Chapter 361: Lingxiang Confined to Shiyang Hall

Ever since she had last caught the Demon Lord in the act, Lingxiang's freedom had been far less than before; not to mention being ordered not to move about at will, people had even been dispatched to monitor her at all times and in all places.

And that person was none other than Huiwu, whom she had not seen for a long time.

Lingxiang had anticipated early on that the Demon Lord would surely make things difficult for her, so she had made preparations in advance, ordering Zhanli and Adao to go into hiding early.

In this way, even if changes were to occur later, the two of them could remain safe, and they could also finish the tasks for her.

And these two were currently racking their brains on how to sneak into Fengdu.

The reason she let the two of them venture into danger was because there was something Lingxiang had to confirm before she could decide on future matters; before that, all efforts could only be a prelude, and she absolutely could not act rashly.

Lingxiang trusted Zhanli and Adao very much; for one, Zhanli was born in the Netherworld and was not unfamiliar with Fengdu, and for another, Zhanli was steady while Adao was clever, so the two complemented each other and would surely be able to handle matters comprehensively.

Moreover, before they set off, Lingxiang had said that as long as the green hills remained, there would be firewood to burn; if they encountered danger, they should run if they could.

As for Maidong, Lingxiang had been quite troubled for a while.

The Seal Gate Heart-Protecting Mark was a signature witchcraft of Zhaoming Zhenren, and Lingxiang had only seen it once when she was a child; she was not skilled in Array Formations to begin with, so she was at a loss for a time.

However, all paths lead to the same destination; since the method of breaking the array was not feasible, she would use the alchemy she excelled at to resolve it.

These days, besides refining the Life-Prolonging Pill for the Demon Lord, Lingxiang was secretly refining the Dream-Returning Pill, but because she now had the Demon Lord's eyes and ears watching her at all times, progress was very slow.

By entering Maidong's dream with the Dream-Returning Pill and resolving his inner knot, the Seal Gate Heart-Protecting Mark would be able to undo itself.

Then there was Wumin Jun; that face of his could not be healed by ordinary means.

Although Lingxiang was somewhat reluctant, she couldn't go back on her word after promising someone, could she?

A person cannot stand without credibility!

Therefore, in her spare time, Lingxiang still had to consult Demon Realm medical texts to find a cure.

Fortunately, the Demon Lord did not restrict Lingxiang from reading books, so things were going relatively smoothly, and she had found one or two methods; although she could not guarantee they would be effective, she had to try.

The Phoenix Egg had already hatched, and what was surprising was that the phoenix was actually white. Its feathers were as white as snow, which was actually quite similar to Xiaobai, and it stunned Lingxiang for a long time.

However, when this phoenix had just hatched, the little phoenix was truly ugly; Lingxiang once suspected that the ancient books she had read when she was young were all nonsense.

Right now, the phoenix was still young; although it had already undergone four instances of Nirvana, it still looked like a fledgling, and it didn't even have the Shengguan Tail Feather.

Only after growing the Shengguan Tail Feather could it be considered a true phoenix.

And she didn't know if it was an illusion, but if she didn't look closely, Lingxiang always felt that it was no different from a mountain chicken.

The birth of the phoenix solved quite a bit of trouble for Lingxiang, and the first to benefit was Wumin Jun.

Every time Xiaobai underwent Nirvana, it would produce a lot of ash, but one must not underestimate this ash; it was excellent material for pills.

In this world, only a phoenix could return from the dead, so even if it was just ash, it was a treasure of extreme value.

However, a phoenix is a noble creature; it eats nothing but dew and perches on nothing but the paulownia tree.

But where would the Netherworld get dew and paulownia trees?

Lingxiang racked her brains, and in the end, she finally found a way.

Previously, during the lantern festival in Chenjian, Lingxiang had obtained an ancient zither, which was the "Prisoner Ox Lying and Listening to the Wind-Blowing Rain," and the body of this zither was made from thousand-year-old paulownia wood.

So, even though she was reluctant, Lingxiang still took it out to provide a place for the phoenix to rest.

As for the dew, Lingxiang still had some Spirit Plants on hand, which could be considered things that absorbed the Spirit Qi of heaven and earth; by pounding them into plant juice, she could manage to get by.

Fortunately, this phoenix seemed to remember some things from before and was very obedient to Lingxiang, which saved Lingxiang a lot of trouble.

With all these miscellaneous matters, Lingxiang truly had no time to be distracted.

Because of this, regarding the presence of Huiwu, Lingxiang only kept a wary eye on him; after all, there were countless matters at hand, and this was not the time to waste energy on this matter.

But Huiwu seemed not to want Lingxiang to be idle, appearing before her from time to time; although he did not obstruct anything, it was truly quite inconvenient and restrictive.

Lingxiang always felt that the current Huiwu seemed different from the past, but for a moment, she couldn't say exactly where the difference lay.

And every time she saw him, Huiwu always had a look of wanting to speak but stopping, as if he had something to say to her, but would give up in the end because of Guihua.

The current Huiwu was already a subordinate of Guihua, which was the Demon Lord's order. Therefore, his appearance was not entirely his own wish.

Regarding Lingxiang being punished and confined, although Guihua couldn't say she was very satisfied, she was very happy.

In the end, it was still she, Guihua, who called the shots in this Shiyang Hall!

In Guihua's view, the reason Lingxiang was punished must be because she had displeased the Demon Lord. In time, when the Demon Lord recognized her true nature, he would naturally no longer value her.

Guihua couldn't wait to see Lingxiang in a sorry state.

But ice three feet thick is not formed in a single day; now that Lingxiang was cautious in everything, it actually made Guihua somewhat disappointed.

If Lingxiang couldn't make mistakes, then how could she make the Demon Lord dislike her?

Guihua knew about the grudge between Huiwu and Lingxiang, so these days, she always sent Huiwu to hover in front of Lingxiang from time to time, wanting to disgust Lingxiang and make her unhappy, so that she would be more likely to make mistakes, and only then could she catch her in the act.

Once she caught Lingxiang's handle, Guihua would definitely make her suffer an irrecoverable loss.

But Guihua had underestimated Lingxiang.

Regarding Guihua's various provocations, Lingxiang mostly resolved them with her status; after all, the Demon Lord only said she was confined, and did not strip her of her title as Princess, so since that was the case, she was still the Demon Princess.

Lingxiang was the master and Guihua was the subject; on the surface, things always had to be presentable.

As for the matter of medicinal ingredients, Lingxiang would always do it herself and never let others do it for her; she didn't use anything Guihua sent at all, and every time she delivered medicine, she would make the trip herself. Therefore, trying to find fault in the Demon Lord's medicine was truly minimal.

And Lingxiang's room was also set up with Dharma Array traps. Although these Dharma Array traps were not brilliant, they were strange and difficult to solve; Guihua tried several times, and nine times out of ten she would fall into the trap, not to mention being unable to even get close to the door, she even ended up with injuries.

Guihua didn't know where Lingxiang learned these underhanded methods, and she hated her so much that her teeth ached, yet she was truly at her wit's end.

Just like this, in the battle of wits and courage with Guihua, while dealing with the matters at hand, Lingxiang's days were not too boring.

However, guarding against a thief every day was not a long-term solution; with such a poisonous insect left by her side, it was inevitable that trouble would arise, so Lingxiang was also thinking of ways to drive Guihua out of Shiyang Hall.

But Shiyang Hall was, after all, Guihua's palace; how could there be a way in a short time? She had originally stayed here to protect Maidong, but she didn't expect it to become a cage now.

It was truly one pit after another, and every pit was hard to fill!