Chapter 120: Madame Shana

“No, no, you’re… please wait a moment.”

The middle-aged man bowed deeply, then hurried to a carriage and spoke to someone inside; soon after, a noblewoman descended, assisted by her servants.

She looked at Lu Ling with visible excitement, murmuring in a Western Regions language—gibberish to Lu Fang.

“Brother.”

Lu Ling, startled, hid behind Lu Fang.

Lu Fang stepped forward, placing himself before Lu Ling, and addressed the noblewoman uncertainly: “Madam, may I ask what you want?”

The noblewoman halted, her excitement fading into a gentle smile; she spoke in halting Da Zhou official language: “You are from the Da Zhou Empire?”

Lu Fang nodded: “Yes, we came here to find family. May I ask why you stopped us? If I heard correctly just now, your guard mentioned ‘Lita’?”

He could sense no malice in the noblewoman, and from her expression and the guard’s words, he had a hunch.

Perhaps she was Lita’s relative.

The noblewoman smiled gently: “Lita is my younger sister. This young lady behind you resembles her closely—I happened to see her as I passed by, so I had my guard stop you.”

She paused, then emphasized: “Don’t worry—I mean no harm.”

Lu Ling excitedly pulled out a scroll and handed it to the noblewoman: “Madam, look—does this person in the painting look like your sister?”

The noblewoman slowly unrolled the scroll and nodded firmly: “It’s her, no doubt. How did you come to have this painting?”

Lu Fang hesitated: “Was your sister once in Da Zhou over a decade ago?”

The noblewoman stared at Lu Fang in surprise: “How do you know that?”

Lu Ling pressed her hands to her chest: “She’s my mother. I only recently learned of this, so I came specifically to find her. Is she really dead?”

The noblewoman’s pupils contracted sharply; she reached out, trembling, to touch Lu Ling’s face, tears glistening in her eyes as she nodded repeatedly:

“My sister told me she had a daughter in Da Zhou—I never thought it true. Do you have a lion jade pendant?”

Lu Ling nodded and pulled from around her neck a white jade pendant: beneath it, a stone platform carved with Sanskrit script; above, a carved male lion.

The noblewoman took the pendant: “Yes—this white lion jade, my sister and I each had one. Let’s return home first. Your grandfather will be overjoyed to see you.”

Lu Ling looked at Lu Fang with hopeful eyes.

Lu Fang smiled: “Since this madam invites us, let’s go. We need a place to stay anyway.”

The noblewoman smiled warmly, taking Lu Ling’s hand and stepping into the carriage; since the interior was spacious, Lu Fang, Zhou Yiyi, and Xiao Tao followed inside.

After much warm inquiry, the noblewoman smiled and introduced herself: “You may call me Madame Shana. From what Ling’er told me, I must thank the Lu family for caring for her. May I ask your name?”

Lu Fang hesitated, then replied honestly: “Lu Fang.”

The journey was filled with pleasant conversation.

After about fifteen minutes, the carriage stopped before a yellowish ancient castle; from its architecture alone, Madame Shana’s family clearly held influence in the Buddha Kingdom.

Madame Shana welcomed Lu Fang and the others inside, arranged lodging for Lu Fang, but insisted on taking Lu Ling and Xiao Tao with her.

Lu Fang considered it, then agreed.

Madame Shana nodded and departed with Lu Ling and Xiao Tao.

Lu Fang sat cross-legged on the bed, beginning to absorb the scent of scholarly qi to elevate his cultivation base—the Buddha Kingdom’s Trial Grounds were about to open, and he had little time left; ascending to Sixth Rank sooner would spare him constant anxiety.

Later that evening,

Lu Ling returned with Xiao Tao, her expression grave, gloomy, and burdened with thought.

Lu Fang frowned: “What’s wrong? Does this ‘Lion’ family treat you poorly?”

Lu Ling shook her head rapidly: “Aunt Shana took me to meet several people, but since it was our first meeting, I can’t say it was good or bad—just… ordinary.”

Lu Fang nodded. He had anticipated this; such great families rarely valued illegitimate daughters.

Moreover, from the painting, Lita bore no mixed-blood features—likely her father was a collateral branch or of low status within the family.

Lu Ling sighed softly: “I overheard Aunt Shana say something—I’m beginning to suspect my mother isn’t dead at all. She may be trapped in the Buddha Kingdom’s Trial Grounds.”

“Oh?”

Lu Fang looked puzzled.

Lu Ling frowned: “According to Aunt Shana, my mother didn’t die—she vanished suddenly. So did my father and the eldest son of the Flame Clan.”

“To avoid scandal, both families agreed to claim they died of serious illness.”

“Aunt Shana knew the ascetic monk—when she sent people to search after hearing the news, he was already gone.”

“For over a decade, both the Lion and Flame clans have sent people into the Buddha Kingdom’s Trial Grounds, searching for the underground palace the ascetic mentioned.”

“But they’ve found nothing.”

“I’m worried—if my parents truly aren’t dead, and are trapped somewhere unknown… what do we do?”

Lu Fang patted Lu Ling’s shoulder and smiled: “Don’t worry. When the Trial Grounds open, I’ll find a way to rescue your parents.”

…

The next day.

At noon.

Xiao Tao suddenly ran back in panic, gasping: “Master, it’s bad! The Flame Clan has come with many people—they want to take Miss away!”

“Only Madame Shana is trying to stop them. No one else speaks up for her. I heard the Flame Clan wants to use Miss’s blood for some kind of ritual.”

Lu Fang’s face paled; he rose quickly and turned to Zhou Yiyi beside him: “Fourth Sister, come with me.”

Meanwhile,

In the great hall,

Nearly everyone was present.

At the main seat sat Zha Ximo, head of the Lion Clan, wearing a round hat inlaid with multicolored gems, dressed in wide, lantern-like trousers, idly turning a string of emerald Buddhist prayer beads.

Zha Ximo glanced coldly at Lu Ling standing in the hall, then at the furious Flame Clan patriarch Mo Fen, his thoughts hidden.

Mo Fen, a man in his fifties, had slightly curly hair and a small mustache, dressed in white, loose-fitting trousers.

His eyes glinted with cruelty: “Zha Ximo, I won’t waste words—I’m taking her today.”