C184 — Kill the Nine-Tailed Fox (20)

Xie Chen had never fought Xue Wenchun before, but with Fu Jiuyin by his side, Xue Wenchun didn’t gain any advantage. In the end, he cast Xie Chen a hateful look, then quickly withdrew and left.

Because he hadn’t been able to beat Xue Wenchun, Xie Chen felt somewhat dejected. Fu Jiuyin, noticing, reached out and patted Xie Chen’s shoulder.

“It’s fine. You’re still young. That fellow has lived for several hundred years. It’s normal that you can’t defeat him now. Just because you can’t now… doesn’t mean you won’t in the future…”

Fu Jiuyin suddenly paused. He turned his head to glance around, his delicate brows knitting slightly.

“Where’s Shen Jue?”

At those words, Xie Chen’s expression shifted. He pointed toward the sea.

“I wanted to tell you just now—Shen Jue was taken away by the merfolk.”

Fu Jiuyin followed his finger, then gradually relaxed his brows. After a while, he calmly averted his gaze.

“Forget it. Let those sea-fish have him. Let’s go.”

“Senior…” Xie Chen froze for a moment. “Aren’t we going to save Shen Jue?”

Fu Jiuyin shot him a surprised look, then that demonic, beautiful face curved into a half-smile.

“How would we save him? Jump in? The deep sea is those fishes’ lair. If you go in, they’ll think you’ve come knocking at their door and will fight you to the death, it won’t be like before. If you fight them to the death now, that demonic cultivator will seize the chance to attack. The only pity is that the squirrel I raised for so many years wasn’t even fat yet, and now it’ll be eaten cheap by those fishes.”

In every word, Shen Jue was nothing more than food to him. Xie Chen stayed silent for a long while before finally saying, “I was foolish.”

Fu Jiuyin blinked, then pressed a hand to Xie Chen’s shoulder.

“I understand. After all, Shen Jue once entered your sea of consciousness, and you were poisoned by snake venom. It’s natural that you can’t help but care. But it’s only an illusion. Give it time, and you won’t care anymore.”

He let out a light laugh, then added,

“In the future, you’ll meet countless demons and people. If one dies and you take it so to heart, how will you ever achieve great things?”

Xie Chen exhaled deeply.

“I understand. Thank you, Senior, for your teaching.”

“Let’s go. We still need to collect the next material.” Fu Jiuyin withdrew his hand and strode off first. Xie Chen followed, but before leaving, he couldn’t help turning back to glance at the sea.

…

The sun slanted westward, gradually sinking into the horizon. The waves lapped gently against the rocks as the sea’s surface glimmered like shattered porcelain. Under the moon’s cleansing light, the ocean appeared tranquil and unfathomable.

Suddenly, a human figure broke through the water.

…

Shen Jue clutched the wound on his chest, his face as pale as paper as he staggered onto the shore. The moment he reached land, he could no longer hold himself up and collapsed.

As soon as he hit the ground, he reverted to his true form. His squirrel fur was drenched by seawater, and a deep gash across his chest seeped blood without end.

Shen Jue stared weakly up at the night sky. Even if he wanted to use a tracing spell to locate Fu Jiuyin, he no longer had the strength. He had killed five merfolk in the sea to cow the others enough to escape, but he was exhausted. Afraid they would discover his weakness, he had burned his spiritual power all the way until he reached the shore. Now he was utterly depleted.

If not for swallowing that inner core, he would surely have died beneath the sea today. The merfolk might look beautiful, but they were vicious beyond compare. If their enemy wasn’t strong enough, they would swarm like a pack and tear them apart.

Shen Jue closed his eyes. He hadn’t died, so the binding curse Fu Jiuyin placed on him remained intact. As long as the curse remained, Fu Jiuyin would naturally know he was still alive.

But he himself no longer wanted to go on like this.

The original plan had been simply to find a way to survive, not to die at the hands of Xue Wenchun. But now he understood.

Even if he didn’t die by Xue Wenchun’s hand, he could still die at the hands of anyone stronger than him.

Right now, staying by Fu Jiuyin’s side, Fu Jiuyin still only regarded him as stored-up rations—actually, not even rations. Just something dispensable.

Shen Jue opened his eyes again and slowly crawled up, spreading open his paws. Back in the deep sea, he had seen many small beads that looked very similar to the pearl that strange fish had once given him. The merfolk seemed to value those beads a great deal, even throwing their bodies in the way of spells rather than allowing any magic to strike the beads.

He had once spent several months in Tianshui Sect’s library, reading all sorts of messy texts, so he recognized what these beads were.

Abyssal Pearls.

They grew in places of extreme cold. For cultivators, they were useless if swallowed. But for beasts, though they could increase spiritual power, they also brought transformation—turning the beast into something else entirely. That was why the creatures here all looked so strange, grotesque, even hideous.

Shen Jue didn’t care about appearances. As long as he could grow strong enough that even Fu Jiuyin could not ignore him.

Without hesitation, he shoved the Abyssal Pearl in his paw into his mouth and swallowed it down together with the others.

The moment they slid into his stomach, Shen Jue collapsed once more onto the ground. A chill rose up from the very tip of his tail, crawling upward little by little. If anyone else had been watching, they would have seen the snow on the ground creep along his tail, climbing up until his entire squirrel body was buried beneath a layer of snow.

…

No one knew how much time passed before sounds rose again from the sea.

Hundreds of blue-eyed, blue-haired merfolk silently swam ashore. At their head was the largest one, carrying a staff in his right hand. A clear scar marred his cheek, as though from a burn.

“Is this the rat that stole the Dragon Pearl?” the leader’s voice was low, his sharp gaze locked on the snow-buried squirrel.

“Yes. We didn’t expect him to steal the Dragon Pearl. And judging from his state, he’s already swallowed it,” another merfolk replied.

The leader was silent for a long time before finally raising his hand.

“Take him.”

…

Five years later.

A youth in white robes flew on his sword to the mountain gate. Recognized by fellow sect members, someone approached him with a smile:

“Senior Brother Xie, you’ve returned from your mission?”

The youth gave a slight nod.

Cultivators lived far longer than mortals, so even though five years had passed, Xie Chen’s appearance had not changed at all. If there was any difference, it was only that his aura had grown steadier, more composed. If once, Xie Chen had been like a cup of plain water, now he was like a cup of tea.

He first went to the mission hall to submit his task, then returned to Yizhi Peak to report to his master on the mission’s results.

His master nodded slowly, then raised another matter.

“Recently, your junior brothers and sisters entered the forbidden grounds. They should be returning in a few days. You… make sure to be mindful. Don’t let Fu Jiuyin frighten their spirit beasts too badly.”

At this, even the master couldn’t help but sigh. The peacock he had raised was truly useless—whenever it saw Fu Jiuyin, it couldn’t even fly, collapsing on the ground in terror. The beautiful tail feathers he had cultivated over decades had all fallen off, leaving only a bald-tailed green chicken.

Hearing this, Xie Chen’s expression flickered with embarrassment. After a long pause, he finally responded:

“Master, this disciple will try his best to persuade Jiuyin.”

“Forget it, forget it.” The master waved his hand. At this point, how could he not already know exactly who held the reins between his disciple and Fu Jiuyin?

Over these five years, Fu Jiuyin had long since made himself king within Tianshui Sect. If not for the fact that he at least somewhat respected Xie Chen and usually accompanied him on missions, the entire Tianshui Sect might not even have been able to contain him.

Still, keeping Fu Jiuyin within Tianshui Sect brought immense benefits. In these past years, countless new disciples had joined, many coming simply out of curiosity—wanting to see with their own eyes the world’s one and only Nine-Tailed Fox.

 

It could be said that only their Tianshui Sect was capable of raising this nine-tailed fox. If other sects had invited such a being back, they probably would have been wiped out long ago by sects like the Dark Soul Gate.

Thinking of this, the Master brought up another matter.

“Disciple, did you encounter anyone from the Dark Soul Gate during this trip?”

“Yes, they hunted me, but failed,” Xie Chen’s expression didn’t change at all. “Xue Wenchun didn’t appear this time. Perhaps he was occupied.”

Hearing this, the Master gave a few more reminders before allowing Xie Chen to leave.

After returning to his own courtyard, Xie Chen first bathed. Although he normally used cleansing spells, he still preferred the feeling of bathing with real water. After washing, he went to the main hall.

As soon as he pushed the door open, he heard the sorrowful, indignant cry of a bird.

Without stopping his steps, Xie Chen walked into the inner chamber. Sure enough, a nine-tailed fox was currently stepping on a poor green peacock.

The fox narrowed its eyes into thin slits. Though its expression looked playful, its words were biting:

“Useless thing. You can’t even tidy up a room, and you call yourself a beast?”

Xie Chen went forward and, as if well-practiced, rescued the poor peacock from under the fox’s paws.

“I’ll clean. It’s just a bird—of course it can’t handle such things.”

Hearing this, Fu Jiuyin sprawled back onto the bed, but his tone didn’t soften:

“It’s been five years already, and it still can’t manage the simplest task. That squirrel was able to tidy rooms at just two years old. Why does your Master even bother raising this waste? It’d be better to just eat it early.”

Xie Chen smiled with good temper. He seldom smiled in front of others, and even rarely before his Master, but now he did:

“Alright. I’ll roast a chicken for you later. Don’t be angry. Every time it sees you, it’s too scared to even move—how could it dare tidy a room?”

He suddenly recalled what his Master had said. If his junior brothers and sisters succeeded in their trip, the sect would soon welcome quite a number of new beasts. Those beasts likely didn’t know about Fu Jiuyin’s presence in Tianshui Sect. If Fu Jiuyin encountered them and ate them…

Thinking of this, Xie Chen paused his cleaning, walked over to the bed, and said:

“Jiuyin, in a few days, the sect will have new beasts. You…”

A tail brushed into his arms.

“Not letting me eat them? Then just keep them away from me.”

Xie Chen pulled a comb from his sleeve and began skillfully grooming the fox’s fur. But halfway through, Fu Jiuyin retracted his tails.

“Enough, stop combing. Go make that roasted chicken.” His tone had returned to calm. After a few concerned glances, Xie Chen turned to leave.

Once he left, Fu Jiuyin rolled over in frustration. Whether human or peacock, none of them did even half as well as that squirrel. Should he raise another squirrel?

In truth, both Xie Chen and the peacock were innocent. xie Chen had been born a prince, raised in wealth and luxury. Even after joining Tianshui Sect, he had been cultivated as a key disciple. It wasn’t until adulthood that he insisted on not having attendants.

A person born to be served would always have shortcomings when serving others. As for the peacock, its grievance was even greater. Foxes and peacocks were natural enemies—how could it possibly serve its predator without being terrified?

…

Several days passed in the blink of an eye.

The disciples who had gone to the forbidden grounds returned to the sect. But by then, Xie Chen and Fu Jiuyin had entered closed-door cultivation. When they emerged, three months had already gone by.

Since Fu Jiuyin hadn’t eaten meat for three months, the first thing Xie Chen did was prepare him a meal. The sect raised chickens, ducks, and fish specifically for beasts to eat, so Xie Chen grabbed a rope and basket and went alone to the back mountain.

He planned to catch some fish first, then grab three chickens. But when he reached the pond, he found it completely empty. Not only were there no fish—there wasn’t even a single shrimp. His brows furrowed slightly.

In the end, he could only catch three chickens and two ducks. On the way back, he met a senior brother and asked about the matter.

“Senior brother, why is the fish pond in the back mountain empty?”

The senior let out a surprised sound.

“Junior Brother Xie, you don’t know yet? Our Tianshui Sect has acquired an ancient beast. That beast won’t allow the sect to raise fish, so the Sect Master already ordered us to stop. Not just fish, anything living in the water can’t be eaten anymore.”

 

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TN:

YESSSSS!!! SJ can finally clap back 🎉