In the blink of an eye, the inn was empty.
Feng Ling’er stuck her head out from Zhou Yi’s sleeves and chittered.
“Sir, she discovered me.”
Now that Feng Ling’er had spent many days cultivating in the Secret Tome of the Sky Fox, she had mastered the method of conveying her voice via her soul.
Zhou Yi nodded gently, “My mastery in the path of magic is indeed lesser than that of nine-tailed foxes. What are your thoughts?”
Feng Ling’er kept silent for a moment. Eventually, she shook her head, not knowing how to answer.
As her intelligence grew day after day, Feng Ling’er understood that being able to travel with Zhou Yi was an incredible opportunity. If not for him, her inferior aptitude as a half-human half-demon meant that it would be difficult for her to even get started with cultivation.
“Your mother’s death back when she strayed into the Demon Slaying Department is, directly and indirectly, related to me.”
“Everything in the past is as transient and ephemeral as a fleeting cloud. We must always look ahead.”
Zhou Yi stroked the fox’s back and patiently said, “You know my attitude towards demonkind. I don’t accept them, but I won’t kill them indiscriminately. Instead of staying with me and living in my sleeves, it’d be better for you to take this opportunity to go to the blessed Greenhills. Your cultivation won’t be hampered either.”
Feng Ling’er was choking on her sobs. She held her paws together and bowed down.
“I will remember your kindness forever, mister. If you ever need me, I will give up even my life to repay you!”
Over the years, apart from the time when he gave her a soul pearl after some demon vanquishing, there had been almost zero communication between them.
Feng Ling’er already understood Zhou Yi’s mind a long time ago, and having read “Tale of Executioner” throughout, she had forsaken some of her past ideologies.
Zhou Yi watched as Feng Ling’er bowed at him. His expression suddenly became solemn, and his eyes were as cold as ice.
“When you go to Greenhill, you must remember that no matter what, human blood still flows within you.”
“I don’t want to hear any bad stories about you,” he continued. “Even if you’re a thousand miles away, I will still find you if you have sinned, and I’ll return you to the cycle of reincarnation.”
Feng Ling’er immediately stopped crying as she hurriedly replied. “Mister, if I commit any evil, my body will shatter and my soul will burn…”
“If swearing is of any use, how can there be so many grievances in this world?”
Zhou Yi waved his hand to interrupt Feng Ling’er, “You just need to always remember that there’s a causal link between me and you. As long as you commit evil, you will never get to escape.”
“I will forever remember your teachings, mister.”
All of a sudden, Feng Ling’er said softly, “If I’m bullied, can I come to you and cry on your shoulder?”
Zhou Yi was silent for a moment, and finally, he sighed.
“You may.”
One would develop feelings for even their cats and dogs they raised for several years. Her, seeking parental support after being bullied, was entirely reasonable.
The Greenhills may be the sanctuary of spirit foxes, but wherever creatures dwelled, resentment would exist. With resentment, came factions, war, and oppression. Was there no difference between humans and demons?
Feng Ling’er was half-human and half-fox. Being naturally weak, she would inevitably be bullied by her clanmates.
Zhou Yi would prefer not to have any trouble, so he added, “Unless it involves life and death, don’t bother me with trivial affairs.”
Ow-wow-wow…
Feng Ling’er yipped happily as she swept her three snowy-white tails left and right.
…
At midnight.
The air was cold.
Zhou Yi woke up suddenly from his deep sleep. He transformed into a beam of light and flew out ofthe city.
“Cursed priest, it seems that your nose is pretty sensitive!”
Hu Jiuying, who was peeping outside the window, realized that she had been spotted. She snorted coldly and chased after him with her escape method.
Earlier in the day, Hu Jiuying had sensed the aura of a spirit fox and immediately assumed that Zhou Yi had enslaved a spirit fox. Since it was not easy to make a move during the day, she came to the inn late at night to find out more.
Zhou Yi already anticipated this. The moment she appeared, he immediately fled the city.
Two rays of light, one fleeing and one in pursuit, exited Luojing at this moment. The Emerald Peak was almost in sight.
Once she left the capital, Hu Jiuying did not have to conceal her demonic aura. Her nine foxtails fluttered in the moonlight.
She unleashed the secret technique of the Sky Foxes, and her speed immediately accelerated several times. She was about to catch up to her prey.
“Cow Nose, you have nowhere to run!”
“Who says that I’m running?”
Zhou Yi halted his escaping light and spat out a Purple Ying Sword from his mouth.
The Purple Ying Sword swelled in the wind, turning into a hundred-foot-long purple swordlight that slashed across the sky.
Hu Jiuying only felt the world in front of her being instantly filled with purple sword energy.
Her soul trembled and she became highly vigilant.
Aoo—
Following a piercing howl, she extended her nine tails and smashed them at Zhou Yi like nine sky-piercing pillars.
Swoosh!
Swordlight streaked through. Hu Jiuying had nowhere to hide. One of her tails was already injured.
“Damn it!”
Hu Jiuying’s figure turned from a little girl into a giant fox hundreds of feet tall. Eight fox tails swept horizontally and pulverized Zhou Yi’s path of escape. She opened her mouth, exhaling blazing divine light.
“A nine-tailed fox is no match for me!”
Zhou Yi funneled his magic power into the Purple Ying Sword. Swordlight erupted, streamed up against the Divine Light, and left a 12-foot-long wound on the giant fox.
Enormous amounts of magic power gathered above Zhou Yi’s head and morphed into a giant hand of magic. The hand grabbed three of her tails and slammed her on the ground.
Ka-boom!
The giant fox had no power to resist. She screamed in agony as her body smashed into the mountains, leaving a huge crater.
The Purple Ying Sword descended from the sky and pointed at the skull of the massive fox.
“Save me, Great Elder!”
A pinch of silver fox fur fell on the back of the giant fox’s neck and morphed into a beautiful middle-aged woman.
The beautiful woman pointed a finger at the sky, and the Primordial Qi of heaven and earth gathered at her fingertips, turned into a ball of light, and blasted towards the Purple Ying sword.
Clang—
The Purple Ying Sword flew backward and fell into Zhou Yi’s hand.
“Immortal Fox of Greenhill?!”
The beautiful woman’s lifeless eyes clouded over. She looked at Zhou Yi. “Yes, it is I. I didn’t think that someone at your level would still exist in Great Qian.”
“I’m a mere Qi Refiner. I’m no match to your prestige.”
When Zhou Yi was speaking, he funneled incredibly huge amounts of magic power into the Purple Ying Sword. The edge of the sword hummed as it spat out an unsteady flow of purple light. Zhou Yi was ready to compete with the Immortal Fox of Greenhill.
“Qi Refiner! A title that I have not heard for a very long time…”
The Immortal Fox seemed rather sluggish. She slowly turned to look at the Purple Ying Sword and said with surprise in her eyes, “What a brilliant sword!”
Before her words fell, the Primordial Qi of heaven and earth fluctuated again. Primordial Qi across a hundred miles converged at one point, turned into a ray iof silver-white divine light, and swept across the sky.
Zhou Yi raised his eyebrows. It was true that demon foxes were treacherous, unpredictable, and straightforward when attacking. Fortunately, he was also prepared for the battle.
The Purple Ying Sword rose into the air. Purple swordlight covered the clouds and moon.
A hundred miles of the sky was partitioned into two colors, half of which was silver-white divine light, and half was purple sword energy.
At the middle junction, the sound of thunder and eruptions arose continuously. Silver and purple light spots fell on the ground. Mountains collapsed and the pulse of the earth crumbled.
After this fight, Zhou Yi felt immediate relief.
His Ten Thousand Year Magic was no inferior to the a-hundred-mile Primordial Qi invoked by the Immortal Fox of Greenhill.
Drawing upon the power of heaven and earth, the Immortal Fox’s power source was unending.
Zhou Yi tapped into his own magic power, and he could do whatever he wanted.
The Immortal Fox was merely an incarnation brought about by a strand of fur. After it fought against magic power for a brief while, the figure gradually became transparent and hollow.
“Your magic is magnificent. I am no match for you.”
The Immortal Fox recalled her divine light and asked, “I’m confused. Why must you make things difficult for Huyue?”
“Elder, did he kill Huyue?”
By then, Hu Jiuying had already recovered from her injury, though just barely. Unfortunately, her broken ninth tail could not be healed. The sword energy was behaving like maggots gnawing on her bone. Her only option was to return to Greenhill and ask the empress to treat her.
Zhou Yi’s heart sank. He carefully used his powers to search his body. Sure enough, he found the traces of a curse on his right shoulder, which was obviously left by Huyue.
Huyue did not know if Zhou Yi could lift a curse. Therefore, she planted another layer for the sake of insurance.
This curse was hidden from view usually, and only the Immortal Fox could recognize it should she be present as well. It was very vicious.
Zhou Yi’s magic power swirled around him and the curse was dispelled like melting snow. He finally replied, coldly, “A demon feeding on human Yang Qi to cultivate. She had to be executed! Huyue relied on her background to charm humans. She was the cause of her own death!”
“Then why did you let go of Jiuying yesterday?”
“I’m not a nanny. I’m in charge of demons who committed evil. Revenge has nothing to do with me.”
Zhou Yi once had the urge to make a move, but he suddenly thought that if he made a move today to save Princess Huai, he would have to save others on the day after as well.
If that were to go on, he would never get to spend his days in peace.
The Immortal Fox obviously did not understand what nanny meant. After thinking for a moment, she was able to vaguely guess it.
“It has been many years since I’ve met someone as interesting as you!”
The Immortal Fox’s figure was close to fading away. She said, “Since that’s the case, this is Jiuying’s first time away from Greenhill, and she hasn’t done anything harmful to humans. Will you spare her life?”
Zhou Yi turned to look at Hu Jiuying, and that got her so frightened that she quickly hid behind the Immortal Fox.
“Yes. But she must leave human territory as soon as possible to avoid complications.”
“Are you not going to thank him for his grace, Jiuying?”
When the Immortal Fox’s figure was about to vanish, she suddenly said, “Great Qian’s fortune is depleting, and calamity is imminent. I would advise you to leave as early as possible. You and I are individuals beyond this domain. Why bother to swim in the muddy water when you can just sit by and watch the rise and fall of dynasties?
“When you sink deep into the quagmire of causality and are unable to move an inch, freedom will be the last thing you can ask for…”
Zhou Yi frowned. He had been staying with the Demon Slaying Department, and the furthest he had gone was still within the capital’s boundaries. It was fair to say that he knew little of what was going on in the outside world.
The Immortal Fox finally disappeared, and Hu Jiuying reverted into a little girl. She creeped forward and bowed.
“Thank you for your forgiveness.”
Zhou Yi asked, “Without the Immortal Fox’s hair, can you still conceal your demonic aura and enter the capital?”
Hu Jiuying scratched the back of her head and said defensively, “The empress gave me three strands of hair, so I can ask her to save me three times.”
“You little devil, it seems that you have a lot going on up in your head!”
“…I’m already more than a thousand years old.”
Subsequently, two streaks of light returned to the capital.