Sixteenth Night Orange Scent

The young woman wore a white top paired with a red pleated wide-leg skirt.

This was a typical shrine maiden outfit.

Hearing a sound, she emerged from a side building.

She was very short, only about five feet tall, with her long hair tied up and wrapped in white sandalwood paper. Her face was small and delicate.

Judging by her appearance, she seemed to be a gentle person.

"Zhang-san,"

the shrine maiden greeted with a smile.

Xu Mu used his God's Eye to check her identity.

Name: Tōnoki Tōka

Title: Shrine Maiden of Yuki Shrine, Daughter of the Head of the Yukionna Clan's Branch Family

Affection: 0

Destiny Level: 5 (Max Level 10)

"Tōka-chan, I've brought another expert this time. We're heading out to find my friend,"

Zhang Wei said in the island country's language.

"That's wonderful. I've been very worried about Shishi since she went missing,"

Tōnoki Tōka replied with a gentle smile.

Xu Mu looked at the woman and asked curiously in the island country's language, "Are you from the Yukionna Clan?"

Tōnoki Tōka was startled by this. She covered her mouth and said, "Your pronunciation is so standard—I can't even tell you're from the Dragon Kingdom."

"I have a basic understanding of the island country's language,"

Xu Mu paused and continued, "Please answer my earlier question."

Chen Xuan, standing nearby, was secretly amazed. "As expected of Mu-ge, he's so learned. My knowledge of their language is limited to a few simple words."

Li Hongdou also looked up in surprise—Xu Mu really knew a lot.

Did he never have any fun when he was younger?

"I am from the Yukionna Clan, but I'm from the branch family. The head family's surname is simply Yuki or Yuki no Shita,"

Tōnoki Tōka explained. "Our ancestors were adopted into other families and took their surnames."

Xu Mu nodded. "Understood."

With that, he returned to Chen Xuan and the others.

Zhang Wei said to Tōnoki Tōka, "We'll head over now."

"Alright, take care on the road."

Tōnoki Tōka gave a slight nod.

The group walked about a hundred meters behind the shrine, and Zhang Wei placed his hand on a stone wall there.

As the formation activated, they all entered the ruins.

Xu Mu looked around and found the scene inside similar to the outside—still mountain forest.

The only difference was a huge granite boulder ahead.

This boulder stood out oddly in the forest.

Zhang Wei led them toward it, and then the reason became clear.

On the other side of the stone, there was a space half a meter wide and about two meters high, seemingly appearing out of thin air.

Inside this space, all that could be seen were rocks everywhere, identical to those around them.

"So that's how they do it,"

Xu Mu couldn't help but laugh.

The stone was clearly for camouflage.

If it weren't for this boulder, someone standing inside the inner realm would see the same gap, but the gap would be filled with trees—completely different terrain from the other side.

By placing a boulder at the contact point to block the view, it was nearly impossible to notice from the inner realm unless someone was specifically searching.

"This is the intersection zone of the inner realm. Not many people know about it; it belongs to the Habuki family's territory,"

Zhang Wei said with a smile. "That woman outside is from that family."

"Wait!"

Xu Mu suddenly frowned. "You said that woman outside is from the Habuki family? What's her name?"

"Habuki Tōka. She was sent here half a year ago and is much easier to deal with than the previous contact,"

Zhang Wei replied with a smile.

"What the hell?"

Xu Mu was stunned. It seemed they had been tricked.

"Mu-ge, what did you find?"

Chen Xuan asked from the side.

"We have a good relationship with the Habuki family, right? And Lin Ruoshi went to help them?"

Xu Mu asked uncertainly.

"Exactly. Besides the head family of the Yukionna, the Habuki family is the strongest branch, with many subordinate branches all on their side,"

Zhang Wei explained.

"Is the Tōnoki family also a branch?"

Xu Mu got straight to the point.

"I didn't expect you to know so much about the Yukionna Clan,"

Zhang Wei said, surprised. "You're right—the Tōnoki family is also a branch, but they're allied with the head family."

Hearing this, Xu Mu shook his head slightly. It turned out they had been outmaneuvered from the very beginning.

Lin Ruoshi's capture made perfect sense now.

He thought for a moment, needing a reason to tell them that that woman was not from the Habuki family at all.

"Xu Mu, did you notice something?"

Li Hongdou asked curiously.

"I just felt that woman looked familiar, like I've seen her somewhere before. The tone of her speech was also very similar,"

Xu Mu prepared a forced explanation. "Back when I trained with my master, I happened to meet the Yukionna Clan."

"What? You mean you've seen her before?"

Li Hongdou immediately asked.

"I've seen someone similar, but she definitely wasn't named Habuki. She was named Tōnoki."

Xu Mu looked at the people around him. "I only said that because I found her familiar, I purposely struck up a conversation, but her tone and the timbre of her voice are also very similar."

"Impossible! She was personally sent by the previous handler. The last handler worked with me for five years, and the intelligence she provided me was almost never wrong."

Zhang Wei shook his head vigorously, refusing to believe it.

"People always change. What if that previous handler was threatened or bribed, and you just don’t know about it?"

Chen Xuan interjected from the side, "No matter what, I trust Brother Mu."

Li Hongdou thought for a moment, then said, "Better to believe it exists than to risk it not. If she’s fake, then almost all the recent intelligence has been leaked to the Zong family."

"Brother Mu, what do we do?"

Chen Xuan turned to Xu Mu for direction.

"What else can we do? Go back in. Her cultivation is only at the Grandmaster level, so she probably can’t see through my Concealment Barrier. We’ll do a video call outside, so you guys can see for yourselves."

As Xu Mu spoke, he led the group out of the ruins and back behind the shrine. After starting a video call with Chen Xuan, he walked toward the house on the far side, phone in hand, with the Concealment Barrier active.

Through his perception, he sensed that she was sitting in a chair inside the room, scrolling through her phone.

Xu Mu quickly reached the door and pushed it open.

Sixteen-Night Chengxiang immediately turned toward the entrance. She stepped out, glanced around, and seeing no one else, closed the door again and locked it.

By then, Xu Mu was already inside her room, filming her with his phone.

Sixteen-Night Chengxiang found a contact and made a call.

"Hey, they’ve gone in—one old woman and two young people. My camera already captured their faces. I’ll send you the photos later."

Sixteen-Night Chengxiang grinned into the phone. "Hahaha! A bunch of dumb fools from the Dragon Kingdom, just marching in one after another to be picked off."

On the other end.

Zhang Wei’s face turned green when he heard the voice from the phone.

"What did she say?"

Li Hongdou immediately asked.