Chapter 152: Fox Clan, Fox Clan! Muddled and Confused!

Looking at the lotus flower, Jiang Lin felt a deep sense of emotion.

Thinking back to his past life in that materialistic era flooded with internet celebrities, how many women had crossed the line, purely obsessed with money and selling themselves out for fame and fortune? Just taking a stroll through the dancing section of any live-streaming platform would have you carried in horizontally and walking out vertically.

All kinds of artificially inflated market prices...

And then looking at the present, the female tutors at the Spring Breeze Tower tutoring institution were so unpretentious, engaging in fair trade and never inflating market prices.

A courtesan of pure talent like Maiden Lotus even had her own bottom line—when she said she sold only her art, she truly sold only her art.

Now, she was consumed by remorse simply because she had misunderstood her own inner feelings.

Sigh... It was better not to compare; once you compared, the gap felt rather immense...

Of course, not everything could be generalized. In every world, there were all kinds of women, and it was merely a matter of different proportions.

"Does Maiden Lotus have any plans for the future?" Jiang Lin asked once Lotus stopped crying.

"If you don't mind, I can help Maiden Lotus find a residence first, so you won't have to worry about your livelihood."

Lotus shook her head, interrupting Jiang Lin, "Young Master Jiang has already helped Lotus immensely. Lotus cannot afford to owe Young Master Jiang any more favors. Lotus wishes to find a job and earn enough to repay the money for her deed to Young Master Jiang."

"Uh... Actually, I'll be making Wu Ke pay for this money..."

"That won't do either. It is Lotus who is repaying the debt; this is Lotus's matter, not Young Master Wu's. Please, Young Master Jiang, do not refuse."

Seeing Lotus's resolute gaze, Jiang Lin wanted to say something more, but decided against it in the end.

Everyone had their own principles and dignity. Although the money to redeem Lotus was merely a single mid-grade spirit stone, to Lotus, this touched upon the knot in her heart.

"Since that is the case, I understand. Does Lotus have any arrangements in mind?"

Lotus nodded, "I heard Young Master Jiang mention that there is also a Spring Breeze Tower in Donglin City. Lotus wishes to enter the Spring Breeze Tower once again."

"..."

For a moment, Jiang Lin felt as though Wu Ke was about to be cuckolded once more...

This time, it truly had nothing to do with him...

However... Wu Ke was simply too unlucky of a fellow...

***

The Myriad Demon Continent, lying at a vast distance from the Wutong Continent, ranked fifth in size among the Nine Continents. Separated by such a great expanse, apart from divine beasts like the Huang that excelled in long-distance travel, even ordinary cultivators in the Jade Scepter Realm would require roughly a month of travel time.

However, possessing a flying Dharma treasure would save a great deal of time.

aided by the semi-immortal Landscape Scroll, it took the veil-wearing woman less than eight days to return to the capital of the White Empire—White Emperor City.

Yet the moment the veiled woman returned to the imperial palace, she handled a few routine administrative matters at will before leaving White Emperor City entirely. Even her close maidservants, Bai Ling and Bai Qiao, only knew that their master had headed to the Bell-Shaking Mountain in the Myriad Demon Continent.

As for why their master had gone to Bell-Shaking Mountain, the two of them were completely unaware.

Still, in the hearts of Bai Ling and Bai Qiao, their master had probably simply gone there to recuperate from injuries and make a breakthrough. After all, the master of Bell-Shaking Mountain was a close friend of their master, and entering seclusion there was the safest choice possible.

Although rumors that "their master's cultivation realm had fallen" had already quietly surfaced within the White Empire, causing certain individuals to grow restless, everything remained under control as far as Bai Ling and Bai Qiao were concerned. All they needed to do was stabilize the court's situation to the best of their ability; as long as they could stall until their master returned from healing, every problem would be resolved.

Likewise, many harborings suspicions regarding the prolonged absence of the White Empire's sovereign, Bai Jiuyi.

Quite a few people attempted various methods to send gifts and banquet invitations to Bai Ling and Bai Qiao in hopes of probing for any scraps of information, but the sisters' evasive and ambiguous handling only made them all the more unfathomable.

Under such circumstances, even those harboring ambitions did not dare to act rashly.

After all, if the other party's realm had not actually fallen—or even if it had, so long as she remained within the Immortal Realm, even at its very threshold—wiping out people like them would take no more than a single thought.

***

Upon Bell-Shaking Peak, spiritual energy was abundant, with clear springs and flowing streams creating a scenery akin to a celestial realm. There was a sect located on the mountain known as the Bell-Shaking Sect.

Most of the cultivators within the sect were demons, and the sect master was a Huan beast of the third tier of the Nascent Soul Realm.

Traveling a hundred li westward brings one to Mount Yiwang, barren of trees and rich in gold and jade. There is a beast here, its form resembling a civet, with a single eye and three tails, named Huan. Its voice sounds like a hundred voices, it can ward off misfortune, and wearing its pelt cures fevers.

Such was the description of the Huan.

One morning, a woman dressed in a light blue-purple long skirt arrived at the cave with the richest spiritual energy on the mountain.

Her long hair reached her waist, and her figure was slightly plump yet proportioned to absolute perfection. A hollowed-out golden hairpin was slantwise pinned into her cloud-like bun, adorned with tiny purple jade beads whose tassels draped over her dark silk hair. She possessed a refined nose, red lips, fair and delicate skin, and a single eye centered upon her forehead.

Although having only one eye seemed somewhat peculiar, it failed to evoke any sense of creepiness, perhaps somewhat related to the woman's inherent temperament.

Or perhaps... lights out, they all looked the same anyway?

Stepping into the cave, the defensive array closed automatically. Deep within the cave lay a naturally formed stone chamber.

The chamber walls were covered in faint patches of moss, and a boulder leaned against the wall, resembling a bed yet not quite one. Cyan water droplets trickled slowly down from the rock, falling upon a green tree standing beside the stone bed.

The tree bore fruit of a vibrant, crimson hue, resembling drops of fresh blood.

Beneath the fruit tree, a woman sat kneeling with her eyes closed. Placed before her was an array drawn with the vital blood of a white fox, inscribed with characters representing a person's birth date and time.

She wore no veil, and her peerless visage was so breathtaking that a mere glance would leave another woman unable to forget it, incapable even of stirring up jealousy.

There remained only admiration and a sigh of wonder: why on earth would such a beautiful woman exist in this world?

Gazing at the heartbreakingly haggard appearance of the woman before her, the single-eyed woman's eyes grew moist, her voice sounding somewhat choked with emotion:

"Just how far do you intend to take this!"

The single-eyed woman's voice echoed within the cavern—uneasy, worried, tender, and angry, all at once.

The woman slowly opened her eyes, gently stroking the array before her without looking directly at the other.

Biting her lower lip, the single-eyed woman continued:

"He was merely an ordinary cultivator! Not even at the Dragon Gate Realm! If he deserved death, then he died! Why must you stubbornly insist on reversing yin and yang!

Over these past few days, in order to summon that fellow's soul, your cultivation has plummeted all the way to the Nascent Soul Realm, yet have you managed to summon it? For all you know, that person might have long since reincarnated! If this continues, how much more torment can your millennia of Dao-cultivation withstand? You might even forfeit your life!

If that was the case, why kill him in the first place? You achieved immortality because of him, and now you are falling to Nascent Soul because of him—is that still not enough? When has there ever been such a thing as paying with one's life among cultivators? You..."

The single-eyed woman's voice grew louder as tears fell from her eyes.

Yet the woman in white merely lowered her head, her pale face curving into a soft, gentle smile.

Indeed, why on earth was that?

Clearly, she had already made up her mind to kill him with her own hands, yet at the critical moment, she had been unable to strike.

He had grabbed her hand and guided it straight into his own chest; she had killed him, fulfilling her utmost desire.

So why had her own heart plummeted into the deepest abyss?

"Hmph! Fox clan, fox clan—always so muddle-headed!"

Angrily, the single-eyed woman tossed a stack of newspapers down before her.

"This is the landscape gazette of the Wutong Continent that just arrived today. It contains news from Donglin City. You foolish girl, take a look for yourself!"