Xu Zhiqiu had no idea why she had that thought. She shook her head. Staying put and waiting was out of the question.
She clasped the Jade tightly in her palm and continued forward. As she walked, she leaped straight onto a tiled rooftop. From that height, her view opened up, and she spotted a place ahead blazing with intense purple light.
Her sixth sense told her there was more to that place than met the eye, so she quickened her pace toward it.
Her lightness skill came in handy. In no time, Xu Zhiqiu reached her destination and passed straight through the Barrier.
This was the outskirts of town. The woods were dark and eerie, radiating a chill. A Barrier enclosed the area, and it was the source of that purple glow.
As soon as she entered, she saw Gu Weny an wrapped in an enormous horsetail whisk, along with a fox-faced man in Daoist robes sitting in midair, controlling one end of it.
Sensing someone entering his Barrier, the male fox opened his eyes and looked at Xu Zhiqiu. In a sinister, mocking tone, he said, "Oh? An undying soul? Perhaps you can provide the final nourishment I need to become an immortal."
"Zhiqiu, don't come any closer! Run! Get out of here!" Bound by the whisk, Gu Weny an turned her head and spotted Xu Zhiqiu. She screamed at her to leave.
The fox demon turned to look at the human. "You're at death's door, yet you still want someone else to escape? I'll finish you off first!"
As he spoke, his voice suddenly turned shrill, and the whisk tightened around her.
Seeing this, Xu Zhiqiu gripped the Jade, which had already grown warm, and attacked without hesitation. Just as she had hoped, the Jade Blade's cutting power, which she had thought unusable, worked again!
Under her gaze, a blade of light appeared and sliced the fox demon's whisk clean in two.
Once the whisk broke, the strands wrapped around Gu Weny an's waist loosened.
"Ah!" Gu Weny an fell straight down.
Xu Zhiqiu used her lightness skill to leap over and catch her in her arms. Then she set her down and asked in a low voice, "How did that fox demon catch you?"
Gu Weny an came back to her senses and looked at the fox demon sitting in midair, hatred in her eyes. "He's the one who killed my family and my clanspeople!"
The fox demon recovered from the shock of having his magical treasure severed. Rage filled his narrow eyes. "Damn human! You dared to break my whisk! I'll make you pay!!"
As his words fell, a dense swarm of crawling creatures emerged from the woods, scuttling toward Xu Zhiqiu at incredible speed.
Xu Zhiqiu took one look. They were all Five Poisons creatures. So this fox demon raised those too. She picked up Gu Weny an and leaped onto a roof, unleashing the Jade Blade at them. In an instant, its powerful slash cut the venomous creatures in two. The stench of blood spread through the air.
Each time Xu Zhiqiu cut down one wave, another came swarming up. She had to deal with the source. "You should leave first. With you here, I can't fight freely."
"Zhiqiu, I want revenge," Gu Weny an said.
Xu Zhiqiu fell silent for a moment, then ruffled her hair. "You're still young. You can't take revenge yourself. I'll help you."
"Well..." Gu Weny an stared in surprise. She seemed not to have expected Xu Zhiqiu to be so kind when they had only known each other for a day.
Aside from the fact that this eight-tailed fox had designs on her, leaving Xu Zhiqiu no choice but to act, there was also something about this little girl that made her feel a little close to her.
She used the Jade Blade again, clearing away the venomous creatures ahead, then took the girl by the hand and headed toward the Barrier's entrance.
"Trying to run? Not a chance!" Seeing Xu Zhiqiu making her escape, the fox demon stopped meditating and conjured another whisk to attack her.
Xu Zhiqiu tightened her grip on the Jade and unleashed the Jade Blade toward the fox demon. Pulling Gu Weny an along, she reached the Barrier's entrance and led her outside, then released her hand. "Run as far away as you can and live a good life. I'm going to deal with that fox demon."
"Why are you so good to me?" Gu Weny an asked.
Xu Zhiqiu looked into her eyes. "Maybe fate brought us together."
The fox demon's whisk came shooting out. Xu Zhiqiu severed that section and reentered the Barrier. Gu Weny an watched her disappear, but when she tried to follow her inside, she could not get through no matter what she did. "Ah, why can't I get in? I could just a moment ago."
The person inside the house came out and saw a little girl standing on the roof, talking to herself. "Young lady, what's wrong? Why are you on my roof?"
Hearing someone else's voice, Gu Weny an looked back toward the Barrier. The Barrier that had been glowing purple was gone. Had it just vanished into thin air?
Inside the Barrier, a Barrier from Xu Zhiqiu's Jade inexplicably appeared, enclosing the fox demon's original Barrier and transporting it to a suitable place for a fight.
"Heh, trying to trap me with a Barrier? Let's see whether an ordinary human like you can devour me, or whether I'll devour you instead."
As the fox demon spoke, the Daoist robes on his body tore apart, and he reverted to his true form: an enormous red fox with eight tails.
After returning to his true form, he lashed his tails toward Xu Zhiqiu.
Xu Zhiqiu reacted swiftly, dodging the attack. The giant tail gouged a pit into the spot it struck.
More importantly, as the fox's tail swept toward her, it brought a wave of rank fox odor with it.
Holy shit.
Xu Zhiqiu pinched her nose, gritted her teeth, and tightened her grip on the Jade before attacking him.
Before you continue