The Fox Princess And Her White Dog

29: The Jade Dragon

Erden felt his blood run cold. "What do you mean dead? This is the Black Crane Sect we're talking about, right? Their fighting skills are legendary."

"Their temple was attacked in the middle of the night. Only one cultivator survived. She was out hunting for demons and came back to find her sect annihilated. Now she's barely in a state to give advice."

"Gods. Who would orchestrate such an attack?" Erden said, rubbing his forehead. A nine-hundred-year-old sect destroyed in a single night. "How many casualties?"

"About six hundred men and women dead."

Erden huffed in disbelief. "You know that one of them can take on twenty highly-trained soldiers."

"We thought it was a rival sect at first. Until we learnt that whoever it was, stole only one thing." Weilong leaned back in his chair. "Empress Hu's ashes."

Erden's brows furrowed. "The ashes were sealed inside an underground cave beneath their temple, right? How did they get past the stone wall? I thought that was impenetrable." he said, recalling the reports he had read years ago.

"It was. And heavily guarded with warding spells and talismans, so I was told. All breached." Weilong's face turned grim. "Our worst fear has been realized."

"The Crown Prince." Erden drummed his fingers on the desk, deep in thought. Empress Hu's only son was cruel with a terrible temper, oftentimes shouting for servants to be beheaded over trivial matters. Despite that, he had escaped with a good number of sycophants, men loyal to him and his mother. To this date, Erden failed to understand what these people saw in the spoilt prince, who often sneered down his long nose at people he thought beneath him – especially a particular political hostage from the north.

But could he have killed a whole cultivation sect? To retrieve his mother's ashes?

"He couldn't have attacked the temple on his own. It would take an extremely strong army to overcome the Black Cranes," Erden deduced.

"And sorcery, according to the last Black Crane."

They exchanged worried glances. 

"You think he practices witchcraft?" Erden asked.

"His mother was a fox demon. Who bewitched Father and killed many. What does that make him?"

"You're right. We can't rule that out. It's either that, or he has some powerful, supernatural allies. Maybe he had help from another sect. You think he's still in the Kingdom?"

"I can't say for sure. Shi Shun has been as slippery as an eel. Every time my men are about to capture him, he slips out of our grasp. My special forces been chasing him for almost two years, and still no success. My only consolation is that the other princes are not half as cunning as him. Anyway, I've got someone to oversee this mystery. When I get back I'll know more."

"I wish I could help," Erden said quietly, noting a crease between Weilong's sweeping brows. "I hope the princes have not been giving you too much of a headache."

Weilong let out a weary sigh, like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. "I can't trust them with official duties. And I'm constantly watching that they don't stab me in the back. They're always creating new problems. As it is, my hands are full from dealing with the issues the fox demon left behind. But I can't exile them on a whim."

"If they were so terrible as children, I can't begin to imagine how they're like when they can wield power."

Weilong gave him a measured look. "You know, if you ever feel like the North is not for you, you are always welcomed back at the Palace."