heaven-worshipping ceremony must be quelled by me; that way, I can win over part of the public support... Sister Guan Ya is right. We don't have to expose the Zheng family right away. When besieging an enemy, one must leave a way out. Backing the Zheng family into a corner will only make things harder to clean up. Even if we suppress the rebellion in the end, the capital's internal strength will be severely depleted. When the Northern Dynasty's army bears down upon us, we'll certainly lose. Tsk, this dungeon is rather difficult..." The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter knitted her brows. "But once you show yourself, there's no turning back. If you don't expose the Zheng family's rebellion, you can look forward to endless assassinations from them afterward." Zhang Yuanqing fell silent for a few seconds. "It seems I need to find a safe haven." Guan Ya shook her head. "There is no such place in this dungeon! If you return to the palace, you'll be walking right into a trap. If you hide in the Yang Residence, for one thing, the ministers won't agree—how could an emperor reside in a subject's home? On the other hand, if the Zheng family decides to take a desperate gamble and rally experts to lay siege to the Yang Residence, given their power, the Yang family would be exterminated. And since you wouldn't have exposed their rebellion, the Zheng family would face no resistance in mobilizing the troops of the City Defense Army and the Imperial City Division." Xie Lingxi and Xiao Yuan also actively joined the discussion. But the more they discussed, the tighter their brows furrowed, feeling that the dungeon's difficulty was simply too high, unable to come up with any viable strategy. *Win public support, appease the Zheng family, secure an absolutely safe shelter before advancing to Dominator, and gather strength to counter the Zheng family...* Zhang Yuanqing quickly summarized the strategic steps. As for how to execute each step, he had yet to figure it out. "The lack of solutions is because we have too little intel." Zhang Yuanqing pinched the bridge of his nose. "Sister Guan Ya, when will the Heaven-worshipping ceremony be held?" Guan Ya replied, "The Heaven-worshipping ceremony met with opposition from the court officials. Yesterday, the ministers blocked the central hall, fiercely denouncing it. But by dusk, the dissenting voices were suppressed. Yang... Father told me that barring any accidents, it will be in two days." Yang Zheng was a Grand Secretary of the Grand Secretariat, second in power only to Zheng Wenhan, with the authority to inquire into and intervene in state affairs large and small, allowing him to obtain first-hand news. "Tomorrow or the day after..." Zhang Yuanqing pinched the bridge of his nose, echoing Brother Red Chicken's words. "Not much time left for us." Suddenly, in the spacious side hall, starlight flared up. Amidst the starlight, a woman wearing Taiji Daoist robes materialized, gazing blankly at everyone with dull eyes. Brother Red Chicken's heart jolted, and he instinctively leapt backward to evade, having a slight stress reaction to this woman's sudden appearance. The expressionless yin corpse quickly raised the megaphone. "Watch out! That's the Imperial Preceptor's disciple." Amidst his words, the woman in Daoist robes untied a brocade pouch from her waist, took out a pitch-black square cloth, and shook it open with a rustle. The square cloth vanished in an instant, and outside the side hall, a veil descended, blocking out the sunlight and plunging the hall into gloom. Then, the Daoist-robed woman entered Night Roam and vanished from everyone's sight. "Watch out for an ambush!" Zhang Yuanqing raised the megaphone. "Lingxi, Xiao Yuan, get close to me. Open the guild storage and retrieve defensive items." Xie Lingxi hurried to comply. Xiao Yuan produced a clay pot and swiftly uncapped it. An endless buzzing sound rang out as massive dark clouds surged from the mouth of the pot; dense swarms of insects collided and swept in all directions, radiating outward from the group. To the front left, the swarm seemed to hit an invisible obstacle, plunging down and grinding to a halt. Seeing this, flames spouted from Brother Red Chicken's palm, condensing into a searing spear of high heat. He strode forward and thrust it viciously toward the target. The flaming spear was caught by a porcelain-white hand. A boundless surge of yin qi erupted from the palm, instantly extinguishing the spear of fire. The yin qi spread, freezing Brother Red Chicken's arm and shoulder, coating his garments in a layer of white frost. The woman in Daoist robes revealed herself and kicked Brother Red Chicken squarely in the chest. Brother Red Chicken flew backward like a cannonball, shattering tables and chairs. At that moment, the reflection of the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter appeared in the Daoist-robed woman's hollow pupils. The Palace Master's pupils turned into whirlpools as she hummed an ethereal ballad. The song seemed to carry a soothing power that made everyone present feel drowsy. The Daoist-robed woman instantly grew quiet, her eyelids trembling as she seemed on the verge of falling asleep. Suddenly, a ghastly blue-black female face emerged from hers, contorted into a hideous grimace, and let out a shriek. The Palace Master of Halting Slaughter abruptly clutched her temple. Her head felt as though it had been struck by a bullet, throbbing with excruciating pain, and the song abruptly stopped. This was not an Illusionist's Mental Strike, but a pure, savage spiritual attack. The illusory female face sank back in. The Daoist-robed woman thrust her knife into the Palace Master's chest, the blade point piercing through her back, dripping with fresh blood. The Palace Master completely disregarded this fatal strike through her heart. Her right hand had at some point donned a woven silk glove, and forming a blade with her palm, she pierced through the woman's chest in an eye-for-an-eye retaliation. A Red Phoenix Star Official's vitality and healing power surpassed even a Night Walker of the same level; she was completely fearless in trading blow for blow. At the Dominator level, an Arbiter of Fate's blood was practically equivalent to Life Source Fluid. The two decisively parted. "Boom!" Flames flared up as Brother Red Chicken, blazing like a torch, crashed toward the Daoist-robed woman. At the same time, the yin corpse controlled by Zhang Yuanqing darted out from behind the Palace Master, coordinating with Brother Red Chicken in a rapid close-quarters assault against the Daoist-robed woman. Bang, bang, bang! As fists and kicks clashed, stray bursts of energy raged, shaking the doorframes violently. Unable to withstand their joint assault, the woman dissolved into starlight and then entered Night Roam to conceal her figure. By this time, the insect swarms in the hall had been caught in the crossfire of their battle, suffering heavy casualties, and could no longer perform a blanket search for the enemy. Seizing the opportunity, the Daoist-robed woman drew close to Xiao Yuan, slashing her short knife toward her chest. Clad in a cumbersome gown, Guan Ya was as agile as an escaping hare, whipping a high kick toward the opponent's wrist. But her ankle passed right through the knife hilt without making solid contact. *An illusion?!* Guan Ya was alarmed. Although she was a Scout and her Insight technique was the natural counter to illusions, she had still fallen for the trick under the suppression of a higher level. *Pfft!* The sound of a blade puncturing flesh rang out. The tip of a blade jutted out from Guan Ya's chest. The woman in Daoist robes appeared behind Guan Ya. Guan Ya's pupils shrank slightly. Without shifting from her spot, she thrust her sword fingers backward. Sharp sword qi instantly pierced through the Daoist-robed woman's abdomen. Guan Ya struck back with an elbow, knocking the woman back. Clutching her chest with one hand, her other hand unleashed sword qi from her fingers with an ear-piercing shriek. The Daoist-robed woman had already entered Night Roam and vanished without a trace. Seeing their teammates attacked from behind, Brother Red Chicken dropped to one knee without hesitation, pressing both palms against the floor. Two tongues of fire slithered across the ground, circling the three women to form a wall of flames. Injecting Life Source Fluid into herself with one hand, Guan Ya kept her eyes on the flames. Just then, she noticed a disturbance in the flames to her left, as though someone had leaped across. Without hesitation, Guan Ya spun around and unleashed sword qi toward the right. *Pfft!* The sword qi bored through flesh, drawing blood as the woman in Daoist robes appeared on the right. The disturbance in the fire on the left had been an illusion. Through the preceding clash, Guan Ya had gained insight into the woman's condition: her face was blank and her pupils dilated, clearly under control or inherently lacking intellect. Such an opponent possessed poor adaptability, with a rigid and repetitive combat style. Since she had used an illusion to feint east while striking west earlier, she was bound to do the same now. Such was the professional competence of a Scout. Xie Lingxi finally found a certain item in the guild storage, quickly retrieved it, and shouted, "In the name of the Knight, I declare: escape techniques are forbidden in this battle!" The bronze medal in her hand flashed with yellow light as a rule descended from the unseen, restricting escape techniques. Xiao Yuan, who had long been prepared, retrieved a stone stele with a cold expression and hurled it at the opponent's feet. The stele glowed with an earthy yellow radiance. In an instant, an immense pressure descended over a radius of three meters, weighing down on the Daoist-robed woman's shoulders like a mountain and binding her in place. Under the immense pressure, weapons condensed from spiritual power would also be affected. Guan Ya and Brother Red Chicken each brought out a longsword and a sabre, while the Palace Master of Halting Slaughter drew a bronze spike. The three charged into the area covered by the stele and launched an assault against the Daoist-robed woman. At that moment, a flicker of awareness returned to the woman's hollow pupils, regaining their luster. Seeing the situation, she was momentarily confused before her expression darkened, and she exhaled a puff of Taiyin Qi. The three weapons stabbed into her, but after penetrating merely half an inch, they were arrested by a powerful force. Then, the Daoist-robed woman grabbed a sword pill radiating white light from the void. *Wait, an inventory space?!* Seeing this, everyone was dumbfounded.