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Chapter 55: Survivors

“……”

After exchanging glances with Miss Ling Feng, Miss Vilyric circled around the overturned luxury carriage, carefully examining the traces nearby.

Ling Feng timed her question well, probing some of the doubts in her mind.

“Aside from Princess Ling, did all those related perish as well?”

“No, there is indeed one person who survived.”

“Oh?”

Seeing the black-haired girl stop in her tracks, her brow raised, Ji Xun understood her meaning and immediately waved to his subordinates. Soon, a Ling Wei soldier arrived with a young girl dressed like a maid.

“She is Princess Ling’s personal attendant. She was inside the carriage at the time, but we found her in some bushes not far from the incident. She had lost consciousness due to a head injury, but her life was spared.”

Ji Xun’s authoritative gaze swept over the girl’s body. Needless to say, Miss Vilyric could also guess he was doubting her.

This was understandable; after all, in a situation where the princess went missing and everyone else died, it was much more plausible to explain her survival through some conspiracy rather than sheer luck.

Moreover, Ji Xun had previously mentioned that there might be an insider among the group.

“Explain to these lords what you know. No lying, understood?”

“Y-yes, yes…”

The girl looked to be about fifteen or sixteen, with the standard light gray short hair of the Ling Kingdom. While not exceptionally beautiful, she was quite pretty, though her spirit appeared a bit wilted, and her expression showed severe anxiety as if she was terrified.

Directing her gaze at the fallen carriage, Miss Vilyric scrutinized the young maid for a moment and raised an eyebrow slightly.

“What are you afraid of?”

“I-I’m not afraid; I’m just worried about the princess’s safety…”

Hearing the obviously insincere and timid answer, the Priestess chose not to comment and quietly leaned closer to Miss Ling Feng, whispering softly in her ear.

“By the way, if something happened to the princess, would these servants also be implicated?”

“…According to regulations, they would be held accountable. Especially with a personal attendant like this one, if the princess suffered an accident while she was accompanying her, and the maid survived, in the worst-case scenario, she might even have to be buried alongside the princess.”

“And Vilyric, you’re getting too close…”

“Wah… We’re all girls, no need to be so disdainful, I’m hurt, sister!”

“It’s not disdain…”

However, someone merely chuckled mischievously, having achieved a lightened atmosphere before diving back into questioning.

Ling Feng’s answer was what Miss Vilyric expected.

Such regulations sounded somewhat harsh, but considering the social structure in the Ancient Spirit Realm, it made sense. The role of attendants was not merely to serve but, given the importance of the princess to the Western Spirit Kingdom, they could essentially be viewed as the last line of defense for her.

Moreover, this all-or-nothing rule largely prevented maids and guards from being tempted by profit to betray their masters, inadvertently protecting the safety of the Western Spirit Princess.

Miss Vilyric glanced at the fidgeting girl before her, who seemed preoccupied with her thoughts.

“You don’t have to worry too much. There are still many questions to be answered in this matter. Princess Ling is very likely safe right now. As long as you cooperate, we can find her.”

“I ask you, what exactly happened after the princess’s carriage crossed the bridge and was cut off? Was there an enemy attack?”

Although her reassurance sounded somewhat perfunctory, the black-haired girl’s guarantee seemed to ease the maid’s fears a bit, at least allowing her to provide a relatively clear answer.

“Reporting, my lord… I’m not entirely sure. At that time, I was inside the carriage with Princess Ling. I felt the carriage moving rapidly and didn’t know what was happening outside. I just heard a loud bang from behind, and the surrounding knights were shouting something about the bridge collapsing, tightening their reins…”

“Then, suddenly, there was a low growl and a crashing sound from outside, and the moving carriage tipped over, spinning wildly. I lost control and crashed into the wall of the carriage and immediately fainted. When I woke up… I was already in the Ling Wei army camp.”

“A low growl… what kind of thing growled?”

This time, General Ji Xun picked up the conversation, clearly already aware of the same narrative.

“Our subordinates suspect it was a rat demon, a very powerful rat demon, my lord. Look here.”

He crouched down and poked at the soil beside the carriage with the sheath of his sword. There were large dig marks indicating something had been dug up from the ground, which had been refilled, but the color of the disturbed earth was unmistakable.

“As we all know, rodents are skilled at digging, and demons transformed from rats are even better at this…”

“Based on how the carriage tipped and the environmental conditions when we found this place, my subordinates and some skilled in demon suppression unanimously agree that it’s likely a highly skilled rat demon lay in ambush here and, as the carriage passed a predetermined spot, suddenly attacked from underground, flipping it over from beneath.”

“But the princess’s carriage was specially processed by Yu Heng Division, boasting exceptional stability and shock resistance. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t flip over, so being forcibly overturned from below would imply it was at least a powerful demon.”

“A powerful demon, huh…”

If this side is to be believed, a powerful demon should be one from the Seeking Immortals realm, which would be very rare and formidable.

In other words, the target could be easily identified.

The Priestess nodded.

“Overall, this is a reasonable assumption. Perhaps we can start our tracking from this angle.”

“Vilyric, are you implying…”

“Yes, demons avoid danger. I don’t think a demon of that caliber would recklessly attack Princess Ling; that would be tantamount to becoming the enemy of the entire Western Spirit Kingdom. However, if they are being coerced or manipulated by certain individuals, that’s another matter.”

Ling Feng slightly furrowed her brows.

“…Could it be the Demon-Suppressing Sect again?”

“One could say that possibility is quite high.”

Unfortunately, due to the rushed departure earlier, they hadn’t had time to interrogate those captured from the Demon-Suppressing Sect; otherwise, they might have obtained some valuable information.

Just as everyone was preparing to conclude this investigation and officially set off to search, a gentle yet somewhat deep voice suddenly resonated in the air.

“Everyone, please hold on.”

“?”

Everyone turned to the source of the voice, only to find a certain white-cloaked man, who had been following them for some unknown reason, described by Miss Ling Feng as having an ambiguous background but not having a strong presence.

“Mr. Murong? Is there an issue?”

Nodding slightly in response, Murong Yun merely stared at the young maid about to leave with the Ling Wei soldier and, after a moment of silence, finally spoke.

“This young lady, do you have something to say?”

“……”

Seeing the girl remain silent, Murong Yun shook his head and asked several small details that Miss Vilyric had previously overlooked.

“What is your name? Where do you come from?”

This time, the girl did not remain silent any longer.

“Reporting, my lord, my name is He Zhu, and I live in… Yi Yuan County, Xing Hu Village.”

“Hmm?”

Hearing this, Ling Feng also seemed to discover something, raising her eyebrow once more.

Only Miss Vilyric, who still couldn’t grasp the situation, tilted her head in confusion, her face full of question marks.

“Uh, is there a problem with this name and family address?”

It seemed even Bai’er understood what this represented, and fearing someone might feel awkward, she hurriedly leaned forward to whisper in Vilyric’s ear.

“Idiot, Yi Yuan County, Xing Hu Village… that’s the birthplace of the current Western Spirit Princess! This little maid and the princess are actually from the same village!”

“Same village? So what… wait, now that I think about it…”

Miss Vilyric suddenly realized a point.

From the very beginning, she had only focused on the connection between the Western Spirit Princess and Hen, as well as this missing person case, without considering what this position truly represented in the Western Spirit Kingdom and how it came to be.

Moreover, with Murong Yun’s prompt, Miss Vilyric finally noticed the subtle oddness in the young maid’s expression.

That was… a hesitation mixed with a barely perceptible urge to speak.

She was afraid; she had been afraid from the very start.

Initially, Miss Vilyric thought that He Zhu was worried about the princess’s incident impacting her, but now it seemed the situation wasn’t entirely that simple.

“You… do you know the former Hen? What exactly does the identity of the Western Spirit Princess entail?”