Volume 3, Chapter 196 – Don’t Think Too Much, Just Fight

Hu Mei’er hid one hand behind her back.

Crimson demonic power flowed around her delicate fist.

Hu Mei’er had always been very clear about her own capabilities.

She knew what she was good at, and she also knew what she wasn’t good at.

When it came to strategic planning and decisive judgment, she was far inferior to Hu Xian’er.

Although in front of Lu Zhuxin, she had always appeared considerate and gentle, in reality, as a red fox, what Hu Mei’er excelled at most was actually fighting.

Hu Mei’er wasn’t good at reading people’s expressions, but with these two assassins before her, she could tell at a glance what they were plotting.

Hu Mei’er truly wasn’t as smart as Xian’er, but that didn’t mean she was stupid!

Facing this uncertain situation, Hu Xian’er had taught her a simple method of response.

“Don’t think too much, just fight!”

Seven fox tails burning with flames suddenly manifested behind her.

Hu Mei’er raised her delicate fist and swung it fiercely at the two assassins before her.

Heat waves rose between the trees, and the dead wood on the ground was instantly ignited by the flames.

The two Sin Moon Tower assassins felt a deadly threat at this moment. They simultaneously dodged to the side, avoiding Hu Mei’er’s attack.

The scorching aura burning on the seven tails’ demonic power roasted them until their faces flushed red.

Ye Xiaoqing had still been hesitating about whether to fight, but now, Hu Mei’er had already made the decision for them.

Ye Xiaoqing drew her dagger and flashed forward. Her technique was more suited for close combat.

However, as she approached Hu Mei’er, Hu Mei’er’s gaze shifted, and she actively moved toward Ye Xiaoqing.

The seven flaming fox tails behind her supported against the ground, bending slightly. After briefly gathering strength, they suddenly released their power, sending Hu Mei’er flying out like a cannonball.

Seeing this, Ye Xiaoqing’s pupils couldn’t help but shrink sharply. Hu Mei’er’s charming and lovely face continuously enlarged before her eyes, and along with it, Hu Mei’er’s fist flowing with crimson demonic power.

Do all fox demons look this delicate and fragile, but fight so wildly?

This punch came too fast, leaving Ye Xiaoqing somewhat unable to react.

Hu Mei’er borrowed the momentum to deliver a charging punch at Ye Xiaoqing.

Ye Xiaoqing hastily gathered her strength to block.

With a loud clang, this punch failed to directly hit Ye Xiaoqing’s body.

Before Ye Xiaoqing, a golden shield suddenly appeared, absorbing most of the force from Hu Mei’er’s punch.

With a crack, the golden shield shattered like glass.

The fist flowing with crimson demonic power struck against Ye Xiaoqing’s dagger.

Even though the golden shield had dissipated most of Hu Mei’er’s force, the remaining power still made Ye Xiaoqing’s chest tighten.

She was sent flying.

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Bai Yuening rushed to her side and caught her in time.

The innocent girl’s face was tightly furrowed. In her hands, she held a book scroll, and golden runes flickered continuously on it.

The shield that had just helped Ye Xiaoqing withstand this attack was released by Bai Yuening.

“Are you an idiot?” Bai Yuening said irritably. “Going head-to-head with a red fox? You’re not a body cultivator. And her realm is even higher than yours.”

“I’ve never fought a fox demon before!” Ye Xiaoqing retorted.

While the two were talking, Hu Mei’er once again swung her fists and pounced over.

The previous movement technique had a very obvious wind-up motion. Using it for the first surprise attack had the best effect. Using it again would make the opponent wary, and its effect would be much worse.

Though it was a simple pounce, the crimson demonic power transformed into the shape of claws within the fist wind.

“Be careful! Think about how you usually assassinate those thick-skinned body cultivators!” Bai Yuening quickly instructed Ye Xiaoqing.

Her fingertip lightly flicked on the book scroll, and several spells transformed into colorful streams of light that bombarded toward Hu Mei’er.

Hu Mei’er swung her slender arms, waving fists burning with crimson demonic power.

The scorching wind shattered all of Bai Yuening’s spells in the air, and the out-of-control spiritual energy bloomed into colorful flowers in the air.

Hu Mei’er twisted her waist using demonic power, as if dancing a seductive dance in the air.

She found a path through the gaps between those flowers and charged at the two again.

The crimson fox phantom, following Hu Mei’er’s waist movement, suddenly struck down.

Seeing this, Ye Xiaoqing and Bai Yuening had no choice but to scatter and avoid it.

On the ground they had vacated, the fox phantom clawed out two blazing trenches.

After dodging, Ye Xiaoqing stepped in mysterious footwork. Her figure suddenly reversed, rushing at Hu Mei’er from the flank.

This time, Ye Xiaoqing learned from her previous lesson and no longer chose to face Hu Mei’er head-on.

Instead, she deployed her movement techniques, using the terrain to maneuver around Hu Mei’er.

Bai Yuening did the same. She coordinated with Ye Xiaoqing’s attacks from a distance, constantly harassing Hu Mei’er with spells.

Spell streams rolled into form from the book scroll and then shot out rapidly.

Her spells were very fast. Though their power was limited, they were continuous and overwhelming, impossible to guard against completely.

They flanked Hu Mei’er on both sides.

No matter who Hu Mei’er chose to actively attack, she would suffer a fierce assault from the other person.

This was the disadvantage of one against two.

Unless Hu Mei’er could rely on her realm advantage to forcibly defeat one person, she would be dragged into a stalemate.

Of course, Hu Mei’er was doing just that now. She chose the weakest link between the two.

She went after that five-element spell cultivator who only had Fifth Realm cultivation.

However, that five-element spell cultivator was extremely sharp. After detecting Hu Mei’er’s intention, she immediately changed her strategy.

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Wind spells enhanced her own body, as if a small whirlwind was supporting her rapid movement. This speed was twice that of ordinary cultivators’ teleportation light.

“Tch…” Hu Mei’er clicked her tongue in displeasure.

Logically speaking, as long as the red fox clan didn’t encounter sword cultivators who naturally countered fox demons, they didn’t fear any other type of cultivator.

As one of the four great clans of the demon realm, although the weakest among them, the fox clan still had their own advantages.

But encountering this kind of slippery cultivator who ran circles when they couldn’t win, no matter who it was, would be just as frustrating.

After continuously chasing for kilometers, Hu Mei’er was full of pent-up anger.

While Hu Mei’er was pursuing that Fifth Realm spell cultivator, that Sixth Realm assassin always followed behind her, occasionally using her dagger to sneak attack, accumulating power to deliver one or two vicious strikes.

As fellow Sixth Realm cultivators, her attacks were enough to threaten Hu Mei’er.

This forced Hu Mei’er to split part of her attention to watch for that assassin’s attacks from behind, unable to focus all her energy on the spell cultivator in front.

“So annoying!” Full of pent-up anger, Hu Mei’er had no choice but to abandon her plan to continue pursuing Bai Yuening.

She turned around and slapped at Ye Xiaoqing.

Seeing this, Ye Xiaoqing’s lips curled in a contemptuous, provocative smile. She didn’t clash head-on with Hu Mei’er, instead using her movement technique to maneuver around her.

“Come hit me, red-haired fox!”

After briefly exchanging blows with this red fox, Ye Xiaoqing discovered that whether in strength or speed, the red fox was extremely outstanding.

But like some body cultivators, she focused on physical strength while lacking somewhat in technique.

This red fox was extremely skilled at wide, sweeping, all-out attacks. Because of the fox demon’s flexible body advantage, she was even more agile than human body cultivators of the same realm.

However, lacking varied techniques and having rigid moves that were easy to see through were common problems among many demon realm cultivators.

And coincidentally, Ye Xiaoqing was an assassin extremely skilled in movement techniques, and beside her was a five-element spell cultivator equally flexible and varied in her movements.

The assassin’s cunning and harsh attacks, and the five-element spell cultivator’s numerous clever and ingenious spells, gradually pushed Hu Mei’er into a disadvantage.

It wasn’t that she couldn’t defeat these two, but that she was easily caught in their constraints.

Neither side dared risk overly aggressive offensives, for that would only expose weaknesses and plunge them into danger.

In such a stalemate, it would ultimately become a battle of endurance.

Whoever couldn’t sustain the consumption of stamina and spiritual power first would fall into defeat.

Demon clan cultivators had powerful bodies and vast demonic power. Human cultivators recovered spiritual power quickly. When spiritual power circulated through their heavenly circuit, their recovery ability far exceeded that of the demon clan. Moreover, they could use various pills to rapidly replenish depleted spiritual power.

With Hu Mei’er facing two opponents, the outcome of this battle was truly hard to predict.

Of course, she had also thought about forcibly breaking the deadlock. With the demon cultivator’s powerful physique, she had more margin for error than those two humans.

But those two human cultivators were already prepared, promptly avoiding Hu Mei’er’s fierce offensive. Moreover, they had always been very cautious. Even though Hu Mei’er deliberately exposed some openings, they didn’t risk attacking.

They weren’t body cultivators, nor sword cultivators, and they lacked the demon clan’s robust physique.

One or two attacks that Hu Mei’er casually threw out were more than they could withstand.

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This deadlock continued for quite some time, until a suddenly erupting sword qi broke the stalemate.

“Sword Sect disciples are here! What evil creature dares to run wild here!”

A loud shout suddenly rang out!

Sharp sword qi interwove strand by strand, transforming into a large net that enveloped the three people in the field.

“Not good, someone’s coming!” Bai Yuening called out in a low voice. “Xiaoqing, run quickly!”

They were assassins from Sin Moon Tower, people who walked in shadows. Bearing countless lives on their hands, they were regular fixtures on the court’s wanted bounty lists.

They had always been at odds with sword cultivators, those righteous dogs.

So when they discovered the newcomer was a sword cultivator, both assassins’ hearts sprouted the intention to retreat.

However, there was good news. Sword cultivators were even more at odds with fox demons.

Yet what Ye Xiaoqing and Bai Yuening hadn’t expected was that after discovering they both wanted to flee, the sword qi net enveloping them suddenly changed.

The fine sword threads suddenly twisted like rope, drilling fiercely toward Ye Xiaoqing and Bai Yuening.

“Something’s wrong! This sword cultivator is coming after us!” Bai Yuening cried out in alarm. “Xiaoqing, quickly use the talisman the Tower Master gave us!”

Seeing this, Hu Mei’er’s face tensed. Crimson flames rapidly ignited around her bare ankles.

She urged her demonic power again, preparing to forcibly keep these two assassins.

The sword qi net had completely closed.

But Ye Xiaoqing and Bai Yuening moved faster.

Suddenly, an invisible fluctuation simultaneously enveloped both of them.

With a clang, both assassins’ figures simultaneously disappeared from their original positions.

After the two assassins disappeared, the sword qi net enveloping the three instantly fell on empty space. After circling aimlessly once, this sword qi net didn’t choose to continue attacking Hu Mei’er, but dispersed.

“Argh! They still got away!” Hu Mei’er angrily stomped her feet.

In the forest, a man riding sword light landed before Hu Mei’er.

This was a white-robed swordsman, tall and slender with a handsome face.

He cupped his fists toward Hu Mei’er. “Miss Mei’er, this one is Tai Mingzhi, here to meet you.”

His gaze was extremely restrained. After lightly sweeping across Hu Mei’er’s face once, he immediately averted his eyes, not making any improper behavior.

This was an arrangement Lu Zhuxin had Huang Huying prepare in advance.

Hu Mei’er had always guarded Lu Zhuxin’s side, but Hu Mei’er wasn’t skilled at concealment and hiding. If she was discovered by accident, there would be strong people to help her escape.

Hu Mei’er hadn’t expected that Lu Zhuxin’s arrangement would come in handy so quickly.

“I know. You have the pheromone mark left by the fox clan on you,” Hu Mei’er said. “Huang Huying sent you? What’s he to you?”

Tai Mingzhi bowed his head respectfully. “He is this one’s father-in-law.”

This young sword cultivator was actually Huang Huying’s son-in-law?

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Moreover, this sword cultivator seemed to always avoid looking at her? Hu Mei’er was puzzled.

However, she soon understood the reason.

Another voice came from the distance. It was a refined young man dressed as a scholar.

“Mingzhi, did you rescue Sister Mei’er?”

This youth’s cultivation wasn’t high, only Fourth Realm. He was a five-tailed fox demon.

He ran over panting. Seeing Hu Mei’er, he respectfully and politely called out, “Sister Mei’er.”

When Tai Mingzhi saw this youth, his eyes revealed a trace of tenderness and indulgence, but his mouth held some stern reproach. “Huang Wenluo, didn’t I tell you this area was very dangerous and not to run around? How did you come over alone?”

Hu Mei’er’s eyes showed sudden understanding. So that’s how it was.

She knew this Huang Wenluo. He was Huang Huying’s youngest son, the young master of the Golden Bell Commerce Association.

Seeing this, Huang Wenluo’s face showed an awkward smile. He said, “You told me to stay in the barrier the whole time. How could I possibly stay put?”

“Now the Demon Suppression Bureau and the sword sect people are checking for demons everywhere. The inspection intensity is simply unprecedented.”

Speaking of this, Huang Wenluo suddenly thought of something and hastily said, “Right! Just now Father told me something very urgent and asked me to notify everyone.”

“The sword sect people have secretly sent the pheromone detection stones from within the sect to various places.”

“This thing is extremely dangerous. Anyone who has contacted fox demons will be detected by it.”

“Father said that before the specific arrangements of the Seven Sword Sects are clarified, everyone shouldn’t casually enter or leave the major towns.”

“Also, we must inform Her Majesty about this matter!”

Hearing this, Hu Mei’er’s face showed a trace of peculiarity.

“Regarding this matter, Her Majesty already knows.”

“Moreover, just now, the pheromone detection stone sent to Beihe Commandery has already been destroyed by Her Majesty.”

Hearing this, Huang Wenluo and Tai Mingzhi simultaneously showed surprised expressions on their faces.

…

On the other side, Chi Xiyan rode the carriage back to the Chi residence.

As soon as she returned to the Chi residence, she jumped down from the carriage holding Lu Zhuxin and quickly walked toward her own courtyard.

The servants and maids along the way, seeing Chi Xiyan hurriedly carrying a person covered in blood, all showed traces of surprise on their faces.

Having served the eldest young lady for so many years, when had they ever seen her in such a state?

The eldest young lady had a cleanliness obsession. With all that blood, how was she enduring not throwing the person in her arms away?

Chi Xiyan paid no attention to these servants’ strange looks.

After returning to her own courtyard, Chi Xiyan immediately gave orders.

“Quickly prepare hot water and spiritual medicine. Two people with nimble hands, come give Miss Yu a bath.”