Wagging My Tail in the Ice Queen CEO’s Embrace - Chapter 86

After learning the whole story, Ming Ying breathed a sigh of relief.

According to the elderly woman, the flood dragon demon was merely imprisoned by chains and had fallen into a deep slumber. If the magical artifact could no longer function, she would awaken, and the only issue left to consider would be how to relocate her.

“I had originally planned to wait a few more years until the new site of the estate was completed before waking Senior Jiao and leaving this estate to her and my sister,” the elderly woman sighed. “Who knew your meddlesome young people would come along!”

Ming Ying felt uncomfortable hearing this. Fu Anyu and the others were only acting out of their duty as demon hunters, concerned for the safety of the tourists. How could they have known there was such a story behind the estate?

But she didn’t dare retort. When the elderly woman had entered earlier, everyone stood up to greet her and addressed her as “Senior.” This indirectly indicated that the elderly woman was also a demon hunter. If Ming Ying provoked her and her true identity as a great demon was discovered, it would spell disaster!

She didn’t dare speak up, and neither did the three demon hunters or the cat demon in the room. Only Du Yunxin, the sole ordinary human, spoke:

“If you want us to take responsibility, just say so directly. No need for all these roundabout remarks, it feels like a setup.”

Ming Ying: !!!

Xiao Du! How dare you?!

Before she could recover from her shock, she heard the elderly woman chuckle.

“Very well. The authorities have already filed the case, and within three days, Senior Jiao must leave the waters of Linlan Villa.” The elderly woman’s expression was kindly, giving no hint of anger or any other emotion. “Since you’re willing to take responsibility, this task is now yours.”

As soon as she finished speaking, the bodyguard on her left took out a phone, tapped a few times, and Fu Anyu and the other two received simultaneous notifications on their devices.

The elderly woman retrieved her cane, stood up, and, supported by her two bodyguards, walked out without looking back.

Once they were certain the elderly woman and her entourage had left, Li Lingmao sneered and praised, “That retort just now was brilliant!”

Du Yunxin was actually a bit nervous. His praise only made her more anxious, and she clung to Chen Yanxue’s arm, whispering, “Did I say something wrong?”

“Don’t worry about it. The outcome would’ve been the same either way,” Hu Xiuliu shook his head. “Some of the older generation just talk like that winding you around with lectures that sound reasonable, but when you look closely, every word is blaming you.”

Ming Ying had never encountered such an elderly person before and found the woman quite unpleasant. She instinctively asked Fu Anyu, “Did that elderly woman truly care about her sister and Senior Jiao?”

In Ming Ying’s view, if the elderly woman had genuinely cared about her deceased family, she wouldn’t have casually entrusted the estate to a junior for management, nor would she have disguised her late sister’s resting place as a tourist attraction. Even less should she have shifted the blame onto those who discovered the truth, accusing them of meddling.

Fu Anyu didn’t answer, only frowned and shook her head before turning to Hu Xiuliu. “How do we move her?”

Among the three demon hunters, only Hu Xiuliu lived near a large body of water suitable for a flood dragon demon.

“We can’t move her,” Hu Xiuliu replied. “We’ll have to wake her up, then have her take human form and follow us back.”

“What if she refuses?” Fu Anyu countered.

“Then we’ll have to knock him out and take him by force.” Hu Xiuliu spread his hands. “But does your company’s van have enough space? He’s a big guy, and his true form is even larger, we can’t just stuff him in the trunk, can we?”

Fu Anyu’s frown deepened. Just as she was about to speak, Ming Ying interjected, “I have an idea. I can conjure a large box, big enough to hold the flood dragon elder.”

Her tails were formed from spiritual energy, so naturally, they could revert to energy and be reshaped into anything.

Under the collective gaze of the group, Ming Ying added somewhat sheepishly, “But I still need a container to store it in.”

“I’ll use my green jade gourd as the storage container,” Fu Anyu took over. “So, shall we act tonight?”

“I think the fishing platform area is closed now, so it should be safe to proceed,” Hu Xiuliu said. “We’ll do it like we did during the day, place the spiritual energy cluster at the bottom of the water, then directly scoop up the flood dragon. After that, the little fox can conjure the large box to pack him in.”

With the plan set, everyone sprang into action.

Scooping up the flood dragon wasn’t an issue. The chains only bound the flood dragon and weren’t anchored to anything else.

To ensure the box was large enough, Ming Ying directly drew spiritual energy from three of her tails. As she conjured the box, she felt dizzy, with stars dancing before her eyes.

A hand rested on her shoulder as Fu Anyu transferred her own spiritual energy to Ming Ying.

Gritting her teeth, Ming Ying condensed the spiritual energy into a large, jade-like box just before the flood dragon emerged from the water. As the flood dragon, enveloped in the spiritual energy cluster, broke the surface, she guided the jade box over, allowing the flood dragon to settle safely inside.

“Put this artifact in with him too!” Hu Xiuliu’s voice rang out as he tossed a small black urn into the jade box.

Fu Anyu’s green jade gourd could store living beings, but the flood dragon had been submerged for decades, covered in mud and algae. Placing him directly into the gourd would contaminate the space. So, as the flood dragon fully entered the jade box, Ming Ying used her remaining spiritual energy to form a lid with a breathing hole, slowly sealing the box.

Once Fu Anyu stored the jade box in her green jade gourd, Ming Ying felt even dizzier, her limbs growing weak. She leaned against Fu Anyu, collapsing into her embrace.

“Can I turn into a fox?” she asked weakly as Fu Anyu held her tightly.

Fu Anyu knew that reverting to her true form would help her recover spiritual energy faster, so she nodded.

Ming Ying transformed into her fox form, curling up exhaustedly in Fu Anyu’s arms.

Now she understood how Fu Anyu must have felt when she had suddenly drained a large amount of her spiritual energy.

To avoid any unexpected changes, the six of them took the van back to Zhuqing Taoist Temple that very night. Chen Yanxue drove, while Du Yunxin sat in the passenger seat to help navigate.

Fu Anyu held the still-sleeping fox in her arms, sitting in the back with Hu Xiuliu and Li Lingmao.

No one spoke during the journey. Li Lingmao, unable to play on his phone without headphones, grew bored and transformed back into a black cat, curling up in Hu Xiuliu’s lap to sleep.

As Fu Anyu stroked the fox and gazed out at the night scenery, her phone vibrated. She pulled it out to find a message from Hu Xiuliu.

[Hu Xiuliu: Didn’t want to disturb the little fox, so let’s talk on WeChat.]

She replied with an “Mm,” waiting for Hu Xiuliu to continue.

[Hu Xiuliu: I actually took another look around Linlan Manor today, and the entrance to the demon realm might indeed be connected to this place. The flood dragon demon we saved today, just like the little fox, must have crossed over from the ancient demon realm to here.]

Fu Anyu was taken aback.

[Hu Xiuliu: But as you know, the entrance to the demon realm has been ‘missing’ for a hundred years, and no demon has gone looking for it since, let alone humans. I don’t need to spell out what that means, do I?]

Fu Anyu turned directly to look at Hu Xiuliu. Seeing that he was also watching her, she nodded and asked quietly, “Aren’t you afraid the message is being monitored?”

“There’s nothing to fear. The higher-ups have long known that I’ve inherited my father’s wish and have been searching for the entrance to the demon realm.” Hu Xiuliu smiled calmly, stroking the ears of the black cat in his arms. “But they’ve never come to me. Can you guess why?”

“Two reasons. First, even if you find the entrance to the demon realm, it’s useless, it can no longer be opened or entered.” Fu Anyu said. “Second, they also need to find the entrance to the demon realm, for reasons unknown.”

“Truly worthy of being President Fu.” Hu Xiuliu praised sincerely. “So, we can infer that the higher-ups actually want to find the entrance to the demon realm. After all, no matter how peaceful the demons are, they’re still seen as outsiders. No one knows when a mad demon might suddenly appear and destroy the cities we’ve painstakingly built, the destructive power would be no less than that of certain unmentionable weapons.”

“Some people want all the demons to return to the demon realm.” Fu Anyu said. “But that also threatens the interests of another group.”

“Exactly. Most demons in the human realm live under others’ roofs, and many dirty tasks can be conveniently pushed onto them.” Hu Xiuliu sneered. “To put it bluntly, for the sake of survival and continuation, demons have indirectly become servants to humans. It’s just that, for various reasons, their situation isn’t that dire at the moment.”

The black cat in his arms suddenly nudged him, as if sleepwalking. Hu Xiuliu casually ruffled its fur, a hint of reluctance in his eyes.

“If the day really comes when the entrance to the demon realm opens, will you let the little fox go home?” he asked.

But Fu Anyu remained silent.

The little fox no longer had a home. Even if the ruins of the royal city remained, she didn’t want the little fox to find it.

Emotionally and logically, she didn’t want the little fox to return to the demon realm. Yet the demon realm offered the greatest freedom for demons, as long as one had strength, they could settle and build a home there. It was the most suitable place for demons to live.

To be honest, she was conflicted.

Seeing her troubled expression, Hu Xiuliu didn’t press further. He leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes to rest.

Once they got home, he still had to settle the flood dragon demon. Tomorrow, he’d probably need to ask Dr. He to come over and check if the flood dragon demon had any injuries.

Ming Ying was sound asleep when her consciousness was suddenly pulled into a certain space by an unknown force.

Dazed, she stared at the green-robed woman standing with her back to her. Remembering the story the old man had told, she tentatively asked, “Are you the flood dragon elder?”

Hearing her call, the green-robed woman turned around and looked down at her.

“You’ve imprisoned me,” the woman said after a long pause. “Where are you taking me?”

“To a place where you won’t be disturbed,” Ming Ying replied. “Don’t worry, we mean no harm.”

“Where is Linxiao?” the green-robed woman asked. “I can sense her presence, but I cannot see her. You know, what have you done to her?”

She suddenly unleashed an intimidating aura, and Ming Ying felt a terrifying chill sweep over her.

But as a nine-tailed great demon, her race was far superior to that of a flood dragon demon, so she wasn’t afraid of such intimidation. Hearing the question, she showed a sorrowful expression and truthfully told the green-robed woman, “Senior Rong Linxiao passed away decades ago. She transformed herself into chains to accompany you in your slumber at the bottom of the water.”

The green-robed woman froze, then seemed to remember something, clutching her head in pain as she knelt down.

The next moment, Ming Ying saw chains beginning to appear on her body.

Dark golden chains coiled around the green-robed woman’s torso and limbs. Though clearly made of cold metal, Ming Ying felt as if those chains had come to life.

“Can you hear it?” the green-robed woman murmured, “Lan Ting… Ah Ting… I hear Linxiao calling me… calling the name she gave me.”