Chapter 14
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The person Pei Yunshu was pointing in the mirror was tall and slender, standing like a jade tree against the wind. His pale clothes billowed in the breeze, his thin lips curved into a smile, and his brows were clear and bright. Even though dozens of peculiar thin swords flew around him, there was no trace of fear in his demeanor.
But Pei Yunshu’s tone sounded like he was stating an undeniable fact. His voice was soft, yet it sent a shiver down Huayue’s spine, making him break out in a cold sweat.
The fox locked eyes with Pei Yunshu for a few seconds, clenched its teeth, and then bit another finger, speeding up the process of opening the Fox Clan’s secret realm.
Pei Yunshu pursed his lips and looked at the mirror again.
Yuncheng had both high cultivation and medical skills. He also had deep knowledge of formations and talismans. Whether in the past or present, Pei Yunshu felt there was almost nothing Yuncheng couldn’t do.
Meanwhile, Yuncheng, who stood outside the formation, began to move.
Yuncheng walked leisurely around the mountainous area. With every few steps, the flying swords around him followed his command, deeply embedding themselves into the ground. Yunman observed his movements with a serious expression. “Where do you think Fourth Junior Brother is now?”
Beside him, eldest Senior Brother said, “There’s been no change, so the secret realm hasn’t been activated. Since there’s a formation here, Junior Brother Yunshu must be within it.”
They didn’t disturb the nearby demonic cultivator who stood aside. Everyone minds their own business. The Flower Brocade Sect had provided Yunman with information about the Fox Clan’s secret realm, and Yunman and his group allowed them to wait for Yuncheng to break the formation here.
Even though they knew Junior Brother Yunshu hadn’t entered the secret realm yet, Yunman’s expression remained displeased.
Second Senior Brother had just completed a circuit and returned to their side. He looked at Yunman and said, “I hope nothing has happened to Fourth Junior Brother.”
“That fox has always been fond of beauty,” the Hall Master of the Flower Brocade Sect chimed in with his hands behind his back, a meaningful smile on his face. “Rest assured, your Junior Brother is safe.”
The trio from the Shanshui Sect seemed to pay no attention. Yunman turned to Yuncheng. “How much longer?”
Yuncheng glanced at the empty ground where more than a dozen thin swords had been embedded. He smiled slightly. “Less than a quarter of an hour.”
The mirror only showed visuals; it didn’t transmit sound.
However, as Pei Yunshu watched Second Senior Brother pacing around in circles, an ominous feeling welled up within him. He furrowed his brows and urged once again, “Huayue.”
The fox was busy and dizzy, its drawn symbols on the stone monument starting to appear faintly. This was a sign of imminent success.
Ecstatic, it turned to Pei Yunshu. “Beauty, it’s working!”
Pei Yunshu’s tension eased slightly as he looked at the barrier. Indeed, the barrier was gradually fading away and becoming invisible.
Just then, a sudden loud noise came from behind. The smile that had just curved on Pei Yunshu’s lips froze. He was about to turn around when a surge of water suddenly swept him and the fox away. They charged through a gap in the barrier and vanished from sight, into the secret realm.
A long, thin sword struck the stone monument with force. The blade couldn’t pierce it and slipped off the stone, but if not for the water surge, Huayue, who had been standing there a moment ago, would have been hit by the sword.
Yuncheng raised an eyebrow. He wiped his hands with a handkerchief pulled from his sleeve and turned to his fellow Senior Brothers behind him. “We were a step too late.”
***
The unexpected surge of water carried Pei Yunshu and Huayue until they reached a lake, where it finally came to a halt.
The scenery within the secret realm was a complete contrast to the desert landscape they had seen earlier. As the water receded from Pei Yunshu, he found himself unharmed, except that the end of his hair had accidentally been caught in the water flow. Water was now dripping down from his hair.
A pair of hands touched his hair and exerted force at the tips. The water in his hair flowed down these hands’ fingertips and dripped onto the ground.
Pei Yunshu paused in his movements and held his breath as he felt the person behind him moving.
After wringing out his hair, the person behind him took their cold, icy fingertips and lightly tapped Pei Yunshu’s cheek.
Just as the drenched fox was about to lift its head, it nearly fainted on the spot. “Lor– Lord Flood Dragon!”
Zhuyou glanced at him with a faint expression before turning his attention to Pei Yunshu. His gaze seemed to alight with amusement, and he playfully poked Pei Yunshu’s cheek repeatedly with a cold, icy finger.
Each poke left a shallow dimple, and Zhuyou was completely absorbed in his little game.
Pei Yunshu’s face turned even redder due to his thin skin. He turned his head away to avoid Zhuyou’s touch. But Zhuyou simply followed his movement and used his other hand to gently poke the opposite side of Pei Yunshu’s cheek.
“Zhuyou,” Pei Yunshu murmured softly, “let go.”
Zhuyou glanced at him, retracting his hand. He lowered his gaze, staring at the fingertips that had just poked Pei Yunshu.
The fox was too frightened to speak, but after a while, it recovered and peered at its own reflection in the water. It couldn’t tolerate anything less-than-handsome as it stared at its appearance that didn’t have any traces of ugly. In a hurry, it took out a handkerchief and a comb from its sleeve and started tidying up its appearance.
The area around the lake was spacious, and all was quiet. Pei Yunshu observed his surroundings. Suddenly, on a clear day, a fine rain began to fall.
The rain was unexpected, and as the drops touched Pei Yunshu’s body, the scene before him shifted. The lake and forest vanished, replaced by a red veil falling, and the ground beneath his feet seemed to sway as if he were sitting inside a bridal sedan.
***
The bridal sedan swayed gently, and the veil overhead fluttered along.
Pei Yunshu removed the red veil from his head and glanced to the side. Huayue was also covered in a red veil, sweetly asleep beside him.
They were still wearing the same clothes as before, except now there was an additional layer of red in the form of the bridal sedan and veils. Pei Yunshu softly woke Huayue, who blinked drowsily before widening his eyes in alarm.
Pei Yunshu said, “It’s as noisy and bustling as a wedding in the mortal realm. But I’m not sure if this is an illusion.”
The worried fox replied, “Beauty, this isn’t an illusion. This is a fox wedding.”
“Both of us are here, who knows which fox is going to marry us.”
Pei Yunshu furrowed his brow.
The small sedan comfortably accommodated him and Huayue with room to spare. The windows were covered with paper, allowing only glimpses of figures dancing outside. The music played was neither entirely joyful nor unhappy, creating an atmosphere of strangeness.
Pei Yunshu extended his hand, but the Qingyue Sword didn’t appear as expected. The fox explained, “Until you and the fox have formally married, you won’t be able to use any spiritual energy.”
Pei Yunshu turned to look at it. “Is it the same for you?”
The fox looked on the verge of losing its patience. “I’m barely able to maintain my human form.”
This was truly a dilemma. Pei Yunshu had never imagined such a ridiculous scenario would befall him. He didn’t know what lay ahead, but if he were really forced to marry a fox, how was that even possible?
After pondering for a while, and as the fox stared at his feathery eyelashes for just as long, Pei Yunshu suddenly stood up and brought his fingertips to his lips.
The fox blushed instantly. It clutched its belt tightly and stuttered, “Wh-what are you doing?”
Pei Yunshu’s eyes held a hint of confusion as he extended his fingertips. The translucent fingers moved away from his lips, leaving the fox staring at him in bewilderment. Pei Yunshu turned around and poked a small hole in the paper window of the sedan. He explained, “I want to see if the figures outside are humans or foxes.”
With the damp tip of his finger, it was easy to create a small hole in the paper. Huayue watched him with his face covered, his cheeks flushed, and a look of delight in his eyes.
Pei Yunshu bent down and peered through the small hole, holding his breath as he looked outside.
He saw vague figures dancing by the window. Upon closer inspection, he realized they were four foxes stacked on top of each other in pairs. The uppermost fox held a drum and flute, and the music emanated from them.
Thick, dripping white mist enveloped the air. Although it was lively, the scene was eerily quiet.
Just as Pei Yunshu was about to tear the hole larger, the fox closest to the window suddenly turned its head and locked eyes with him.
Its eyes were yellowish, with dark, lifeless pupils that seemed hollow, like an empty husk.
Pei Yunshu’s breath caught in his throat. The fox suddenly grinned and blew a high-pitched note from a flute.
All the music stopped, and only the sound of that flute continued to play.
The foxes ahead and behind all spoke in unison, their voices human-like.
“Clear the path ahead, it’s a fox’s wedding. Eyebrows like distant dark clouds, beauty surpassing the lotus.”
Pei Yunshu’s hands and feet turned cold, and he sat back down. Huayue leaned closer and used a handkerchief to cover Pei Yunshu’s ears.
The fragrant handkerchief couldn’t muffle the sound, and Pei Yunshu looked up at him.
With pale lips and beads of cold sweat on his forehead, his autumn-water eyes held a hint of pitifulness. In this cramped and eerie bridal sedan, Huayue found Pei Yunshu even more likable with the red light reflecting on him.
Bashfully, the fox retracted its hand, tugging at the handkerchief with a flirtatious and affectionate expression. Adopting a coy demeanor, it asked, “Beauty, are you okay?”
Pei Yunshu shook his head. “I’m fine.”
Huayue’s blush deepened, enhancing his appearance as the “most beautiful under the moon.” His foxy eyes, with a playful glint, swept over Pei Yunshu. Suddenly, he remembered something and whispered in Pei Yunshu’s ear, “Beauty, in our fox clan’s secret realm, you need to be cautious of something.”
“Life?”
The fox chuckled and backed away slightly. Its smile took on a more mysterious quality, and it lightly parted its red lips. “For us fox demons, life is quite invaluable.”
“The most valuable thing, of course, is the ‘yuan yang’!”
***
Inside the bridal sedan, Huayue explained to Pei Yunshu the importance of “yuan yang.”
“Our demon’s ‘yuan yang’ is also beneficial for cultivators,” Huayue glanced around and shared a secret, “Beauty, with a ‘yuan yang’ like that of the Lord Flood Dragon, you could directly bypass the Golden Core stage and form a Nascent Soul. And if the Lord Flood Dragon completely transforms into a dragon, by then, his ‘yuan yang’ will be even more precious than all the treasures under the heavens combined. If, Beauty, you—”
Pei Yunshu’s ears turned crimson. “Stop!”
This soft reprimand and the way Huayue played with his hair, his eyes gleaming as he looked around. It seemed to indicate that if Lord Flood Dragon was willing to give his vitality to the beauty, he was also willing, and he could be discreet, not competing with Lord Flood Dragon.
Pei Yunshu didn’t know what he was thinking, but this playful banter eased his previous worries. It was unclear how far the flower sedan traveled but finally, amid a series of drumbeats, everything came to a halt.
The fox shadows on both sides disappeared, and someone slowly approached the flower sedan.
With no spiritual power in his body and no weapon in hand, Pei Yunshu placed his hand on his waistband.
His outer robe was still the thin snakeskin, and Zhouyu’s skin seemed to be unable to be pierced. With no way to retreat, he planned to take off this outer robe to give himself and Huayue a fighting chance.
The curtain was lifted with a sword, and as the sunlight broke through, a face as gentle as jade appeared outside the flower sedan. Yuncheng’s cheek was stained with blood droplets, but he seemed oblivious, smiling warmly and reaching out towards Pei Yunshu inside the sedan.
“Junior brother,” his black eyes held a comforting warmth in the sunlight. “Come to your senior brother.”
The sword that lifted the crimson curtain had fresh blood dripping from its tip.
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Thank you for the triple update! 💕
Thanks for the chapters! 🙈🙈
Scary 👁️🗨️
Thank-you for the chapters~ 🤍
Simply scary
Sério, cada vez que o primeiro irmão sênior aparece eu tremo aqui 😨