Cen Yao hid in the shadow of the tower, quietly watching the royal palace for a moment.
The sun had completely set, and a faint blue-violet twilight hovered over the royal palace.
The palace, which looked holy and magnificent during the day, took on a cold, eerie quality as night fell.
The white-gold spires stood like protruding bone spurs, and the sea of roses swayed gently in the night wind, the edges of their petals tinged with an unnatural dark red.
In the distance, the old garden on the west side was enclosed by high walls. Heavy shadows hung over the area, looking as if someone had sliced out a piece of the night sky and draped it over the spot.
Cen Yao was in no hurry to head over.
Her current goals were very clear.
First, find materials.
Second, explore the royal palace.
Third, cause some trouble for the King.
After all, her current identity was a Witch.
And the King was a thief who had stolen the Witch's treasure.
Since the thief dared to steal, he had to pay a price.
Cen Yao looked down at the patrolling soldiers.
A squad of silver-armored guards was passing under the flower corridor. Their armor was neat, their steps in unison, and the spears in their hands gleamed coldly under the moonlight.
She gently raised her hand.
Several fire butterflies flew out of her sleeves.
They did not emit their usual soft glow. Instead, they suppressed their flames, leaving only an almost imperceptible gold line along the edges of their wings.
The fire butterflies landed silently on the other side of the flower corridor.
In the next second, a sudden clatter echoed from that direction.
It sounded like something had shattered.
The patrolling soldiers stopped immediately.
“Who's there?”
“There's movement over there!”
The squad hurried toward the other side of the flower corridor.
When they arrived, they only saw a shattered flowerpot on the ground, with a small cluster of scorched leaves hanging from the nearby rose branches.
The leading guard frowned. “Was someone just here?”
“Didn't see anyone.”
“Search!”
The soldiers scattered to search.
Cen Yao had already flown over their heads using her wings.
She flew very low, yet without making a single sound.
Her purple Witch's robe brushed gently past the palace eaves in the night wind, looking like a shadow merging into the twilight.
She flew all the way past the greenhouse behind the royal palace.
The greenhouse was locked from the outside, and several protective runes were etched onto the glass.
Cen Yao landed on the windowsill and glanced at the runes.
They were very crude.
It looked as if someone had haphazardly copied a magic circle; the lines were disconnected, and the energy flow was unstable.
She raised her wand and tapped gently.
Click.
The protective runes instantly broke apart.
The door lock popped open on its own.
Cen Yao pushed the door open and stepped inside.
A wave of warmth rushed over her in the greenhouse, the air thick with the scent of soil, pollen, and decaying vegetation.
Moonlight poured through the glass ceiling, illuminating rows of bizarrely shaped plants.
There were red flowers with petals that licked the glass like tongues.
White vines with eyes growing on their stems.
And a few blue-violet mushrooms, their caps expanding and contracting as if breathing silently.
Cen Yao's eyes lit up.
She had come to the right place.
The royal palace truly lived up to its name.
The materials here were far more abundant than those at the outdoor stalls.
She first cast a Protection Spell on herself, released two spirit crows to guard the door, and then began harvesting the materials.
Moon-breath grass, which could stabilize one's mind.
Ghost-face pollen, which could be used to brew hallucinogenic potions.
Blue crying mushrooms—they sounded like they would bring bad luck, but they were actually excellent material for making interference potions.
There was also a small patch of silver-frost moss.
This stuff wasn't cheap in the mall.
Cen Yao's movements were highly practiced.
If she could prune a side branch, she would never damage the main root; if she could harvest pollen, she would never uproot the whole plant; and if she could pluck just a bit, she would never strip it bare.
After all, she might have to come back in the future.
Yet, even though she was very restrained, a significant portion of the precious herbs in the greenhouse had still shrunk by a noticeable margin.
The orb watched her harvest and categorize at the same time, unable to resist whispering, “Host, you look like you're stocking up on inventory.”
Cen Yao earnestly corrected, “It's gathering evidence.”
The orb asked, “What evidence?”
Cen Yao packed the last bit of silver-frost moss into a small vial.
“Evidence of the King's crime of stealing the Witch's treasure.”
The orb: “...”
After finishing her harvest in the greenhouse, Cen Yao did not leave immediately.
She looked at the patch of depleted herb garden, thought for a moment, and raised her wand again.
A line of words, twisted together by vines on their own, slowly appeared in the most prominent spot in the center of the greenhouse.
Those who steal will eventually be stolen from.
After writing it, Cen Yao looked at it twice with satisfaction.
Very good.
It had a very Witch-like style.
She spread her wings again and flew out of the greenhouse's side window.
In less than fifteen minutes, the patrolling soldiers finally noticed something amiss with the greenhouse.
“How is the door open?”
“Oh no! A thief got into the greenhouse!”
“Quick, notify the head chamberlain!”
After the soldiers rushed in, the entire greenhouse fell into an eerie silence.
A few seconds later, a panicked voice pierced the night.
“Who dug up the silver-frost moss the Queen spent half a year growing?!”
“The ghost-face pollen is gone too!”
“How is a whole row of blue crying mushrooms missing?!”
“What are these words? ‘Those who steal will eventually be stolen from’? What does this mean?”
“Quick! Report this to His Majesty immediately!”
Cen Yao had already flown onto the roof of another side palace.
Hearing the commotion in the distance, her lips curved into a pleased smile.
The viewers in the live stream were also laughing their heads off.
【Hahahahahahaha, she really went and stripped the royal greenhouse!】
【I knew it. Lady Witch absolutely can't look away when she sees materials.】
【“Those who steal will eventually be stolen from,” lmao. The King is probably thinking, “Why don't you just read my ID number out loud instead?”】
【The palace guards must be totally dumbfounded. What kind of assassin sneaks into a palace to steal herbs instead of raiding the treasure vault?】
【How can you call what Lady Witch did “stealing”? That's gathering evidence.】
【Don't ask. If you do, it's just her professional specialty.】
【Am I the only one who finds this super satisfying? The King stole her rainbow flower, and she turned around and bald-shaved the royal greenhouse.】
【That's freaking awesome. The streamer really embodies the Witch's style to her very core!】
Cen Yao didn't have the chat open, so she naturally couldn't see the viewers' amusement.
She had already flown toward another building in the palace.
That was the armory.
The armory was heavily guarded. Four silver-armored guards stood at the entrance, and patrol lights swept across the walls.
Cen Yao hovered in midair and pondered.
Slipping in directly wouldn't be difficult.
But that would be too quiet, which didn't fit her current mood for taking revenge on the thief.
She took out a freshly harvested blue crying mushroom from her pocket, added a bit of ghost-face pollen, and crafted a simple little gadget on the spot.
The materials were crude, and the effect was simple.
Three seconds later, a cloud of pale blue smoke drifted from her palm.
Cen Yao gave it a gentle blow.
The smoke drifted toward the armory entrance along with the night wind.
Before the four guards could react, they sneezed simultaneously.
Then, they saw a pair of rabbit ears sprout on top of each other's heads.
“What's that on your head?”
“What's on your head!”
“Don't move! There's something there!”
“Wait, how did you all turn into rabbits?”
The four guards drew their swords at the same time, and the scene instantly fell into chaos.
Hearing the noise, a patrol squad in the distance immediately rushed over.
Cen Yao took advantage of the chaos to enter the armory through a rooftop skylight.
The inside was filled with short swords, spears, shields, and crossbows.
Most of them were just ordinary weapons.
But on the innermost shelf lay several decent metal materials.
Gray-silver iron, red-veined copper, and a small piece of stardust ore.
Cen Yao's eyes lit up instantly.
Rate on N.U.
