Chapter 15 Set up the Killing Trap and Invite Them into It

When Blood Feather got out of the water, its two rivals did not chase it. It found that the three figures had become spots that could be hardly seen. They seemed to be in a stalemate, having no time to care about it. It felt a delight of escaping with bare life and had a sense of loss for no reason. It never expected that such an important character as it should be neglected. Somehow, the flame just made it feel so frightened. The huge figure gradually became smaller. It did not turn into the little red sparrow, but it became as big as a red-feathered falcon. It was originally a red-feathered falcon. Occasionally, it was lucky enough to get a few mouthfuls of a monster’s blood so that it was mutated and trod on the real road of cultivation. After gradually calming down, it was suddenly surprised to find that in the previous battle, the restraint in the body seemed to be broken by the last unintentional strike of the woman in white. Feeling the loosening of the restraint, it was ecstatic. Supposedly, it could be able to get rid of the shackle on its own soon. Blood Feather dragged its weary body and then looked back at Lake Qifeng with a glimmer of a bitter smile in its eyes. It was more or less the same case many years ago. It escaped with serious injuries and thought it was unstoppable. However, when it was urging its evil power to heal the wounds and intended to take revenge on the imperial city, it suddenly heard the rustle of fallen leaves from behind. That was the voice it couldn’t forget for its lifetime. “You little sparrow, you have a good aptitude. If you are willing to work for me, I may spare your life.” It was wondering who was so bold to mess with it. When it wanted to turn around and fight back, it suddenly felt the heaviness of its bones and the pain of being torn apart through its skin into the depths of its body. Then its body just shrank like a leaking balloon and it became as small as a sparrow. Then it heard the woman chuckle. “Actually, it is not up to you.” Since then, it had been locked in a cage by a young girl, who was said to be the woman’s daughter, but it had never seen the woman from beginning to end. Blood Feather raised its head and the autumn rain fell on it. As it recalled its life of more than ten years as a homing pigeon, it only felt that all its determination just vanished and couldn’t help sighing. “Fortunately, it is a blessing in disguise. I can break the restraint in some time and now I should leave the city earlier...” Just when it decided not to report back to Zhao Xiang’er and planned to leave alone, a cold voice came behind it. “Red Bird, where are you going?” It felt so shocked. After a while, it finally turned around and only saw a girl in a black dress standing in the rain and staring at it with a smile. Blood Feather was dumbfounded. ... ... One hour ago, it was still cloudy and the rain hadn’t come. The woman in white of the Oracle Sword Heavenly Sect was still snoozing in the blue-and-white sedan. Gently stroking the ancient book, the wizard patriarch was deducing the mysterious future and thinking about the prophecy at the end of the book. In the depths of the underground palace, the fireworks that turned into a fire fox were flickering. The young girl’s black dress was reflecting the glow of the fire. The yellow flower on her dress appeared even more stunning. Zhao Xiang’er said, “As to these six heavenly chain locks, I can cut off four of them for you. Whether you can get out or not depends on you.” The old fox was puzzled. “You can’t kill me when I’m in the underground palace. If I get out of here, how can you kill me then?” Zhao Xiang’er said, “Why not have a try?” The old fox smiled and said, “I’d love to. May I know when you can untie the six chain locks for me?” Zhao Xiang’er shook her head and said, “Only four of the chain locks here have keys.” The old fox’s eyeballs got out of the flames, staring at Zhao Xiang’er. Then the old fox said, “One in the imperial preceptor’s mansion, one in the wizard patriarch’s hall, one in the Qianyu Palace and one in the imperial palace... Four keys are enough. With these four keys, four wisps of my souls will be able to escape. As to the rest two chain locks, I can chop them off when my four souls integrate.” Zhao Xiang’er smiled and said, “So you do know everything. It seems that you have really influenced the state of Zhao these years.” The figure of the old fox in the flame became clearer and clearer, and in the furnace that took up half of the underground palace, the slowly emerging figure should appear upstanding and dauntless. “Before my physical body was destroyed, after all, I was a great demon that entered Five Realms. You have suppressed me for a hundred years with the imperial city, and I can surely give you some ‘rewards’.” It squinted and looked at Zhao Xiang’er mockingly. “You claim with boldness to kill me. Is it just because of that?” Zhao Xiang’er smiled slightly, “This reason is not enough?” The old fox’s figure was squirming in the furnace, and the laughter was filled with elusive sarcasm. “These years, I may have killed many people unknowingly, but they were insignificant anyway. How can they deserve...” The old fox hedged and suddenly slowed down its voice. “Do you...want to become a saint?” Zhao Xiang’er did not answer. In the burning flames, there seemed to be the whistle of the wind. The old fox’s voice fluctuated like the flicking flame, “I had a bit of respect for the youth but now, I realize that you are nothing but a hypocrite. You only want to use me as a stepping stone to help you become a saint.” Zhao Xiang’er said, “I simply want to kill someone with your hand.” The old fox asked, “Whom do you want to kill?” Zhao Xiang’er took out a jade seal from her sleeve and showed it in her palm. The old fox looked at the jade seal in astonishment. The flame also flickered and seemed to be thrilled. “This is...” “The seal of the state. This is the key in the imperial preceptor’s mansion.” Zhao Xiang’er answered. “After you swallow this key, one wisp of your soul will be able to get away, but the imperial preceptor’s mansion undertakes the fortune of the state. If you break free and do anything harmful to the state’s fortune, the backlash against you will be a hundred or thousand times serious.” The old fox looked at the seal of the state with a look of uncertainty and asked, “Even if only a wisp of my soul gets away, I can still kill you. What can you rely on then?” Zhao Xiang’er said with a smile, “I represent the fortune of the state of Zhao. What’s more...” Suddenly she opened the umbrella she was holding, and hundreds of bamboo joints supported the old reddish umbrella surface. Now the umbrella surface appeared even more colorful against the flame. In fact, since she stepped into the underground palace, the old fox had noticed the umbrella in her hand. With its faint demonic consciousness, it tried to perceive the umbrella through the furnace but failed to get an answer. Now that the old umbrella was unfolded. Standing under the umbrella, the girl dropped her smile and put on an indifferent look. Surprisingly, she looked like a saint. “This is the key in the Qianyu Palace?” The old fox asked. The girl nodded and said, “Kill the wizard patriarch and swallow the ancient book in his hand. Then you will be able to break another chain lock. After that, I will give you this umbrella.” The old fox said, “I know that this umbrella is special. If only one wisp of my soul is returned, I may not be able to hurt you, but if I get three wisps of souls back, these fancy things will be useless. Killing you will be a piece of cake.” Holding the umbrella, the girl seemed to walk to the furnace without hindrance. In the light of the fire, her figure became even more petite and slender. On the side of her dark dress, sparks flickered. She was like someone standing alone and looking up at the sun, as if she were about to be swallowed by the waves. There was no sound in the underground palace. One person and one fox looked at each other quietly, as if they were confirming something. This scene just lasted so weirdly. In the bright light, the shadow of the young girl in a black dress gradually covered them and appeared increasingly clear. Gradually, all the fireworks cooled down. Across the crisscrossed black iron bars beside the furnace, the girl still stared at the fire fox and tossed the seal of the state up high into the furnace. “Girl, I’m a little scared for you.” A burst of frantic laughter came. Then a dark and huge figure broke out of the flame and bit the seal of the state. “Don’t be afraid. I will collect the body for you.” The girl pursed her lips and smiled, who appeared as bright and elegant as the flower on her sleeve. The black fox shadow stretched out its neck and swallowed the jade seal in one bite. The extremely luminous underground palace suddenly became dark and the cracking sound of the iron chain rang in her ears. Then she saw a huge figure that was like the fish back hunching up on the surface of the sea. The furnace which almost reached the dome seemed quite small at the moment. The fierce wind blew in her face, blowing up the hair on the girl’s forehead and making her face appear even paler. The wind was just like intangible knives. Countless dark shadows rose from the flame, went past the girl’s sides, shoulders and cheeks one after another and ran backward. That was a wisp of the old fox’s soul that broke free. The girl held her umbrella quietly, unswayed at all. While the black shadows were running towards the mouth of the well, an old voice came for the last time. “Zhao Xiang’er, see you later.” The girl turned around and waved at him. Behind him, the old fox, who became obviously much smaller, still stared at her silently. “I’m curious what on earth you want to do.” “A wisp of your soul has been released. Since there is no room for maneuver, why do you bother to ask?” Zhao Xiang’er smiled. The old fox was silent for a moment and said, “Interesting.” Zhao Xiang’er turned around and waved to him, saying, “I have something else to do. Talk to you later.” After saying that, the girl slowly left, holding an umbrella. The old fox stared at her and suddenly the killing intent like a blizzard burst out of its eyes. Zhao Xiang’er didn’t turn around and instead, she just left on her own. In the end, she took another tunnel and vanished. The killing intent in the eyes of the old fox faded away slowly. After Zhao Xiang’er confirmed that the old fox’s demonic intent couldn’t catch up with her, she immediately folded her umbrella and rushed outside at an extremely fast speed. This path led to the well in the Immortal Forest. When talking to the old fox, she seemed to be unhurried but how could she really not be in a hurry? This was a life-and-death battle where the clock was ticking. Even though she acted cautiously step by step as per her plan, she was still not 100% confident. Hence, she couldn’t allow herself to make any mistakes. And she had been long been familiar with the obstacles and mechanism along the path, which surely couldn’t stop her in the slightest. Soon, she looked up and saw the light from the well, and a few drops of autumn rain fell between her eyebrows. She stood up and stepped on the wall of the well and jumped out of the well with a few bodily movements. Then, she ran in the opposite direction of the wizard patriarch’s hall. That was the direction of Lake Qifeng. At that time, Blood Feather also plunged into the lake and fled towards the north of the imperial city. ... Zhao Xiang’er glanced at the lake. The three small spots in the distance began to move slowly. A huge flow of spiritual power swept over Lake Qifeng. Several torrents went up high with the lake water, which looked like a serpent raising its head from afar. “Red Bird, were you trying to get away just now?” Zhao Xiang’er turned her gaze to Blood Feather, which was seriously injured, and then asked gently. The girl’s gentle voice made Blood Feather gravely frightened. It hastened to answer, “Here I am waiting for Your Highness.” Zhao Xiang’er smiled. “Well, it seems that you know well who is controlling your life and death.” Blood Feather nodded again and again. “Needless to say, I am absolutely loyal to Your Highness!” Zhao Xiang’er sighed, leaned down, stared at it and said, “You have done countless evils, ruining the city and killing people. I should have stewed you, but you’ve done a good job of delivering messages. Now you are one step away from being free. Maybe you will try to kill me if possible, so Red Bird, don’t be silly then.” Hearing her faintly said words, Blood Feather had a restraint attack. It felt the pain of being cut all over its body and only dared to beg Her Highness for mercy, lying prostrate on the ground. Zhao Xiang’er suddenly grasped the umbrella handle and suddenly drew out something. In the clear sound, a beam of soft light flashed across her, silver bright, reserved, thin and crystal, as if what she drew out was a pool of clear water. That was the sword hidden in the umbrella. Blood Feather didn’t dare to have any rebellious thoughts now. It kept shouting, “I’ve repented and reformed, not daring to arrogate to myself anything. Without Your Highness’s order, I shall never leave the imperial city at will!” “I drew out the sword not to kill you. Yet, you look so afraid. Have you done anything wrong?” Zhao Xiang’er smiled faintly and threw the old umbrella from which the sword was drawn out to Blood Feather. “When the old fox kills the wizard patriarch and swallows the ancient book, you pass the umbrella to him and he will let you go.” Blood Feather quickly grabbed the umbrella with its beak and asked cautiously, “What on earth... is that thing?” Zhao Xiang’er said, “You don’t need to know... Do as I tell you and do not have any other motive.” Blood Feather had followed her for years, watching her grow from a little girl to a little evil. It could finally tell whether she was telling a joke or the truth. It nodded immediately and dropped the thought of fluke. Zhao Xiang’er glanced at it and then left. “Your Highness, you are going...” “To the imperial palace.” “The imperial palace is now strictly guarded now. Almost all the masters of the imperial city of the state of Zhao are gathering there. It will be quite dangerous for you to go there. What about me blazing the trail for you?” “No need.” Of course she wouldn’t take the open path to the imperial palace. Soon, the old fox in the underground palace saw the girl who came back again. Yet, this time, she had no umbrella in her hand but a sword as thin, long and bright as water. However, this time, Zhao Xiang’er directly ran straight to the path towards the well of the imperial palace without saying hello to him. That was a truly undefended path. And in the imperial palace, something serious was happening.