"Very well, I will think it over first."
Gong Ye tossed the invitation aside as if it were trash, then ordered attendants to lead the three of them away.
From beginning to end, he barely spared Song Wanníng or the fox beast a glance. He had seen countless beauties. Nothing about them felt rare.
Since the snake clan had delivered themselves to his door, how could he vent his anger without a proper humiliation?
Not only that, he had already decided to return to the snake clan. He wanted to see those old fogeys regret with his own eyes, to make them choke on envy. That was just how petty he was.
…
Song Wanníng and the others were assigned to a small hillside, a shabby hut with nothing inside but a single meditation cushion.
In the extravagant Bai Yao Palace, it must have taken effort to find a place this stingy.
As soon as the door shut, She Yi exhaled in relief.
"Gong Ye's eyes just now looked like he wanted to eat me. Terrifying." That chill from him felt even heavier than the Patriarch's pressure.
Song Wanníng said nothing, already weighing how to find the senior's descendant. From their brief encounter, she had roughly gauged Gong Ye's strength. His abilities were likely above hers. Just in cultivation, he was already edging past the peak of Mahayana.
Moreover, he enjoyed the protection of the Heavenly Dao of the Mùsù star system. If she acted rashly, she would only alert the snake in the grass.
Without certainty, Song Wanníng did not want Gong Ye growing wary. So she planned to locate the person first, complete her task, then find a way to cause trouble for Gong Ye. She also had to find a way to raise her own strength. If she faced Gong Ye head-on now, she had no way to win.
Gong Ye would certainly set people to watch them. If they wanted to search, they needed an excuse to roam Bai Yao Palace.
"She Yi, if I had known you were staying, I would have run long ago." Mei Huan had grown familiar with Song Wanníng and spoke with fewer scruples.
"But I think the Beast King looks good and has power. If I can climb into his bed, do you think my days would be easier?" She had already told the two of them what she had suffered in her clan.
She asked the question with absolute seriousness.
Song Wanníng's mouth twitched. Mei Huan did have some beauty, but her head was not in the right place. Gong Ye would toy her to death.
"Do you think he lacks women?" For someone like Gong Ye, men and women both would throw themselves at him.
"Uh…" Mei Huan was choked silent, her expression drooping at once. "I just want a backer. Why is it so hard?"
"Sigh."
She gave up on the idea. She had fled with great effort, not to seek death. A figure like Gong Ye was not someone she could provoke.
"So we just wait?" Hearing this, She Yi looked at Song Wanníng.
"No. Tomorrow we walk around. Mei Huan, you are with me." Song Wanníng named the fox beast directly. She still had uses for those illusions.
As for She Yi…
Song Wanníng smiled at She Yi.
A shiver ran down She Yi's spine. He had a bad feeling. By the next day, he understood that smile. Because Bai Yao Palace made things difficult for him.
Those beast cultivators seemed to have planned it together. They mocked and belittled him in every way, then moved to strike.
She Yi burned with anger and fought back, but the beast cultivators of Bai Yao Palace beat him until he was covered in wounds, forcing him to reveal his true form.
He vomited blood all over the ground, looking utterly miserable, yet they still did not stop. They humiliated him to the extreme, even forcing him to crawl between someone's legs.
This was meant to shatter his dao heart.
Vicious methods.
She Yi cursed inwardly. He never thought Gong Ye could be this petty. No breadth of mind at all. But now he had become a human's beast pet. His dignity was already shattered.
Topple him like this?
Gong Ye had miscalculated.
She Yi was feeling smug in his heart when a fist smashed down. He almost burst into tears. He wailed inside. His master had definitely foreseen this. No wonder she refused to let him tag along.
…
Elsewhere, the one being complained about, Song Wanníng, suddenly felt an itch in her nose. She frowned slightly and swept her divine sense around with care.
Guided by the bloodline, they walked farther and farther from the main paths. On the way, lackeys from Bai Yao Palace also tried to teach the two of them a lesson, but with Mei Huan's illusions, the pair slipped past with ease.
At first, Xiao Jin did not understand why Mei Huan had to come. Now he was completely convinced.
The deeper they went, the stronger the bloodline guide pulsed, several times clearer than when they had met the two-headed eagle.
Excitement stirred in Song Wanníng's heart. It seemed the descendant was nearby. They had not found the person yet when figures appeared up ahead, blocking their path.
"What are you doing here? Get out, now. This is not a place you can come to."
The water prison was a restricted area. No one could enter without the Beast King's token.
"We were only passing through for a look."
Mei Huan squeezed out a fearful, timid expression and hurried to apologize.
"Hmph. Since you know, get out. Otherwise do not blame me for being rude."
"Got it, got it." Mei Huan pulled Song Wanníng along and turned to leave, looking for all the world like they had wandered in by accident.
The guard watched them a moment, then turned and vanished into the darkness.
Quietly, Song Wanníng extended her divine sense and discovered a strange entrance ahead. Many disciples stood guard there, weapons in hand, murderous intent thick about them. One glance said it was not a good place.
There were surely restrictions within. Song Wanníng did not probe recklessly for fear of alerting Gong Ye.
"Come on, we head back first."
She had roughly located the place and no longer felt pressed. Now they only needed to wait for Gong Ye to visit the snake clan. That would be her chance to act. A strong premonition told her that area was likely a prison for captives. The senior's descendant was probably locked up by Gong Ye.
When they returned to their quarters and pushed open the door, they found a miserable She Yi sprawled on the floor, wailing pitifully.
Song Wanníng's lips twitched. She smiled and said nothing.
Mei Huan held back laughter and slipped inside.
Seeing that neither cared for him, She Yi's grief swelled and he cried even louder.
"Enough. You are a grown man. What are you howling for?"
Song Wanníng chuckled and gave him a light kick. She did not need to ask to know what he had suffered today.
She Yi scrambled up and poured out all his humiliations to Song Wanníng.
"Gong Ye is too petty. I never targeted him. Why did he pick on me? I am a nobody. Was that necessary?"
===
In here I give the fox beast a nickname, Mei Huan. And I will keep use it until the Author introduce her name. I mean, in this chapter even if they already 'familiar' with each other, the Author still use 'fox beast' (狐妖, Hú yāo) when write about her.
魅 (Mèi)
Meaning: "Allure," "Glamour," "Charm"
幻 (Huàn)
Meaning: "Illusion," "Phantom"
You know why I choose that name, right?