One Sword Severed a Tail

The inn emptied in the blink of an eye.

Feng Ling'er wriggled out of his sleeve, yipping softly.

"Sir, she spotted me."

After cultivating the Heavenly Fox Secret Canon for so long, Feng Ling'er had mastered the art of transmitting her voice through her soul.

Zhou Yi nodded slightly. "When it comes to spellcraft, I truly lack the Nine-Tailed Fox's finesse. What do you think?"

Feng Ling'er fell silent for a moment, then shook her head, unsure how to answer.

As her intelligence grew day by day, Feng Ling'er came to understand what an unparalleled opportunity it was to remain at Zhou Yi's side. Otherwise, with her inferior half-human, half-demon aptitude, even taking the first step in cultivation would have been difficult.

"Back then, when your mother wandered into the Demon-Slaying Bureau and died, I bore responsibility, both directly and indirectly."

"What has passed has faded into mist and clouds. We must always look ahead."

Zhou Yi gently stroked her back and said slowly, "You know my attitude toward the demon race. I won't embrace them, but neither will I slaughter them indiscriminately. Rather than following me around and living in my sleeve, you would be better off taking this opportunity to go to the Green Mound Blessed Land. Your cultivation won't progress any slower there."

Feng Ling'er's voice choked up as she clasped her paws and bowed.

"Sir, I will never forget your kindness, not for all eternity. If you ever summon me, I will repay you even at the cost of my life!"

Over the years, apart from the Soul Pearls bestowed when Zhou Yi slew demons, the man and the fox had barely exchanged any words.

Feng Ling'er had long understood Zhou Yi's thoughts. After reading Tales of the Executioner from beginning to end, she had already abandoned certain hopes.

As Zhou Yi watched Feng Ling'er bow, his expression suddenly grew stern, his gaze cold as ice. A faint pressure reached into the depths of her soul.

"Once you go to Green Mound, remember that half the blood flowing through you is human."

"Don't let me hear any unsavory rumors. Otherwise, even across a thousand miles or ten thousand, I will cleanse your sins and send you into reincarnation!"

Feng Ling'er immediately stiffened and hurriedly swore an oath. "Sir, if I ever commit evil, may my demon body be torn apart by chariots and my soul burned in raging flames..."

"If oaths were any use, how could there be so much love, hatred, gratitude, and vengeance in this world?"

Zhou Yi waved a hand, cutting her off. "You need only remember this at all times: with the karmic bond between us, once you commit evil, you will never escape in the end."

"Sir, I will always keep your teachings in my heart."

Then Feng Ling'er asked in a small, soft voice, "If someone bullies me, may I come to you and tell you my troubles?"

Zhou Yi fell silent for a moment, then finally sighed.

"You may."

Even a cat or dog raised for several years inspired affection. Coming to one's guardian for support after being bullied was only reasonable.

Though Green Mound Mountain was a blessed land for spirit foxes, wherever living beings gathered, there were grudges. Where there were grudges, there were factions, struggles, and oppression. What difference was there between humans and demons?

Half-human and half-fox, Feng Ling'er was naturally at a disadvantage. She would inevitably be bullied by her own kind.

Zhou Yi disliked trouble, so he added, "Unless your life is at stake, don't bother me with trivial matters."

Yip, yip, yip...

Feng Ling'er cried out joyfully, her three snowy tails sweeping back and forth.

It was midnight.

The moonlight was cold and clear.

Zhou Yi abruptly woke from his slumber, transformed into a streak of escaping light, and flew out of the city.

"That damned Daoist has quite a keen nose!"

Hu Jiuying, who had been peering in from outside the window, snorted coldly and used her escape art to give chase.

Earlier that day, Hu Jiuying had sensed a spirit fox's presence and assumed Zhou Yi had captured and enslaved one. Since daylight made it inconvenient to act, she had come to investigate the inn late at night.

Zhou Yi had anticipated this. The instant she appeared, he fled toward the outskirts.

One streak of light pursued the other. Within moments, they had left the Luo Capital, with Verdant Peak Mountain visible in the distance.

Outside the Capital, Hu Jiuying no longer needed to conceal her demonic aura. Nine fox tails floated behind her beneath the moon.

As she unleashed the Heavenly Fox Secret Escape Art, her speed multiplied several times over, and she was about to catch him.

"Ox-nosed Daoist, let's see where you can run!"

"Who said I was running?"

Zhou Yi halted his escaping light and spat out the Purple Ying Sword.

The Purple Ying Sword swelled in the wind, transforming into a thousand-foot streak of purple sword light that slashed toward her, blotting out heaven and earth.

In an instant, Hu Jiuying felt as though the world before her contained nothing but purple Sword Qi.

Her demon soul trembled, and warning signs erupted within her.

Screee!

With a piercing shriek, her nine fox tails extended and smashed toward Zhou Yi like nine jade pillars holding up the heavens.

Riiip!

The sword light swept past. Hu Jiuying had nowhere to dodge, and one of her fox tails was severed.

"Damn it!"

Hu Jiuying's form shifted from a little girl into a thousand-foot giant fox. Her eight tails swept sideways and hammered downward, sealing off Zhou Yi's escape routes as she opened her mouth and spat out blazing divine light.

"A Nine-Tailed Fox amounts to no more than this!"

Zhou Yi poured his magical power into the Purple Ying Sword. Its light surged, cutting upstream through the divine light and opening a wound over a hundred feet long in the giant fox's body.

Ten thousand years of magical power gathered above his head, forming an enormous hand that propped up the heavens. It seized three fox tails, swung her in a full arc, and smashed her into the ground.

Rumble!

Powerless to resist, the giant fox screamed as she struck a deep crater into the mountains.

The Purple Ying Sword descended from the sky, aimed straight at the giant fox's skull.

"Ancestor, save me!"

A tuft of silvery-white fox fur fell from the back of the giant fox's neck and transformed in midair into a beautiful middle-aged woman.

The beautiful woman pointed through the air. The vital energy of heaven and earth gathered at her fingertip, forming a ball of light that blasted toward the Purple Ying Sword.

Clang, clang!

The Purple Ying Sword flew backward and returned to Zhou Yi's hand.

"The Green Mound Fox Immortal?!"

A flicker of awareness slowly appeared in the beautiful woman's vacant eyes as she looked toward Zhou Yi. "Indeed. I never imagined Great Qian still harbored someone of your stature, fellow Daoist."

"A mere Qi Refiner cannot compare with the Fox Immortal's illustrious reputation."

As Zhou Yi spoke, he poured ten thousand years of magical power into the Purple Ying Sword. Its edge hummed softly, purple radiance flickering along it as he prepared to pit himself against the Green Mound Fox Immortal again at any moment.

"A Qi Refiner! It has been so long since I heard that title..."

The Fox Immortal's awareness seemed slow to respond. She turned her gaze toward the Purple Ying Sword, surprise appearing in her eyes. "What a fine immortal sword!"

Before her words had faded, the vital energy of heaven and earth stirred again. Energy across a hundred miles converged on a single point, turning into silvery-white divine light that swept toward him, filling heaven and earth.

Zhou Yi raised an eyebrow. Fox demons truly were treacherous and unpredictable, attacking without warning. Fortunately, he had prepared as well.

The Purple Ying Sword rose into the air, its purple sword light obscuring the clouds and moon.

The sky for a hundred miles split into two colors, one half silvery-white divine light, the other purple Sword Qi.

At their meeting point, thunderous explosions rang out without cease. Silver and purple sparks fell to the earth, collapsing peaks and shattering the earth's veins.

After this exchange, Zhou Yi instead felt reassured.

With ten thousand years of magical power at his disposal, he was in no way inferior to the Green Mound Fox Immortal drawing on the vital energy within a hundred-mile radius.

The Fox Immortal borrowed the might of heaven and earth, an unending source.

Zhou Yi wielded his own magical power, entirely at his will.

The Fox Immortal was only an incarnation formed from a tuft of fox fur. After just a short contest of magical power, her figure gradually became translucent and insubstantial.

"Your wondrous arts are magnificent, fellow Daoist. I concede my inferiority."

The Fox Immortal withdrew her divine light with a wave and asked, "But I am puzzled. Why did you make trouble for my junior, Hu Yue?"

"My lady, he was the one who killed Hu Yue?"

Hu Jiuying had barely managed to recover from her injuries by then. Unfortunately, her severed ninth tail could not easily be reattached. The Sword Qi clung like maggots to bone; she could only return to Green Mound and ask her lady to heal her.

Zhou Yi's heart sank. Carefully examining his body, he indeed discovered a trace of a curse in his right shoulder, clearly left by Hu Yue.

Hu Yue had not known whether Zhou Yi could break her curse, so she had laid another layer as insurance.

This layer of the curse ordinarily remained hidden. Only the Fox Immortal could recognize it in person-a truly vicious measure.

Zhou Yi's magical power surged through it, and the curse melted away like ice and snow. He answered coldly, "Demons who suck humans' yang energy to cultivate deserve to be slain! Hu Yue relied on her connections to bewitch humans. She brought her own death upon herself!"

"Then why did you let Jiuying go last night?"

"I'm not a nanny. I deal with demons who commit evil. Acts of vengeance are none of my concern."

Zhou Yi had once felt the impulse to intervene, but a moment later, he had thought that if he saved Princess Consort Huai today, would he have to save someone else tomorrow?

If that continued, he would never have a peaceful day.

The Fox Immortal clearly did not understand what "nanny" meant, but after a moment's thought, she could roughly guess.

"It has been so many years since I met such an interesting fellow Daoist!"

The Fox Immortal's figure was nearly dispersed as she said, "In that case, this is Jiuying's first time leaving Green Mound Mountain, and she has never harmed any humans. Could you spare her?"

Zhou Yi looked at Hu Jiuying, frightening her into hurriedly shrinking behind the Fox Immortal.

"I can! Leave human territory as soon as possible, lest further trouble arise."

"Jiuying, thank him for sparing your life."

As the Fox Immortal's form dispersed, she suddenly said, "Great Qian's allotted fortune is nearly spent, and a great calamity looms. You would do well to leave early. We are both people beyond the mundane world. Why wade into muddy waters when we can sit and watch dynasties rise and fall?"

"Once you sink deep into the mire of karma, unable to move an inch, how can you still seek freedom..."

Zhou Yi frowned slightly. He had always lived in the Demon-Slaying Bureau and had never traveled beyond the Capital. He could indeed be called ill-informed.

The Fox Immortal's figure vanished. Hu Jiuying returned to the form of a little girl, timidly approached, and bowed.

"Thank you, Senior, for overlooking our past grievances."

Zhou Yi asked, "Without the Fox Immortal's fur, can you conceal your demonic aura and enter the Capital?"

Hu Jiuying touched the back of her head, her expression guarded. "My lady gave me three tufts of fur. I can summon her to save my life three times."

"You little imp, you certainly have plenty of schemes!"

"This great-aunt... this junior is already over a thousand years old."

Then two streaks of light returned to the Capital.

My first fight scene-what agony.

I simply couldn't describe the scene in my head. I revised this chapter three or four times...

Dear readers, if you have any opinions or suggestions, please leave a reply!

I'm studying how other people write, to see whether I can improve a little~

Thanks to Two-Five Rogue Person, Shu You, Book Friend 007, It's Your Chu Shaoyang, Bicycle Cost, Qi Fengyun, Ed 1, Exploding Iron Shell Kun, and Book Friend 20190525213056242 for the tips~~