Jill Young's voice echoed down the corridor, penetrating far and wide. The two palace maids standing guard at the door turned to look at her, but they weren't all that surprised—after all, they'd already seen this happen several times over the past few days.
Normally, you'd expect someone who's asleep to be pretty quiet, right? Wu Zhengfeng had already warned them not to be shocked by anything she did, but this young palace lord was just... way too lively! Sound asleep one minute, and then suddenly up and stretching her legs. Sometimes she'd chow down on lamb shank or beef, sometimes she'd belt out songs that echoed through the halls, and sometimes she'd drag people into dancing with her. Those wild, stop-and-go dance moves were truly one-of-a-kind—and honestly, pretty entertaining.
The most ridiculous moment? She stumbled around half-asleep until she found those three elephants, then suddenly decided to train them for a show—what was it called again? Oh right, a circus. She insisted the elephants had to walk a lap on their hind legs.
But you had to admit, she was something special—because she actually pulled it off. Half-asleep and mumbling like a drunk, she somehow managed to communicate with the elephants. No one knew how she did it, but after her cheerful 'Hey!' and a wave, the elephants obediently stood up and walked a lap on their hind legs.
Honestly, everyone who was there had their eyes popping out, all thinking the same thing—Heart Severing and Thought Cutting Technique really is a miracle-working superpower!
But she never made a fuss for long—her antics were always short and simple, never hurt anyone or broke anything, and she never went out of control. Plus, once she was satisfied, she'd run right back to the secret chamber and flop down again, so nobody had to worry about her wandering off.
Compared to her first time bursting through the door and belting out, "I~~ stand in the hunting wind, wishing I could wipe away this endless pain!"—which was a pretty dazzling entrance—this time was actually pretty normal. But... Wu Jiaoniang? Was she talking about the Palace Lord? The maids felt like they'd just overheard some major gossip, exchanging glances and silent messages.
No need to report it—everyone in Spirit Eagle Palace heard that shout. In a flash, Wu Zhengfeng came rushing over. She hadn't been around for a few days, and now she'd grown up a bit, but she was still somewhere between a little girl and a young teen, with just a hint of a developing chest. "You little troublemaker..." Wu Zhengfeng sighed, standing in front of Jill Young. "What now?"
Jill instantly wilted, like a kid who'd been wronged, obediently grabbing Wu Zhengfeng's sleeve and shaking it, her voice pitiful: "Someone bullied me with sound skills..."
Hiss—both palace maids stared at Jill, their faces turning red. The usually fierce young palace lord was suddenly acting so cute and vulnerable... In short, they were utterly destroyed by the sheer, unexpected cuteness.
But Wu Zhengfeng wasn't falling for it. Out of everyone in Spirit Eagle Palace, she knew Jill best—right now, Jill was in a weird mental state. One second she could be an angelic little kid, the next, who knows what kind of oddball. And from experience, this teary-eyed loli act never lasted more than a second.
So Wu Zhengfeng squinted, leaned her upper body back to keep her distance, and replied flatly, "Oh? How did she bully you?"
"It's this woman who's been whispering all kinds of annoying, infuriating things in my ear!" Jill kept shaking Wu Zhengfeng's sleeve. "I can't take it anymore—what do I do, what do I do?!"
Huh? More than a second? Wu Zhengfeng was surprised, then asked curiously, "What was she saying?" From her own experience, entering the Heart Severing and Thought Cutting state often brought up all kinds of demonic illusions, so this wasn't totally unexpected.
"She said..." Jill paused, then suddenly turned to the maids, eyes still closed but voice back to her queenly tone, barking, "You two, get out."
"Yes, ma'am!" The two maids jolted and hurried off. As they ran, they heard Jill's triumphant voice behind them: "Haha, caught a little loli!"
Peeking back, they saw Jill grab the struggling Wu Zhengfeng from behind and roll with her into the secret chamber. The stone gate slammed shut, blocking all view.
The two maids exchanged a glance—may the Palace Lord be safe.
Inside the chamber, Wu Zhengfeng gave up struggling. Her internal energy had recovered a lot, but when it came to brute strength, even ten of her tied together couldn't match Jill. Still, she had some experience—Jill was like a child at times, and it was easy to distract her. So she immediately asked, "So, what exactly was that woman saying?"
Sure enough, Jill stopped messing around right away.
"She said—" Jill leaned in close to Wu Zhengfeng's ear and whispered three words: "Mmm~~~ Ah~~~ Oh~~~"
Wu Zhengfeng froze, her mind going totally blank. Jill had perfectly mimicked Lady Simone's sound skill—the tone was winding and subtle, with warm breath blowing right into her ear. With each sound—first 'Mmm,' then 'Ah,' then 'Oh'—Wu Zhengfeng clenched her fist, her hair stood on end, and she gritted her teeth, eyes squeezed shut, unable to stop herself from squirming.
"Annoying, right? If I had to describe it, it's kinda like—" The next second, Jill opened her mouth and chomped down on Wu Zhengfeng's ear.
"Yaaahhh!!" Wu Zhengfeng shot up like someone had flipped a switch, but then Jill licked her earlobe and she froze again, both of them crashing to the floor in a heap.
"N-no, stop!" The two of them rolled around on the floor, Wu Zhengfeng gasping for breath, hair a mess. Jill just hummed and laughed through her nose, refusing to let go, then gave a gentle nibble before finally letting go: "That's the feeling—super annoying, right?"
This chapter isn't over yet ^.^ Click next page to keep reading!
Wu Zhengfeng didn't answer. She lay in Jill's arms, staring dazedly at the ceiling, face flushed and panting—this little episode had been a bit too much for her.
Jill wasn't done yet—her mischievous hand reached for somewhere else, and in a teasing big-sister voice she muttered, "Looks like you've grown up..."
"Yaaahhh!!" Wu Zhengfeng finally broke free from Jill's hand, jumped up, pressed herself against the wall in a corner, and shrieked, "Don't come any closer!"
Jill really didn't chase her—she just sat on the floor, looking pitiful again: "So how do I fix it?"
"Huff, huff..." Wu Zhengfeng clutched her chest, breathing hard until she calmed down. Watching Jill roll around on the floor yelling, "What do I do, what do I do!" Wu Zhengfeng couldn't hold back anymore and finally lost it, pounding her pink fists against the wall in a wild flurry: "How does this even happen?!" When she'd done her own closed-door training, nothing like this had ever happened—so why was everything so different with Jill?
Honestly, what she wanted to punch most was Jill, but she was afraid Jill would grab her and start messing around again—so she settled for punching the wall.
After a few punches, she felt better and said to Jill, who was still measuring the floor with her belly, "Just make sure she can't make any sound."
"Huh?" Jill immediately sat up straight. "What do you mean?"
"Sound skills—the Freewind Sect has them too. Back when my master pulled me back from the brink, she used a sound skill called Heavenly Dragon Way Sound. The key to sound skills is coordination, flow, and focus—if you disrupt your opponent and break their rhythm, their technique is naturally defeated." Wu Zhengfeng figured this was a good teaching moment, so she laid it all out: "I'll teach you Heavenly Dragon Way Sound right now. With the right throat and muscle technique, it's really powerful. Maybe not enough to win a fight, but if you just want to break someone else's sound skill, here's the simplest trick—just sing really loud."
She remembered Jill belting out a song a few days ago—the power, the shock, it was perfect material for sound skills: "That time you sang, 'Gazing at the sky, clouds swirl from all sides, sword in hand, who in the world is a hero?'—that was exactly it. The louder and more passionate, the better! The first time Jill came out, she sang the entire 'Farewell My Concubine'—it stunned everyone in Spirit Eagle Palace. Some even memorized the tune and now the maids sing it among themselves."
Wu Zhengfeng explained the Heavenly Dragon Way Sound technique, and Jill nodded: "Got it, got it—leave it to Old Jill!" Then she gritted her teeth and hummed, "You wanna mess with me using those weird moans? Watch me hit you with some real nerves—here comes my 'Nervous,' let's go—huff..." With that, Jill flopped over and instantly fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.
Seeing Jill finally quiet down, Wu Zhengfeng breathed a sigh of relief. She flipped a switch, and the stone gate slowly rose. That gate was never meant to be opened by hand, but Jill had turned it into manual mode—honestly, it was both hilarious and exasperating.
At the door, Wu Zhengfeng glanced back at Jill's sleeping face, then couldn't help but touch her own ear. Remembering that feeling from earlier, she shivered all over, blurted out a nervous "Mmm!" and dashed away before she could think about it any further.
—————————————————— End of the out-of-battle friend support segment ——————————————
Embroidered Jade Valley, beside the pool, The Fool opened his eyes.
He'd only had his eyes closed for a moment, but while they were shut, he was clueless—when he opened them, he knew exactly what to do. Some distant consciousness sent him a message, and he instantly understood. That Heavenly Dragon Way Sound was powerful, with internal and external methods. The internal method needed energy circulation, but the external one required precise control of the vocal cords and muscles.
Both methods demanded extreme precision—most people needed three to five years to just get the basics. But The Fool flexed his throat muscles twice and immediately found the perfect spot.