"Alright! Please wait a moment, honored guest." The innkeeper said with a beaming smile, feeling the weight in his hand.
Xing Yuan ate heartily, devouring the table of dishes like a whirlwind, then patted her belly with satisfaction.
Although the food wasn't healthy, it was too delicious to resist!
Full and content, Xing Yuan prepared to head home. As she passed a small alley, a sword suddenly lunged straight at her.
Xing Yuan's eyes sharpened, and with a light tap of her toes, she leaped onto the wall. She turned back to face her attacker.
It was a man in green, whose appearance was utterly forgettable except for his hooked nose.
He glared at Xing Yuan with malicious eyes and shouted sternly, "Demon, perish!"
Xing Yuan froze for a moment, and dead memories assaulted her. A murderous aura suddenly coiled around her.
She remembered. She had died at the hands of this nameless Taoist priest before. She had watched her skin being flayed off, and she remembered the man laughing as he said, "Such little fox fur, it won't fetch much."
Overwhelmed by the murderous aura, Xing Yuan lost her senses, her mind consumed by a single thought: "Kill him!"
Xing Yuan was no longer the same as before. Her cultivation was higher now, but in her maddened state, she only held a slight advantage and could not defeat the man.
Mu Xiao already considered retreating. He couldn't defeat her, and continuing here would be a waste of time. It was better to withdraw and seek help from others to capture the demon.
Though he regretted not being able to obtain the benefits of a demon's corpse, there was nothing he could do.
He wanted to leave, but Xing Yuan's attacks became even fiercer. She even transformed into her more combat-proficient true form to fight him. Her claws, empowered by demonic energy, regrew and slashed at Mu Xiao like blades, leaving many wounds.
Of course, she sustained many injuries herself. Her desperate fighting style terrified Mu Xiao. Their strength was comparable, and if he continued to be so stingy with his efforts, he might die here.
He still wanted to become the most powerful Taoist priest! He couldn't just die at the hands of a crazed fox spirit.
He tried to run towards more populated areas, hoping someone would quickly notify his master.
"Beast!" A sword energy tore through the air, blocking Xing Yuan's attack.
An old man suddenly appeared in the fray, glaring fiercely at Xing Yuan.
This burst of sword energy caused the murderous aura around Xing Yuan to waver, and she regained some of her senses.
"Master!" Mu Xiao rushed forward excitedly, looking at Xing Yuan with a triumphant glint in his eyes.
The old man didn't speak, merely nodded, then pointed his sword at Xing Yuan and unleashed a sword technique.
Xing Yuan dodged, rolling away. Her once pure white fur had turned half-black from the intense battle. She glared fiercely at the old man and lunged at him.
Her reason was being eroded by the murderous aura, and her previous combat instincts were no longer of much use.
The old man was experienced. Though he only had one sword, he unleashed sixteen streams of sword energy. Her movements merely slowed, and she was directly hit by a stream of sword energy. Bright red blood dripped from her fur onto the ground.
Yet, her eyes remained fierce, and a low growl of warning emanated from her throat.
The old man sneered. He had killed no less than eight hundred demons in his life. How could he be intimidated by a fox with less than a century of cultivation? He immediately swung his sword.
This strike did not, as he expected, end the fox's life. Instead, it was blocked by a peach wood sword.
There were few in the world who wielded peach wood swords, but there was one in the capital who was not to be trifled with.
Dao Yu Yue looked at the little fox's wounds with concern, wanting to tend to them, but the fox, as if having lost its mind, growled a warning at her.
Dao Yu Yue sighed softly. Ignoring the gazes of the people behind her, she sent a surge of spiritual energy into Xing Yuan's body, cleansing the murderous aura while forcibly inducing sleep.
Uncharacteristically for someone with a penchant for cleanliness, she did not mind Xing Yuan's matted fur and bloodstains. She gently picked her up and tenderly bandaged her wounds.
Her usually snow-white robes were now stained with specks of blood and dark marks. Only after she had finished tending to the little fox's injuries did Dao Yu Yue look up again, her eyes seemingly holding a storm. She asked in a deep voice,
"What happened?"
While she was tending to Xing Yuan's wounds, everyone had watched in silence, daring not to make a move. When she asked, no one dared to conceal anything and blurted out what they had seen.
Dao Yu Yue ignored the part where Xing Yuan had chased after someone, and instead stood up, gently gripping the peach wood sword in her hand, pointing its tip at the old man. Her voice was low as she asked, "You injured her?"
"She is a demon. What is wrong with me slaying a demon?" the old man said sternly, but his confidence was wavering. After all, he seemed unable to defeat her.
"Heh!" Dao Yu Yue let out a cold laugh, then nodded in agreement. "In that case, is it reasonable for me to kill an evil practitioner?"
"This old man..." the old man began, wanting to say more, but Dao Yu Yue was too lazy to listen to his nonsense.
A peach wood sword hovered in mid-air, surrounded by streams of sword energy. Seventy-two streams of sword energy appeared before the onlookers.
Dao Yu Yue said coldly, "I won't take advantage of you. I will injure you in the same way you injured her. If you can survive this strike, I will let this matter go. If not, you will pay with your life!"
The old man's expression grew serious as he concentrated his energy. Mu Xiao had already fled to the side during this time, let alone helping his master.
The old man likely knew his disciple couldn't help and could only use his most powerful killing move to face the enemy.
He could at most condense thirty-two streams of sword energy. Seventy-two was something he absolutely could not resist.
For the remaining forty streams of sword energy, he blocked ten with a shield, ten with the explosive force of his own sword, seven with all his Taoist arts, and dodged four. However, nine streams of sword energy still struck him squarely.
The old man lay on the ground, barely clinging to life, his body covered in blood. Only his eyes could still move.
Dao Yu Yue cast him a cold glance. She had no intention of delivering a finishing blow and hurried away with Xing Yuan to tend to their injuries.
"Master!" After Dao Yu Yue left, Mu Xiao collapsed onto the old man's body, his face filled with grief.
He carefully examined the old man's meridians and, confirming that they could not be repaired even if he survived, gently applied pressure and severed the old man's heart meridian.
Mu Xiao knelt on the ground, his expression mournful, and said, "My master... he is gone!"
The onlookers erupted in an uproar. Then, a man stepped out from the crowd. He carefully felt the old man's pulse and finally shook his head with regret.
He stated directly, "Your master is thoroughly dead."