Courtesan Cultivators Come Knocking! (First Update; Please Vote!)

Linjiang County, top floor of the Heavenly Fragrance Tower.

Zhang Yunshang wore an elegant blue-and-white qipao and reclined against a soft couch draped in snow-white fox fur.

Her face still bore the pallor of someone recently recovered from a serious illness, but her eyes shone with startling brightness as she looked at the girl from the Miao Frontier standing before her.

"Yun Shang, you wanted to see me?!"

Miao Xiyue held Dabao in her arms and edged toward the door despite herself. Her silver ornaments gave off faint, tinkling sounds as she trembled.

Her wary, uneasy gaze made her look like a small animal that had wandered into a tiger's den.

"Mm."

Zhang Yunshang sat up straight. Her fair fingers tapped lightly on the armrest. "Tell me what happened along the way."

Miao Xiyue's heart tightened.

She knew this was only nominally a question about their journey. In truth, Zhang Yunshang wanted a report on everything concerning Li Xiang.

After all, before they had left Riverside to clear the Official Road to Blackwater Ancient Town, Zhang Yunshang had summoned her and specifically told her to keep a close eye on Li Xiang and report anything unusual at once.

"We set out from Riverside..."

Miao Xiyue swallowed and began her account. Her voice was clear, but she spoke slowly, as though recalling events while choosing her words.

She described how the convoy had lost its way in the blizzard, how Wang De and the other Demonkin had acted overbearingly until her gu insects subdued them, and how they had been besieged by Gold-Swallowing Beasts and Starving Ghosts outside Tiger Family Village. She also told of how Li Xiang had led from the front, cutting a bloody path through the ghosts for them.

But she concealed a great deal.

She said nothing