Chapter 317: Two Poles Reversed

The sounds inside the room persisted for a long time before gradually falling into deathly silence.

For the mastermind behind it all, eliminating a hunter was not a major problem.

The only difficulty was that the hunter was the Holy Maiden, the sect's highly anticipated "future star."

This meant that if anything happened to her, it would not be easily brushed off like Baruk's case—it would draw attention.

Therefore, this matter had to be executed flawlessly.

That, however, was a bit troublesome. But only a bit.

Catherine walked along Phoenix's main thoroughfare.

The streets were crowded with people.

This was a sight unique to the Northlands.

But she knew this bustle was only relative to the Northlands.

To the outside world, Phoenix was merely a very unremarkable small town; its so-called prosperity was nothing more than a trivial spectacle.

It was said that in major cities beyond, during festivals, the streets would be packed with people dressed in festive finery, parading around colorful floats.

Roads wider than Phoenix by several times would be choked with enthusiastic crowds.

In front of those floats would be bands playing drums and cymbals, and clowns with oversized noses striding on stilts.

Wherever the floats passed, ribbons fluttered and laughter floated through the air.

On both sides of the street stood crowds of watching children.

At such times, people on the floats would toss handfuls of candy, sending the children into frenzied scrambles.

Candy? Such a rare thing—she had only heard of it, never seen it with her own eyes.

Thinking of this stirred in Catherine, born and raised in the Northlands and never having left it, a faint yearning.

What would such bustling splendor truly be like? Yet Catherine's yearning was not for the outside world.

She yearned to see such splendor in the Northlands within her lifetime.

Though she knew deep down this was nearly impossible.

In all the Northlands' long history, Phoenix was the only one of its kind.

To witness such a transformation in the Northlands during her own brief lifespan—relative to the Northlands' history—it would require a miracle…

As she pondered these scattered thoughts, Catherine walked toward the place where bounties were issued and claimed.

After a week, the bounty mission they had taken to conceal their true purpose was complete.

Now she needed only to settle the mission.

But as Catherine reached halfway, a hurried man blocked her path.

She looked closely and quickly recognized him as the servant she had seen a few days ago at Elder Grant's.

"What is it?" Catherine asked, puzzled.

"Elder Grant has uncovered some useful information and sent me to urgently notify you to go there at once."

"He seemed very anxious—I went to your lodging to call for you, but you weren't there. I searched the streets for a long time, and luckily I found you." The servant panted, still slightly tense.

"I see," Catherine thought, her attention immediately drawn to the "useful information" the servant mentioned.

Of course, she also noticed the servant's tension.

But she paid it no mind, assuming it was merely his nervousness around a high-rank Iceblood Mage and his panic over failing to locate them.

"I'll go right away—don't delay the matter," Catherine said.

Upon hearing this, the servant visibly relaxed and quickly added, "Elder Grant is waiting for you at another private residence. Come with me—I'll guide you."

"Oh, alright, lead the way," Catherine said without much thought.

After all, Elder Grant's residence was in the heart of Phoenix, where comings and goings were inevitably noticeable; switching to a private location for a meeting made perfect sense.

Under the servant's guidance, Catherine turned into a narrow alley beside the main thoroughfare, then wound through a maze of buildings of varying sizes.

"Elder Grant has a private residence here?" Catherine murmured, surprised as the alley grew ever narrower.

"A private residence must be hidden deep," the servant paused slightly, then explained cautiously.

Catherine frowned slightly. For some reason, she began sensing something odd.

But Phoenix was still just a "small town," and before long, they arrived at their destination.

It was a modest house nestled in a dark alley, built of gray stone, with a door made of animal bones and hides.

Catherine glanced at it and found nothing unusual.

"Elder Grant is waiting for you inside."

Having come this far, Catherine set aside her doubts, lifted the door curtain, and stepped inside.

The servant did not follow—he waited outside.

That was normal; their upcoming discussion involved secrets, and servants were not meant to overhear.

The house was neither large nor small. Catherine entered and scanned the room—no one was visible.

She frowned slightly and moved deeper, lifting the inner curtain of animal hide to enter the back room.

But the instant she lifted the hide curtain, Catherine's nose twitched, and her brow instantly knotted.

Her hunter's acute sense of smell had detected an unusual stench of blood. Catherine's heart tightened—she reacted instantly.

"Something's wrong!"

But just as she sensed the anomaly and prepared to flee, loud, hurried footsteps and a shout came from outside.

"This is the place! Last night I heard strange noises, then smelled blood. I gathered courage and peeked—and sure enough, something was wrong!"

The next moment, a thunderous explosion rang out.

One wall of the house, along with the front door, was violently blown apart.

A group of Iceblood Mages clad in armor bearing the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe's emblem surged through the collapsed wall, surrounding Catherine in an instant.

At the same time, Catherine had fully lifted the inner hide curtain and saw what lay inside.

Seven or eight corpses, all clad in Enduring Zhenbing Tribe armor, lay sprawled in the back room.

The bodies were fresh—death had occurred no more than a day ago.

At this point, Catherine knew without doubt: she had walked into a meticulously laid trap designed for her.

The servant, Elder Grant's man, had lulled her guard, making her fall for it so easily. Now that things had reached this point, Catherine would never be foolish enough to shout that she was lured here, that she had just arrived, and demand to find the servant to prove her innocence.

A carefully laid trap would never leave such a flaw.

The mastermind had many ways to erase the servant's trace—either by direct execution or by having already arranged an alibi.

The scene had been framed to implicate her—there was no defense.

The question was: who did this?

And what should she do now? Though Catherine burned with rage, her mind was icy calm.

Facing the encircling Enduring Zhenbing Tribe Iceblood Mages, honestly, she could kill them all in moments and flee Phoenix before the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe reacted.

But if she did that, whether or not she had killed them would no longer matter.

As the Holy Maiden of the Snowguard, bearing such a charge would not be just her own problem—it could spark conflict, even war, between the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe and the sect.

Do not resist. There is still a chance to prove her innocence.

In an instant, Catherine made the wisest decision—and her heart grew colder.

She was certain: since the mastermind had set this trap, he must have anticipated her reaction—and likely had follow-up plans.

This time, clearing her name would not be simple.

The only silver lining: she had not been with Loiqi.

Had they both been framed, it would have been utterly hopeless.

"Take her! Bring her back!" The leader among the Iceblood Mages ordered.

Catherine lowered her head.

Having made her decision, she had no intention of changing it.

She began thinking of another question instead.

Who did this?

As soon as she considered it, clear threads emerged in her mind.

Catherine believed she had not wronged anyone. If she had, it could only be tied to her current mission.

Therefore, it must be the mastermind behind Baruk's case—the one practicing forbidden necromancy.

To set such a trap in Phoenix within a week, this mastermind's status and influence exceeded any figure she had originally suspected.

More importantly, she had already created the illusion of being in Phoenix to earn extra bounties—and yet the mastermind still framed her.

Clearly, the mastermind knew her true purpose.

How could they pinpoint her true intent so quickly?

There must have been precise intelligence guiding them.

"The only flaw lies in the message sent by the sect's branch official after Gao De appeared—he reported a request for help, which would indicate I am tracking Gao De, not in Phoenix."

"But with my status, once I took this mission, its confidentiality level rose. Only three people in the entire sect should have permission to know I was assigned this task…"

"Wait…" In the next instant, Catherine realized a terrifying possibility.

Could it be… the mastermind is among those three? Impossible! The thought struck her like a chill, and she instinctively shook her head.

Practicing forbidden necromancy was equivalent to apostasy.

And those three were the sect's actual rulers.

In other words, would a king betray his own country?

As Catherine pondered, the Enduring Zhenbing Tribe Iceblood Mages stepped forward, pulling out shackles.

"I'll go with you—no need for manacles," Katherine said, raising her head to the lead Iceborn mage. "I'm a hunter of the Snowguard. I'm certain there's been a misunderstanding—I was framed. I'll find proof of my innocence."

The lead Iceborn mage paused, thought for a moment, then nodded to his subordinates.

One of them retracted the manacles.

"Let's go," Katherine said to the Iceborn mages of the Frosttribe.

When Gao De returned to the dwelling where he had stayed for a week, he found Luo Luo Yiqi there too—despite having been away all week on bounty missions.

"Finished your mission? Where's Katherine?" he asked as he shut the door.

Luo Luo Yiqi, usually so easygoing, did not respond.

Gao De turned and saw that Luo Luo Yiqi's expression was unusually grim—his eyes held anxiety, irritation, and suppressed anger.

Gao De froze, then immediately connected the dots—Katherine was missing.

"Has Katherine run into trouble?"

Only then did Luo Luo Yiqi nod slowly and mutter, "Yeah."

"What happened? What's going on?"

Gao De was stunned. Though he didn't know Katherine's exact mage rank, she was clearly no pushover—how could she be caught so easily? "Someone killed a Frosttribe Iceborn mage team escorting prey back to Phoenix, stole the frost giant lizard hatchlings containing trace dragon blood, and framed Katherine. She's already been taken back by the Frosttribe mages."

"The shadowy figure in the sect must have realized we're investigating him—he's framing Katherine to throw us off."

So it had come full circle: Katherine, who had forcibly dragged him to Phoenix, was now suffering the same loss of freedom. Gao De's heart tightened, but he felt no satisfaction.

In this matter, he, Luo Luo Yiqi, and Katherine were bound together—prosper or perish as one.

Although forcing him to go to Phoenix had annoyed him, Katherine's claim that the mastermind behind it all would kill him to silence him was entirely plausible.

If this shadowy figure was powerful enough to trap Katherine, killing a newly promoted First-Ring mage like him would be child's play. "Aren't you close to Elder Grant? Can't you ask him for help?"

At the mention of Grant, Luo Luo Yiqi's face darkened further. After a long silence, he spoke slowly:

"As soon as I heard about Katherine, I went to Elder Grant."

"He refused?!" From Luo Luo Yiqi's expression, Gao De knew the answer was bad.

"Not exactly refused—he's barely holding himself together right now. He can't spare us any attention."

"What do you mean, 'barely holding himself together'?"

"Two days ago, the Jin Huang wheat in the Frosttribe began dying—each plant suddenly lost vitality, withered, but no cause could be found."

Elder Grant was responsible for cultivating Jin Huang wheat in the Frosttribe, and Jin Huang wheat was an extremely vital and valuable crop for them.

If the problem isn't resolved soon, his position as elder is over. At a time like this, he simply has no bandwidth to worry about us."

(End of Chapter)