Chapter 19: The Enemy Part 2

He is a demon. He was born to eat people. Why does he cling to these useless things?

Qingshan Qi’s nature was sinister, ruthless, and vindictive—sentimental about the old, but never forgetting a grudge.

Just as he had endured and hidden his strength for ten years over the agony of being cast out of the wolf pack as a cub, ripping out and refining his own elder brother’s Inner Core to avenge that humiliation—

whatever Qingshan Qi wanted, he had never once failed to take.

Standing behind Lin Zhuoyu’s shielding arm, he could see, from his vantage, the young man’s thin back, his black hair spilled loose like ink, and glimpse the pale, slender nape of his neck.

Someone so frail—and utterly undefended against the one behind him.

One clamp of the hand around that warm neck, one light squeeze, and this eyesore would vanish from the world entirely.

Fox Clan claws slowly grew from Qingshan Qi’s fingertips, creeping inch by inch toward Lin Zhuoyu’s nape.

Suddenly, something came hurtling through the air, flying straight at Lin Zhuoyu’s head.

Snap.

Qingshan Qi raised his hand and caught the dagger without a hair’s deviation. Turning his head to look at the youth who had thrown it, a cold, sinister smile crept across his face, and he mouthed two silent words.

“Courting death.”

The youth went white as a corpse at the sight of those icy fox pupils. Before he could even scream, his body swayed—and he collapsed backward without a sound, lifeless.

The others were all still kneeling and noticed nothing.

“What is it?” Lin Zhuoyu turned back.

Qingshan Qi idly crushed the Profound Iron Dagger to powder between his fingers and flicked it away. “Nothing.”

Lin Zhuoyu seemed to sense something too, but said nothing more. He raised his hand and summoned: “Qingru.”

Water flowed into being, forming a ring that wrapped Qingshan Qi within it. “Wait here,” Lin Zhuoyu said evenly. “Don’t move.”

“You—”

Lin Zhuoyu rode the wind straight into the sky, his azure robes and Hundred Flowers Robe snapping and streaming in the wind. Gazing down at the enormous fox shadow from on high, he laughed. “Where did this demon spawn crawl from, playing the ghost-god here?”

The Eldest Senior Brother swept in with a howl and was caught in those slender, long fingers.

Lin Zhuoyu’s thin frame seemed to contain the force of a thousand jun; without so much as a blink, he hacked down with brutal resolve.

BOOM!

The fox shadow roared at the sky as the blade of wind sheared off half of one of its arms.

The sword edge didn’t stop. In a blink it shattered the giant “Fox Immortal” statue standing atop the altar.

Crash, crash, crash—stone debris rained down, scattering in every direction.

The kneeling crowd hadn’t expected this to be a cultivator. They all froze, and for a moment even forgot to flee.

Under Lin Zhuoyu’s control, Qingru became a sky full of suspended rain, blocking the debris from striking anyone.

Lin Zhuoyu’s cultivation speed was astonishing. Only a year past his coming-of-age, he was already at the Late Origin Core stage, a hair’s breadth from Spirit Solidification—and Daoist Lord Tongxu, worried his divine soul wasn’t yet stable, had forbidden him from breaking through.

That fox shadow was nothing but a residue of spiritual power—enough to frighten these powerless mortals, nothing more.

Lin Zhuoyu delivered three sword strikes, and at last the fox shadow wailed and dispersed.

The Eldest Senior Brother’s sword qi surged like a rainbow, driving the dense fog from the mountain.

The sky cleared, crisp and bright—a fine spring day.

Lin Zhuoyu sheathed his sword and drifted down to the ground. The sky full of Qingru rain bent at his summons, twisting into a murmuring stream and flowing back into the tassel of his sword.

The crowd stared at him, dumbstruck, not knowing how to react.

Lin Zhuoyu arched one brow. “Hm? What are you all looking at? Oh—oh, that thing just now! A wild fox playing ghost-god, greedy for the Fox Immortal’s blessings. I have already driven the demon off! Grandfather, stop standing around—carry on welcoming the Fox Immortal!”

Everyone: “…”

Qingshan Qi: “…”

This man could cleave a mountain-sized fox shadow apart with one sword—what chance did these mortals have?

The crowd seethed but dared not speak, and could only kneel and continue reciting the summons.

Lin Zhuoyu returned to the altar and broke into a smile. “Are you all right? You were so well-behaved. You really didn’t move a single step.”

Qingshan Qi: “…”

He swept a glance at the Boundless Water ringing him in on all sides and said nothing.

Lin Zhuoyu withdrew Qingru and leaned in. “Open your mouth.”

“What for?”

“When I say open, you open. Is your Brother’s business something you get to question?”

The instant Qingshan Qi parted his lips, Lin Zhuoyu stood far away and tossed something forward with a flick of his hand—and it landed right at his mouth.

Qingshan Qi: “…”

The veins stood out on his arm; murderous intent ran riot in his heart, and he nearly lost control and strangled the man on the spot.

Is he training me like a dog? Catching things with my mouth?!

Lin Zhuoyu, utterly dense to malice, didn’t see the muscles drawn taut with restraint beneath Qingshan Qi’s robe. Still grinning, he said, “You were good, so here’s your reward—sweet, isn’t it?”

Qingshan Qi’s tongue belatedly registered the thing in his mouth, licking over it—and a sensation he had never known spread softly through his mouth.

He froze. “What is this?”

Lin Zhuoyu looked at him in surprise. “Candy. You’ve never had it?”

How could a member of the Human Race never have eaten candy?

Qingshan Qi looked away, holding the candy—the one that had nearly smashed out his front teeth—against the roof of his mouth, his cheek bulging slightly. “I have. Just never eaten any this disgusting.”

Lin Zhuoyu laughed. “Quite the picky young master.”

Qingshan Qi said nothing.

Lin Zhuoyu gazed at the sky where the fog had scattered, sending his divine sense spreading outward—only for it to stop dead not a hundred li out, as if an invisible Barrier were blocking the way.

Behind that fox shadow, a Fox Demon must be pulling the strings.

As Lin Zhuoyu pondered, his divine sense abruptly snapped back like a needle-prick.

The next instant, a heavy, immense spiritual power rolled over the mountains and came crashing toward Lin Zhuoyu at the very center.

Lin Zhuoyu’s pupils quivered. He moved at once to call Qingru.

But before Qingru could arrive, Qingshan Qi—still sucking on his candy—flung himself at Lin Zhuoyu without any thought for himself.

“Brother!”

BANG.

The spiritual power struck Qingshan Qi’s body with perfect accuracy. The force was so great that the youth vomited a mouthful of blood on the spot.

Lin Zhuoyu was stunned, immediately raising his hands to shield him with spiritual power. “Little Qi!”

Blood spilled from the corner of Qingshan Qi’s mouth. He couldn’t force out a single word; he seemed to have injured his internal organs.

The protective artifacts on Lin Zhuoyu were thick enough to bury a man—had he taken that blow himself, he wouldn’t have been hurt in the slightest. He had never needed a child to block for him.

Anxious and furious, finding the boy in such a miserable state yet unable to snap at him, Lin Zhuoyu swiftly pressed a life-sustaining Spirit Pill into his mouth.

“Good boy, you’ll be fine. Swallow it, quickly!”

As heaven and earth collapsed around them, an enormous Fox Demon appeared, treading upon the ruins, its colossal demonic qi assailing all four directions and kicking up enormous clouds of dust.

This was no illusion, but a real Fox Demon.

Lin Zhuoyu turned to look—and his whole body went rigid.

A Fox Demon of the late Spirit Solidification Realm.

A ferocious scar ran across its face, nearly bisecting its left eye.

The demon’s whole body was steeped in crimson blood-aura, carrying the Baleful Aura that came only from devouring hundreds, thousands of people—a Great Demon through and through.

Ever since Yan Su had taken office as a Commander of the Demon Suppression Bureau, Lin Zhuoyu had often wheedled his Senior Brothers into bringing him the Demon Suppression Bureau Archives on Great Demons—most of them Demon Race at the Origin Core stage.

Since the Great Demon began haunting Chaoping Marsh, this was the first Spirit Solidification Realm fox demon.

Lin Zhuoyu stared, unblinking, at the scar on its face.

The Fox Demon bared its fangs and advanced on the crowd.

Perhaps frightened out of their wits, the commoners were still kneeling and kowtowing, chanting, “Manifest, Fox Immortal!”

Lin Zhuoyu stepped forward, sword in hand. His spiritual power surged as he barely brushed aside the fox tail about to come crashing down, then swept out a hand, scooped up the crowd, and hurled them aside. “GO!”

The people didn’t know how to react.

Lin Zhuoyu had Qingru become a mist of water that wound around them, then raised his hand and condensed a phantom Sect Master Seal, upon which the characters “Tongxu” could faintly be seen.

“The Sect Master Seal of Floating Jade Mountain is here. Demon spawn, dare not act rashly. Follow my words—flee south!”

The crowd stared at one another in terror.

Lin Zhuoyu barked, “GO!”

The shout rang like a great bell. All those stunned villagers jolted awake as if from a dream, scrambling up, supporting one another, and fleeing with screams.

Lin Zhuoyu summoned the Eldest Senior Brother to hold back the Great Demon, then hurried back and pulled Qingshan Qi up. “Little Qi, go with them—”

“No.” Qingshan Qi’s cultivation was weak, but he had reached the Half Core Realm after all; with the Spirit Pill in him, he could stand normally again. Pressing a hand to his chest, he said quietly, “I want to stay with you, Brother.”

Lin Zhuoyu had no way around it. “This Great Demon has already reached the Spirit Solidification Realm. Staying with me may well get you killed.”

Qingshan Qi pressed his lips together, then grabbed Lin Zhuoyu’s forearm. “Brother, let’s run!”

Lin Zhuoyu was taken aback. “What?”

“Wherever a Great Demon appears, it must raise a Barrier to evade the Demon Suppression Bureau’s detection.” Qingshan Qi looked at him, eyes rimmed red. “Once the Barrier falls, no one here escapes, no matter how high their cultivation. Let’s run before it rises—please? Those people wanted to kill us anyway. We don’t owe them our lives!”

“How do you know about Barriers?” Lin Zhuoyu asked.

Qingshan Qi hadn’t expected him to stay so sharp at a time like this. His body stiffened, and he lowered his eyes. “Because when my parents were killed, I wanted to run too—and a Barrier blocked me.”

Lin Zhuoyu sighed without a sound. He didn’t hold the boy’s cowardice against him, and said gently, “You make a fair point. But I cannot run.”

“Why not?”

Lin Zhuoyu didn’t elaborate, only gripped his long sword and turned to look.

The mountain of a Fox Demon was in no hurry to kill them. It reared its head and spewed blazing Fox Fire at the sky, which spread in every direction in an instant. The people still running saw the black tide of flame surging toward them and scattered, screaming.

Lin Zhuoyu’s eyes were clear and cold, the usual sunniness gone from them. He handed Qingshan Qi a protective artifact offhandedly, spiritual power coiling about him, and with a roar like an arrow loosed from the bowstring, charged the Fox Demon.

BOOM!

Thunder detonated against his ears.

Qingshan Qi tilted his head back and saw that clear silhouette throw itself, moth to flame, straight at the Fox Demon without a trace of fear, Origin Core spiritual power pouring out in torrents.

The Fox Demon’s pupils contracted; its demonic power became a wall and came surging over, black as night.

The two powers collided head-on midair, whipping up a storm that seemed to overturn the sky.

“Lin Zhuoyu!”

Shadows of sword-light fell in layers; in an instant he had exchanged several blows with the Fox Demon.

The huge body was ponderous, a living target—the water of Qingru burned it into a stretch of unbroken flame.

The Fox Demon seemed to click its tongue. Its sharp claws swept out in a sudden arc, slamming that clear silhouette away, and then it began to shrink, bit by bit, until before long it took human form.

Lin Zhuoyu flew backward with a hand pressed to his chest, only barely steadying himself by driving his spirit sword into the ground.