That Fair-Faced 'Sage' {Completed}

31. The Misty Forest

.

In the silence of the now silent marketplace, the fifth Madam finally stepped out of a shadowed alley. "Young Master Zhao, you're quite clever."

LanFen shrugged. "Your words are too kind. Didn't you give me the hint, hoping I would solve the puzzle?" She glided down from the roof and landed before the fifth Madam, but at that instant, there was a loud snarl from a large creature.

They both turned to see a hooded figure in the distance, and behind him was an eight-foot, apelike monster.

The creature roared at them, but just as quickly as they appeared, the hooded figure rose a hand, and they vanished and reappeared a further distance away, before vanishing into the trees.

"Ei? Why is a Puppet demon in a place like this?!" LanFen wondered aloud, amazed that she hadn't felt it approach.

Puppet demons were demons who could control lesser demons, could hide their aura, and had the ability to teleport short distances.

LanFen immediately tried to give chase, but the fifth Madam grabbed her hand to hold her back.

"Young Master Zhao, it is no use! If you follow it, it would only summon numerous lesser demons to fight you, and it would keep teleporting and leading you into further danger!"

LanFen pulled her hand free, but the few precious seconds of delay, was all the demon had needed to hide itself, and the strange aura that had been lurking about, was now completely gone.

"Tsk!" LanFen rounded on the fifth Madam, directing her aura towards her. "Why stop me from chasing the enemy? If I identified it as a puppet demon, wouldn't I know what it's capable of?! Even if it were some powerful unknown demon, weren't I and Fènghuáng-Jun sent here to confront it?!"

The fifth madam flinched, and LanFen hastily calmed herself, drawing back her aura.

"My Apologies, Young Master Zhao! I acted without thinking!" The Fifth Madam bowed slightly.

'Did you really act without thinking, or were you trying to stop me from giving chase?' LanFen eyed the fifth Madam, but didn't voice out her thoughts.

"Er... Young Master Zhao, why not wait for Young Master Shuǐ's return, before approaching such a demon?" The Fifth Madam asked.

"What use is 'Young Master Shuǐ', if we can't even trace the demon? Do you not realize why I let myself sit in the prison?" LanFen sighed. "I knew what Miss Ming had planned, but I wanted to lure the culprit out."

She looked back at the trees. "Unfortunately, he has gone into hiding again. Didn't I spend three days in prison for nothing?!"

There were a few moments of silence, and the fifth Madam seemed to be struggling with her words. But then she spoke.

"I can lead you to the place where the demon is hiding, but I would like to know what you are planning to do, now that you know I'm behind the white cat."

LanFen turned to face her, but before she could speak, a ladybug landed on her shoulder and whispered into her ear.

"Master, I just recalled. Fifth Madam constanly visits her birth house in Lode City. From what I've heard, she is a twin. She herself never cultivated, but her twin Sister was a cultivator who died a year ago."

'She didn't cultivate?' LanFen wondered. But the person before her was certainly in the blue realm.

LanFen gave no outward indication that she had heard anything, and she filed Lady Mei's information away, for future use.

"Fifth Madam, I do have a lot of questions... But I'm more concerned with catching the actual culprit for now. What do you know? And why are you bold enough to come out, when others are hiding?"