“The fox is gone.” Lei Shuang returned with the news. “And that little monster with it is nowhere to be seen.”
She had already gone to the neighboring courtyard to check.
The bedding in the guest room where Yan Zhao had been staying still held lingering warmth; the person had just left.
Feng Jin was startled, standing up with a swish, her expression anxious: “Taken by Fuyun Sect?”
Lei Shuang was surprised she was so concerned, shaking her head: “Not necessarily.”
Feng Jin looked at her.
“Those people haven’t left yet.” Lei Shuang explained. “If this was their goal, and they’ve already achieved it, why wouldn’t they leave?”
Feng Jin felt slightly relieved: “That’s true.”
Lei Shuang folded her arms and raised an eyebrow at her. “You should be able to tell me, what exactly is your relationship with this little monster? And what’s the deal with that Spirit Fox? Why are you so concerned about it?”
Feng Jin pondered, her expression turning troubled.
Lei Shuang observed her expression and asked again: “Can you not say, or do you not want to say?”
Feng Jin sighed and said helplessly: “I can only tell you that this Spirit Fox is deeply connected to Immortal Venerable Yuanqing. You must not have any designs on it.”
“Who?” Lei Shuang blinked in shock. “Immortal Venerable Yuanqing?! Are you sure you’re not deceiving me?”
Feng Jin snorted coldly: “Believe it or not.”
Lei Shuang cupped her chin in thought, looking sideways at Feng Jin with a scrutinizing gaze, thinking to herself: True, she has no reason to lie to me about this.
But soon, a new question arose in Lei Shuang’s mind: “Hey, but, Immortal Venerable Yuanqing has been dead for three hundred years. She did have a Spirit Pet when she was alive, but that was the Divine Beast Crouching Crane from the Taixu Immortal Realm. I’ve never heard of her raising a fox?”
Feng Jin: “…”
·
The shadow searched every corner of the stronghold but found no trace of a suspicious Devil.
Left with no choice, it went to the mountainside to report back to Ling Jiancheng.
“Nothing?” You Ying couldn’t believe it. “How is that possible? The villagers at the foot of the mountain all said the Fiendish Devil went up the mountain. We came all this way, and only that stronghold is the most suspicious!”
Ling Jiancheng concentrated, deep in thought: “Someone is lying.”
If there truly was no trace of the Devil in the stronghold, then the villagers at the foot of the mountain hadn’t told the truth.
You Ying disagreed: “But I asked around several households, and they all had the same story…”
A spark of realization flashed through You Ying’s mind, and he suddenly understood: “It’s precisely because they were all the same, that it’s suspicious! They must have coordinated their stories!”
But why would they do that?
Ling Jiancheng stood up: “We’ll make a trip down the mountain.”
The sky was dark tonight, thick clouds obscuring the moonlight.
Ling Jiancheng and You Ying reached the base of the mountain, when a figure suddenly appeared ahead, blocking their path.
You Ying initially thought it was an ambush, raising his sword warily and stepping forward to shield Ling Jiancheng.
But upon closer inspection, there was only one person on the mountain path.
The surrounding forest was silent, with no hidden accomplices.
Ling Jiancheng pushed You Ying’s sword down and faced the newcomer: “Are you a disciple of Fuyun Sect?”
The newcomer was dressed in the white robes of a Fuyun Sect Inner Disciple, holding a Compass in her left hand. Judging from her cultivation base, she was likely between Foundation Establishment and Body Tempering.
“Disciple Bi Lan of Tianzhu Peak, greetings to the two Senior Brothers.” Bi Lan cupped her hands in salute.
You Ying relaxed his guard: “So it’s Junior Sister from Tianzhu Peak. But you look unfamiliar. I don’t think we’ve ever met before?”
Bi Lan answered with great composure: “To be honest, I was just promoted to the inner sect not long ago. Because I wanted to participate in the Immortal Sect Disciple Assembly, I requested this opportunity for training down the mountain from Immortal Venerable Yuan Yi. Indeed, I haven’t had the chance to meet Senior Brothers before.”
“I see.” Ling Jiancheng, having learned the reason, nodded. “However, Junior Sister Bi appearing here in the middle of the night doesn’t seem like a coincidence.”
Bi Lan truthfully stated: “Indeed, no. I was waiting for the two Senior Brothers to come down from the mountain.”
You Ying was surprised and spoke bluntly: “Could it be you guessed we’d find nothing on this trip?”
Ling Jiancheng discreetly nudged him with his elbow. You Ying realized his mistake, his face flushing with embarrassment, and awkwardly stepped aside, staying silent.
Hearing this, Bi Lan secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
This meant the two Senior Brothers hadn’t seen Yan Zhao in the stronghold, and presumably, the Stronghold Leader hadn’t told them everything about what happened last night.
Bi Lan then spoke: “I know where the Fiendish Devil that wreaked havoc in Zhuangan Village last night is right now.”
Ling Jiancheng’s expression turned serious. He exchanged a glance with You Ying before pressing: “Truly?”
“It’s hard to explain in a few words. Senior Brothers, please look.” Bi Lan raised the Compass in her hand, formed a hand seal with her right hand, and channeled a stream of Spiritual Qi into it.
Immediately, a hazy current of air gathered on the Compass, swirling into a bright mirror.
The mirror showed a somewhat unclear image, but it was enough to partially reconstruct the bloody and brutal scene in that small courtyard.
“A Corpse Puppet?” Ling Jiancheng’s brow furrowed deeply. “This is the Fiendish Devil that committed the murders last night?!”
Bi Lan stopped at just the right point: “As Senior Brother said, the killer was a Corpse Puppet.”
She waved her sleeve over the Compass, and the image in the mirror vanished from Ling Jiancheng and You Ying’s sight.
Remembering Bi Lan’s earlier words, You Ying asked urgently: “You just said you know the whereabouts of this Corpse Puppet?”
Bi Lan nodded: “Yes, this thing is still at the small courtyard where the crime occurred. If my words are true, the two Senior Brothers can go to Zhuangan Village and see for yourselves.”
A look of doubt crossed You Ying’s face as he questioned: “If you witnessed the Corpse Puppet killing people, why didn’t you intervene to save them then?”
Cold sweat broke out in Bi Lan’s palms, her heart racing.
She had forgotten to think of a reasonable answer in advance.
But this time, before she could speak, Ling Jiancheng answered for her: “This Corpse Puppet’s cultivation is not weak, at least at the Body Tempering Realm. Junior Sister Bi hasn’t been in the sect for long. Encountering such a sudden event, it’s understandable that she didn’t know how to react.”
You Ying was convinced and nodded: “That makes sense.”
Bi Lan felt as if she’d escaped a calamity, but her back was soaked with cold sweat.
Half an hour later, led by Bi Lan, the three of them traveled together back to Zhuangan Village. They dug a deep pit in the courtyard and indeed found a wooden coffin.
The coffin lid had shattered, and the coffin was filled with mud, covering the Corpse Puppet beneath it.
The moment this coffin was unearthed, Evil Qi soared into the sky from the courtyard.
Fortunately, the formation drawn on the ground with Beast Blood had already been damaged. Ling Jiancheng and You Ying jointly used a Sealing Technique, completely eliminating the possibility of the Corpse Puppet rising again to harm anyone.
At the end, You Ying asked Ling Jiancheng: “Senior Brother, what do we do next?”
Ling Jiancheng lowered his eyes: “Return to the sect to report.”
·
At the back mountain clear pool of the stronghold, Ren Qingyue lifted Yan Zhao out of the water.
To avoid being discovered by the Shadow, they had to go down the mountain quickly while it was still searching the stronghold.
Taking the main road in front was naturally out of the question, but the back mountain path was treacherous, the terrain exceptionally steep. Ren Qingyue’s Dharma Power had not recovered, so she couldn’t ride a sword, making the descent very difficult.
Ren Qingyue’s gaze fell on Yan Zhao, and she sighed helplessly.
When had she ever stooped to such a lowly task? Yet for Yan Zhao, she had already broken her bottom line several times.
But things had come to this point; it had to be done.
In the hazy night, pure Qi swirled around Ren Qingyue.
In the blink of an eye, a flash of silver light appeared in the darkness, revealing a half-human-height, elegantly poised Nine-Tailed Fox.
A fiery red mark at the brow of the Nine-Tailed Fox exuded an ancient and mysterious aura.
It bent down, picked up the collar of Yan Zhao’s clothes in its mouth, and swung its head, tossing her onto its back.
Its nine tails swayed flexibly, firmly protecting Yan Zhao, preventing her from falling off.
Under the night sky, it was as if a silver wind swept through the forest. Beasts, fish, and insects all scurried into their burrows, not daring to show themselves.
By the time dawn was breaking, Ren Qingyue had already carried Yan Zhao over several mountain peaks, far from the Bandit Stronghold, arriving at an unfamiliar mountain hollow.
Calculating the time, the Deep Sleep Spell cast on Yan Zhao should be wearing off soon.
The first ray of morning sunlight pierced through the clouds. A silver shadow flickered in the forest, and Yan Zhao’s body was tossed into the air before falling back down into a soft embrace.
Ren Qingyue found a clean cave. Without tidying it much, she found a flat spot and laid Yan Zhao down.
Soon after, Yan Zhao’s eyelashes fluttered, showing signs of waking.
Why does the bed feel harder?
This thought crossed Yan Zhao’s mind before she opened her eyes.
Then, she lifted her eyelids, and the surrounding environment entered her vision.
“…”
Where is this?
She felt like she hadn’t experienced this since moving into the stronghold—opening her eyes to find herself in a completely unfamiliar place.
She turned her head to look around and quickly spotted a little fluffy ball curled up in a circle.
It was the Little Fox.
Although she somehow suddenly left the stronghold, Little Fox was still with her.
Then the reason for leaving the stronghold didn’t matter.
Yan Zhao thought: Whatever.
She leaned over and poked the fox’s ear.
The Little Fox had been running all night and was exhausted. Now, disturbed in its good sleep by Yan Zhao, it was a little angry.
Its pointy little ear flattened, and its paw lifted to cover its ear tightly.
Yan Zhao chuckled at the sight and continued poking: “Wake up, quick, stop sleeping. Get up and see where we are now.”
The Little Fox was woken up by Yan Zhao. It opened its eyes, grabbed Yan Zhao’s arm, and bit down hard.
Yan Zhao winced: “Sss— Biting me again?”
She raised her hand and shook it. The Little Fox’s mouth was clamped onto her forearm; as her arm moved, the fox’s body and tail swayed along with it.
Yan Zhao tugged its ear: “Let go, quick. How can you have such a bad temper?”
The Little Fox released its mouth and dropped from Yan Zhao’s arm.
The moment it landed, it jumped up again, pouncing into Yan Zhao’s arms.
The force of the pounce sent Yan Zhao falling backward, landing on her rear on the ground.
The fox’s head burrowed into her collar, nuzzling into her bosom, its nose poking around, tickling her intensely.
Yan Zhao hugged it with both hands, unable to help laughing: “What are you fussing about? Don’t think that by sucking up to me, I’ll forgive you for suddenly biting me!”
Before she even finished speaking, the Little Fox burrowed out of her clothes again, holding Yan Zhao’s Universe Pouch in its mouth.
Yan Zhao: “?”
“What are you doing with my stuff?”
The Little Fox ignored her. It poked its pointy nose into the Universe Pouch, and a moment later, backed out with something in its mouth.
Yan Zhao saw clearly; it was the Map uniformly distributed by the sect before she went down the mountain.
The fox spread the map open right in front of Yan Zhao and pressed a tiny paw onto it.
Yan Zhao looked down and read quietly: “Turtle Back Mountain?”
The spot the fox’s paw was pressing on, Turtle Back Mountain, was over three hundred li from Zhuangan Village.
“…I ran that far in one night?”
Yan Zhao frowned, cupped her chin in her hand, and her expression gradually grew serious.
The Little Fox looked up.
It saw Yan Zhao lie down on the spot.
“?”
Yan Zhao closed her eyes and let out a long breath: “That was really hard on me. Let me sleep a bit longer.”
Bruh…😂