Nonhuman

Huainanzi stared at the little maid for a while, frowning.

No matter how he looked at her, this young girl with twin buns was an ordinary person. Not a demon, not a cultivator. Even the half of her lotus-root-like arm exposed beyond her sleeve bore two or three scratches from branches and leaves.

But an ordinary person would not come running to a place like this at such a time, much less remain unmoved at the sight of corpses on the ground. So the one with a problem was the little girl on the donkey's back.

That little girl, he could not see through her either. Yet he only felt...

It would be better to stay farther away from her.

The farther, the better.

Thus, he composed himself and cupped his fists toward the little girl. "I am Huainanzi, chief disciple of the Voidsoar Sword Sect's master. May I ask where this young lady came from, and what brings her here?"

But the girl on the donkey did not look at him, as though she had not heard him at all. She stretched out her slender white hand and gave the little black donkey's rump a pat. The black donkey started walking, clopping over to Li Yunxin's side.

Li Yunxin did not move. He merely softened his expression and lowered his eyes slightly, watching the little black donkey's hooves.

The reason he had been stalling for time was these two.

When he had felt utterly helpless, the little cat demon possessing him had told him that something terrifying was rushing over from afar. The little cat demon spoke in a muddled, upside-down way, and it was inside his body besides. So Li Yunxin only knew that, in the little cat demon's impression, whoever was coming was—"So scary, so scary, so scary!"

And it was not human.

That made Li Yunxin happy. If it were human, it definitely would not be able to defeat Huainanzi. If it was not human, then he had a chance to survive.

Now the girl walked up before Li Yunxin, stared at him for a while, then swung one leg over and got down.

With a squelch, her tiny embroidered shoe stepped into the pool of blood. The girl frowned slightly, yet still walked around Li Yunxin in a circle. Then she closed her eyes, brought her delicate little nose close to Li Yunxin's neck, and took a deep breath—

From top to bottom, from head to toe, just like the most devout old glutton closing his eyes and deeply drawing into his lungs the fragrance wafting from a peerless delicacy before him!

A slender, beautiful girl bending over with her eyes closed to sniff a man's scent was both unseemly and ridiculous-looking. Yet neither Li Yunxin nor Huainanzi laughed.

Because starting from his neck, the girl sniffed all over his body, circling him three or four times. And throughout it all—she had taken only one breath!

Only after that long breath did the girl open her eyes again, panting a few times, slightly hurried, as though digesting the scent she had just inhaled.

Then she smiled at Li Yunxin and said in a soft, gentle voice, "You smell so good. I like you. Where are you going?"

Only then did Li Yunxin raise his head to look at her, revealing a gentle smile. "I'm going to Weicheng. What about you?"

The girl smiled, showing her teeth—a row of fine, snow-white little teeth. "Then I'm going to Weicheng too. You'll come with me."

Li Yunxin nodded. "All right. I have a name. It's Li Yunxin."

The girl blinked happily, her long lashes fluttering. "Eh? I have a name too. It's Bai Yunxin!"

"What a lovely name," Li Yunxin said. "But I still can't leave. Look at her."

He pointed at Qiao Jiaxin on the ground. "She and I were good friends, but that man killed her. So—"

The girl pursed her lips. "That's right. The little cat demon possessed you. She doesn't smell good."

This woman... she had smelled out the cat demon. Li Yunxin's heart gave a slight leap, and he relaxed. Earlier, he had still been worried about how he would explain that he had to bring a monster along with him.

Because right now, he was dealing with this gentle, beautiful-looking girl with one hundred and twenty thousand parts caution. Even his tone, expression, and gaze had been deliberately adjusted.

From the moment this girl had walked up to him and forcefully inhaled his scent, Li Yunxin had realized that she was not human.

Not only was she not human, she was very likely a great demon on the same level as the Ninth Young Master!

Though she and the Ninth Young Master were completely different, their patterns of behavior shared the same trait—they did as they pleased, utterly unconcerned with anyone else's opinion. In both his past life and this one, Li Yunxin had met many people. Because of his former profession, he had liked observing people and remembered quite a few cases. But even the coldest people he had encountered still cared, deep down, about the eyes of others—in one way or another.

Yet the Ninth Young Master before, and Bai Yunxin now, their "not caring" was like a person walking "alone" through a forest.

Was he lonely? No. There were trees, flowers, grass, birds, and animals.

But he did not regard those things as his own kind.

Li Yunxin knew that when facing such terrifying creatures, he absolutely could not seem boring. These demons regarded human lives as ants; if they found someone dull, they might tear them apart with a casual swipe.

He had to make himself more interesting—just as he had when facing the Ninth Young Master.

He had to observe every tiny expression, movement, and shift in tone, understand her emotions and thoughts, predict what she might do next, and then use this creature to break free of his current predicament!

So Li Yunxin glanced at Huainanzi, spread his hands, and said as casually as if chatting, "Then help me kill him."

Bai Yunxin's eyes brightened slightly.

Then she turned her head to look at Huainanzi.

At that moment, the sect swordsman had three flying swords guarding his body and was staring unblinkingly at Li Yunxin and Bai Yunxin. Hearing those words, he shouted, "Fairy, do not lead yourself astray! That little thief killed two of my fellow disciples and consorted with demons, so I—"

He suddenly stopped speaking.

Because he saw that the little maid standing not far away was staring at him too, and her eyes were shining.

A greedy person's eyes would shine at the sight of gold and silver treasure, but never like this—

Those large eyes, once clearly black and white, suddenly turned emerald green. In the night, they gave off a blazing radiance, making her originally cute and lovely face resemble a ghost's visage.

Then the moment the little maid opened her mouth, it split all the way to her ears, revealing rows upon rows of densely packed, sharp, slender fangs!

This mistress and servant were demons too! They were not cultivators at all!

Huainanzi's heart tightened. He knew that if he did not reveal every last bit of his skill today, it would be difficult for him to escape unscathed. He knew even more clearly that even if he had to force out all his potential, sacrifice more than a decade of cultivation, and abandon his hopes of ever advancing to a higher realm, he still had to defeat these demons! Only afterward, if he escaped alive, would he have the means to seek aid, cultivate, and take revenge!

His expression turned cold. He erupted with a breath from his dantian and shouted fiercely, "Demons! Do you think I fear you—"

The little maid's neck suddenly shot out, and in one bite she swallowed Huainanzi's head, along with the three flying swords guarding before it.

Then her neck shrank back in an instant. The little maid smacked her lips, frowned, and looked at her mistress again. "No seasoning."

Huainanzi's headless body twitched where it stood for a while, then fell to the ground with a thud.