Chapter 44: The Little Fox

“The opponent considered things very thoroughly, but unfortunately, it was too hurried; there wasn’t much time to make many preparations…”

Not long before, Fang Cun had just finished investigating in the village.

He slowly walked through this village that seemed painted all over with blood. Those dried bloodstains glowed a dark red and eerie color under the pale moonlight. Around him, it sounded like there were sobbing and bleak winds whining, but Fang Cun was not bothered at all. He just held up his robe to avoid staining it with blood and strolled through the village slowly. He saw the cracks in the village houses where they had been struck, saw the broken hoes and sickles, passed scattered pieces of broken bodies here and there, and gazed into the pitch-dark interiors of the houses.

In the end, he even stood right in the middle of that terrifying sea of blood, staying there quietly for a long time. Then, he squatted down gently, pinched a bit with his fingers, seemed to finally understand something, patted his hands lightly, turned, and walked toward the broken temple.

“Hmph, a massive event like a whole town being slaughtered, and they handed it to a bunch of Academy Disciples to investigate…”

As he walked out of the town, a faint sneer appeared on his face.

After finishing his investigation of the village, he went back to the broken temple and waited quietly for his Academy classmates to return.

“I wonder how those classmates who went to slay Demons are doing…”

He pondered quietly and decided it shouldn’t be too big a problem. Around Willow Lake City, there were indeed a few powerful Demons, but compared to human Qi Refiners, they obviously weren’t much to look at. To put it plainly, these Demons could stay in the mountains nearby only because they weren’t a large enough threat to Willow Lake City, or to the Academy and the City Governor.

The Academy Disciples who came out with him already had deep cultivation, especially those in the Nanshan Alliance who were fans of his older brother; each had their own formidable skills. If they couldn’t handle a few minor Demons harassing commoners, it would be too absurd. To be honest, even if those Demons had some powerful ones, they probably wouldn’t dare to truly kill an Academy Disciple unless they didn’t want to survive anymore.

Since that was the case, he didn’t need to worry at all.

The sounds of slaughter from the village direction had already faded. By his calculation, they should be finishing up soon.

“Neigh-igh…”

Suddenly, outside the broken temple, there came a chorus of horse cries, as if they were startled.

Fang Cun’s ears perked up. He heard how the surroundings were completely silent except for the wind growing stronger and the fine horses panicking.

He stayed calm, just gently took down the Old Umbrella and placed it by his side. He still sat quietly by the fire, looking at the scripture in his hand, but kept his ears alert to his surroundings. Soon, he heard a gust of strong wind sweep past outside the temple. The horse neighs quieted down, and everything became silent again. But strangely, it felt like an eerie gaze was silently watching him from the shadows.

Fang Cun’s expression didn’t change; he just held the book in front of him.

“Whoosh…”

It seemed he could sense something outside the temple growing more impatient. Suddenly, wild winds howled, blowing the temple doors wide open. Then, a demonic wind spun into the broken temple. He heard a sinister laugh in his ears as the demonic wind swept toward him from above. The power of that demonic wind was hard to describe; it felt a bit like a bluff but still terrifyingly fierce.

At that very moment, Fang Cun raised his head quickly to look up at the demonic wind. He smiled lightly.

His right hand had already grabbed the Old Umbrella beside him.

From the demonic wind, a dark shadow emerged. It looked like a wildcat as big as a human, vicious and cruel. It had lifted sharp claws and swung them down at his head. Its bloody maw opened wide, revealing a frightening, sharp ferocity…

“Snap!”

But just as the claws swung down, Fang Cun had already opened the umbrella.

The umbrella face spread out like a shield, blocking between him and the shadow.

“Scratch…”

The shadow’s claws scraped against the umbrella, making the sound of nails tearing cloth, but it didn’t rip through.

Meanwhile, Fang Cun took the chance and stood up suddenly. He pulled with his right hand and drew a gleaming long sword from the umbrella handle. His wrist was steady, and all his Internal Breath surged out, gathering onto the sword. He slashed out in one smooth motion.

“Shi-i-i…”

The shadow was startled by the black umbrella. Its claws flailed, pushing the umbrella face aside. Then, it rushed at the young Academy Disciple again. But unexpectedly, as soon as the umbrella was pushed away, it felt a slight chill in its chest and belly. The whole Demon froze and looked down. It saw the young man twisting the sword inside its torso and then stepping back quickly.

Blood sprayed violently. Intestines spilled out. The heart shattered.

The old Demon’s Demonic Qi gushed out with the blood and vanished. It slowly knelt down and collapsed.

As it died, it looked at the young man, still puzzled.

What Magic Treasures was this umbrella, that it couldn’t tear through it?

More confusingly, how could this young Disciple react so quickly when his cultivation was so low?

Even if he did react, with his meager Magical Power, it should have been impossible for him to pierce its Demon body…

But with all its doubts, it was over.

…

Fang Cun poked at the Demon corpse lying on the ground with his sword tip, knowing it was truly dead.

“The Magical Power was pure and concentrated; it really worked…”

He recalled the feeling when he delivered that sword strike and nodded slightly.

This old Demon actually had deep cultivation. With his current Magical Power, even if he gathered it all, it would have been hard to kill it. But he usually cultivated with Innate Qi, so his Magical Power was much purer than others’. By pouring it all into the sword at once, the sword became immensely powerful. Caught off guard, the old Demon suddenly fell to his trick…

He shook the Demon blood off the sword and looked toward the temple doorway.

Beside it was a small Demon, only about three feet tall, like a human child of six or seven years. It looked like a little girl with sharp fox ears and a fluffy fox tail on its back. Its features were delicate and beautiful. But now, it seemed utterly terrified by him. Under his gaze, it trembled uncontrollably and backed away until pressed against the wall corner.

“Such a small Demon, would it come out to eat people?”

Fang Cun shook his head lightly and walked forward slowly.

The small Demon only looked at him, shivering. Tears welled up in its eyes as it started to sob.

Fang Cun squatted down and gently picked up its small hand, smelled it, and nodded, saying, “Hmm, no scent of blood!”

The small Demon was frozen stiff with fear, not daring to move.

Fang Cun looked up at her and asked, “Haven’t you killed anyone?”

The small Demon stood there stiffly and nodded hard.

Fang Cun smiled, stood up, inserted the sword back into the umbrella’s sheath, then put away the umbrella.

The small Demon was stunned. It saw Fang Cun sit back by the fire, pick up the scroll, and read quietly, ignoring it now.

The small Demon couldn’t tell if it felt relieved or more afraid. Pressing its back to the wall, it inched bit by bit toward the temple door. Finally reaching the doorway, it saw that the reading person still had no intention of attacking. So, it quickly took a breath, put all four limbs on the ground, scrabbled wildly at the ground, and tried to bolt out into the dark night outside the temple.

But just as it rushed out the door, it sensed a cold, piercing sword energy descend from high above.

The small Demon jumped in fright. Using all its strength, it twisted in the air and dashed back inside the broken temple. With a “whoosh,” it ran behind the back of the reading person and peeked out from behind him, trembling, looking out toward the temple door…

Fang Cun himself was startled too. He looked back at this small Demon filled with terror, then looked toward the temple door.

At that moment, Meng Zhixue stepped inside the temple, her Flying Sword hovering at her side.

She seemed anxious at first, but at a glance, she saw the old Demon corpse lying on the floor inside the temple and Fang Cun sitting calmly by the fire. Then, she relaxed. Immediately, her eyes fell on the small Demon hiding behind Fang Cun, and her brow furrowed. Right then, outside the temple, the sound of hurried wind gusts came one after another as more Academy Disciples rushed back, striding into the temple.

“Oh…”

“Is that Fang Family’s Second Young Master okay?”

“The old Demon actually died?”

Seeing the old Demon corpse in the temple, they were shocked. Then, they looked at Fang Cun in surprise; some breathed a mild sigh of relief, while others turned stunned, unable to imagine how this old Demon died here in the broken temple.

“Everyone is back…”

Fang Cun stood up and greeted the group of Academy Disciples. Seeing them all staring at the old Demon corpse with confused expressions, he smiled. “Shortly after you went to slay Demons, this old Demon charged in. It seemed injured and wanted to devour me to restore its Demonic Qi, but its wounds were too severe, moving very slowly. It accidentally blundered into my hands and got killed by me!”

Hearing this, the Academy Disciples suddenly realized.

Earlier, when this old Demon escaped from the village, Meng Zhixue had slashed it with her sword, wounding it badly. Probably because it was so injured, it wanted to devour the Second Young Master Fang to replenish its Demonic Qi. Unfortunately, it backfired and ended up being finished off by Second Young Master Fang…

“A clueless novice caught a lucky break and landed himself such a big merit!”

Someone seeing this couldn’t help but shake their head.

Among the Demon Race attacking villages, this old Demon was the strongest and clearly the leader.

They had attacked in turn but failed to kill it; even Fairy Meng used her sword and couldn’t finish it. Who imagined it died in Second Fang’s hands?

In the crowd, Meng Zhixue was the only one glancing at the old Demon corpse, then at Fang Cun, her eyes filled with doubt.

“The Demons in the villages are all wiped out!”

Not wanting to dwell on the topic, someone quickly scanned the scene and looked toward the small Demon behind Fang Cun. Stepping forward loudly, he said, “This little Demon must have been brought out by that old Demon just now. Immortal Master Fang Chi once said, eliminate evils down to the last roots. This Demon may be small, but since it appeared in that village, it’s not innocent. Chop it with a sword, then send it along with these Demon corpses to the Academy for credit!”

Seeing the shiny long sword wave, the small Demon hastily squeezed behind Fang Cun, its tail trembling like a curve.

The other Disciples just looked like this was obvious; even Meng Zhixue didn’t take it seriously.

Fang Cun felt the small Demon’s trembling body through his back and frowned slightly.

He watched as the Disciple wielding the sword approached. In that brief moment, he hesitated for a second in his mind. Then, looking up, he smiled at the Academy Disciple with the sword and said, “Let’s not do that. Such a pretty Little Fox Girl, killing her would be a waste, wouldn’t it?”

The Disciple paused slightly: “So, what do you propose instead?”

Fang Cun laughed, “Take her home and raise her; wouldn’t that be fun?”

Instantly, every Disciple in the temple turned their gaze to him, looking very strange.