The Fox Spirit Raised by the Villain Wants to Defect - Chapter 45

Lake water enveloped her body from all directions, gushing into her mouth and nose.

Even though she had a psychological premonition during the descent, she was still struck hard and it hurt terribly.

Her other arm was numb, so she could only use one arm to paddle.

She didn’t know how far she was from the surface. The air in her chest was almost gone, and the two forces inside her body were still fighting. The excess, non-native power could only belong to Wen Yu.

Xiaoyu was genuinely afraid that she hadn’t died at the hands of the stinky bird, but would instead drown.

Gradually losing strength, her paddling movements slowed down.

The pitch-black, murky bottom of the lake was like an abyss; she couldn’t see the bottom at all.

The sensation of suffocation was transmitted from her brain to her body. Xiaoyu choked, inhaled sharply, and the lake water immediately rushed in.

Xiaoyu quickly shut her mouth, holding her breath to continue swimming up.

However, that breath quickly escaped.

She couldn’t breathe through her mouth and nose, her body was compressed, and the feeling of suffocation spread throughout her body. Her mind clouded over, and Xiaoyu completely lost the strength to struggle, gradually sinking.

Suddenly, the water flow rippled, and Xiaoyu began to struggle violently.

Just a little bit more, just a little bit more and she could live. She couldn’t die here.

The will to survive overcame the pain in her body. Xiaoyu paddled again, but the pressure of the water grew stronger each time, gradually making her arm unable to move any further.

Finally, she lost all her strength and sank.

The gloomy bottom of the lake was like a giant mouth, swallowing everything.

The current suddenly paused for a moment, then returned to normal.

A figure swam rapidly towards the sinking Xiaoyu. Like a fish in water, the speed was incredible.

He stretched out his hand and wrapped it around Xiaoyu’s waist.

Sheng Li glanced at the person, whose life or death was uncertain, and quickly accelerated, surfacing.

Xiaoyu’s hair was plastered to her cheeks. Her hair tie had fallen off somewhere, and her hair was loose.

Sheng Li wiped away the hair covering her face, patted her cheek, and called out, “Xiaoyu?”

The person in front of him had her head drooping, eyes tightly closed, with no sign of waking up.

“Is she dead?”

Sheng Li looked left and right, noticing that the restriction seal on her body was clashing with her demonic power. He first dissolved the restriction.

After waiting for a while and seeing no sign of her waking, Sheng Li pinched Xiaoyu’s chin, forcing her to open her mouth.

A drop of water from his finger slid onto Xiaoyu’s chin, then dripped down with the other flowing water.

Sheng Li leaned down, moving closer to Xiaoyu.

The girl’s wet, curled eyelashes were visible in his line of sight.

Her eyelashes fluttered, and she suddenly opened her eyes.

Seeing Wen Yu’s face so close to hers, Xiaoyu instinctively tried to push him away.

Her dominant right arm was dislocated and completely useless.

Sheng Li saw that she was awake, immediately backed away, and released her.

“Tough life. Not dead.”

Xiaoyu took large breaths. Suddenly losing her support, she dropped, and immediately flailed her left arm to stay afloat.

She choked on the water, and her throat burned. “Daozhang, my right arm is dislocated. Can you pop it back for me?”

Xiaoyu blinked hard, forcing the water out of her eyes until her vision cleared somewhat.

Sheng Li felt Xiaoyu’s arm with one hand, roughly figuring out the situation, and suddenly asked her, “Are you afraid of pain?”

Xiaoyu was stunned for a moment. Just as she said she was a little afraid, Sheng Li had already acted. The sound of a sharp crack was drowned out by the slapping of the water, and her arm was reset.

Xiaoyu’s face was twisted in pain.

“Hiss—”

She moved her arm slightly, finding that the internal meridians had also returned to normal. She immediately activated her demonic power to flow through her arm, speeding up the recovery.

Seeing her in so much pain, Sheng Li frowned, leaning in to carry Xiaoyu ashore, but then saw her turn her body and swim directly toward the bank.

Her speed increased rapidly.

Sheng Li snorted, silently saying, “She recovers quite quickly.”

No need to save her, Sheng Li simply flashed ashore, waiting for her in the direction she was swimming.

Watching her move in the water was like watching a fish—very agile.

“Truly a little fish.”

When Xiaoyu swam to the bank and clearly saw the dark silhouette standing there was Wen Yu, she specifically turned back to look at the place they had been earlier.

So far away, how could he have gotten here so quickly?

Xiaoyu dragged her soaked clothes ashore, wrung them once, but it was useless, so she simply used her demonic power to dry them.

Her hair dried, but she had no hair tie.

She glanced at her new clothes, reluctant to tear them, and just left her hair loose for the time being.

Sheng Li observed her string of actions and asked her, “Didn’t you buy a hair tie? Why don’t you use it?”

Xiaoyu let out a small “ah” and quietly said, “That’s for giving to someone.”

She didn’t say she was giving it to him.

She felt embarrassed to say it. The item wasn’t expensive, and it was bought with his money.

She had planned to use the cloth to sew a pouch for the hair tie. Since the hair tie wasn’t bought with her own money, the pouch, at least, would be handmade, making it seem more sincere.

Sheng Li knew without guessing that it was for Wen Yu.

He snorted unhappily in his heart.

What was so great about Wen Yu? This little fish was so bewitched by him that she—

Sheng Li ground his teeth, remaining silent.

Suddenly, his mind cleared.

He had been spending too much time with this separate soul, who should not exist in the world, and was already being influenced by him.

These feelings of dissatisfaction and resentment were emotions he would never have developed for a mere demon before.

He had to eliminate this fragment of the soul quickly.

Sheng Li’s eyes darkened. He withdrew his emotions and said coldly, “Come with me.”

Xiaoyu sensitively detected that Wen Yu’s attitude toward her had become stiff. Was he angry?

Unsure why he might be angry, she followed behind him, unable to resist asking, “Are you mad?”

As soon as she spoke, she saw him stop. Xiaoyu quickly stopped as well.

Sheng Li turned around and saw Xiaoyu’s loose hair being blown by the wind, covering her face. She was constantly trying to smooth it back.

But as soon as she smoothed it, it got messy again.

The memory of another person secretly learning how to pin up hair flashed in his mind, and he laughed in anger.

Leaving a cryptic remark, he turned and left: “How could I be angry?”

Xiaoyu paused her hand movements and mumbled, “Why is he starting to sound so sarcastic?”

Sheng Li naturally heard it, and heard it crystal clear.

He clenched his hand. He truly wanted to drag that person out and beat him up.

Falling in love.

Heh. Does he deserve it?

He can’t even control his own body, and yet he falls in love.

He doesn’t deserve it.

Sheng Li strode ahead for a while, but didn’t hear the footsteps following him.

His eyelid twitched. He turned around and, sure enough, saw the little fish lying on the ground, wilted.

He didn’t move.

He stood there, allowing the gusting wind to blow, making his robes flutter.

He possessed Wen Yu’s memories, knowing every moment they spent together clearly, but he could not understand the emotion called love that Wen Yu felt after falling for Xiaoyu.

Even with all the memories, he could not touch that ethereal, insubstantial emotion.

Yet, he was being influenced. This constant, subtle influence did not follow his original intent; it was forced upon him by the separate soul, making him accept it.

So, the moment he fell into the lake and regained control of his body, he could have left her, but the suppressed voice within his body clamored, controlling him to save her.

This was not his conscious desire.

Just like now, he could clearly just turn and walk away. What did a mere fox demon have to do with him?

But he couldn’t leave.

Sheng Li cursed under his breath and walked towards Xiaoyu.

“Little fish, you remember this: however many times I save you, you will have to repay me that many times in the future.”

From their very first encounter, he hadn’t tried to kill her.

The unconscious person did not reply to him.

Sheng Li carried Xiaoyu horizontally. Without conscious control, Xiaoyu’s head rested on his chest, her cheek brushing past his chin.

The brief moment of skin-to-skin contact caused the scene of their entanglement that night to vividly resurface in Sheng Li’s mind.

The arm holding Xiaoyu tightened. Sheng Li closed his eyes, controlling himself not to think about it.

He took two steps, and his figure disappeared into the darkness.

The door to an inn in Moon-Glory City was knocked open.

It had just closed, and the lights inside were still on.

The innkeeper was startled when he opened the door and saw the two of them.

Sheng Li directly asked for a room. Frightened by his aura, the innkeeper quickly provided one and watched with his own eyes as Sheng Li carried Xiaoyu in and closed the door.

Sheng Li placed Xiaoyu on the bed and stood by the bedside, looking at her.

He suddenly reached out and smoothed her dress, finishing by picking up the sleeve and saying critically, “Truly hideous.”

After a while, he pulled the quilt over Xiaoyu, leaving only her head exposed.

A moment later, he suddenly remembered something and went to take off Xiaoyu’s shoes.

He took one last look at Xiaoyu, scanned the room, and set up a barrier.

This night was destined to be turbulent.

Moments later, sensing the approaching aura, murderous intent burst forth from Sheng Li’s eyes.

The rats in certain dark corners were finally unable to sit still.

Sheng Li moved his foot, and the next second, he released his own aura, drawing the group of pursuing demons and monsters out.

Several figures flashed past quickly, and the air was momentarily frozen.

Once these figures surrounded Sheng Li, he unhurriedly grasped his jade flute. The fragments recombined, and the sword concealed within the flute glowed with a blood-red light.

“Are you all here?”

Roughly sensing them, all the Great Demons who came were merely clones. Were they so afraid of him that they didn’t even dare to come in their true form?

“Wen Yu, today is your day to die!”

As the leading Great Demon’s words fell, all the demonic beasts present revealed their original forms and unleashed their innate abilities. In an instant, they surrounded the cultivators and Sheng Li standing in the front row. A formation was deployed, and fine puppet threads shot out, clearly intent on killing.

“This trick again.”

Sheng Li rotated his wrist. The sword-in-flute shattered into pieces, slicing all the attacking puppet threads into dust.

The fragments whirled around him, moving so fast that their trajectory was almost invisible, like a solid protective barrier, warding off the attacks.

However, the demons and monsters quickly adjusted their attack method, using the puppet threads as a supplement, while pouring in Demonic Qi to consume him.

Demonic Qi was like poison to human cultivators; a touch of it would corrode the spiritual power in their meridians.

But this move clearly had no effect on Sheng Li. When he was in control of this body, Demonic Qi was the best nutrient.

The Demonic Qi, wrapped in murderous and destructive energy, surged in, filling the formation and engulfing Sheng Li.

The few Great Demons in the back row all simultaneously wore expressions of success.

But the expression lasted for only a few seconds. When all the Demonic Qi inside the formation suddenly vanished, revealing Sheng Li’s unharmed figure, they were all dumbfounded.

“The intelligence given by the Sand Demon was wrong! He’s not afraid of Demonic Qi at all!”

“Damn it! He dared to deceive us!”

Their expressions began to contort. Seeing the demons blocking Sheng Li being destroyed one by one, they grew fearful and retreated.

Without any mercy for his own kind, Sheng Li finished off these small fry, captured the escaping Great Demon, and pressed his palm down, shattering the formation that had trapped him.

He made no effort to hide the fact that he could use Demonic Qi.

The Great Demons retreating saw this move, their demon eyes widening in fear, yet they were extremely excited, as if they had caught Sheng Li’s weakness. “He is actually using Demonic Qi—”

However, Sheng Li paid no mind. In the blink of an eye, he chased after them, grabbed one by the neck, and with a slight exertion of force, the Great Demon died.

The Great Demons escaping ahead saw this and immediately used all their power, utterly terrified.

This was no human; he was clearly a bloodthirsty demon.

The slower Great Demons were killed one by one, with no chance to fight back.

The Great Demon furthest ahead looked back and saw Sheng Li in close pursuit. Seeing that he was about to catch up, he glanced at the Great Demon following him, gritted his teeth, and slapped him with a palm strike. In the demon’s disbelieving eyes, he used his demonic power to accelerate his escape.

The Great Demon who was hit had no time to curse. He hurriedly stood up to continue running. Just as he took a step, the leg that stepped out was severed from the knee up. Blood sprayed, soaking the ground.

Unable to maintain his balance, he fell to the ground.

An elusive aura swept past, chasing the Great Demon in front.

Just as he thought he had escaped a disaster, the sword-in-flute severed his head.

In the silent night, the smell of blood gradually dispersed.

Only that one Great Demon was still fleeing, the surrounding scenery rapidly retreating.

In his panic, he rushed into a forest.

Branches and leaves were sliced off by his demonic power, falling all over the ground. Looking from afar, everywhere he went, the cut surfaces of the trees were sharp and neat, carving out a path.

Aside from the sound of breaking branches, there was only the sound of his hurried and nervous heartbeat.

After flying for a long time, he looked back, but could see no other objects in the dark forest.

His steps gradually slowed, and he panted heavily, having depleted most of his energy.

That damned Sand Demon! He gave false information! If I hadn’t been quick-witted and run first, I’d be dead by now.

“Damn you, Wen Yu. You wait and see! When the Demon Lord leaves seclusion, I’ll see if you can still be so arrogant.”

He spat out the words hatefully. Just as he was about to continue running, his demon eyes suddenly constricted, and his expression was terrified, as if he had seen something utterly horrifying.

Sheng Li’s figure appeared in the forest, the blood-stained sword-in-flute grasped in his hand.

The frigid killing intent almost solidified into reality, placing immense pressure on the only surviving Great Demon.

“Waiting for the Demon Lord to leave seclusion?”

Sheng Li walked toward the Great Demon step by step, his expression unreadable. “Aren’t you just a demon? Why are you running off to serve the Demon Lord?”

The demon blood dripping from the sword-in-flute seemed like a prophecy. The Great Demon stared at the sword, knowing he couldn’t escape.

“You won’t get any information from me!”

The powerful demonic beast replaced its human form. It roared, pouring all its demonic power into its spiritual core, intending to self-detonate.

Sheng Li naturally wouldn’t give him the chance. Spiritual threads plunged into the demonic beast’s spiritual core. The swelling beast’s body instantly deflated, and its eyes became vacant.

The Soul Searching technique could extract memories, but Sheng Li didn’t want to read those filthy memories, so he asked directly.

“Who sent you to kill Wen Yu?”

The Great Demon opened his mouth: “The Demon Lord.”

This was the answer Sheng Li had heard many times, every time Wen Yu was attacked.

He didn’t get angry, but instead smiled.

He had only ignored the affairs of the Demon Realm for a few decades, and now he could be framed so casually.

“Since the Demon Lord sent you to kill me, why did he not send the Eight Demon Generals?”

The Great Demon’s eyeballs rolled in his sockets. He continued: “The Eight Generals are out of control.”

Sheng Li understood.

In the decades he hadn’t managed things, someone had taken his name to act, but they hadn’t yet controlled the entire Demon Realm.

“Through whom did you receive the order to intercept and kill Wen Yu?”

The Great Demon suddenly began to tremble violently. His eyeballs bulged and burst out of their sockets. He kept repeating two words: “Demon Lord, Demon Lord, Demon Lord…”

No more could be asked.

This meant the true body sensed the clone being soul-searched and destroyed the clone’s memory.

Sheng Li raised his sword and sliced off the Great Demon’s neck.

Someone in the Demon Realm was impatient and wanted to stage a scene of stealing the sky and substituting the sun, shifting the blame.

It seemed he hadn’t been absolute enough back then. That old fox was indeed cunning.

After resolving the matter, Sheng Li returned to the inn.

The barrier was intact, and Xiaoyu hadn’t woken up.

He placed the jade flute aside and walked over to look at Xiaoyu.

He stared at her without blinking, his eyes alternately clear and dark. Suddenly, he leaned in closer.

His gaze moved from her messy hair, to her furrowed brows, tightly closed eyes, then landed on the tip of her nose, and finally rested on her slightly pale lips.

The full Cupid’s bow on her upper lip was slightly upturned, slightly parted, exhaling faint wisps of air.

No matter how Sheng Li looked, he couldn’t see anything special about these lips that would make that person linger, addicted and unwilling to let go.

The man who was confused did not know how terrifyingly dark his expression was at the moment.

The curious exploration slowly shifted into a desire for possession of the person in front of him—a kind of possession that stemmed from his very bones, an unwillingness to share with anyone else.

Suddenly, Sheng Li reached out, his thumb pressing onto that patch of skin. The soft sensation was tingling, and the memory of that night surged into his brain.

The real touch was clearer than the memory, so clear that the feeling on his hand filled every organ capable of sensing the outside world, making him unable to perceive anything else.

Gradually, he increased the pressure, his eyes becoming increasingly dark and deep.

When the mood struck, he wouldn’t suppress it, but would follow his own inclination, doing whatever he wanted.

This was the biggest difference between him and Wen Yu.

It wasn’t until the pale lips were stained crimson that Sheng Li lessened his strength, but he did not move his hand away.

A faint airflow gently touched his thumb, reminding Sheng Li of the fluffy fox tail that would wrap around his wrist.

Unfortunately, the little fox had learned the shapeshifting spell and would no longer show her tail.

Sheng Li was about to lift his hand when the lips he was touching suddenly parted. His fingertip sank in as the unconscious person inhaled, then closed her lips again.

His finger was withdrawn just as the lips were about to close around it.

But a softer sensation had already claimed its place on his thumb, its presence extremely strong.

Sheng Li slowly straightened up, placing the hand that had been touched behind his back, remaining completely still.

Suddenly, he exhaled in annoyance, turned, and walked toward the door, opening it with his other hand.

The night watchman saw him walking over with an expressionless face, and he said coldly, “Pay for the room, one night.”

The waiter, having received the money, watched him leave and rolled his eyes. “He acts like I owe him money.”

Sheng Li did not return to the room. He spent the entire night basking in the moonlight on the roof, only entering after the Hour of the Ox (1 am – 3 am).

Seeing that Xiaoyu was still asleep and her breathing was long and steady, his face darkened.

She is actually sleeping so soundly.

He walked over and nudged her with the jade flute: “Wake up. The sky is already bright.”

Xiaoyu was having a sweet dream. In the dream, she defeated the Demon Lord, and the Demon Lord knelt down and begged for mercy.

She chuckled, told the Demon Lord to look up, but suddenly faced Wen Yu’s face.

Then she woke up in fright.

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was Wen Yu’s face.

Xiaoyu blinked, looking for a long time before she could discern that this was the real Wen Yu.

That dream just now was truly terrifying.

Xiaoyu looked around and saw the lamp lit inside the room, but it was pitch black outside the window. The sky hadn’t even brightened yet!

Looking closer, the surrounding environment was not the room in Moon-Gazing Dwelling at all.

“Where are we?”

Xiaoyu sat up, smoothing her hair with one hand, and looked at Wen Yu.

He was backlit, so she could only vaguely see his outline. Xiaoyu couldn’t see his furrowed brow.

As time passed, the closer it got to dawn, the stronger the stinging pain became in Sheng Li’s body.

He didn’t explain, but fixed his gaze on Xiaoyu’s hair, which was smoothed only to become messy again.

“Leave it loose. Don’t bother.” He said the six words, not knowing what moved him to do so, and heard Xiaoyu immediately retort.

“No way, it’s so troublesome when it’s loose.” If she had to fight later, loose hair would hinder her performance.

Sheng Li’s eyebrow twitched due to the more intense stinging pain. He initially didn’t want to move, but the other soul in his body struggled with him, vying for control of the body. A malicious thought surged up.

He spoke: “Sit over here, with your back to me.”

Xiaoyu was confused but did as he said.

The hand organizing her hair was taken away by a cold hand. Xiaoyu judged from the actions of the person behind her that he was going to tie her hair.

She was surprised and asked, “Daozhang, you know how to tie hair?”

Sheng Li gave a faint grunt, his movements in his hand a little clumsy.

He wrapped one strand of hair and had to carefully recall the memory for the next step before he knew what to do.

He hadn’t personally learned it, so even with the memory, he was very rusty.

Xiaoyu tilted her head, bumping against Sheng Li.

She covered her head, unable to resist complaining: “Be gentle! It hurts.”

Sheng Li took a deep breath, his eyes fiercely murderous. “I know.”

Xiaoyu quietly argued with him: “You’re lying. You don’t know.”

He had already hurt her several times.

Finally, Sheng Li let go, carefully examined his handiwork, and nodded: “Done.”

Xiaoyu felt liberated and immediately turned around to touch her hair.

She didn’t feel anything out of the ordinary, so she used a water mirror to look.

“Daozhang, you have so many hair ties!” Xiaoyu was initially happy when she saw the colorful hair ties on her head in the mirror, but then she started getting a headache.

With so many hair ties, wouldn’t it take her forever to take them out tonight?

Sheng Li raised an eyebrow, not mentioning that Wen Yu was the one who got them.

“Is your injury healed?”

Xiaoyu checked her arm and meridians. The place where the stinky bird had scratched her was healing, but not fully recovered.

“It will be fine in a few more days.”

Sheng Li didn’t say much. He immediately stood up and walked toward the door, leaving behind a single sentence: “Then we’re going back to Yuehui Sect.”

He didn’t even wait for Xiaoyu.

Xiaoyu watched him open the door and leave, quickly getting out of bed, but didn’t see her shoes.

“Where are my shoes?”

She searched for a long time before finding them at the foot of the bed.

When she left the inn, the sky was still dark.

The usually lively streets at night had become deserted, but some breakfast stalls were already open.

The steaming heat made Xiaoyu hungry.

The person walking ahead only showed her his back. Xiaoyu thought that Wen Yu might have been angry last night. When she asked, he verbally said he wasn’t, but his tone was telling.

Xiaoyu strode forward to walk beside him, tugged at his sleeve, and saw him turn his head to look over, asking, “Do you want to eat something?”

She received no answer.

Xiaoyu saw that while his gaze was lowered, he wasn’t looking at her, but at the wristband exposed on his wrist.

Sheng Li raised his hand, grasping Xiaoyu’s wrist, along with the wristband.

The coldness and warmth were tightly pressed together, and then he let go after a moment.

Sheng Li lifted his foot, only leaving two words: “Not hungry.”

Xiaoyu simply went and bought some food herself, eating it as she walked along the road.

By the time they reached the familiar alley entrance, it was nearly dawn.

Borrowing the light from the sky, Xiaoyu saw the jade flute gradually fading its red color, becoming covered in emerald green.

She thought it was amazing.

This was the first time she had directly seen the jade flute change color.

Were the natal artifacts of cultivators all capable of changing color like this?

While distracted, she heard Wen Yu’s voice: “Grab me.”

Xiaoyu immediately reached out to grab his hand but grasped empty air.

The hand she was reaching for suddenly lifted to form a seal, narrowly missing her.

She had no choice but to change direction and grab his clothes.

Soon, they returned to the familiar Moon-Gazing Dwelling.

Xiaoyu hadn’t even had time to speak to Wen Yu, and he had already disappeared.

Looking at the empty courtyard entrance, Xiaoyu swallowed the words she was about to say, muttering, “Why is he running so fast?”

Control of the body was quickly seized. When Wen Yu regained consciousness, he was already in front of the prison where the demonic beasts were kept.

His memory was segmented again, but he was back at Yuehui Sect.

The lingering aura of Xiaoyu was still on his body, leading him to conclude that she was safe.

His being in this state and coming here clearly implied that he was signaling himself to do something, or that he had something to do but didn’t have time.

Wen Yu guessed that the matter was consistent with what he himself wanted to do.

He raised his hand to open the barrier and walked to the end, stopping in front of a fox demon.

The fox demon weakly raised her eyes, saw Wen Yu, and let out a cold laugh: “Sword Venerable looks very idle, to actually have time to come and see me.”

Wen Yu ignored her sarcasm and simply said, “I want to make a deal with you.”

Yan Qing listened to the conditions Wen Yu offered, her eyes widening.

“You’re crazy!”