The Fox Spirit Raised by the Villain Wants to Defect - Chapter 28

She had never felt so utterly awkward in her life.

Who would have thought that transforming into a beast form would lead to a complete loss of sanity!

At the time, she only felt like she was hugging a big ice block—cool and comforting—and had no idea what she was doing.

Author, why didn’t you mention the habits of demon beasts when you wrote this book!

Xiaoyu stood rooted to the spot, enduring the stares of four people, wishing she could push them all to turn their backs on her.

She was mortified.

Damn it! She absolutely had to diligently study demon race techniques and gain control over herself!

“Sober now?”

Sheng Li stood far from her, but the girl’s undisguised awkwardness and shyness were perfectly clear to him.

“Ahem, mm.” Xiaoyu curled her toes, desperately trying to regain her composure.

Fortunately, these few people only looked for a moment before turning to ask about other matters.

Xiaoyu quietly listened, her gaze wandering. It met Rong Niang’s eyes, who gave her a friendly smile. Xiaoyu returned a smile.

She kept feeling that Rong Niang held goodwill toward her. Was it because Rong Niang and the original host were both demon beasts?

“I remember I was refining pills that day when I was suddenly knocked unconscious. When I woke up, all I saw was you all.” Lian Qiao finished explaining the reason for her disappearance, patting Duanmu Ying’s hand. “Child, I made you worry.”

Duanmu Ying shook her head: “Aunt, I’m fine. It’s you, being locked up here, you suffered.”

She wanted to seek justice for Lian Qiao, but since her Master hadn’t spoken yet, she didn’t dare to overstep.

Rong Niang opened her mouth, but didn’t know what to say.

She knew nothing about her father’s actions. To find out why her aunt had kidnapped a human medical cultivator, she would have to wait until he woke up to ask.

Rong Niang clenched her hands, trying to calm her emotions and suppress the smell of blood threatening to rush out of her throat.

She proactively offered information about when the aunt who treated her illness had arrived in the Demon Domain.

“More than five months ago, my father brought Aunt here to treat my illness,” Rong Niang didn’t elaborate on her condition. “At the time, she only said she was framed by her own clan, didn’t want to associate with the Human Clan, and yet didn’t want her medical skills to go to waste, which is why she defected to us.”

Duanmu Ying listened, then looked at Lian Qiao: “The time doesn’t match. My aunt was kidnapped by you a month ago.”

She then added indignantly: “What’s wrong with that person, insisting on kidnapping my aunt? What good did it do her?”

Rong Niang covered her mouth with her hand, unable to stop coughing.

Any defense seemed extremely weak in the face of the facts.

Xiaoyu listened to their conversation, recalling the plot of the book.

Lian Qiao was indeed found in the Sand Demon Domain, she hadn’t remembered wrongly.

But this was much later in the plot. If it followed the original book, wouldn’t she have been imprisoned for a very long time?

Just thinking about it was terrifying. Being imprisoned for so long without food or water—only a world of cultivation could allow for that.

Xiaoyu saw that they would be talking for a long time, so she walked to the side to recover her demonic power.

She wondered if using her demonic power more often had allowed her to gradually grasp the knack, enabling her to use it more skillfully.

According to the book’s setting, a demon beast can comprehend more innate abilities besides the one they are born with. She should be able to comprehend a few new ones too.

Suddenly, she heard a demon beast shout in the demon language: “Crown Princess, the Domain Lord is awake!”

Only Xiaoyu and Rong Niang understood the demon language.

A look of joy finally blossomed on Rong Niang’s face.

“I’ll go over right away.” She quickly left a message: “Everyone, please rest here for a moment. I’m going to see my father.”

She hadn’t walked far when Sheng Li followed her.

As he passed Xiaoyu, Sheng Li beckoned to her: “Come along.”

Xiaoyu, already troubled by the awkwardness of being alone, saw Wen Yu calling her and immediately trotted after him.

Rather than staying here and sharing a room with people she had grudges with, she preferred to wander elsewhere.

Rong Niang walked quickly. When she reached the main hall entrance, she leaned against the wall to catch her breath, trying hard to calm her breathing, but still couldn’t stop herself from coughing.

Sheng Li walked past her directly and went inside.

“Are you… alright?” Xiaoyu had a good impression of Rong Niang. Seeing her like this, she asked with concern.

Rong Niang shook her head. After recovering, she rushed inside.

Sheng Li was already questioning the Demon Domain Lord.

He had only asked one question earlier, feeling it wasn’t worth focusing on at the time, but now, some things needed to be clarified.

Now that he and Wen Yu shared the same body, the fact that they wanted to kill Wen Yu suited him perfectly.

But if they wanted to frame him with fabricated dirt, he needed to investigate this thoroughly.

He wanted to kill Wen Yu, but that didn’t mean he would tolerate those sewer rats using his name to carry out their actions.

“All the schemes were proposed by that old woman. She was the one who approached us first.” The Demon Domain Lord had mostly recovered from his injuries. The moment he woke up, he was informed that Rong Niang was negotiating with Wen Yu. He was filled with intense regret.

He shouldn’t have agreed to the person surnamed Che. She was full of lies. How could he have been so foolish as to actually think that with Wen Yu in the Demon Domain and his cultivation suppressed by half, he could be killed?

“She kept saying she was a subordinate of the Demon Venerable, and that the Demon Venerable sent her to seek cooperation with the Demon Domain to kill you.”

The Demon Domain Lord dared not lie now. He glanced at Rong Niang entering. After scrutinizing her and seeing she wasn’t injured, he finally felt relieved.

“Father, Aunt, she…”

Since meeting the old woman, Rong Niang had treated her like family. But she never expected that her aunt would use her father and the entire Demon Domain to help the Demon Venerable harm human cultivators.

And after the conspiracy was exposed, she vanished without a trace.

Aunt, how could she be this kind of person?

“Where is the person surnamed Che? Tie her up and bring her here!” The Demon Domain Lord was enraged. He failed to kill his target and ended up injured himself.

“Father, she disappeared…”

Rong Niang whispered. The Demon Domain Lord froze for a moment, then was so furious he wanted to commit murder.

“Damn humans!”

The Sand Demon Domain was already the weakest of the four domains. He should have realized back then: why would the Demon Venerable send someone to the weakest domain for cooperation?

It’s a trick! All human tricks!

“Search! Even if you have to dig up all the sand, you must find her for me!”

The Demon Domain Lord roared. The retainers took the command and immediately ran off.

After saying all this, the Demon Domain Lord finally realized that Wen Yu on the side hadn’t said a word.

Sheng Li merely watched the Demon Domain Lord’s performance with cold eyes.

“Draw her.”

Rong Niang spoke before the Demon Domain Lord: “I will draw.”

She ordered someone to bring a large basin of sand and smooth it out, then used a thin, long object to leave marks on the sand surface.

Xiaoyu leaned in to watch her create the sand drawing.

She drew the eyebrows and eyes, then the mouth and nose.

It was an extremely old woman.

Xiaoyu poked Wen Yu’s arm, whispering: “When we came here before, we heard two voices. The other one must be her.”

Sheng Li didn’t reply, looking down and noticing her small movement.

That was what you and Wen Yu heard when you came here.

After Rong Niang finished, the Demon Domain Lord spoke first: “She looks exactly like this.”

Xiaoyu looked at it but hadn’t seen her before.

Sheng Li looked intently. Her demeanor was completely different from the person he had seen earlier.

Wen Yu had more enemies than just him, but among the human race, this was the first time he had seen someone capable of stringing along this entire group of demons.

“Who set up the deadly array?”

This was a deadly array provided by the Devil Clan to the Demon Clan during the great war between humans and demons, specifically targeting powerful human figures. It was clearly aimed at Wen Yu.

It would take at least a powerful figure’s level of cultivation to set up such an array.

The Demon Domain Lord gritted his teeth, saying bitterly: “It was her, still her!”

Xiaoyu looked up at Wen Yu. Due to the angle, she could only see his profile.

His sharply defined jaw moved, and his voice sounded: “Even if your entire Demon Domain worked together, you couldn’t set up an array like this. Could one human do it?”

The Demon Domain Lord and Rong Niang were both terrified.

Rong Niang coughed anxiously.

“I don’t know either. She was so secretive.” The Demon Domain Lord gambled that Wen Yu wouldn’t blow the matter up.

With the Pact of Penglai in place, if Wen Yu tried to attack them, they would simply choose mutual destruction.

The demon and human races had always been at odds. If both sides hadn’t wanted to make things too ugly, the Pact of Penglai would have been torn up long ago.

Wen Yu indeed wouldn’t blow the matter up. Sheng Li also simply didn’t want to waste energy dealing with it.

The reason he could endure for so long during the day was the absorbed devil energy. Once this energy dissipated, this frail body would be left for Wen Yu.

“The Demon Clan has reached its end. Someone with a brain like yours can still be a Demon Domain Lord.”

Xiaoyu stared at his profile, suddenly feeling that Wen Yu had become more lively.

So he can swear too.

But why was he sometimes cold, distant, and polite, and then suddenly mean, impatient, and confrontational?

He was like that that night too. The things he said were so infuriating.

“You—” The Demon Domain Lord dared not speak his anger. His scarlet snake eyes glared at him, cursing internally.

With so many holes in your body, why haven’t you bled out and died?

The Puppet Threads and the deadly array couldn’t kill you. You’re simply terrifying.

“Keep searching. She won’t easily escape after deceiving me.”

This was the first time he had been tricked by a human, and he even lost a tail because of it.

The Demon Domain Lord wished he could immediately drag the person surnamed Che out and let her taste the pain of a broken leg too.

“Then what is her name?” Xiaoyu noted that despite all the talk, only a portrait was drawn.

Rong Niang shook her head at her: “She only allowed me to call her Aunt.”

“Surnamed Che, but I don’t know her given name,” the Demon Domain Lord scoffed angrily.

“Surnamed Che…” Xiaoyu was carefully thinking back to the contents of the book she read, when a voice came from above her head.

“Is there anyone surnamed Che in your dream?” Sheng Li suddenly asked her, his eyes looking at her with deep meaning.

She was possessed, and she still knows about Wen Yu and his disciples. Who exactly is she?

She only knows Wen Yu, but doesn’t know about him?

“No, there’s only you, surnamed Wen, in the dream.” Xiaoyu couldn’t recall. The person might have been in the book, but she hadn’t memorized it.

“I don’t know anything about your human race matters.” The Demon Domain Lord wanted some peace and opened his mouth to dismiss them: “If you’ve asked all your questions, you can leave the Demon Domain.”

Sheng Li, instead, smiled: “Does the Domain Lord think this matter should end here?”

Does he think I have a good temper, easily satisfied?

The Demon Domain Lord panicked, but he couldn’t show it in front of a group of juniors: “Then what do you want?”

“Look, you’re a top-tier expert among human cultivators. The deadly array couldn’t harm you at all. I am, at most, an accomplice, and I even lost my tail because of you. If you pursue this further, you won’t gain anything either.”

“Why not just let it go for now? I can offer some compensation—”

“You can’t just let it go! You kidnapped my aunt and harmed the human race. Can a simple word of compensation bring back all the people who died at the hands of the demon beasts?”

Duanmu Ying’s clear voice rang out.

Xiaoyu turned around to see her slowly walking in, supporting Lian Qiao.

“And my Senior Brother. He was used by you, almost…”

With Lian Qiao present, Duanmu Ying felt much bolder.

Sheng Li narrowed his eyes, looking at Lian Qiao. The exhaustion and weakness from days without food were fully evident on her.

“Who are they?” The Demon Domain Lord looked at Rong Niang, confused.

Rong Niang leaned in and explained softly.

“This has nothing to do with me. That old woman did it,” the Demon Domain Lord quickly distanced himself, continuing to talk about the compensation he had prepared: “Ten thousand demon gold. That’s the most compensation I can offer.”

Sheng Li didn’t reply to him. Instead, he asked Xiaoyu: “What do you think?”

“Huh?” Xiaoyu met his gaze, muttering in her heart. Why drag me into this.

The compensation won’t be given to me anyway.

“I’m not quite sure what the concept of ten thousand demon gold is,” Xiaoyu stepped back, indicating she wouldn’t get involved: “Daoist Priest, you decide?”

The demon gold he gave her last time was gone after buying one piece of clothing. She hadn’t paid attention then and didn’t know how much buying power ten thousand demon gold had, or if it was equivalent to the value of currency in the human world.

Sheng Li gave a slight “Mm,” ignoring Duanmu Ying, who was seeking justice. He only said to the Demon Domain Lord: “Fifty thousand demon gold.”

At the same time, he was already certain that whatever entity possessed this fox was definitely not a soul from this world.

Coupled with the dream she spoke of earlier, her true identity was indeed not simple.

“Fifty thousand?” The Demon Domain Lord inhaled deeply. Under everyone’s gaze, he swallowed his anger: “Fine.”

He still trusted Wen Yu’s character. Since he asked for fifty thousand, he likely wouldn’t go back on his word later.

Duanmu Ying, however, looked at Sheng Li in disbelief, opening her mouth but not knowing what to say.

How could Master agree so easily?

The Demon Clan violated the treaty first.

Shouldn’t he demand full retribution for the grievances suffered by the human race?

“Aunt, I’m not resigned to this. You suffered for so long, but I can’t do anything…”

Lian Qiao nodded, a pained expression on her face: “It’s alright, Xiao Ying. I’m still alive, aren’t I? I’m already very lucky to have been rescued by you.”

“Aunt doesn’t need to seek justice. As long as our Xiao Ying is happy, it’s enough. Don’t feel guilty, I’m fine. I’ll recover with some rest.”

Her words made Duanmu Ying feel even more guilty.

Although she knew Wen Yu didn’t have much affection for Yuehui Sect, she hadn’t expected him to be so heartless.

It truly disheartened her.

“Once Master finishes handling things, I’ll take you back to the sect.” Duanmu Ying couldn’t swallow her resentment. She wanted to go back and tell her father, to let him seek revenge for her aunt.

And she would find the person who kidnapped her aunt!

After the discussion, their attention turned to the two people in the hall who were still unconscious.

Lord Fushan was now unrecognizable. His entire body looked as if it had been burned, and his skin was cracked like dry earth, with no intact areas.

Rong Niang had been afraid to get too close to him. She thought that by avoiding Lord Fushan, the Demon Domain Lord wouldn’t discover her private relationship with him.

In fact, the Demon Domain Lord was also deliberately avoiding Lord Fushan and not mentioning him.

“Demon gold is useless. Exchange it for something else.” Sheng Li changed his mind: “The Sand Demon Domain will be at my disposal five times.”

The Demon Domain Lord’s eyes widened. Just as he was about to object, Rong Niang persuaded him: “Father, agree to it. The Immortal Master has already left us a way out.”

The Demon Domain Lord grumbled bitterly: “Fine, I agree, but you can’t ask for things that violate the Demon Clan’s principles.”

Sheng Li, however, said: “You have no choice.”

The Demon Domain Lord was so angry he didn’t want to speak anymore.

After the matter was settled, Lian Qiao suggested returning to Yuehui Sect.

The three people’s gazes all turned to Sheng Li.

Only he had an airship.

Sheng Li glanced at Lian Qiao, finding her disagreeable.

She was not as agreeable as the little fox.

“Are we going to Yuehui Sect?”

Xiaoyu’s eyes lit up with anticipation.

In the original book, many things happened after the master and disciples returned to the sect, which was the climax of the novel’s early stages.

She truly wanted to see these events with her own eyes.

“You want to go?” Sheng Li looked down at her, completely ignoring the surrounding gazes.

Xiaoyu nodded repeatedly.

After returning to her human form, her fox ears were no longer visible.

Sheng Li calculated the time. He could last until midnight at most, which was roughly enough time.

Once midnight passed, it would be the other person’s turn to take over this damaged body.

Sheng Li secretly hoped that Wen Yu would die soon after taking over the body.

As long as he didn’t die while occupying this body, he could escape the constraint.

It was a pity that the initial idea of sending this fox to kill Wen Yu had failed.

But there was an unexpected gain.

Before stepping away, Sheng Li left a final message for the Demon Domain Lord: “You, send the person over to me.”

As for Lord Fushan, someone else would take care of him.

Xiaoyu followed him. As she passed Duanmu Ying, she didn’t miss the astonishment in her eyes.

When they got to Yuehui Sect, she needed to keep her distance from Duanmu Ying.

It would be best if Yan Ziqiong was there so she could ask him about demon race techniques.

Xiaoyu shook her head, thinking that it wasn’t easy being a demon in this world either.

As they left the Demon Domain Lord’s residence, she didn’t see the Serpent Demon from before.

Outside the Demon Domain, the retainer sent by the Demon Domain Lord quickly slipped away after carrying Nan Chenghui onto the airship.

Xiaoyu knew how to board the airship this time. She darted up with a whoosh and landed steadily.

Practice is the best way to train.

By the time the group left the Demon Domain, the sky had already grown dark.

The dusky sky was the same color as the boundless sand, creating a sense of despair that they would never leave this desert.

Xiaoyu took one last look, memorizing the scene before turning and entering the cabin.

After Sheng Li boarded, the moment he entered the cabin, he heard the Demon-Slaying Bells loudly screeching. All the bells vibrated in unison, the sound extremely grating.

Sheng Li was so annoyed by the noise that he immediately waved his hand, severing all the Demon-Slaying Bells. The cabin instantly fell silent.

When Duanmu Ying followed him in, the Demon-Slaying Bells were no longer ringing.

“A devil?”

Seeing only the two people in the cabin, Duanmu Ying immediately turned her gaze to Xiaoyu.

“You didn’t hide a devil again, did you?”

Xiaoyu didn’t want to deal with her.

Sheng Li noticed the look of exasperation on Xiaoyu’s face. He recalled the memory of the Demon-Slaying Bells ringing in the airship that night and strode toward the room at the end of the cabin.

As he passed Xiaoyu, he dropped a sentence: “Come in with me.”

Xiaoyu was summoned away, leaving Duanmu Ying standing there in a daze.

She had forgotten that Nan Chenghui was also a devil.

Lian Qiao, behind Duanmu Ying, gazed deeply at the tightly closed door at the end of the hall. She placed a hand on Duanmu Ying’s shoulder: “What’s wrong, Xiao Ying? Is something bothering you?”

Duanmu Ying shook her head, forcing a smile: “I’m fine. I’ll take Aunt to rest now.”

The two walked into a room, their footsteps gradually fading away.

After Xiaoyu stopped hearing sounds, she was about to open the door to return to the room she stayed in before, when she was called back.

“Trying to leave already?”

Xiaoyu turned her head, her hand still resting on the door latch.

“Can’t I leave?”

The simple question in her eyes was directly conveyed to Sheng Li.

Sheng Li unclasped the jade flute, playing with it in his hands.

It was positioned right in front of Xiaoyu. The red on the jade flute now was almost indistinguishable from the flush on Xiaoyu’s face.

The moment she saw the jade flute, Xiaoyu couldn’t help but recall the image of herself in her beast form, hugging the jade flute to cool down.

The image was so vivid, Xiaoyu truly wished she could travel back to that moment and punch herself to regain consciousness.

“Come here, I have something to ask you.”

He placed the jade flute on the table and beckoned to Xiaoyu.

Xiaoyu suddenly felt like he was calling a pet.

Damn it!

Shaking off this sense of déjà vu, Xiaoyu walked to a spot one meter away from him and stopped.

“Daoist Priest, what do you want to ask?”

Being alone with him felt too strange, and coupled with the fact that she had just begged him to help suppress her estrus, she felt uncomfortable everywhere.

“Why didn’t you speak up just now?”

Sheng Li stared unblinkingly at Xiaoyu’s face, not missing the slightest fluctuation in her emotions.

“You mean Duanmu Ying suspected I was hiding a devil?” Xiaoyu blurted out. “She’s prejudiced against me. Speaking up wouldn’t have helped.”

Sheng Li didn’t say anything, carefully recalling all the memories of Xiaoyu’s interactions with Duanmu Ying in the body’s memory—all of them were instances of being targeted.

“You just ignore people like her. The more attention you give them, the more annoying they become—”

“Do you want to kill her?” Sheng Li suddenly asked.

“Huh?”

Sheng Li walked up to Xiaoyu, bending down to look at her: “Kill her to vent your anger.”

The jade flute complied with his wish, transforming into a sword and drilling itself into Xiaoyu’s palm.

The cold sword hilt instantly sobered Xiaoyu: “No, it hasn’t reached that point.”

She usually believed in an eye for an eye. She didn’t seek revenge for being pushed toward the demon beasts that night because she was new to the world and lacked the ability to retaliate.

But having only arrived in this world a few days ago, how could she possibly think about murder? How could she adapt to killing?

Even being attacked by the Devil Clan was because the other party was a devil, truly intent on killing her.

This was different from committing murder.

With more than ten years of education and years of law-abiding behavior, some concepts couldn’t be changed overnight.

She couldn’t kill.

“I don’t want to.”

Xiaoyu handed the sword to Sheng Li, but he didn’t take it.

“You don’t hate her at all?” Sheng Li’s voice was very low, spoken slowly, yet filled with temptation.

He was a devil who climbed out of the abyss, tempting travelers on the shore, seducing them to turn their steps and plunge into the abyss, leading to eternal damnation.

But Xiaoyu, this traveler, had clear and determined eyes. She resisted the temptation, firm in her thoughts and beliefs.

“I don’t like her, but it hasn’t reached the point of killing.”

But if there was a next time, she wouldn’t be so easily placated.

Sheng Li took back the sword-in-flute, stood up, and felt bored.

He sat down on the chair, stretching his body. He raised his hand and cast a barrier, isolating the sounds from reaching the outside.

“Have these past few days been comfortable?”

Xiaoyu felt they hadn’t been comfortable, so she shook her head in reply.

“Do you still remember your original purpose for approaching me?”

Sheng Li’s gaze remained fixed on Xiaoyu, but this time, his eyes had changed.

An extremely possessive and strategic gaze—the look unconsciously emitted by someone who had been in a high position for many years.

It made Xiaoyu suddenly feel a chill down her spine.

Why do I feel like Wen Yu seems a little strange?

“The Demon Venerable sent me to seduce you?”

She didn’t dare mention killing him. In the current atmosphere, mentioning killing might lead to her being killed.

Sheng Li pretended to have just realized, sighing: “You actually still remember.”

He wasn’t very happy about this soul from another world living too comfortably.

Sheng Li decided to play along with the soul from another world and started to make things unpleasant for Xiaoyu.

“With the Devil Clan appearing so frequently lately, could it be that the Demon Venerable wants to know the progress of your mission?”

Xiaoyu felt that she might be in danger.

What does he mean by this? Is he going to hand me over?

Coal Ball was indeed always able to find her and kept urging her to kill Wen Yu.

So, did the Demon Venerable truly never forget about someone like her?

But wasn’t the original host cannon fodder? Why would the Demon Venerable be concerned about her?

“Then what should I do? It’s impossible for me to kill you.”

Sheng Li sneered inwardly.

“Then we’ll put on a show for them to see,” he said, seeing Xiaoyu’s confusion. “Continue with your mission.”