Ximina's Reckoning

In the countryside, Hairspring bonfire was lit by a gossamer thread.

The firelight illuminated a circle of withered grass, and the shadows of distant trees swayed gently.

Hairspring caught a few fish nearby, skewered them on a branch, and put them on the fire.

The fish skin curled up from the flames, making a soft crackling sound.

Before long, the fish was cooked.

Hairspring took a bite, then immediately threw the whole fish away.

He didn't bring any salt or other seasonings with him when he came out.

It tastes fishy when you bite into it.

As Hairspring pondered how to solve the dinner problem, she sensed a familiar presence.

He sighed.

The next moment, a sword aura mixed with magic swept in from afar.

The flames of the campfire were first flattened by the wind from the sword, then swept away and exploded, burning debris mixed with dirt flying everywhere. As the smoke cleared, the figure of the Hairspring had vanished.

The Death Knell landed from the air and then moved swiftly.

Two more sword energies unleashed.

The grass along the way lay flat and fell in unison, then was blown away. Several slender trees split open, their crowns crashing into the bushes, startling a chorus of insect chirps.

The Hairspring, hidden in the grass, was forced to leap away.

"Hey, are you serious?" he said with a displeased expression.

The Death Knell remained unanswered.

The moment her toes touched the ground, Magic Power exploded from the soles of her boots. She burst forth, skimming along the ground to reach Hairspring, her left hand slashing his throat, her right hand cutting his ribs.

With a sway, Hairspring's body seemed to be blown away by the wind, leaving a trail of afterimages behind.

The short sword only struck the afterimage, but the sword energy on the blade exploded, and it struck first and cut the rock behind Hairspring in two.

"That's enough!" Hairspring said angrily.

Death Knell's gaze remained unwavering, and her attacks grew even more ferocious. Blade flashes formed a continuous line on the grass, scattering air currents. Hairspring suppressed her emotions and continued to dodge, but Death Knell relentlessly pursued her.

She intensified her attack, suddenly shattering the ground and unleashing an even heavier strike. Sharp light sliced through the Hairspring left by the wisps of light, catching up with her true form.

The Hairspring suddenly stopped, abruptly halting in place.

The dagger, accompanied by the sound of Death Knell bells, flew towards them.

Her expression changed, and finally, the cold blade stopped at Hairspring's neck.

The blade brushed against the skin, faintly cutting a line of blood.

Hairspring raised her fingers and deflected the dagger from the Death Knell.

"You've vented your anger now."

His tone turned stern.

"Now, can we have a proper talk?"

****

Death Knell gritted her teeth, then sheathed her knife. She walked towards the Hairspring dragon with silken threads, took the water pouch from its back, and drank half of it in one gulp.

The lack of preparation when they came out was far greater than that of a Death Knell Hairspring.

"Have you thought it through?" Hairspring asked irritably.

"More or less," Death Knell sighed.

"The doll was very high-end, but the lubricant was terrible."

"Someone is deliberately provoking us."

Upon hearing this, Hairspring became even angrier.

"You trust me less than a cheap lubricant?" He was furious.

Death Knell rolled her eyes at him.

"You've been frequently seeking out female elves for the past few years."

"You don't think I don't know about this kind of XP, do you?"

Hairspring paused slightly. It wasn't surprising that Death Knell knew this, or rather, he deliberately wanted to be thought that way.

But no matter how much Hairspring, she never imagined that something like a doll would happen!

He felt incredibly wronged.

"If this person's movements were more precise..."

Hairspring questions the Death Knell.

"So you've already decided it's me!"

The Death Knell sneered.

And what about you?

Do you trust me?

She tossed aside the water pouch and wiped her mouth.

"You're waiting for me here so leisurely, you're actually quite confident that you have me under your control, aren't you?"

Gossamer didn't deny it.

I do have something on you.

"If I could prove I had any ulterior motives towards you, I wouldn't need to beat around the bush like this."

"I could easily coerce you!"

Death Knell's eyes suddenly sharpened.

"You think you can coerce me?"

"You don't believe me?" Hairspring sneered.

Death Knell thought about it carefully.

"I did say some 'inappropriate' things in front of you."

"But do you think this is enough—"

She did talk about Traitor, but at most it was just some disciplinary rules.

Hairspring waved her hand. "Since you dare to tell me these things, you know I won't use secrets told to me by others to blackmail them."

That's something else, thought Death Knell.

"Then why don't you tell me what the secret is?" she pressed.

****

A night breeze blew, and the branches that had just been severed by the sword energy rolled across the grass.

The Hairspring, however, moved toward the back of the flying dragon.

Let's just pretend it didn't happen.

"Let's all go back to our seats, we have a lot to do."

The Death Knell blocked the way for the drifting Hairspring.

Please satisfy my curiosity!

She seemed determined not to let the other person leave.

"In the fight just now, I couldn't force you to reveal your trump card." "I tried to appear ruthless, but I was still seen through."

Hairspring glanced at the Death Knell in surprise.

"I have a few trump cards to save my life."

"But my combat strength is at the bottom of the Clock Hand, so what's there for you to dig into?"

The Death Knell shook its head.

"Hairspring, I trust Qingming's judgment; it's definitely not unfounded."

"The key issue is the Miasma Throat. Do you really think I didn't discover what you did?"

"That letter was something you deliberately used to provoke him!"

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

The wyvern exhaled a low breath and nervously scratched the ground with its claws.

The ease on Hairspring's face vanished.

He then realized, "So that's why you came to see me today?" Death Knell nodded in acknowledgment.

"Initially, it was indeed because of the doll's framing that I became furious."

"But after I figured things out on the way here, I thought I might as well come over and ask about it clearly."

"Before, I could turn a blind eye."

"But the situation is very dangerous now."

"If we don't go all out, we really could lose to Taya and Earth!"

Hairspring glanced sideways at the Death Knell.

"I wanted to slightly provoke Miasma Throat to make things easier for later."

Unfortunately, I seriously misjudged his intelligence.

He sighed as he spoke.

I never expected this--

Death Knell, however, completely disagreed with this statement, interrupting, "With your intelligence, you would never make such a mistake!"

"Besides, that letter was practically stirring up trouble!"

Her eyes were full of determination.

"Tell me, Hairspring, what exactly do you want?"

In the sky, a huge shadow loomed, accompanied by a faint rumbling sound.

The Y-20 flew over their heads and returned towards Three Peaks Island.

With a determined heart, Hairspring simply lifted the lid as well.

"Fine, you want to know what secrets I've uncovered about you, don't you!"

He turned to look at the Death Knell.

"Fifteen years ago, you spent some time in Silver Moon Forest."

The fingers of the Death Knell hanging at her side curled slightly.

"I did stay there for about a year," she said calmly. After being poisoned by Chloe and the others with the "Seven Absolutes Concerto," Death Knell's health deteriorated rapidly. Therefore, she changed her identity and went to the Elven Kingdom for treatment.

"Did I do a great job on that mission?"

The Death Knell continued.

"I found the trail of the wind-elemental Saint Rank Aolan, and then together with Nitelai, I set a trap and killed him!"

Nitelai, the seventh in the Clock Hand sequence, possessed the ability "Crystal Cascade Magic Cube," and died more than six months ago in the Super Crystal Dragon attack.

Hairspring let out a cold laugh.

"But what about what you did before that, Miss Moon Priestess!"

Upon hearing this, Death Knell was struck dumb, her face turning deathly pale in an instant.

"How do you know... such a thing!" she stammered.

"You had a very comfortable year, didn't you?"

Hairspring Si's smile widened.

"I'm spending all my time with the elves, having a blast." "I was searching for Aolan's whereabouts!" Death Knell weakly retorted.

"Haha!" Hairspring laughed wildly.

"To find the whereabouts of the Saint Rank unicorn, Aolan, I need to mingle with a bunch of ordinary elves?"

"You need to attend the lowest level Falling Moon Festival dance party every five days at dawn on the day of the full moon, and dance the ritual dance with the elves?"

"You need to get on a float, dressed in bright, colorful clothes, to participate in the Moon Goddess Festival Parade?"

The Hairspring loudly rebuked:

Do you think that by disguising yourself as an ordinary elf, no one will know?

"You traitor to God!"

"No, I have not betrayed my God," the Death Knell out urgently.

"I treated my actions as nothing more than participating in recreational activities!"

She quickly explained.

In Eden, Death Knell had never experienced such a life. She didn't know that living beings could play, interact, chat, and have fun together like this.

So when she encountered fellow elves in Silver Moon Forest, she almost effortlessly immersed herself in such social interactions.

Death Knell participated in all the activities there, not just the Moon Goddess's rituals. During that pleasant time, she truly almost forgot her identity and original purpose.

If it weren't for killing Aolan and his wife Luoximi, forcing them to leave Silver Moon Forest.

She'll probably stay even longer.

****

Death Knell opened her mouth, wanting to continue her explanation.

The Hairspring waved its hand, breaking it.

"Your worship of false gods Desecration my great God Jörmungandr!"

He squinted, walked over, and pinched the chin of the Death Knell.

Now you know how magnanimous I was in not holding it against you.

"I didn't coerce you into doing anything, did I?" Death Knell raised her hand and pushed Hairspring's hand away.

But her expression was full of dejection, and her previous momentum had completely dissipated.

"My feud with Miasma Throat is nothing more than a personal grudge."

Hairspring softened her tone slightly.

In short, we're all in the same boat now.

"The consequences of our divine plan to attack Taya failing are something no one can bear!"

"So let each of you do your own thing and do your utmost for my God!"

The Death Knell bowed their heads.

"... Understood."

Satisfied, Hairspring jumped onto the back of the two-legged flying dragon and soared away.

The swirling wind scattered the rubble and debris across the ground.

**** In the morning, Ximina slowly woke up.

Su Ming steamed an egg and brought it upstairs.

The smell of medicine lingered in the room as Ximina was helped to sit up.

Her features were delicate, and her eyelashes were long, but now her cheeks were sunken, making her look like a fragile piece of porcelain.

Yise began feeding Ximina the steamed egg custard.

As the spoon was brought to her lips, Ximina took a small bite. The warm egg custard slid down her throat, and her brow relaxed slightly.

"Thank you... you all..." Her voice was soft and thin, with a hurt and dry quality.

"You're welcome," Su Ming said. "Your father asked us for a favor, and we also have something we need your help with."

"... You're being too polite." Ximina forced a smile.

She struggled to raise her wrist, then suddenly felt a pang of annoyance.

"Should I have been a little more patient and waited?"

"So we won't have such a miserable brush with death?" "Actually, it's about the same. There are two Saint Rank Quarter Hand guarding the palace; we can't defeat them."

Su Ming said.

Even if we find you a little earlier, we'll still have to fake your suicide and make it look like you're dead.

Upon hearing this, Ximina nearly choked on the steamed egg custard in her mouth.

"So... whether I want to commit suicide or not... I have to strangle myself into this ghastly state first..."

"That's right." Su Ming shrugged. "Does thinking about it this way make you feel better?"

Ximina covered her face, seemingly overwhelmed by shame.

"I have a request: could you please not tell your Bone King about my suicide attempt?"

Su Ming and Yise exchanged a glance.

"Sure, we definitely won't tell him," Su Ming readily agreed.

Yise rolled her eyes at Su Ming.

Her curiosity was piqued. "Princess Ximina, didn't you agree to be a candidate for a political marriage?"

"Haven't you seen any portraits or anything like that of Bone King?"

Ximina was somewhat puzzled.

"Isn't the cover of that book, ' The Overbearing Pope Falls in Love with Me, ' a picture of him?"

"The Overbearing Pope Falls in Love with Me" was a novel generated using AI by Su Ming to serve as a model for the writers of the "Mudslide Plan".

Since the text is all directly generated by AI, the cover is even more so.

Su Ming's eyes widened. "Of course not!"

Ximina was very surprised.

"I noticed the cover character has black hair and black eyes, which matches the rumored features of Bone King."

I thought it was him!

Su Ming didn't know what to say.

He mistyped the keywords on the cover, and the AI drew a crooked-mouthed dragon king for him. He was too lazy to fix it.

"So, that's why you agreed to the marriage alliance with ' Bone King '?" Yise tried hard to suppress a laugh as he continued to press on.

Ximina gently shook her head, her face slightly flushed.

"I think this work written by Bone King is very unique, so..." Ximina said in a barely audible voice.

Yise's eyes widened.

"[That book is so good?]" she asked Su Ming.

Su Ming shook his head frantically.

He decided that when he had time, he absolutely had to see what Teacher Da had actually generated.

He himself hasn't even read it once!

Realizing the misunderstanding, Ximina quickly explained.

"I just think that if a marriage alliance is necessary, choosing someone like Bone King who shares the same interests is a pretty good option."

"At least when it comes to writing, I can be understood and supported!" Su Ming breathed a sigh of relief and decided to be open and honest.

Princess Ximina, I didn't write that book.

Ximina didn't understand what Su Ming meant at first.

She looked up in confusion and suddenly realized that the young man in front of her also had black hair and black eyes.

In an instant, Ximina choked on the egg custard in her mouth, which went into her trachea and then sprayed out of her nose.

She coughed so hard she curled up, and the color that had just returned to her face instantly turned into a terrified flush.

After a long day of work, Yise and Jinxiu finally managed to prevent the girl, who was recovering from a serious illness, from killing herself due to excessive emotional distress.

Su Ming, the culprit, was angrily driven out by Yise.

****

Half an hour later, Ximina calmed down and agreed to meet with Su Ming.

"Do I have absolutely no image left now?"

Ximina lay on the bed, a look of resignation on her face. "No," Su Ming shook his head honestly.

"No matter what you're like now, it's much better than yesterday when I was holding you like a corpse."

"... I feel comforted, thank you!"

After that, Ximina briefly recounted what had happened before.

"Since the marriage proposal fell through, I decided to come to Water Chestnut Island first to finish ' The Flame of Succession Arc, ' which I had only started writing."

"Are we here to conduct an on-site inspection of the ' Kindling Magic Array '?" Su Ming asked.

"It's about investigating everything related to the Cangxiao Dynasty," Ximina replied.

When her works and historical research were mentioned, her spirits visibly improved.

"I've visited Water Chestnut Island many times to complete the story of ' The Flame of Succession Arc '."

"Hebana is one of the orc friends I made during this process, and I'm staying at his house this time."

Ximina was slightly disappointed.

"When I left the Pearl Duchy, my father tried to stop me from going." "At the time, I had no idea that there had been a change in the political situation. I thought it was because my father didn't like my writing, so I secretly ran away from home."

Su Ming finally understood the truth behind the princess's runaway.

"Well, many people say you were scared by the Bay Owl."

"That's one of the reasons!" Ximina said irritably.

She continued her story.

"After that, the Taya Allied Forces and the Orcs suddenly confronted each other, leading to a military standoff."

"Hebana got advance notice and found me a place to hide."

"But I was caught a month and a half ago."

Yise told Ximina:

"Mr. Hebana has been searching for you tirelessly all this time."

Ximina nodded gently.

"The old gentleman is a good man who has loved theater and performance all his life." "For this new play, please leave some money before you leave so he can fulfill his dream."

"Of course," Su Ming replied.

"But you can't tell Hebana about your situation."

"It will ruin him!"

Actually, there's another point: Ximina is a friend of Hebana, Su Ming isn't.

The Hebana might go to great lengths to rescue a human author, but they might not "appreciate" a human leader who's heading straight for Water Chestnut Island.

****

Next up was Su Ming, who also briefly recounted what had happened between him and Yise during this time.

From traveling to Water Chestnut Island, hiding and fleeing, to the air raid on the Blackstone Mine, to the palace turning into a mine and rescuing people.

"In short, we're here to inquire about the ' Kindling Magic Array '," Su Ming said.

"What exactly does it do?"

Ximina thought for a moment. "I've been to the site of the ' Kindling Magic Array '."

Her eyes were filled with reverence.

"I witnessed it with my own eyes; it was an extremely large and magnificent underground magical facility."

"As for its function, as I described in my work, the Cangxiao Dynasty used it to suppress the Water Chestnut Island volcano."

Ximina recalled carefully.

"Of course, the ' Kindling Magic Array ' draws upon the earth's ley lines for another purpose that is yet to be determined."

"But I think what the Plundering Clock intends to use it for is neither of those things."

Su Ming quickly inquired.

"Based on the details and functions of the magic array, can you deduce the possible actions of the Plundering Clock?"

This is very important.

The fact that the Plundering Clock continued digging despite the overwhelming force of the Taya army suggests that it possesses the power to change the course of the war.

From a military perspective, Su Ming needed to figure this out. Ximina shook her head.

My knowledge of magic is only average.

She had an idea.

"Why don't you go and see for yourselves?"

"How do I get there?" Su Ming asked, puzzled.

"The royal palace is teeming with High Rank combatants; we can't get in."

"The orcs did not repair the Blackstone Mine after it was completely destroyed."

Ximina gestured for Yise to bring her the map.

Yise opened the map on his phone and helped Ximina sit up a little straighter.

Ximina stared at the map for a moment, then slowly moved her finger along the ridgeline, pointing to a location ten kilometers further out from the Blackstone Mine.

"That's where I went down."

Yise closed his eyes and recalled the mine information he had gleaned from the orc's memories, then shook his head. "There is no path in this direction within the Blackstone Mine."

"Of course," Ximina said.

"You have to go diving here, and you also have to go through narrow, long lava caves."

"It's completely worthless for digging a hole."

"But for those with extraordinary abilities, there is a shortcut they can take!"

Su Ming nodded.

"Good!"

He zoomed out on the map and looked towards Cloud Fang City.

"Next, we need to figure out a way to get through the walls of Cloud Fang City and out!"