Chapter 408: Demon Emperor, Ying Bu Duan
“Miss is in trouble, Ying!”
— In trouble, Ying!
— Trouble, Ying!
…
Fox cries echoed endlessly.
However, before long, the entire great hall fell into a deathly silence once more.
The several demons in the hall, who had already transformed into human form, held their breath, lowered their heads, and closed their mouths.
Fox Mu, who was reclining on one side of the golden dragon chair, trembled slightly. His dark, vertical pupils stared at the fox attendant who had rolled in from the door, her front paws propped on the ground with her chin pressed to the floor. He remained silent for a long time.
Outside the door, Xu Chi and the dozens of Core Formation Stage disciples from the Ghost Spirit Sect he had brought instantly felt their right eyelids twitching wildly, a bad premonition arising in their hearts.
Although Xu Chi did not know who this “Miss” the spirit fox was referring to, he could feel the waves of rage radiating from the Demon Emperor on the golden dragon chair.
Rumbling—
A thunderbolt in the night sky illuminated everyone in the square in front of the great hall, turning their faces deathly pale.
Fox Mu closed his eyes, straightened his body, and placed his hands on the armrests of the chair, his lips trembling as he asked, “Qiao’er… what happened?”
The fox attendant, lying on the ground, looked up. She was so flustered that her speech was unclear, as if she had used all her strength to speak. Her fox cries and human words mingled: “Your Majesty, Ying Ying, just now Ying… I was playing hide-and-seek with Miss in the city, Ying Ying… Suddenly, a cultivator who used蛊 worms appeared, Ying… He captured Miss and, and, and…”
A cultivator who used蛊 worms…
All the demons present instantly grasped this keyword and their eyes widened in anger as they looked towards Xu Chi, who stood at the entrance of the hall emitting a strong aura of蛊 spirits.
“Hiss—”
Xu Chi instinctively wanted to clear his name, he absolutely did not capture that “Qiao’er,” nor did he let his subordinates do it. But as his lips parted, he immediately closed them again.
Explaining this would only make things worse. The Demon Emperor was, after all, a fox demon close to the Void Refinement Stage; he shouldn’t be so rash…
Fox Mu took a deep breath through his nose, glanced at Xu Chi, and continued, “Speak.”
The fox attendant gasped several times and weakly replied, “That person claimed his master was Elder Xu of the Spirit Summoning Hall in the Tian Mo Sect, and he said…”
“What?!”
Although Xu Chi knew he should remain silent now, hearing this, he was too terrified to hold back and interrupted, “What?!… Your Majesty Demon Emperor, this junior absolutely did not…”
“Ying—!!”
A fierce roar came from the black furry tail behind Fox Mu, instantly distorting Xu Chi’s entire face with the sonic wave.
Fox Mu gritted his teeth, took a deep breath, and looked back at the fox attendant. “Continue…”
“That person said he would use Miss as a hostage, demanding that Your Majesty cede the three cities of Donghuang to the Ghost Spirit Sect and hand over the Nine Dragon Sky Seal. Otherwise…”
“…Otherwise?”
“Otherwise… he would skin Miss and make a scarf out of her…”
Ying—!!
A virtual fox head emerged from behind Fox Mu. However, it did not possess the charming and captivating expression of a normal fox; instead, it showed a snarling, baring-teeth expression like a hungry wolf.
In an instant, Fox Mu rose from the golden dragon chair and flashed before the fox attendant kneeling in the hall.
Seeing the golden-patterned black boots land before her, the fox attendant broke out in a cold sweat. She closed her eyes and slowly raised her tail, taking out a broken蛊盅 and several broken limbs of蛊 worms from her tail fur.
“Your Majesty, these are the things that person used…”
Fox Mu flicked his finger and took the蛊盅 into his hand. After a brief scan, he recognized from the carving and casting techniques that this was a蛊 artifact produced in the Eastern Domain, and of quite a high grade, sufficient for a Nascent Soul or even a Deity Transformation cultivator to refine high-level蛊 worms.
With both human and material evidence, there was nothing more to say…
Fox Mu’s jaw clenched, and he raised his eyes to glare at Xu Chi at the front of the hall.
The youth protected by the old woman from the Xuan Xing Sect had told him last time that his former cultivation partner, Hu Yulan, had died at the hands of the Sect Master of the Tian Mo Sect.
An immortal cultivator named “Bai Yurou,” a close friend of his cultivation partner, had died from serious injuries not long after escaping from the Eastern Domain.
And now, Xue Tianqiao, who looked and acted almost exactly like his cultivation partner, to the point where he even thought she was Hu Yulan reincarnated, had been captured by a human demonic cultivator right under his nose.
This was not the first time Fox Mu had felt helpless, but it was the most helpless he had felt in a thousand years.
He was the highest-ranking demon in the last two thousand years, a Void Refinement Stage demon with powerful divine abilities, yet he couldn’t even protect a small disciple.
“Hiss—Ying… Hiss—Ying…”
Veins bulged from his neck, spreading to Fox Mu’s forehead. His chest and abdomen expanded and contracted with his heavy breaths.
A torrent of spiritual energy erupted from his furry tail, instantly condensing into a giant, somewhat ferocious fox head above Tianan City.
The demons in the city, whether they were drinking, chatting, or wandering and procreating, all stopped what they were doing, emerged from their homes, transformed back into their original forms, and prostrated themselves on the ground.
All sorts of beast cries resonated within a hundred-li radius of Tianan City, and even the low-level demonic beasts in the mountain forests, which had not yet gained spiritual intelligence, all turned towards Tianan City and bowed in unison.
Xu Chi, outside the great hall, realized at this moment that he probably wasn’t going back.
Even if he was truly unaware of the kidnapping of “Qiao’er,” how could he prove his innocence now?
Even if he could prove it, would the Demon Emperor listen?
Xu Chi swallowed, and with nothing left to lose, he braced himself and stood up. “Your Majesty Demon Emperor, although this matter is not the intention of my Sect Master, it is my own doing. If you still care about the safety of your young lady…”
Whoosh—
Before he could finish speaking, Xu Chi felt his abdomen suddenly become empty, and the ground he was looking at rapidly rose several feet.
He didn’t even have time to see what had happened. When he came to his senses, he saw that the lower half of his body had already disappeared. Fox Mu remained in place, only staring at him with his angry vertical pupils.
The smell of blood spread outwards along his intestines, which were plastered to the ground, then flowed down the steps, slowly reaching the feet of the leading Ghost Spirit Sect disciples carrying jade boxes.
Dozens of Core Formation Stage disciples from the Ghost Spirit Sect, wearing masks of ghostly malevolence, saw their previously calm and composed expressions shatter. Their legs trembled uncontrollably, and the golden-threaded jade boxes they carried on their shoulders suddenly fell to the ground, spilling countless precious Heavenly Treasures and Pills across the floor.
Xu Chi’s face grew paler. He could only continue speaking, “Your Majesty Demon Emperor, if I do not return safely… your young lady could…”
In the blink of an eye, Fox Mu’s face was right in front of Xu Chi’s, and he roared, “Where is she?!”
“Your Majesty Demon Emperor, this junior…”
Xu Chi gritted his teeth. He felt that the Demon Emperor would most likely make him wish he were dead, yet unable to die. The punishments within the Demon Race were comparable to, if not surpassing, those of demonic cultivators. He immediately activated the蛊 worms within his body, causing them to devour his Nascent Soul and Golden Core.
Hiss, hiss—
Disgusting蛊 worm calls emanated from within him. In just two breaths, Xu Chi’s remaining upper body turned into a bloody pulp. Soon after, the compound eyes beneath Xu Chi’s eyebrows burst open.
Blood sprayed towards Fox Mu but was blocked by an invisible spiritual energy.
Seeing that he had fainted, Fox Mu roared up at the sky, “Ying—!!!”
The next moment, the tiger-headed demons outside the great hall square swarmed in and charged towards the stunned Ghost Spirit Sect disciples, beginning their feast with their tiger claws and sharp teeth.
The Ghost Spirit Sect disciples’ “wails of ghosts and wolves” echoed throughout the great hall.
Fox Mu merely glanced at them before turning back into the hall. Several Roc-headed demons immediately knelt before him on one knee.
“Jiji!! Jiji jiji—!!”
Their meaning was a plea to march east and for the demon race to take the Eastern Domain’s Ghost Spirit Sect.
However, the scholarly fox demons on one side all looked distressed. Their lord was currently enraged, and they knew that the demon race had no capacity to provoke a war with human cultivators at this moment.
Although the demon race was numerous, most of them were low-intelligence, lower-tier demons. There were only a handful of demons like them and Fox Mu. This was the reason why, since the dragon race was exterminated by humans of myriad ages, the territory occupied by the demon race had been shrinking.
Perhaps seeing the conflicted expressions of the scholarly fox demons, Fox Mu’s anger subsided slightly.
To let the entire demon race fall into eternal damnation for the sake of Xue Tianqiao alone was not the way of a wise ruler. When the immortal Saint Emperor enlightened him, he had taught him those so-called immortal lord cultivation methods.
But the demons were inherently demonic by nature. These human demonic cultivators had repeatedly provoked him…
Fox Mu ignored the Roc demons who stepped forward to advise him, circled around, and returned to the golden dragon chair. He shifted his gaze to the spirit fox shivering on the carpet. “Go and search.”
“…Ying.”
It responded softly, then turned and trotted away on its four paws, stepping over the bloodstains in front of the hall, leaving a trail of small, blood-red paw prints leading out of the palace…
… …
————
Rumbling—
Dark clouds gathered in the night sky. After a muffled thunderclap, raindrops began to patter down upon the mountains within a hundred-li radius of Tianan City.
A wild rabbit seeking shelter from the rain stumbled upon a small grotto for shelter. But as soon as it squeezed inside, it seemed frightened by something and turned back, rushing out into the rain and disappearing into the forest.
Ye Anping emerged from the shadows of the grotto, removed the hood from his head, and then picked up Xue Tianqiao in his hand, bringing her up to his brow.
In the game, he was a small spirit fox, but this fox form was like a baby still being nursed, its body only about the length of his arm.
Xue Tianqiao did not resist or fuss. Instead, after entering the secret passage, her eyes lit up, as if she had found something fun, looking left and right.
At this moment, as the man and the fox looked at each other, Xue Tianqiao blinked her eyes at him. “Yingyingying…”
Ye Anping brought her out through the secret passage without speaking much. After thinking for a moment, he decided to just listen. He untied the beast-binding rope from her mouth and asked, “What do you want to say?”
Xue Tianqiao blinked her eyes and said innocently, “Brother Liang is so mighty! This sister was completely mesmerized just now.”
Ye Anping’s expression was blank: “…”
“With swiftness, you resolved the bodyguard arranged for this sister by her master and brought Sister Fox out unharmed. Sister Fox’s master must be very angry, right~”
Ye Anping immediately regretted untying the rope from her mouth. He formed a sword finger and quickly tied the beast-binding rope back on.
“Yingyingying~~~”
“Shut up.”
“Yingyingying…”
Ye Anping ignored it. After all, as long as he took care of her, he would return her to the Demon Emperor when things were over. He looked up at the virtual fox head hovering in the sky above Tianan City and let out a subtle sigh.
Then, he threw Xue Tianqiao into his collar for her to cling to, took out a rain-proof bamboo hat from his Storage Bag, put it on, and walked out of the cave on foot, disappearing into the misty forest amidst the rain.
… …
