Looking at the sword before him, Wang Xiaoming was excited, but even more puzzled.
This thing was actually in the Crown Prince's residence... Was it a hint that I could be Qian Renxue's sword attendant?
He shook the speculation from his head.
He stepped forward and ran a hand over the sharp metal blade, then reached out and tried to pull it free.
Unfortunately, it wouldn't budge at all, as though it had fused with the heavy stone beneath it.
Seeing that he couldn't pull it out, he turned his attention to the card holder in front of the hilt and tried to open it.
But it wouldn't open either.
It was as if this Blay Rouzer were nothing more than a display model.
No wonder Xue Qinghe had left it so casually in the back courtyard. He probably just wanted to use it as a decoration.
The corners of Wang Xiaoming's mouth curled up slightly.
Unfortunately, it had now met its true master.
"Say goodbye to this mansion, little sword."
He took two steps back, raised the camera at his chest, and aimed it at the Blay Rouzer.
Click!
As the crisp shutter sound rang out, an invisible force within the Blay Rouzer was drawn into the camera and began turning into a card.
Wang Xiaoming didn't rush to take the card out. It would be bad if those two guys in the Crown Prince's residence discovered it.
Who knew if anyone was watching what he did here?
It would be better to look at it when he got home.
With that thought, he wandered around the Crown Prince's rear courtyard again. This time, though, he didn't run, but strolled along absentmindedly.
On the map, the red dot marking the Crown Prince's residence had turned green.
This felt... just like searching a map for treasure chests.
Only after making a circuit of the Crown Prince's residence did he return to the dining room and leave with Ning Rongrong.
Once aboard the carriage, he could barely keep the corners of his mouth from rising.
If he could, he wanted the carriage to fly straight back to his residence so he could get a good look at what he had brought back.
Inside Xue Qinghe's study.
At that moment, Xue Qinghe wore a mocking smile as he clutched a letter tightly in his hand.
"Salas really did move fast. That woman actually received word so quickly.
"And she... actually dared tell me not to interfere... When she usually wouldn't say a single word to ask about me.
"How did she have the face!?"
Bang! Xue Qinghe slammed his hand down on the desk.
Snake Lance stood quietly to the side in a black robe, sweeping the surroundings with his spiritual power to make sure no one overheard his young master in such an agitated state.
This sort of thing... he couldn't very well comment on.
In any case, whether that kid ended up in the young master's hands or His Holiness the Pope's, he would be another brick in Spirit Hall's walls.
It was just that, beneath the rivalry between their factions, the absurd element of a mother and daughter was mixed in...
At that moment, another black-robed figure appeared silently in the study.
It was none other than Ci Xue, who had spent quite a while following Wang Xiaoming around.
"Young master, that kid has left."
Only when he heard Ci Xue's voice did Xue Qinghe come back to his senses.
At the same time, a golden flame appeared in his palm and burned the letter in his hand to ash.
"He finished looking around? Did he do anything strange?"
Xue Qinghe asked casually.
He took off the glove covered in paper ash, pulled a new one from a drawer, and put it on as though nothing had happened.
"Well... he didn't seem to do anything. He just ran around the back garden."
Ci Xue was also somewhat speechless after following a silly kid around for so long.
"It's just that the sword in the stone you brought back caught his attention, young master. He even stayed beside it for a while."
"The sword in the stone?"
Xue Qinghe rubbed his chin in thought, then immediately turned and headed for the lotus garden.
"Come on, let's take a look."
Ci Xue and Snake Lance exchanged glances, unsure what their young master intended to do.
Only when Xue Qinghe stood before the sword in the stone and revealed a strange smile did they sense that something was wrong.
Xue Qinghe gently stroked the hilt.
He could sense that the power inside it was gone.
Now, even a little force would be enough to break the sword's shell.
"Heh. He accepted my invitation, wandered around the courtyard, and happened to come across this sword that no one could use?
"Tell me, did he know it was here and deliberately play along with me, or... was this just a coincidence?"
"Young master, I didn't see that kid do anything out of the ordinary."
Hearing Xue Qinghe say that, Ci Xue was a little baffled too.
As far as he could tell, that kid really hadn't done anything, just kept touching it.
He had touched it like that before too.
Unfortunately, Ci Xue didn't recognize the camera and had assumed Wang Xiaoming was just casually touching the brick on his chest.
Wang Xiaoming had been so far away that Ci Xue didn't think touching the brick could have done anything.
"Just because you couldn't see it doesn't mean he did nothing... Otherwise, why is the power contained in this sword gone?"
Xue Qinghe found it unbelievable.
Back when she was obtaining a Soul Ring in the Star Dou Great Forest, she had picked this thing up along the way.
She had sensed the strange yet powerful force inside the sword, but no matter what she tried, she couldn't make use of even the slightest bit of it. Only then had she left it here as a pretty decoration.
But Wang Xiaoming had quietly taken that power away?
Hearing this, Ci Xue immediately realized what he had lost.
"This subordinate was incompetent..."
"All right, I don't blame you. We picked up a treasure born of heaven and earth, and after all this time we still couldn't use it, yet he took it away so easily. One can only say that thing was prepared especially for him.
"But I am very curious. Just how many more secrets does this Wang Xiaoming have?"
Xue Qinghe narrowed his eyes slightly, the corners of his mouth lifting.
With this little fellow who didn't even have a Soul Ring, she had previously only been trying to recruit him as a matter of routine.
But now, it wasn't just about competing with that woman. He had genuinely piqued her interest.
A noble from a fallen family, with nothing particularly special about his life... How had he suddenly displayed so many peculiarities?
If I could, I'd really like to lock him in my secret chamber and give him a thorough interrogation...
Meanwhile, Wang Xiaoming, seated in the carriage, had already taken the card out of the camera.
Printed on its face was the image of the [Sword].
At the sight of it, his grin nearly stretched crooked.
Although this fellow wasn't the one he wanted most, it was among the really powerful ones.
Ning Rongrong curiously leaned over from beside him, but as soon as she saw what was in his hand, her expression turned bored.
"What is that... It's so ugly. You spent all that time wandering around Xue Qinghe's back garden just to find it?"