Chapter 170: The Imperial Daughter Disappears, A Diversionary Tactic
Near the Snow Palace.
A man dressed as an ordinary guard sat cross-legged in a small pavilion, his eyes closed, seemingly meditating.
Although this man looked no different from other guards in appearance and attire, the surrounding people looked at him with reverence.
If Luo Xue were here, she would recognize him.
He was the palace guard who had taken her to the imperial study, the Immortal Emperor’s personal guard, the legendary Sea Crossing Realm expert.
No one knew his real name, and he called himself “Wei.”
Normally, the strength of a Sea Crossing Realm cultivator was enough to carve out a territory in the Great Thousand Worlds. For example, the Grand Elders of the southern barbarian tribes were all at the Sea Crossing Realm or above.
Even the Immortal Emperor had to treat experts of this level as equals when forming alliances.
But Wei served the Immortal Emperor loyally.
What was even more puzzling was that when interacting with members of the imperial family, Wei didn’t put on airs as a Sea Crossing Realm expert, but acted like an ordinary palace guard.
Some said it was because the Immortal Emperor had once saved Wei’s life, others said that the Immortal Emperor held some leverage over him, and there were even rumors of an unspeakable relationship between them.
But Wei never explained. He simply stayed loyally by the Immortal Emperor’s side, unchanged for tens of thousands of years.
Because of this, no one knew the truth.
“Master Wei, the maids delivering food to the Snow Palace have arrived.” A guard beside him said respectfully. “The guards at the gate have stopped them. Please go and inspect them.”
Wei opened his eyes and nodded slightly.
He stood up and walked towards the group of maids.
Although Wei didn’t sense any killing intent from them, he still intended to carefully inspect them, just in case.
“That Sea Crossing Realm expert… he’s coming!”
Dugu Xue quickly transmitted her voice to Luo Xue.
If Wei used his Divine Sense, he would see through Luo Xue’s current cultivation level and discover her presence.
With a bit more careful sensing, even Dugu Xue and Xue Ling’s presence would be exposed.
“…Understood,” Luo Xue’s eyes narrowed, and she secretly formed hand seals. “Now!”
At this critical moment, Luo Xue activated her backup plan.
“Boom!”
A loud explosion suddenly rang out, echoing through the surroundings.
The loud bang instantly startled the already tense guards, who looked towards the source of the sound in shock.
“The Imperial Daughter’s palace!”
Indeed, at this juncture, an explosion had occurred in the Imperial Daughter’s palace.
The scale of the explosion wasn’t large, just shattering some of the glazed tiles on the palace roof.
However, an explosion occurring in the Imperial Daughter’s palace at this time was very strange.
Wei looked towards the Imperial Daughter’s palace, frowned slightly, then relaxed, as he sensed the scale of the explosion.
“Just some noise, nothing serious.”
Wei summoned a few of his personal guards, intending to send them to investigate.
But just then, a guard rushed over and told Wei something even more shocking than the explosion.
“The little princess… is missing!”
“What!”
Wei immediately stood up.
“The moment the explosion happened, the guards immediately entered the palace to check, but the little princess was gone.” The guard quickly explained.
The explosion itself wasn’t a problem. After all, these important imperial palaces had a level of protection that could withstand an attack from a Sea Crossing Realm cultivator. What kind of explosion could damage the palace walls?
But the little princess was His Majesty’s most beloved daughter. If anything happened to her, when His Majesty returned from his southern tour…
His wrath would be unimaginable!
Moreover, the little princess had just been assassinated not long ago…
“Zhao Qing, Shi Handong, you come with me to investigate.” Wei quickly made arrangements, there was no time to waste. “The rest of you, stay here and guard, don’t make any mistakes.”
“Yes, but these maids…”
The guard hesitated.
Wei briefly sensed their auras, still not detecting any killing intent or hostility, and waved his hand.
“Let them in, don’t waste any more time.”
Then, he paused and added,
“Remember, don’t let them gossip. Imperial Concubine Min shouldn’t be worried about the little princess.”
“Yes.”
The guards immediately bowed in acknowledgement.
Then, Wei, along with two other powerful guards, rushed towards the Imperial Daughter’s palace, afraid of any irreversible accidents happening to the little princess.
The other guards, after checking the food, signaled for Luo Xue and the others to enter the Snow Palace.
With Xue Ling’s help, dealing with these guards, whose strength was around the Soul Transformation Realm, wasn’t a problem.
“Wow, Big Sister Luo, how did you do that?”
Dugu Xue asked in surprise, patting her chest, still a bit scared.
She hadn’t seen Luo Xue do anything, yet Wei was forced to leave.
“Just… a little trick.”
Luo Xue said concisely, not daring to elaborate.
They were still near the Snow Palace, with many guards watching them closely.
Compared to the Imperial Daughter’s palace, the security here was even tighter and more blatant.
When Luo Xue was in the Imperial Daughter’s palace, to avoid disturbing her rest, the guards weren’t allowed to enter.
But within the Snow Palace…
There were Soul Transformation guards everywhere.
Even within the imperial palace, most Soul Transformation guards were high-ranking commanders, but here, they were treated as ordinary guards. This showed Imperial Concubine Min’s importance.
“That explosion just now? But…”
Dugu Xue frowned slightly, still puzzled.
The reason Luo Xue didn’t explain was… because this was originally intended for Dugu Xue.
When she left the Imperial Daughter’s palace, she had already set up both an explosive formation and a teleportation formation.
When activated, the teleportation formation would randomly send the maid disguised as Princess Xue to a distant location, while also undoing the effects of the Thousand Faces Cultivation Art.
The purpose of the explosive formation was to destroy the traces of the teleportation and slumber formations, and more importantly, to create a diversion.
To prevent Wei from investigating the explosion site too quickly, Luo Xue had taken the risk of activating her backup plan just as the maids were about to enter the Snow Palace.
As for how this backup plan would be used against Dugu Xue…
If the negotiation with Dugu Xue failed, Luo Xue would also activate the formations, making Princess Xue disappear from everyone’s sight, forcing Dugu Xue to continue as Princess Xue.
Then, she would hide as a maid for a while, and finally, use the exit formation to leave the imperial palace.
As for where the poor maid chosen as a stand-in would be teleported to, Luo Xue couldn’t guarantee.
She had chosen a distant location, a place they couldn’t return from easily.
This plan wasn’t perfect, but it was the best Luo Xue could do under the circumstances.
She had even been considerate enough to try and talk to the real Princess Xue first, instead of directly using her backup plan.
It was fortunate that she had done so. Otherwise, she would have truly harmed this innocent and pitiful girl.
Dugu Xue looked at Luo Xue’s serious expression curiously, unable to understand, then gave up and started looking forward to seeing her mother.
As they went deeper into the Snow Palace, the number of guards decreased.
By the time they reached Concubine Min’s room, there were no other guards.
Security was tight, but they had already passed through so many checks. If an enemy could reach this point, more guards wouldn’t make a difference.
Next, there was no need for Luo Xue to act.
Xue Ling appeared, simply and crudely using a large-scale hypnosis technique (physical) on all the maids.
The maids didn’t even react, their eyes rolling back as they collapsed.
But before their bodies hit the ground, Xue Ling moved them to an inconspicuous location, piling them together.
Luo Xue couldn’t help but feel sorry for the palace maids.
Those she had exiled before were fine, after all, there weren’t many dangers within the Imperial Capital.
But these… if they were discovered…
Luo Xue pushed these thoughts aside and looked at the door to Concubine Min’s room.
Dugu Xue was still apologizing to the maids until Xue Ling pushed open the door, and she nervously approached.
“Creak…”
Perhaps because the Snow Palace had been unoccupied for many years, the hinges were rusty.
The first thing she saw was a head of snow-white hair, but it looked withered and yellow due to lack of care.
Concubine Min sat on the bed, her back to the door, staring blankly at something.
Perhaps to her, even the Snow Palace was no different from the Cold Palace.
“Mother…”
Seeing this, Dugu Xue burst into tears.
Hearing this voice, the white-haired figure trembled slightly, and Concubine Min turned around in disbelief, seeing Dugu Xue.
A deep, bloodline resonance surged within her, and Concubine Min’s lips trembled.
“Is that you, Xue’er…”
“It’s me, Mother Concubine.” Dugu Xue slowly walked over and gently leaned into Concubine Min’s arms. “I’m… your daughter…”
“Xue’er…”
Concubine Min subconsciously stroked Dugu Xue’s hair, but the next moment, as if remembering something, she pushed Dugu Xue away and said in a low voice,
“Why are you still here! Xue’er, why haven’t you escaped yet!”
“Mo-, Mother Concubine?”
Dugu Xue was at a loss, tears still lingering in her eyes.
“Go quickly!” Concubine Min said anxiously. “Go find Luo Xue, only she can save you…”
“Luo Xue?” Dugu Xue looked up blankly in Luo Xue’s direction. “…Big Sister Luo?”
What was Mother Concubine talking about…
How did she know Big Sister Luo? Did she recognize her during their previous meeting?
But if that was the case…
What was going on now?
Dugu Xue was confused.
“You’ve seen her?” A look of excitement flashed across Concubine Min’s face, then quickly turned to anxiety. “Is she… in the imperial palace now?”
Dugu Xue opened her mouth, about to reveal Luo Xue’s presence, but Luo Xue quickly transmitted her voice, stopping her.
“Don’t say anything, this is a misunderstanding, I’ll explain later.”
Luo Xue hadn’t expected Concubine Min’s obsession to be so strong, wanting her daughter to escape the imperial palace no matter what…
What exactly had happened in the imperial palace, to make Concubine Min so terrified?
“She… I don’t know.” Dugu Xue’s gaze flickered, and she lowered her head slightly. She wasn’t good at lying, her face flushing slightly. “I’ve… only met her.”
“I see.”
A melancholic expression appeared on Concubine Min’s face.
“Cough…”
Just then, Dugu Xue suddenly started coughing, her face turning pale.
Xue Ling immediately stepped forward, skillfully holding Dugu Xue, and gently channeled spiritual power, activating the restriction the Immortal Emperor had placed on her.
After a while, an unhealthy flush returned to Dugu Xue’s face, and she recovered slightly.
“Xue’er, your illness… it hasn’t been cured?”
Concubine Min’s hands trembled as she cupped Dugu Xue’s face, tears streaming down her cheeks.
Hearing this, Dugu Xue panicked.
“Mother Concubine, I’m sorry…”
She was truly sorry. Her mother was so worried about her, yet she was thinking of giving up…
In Luo Xue’s vision, Dugu Xue wouldn’t be able to withstand the withering for much longer.
But with the Immortal Emperor and Xue Ling desperately trying to prolong her life, it could still be delayed for a while, although the process would be very painful.
Dugu Xue had come here prepared to die. She had planned to find a secluded place to die alone after seeing her mother.
But after meeting Luo Xue and seeing her mother again, Dugu Xue suddenly didn’t want to die anymore.
In this world…
There was still her mother, who cared about her, and Big Sister Luo, who was trying her best to help her. How could she betray their hopes?
Dugu Xue couldn’t make that choice.
“Silly child, it’s Mother Concubine who’s sorry.”
Concubine Min suddenly calmed down, reaching out to wipe away Dugu Xue’s tears. “Perhaps from the very beginning, I shouldn’t have…”
She suddenly paused, looked up at Luo Xue, her smile fading.
“Who are you?”
Luo Xue had been standing there silently, watching this reunion, without saying a word.
“I was… sent by Luo Xue.” Luo Xue said softly, a strange feeling in her heart.
She was the real Luo Xue, yet she had to say she was sent by… Luo Xue.
This feeling was truly bizarre.
“Really?”
A sharp glint appeared in Concubine Min’s eyes, and finally, she showed the demeanor of an imperial concubine.
She looked at Luo Xue scrutinizingly, and Luo Xue realized that Concubine Min wasn’t weak, at least at Nascent Soul or above.
Such strength might be unremarkable in the imperial palace, but it was enough to crush the current Luo Xue.
“Of course.”
Luo Xue nodded, her appearance shifting, revealing her true form.
“This is what she looks like.”
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