Baiheng and Cipher walked back along the relatively quiet streets.
"Honestly..."
Baiheng rubbed her temples, a hint of lingering fear in her voice. "During that questioning just now, the way Hanya from the Ten-Lords Commission looked at us... it was like she could freeze someone into an ice sculpture. Question after question, nitpicking every detail. I almost thought my identity as 'Bai Xing' was going to be exposed on the spot."
Cipher flicked her Tail, crossed her arms, and mimicked Baiheng's tone to complain: "Exactly! That one named Hanya, her face was stiff the whole time, and her voice didn't have any inflection—so gloomy. And the one next to her called Xueyi kept staring at me like I had a flower on my face... Are all the official organizations in your Xianzhou so 'unique'?"
"The Ten-Lords Commission is responsible for matters of life, death, and the netherworld. They deal with the ominous all year round, so their temperament is bound to be... a bit special."
Baiheng tried to explain, but even she felt the explanation was weak.
After all, Hanya's scrutinizing gaze was indeed incredibly high-pressure.
As they spoke, they had already returned to the entrance of Baiheng's small courtyard.
Baiheng reached out to push the door, and the wooden door made its familiar creaking sound.
Then, both her and Cipher's footsteps halted simultaneously.
In the courtyard, beside the stone table that had been empty when they left this morning, there was now a person.
The person had her back to the door. She was tall and slender, wearing a complex and gorgeous Lolita dress primarily in black and dark purple.
Most striking was the witchs hat on her head with a slightly drooping brim, also in a black and purple color scheme, its edges decorated with subtle dark gold patterns.
Her long, grayish-white hair flowed like liquid moonlight from under the brim, reaching down to her waist.
Just this view of her back radiated an aura that seemed to freeze the originally peaceful atmosphere of the courtyard.
Baiheng's heart skipped a beat, and her pupils contracted slightly.
(This back... this aura... could it be...)
She recognized the visitor almost instantly.
She subconsciously stood up straight, the complaints on her face instantly vanishing, replaced by a respectful yet slightly nervous expression as she spoke tentatively: "Ms... Madam Herta?"
The figure with her back to them didn't move.
Baiheng's heart sank. She reacted immediately, a flash of helplessness crossing her face as she lowered her voice and quickly changed her address.
"Master... why have you come?"
Upon hearing this title, the purple figure finally turned around slowly.
Under the wide brim of the witchs hat, an exquisite but bloodless face was revealed, her grayish-white hair making her skin look almost transparent.
The most striking feature was her eyes—purple-black pupils, deep like a vortex containing a starry sky, calm and rippleless, yet seemingly able to see through all disguises and thoughts.
Her gaze first fell on Baiheng's face, nodding slightly as a response to the 'correct' address, then she gave a faint glance at Cipher, who was standing completely dazed beside her.
Meanwhile, Cipher's cat-like eyes were wide as her gaze darted back and forth between Baiheng's posture and Madam Herta. her small face was filled with shock and a kind of... excitement at having discovered some incredible secret?
She quietly nudged Baiheng with her elbow, her eyes conveying a clear message:
(Whoa! Baiheng! I didn't see that coming! The two of you... play with such... such 'flavor'?)
Baiheng received Cipher's teasing look, her cheeks flushing imperceptibly as she quickly glared back:
(Don't get the wrong idea! This is protocol! Protocol!)
She quickly cleared her throat, trying to pull the conversation back on track, her face assuming an appropriate level of concern and confusion.
"Master, for you to come here personally... is there something urgent?"
Black Herta's gaze refocused on Baiheng. She didn't answer immediately, but instead asked directly: "Huo Huo. How much do you know?"
"Huo Huo?"
Baiheng was stunned for a moment, not expecting Black Herta to suddenly ask about that Little Judge from the Ten-Lords Commission.
She thought of the silk pouch Cipher had helped deliver this morning, as well as the bizarre disappearance they had just witnessed and the subsequent questioning by the Ten-Lords Commission. Her heart sank—had something really happened? And was it related to them?
"Is it about... Judge Huo Huo of the Ten-Lords Commission?"
Baiheng confirmed cautiously. Seeing Black Herta nod slightly, she quickly recounted what she knew. "This morning, according to the previous plan, I had Cipher deliver that silk pouch to Huo Huo's residence; it should have been delivered successfully. Then just now, about two hours ago, we were over at Exalting Sanctum street..."
She pointed to Cipher beside her: "Cipher... well, she has good eyes and is quick. She happened to see Huo Huo sitting on a bench, and then... then she suddenly vanished on the spot! Only a pair of sunglasses was left on the ground... that's the general situation."
Black Herta listened quietly, her purple-black eyes turning toward Cipher: "You saw the process?"
Being watched by those eyes, Cipher subconsciously shrank her neck. She felt as if she were being locked onto by some invisible presence, making her skin crawl.
She nodded.
"Yes! I saw it with my own eyes! She was just sitting there, then'shua', she was gone! It was very sudden, without any warning at all!"
Black Herta didn't ask further. Instead, she took two steps forward and came before Cipher.
She was quite a bit taller than Cipher. She looked down slightly, then reached out her right hand, clad in a black lace glove, and lightly tapped Cipher's forehead with her index finger.
The movement was light and fast, a touch and then gone.
Cipher only felt a trace of coolness where her forehead was touched, like an ice chip had been pressed against it, which then vanished.
She touched her forehead blankly, then looked at Black Herta, not understanding what this sudden gesture meant.
Meanwhile, Black Herta had already withdrawn her hand, her eyelids slightly lowered as if she were processing something.
Through that brief contact, she had directly read the memory of that moment from Cipher—the fox-person maiden dazing on the bench, the sudden disappearance without warning, the fallen sunglasses, and the trace of abnormality in the air that was almost impossible to catch.
(As expected... it wasn't a conventional spatial transfer or invisibility.)
Deep within Black Herta's purple-black eyes, a trace of realization and coldness flickered.
Baiheng watched from the side, her heart filled with unease.
Huo Huo's disappearance was too eerie, and that silk pouch she had given out... although her original intention was to complete the mission, what if... she couldn't help but ask: "Master, Huo Huo's disappearance... could it be related to that silk pouch? Was it due to my improper handling?"
Black Herta looked up and glanced at Baiheng. That gaze was calm, but it made Baiheng fall silent immediately.
"It has nothing to do with you."
Black Herta's voice was still flat, but it carried an unquestionable certainty. "Something else has interfered."
She paused, her gaze sweeping over Baiheng and Cipher. "Act with caution lately; there are many eyes in the shadows of the Luofu. I will handle this matter."
As soon as she finished speaking, without giving Baiheng time to ask more, Black Herta's figure became as abrupt as her appearance. She turned into a faint spray of purple-black light particles, like mist scattered by the wind, quickly dissipating into the air as if she had never been there.
In the courtyard, only Baiheng and Cipher were left looking at each other.
Cipher blinked, touched her forehead again, and whispered: "She just... left? Why did she tap me just now? To check if I was lying?"
Baiheng breathed a sigh of relief, yet her heart felt heavy.
For Madam Herta to move personally meant that Huo Huo's disappearance was by no means a small matter.
She patted Cipher's shoulder: "Don't overthink it. Since Master said she'll handle it, we just follow orders. Keep a low profile lately."
Cipher nodded, though she was still filled with curiosity about the whole affair.
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