Ao Qian’s little mouth opened, and a mirror only the size of a thumb flew out from it, then grew with the wind, soon becoming a copper mirror one foot square with a handle.
Just as Ao Qian was about to channel her magic to activate it, Lu Zheng reached out with one hand and stopped her.
“What is it?” Ao Qian blinked, asking with a puzzled expression.
“This mirror of yours… when you communicate with the Dragon Palace, can the Dragon Palace discern your location through it?” Lu Zheng asked.
“Eh? I do not know?” Ao Qian had never paid attention to that aspect.
“So, we cannot use it here.” Lu Zheng said thoughtfully.
There should be no tracking talismans or spells on Ao Qian’s person, otherwise, after she had been in Da Jing for over half a month, during which she had demonic qi clinging to her and was gravely injured, if the Jade Dragon King could know her whereabouts, he would surely have come to fetch her back long ago.
However, whether this mirror capable of connecting across thousands of li for speech had a tracking function, Lu Zheng was uncertain.
In theory, if it could connect, it should be able to locate, so until it was certain, Lu Zheng had no desire to activate it within Tonglin County’s bounds.
Lu Zheng said to Liu Qingyan, “I shall take Ao Qian to the south for a trip.”
“To the southern frontier?”
Lu Zheng nodded. “Not venturing deep, just to the edge of the southern frontier.”
“I shall go with you.” Liu Qingyan said.
Lu Zheng thought for a moment, then nodded in agreement.
Thus, the two did not return to Tonglin County, but instead turned the cloud around, concealed their forms, and drove the white cloud straight towards the southern frontier.
…
Southern frontier, near Lingnan Circuit, somewhere in nameless mountains.
Having confirmed that the thousand-li mirror could only view the opposite side through the mirror face, Lu Zheng and Liu Qingyan stood behind the mirror.
In any case, with the enemy in the dark and themselves in the light for now, caution was paramount.
The little loli Ao Qian held this large copper mirror, then formed seals and cast the spell. In the next moment, the copper mirror emitted a strand of light.
In less than a moment, the light on the mirror faded, and Ao Qian’s reflection in the copper mirror vanished, replaced by the face of a woman, behind whom was a lavish sleeping palace.
“Qian Bao’er, are you alright? Why only contact Mother now? Where are you?” A warm yet anxious voice came from the copper mirror.
“Mother!” Ao Qian’s eyes reddened, and she seemed on the verge of tears.
“Qian Bao’er is using the thousand-li mirror?” A majestic voice sounded, and then Ao Qian saw her father’s face appear in the mirror.
“Father!”
“Qian Bao’er, where is this? Here is… the Central Plains?”
Ao Qian nodded, then shook her head, wanting to say something but not knowing where to begin.
“Qian Bao’er, your jade plaque was dim and lifeless before. Were you injured?”
“Father, there is a dragon in our Jade Dragon Clan that has fallen to the demonic path!”
Ao Jin and Ao Qian spoke at the same time.
“What?” Ao Jin was startled upon hearing this. “What happened? No, where are you? I shall fetch you back first and speak later. What of Deputy General Xie?”
Half a month ago, Ao Qian’s dragon soul jade plaque had suddenly dimmed, and Ao Jin had personally set out, probing all the way in the direction Ao Qian had gone, yet found nothing. Ao Qian and Deputy General Xie had vanished together.
Searching for three days yielded no results. If not for Ao Qian’s dragon soul jade plaque remaining unbroken, he might have given up hope.
Of course, the good news was that Ao Qian was not dead, so in these days since, besides dispatching several teams of demon soldiers to continue the search, while Ao Qian’s mother had been endlessly worried, he had made preparations, seeing if anyone might come to negotiate over this matter.
Who would have thought that after over half a month, not only had no one come, but Ao Qian’s dragon soul jade plaque suddenly shone brightly again, indicating her injury had greatly improved, leaving Ao Jin utterly baffled for a moment.
Then, his wife had sent a transmission saying Ao Qian had contacted via the thousand-li mirror, urging him to return to the sleeping palace quickly.
“Deputy General Xie has not returned? Then…” Ao Qian said aggrievedly, “Deputy General Xie fought to the death to send me out. He might already have…”
Then, Ao Qian recounted everything that had happened to her before.
“And then, I was saved by Scholar Brother and Fox Sister.” Ao Qian said. “They said it might still be dangerous for me to return now, and it is safer to stay in the Central Plains, to wait until that demonic dragon is dead before going back.”
“So that is how it was. Many thanks to the young master and miss for your righteous aid. Ao Jin is endlessly grateful.”
So that was how it was. Ao Jin finally understood the reason for Ao Qian’s improved condition.
Moreover, Ao Jin could see that as Ao Qian spoke, she occasionally glanced towards the back of the copper mirror. How could he not know that those two still had no intention of appearing in the mirror?
Cautious and meticulous, thoughtful and thorough; they must be elite figures from the Central Plains.
“Senior is too polite. It is merely that this junior also does not know if this mirror has locating or recording functions, so to guard against mishaps, please forgive us, senior.”
Even now, Lu Zheng had no intention of appearing in the mirror, though he also pointed out that this place was not his usual haunt.
“That is as it should be. The young master is finely attuned to details. With Qian Bao’er in your company, we can also rest easy.” Ao Jin said.
Liu Qingyan said, “Ao Qian is very cute. We all like her very much.”
Having spoken with her parents and not needing to return to the Dragon Palace immediately, Ao Qian was quite happy, and upon hearing Liu Qingyan’s praise, she promptly flashed Liu Qingyan a sweet smile and a head tilt that was utterly charming.
“Qian Bao’er loves to play and was always thinking of going out before. This time, she has got her wish.” Ao Jin shook his head with a smile. “Then, I shall trouble the two of you to look after Qian Bao’er for a time.”
“Senior is too polite. It is no trouble at all. Qian Bao’er may stay as long as she likes.”
“Hee hee!” Ao Qian beamed with joy.
At this point, Ao Qian’s mother spoke again. “Qian Bao’er, you may play outside, but remember to contact Mother often.”
“Alright! I know!” Ao Qian nodded repeatedly. “You can rest assured!”
“The thousand-li mirror does indeed have a recording function, but no locating ability.” Ao Jin said. “So in future, when Qian Bao’er contacts us, it may be done indoors without revealing the surroundings.”
Ao Qian nodded repeatedly.
Lu Zheng had no objection. One could not prevent her from communicating with her family, and another was that it would not do to take her thousands of li away for every conversation.
As long as one was careful not to reveal their location while speaking, that would suffice.
“Very well, Qian Bao’er, be good. Remember to listen to your Scholar Brother and Fox Sister. Leave the family matters to Father. Father will avenge you and take vengeance for Deputy General Xie.”
“Mm mm.” Ao Qian nodded her little head vigorously.
Then, Ao Qian’s mother said a few more words to Ao Qian, and then the connection, no, the thousand-li mirror link, was severed.
Ao Jin naturally went to ponder how to root out that demonic clansman within the tribe, and more importantly, to confirm if there was only one demonic dragon, and how it had fallen to the demonic path.
To net them all in one go, of course thorough preparations were needed, so time was indeed required, and Ao Jin did not mention having Ao Qian return soon.
And all of this naturally had no relation to Lu Zheng’s side.
Thus, homeward!
