Paying Respects?

"No need to guess, this contains Newman's soul!" Jimite laughed maniacally, blood trickling from his mouth. "His soul was originally kept as evidence for the ' Hanging River ' project." His voice trembled hysterically. "What are my conditions! This gem is fragile; if you don't agree—I'll crush it!"

Looking at Jimite's contorted face, Su Ming shook his head. "Sorry, you can't threaten us."

"Don't treat me like a fool!" Jimite roared. "You care about Newman! I don't expect you to let me go." He reiterated the terms of the deal, "I'll leave with this crystal, just let my family go!"

Su Ming gestured for him to look at what he was holding again. Jimite lowered his hand to his eyes and was shocked to find that what he was holding in his palm was just an ordinary stone!

"How is this possible!" Jimite exclaimed in disbelief.

The sound of shattering glass rang out, the illusion receded like the tide, and the surrounding scenery suddenly changed. Jimite was horrified to discover that Su Ming and Zijin had actually been standing dozens of meters away the whole time, and the two of them had never taken a single step closer.

It turned out that from the very beginning, he had been silently pulled into an illusion by Zijin! The stone in his hand was fake, but the burning whip marks on his body were real, only they were inflicted by Zijin's magic from dozens of meters away!

****

On Su Ming's side, a skeletal dove landed in Zijin's palm, setting down the deep, Deep Soul Cocoon it had been carrying. The gem felt cold and heavy in her hand. Zijin held it carefully, sensing it, a hint of joy appearing on her face, "It really is Newman!"

"You... you're too cunning!" Having lost his last bargaining chip, Jimite collapsed helplessly onto the snow like a deflated sack.

"Likewise," Su Ming said indifferently.

Faced with this cunning old fox, he and Zijin didn't really get close. Who knew what traps Jimite might have laid, or even explosives in those carriages that could suddenly detonate and kill them all?

This cautious move unexpectedly brought about a pleasant surprise.

"Oh, right, I have a little something for you." Su Ming waved his hand, and several gleaming white Bone Spear rained down from the sky, accurately piercing the "laborer corpses" buried in the snow.

A piercing scream suddenly rang out, then abruptly stopped.

"My son!" Jimite cried out in heart-wrenching grief, two streams of tears rolling down his cheeks.

It was a double trap, with another layer of disguise beneath the disguise. But Su Ming no longer cared how many tricks Jimite had played.

In any case, no one, including the body, will be left at the scene; there's absolutely no chance of anything going wrong!

****

Inside the governor's residence in Bubing City, Princess Dafulin picked up her crystal glass again and took a large sip of water.

"Professor Newman... he doesn't know about this," she told Katharine. "I was in charge of surveying this part of the water system, and I discovered that those waterways flowing into the underground river didn't ultimately flow south as expected, but instead turned north, becoming the source of the Sang River." Her fingers unconsciously traced the rim of her glass. "I... kept this discovery a secret from my professor."

"So it's an underground river, no wonder." Katharine suddenly understood.

"But later, the teacher noticed something suspicious, suspecting that the project's scope was affecting the source of the Sang River," Dafulin said somberly. "That's why he suddenly went to the Northern Lands side to conduct an on-site investigation."

"And that's when they were ambushed by Jimite." Having understood the whole story, Katharine's tone was filled with regret. "Such an outstanding master..."

"Ironically," Dafulin gripped her water glass tighter, "If Professor Newman hadn't been murdered, Hanging River Project would have been canceled. He would have found out the truth and brought it to light, using his influence to stop the project—and I wouldn't have gone against him."

Katharine glanced at the wall clock; she had an important New Year's Eve party to attend that evening.

"I have asked all the questions I wanted to know," Katharine said, rising and straightening her dress. "I will relay this information to Su Ming and Ailisha, and they will decide how to proceed. Princess Dafulin, farewell." She nodded slightly in farewell.

"Your Majesty, please take care." Dafulin rose and returned the greeting.

****

early morning.

The first rays of sunlight pierced the biting cold, casting a pale halo across the snow-covered plain. The distant mountain silhouettes, like jagged spines, reflected a cold, hard luster in the morning light.

A figure riding a lion-like beast burst into the area. The newcomer reined in the horse, took out an exquisite magic pointer from his pocket, carefully adjusted his bearings, and continued on his way. The dust kicked up by the mount traced transparent paths in the air before being quickly dispersed by the cold wind.

A few minutes later, the magic pointer suddenly trembled violently. The figure nimbly leaped off the mount, lingered in the snow for a moment, and finally stopped in front of an inconspicuous snowdrift.

A wind spell was cast, blowing away the thick snow covering an area of several meters. A section of bluish-green stone tip was first revealed on the snowdrift, and gradually it became clear that it was a tombstone. Soon, a meticulously constructed stone mausoleum was fully revealed.

The tombstone reads: The Tomb of Norbert Newman.

The visitor lifted her cloak, and a pair of slender hands took out a bunch of bright winter chrysanthemums from her bosom and gently placed them in front of the tombstone.

"[It's red, actually.]" Zijin remarked via mental link from a short distance away.

[What does red represent?] Su Ming asked.

In your world, aren't red flowers also associated with love?

Zijin stepped forward and greeted, "Good morning, Your Highness, Second Princess!"

Dafulin was startled by the sudden appearance of Zijin —not every scholar possesses great strength, especially when facing a powerful figure like Zijin.

Suppressing her inner turmoil, she returned the greeting as gracefully as possible, "Good morning! Lord Bay Owl!" Then she saw Su Ming behind Zijin, "Good morning, Lord Bone King! Why... are you here?"

"We found a special gift last night and decided to bring it to visit Newman," Zijin replied.

Su Ming stepped forward, threw down the Jimite he was carrying, and dropped it onto the snow.

After the interrogation that gave him a headache last night, the two of them were too lazy to deal with Jimite anymore, so they took him back to the Youth Civilization and left him hanging outside the carriage overnight.

Surprisingly, this guy was still alive.

Dafulin looked at Jimite, who was lying on the ground. Suddenly, Dimit reached out a trembling hand and began to peel off his clothes, looking very hot.

This is a phenomenon caused by a complete disruption of physiological functions, resulting in a sudden rush of blood to the body surface and creating a sensation of heat.

Dafulin suddenly bowed deeply, "Thank you!"

Newman was severely injured and then froze to death in the water.

She seemed to want to say something more, but her voice choked with emotion when she spoke. Dafulin quickly turned to face the tombstone, not wanting the two of them to see her out-of-control expression. It took her a while to regain her composure.

"I apologize for my rudeness." The second princess of the Cold Mountain Kingdom turned around again, regaining her usual composure. "Mr. Su Ming, Scholar Bay Owl, thank you for rescuing me in Lisi City, and thank you both for your kindness during this time." She continued, "The Cold Mountain Royal Family family has received many favors, and we will do our utmost to repay them if possible."

These words were clearly setting the stage for the upcoming negotiations, indicating that Su Ming and Zijin could now state their conditions.

Dafulin knew very well that the Green Bridge deal could be discussed separately, but the events that had occurred before had to be settled with the two of them.

In terms of sentiment: she herself was saved by them, the conspiracy of the Northern Lands nobles was thwarted by them, and nearly half of the Lords' Alliance's forces were annihilated by them.

More importantly, "logically speaking": since Su Ming and Zijin were able to wipe out the elite of the Lords' Alliance, they could also deal with the army of the Cold Mountain Kingdom; if they could take the heads of Jimite and Bulenleifu, they would have the ability to kill members of the royal family.

Faced with such a powerful figure, a situation where both emotion and reason are lost is dangerous, and the Cold Mountain Royal Family chose to take the initiative to "pay the price" for these events.

"We want the Eternal Night Territory," Zijin stated bluntly.

Upon hearing this, Dafulin secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After careful consideration, she found that the request was actually within an acceptable range.

Eternal Night Territory is located in a remote area in the northeastern corner of the Northern Continent, even further north than the Jishou Tidal Flats where Su Ming and his group landed. Its core, Eternal Night Port, is a deep-water port with excellent terrain, but it is frozen for more than a third of the year. In addition, due to the frequent harassment by the fish-men in recent years, the port's shipping function has been basically abandoned.

As a territory, Eternal Night Territory encompasses sixteen towns, covering a considerable area but with a sparse population. Due to geological reasons, this land is severely eroded by seawater salinity, rendering it almost devoid of agricultural value. Frequent attacks by the Fish-Men further devastate the local fishing industry, resulting in a very dire living condition for the people.

"Although Eternal Night Territory is within the territory of the Cold Mountain Kingdom, it's not currently under our actual control," Dafulin replied. "Are you sure you have the ability to control that area?"

"That's something we need to consider ourselves," Zijin replied. "What we demand is nominal recognition and granting of the kingdom, full autonomy over our territory, and permission to trade with the freely transit kingdom's territories. We can abide by the system and pay taxes to the royal family annually at the basic rate."

"Please allow me to report to the King and then reply," Dafulin replied. While her assessment was acceptable, such a significant matter could not be decided by her alone.

"Of course!" Zijin replied.

"What do you want to do?" Su Ming asked. "We can't manage such a large area Eternal Night Territory, can we?"

According to his original plan, after completing the prison break operation in the Dome Mountains, they should move to an area that was more defensible and had better industrial conditions for development. The geographical location of Eternal Night Territory was far from ideal.

"[It's not for us, it's for the Feather Race.]" Zijin replied, a hint of slyness in her eyes. "[They're trapped in the Polar City inside the Arctic Circle, they'd definitely want to leave that ice cap. We can trade the Eternal Night Territory with them, it's a sure thing!]"

"Are you trying to trade a paperclip for a villa?" Su Ming thought to himself.

[However, the Cold Mountain Kingdom must not find out about this beforehand! We'll talk about it after we've made it a fait accompli!] Zijin instructed.

"Should we also consider getting rid of the murlocs?" Su Ming asked.

"Of course!" Zijin replied matter-of-factly. "You have to wash the mud off the radishes before you sell them, right?"

Su Ming was speechless.

****

Seeing the atmosphere turn cold, Dafulin turned back to face Newman's tomb.

"Gentlemen, how did you know about this place?" she asked, her voice tinged with confusion. Only a very few people knew that Newman was buried here.

"Someone told us," Su Ming replied. Newman himself was also someone who had been told this.

"However, if we hadn't seen Her Highness the Princess, we really wouldn't have been able to find her exact location," he continued.

Although they knew the area was within, finding a grave buried under thick snow in the vast snowfield was an almost impossible task. Su Ming and Zijin had been wandering around the vicinity for more than half an hour, but they couldn't find the exact location no matter what they tried.

Newman's soul was constantly criticized by the two men along the way.

"I placed a magical beacon under the tombstone," Dafulin explained.

Su Ming took out a piece of fish cake, a seasonal food for the Winter Solstice Festival, from his pocket and placed it in front of Master Newman's grave, next to the winter chrysanthemums that Dafulin had brought.

In the cold wind, both things quickly froze and were covered in frost. But the red flower, a symbol of love, remained exceptionally eye-catching, inevitably drawing attention against the backdrop of a vast, desolate snowfield.

Dafulin blushed slightly and decided to explain.

"Please excuse my behavior," she said to Su Ming and Zijin. "I only admire you, teacher, and there's nothing between us."

"It doesn't matter if it's substantial," Zijin said. "You're both single; this won't affect Newman's reputation."

But they're different races, Su Ming thought to himself. Halflings are the native race of the Taya Plane, and they have no biological compatibility with the invasive species, humans.

But he was used to it by now. This was the third interracial relationship case he'd encountered on his journey: Atiya and Misaila, Xialike and Chloe, plus the princess and Newman. From now on, when gossiping about these things, his opening line would have to change from "I have one friend" to "I have four friends."

"But the truth is there's nothing between us," Dafulin insisted. "I have to make that clear."

"Understood. Since I've run into you, I'll take care of something while I'm at it," Zijin said, her expression turning serious. "Dafulin, after deliberation by the two Titled Scholar, it has been unanimously decided to revoke your scholar status. I will send the official document to the Supreme Knowledge Association by letter!"

She held out her hand to Dafulin, her cashmere glove spread out. "Please return the scholar's badge!"

Dafulin turned her face away, but tears still streamed down her cheeks. She had come alone, leaving her personal guard several kilometers away. But even if they were by her side, it would probably be of no use.

Dafulin knew perfectly well that the Scholar Bay Owl in front of her wouldn't speak to her politely, and she also had the power to speak politely.

"This badge was personally awarded to me by Professor Newman. The qualification can be revoked, but the badge... please let me keep it," Dafulin pleaded.

Zijin raised her hand to snatch it, but Su Ming gave her a look.