The Shaman of the Yushi Consort's Kingdom

A moment earlier.

Inside the tent floored with pine planks.

Humming a lively tune from the Northern Wilderness grasslands, Lin Suqing moved about with light steps, helping spread the bedding, prepare hot water, and even setting out two Immortal Dresses she had worn when she was twelve or thirteen.

Her care was meticulous in every detail.

As a simple warming talisman dissolved into the water, the ice water in the wooden tub gradually warmed.

The dark-skinned girl had stood in the corner all along, staring blankly at Lin Suqing with a somewhat cold expression.

Yet behind the girl's hollow eyes, another pair of eyes lay hidden...

Who knew how far from the Royal Court of the Xiong Bao Clan, within a patch of shrubs, more than ten cloaked figures hid in different positions, carefully watching every stir of wind and grass.

Within the shrubs, on a cleared patch of ground.

A young woman dressed scantily, with a voluptuous figure, sat sideways on a wooden plank. Her orange-red hair fell in gentle waves, while her brown skin gleamed with a silky luster.

Two tiny snakes, one blue and one red, bit tail-to-tail around each of her ears, lending a touch of sinister charm to her heavy makeup.

Lu Renjia, a true native of the Yushique Kingdom, practiced Secret Witchcraft.

At that moment, Lu Renjia cupped a delicate tortoiseshell in both hands. Her eyes were veiled in a faint white film as she watched Lin Suqing's back through another pair of eyes from afar.

Hmph, such a slender waist. A cultivator from the Human Domain?

That young master of the Bear Hug Tribe is still so young, yet he has put quite a bit of thought into such matters.

These rotten rulers of the Northern Wilderness clans.

Lu Renjia's scarlet tongue lightly slid across her full lips, revealing several sharp, interlocking fangs.

Is the plan going a little too smoothly?

Although the Bear Hug Tribe's young master had singled out and kept her Little Cutie Puppet from among so many slaves, which had greatly surprised Lu Renjia as well.

But with such a heaven-sent opportunity before her, how could Lu Renjia let it slip away?

All she needed to do next was wait patiently, find an opportunity to put some poison in the Bear Hug Tribe young master's food or drink, and that fortune would naturally fall into her hands with ease.

The moment Lu Renjia had arrived in the Northern Wilderness, she had encountered several Bear Hug Tribe generals selecting slaves at the market. Only after sending people to investigate had she learned that the Bear Hug Tribe rarely purchased slaves who were not human.

She had not had time to make many preparations, so she had adjusted her strategy on the spot and rather riskily sent out this precious puppet.

That line—Are you the master I am to serve?—might well have already planted some unusual thoughts in that young master's mind.

Tch. Young men, no matter how mature they pretend to be, aren't they still thinking about that little bit of pleasant business?

First, she would get a feel for this Human Domain woman's strength... She was not weak, but her vigilance was poor, far inferior to the guards around that young master.

Just a flashy facade.

With things like this, the possibility of her Little Cutie Puppet being exposed was practically zero. She could calmly seek an opportunity to poison them.

Just then, Lin Suqing turned and called, "The water's ready. Come take a bath~"

Did this Human Domain woman think she was being gentle?

And she was even using that tone of someone caring for a child.

When the time came to poison them, she would take her along too.

The tortoiseshell in Lu Renjia's hands flickered with a faint red light, and she spoke in unison with the puppet girl in the tent:

"Yes, my lady."

"Don't be so restrained. It's just the two of us here. I'm no lady."

Lin Suqing practically drifted over on light feet. With a casual wave, she drew several talismans and gave them a gentle push. The talismans spread into thin walls of light, wrapping the tent from within.

A formation from the Human Domain?

A trace of suspicion rose in Lu Renjia's heart as she reassessed the Human Domain female cultivator before her.

As a witch who spent all year walking through shadowed corners, she naturally had her guard up.

"This is a Soundproof Array."

Lin Suqing narrowed her eyes in a smile, a hint of pride in her gaze.

After cultivating and discussing the Dao with the young master for so long, and being forced to pore through a vast number of texts, Lin Suqing had gained an entirely new understanding of cultivation. Not only had her realm risen by several minor stages, but her formations, talismans, Alchemy Dao, Dual Cultivation Methods, and more had all improved considerably.

She could already be considered a qualified... Core Formation Realm theoretical cultivator.

The puppet girl looked left and right, blinked slightly, and gave the response that best suited her current persona.

"Mm."

"Are you unhappy?"

With her hands behind her back and her head tilted slightly, Lin Suqing smiled. "That's true. Being a slave doesn't feel good, does it? The Great Wilderness is simply this cruel."

Do you really need to say that?

Lu Renjia nearly rolled her eyes.

"Are you really from the Yushique Kingdom?"

Lin Suqing muttered softly:

"Are there really lots of witches there? Is it close to the legendary Tanggu? Did you truly get tanned because it's too hot there? Is there really a tale of Kuafu Chasing the Sun?

"If that really happened, your Yushique Kingdom must have records of it...

"Oh, right, right. Do you have some evil secret art over there that can refine people into living puppets without consciousness?"

Puppet!

Lu Renjia instinctively held her breath, secretly staring at this Human Domain female cultivator who was clicking her tongue in wonder.

Could this woman be a True Person who did not reveal herself?

Lin Suqing smiled. "I happened to read a damaged scroll about that not long ago! Ah, I accidentally said too much. Come take a bath."

Was she probing her?

Or had she already seen through her puppet and was deliberately saying this for her to hear?

The puppet girl's movements were somewhat stiff, yet she did not dare act rashly. She slowly walked toward the wooden tub.

"Eh? The mark on the back of your neck is so strange. Is it related to the turtle and serpent gods you worship? Or does it have some special meaning?"

The girl stopped in her tracks unconsciously.

With her hands behind her back, Lin Suqing stood on tiptoe and examined the girl's neck for a few moments. Then, realizing that she was being far too rude, she gave an apologetic smile.

"Sorry, sorry. I got curious for a moment. When you read too many miscellaneous books about the Great Wilderness, it's easy to become like this.

"Do you not like people watching you bathe?

"Then I'll turn around first. Get into the tub, and call me if you need anything. I can scrub your back too~ Tomorrow, you'll have a place of your own."

Looking at the wooden tub through the puppet girl's eyes, Lu Renjia nearly forgot to breathe, her gaze full of hesitation.

Had the other side truly seen through her background?

If she rashly entered that narrow tub and the other side suddenly attacked, this puppet of hers would lose all chance to strike back.

Suddenly, the Human Domain female cultivator muttered softly behind her.

"How strange. Why did the young master suddenly want a maid? He absolutely wouldn't use a maid to serve himself."

Hm? He absolutely would not use a maid to serve himself?

"Did the young master think bullying me alone was too monotonous, so he wanted another person to gang up on me?"

This! That young man actually thought one was not enough?

Corrupt. The Northern Wilderness clans really were too corrupt!

"The mark on her neck... I think I've seen it somewhere. An ancient parchment scroll... Which one was it?"

Lin Suqing rummaged through her Storage Treasure, completely failing to notice that the girl behind her wore an expression for the first time...

Panicked. Lu Renjia was panicking!

The mark on the neck was proof of a puppet—the Serpent God Seal!

This Human Domain female cultivator's cultivation was not high, so how did she know so many secrets of the Yushique Kingdom? Sure enough, no one who could stand beside the young master of a major clan like the Bear Hug Tribe was ordinary!

And besides...

Stop muttering your inner thoughts out loud, damn it!

Lu Renjia nearly cursed aloud. Her pupils trembled a few times, her eyes full of conflict, but she swiftly made a decision.

Everything about today was strange, as though it were a trap laid specifically for her.

She suddenly understood. From beginning to end, that young master's gaze toward this puppet had not fluctuated in the slightest. It had been so calm, so composed.

Right, her puppet had been knocked unconscious for a while...

The other side had definitely seen through the puppet's identity and might already be searching for the location of her group!

Was the Northern Wilderness not as the rumors claimed—great in strength, simple in will?

"Withdraw!"

In the patch of shrubs far from the Royal Court.

Lu Renjia let out an anxious, low cry. Her interlocking fangs showed a trace of savagery as the tortoiseshell she held burst with light.

The more than ten shadows around her immediately surged over, lifting both her and the wooden plank, then racing along the route they had planned earlier.

At the same time, inside Lin Suqing's tent.

The puppet girl turned to stare at Lin Suqing's neck. Her petite body leaned forward slightly, and in the next instant she erupted with terrifying speed, leaving a faint afterimage where she had stood!

Lu Renjia was decisive. At this moment, she only wanted to retrieve the puppet as best she could, while causing chaos in the Royal Court to cover her own retreat.

There was a ninety-nine percent chance this female cultivator was an expert hiding her true abilities. Though the puppet could unleash great combat power, it could not sustain it for long. She had to end this swiftly—

"Hey! What are you—"

Lin Suqing instinctively pulled out a short sword from her Storage Treasure. Before she could even grip it tightly, she felt her palm empty.

The sword's edge pointed at her slender neck!

Thud.

Lin Suqing's legs gave out. A few rays of righteous glory shone from her eyes, and in that flash of lightning and flint, a stern cry brimming with righteousness burst from her lips:

"Fellow Daoist, spare my life!"

"T-the process was... p-pretty much like that."

Before the main tent, beneath the leaping firelight.

Wu Wang folded his arms and smiled as he watched the drenched Lin Suqing before him.

Wrapped in a fur cloak and trembling, her teeth chattering nonstop, she recounted what had happened with unclear speech.

Not far away, a Prismatic Iceberg missing nearly half of itself gave off wisps of cold air. The girl was sealed within the ice while gripping the short sword, her eyes still hollow.

Judging from the outline of the missing portion of ice, it vaguely matched Lin Suqing's figure. Clearly, Lin Suqing had just been "chiseled" out of the iceberg.

"You've worked hard."

Wu Wang comforted her warmly and sighed. "Who would have thought an assassin would sneak in? Who would have thought, who would have thought."

Lin Suqing suddenly came back to herself and glared at Wu Wang. "Young Master, did you discover it earlier?"

"You tell me."

"I!" Lin Suqing immediately looked aggrieved. "How am I supposed to tell?"

Wu Wang sighed.

"Having you take this puppet away was indeed my miscalculation. Mainly, I hadn't considered that you would see through her identity.

"I originally wanted to use your innocence to confuse our opponent and stall whoever was controlling the puppet...

"Now, the person behind the puppet has probably already fled far away.

"But I never intended to put you in danger.

"Mother has always been watching over you and me. Beneath the stars, there's no need to worry that anything unexpected will happen."

Lin Suqing complained, "If something like this happens in the future, you should at least tell me beforehand. It was... it was so embarrassing. I even took out the clothes I had outgrown."

Wu Wang's eyes immediately curved into crescents as he looked at this long-haired old auntie with dripping wet hair. He raised a hand, intending to pat her head in comfort, but then remembered his strange illness and could only let streams of warm wind bloom from his palm.

"Don't move. I'll dry your hair."

"Okay," Lin Suqing answered, pulling the fur wrapped around her tighter.

"After thinking it over, I still can't let off those people who set their sights on me so easily."

Wu Wang withdrew his left hand and pondered briefly. From the simple little leather pouch at his waist, a Storage Treasure, he took out a Crystal Ball as large as a human head.

With a gentle push of his palm, the Crystal Ball floated before him. One shining star after another appeared within it.

Wu Wang rapidly formed hand seals with both hands and murmured an incantation. The stars within the Crystal Ball were linked one by one by some power, transforming into a beam as thick as a well mouth that shot straight into the starry sky.

"May the Eyes of the Star God part the mists and grant true guidance to the one who prays."

Several hundred li away, a beam of light smashed down from the night sky, illuminating an area a hundred zhang wide as brightly as day.

The beam was actually moving constantly, pursuing the more than ten fleeing figures below.

"It's a Northern Wilderness Star Invocation Technique! The Great Priest of the Bear Hug Tribe must have acted!"

Lu Renjia looked up at the sky. What she saw were countless stars that shone nearly a hundred times brighter than before, and intense fear welled up within her.

"Split up!"

She gave a low cry, but the moment her words fell, wolf howls and horn calls sounded one after another from all directions.

Lu Renjia's face instantly turned pale. The figures around her scattered in every direction, yet the pillar of light that had fallen over their heads split apart with them...

About two hours later.

Before Wu Wang's main tent, more than ten assassins tied up like rice dumplings lay face down on the ground, each sealed by the clan priests with the Star Invocation Technique.

Several guards carried the puppet girl, still sealed in Solid Ice, to one side.

Lu Renjia knelt inside the tent entrance. Several chains bound her, sealing sigils from the Star Invocation Technique gleamed across her body, and the two little snakes on her earlobes had already been crushed into snakeskin.

She looked up at Wu Wang, her eyes filled with despair.

She could now clearly feel it. The source of that Star Power which had locked onto them out of nowhere was this young master!

An heir of a clan who practiced the Star Invocation Technique? Since when had the Northern Wilderness become unlike anything they knew?

"A witch from the Yushique Kingdom?"

Wu Wang's voice was somewhat ethereal, yet it instantly brought Lu Renjia back to her senses.

She still had a sliver of hope—her final chance...

"I am willing to become your slave!"

Lu Renjia looked up at Wu Wang, retracted her fangs, and tried hard to reveal a charming smile, radiating a woman's allure.

"I can do anything for you, so long as you spare my life."

Wu Wang said calmly, "Are the things you're willing to do proper?"

"No, not proper."

"Then sorry, I'm a proper young master."

Wu Wang raised a hand in a gesture. "Drag her out and deal with her."

"My lord! Master! Master, spare my life! I'm willing to be your slave!"

Lu Renjia cried out in panic. Several guards had already rushed over, lifted her up with chains, and threw her outside the tent.

Wu Wang curled his lips.

Even without this strange illness, he wasn't some easy man.

She wasn't even as pretty as that dazed old auntie beside him.