Judging by the change in her expression, the Nine-Tailed Fox had probably been surprised at first by Ibaraki-doji's death, but then remembered something and quickly accepted it.
Could Ibaraki-doji's death have something to do with Tamamo-no-Mae?
Fang Cheng pondered this, then suddenly remembered that the Nine-Tailed Fox had said she'd been hiding in this cave for sixteen years.
And Ibaraki-doji had ventured out to seize the Proof and returned to the Iron-Cast Palace gravely wounded sixteen years ago.
Because Ugou Mirai was exactly sixteen years old this year.
A suspicion suddenly surfaced in Fang Cheng's mind. Could Tamamo-no-Mae have been injured while fighting Ibaraki-doji over the Proof?
But the Nine-Tailed Fox had also said she and Ibaraki-doji had been on good terms.
Besides, if Ibaraki-doji really had been injured by her, he wouldn't have brought it up in front of Fang Cheng and tried to ingratiate himself with him.
It was also possible that Tamamo-no-Mae and Ibaraki-doji had teamed up to seize the Proof. But just how powerful was the enemy who could grievously wound them both?
With the Nine-Tailed Fox right in front of him, Fang Cheng didn't need to guess. He asked directly, "How exactly did you get injured? Why did you have to flee using a clone, then hide in a cave for sixteen years without daring to come out?"
The Nine-Tailed Fox looked at Fang Cheng for a couple of seconds, then suddenly smiled. "You don't actually think I had something to do with Ibaraki-doji's death, do you?"
This fox was sharp, all right. No wonder she was an old monster who'd lived for so many years.
Fang Cheng didn't hide it. "He was seriously injured sixteen years ago and only recently died when his old wounds flared up again. Who do you think injured him?"