Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

2Hearing him say that, everyone else had trouble finding the words to say something.      1

That is until Ruishi Lei said something.      

"If that were the case, it would be best to contact her in some way. If it really does come down to this, her knowledge and experience would be valuable. To let her go on her own would risk losing an advantage."     

Niu Hong turned to look at him as did the others. But unlike the others, the ox-kin had a somewhat infuriated expression on his face.      

"Really? A young woman like her had such experiences but you treat her like some object?" he asked.      

The other members of the Four Claws quietly watched their generally calm leader walk up to Ruishi Lei. Niu Hong stared at the White Lion eye to eye.      

"You may think of this as sympathy or pity but it is anything but that. Perhaps consider it a common decency to not send someone back to their own hell", he said to him.      

The ox-kin then looked around the room.      

"While we cannot do anything to stop the activation from happening, we can allow it to be easier for her to leave. And even if she does leave, we can keep in contact with her. Better yet, I'm sure that either of you makes a point of it, they could allow us as the Zodiacs to enter first. Doing so would make it much easier to send her back", he said.      

"But then, what of the others?" She Xing mentioned.     

"They will learn sooner or later, better to tell them in the end or hide it until the very last minute. I know that Zhu Xie and Shu Yi have loose mouths but once we enter the Human Continent, none of that would matter then", he answered.      

"That's true."     

The snake-kin nodded, agreeing with the suggestion but Niu Hong wasn't done just yet.     

"The only mouths we should worry about are the ones in this very house", he said, "Who here would leak any of this information out?"     

Everyone was quiet, none of them spoke at this moment. The ox-kin took this silence as the answer.      

"We'll move forward with this then. Suggest ourselves as the first to enter the Teleportation Array and bring her back to the Human Continent. After that, we can decide for ourselves what will happen."     

Quietly agreeing to this, they moved to leave the house except for Bai Sheng, who suddenly said something.     

"Wait, if it's possible, I'd like to meet with her again, both me and my son. We know that it was her that knocked the Earthbound Tortoise down and we want to thank her for it."     

And Niu Hong responded in kind.      

"We all want to thank her, for one thing, or another. We will see what can be done but it may be better to try to convince your father first."     

She smiled at him.      

"That is not going to be very difficult."     

"Ahahah, he does dote on you quite a bit", said Ao Qin, "Why else would he have this house built for you in days? A perfect recreation of your previous home, in fact."     

The dragon-kin chuckled, taking a good look around the well-furnished home.      

"After living there for so long, it's hard to adapt to this new life. Fortunately, Xiao Bai didn't have much trouble but as for me, I still find it a bit awkward", she said to him, "But I should thank you for taking the blame for injuring a few of our warriors. I know that you did it for her, Ao Qin."     

"Hah, I do what I feel like doing. Besides, they wouldn't have captured her either way", he said.      

"Nevertheless, thank you."     

She looked at him and lowered her head sincerely to which Ao Qin scratched his head and looked away, clearing his throat.      

"Ahahah, there's no need to at like that. We'll be taking out leave now."     

Pushing the door open, he was the first the leave while everyone else bowed their heads and said farewell to the mother, filing out of the house. This marked the start of an operation, one that came swiftly.      

It wasn't long before the Zodiacs were gathered before the elders, standing for their next orders. All of the elders were there and one of them stood up.      

"Given that you twelve are some of the best out there, we saw fit to hand this next mission to you. Once Lao Yang is finished analyzing the key, we shall move towards activating the teleportation array. Our forces will be standing by to keep watch and move should things be more... difficult than they seem to be. However, the Zodiacs will be tasked with entering the array and going into the Human Continent first. It is through your strength and expertise that we'll know what the situation is exactly" said the elder.      

They then looked down at the Zodiacs before saying the next line.      

"Do you all accept this mission?"     

Every one of them put a hand to their chest and lowered their heads.      

"Yes!"     

With a collected shout, they agreed before another elder stood up, looking at them with a pair of menacing eyes. It was Bai Weishi, Elder of the Byakko Tribe. He gave each of them a hard look before speaking.     

"As part of this, we understand there needs to be a mediator or an ambassador of sorts, someone that could represent us. Thus, I will be sending my daughter, Sheng'er along. Some of you may know her for the title of 'Tigress' in her time as a seeker. However, she is both a mother and my daughter. Do not mistreat her or I will personally hunt you down."     

After he gave this warning, Bai Sheng walked out and stood in front of the Zodiacs. She lowered her head and bowed before sharing a gaze with everyone.      

"Bai Sheng greets the Zodiacs, I hope that you will take care of me."      

The others all followed, lowering their heads to greet her and introducing themselves. After a moment of the congregation, Ruishi Wang then stood up to speak.      

"Now that you have all been somewhat acquainted with one another. We must tell you that the activation and expedition into the Human Continent will happen a month from now. Until then, we believe that this time will be spent best gathering your strength and staying at your peak state. That is all, this meeting will be adjourned."      

There was murmuring as the elders rose from their seats, speaking with each other or leaving immediately.      

The Zodiacs were the same, leaving to prepare for this. Among them, those who had spoken before gave each other a look. Their plan was set in motion.      

But things are never as they seem.      

WIthin another section of the city was a great estate comparable to that of the Byakko or the Ruishi Tribe. Unlike those two, however, there was a different set of statues guarding the gates of this land. It was a pair of foxes, stone foxes with more than a few tails, nine to be exact.      

This was the home of the Huxian Tribe, in which Huxian Qie resided. The fox-kin laid behind a paper screen, holding a fan to cover the lower half of her face. Sitting there leisurely, a pair of her tribesmen appeared, kneeling on the other side of the paper screen, obscuring their view of her.      

"We greet the elder!"     

Lowering their heads, they stared at the ground, daring not to look up.      

"Mm, rise. Tell me did you find anything interesting?" she asked them.      

"Yes, the Four Claws and the Red Dragon, Ao Qin have been meeting together more often. We do not know why but it seems that they have been writing letters."     

"Letters? To who?"     

"We do not know."     

Huxian Qie suddenly closed her fan and pointed at them.     

"Then find out! Who could they be speaking to that can evade our intelligence network?! The quicker we find out, the more time we'll have to plan! Whether or not the Human Continent is in shambles, we will all soon battle for supremacy. The more advantages we gain, the longer our tribe will thrive, now go!"     

"Yes, elder!"