Chapter 46: A Kiss For The Little Fox

Yan Zhao retreated from the area with the dead bodies alongside Bi Lan.

Bi Lan couldn’t help but warn Yan Zhao, “Junior Sister Yan, when traveling abroad, it’s best to err on the side of caution. Please don’t stray too far from me.”

Otherwise, if something unexpected happened, she wouldn’t be able to reach her in time.

In Yan Zhao’s arms, the little fox curled its lip.

It agreed with Bi Lan’s words but scoffed at her true motives.

It was unclear whether Yan Zhao understood or not. Bi Lan had talked for ages without receiving a single reply.

Bi Lan was already accustomed to Yan Zhao’s behavioral logic and had gradually figured out how to interact with her. She held back the words of caution and simply said, “Come on, let’s head to the Immortal Market first.”

This time, Yan Zhao nodded without hesitation. “Okay.”

Bi Lan carried Yan Zhao towards the nearest Immortal Market. Along the way, Yan Zhao took stock of her gains.

As usual, the edible things went into one pile, the inedible into another. Compared to before, there was an extra step: she took out all the blue Demon Cores and placed them into a separate Universe Pouch.

Before long, Bi Lan brought Yan Zhao to the Immortal Market.

Even though this was her first time at this particular market, Bi Lan was very good at navigating. She quickly found the Exchange Center.

She led Yan Zhao inside. Yan Zhao looked around left and right, her eyes full of curiosity.

Other Cultivators were coming and going in the Exchange Center. When Yan Zhao and Bi Lan entered, they attracted the attention of several people.

Bi Lan heard whispered murmurs.

The little fox’s ears twitched. It also noticed the covert activity around them.

Its little head poked out of Yan Zhao’s arms, carefully observing the surroundings.

It spotted several familiar faces in the crowd.

Many of these people were lucky survivors of the Immortal’s Cave Abode incident. Yan Zhao’s appearance was undeniably eye-catching.

Bi Lan remained calm and led Yan Zhao to the transaction counter. She spoke to the clerk behind it. “We want to exchange Demon Cores.”

The clerk showed Bi Lan the current inventory and types of Demon Cores available at the exchange. Bi Lan passed the booklet to Yan Zhao. “Junior Sister, see how many you want to exchange?”

The two were standing very close, their heads almost touching.

Yan Zhao didn’t make a sound for a long time. Bi Lan thought she couldn’t decide and was about to ask.

Swoosh—

A fox head popped up, stretching its neck to look at the booklet on the table.

It happened to wedge itself right between Bi Lan’s and Yan Zhao’s heads.

Bi Lan: “…”

Yan Zhao scrutinized the ledger in the booklet. Seeing the little fox also seemed curious, she asked it, “Can you understand it?”

The little fox showed a disdainful little expression, as if to say: Who do you think you’re looking down on?

Yan Zhao couldn’t quite understand it. She thought to herself: Is it not feasible to just skip the trading and empty out the Exchange Center directly?

If Bi Lan knew what Yan Zhao was thinking right now, she would definitely regret bringing her here.

However, Bi Lan was completely oblivious. She reached out and nudged the fox’s head aside a little, asking Yan Zhao, “Have you decided? If you can’t make up your mind, just exchange half for now.”

Yan Zhao: “…”

Taking something out of her pocket was more painful than killing her.

After hesitating for a while, she reached into her clothes and pulled out a Universe Pouch.

More time passed as she counted the contents. Yan Zhao still refused to hand over the Demon Cores.

Bi Lan was sweating. She thought to herself: Good thing there’s no one queuing behind us, or else there’d be another conflict to deal with.

Yan Zhao stood in front of the counter, fiddling with the beads inside the Universe Pouch.

Every single one seemed quite good. She couldn’t bear to part with any.

Suddenly, a fox head shot out from the side, snatched her Universe Pouch in its teeth, and tossed it to the clerk who had been waiting impatiently behind the counter.

Yan Zhao froze. “Ah!”

Bi Lan, struggling to hold back her laughter at the side, told the clerk, “Exchange them all for water-attributed Demon Cores.”

“Right away!” The clerk responded. Soon, the grade verification was finished, and they handed the Universe Pouch back. “Please confirm the count.”

Yan Zhao immediately ripped the pouch open and meticulously double-checked.

She finished quickly and pursed her lips. Not a single one less, but not a single one more either.

“Alright.” Bi Lan sensed several malicious gazes behind them. She grabbed Yan Zhao’s wrist and pulled her towards the door.

Yan Zhao looked back every few steps, unable to forget the Demon Core figures on that ledger.

Bi Lan didn’t know what else Yan Zhao had noticed, but she absolutely could not let Yan Zhao act on her own.

So she dragged Yan Zhao forcefully outside the Immortal Market. “Junior Sister Yan, it’s getting late. We still have to travel.”

Yan Zhao was reluctant, but though she was unwilling, she had no choice but to follow Bi Lan.

The little fox, draped over Yan Zhao’s shoulder, looked back. As expected, it saw several people follow them out of the Exchange Center.

Recalling the corpses they had seen earlier in the forest, the little fox frowned slightly.

All were one-hit kills, leaving no traces behind except for the penetrating wound at the back of the head.

Killing these people wasn’t hard, but to do it so silently, in such a short amount of time, among the people Yan Zhao had recently come into contact with, only Immortal Venerable Yuan Yi and those from the Devil Sect could manage it.

Feng Jin was especially suspicious.

If it was indeed the Tianqing Arrow Devil, what was her motive?

And after that day, Nangong Yin hadn’t appeared again. Had she really just let Yan Zhao go like that?

While Ren Qingyue breathed a sigh of relief, she felt the situation was deeply suspicious.

Bi Lan and Yan Zhao left the Immortal Market and continued their journey.

At dusk, Bi Lan found a dry, shady cave and suggested they rest there for the night.

Yan Zhao had no objections.

After nightfall, Bi Lan, as usual, chose a spot with a good vantage point to meditate, while Yan Zhao stayed inside the cave to rest.

Past midnight, Yan Zhao still hadn’t closed her eyes to sleep.

She took out the Demon Cores she had exchanged for at the market and counted them again.

The number was still correct.

The little fox tilted its head. Yan Zhao was acting very strange today.

A gust of wind blew in from outside the cave. The little fox’s nose twitched. It thought: This impatient?

Its ears caught the sound of a soft thud. Bi Lan had succumbed to the Sleep-Inducing Mist, losing consciousness.

Looking at Yan Zhao in front of it, her eyes were bright and alert. The mist drifting in from outside the cave had no effect on her whatsoever.

The little fox burrowed into Yan Zhao’s arms, tilting its head up closer to Yan Zhao.

Yan Zhao was surprised. “Why are you so well-behaved today?”

It was actually proactively coming close for a kiss.

Yan Zhao gave a smacking kiss right on the tip of the little fox’s nose.

The little fox was stunned.

Immediately, it was jolted alert by the faint sound of footsteps outside the cave.

A flash of embarrassment crossed its eyes, but it could not dwell on it. It blew a breath out at Yan Zhao.

Yan Zhao had been perfectly alert just moments before, but somehow, after her eyelids fluttered, she was suddenly overcome with drowsiness.

Her head drooped to the side, leaning against the stone wall, and she fell into a peaceful sleep.

The little fox slipped out of Yan Zhao’s embrace. With a leap, it was out of the cave.

Surrounded by pure qi, it landed and transformed back into human form.

The few people who had sneaked near the cave landed almost simultaneously.

Ren Qingyue locked onto the position of the attacker. The tip of her toe tapped the ground, and in a flash, she was deep in the forest.

Meanwhile, Feng Jin found a very tall tree.

This spot wouldn’t be discovered by anyone near the cave, and it also offered a good vantage point, maximizing her sniping advantage.

The archer’s five fingers had just released the bowstring.

As those people fell to the ground and she was about to make a clean escape, she suddenly saw the fox dart out of the cave.

Oh no!

The moment this thought appeared, she turned to jump off the branch to flee.

But before she could take a single step, she was frozen in place.

She had been hit by an Immobilization Spell.

“As I thought.” Ren Qingyue appeared before Feng Jin, her expression grim. Without hesitation, she drew her sword, the blade pressed against Feng Jin’s neck. “Why are you doing this?”

Feng Jin’s throat moved slightly. A drop of cold sweat trickled down the corner of her eye.

Facing Ren Qingyue’s frosty face, she was flustered and at a loss, but also felt quite dejected.

She lowered her gaze. “We were friends, after all…”

Shing.

The sword blade pressed a half-inch closer, leaving a clear, thin line of blood on her throat.

Ren Qingyue’s face was as cold as frost. She scoffed, “Even now, you’re still trying to spout nonsense at me?”

Feng Jin: “…”

To her, that was the truth. But Ren Qingyue didn’t believe her.

As for Nangong Yin’s orders, she couldn’t mention a single word.

Seeing Feng Jin’s silence and her refusal to answer, Ren Qingyue grew even angrier. “Do you really think I wouldn’t dare to kill you?”

If Feng Jin was relying on her connection with Ren Qingyue’s Shizun, thinking she would be soft-hearted, she was gravely mistaken.

The Devils had killed her Shizun, and now they wanted to come and take away her Shizun’s child. This was too much!

Feng Jin could feel that Ren Qingyue truly had the intent to kill.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and released her grip on the bow, letting it fall and tumble into the grass.

She presented the posture of someone resigned to their fate.

A sharp glint flashed in Ren Qingyue’s eyes. She was about to deliver the killing blow.

“Snowball!”

A sudden shout interrupted her action.

Yan Zhao had found them. Ren Qingyue immediately panicked: How did she wake up so fast!

Any thought of killing Feng Jin vanished. Ren Qingyue sheathed her sword. Right in front of Feng Jin, she transformed into a ball of white fluff, darted into the forest with a leap, and sprinted off in the opposite direction.

Feng Jin: “…”

A moment later, Yan Zhao walked into the forest and saw Feng Jin.

She halted her steps and faced Feng Jin.

Feng Jin felt a bit at a loss.

If the Devil Lord found out she had messed things up again… just thinking about it gave her a headache.

Yan Zhao’s expression was serious. She looked left, looked right, then looked behind Feng Jin.

Feng Jin stood there, not daring to move much.

After Yan Zhao had circled around her once, she finally concocted a clumsy excuse. “I, I was just passing by.”

Yan Zhao didn’t respond to her words. She didn’t care in the slightest why Feng Jin was there.

She opened her mouth and said coldly, “Give Snowball back to me.”

It had to be this bad woman who had hidden the little fox.

Snowball?

Feng Jin froze. It took her a moment to realize Yan Zhao was probably referring to the fox.

The corner of her mouth twitched. She stiffly explained, “I didn’t capture your fox.” As she spoke, she pointed in the direction the little fox had run. “But I saw it go that way just now.”

Yan Zhao looked in the direction Feng Jin was pointing.

The forest was deep and pitch black. Yan Zhao was skeptical.

But she was more worried about the little fox than she was about Feng Jin.

Running around so late at night, the forest was full of dangers. It really was reckless.

Yan Zhao thought to herself, when she found Snowball, she would definitely have to teach it a good lesson.

This bad habit just wouldn’t change. It was still so disobedient.

Grumbling internally, Yan Zhao headed into the forest to look for the fox.

She hadn’t walked more than a few steps when she saw a white ball of fluff running back from the distance.

Seeing Yan Zhao from afar, it shot straight into Yan Zhao’s embrace in a flash.

Yan Zhao hugged the little fox, first checking it for injuries and brushing the bits of grass off its fur.

“Honestly, running around everywhere all day, and you don’t even care about staying clean.”

The little fox: “…”

Who exactly is the one that doesn’t care about staying clean?

Only then did Yan Zhao notice it was still holding a small, bright red fruit in its mouth.

The little fox lifted its head to offer her the fruit.

Yan Zhao was astonished.

Her little fox had gone into the forest so late just to find her something to eat.

A strange emotion grew in Yan Zhao’s heart, warm, yet tinged with a little bit of astringent bitterness.

She didn’t understand what it was.

Yan Zhao quickly bowed her head and took a bite.

The little fox only saw a shadow descend. It happened as fast as lightning, too quick to react.

The fruit in its mouth was bitten in half by Yan Zhao.

“…”

“!!!”

The remaining half of the fruit fell from the little fox’s mouth.