Yuchi Mengxing continued deeper into the inner region, wandering wherever her feet happened to take her.
At first, she remained cautious.
Every few steps, she would pause and glance around, listening carefully for the slightest unusual sound.
After all, this wasn’t the outer region where she could casually chase beasts around whenever she was bored.
The weakest creatures here were Rank Four.
One careless mistake, and she might really end up becoming someone’s lunch.
But after walking for quite some time without encountering anything dangerous, Yuchi Mengxing gradually relaxed.
“Where are all the divine beasts?” She kicked a pebble aside and muttered under her breath.
“Those two idiots made it sound like I’d find one after walking a few steps.” She had come here full of excitement, practically imagining herself returning home with a majestic divine beast following obediently behind her.
Yet after walking for so long— nothing.
Not even the shadow of a decent beast.
“Scammers.” Yuchi Mengxing clicked her tongue.
“If I go back empty-handed, I’ll make those two ghosts sweep the entire manor.” The two ghosts who had encouraged her to enter the inner region had no idea that, despite being nowhere nearby, they had somehow already earned themselves a punishment.
Yuchi Mengxing continued forward.
The trees gradually became thinner.
Sunlight began filtering through the branches.
Then, after pushing aside a cluster of tall grass— she stopped.
Her eyes widened.
Before her stretched an enormous sea of flowers.
It seemed almost endless.
Flowers of every imaginable shade covered the earth, spreading all the way toward the distant forest.
Some were as small as fingertips.
Others bloomed as wide as her palm.
Clusters of blossoms swayed gently beneath the sunlight, their petals shimmering with traces of spiritual energy.
A breeze swept across the field.
Whoosh— Thousands upon thousands of flowers bent together.
Petals rose into the air in waves, rolling across the field like a colorful tide.
Several drifted past Yuchi Mengxing’s face.
She instinctively reached out.
A pale petal landed in her palm.
The fragrance surrounding her was light and refreshing rather than overwhelming.
With every breath, it seemed to wash away some of the exhaustion from her body.
For a moment, Yuchi Mengxing completely forgot that she was standing in one of the most dangerous regions of the mountain.
“Wow…” She stared.
Then stared some more.
Finally, she sighed in satisfaction.
“Tsk.
This place is actually pretty comfortable.” She walked into the flower field.
Soft petals brushed against her legs.
The deeper she went, the stronger the pleasant floral scent became.
After wandering around for a while, Yuchi Mengxing looked left.
Then right.
No beasts.
No monsters.
No suspicious movement.
Very good.
She immediately made a decision that absolutely did not match the caution she had shown earlier.
She threw herself into the flowers.
“Ahhh—!” Her small body disappeared into the blossoms with a soft rustle.
Yuchi Mengxing stretched comfortably, placed both hands behind her head, and crossed one leg over the other.
Above her was an endless blue sky.
White clouds drifted lazily overhead.
The breeze carried the scent of flowers past her face.
Birdsong occasionally echoed from somewhere far away.
“This is what life should be like.” She sighed happily.
“No sweeping.” “No thunder.” “No ghosts begging me to take them somewhere.” “And definitely no old men suddenly handing me mysterious books.” She paused.
Then reached down and patted the shoulder bag beside her.
The ancient manuscript was still safely inside.
Yuchi Mengxing narrowed her eyes.
She was curious.
Extremely curious.
But something told her that opening a mysterious thousand-year-old manuscript in the middle of an unfamiliar inner region was exactly the kind of thing stupid people did right before disaster struck.
So she resisted.
She would study it when she returned home.
Right now— sleep was more important.
Yuchi Mengxing yawned.
Her eyelids gradually became heavier.
The warmth of the sunlight, combined with the gentle breeze and sweet fragrance of the flowers, made her entire body relax.
She was just about to drift off when— Whoosh!
Something shot out from the flowers.
Yuchi Mengxing’s eyes snapped open.
Her hand immediately moved toward her shoulder bag.
Before she could pull out a talisman, however, a small furry creature landed beside her.
“…?” Yuchi Mengxing blinked.
The creature didn’t attack.
Instead, it trotted around her twice.
Its soft body brushed casually against her arm as though they had known each other for years.
Then— plop.
It lay down beside her.
Yuchi Mengxing slowly turned her head.
The little creature yawned.
Then it closed its eyes.
“…” She stared at it.
It slept.
She stared harder.
It continued sleeping.
Yuchi Mengxing finally pushed herself up on one elbow and carefully examined the strange creature that had apparently decided she made excellent company.
Its entire body was covered in fiery red fur.
The fur was thick and extraordinarily soft, glowing faintly beneath the sunlight.
Its body was slender, somewhat resembling a fox, yet there was also something about its face and proportions that reminded her of a weasel.
Its four legs were surprisingly short.
But its tail— Yuchi Mengxing’s gaze slowly moved toward it.
That tail was ridiculous.
It was enormous.
Far too large for such a small creature.
The fluffy red tail curled around its body like a giant ball of fur, covering nearly half of it.
Yuchi Mengxing stared for several seconds.
Then her expression became strange.
“Scarlet Wild Illusion Fox?” Her voice rose slightly.
The creature’s ear twitched.
Yuchi Mengxing immediately leaned closer.
“No way.” She looked it up and down.
The fiery fur.
The oversized tail.
The faint spiritual fluctuations surrounding its body.
There was no mistake.
It really was a Scarlet Wild Illusion Fox!
Yuchi Mengxing’s eyes widened.
She had read about this species in one of the beast records her second uncle had sent her.
Scarlet Wild Illusion Foxes weren’t known for brute strength.
Their most troublesome ability was exactly what their name suggested— illusions.