Fox Demon

The deeper they went, the stronger the stench of blood became, along with waves of feeble wailing.

When they reached the end, the space suddenly opened up.

At the end of the cave was an unexpectedly spacious area. Dozens of night-luminous pearls of varying sizes were embedded in the ceiling, making the entire space exceptionally bright.

At the very center stood a yellow-furred fox as long as a person, its fur stained with quite a bit of blood.

The yellow-furred fox stood upright like a human. Before him lay an old farmer on the verge of death.

The old farmer's upper body was intact, but only bones remained below his waist.

The yellow-furred fox was using his sharp claws to slice strips of flesh from the old farmer's body, one piece after another. The plate beside him was already piled full.

Every slice was as thin as a cicada's wing, showing just how sharp his claws were.

The old farmer's leg bones were covered in fine markings. Looking closer, the Fox Demon was actually carving a picture into the old man's leg bones with his claws—the very image of the old farmer's current state.

The sound of claws scraping against bone sent chills down one's spine.

The old farmer's cries rose and fell, yet he never quite breathed his last.

"You're here. I heard you and the people from the Demon Exorcism Bureau... a human?"

The yellow-furred fox stopped what he was doing and turned around, only to find Lin Jun standing before him with a sword clutched tightly in his hand.

"Interesting. You came to kill me?"

The fox looked at Lin Jun's sword as though it were a joke.

Until he saw the blood-red aura upon Lin Jun's blade.

"Wait, you're that demon exorcist? Oh, I heard you've been making quite a ruckus lately?"

The fox circled Lin Jun three times without the slightest hint of fear.

"My father told me about you. He said I should stay far away if I saw you."

"I never listen to that old fellow. Still, I am rather interested in you. How about becoming my human pet? I'll spare your life."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. But even if you become my human pet, you've caused so much trouble on my turf. Necessary punishment is still required. Hmm, those legs of yours aren't bad."

"Perhaps I can make a bone carving out of them."

Lin Jun had been testing the limits of how much Blood-Baleful Aura his sword could bear. At last, he found the point where it could unleash the greatest power without damaging the blade.

"Are you done talking?"

The fox froze, not understanding Lin Jun's words.

What answered him was Lin Jun's downward slash.

The Blood-Baleful Aura on that strike struck terror into the fox's heart. He hurriedly performed a donkey roll and barely dodged it.

The Blood-Baleful Aura did not stop simply because the fox had dodged. The Sword Qi it unleashed directly shattered a bone carving on the distant cave wall.

"Bastard, how dare you!"

Lin Jun reversed his sword and chased after the fox with another slash. Unable to dodge in time, the fox took the blow head-on.

"Aaaah!!!"

Lin Jun clearly felt his sword meet a force of resistance when it struck the fox's body. That resistance prevented him from cleaving the fox in two.

The fox rolled wildly across the ground, smashing several more paintings made from human skin.

"My paintings! You dare!"

"Damn thing!"

The fox's claws abruptly lengthened, becoming like steel needles.

The steel needles lunged at Lin Jun, colliding with his sword in a shower of fierce sparks.

Two fists could not fend off four hands. Lin Jun had only one sword, while the fox could use all four limbs. For a time, Lin Jun was forced back again and again.

A sword was still a sword. It was not as handy as a saber, and Lin Jun could never quite get used to using it.

Finally, beneath the fox's airtight barrage of attacks, Lin Jun's sword failed to defend him.

The fox revealed a triumphant smile and drove a claw straight toward Lin Jun's heart.

"Bang!"

The claw shattered.

The fox stared blankly at his claw, blood flowing without end, then at the silver armor that had suddenly appeared around Lin Jun's body.

So after all that attacking, he had not even used his defenses?

He still held back while fighting demons?

"You motherfucker!"

Even having his creations destroyed had never made him this furious. When had he ever been treated with such contempt?

The fox pulled a small yellow flag from behind his back. The moment it rose into the air, it immediately transformed into a great banner nearly two people tall.

A lifelike tiger was painted on the yellow banner, seeming as if it were still moving.

What was this?

This was the first time Lin Jun had encountered something beyond his understanding. Even the memories of the original owner of this body held no record of such a thing.

A weapon?

Who used a flag as a weapon?

"I'll tear you to shreds!"

The fox violently swung the flag, and an illusory white tiger lunged out from it at Lin Jun.

Lin Jun held his sword crosswise, directly blocking the tiger's pounce. The two sides actually fell into a stalemate.

Lin Jun glanced at the fox from the corner of his eye, and the fox immediately retreated three steps in fright.

He had not expected Lin Jun to withstand his trump card head-on, much less to seemingly hold the advantage.

Only Lin Jun knew that the White Tiger was afraid of him. The Tiger-Baleful Aura around Lin Jun frightened the White Tiger before him.

"Bang!"

With a flash of sword light, the White Tiger shattered in midair like glass.

"Your turn."

Lin Jun showed a chilling smile and walked toward the Fox Demon with his sword in hand.

"Don't come any closer!"

The Fox Demon retreated again and again, quickly backing himself into a corner.

Waves of agonized screams echoed from the depths of the cave.

Hearing those screams, the burly man in the cage silently covered his ears.

"Sigh, you didn't have even a shred of self-awareness. Now you're done for. All we can hope is that you have some way to kill yourself."

He Jing's eyes, however, grew brighter and brighter.

"That isn't Lin Jun's voice!"

"What?"

The burly man froze, then laughed.

If it was not the demon exorcist's voice, could it possibly be the Fox Demon's?

Even he, the second disciple of the Hongyan Sect, had been captured. What could a little brat possibly do?

"I think you're truly... wildly imagi—"

The burly man suddenly froze. His entire body stiffened like wood as he stared blankly toward the depths of the cave.

Lin Jun slowly emerged from within. In one hand, he carried a blood-drenched fox; in the other, he held the fox's pelt. A sword was strapped to his back, its blade covered in blood.

That Fox Demon was the very one who had captured them.

Dead?

How long had it even been? Had half an hour passed from the time Lin Jun entered to the time he came out?

The burly man could not understand. His mind had never been particularly quick, and now it was even more incapable of turning over the matter.

Even though He Jing knew Lin Jun was capable, he had not expected him to be this formidable.

It was as though he had gone in to slaughter a rat. He had not even been injured.

He Jing looked at the burly man again, and the burly man suddenly slapped himself.

Was my tone too harsh when I spoke to him just now?

Is it still too late to apologize?

"My lord? Y-you skinned him alive?"

The furless fox was at death's door, yet he had not stopped breathing. Blood continued dripping from him.

Lu Ling only felt his scalp go numb. How long had it been?

"Only returning the treatment he gave others. This was what he deserved."

Lu Ling heard the heaviness in Lin Jun's tone and could only silently stand beside him once more.

Lin Jun's thoughts were in turmoil. In the past, demons ate people purely for food.

But this Fox Demon was different. He clearly took pleasure in tormenting humans. The scene inside had made Lin Jun deeply uncomfortable.

"Urgh, cough cough."

Even with his pelt stripped away, the Fox Demon still had not died.

"...Zhang Ju is my father..."

"He will kill you..."

So it really was Zhang Ju.

Lin Jun directly reached in and forcibly dug the Demon Core out of his body.

The Fox Demon struggled a few times on the ground, then stopped breathing.

After putting away the Fox Demon's pelt and collecting the small yellow flag, Lin Jun began freeing the people imprisoned in the cave.

At the same time, outside, a group of little demons had their ears pressed one by one against the stone door.

"He screamed, he screamed!"

"Wow, what a miserable cry!"

"The young master's methods of torture are getting more and more refined. That scream makes even me tremble."

"It's already been half an hour, and he's still screaming. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Looks like those cries will go on for quite a while yet. Come, come, come—pay up if you lost."

At some point, the little demons had set up a gambling pool outside the door, betting on how long the person inside could endure the torture without dying.