Chapter 111.1: Mystic Fox

In his arms, blue phoenix trembled with fear. “Jing-jing, Ji-ji is scared. Is there a ghost here?”

Jing Yue, “…” Never heard of a divine beast afraid of ghosts.

He patted the blue phoenix through the lapel. “Yes, there is a ghost, so you have to hide. Otherwise, you’ll be caught and roasted.”

Blue phoenix was horrified. “Boo-hoo.”

Jing Yue didn’t tease blue phoenix anymore because he noticed that Gu Xia and the others looked odd. “What’s wrong?”

Gu Xia, “I don’t know. I just felt sudden malice in my heart. Moreover, we didn't hear these voices during the previous few visits.”

Qianyue and Fang Jiaxuan also agreed, and asked, “Could it be that Red Ridge has changed masters?”

Jing Yue sneered. “Lies and deception.”

He took out a few talismans and arranged a simple formation. Spurred by spiritual energy, a blue-green pattern appeared in the center of the formation like a compass with a pointer in the middle, pointing to the southeast.

Jing Yue pressed down with one hand and the same pattern was imprinted on his palm.

“Let’s go.”

He followed the direction of the ‘compass’ on his palm and flew the entire way but suddenly stopped when he passed by a large tree.

Gu Xia looked around. Except for the trees, there were only more trees, with no abnormalities in sight. He was about to ask if this was the place when Jing Yue made a motion to attack the tree. “Get out here at once!”

The next moment, a short stumpy tree jumped out. There was a hole in the trunk with two tree bumps in the hole, which looked like human eyes and mouth, kinda… cute.

“Why are you so fierce? I’m out now, aren’t I?”

Once the blue phoenix saw that it was a tree spirit, it immediately said arrogantly, “Hmph, it’s just a low-ranking monster pretending to be a ghost to frighten Ji-ji!”

Jing Yue didn't speak but stared at the little tree. The little tree covered its face with the branches a little fearfully. “You, don’t think of spying on me!”

Jing Yue rolled his eyes and Gu Xia said, “Did you make those voices just now? Where’s the mystic fox that used to be here?”

The little tree proudly puffed out its chest. “The mystic fox was driven away by the Tree Yao King. Red Ridge is now the Tree Yao King’s territory.”

Everyone was silent for a moment. Qianyue said hesitantly, “The Tree Yao King… it can’t be you, right?”

The branches of the small tree made an akimbo posture, and smugness could be vaguely seen on the unclear features.

Everyone & blue phoenix, “…”

Fang Jiaxuan felt a little confused. Weren't all yaos supposed to be cunning and evil? What’s going on here? “What the hell are you?”

“How rude!” The tree yao king stomped with its tree roots. “I’m a tree hole spirit.”

Fang Jiaxuan said honestly, “I’ve heard of tree spirits, not tree hole spirits.”

The Tree Hole Yao King said angrily, “Don’t you know about tree holes? When you’re in a bad mood, full of resentment, and it is difficult to tell others, or when you have secrets that you simply can't keep to yourself, wouldn’t you want to find a tree hole to vent? The tree hole will keep secrets and listen quietly!”

“Jing-jing!” Blue phoenix popped its head out and said excitedly, “Ji-ji knows! There’s a story called ‘The King with Donkey Ears’, inside…”

Seeing that blue phoenix was about to make a long speech, Jing Yue quickly asked the tree spirit, “You mean those voices just now were the secrets that other people told you?”

Tree spirit, “That's right! The Great Yao King became a yao because of the secrets of all living things. The Great Yao King can see through everyone's heart!”

Jing Yue, “Oh? Can you guess what I’m thinking now?”

The tree spirit tucked the branch into the tree hole and made the appearance of biting its finger and thinking.

The blue phoenix flapped its wings and wanted to pounce over to peck it. “Shameless! How dare you act cute in front of Jing-jing!”

Jing Yue pressed it with one hand. Before anyone could react, a sword light shot out and slashed straight at the tree spirit!

“Ah!”

The tree spirit screamed miserably and suddenly turned into green smoke in the form of a fox, its expression still stunned.

Jing Yue, “Aren’t you able to see through people’s hearts? Didn't you guess that I was about to kill you?”

“Dammit! How can you do this to me when I’m so adorable? Doesn't your conscience hurt?” The fox glared.

Jing Yue, “The voices you created are so sinister. How can I still believe that you have a naive and innocent heart? Combined with that foxy stench of yours, I can smell it from 300 miles away. Only a fool can't tell.”

A few fools beside him, plus a silly phoenix, “…”

Gu Xia regained his senses abruptly. “Laozu, this is the mystic fox!”

As soon as he said that, the fox turned and ran, but the tail was pinned by Jing Yue’s sword. It struggled endlessly while cursing inwardly.

It was good at the art of illusion. When it realized that the visitor’s cultivation level was stronger than it just now, it deliberately made some disguises, intending to take advantage of the other party’s relaxed vigilance and then launch a sneak attack. Unexpectedly, this human was actually so hard-hearted and not moved by its cuteness at all!

Now that it was captured and seeing no way to escape, it could only beg for forgiveness. “Great god, it’s not easy for yao to cultivate. It’s best not to take things so far so that we can meet each other again in the future…”

Blue phoenix was just thinking that the line sounded strange when Jing Yue said, “Who wants to meet you again in the future?”

Thus, countless ice picks appeared in mid-air, and the fox was instantly turned into a hedgehog.

The poor fox didn’t even have time to scream before it breathed its last.

The scene was quiet for several breaths. After a long while, Gu Xia said blankly, “Is it over?”

Qian Yue's eyes were equally stunned. “We have taken revenge?”

Fang Jiaxuan didn't say a word but thought inwardly, ‘What happened to the cunning Yao General that was very difficult to kill?’

They watched in amazement as Jing Yue stepped forward, drew his sword, and took out the core from the mystic fox’s abdomen.

Only Yao Generals would produce a core, which was a good and rare material used for refining pills and weapons. Jing Yue pinched the core with two fingers and looked at it. “Huh, not bad, round and solid with luster. It can fetch a good price.”

Everyone, “…”

So, several people followed Jing Yue in a daze and went around the Misty Forest, killing hundreds of monsters.

When they returned to the camp with a lot of spoils, it was already dusk.

As the setting sun dyed the rows of stone houses crimson, several disciples still felt that everything today was surreal.

Jing Yue, “How do you deal with the spoils? Go to the market or exchange for merit points?”

Gu Xia was taken aback for a moment, and said, “We usually exchange merit points. Only ordinary spiritual herbs and medicine will be sold in the market.”

Jing Yue, “That’s fine, let’s go.”

There was a stone hut in each camp with the words ‘merit’ engraved on the door with a golden core Zhenren usually sitting on guard, and they would give merit points according to the value of each item.

On the way to the stone hut, they met Elder Ling Tian who was about to lead the previous team away, while Wu Chen followed.

When the group met Jing Yue, they bowed in unison.

Jing Yue casually exchanged some pleasantries before saying, “Did people from Lurking Ghost Sect come here to cause trouble today?”

Elder Ling Tian and Wu Chen looked at each other and both shook their heads, puzzled. “What’s wrong?”

When Jing Yue briefly described their conflict with the demonic cultivators, Elder Ling Tian said angrily, “Good for you, Lurking Ghost Sect! How dare they play these tricks!” He also turned to ask the disciples, “Have you encountered it too?”

Many people nodded blankly.

Elder Ling Tian looked reproachful. “You are really… alas!”

He turned and bowed deeply to Jing Yue. “Laozu, this is all my fault. Not only did I fail to notice it, but I also failed to protect the fellow disciples and allowed them to suffer this insult. When I return to the sect, I’ll accept my punishment from the Hall of Enforcement.”

Jing Yue, “That's not necessary. They only took it for granted and didn’t report to you, and the demonic cultivators didn’t dare to mess with you, so it’s normal if you aren’t aware of it. But after you go back, you need to let the whole sect know that Frostcloud Sect shouldn’t accept any injustices and the disciples of Frostcloud Sect can’t wallow in suffering.”

Elder Ling Tian said earnestly, “Yes!”

Other disciples also replied in unison, “Yes!”

The thousands of deafening voices resounded throughout the entire camp.

After Elder Ling Tian left, Jing Yue and others also walked into the stone house where the merit points were exchanged.

As soon as the golden core zhenren who was guarding the house saw Jing Yue, he said, “Laozu is here. Do you want to exchange merit points?”

Jing Yue nodded and took out the monsters from his Qiankun bag one after another. The cabinet was immediately filled to the brim and some had to be placed on the ground.

The Zhenren said after a while, “Laozu has made a great harvest on the first day.” He could already foresee his busy days in the future.

Jing Yue smiled. “It’s not bad.”

The Zhenren made the count and also discovered the mystic fox. It must be known that the fox was cunning by nature, adept in the art of illusion, and notoriously difficult to deal with. Moreover, this was a general that had formed an inner core! He laughed drily and said, “It's really gratifying that Laozu has killed a Yao general on the first day.”

Jing Yue, “Yeah, my luck was quite good today.”

Gu Xia and others thought inwardly—what happened to him was luck, but what happened to them was bad luck.

It was more than an hour before the golden core Zhenren finished counting the merit points of the four people.

Several people left the stone hut and chatted a while longer before they separated and returned to their residences.

But Jing Yue had just walked to the door when he noticed something was wrong.

—There was someone in his house!

The thought just flashed in his mind when the door suddenly opened. Qin Yanzhi stood at the door smiling at him. “You are back.”

Jing Yue, “…”

Blue phoenix stretched out its wings and pointed angrily. “Hooligan!”