In the backyard of the First Chief's Mansion, a corner of the eaves of a house is visible through the bamboo grove, with water droplets falling from the eaves.

A night of rain had just passed, and the air was filled with the scent of damp earth and grass. Nan Xian lay in a bamboo rocking chair, her toes twitching slightly, causing the chair to sway gently. She listened to the dripping sound of water droplets hitting the shallow puddles under the eaves, her eyes half-open, as if she were about to fall asleep.

Suddenly hearing footsteps approaching, Nan Xian opened her eyes, her gaze clearing again.

She stood up, touching the ground with her toes.

Huo Shaoying turned the corner of the corridor, saw her, and smiled faintly.

"Ruizhu has regained her senses. Fortunately, she was not injured, but was just a little frightened. She is resting in her room now."

Nan Xian nodded. "It's good that you're alright. Then—where is that person?"

Huo Shaoying frowned slightly, nodding and then shaking her head. "She's awake now, but she doesn't seem to remember anything. No matter how we interrogate her, she insists that she's innocent, doesn't know Ruizhu, and doesn't know why she's in the Dark Zone. We suspect... that her mind may have been manipulated."

Upon hearing the last sentence, Nan Xian's tightly clenched fists at her sides suddenly relaxed, and she slowly breathed a sigh of relief, unaware of how tense her expression had been just moments before.

In fact, she had already guessed the answer. After all, she had stayed at Yunduan Hospital for a period of time, and the person in charge of taking care of her was Situ Xuan. There was no way she wouldn't recognize her.

What she couldn't understand was why the person behind it all would send Situ Xuan to kidnap Ruizhu.

Was it a coincidence, or was it intentional?

"This time, we really owe a debt to Miss Nan. Without you, I'm afraid Ruizhu would have..." Huo Shaoying pursed her lips, then bowed to Nan Xian again, "Thank you!"

This time, Nan Xian didn't pretend to be modest and stood still to accept her bow.

"What do you plan to do with that person?"

Just to be on the safe side, Nan Xian didn't tell her that she knew Situ Xuan.

"Of course, kill them!" a voice suddenly interrupted. The first leader strode in, a newly acquired sword hanging at her waist. The scabbard struck her armor with a crisp clinking sound as she walked.

Noticing that Nan Xian was looking at his sword, the first leader paused slightly and subtly hid it behind his back.

Huo Shaoying turned around and rolled her eyes at her. "Stop talking nonsense! Although that person kidnapped Ruizhu, she didn't do it on purpose. She was used by someone with ulterior motives. Since she's innocent, we should have just released her after knowing her background. Why create unnecessary bloodshed!"

"Oh, I was just joking—don't be angry, don't be angry!" The first leader shrank back after being scolded, and gave an embarrassed smile. "I'll do whatever you say. If you say let me go, I'll let you go!"

Huo Shaoying ignored her and looked at Nan Xian, "Miss Nan, if you have nothing else to do, why don't you stay here for a few days? Once Ruizhu has recovered, I'll send you all back to the human realm together, how about that?"

Nan Xian did not disagree. She still needed to find the whereabouts of the soul fragments, so having a safe place to stay would be the best thing.

Especially now that Huo Shaoying owes him a huge favor, she probably wouldn't refuse if he needed help...

**

That night, Nan Xian finished washing up and came out of the bathroom. She was wrapping a towel around her hair to absorb the water when she suddenly heard an unfamiliar "beep beep" sound.

The sound wasn't loud, but the rhythm was very fast, like a cell phone ringing.

She paused, startled, and stood still, carefully examining the scene for a moment.

The sound was coming from her room!

Nan Xian immediately became alert and quickly looked around—they had already returned late, and after feeding Ruizhu medicine and interrogating Situ Xuan, it was already past midnight.

The main house in front had long been dark, with only a few dim lights still on in the rooms where the servants lived.

Nan Xian pushed open the door and entered the room.

She carefully followed the "beep beep" sound and soon pulled out a small, constantly vibrating gadget from the treasure bag that Diao Yu had given her.

This little thing was no bigger than half of her palm, jade white, flat and round in shape, with a frosted texture, and it vibrated while making a "dudu, dudu" sound.

Nan Xian looked completely confused: What is this thing? When did Diao Yu put it in?

Before setting off, Diao Yu carefully explained everything in the treasure bag to her, but Nan Xian didn't remember having this item at all... Could it be that Diao Yu forgot?

But how do you turn this thing off? You can't just let it beep all night, can you?

This sound is strange and makes me anxious...

She turned the strange little thing over and over several times, and finally found a tiny, extremely hidden button on the side. It was only the size of a grain of rice, and it was neither raised nor recessed. If it weren't for the thin silver rim around it reflecting light under the lamp, Nan Xian would never have noticed it.

She hesitated for a moment, then pressed it gently.

The beeping finally stopped, and before Nan Xian could breathe a sigh of relief, her vision blurred, and Diao Yu's face appeared before her.

Upon closer inspection, she realized that it hadn't appeared out of thin air, but rather was like the high-tech she had seen in science fiction movies; the Diao Yu she saw in front of her was actually a virtual projection.

She widened her eyes slightly and asked tentatively, "Diao Yu, is that you?"

"My lord! It's me!" Diao Yu blinked, then smiled, her eyes crinkling. "Is everything going well on your end?"

“I’m fine—wait a minute, what is this? Why have you never told me about it?” She pointed to the little gadget in her hand and then to the projection in front of her.

Diao Yu's eyes flickered slightly. "This—it's actually a new technology that the demon realm is researching. Because it's still in the experimental stage, many functions are not perfect, and the effect is not stable, so not many people know about it. I only managed to get an experimental sample by asking an old friend. I wasn't sure if it would work before, so I didn't tell you."

Nan Xian understood. She nodded and, thinking that it was getting late, briefly told him about what had happened that day.

Upon hearing her mention the First Leader, a fleeting look of surprise and deep emotion crossed Diao Yu's face, but Nan Xian did not notice.

“Ruizhu is safe and sound. I’ll go find her during the day when she’s feeling better and ask her about the white elephant. I’ll try to find the soul fragments as soon as possible… Situ Xuan’s appearance today made me feel a little uneasy. Please keep an eye on things for me and see if you can find out anything.”

Diao Yu agreed, and after exchanging a few more words, they hung up.

Diao Yu put down the communicator that was exactly the same as Nan Xian's, and narrowed her eyes thoughtfully.

The nightingale's sharp beak landed on his shoulder, tilting its little head. "Master has already found the first leader, much faster than we expected."

His eyes lowered slightly, a warm smile curved his lips, and he murmured:

"Of course, she is Lady Red Fox..."

He stood up, wiped away a drop of scarlet blood from his sleeve, and slowly walked into the night.

Behind him lay a pile of fox corpses.