It was a creature that looked like a wild boar, but three times larger, with tusks longer than my arms.
It was lowering its head, eating grass.
My senior brothers immediately entered battle stance.
Su Ning unsheathed his sword.
Yan Chuan gripped his saber.
Murong Zhuo gathered his momentum.
Gu Chenguang pulled out talismans.
And then~~
The demon beast raised its head.
It took one look at me.
Stunned for a moment.
Sniffed the air.
And right after that, turned around and ran.
It ran lightning fast.
Its four short legs churned like Wheels of Wind and Fire.
In the blink of an eye, it vanished into the forest.
My senior brothers held their weapons, frozen on the spot.
Su Ning: “…It ran away?”
Yan Chuan: “Why did it run away?”
Murong Zhuo: “We haven’t even made a move yet.”
Gu Chenguang looked at me: “Junior Sister, did you do something just now?”
I blinked innocently: “I’m just standing right here.”
My senior brothers exchanged bewildered glances.
We kept walking forward.
And encountered another demon beast.
This time, it was a fire rabbit with three ears and fiery red fur—very beautiful.
It was gnawing on a spiritual fruit.
We crept closer quietly.
And then~~
The fire rabbit raised its head.
Saw me.
Took a sniff.
Let out a sharp scream.
Turned around and bolted.
It ran faster than a rabbit, even though it was a rabbit.
My senior brothers petrified once again.
Su Ning: “…”
Yan Chuan: “…”
Murong Zhuo: “Gu Chenguang, pinch me to see if I’m dreaming.”
Gu Chenguang pinched him.
Murong Zhuo bared his teeth in pain: “Not a dream.”
I wanted to give chase, but Su Ning grabbed me: “Don’t chase it! It ran toward the middle perimeter!”
I had no choice but to stop.
Watching the fire rabbit disappear into the depths of the forest.
A bit of a pity.
That fire rabbit was quite cute.
After that, we encountered several more demon beasts.
Without exception, the moment they saw me, they ran.
There was even a silly black bear that was so terrified it climbed a tree and fell down three times.
My senior brothers went from initial shock, to questioning reality, to complete numbness.
Su Ning squatted on the ground, holding his head in both hands: “I’ve cultivated for over a hundred years, and this is the first time I’ve ever seen anything like this.”
Yan Chuan leaned against a tree, his expression completely blank: “Demon beasts are supposed to pounce on humans when they see them. Why are they running?”
Murong Zhuo stroked his chin: “Could Junior Sister have some kind of special aura on her?”
Gu Chenguang was already busy taking down observation notes in his booklet.
I scratched my head.
I couldn’t exactly tell them, “I’m the Princess of the Demon Realm, and I have the Demon Lord aura of my dad on me low-tier demon beasts wouldn’t dare mess with,” right?
After thinking about it, I said: “Maybe it’s because I’m too cute, and they can’t bear to hurt me?”
My senior brothers fell into a collective silence.
Then, Su Ning suddenly asked: “…Junior Sister.”
I asked: “Hmm?”
Yan Chuan: “Who on earth are you?”
I blinked: “I’m just me.”
Murong Zhuo: “Are you sure you’re just cute?”
I thought about it seriously: “Maybe it’s because I have my dad’s aura on me?”
Senior brothers: “Your dad?”
I quickly corrected myself: “Uh… I mean, my biological dad. He’s a very impressive… hunter. He hunted beasts year-round, so he has the scent of wild beasts on him. Maybe I inherited it?”
Does this explanation sound reasonable?
My senior brothers were half-believing and half-doubting, but they didn’t press further.
Gu Chenguang lowered his head and wrote:
—— Fourth encounter with a demon beast~
—— Demon Beast: Ironback Bear (Low-tier).
—— Reaction: Climbed a tree (Panicked).
—— Reason: Unknown.
—— Speculation: Junior Sister has something on her that frightens it.
—— Conclusion: But don’t dare to ask.
Looking at my senior brothers’ expressions of questioning their whole existence, I felt a bit guilty.
In the end, Su Ning stood up: “Forget it, no matter the reason, the outcome is good anyway. Let’s change our strategy.”
Yan Chuan: “What strategy?”
Su Ning: “Instead of mobile hunting, we’ll set up a fixed ambush.”
We found a water source.
According to Gu Chenguang’s observations, this was a place where demon beasts frequently came to drink.
There were many footprints on the ground.
Su Ning directed everyone to start setting up traps.
Yan Chuan dug the pit.
Murong Zhuo sharpened wooden stakes.
Gu Chenguang scattered bait food.
Su Ning made the camouflage.
My job was… cheering them on from the side.
Once the trap was ready, we hid in the nearby trees, waiting for a chance.
After waiting for half an hour.
A demon beast actually showed up.
It was a little fire fox.
Red fur, a flame-like tail, and golden eyes.
It smelled the fragrance of the spiritual beast food and approached cautiously.
Looking left and right.
Sniffing around.
And then~
Thump!
It fell right into the trap.
Squeaking and screeching wildly.
My senior brothers were overjoyed and were about to leap down to catch it.
Suddenly~
A group of people in green robes rushed over and surrounded the trap.
Leading them was a little girl dressed in luxurious magic robes.
She looked to be about seven or eight years old, wearing an exquisite dress with her hair styled in double buns, looking as delicate as carved jade.
Behind her followed seven or eight disciples of the Qingyun Sect, all wearing inner disciple uniforms judging by their attire.
Su Ning’s face changed color as he flew down from the tree: “People from the Qingyun Sect? This is we caught!”
The people from the Qingyun Sect were stunned for a moment.
And then~
A Qingyun Sect disciple sneered: “Oh, it’s just the paupers from the Heavenly Sword Sect.”
Another person chimed in: “Our junior sister clearly saw this first.”
A female cultivator stepped forward, her tone unfriendly: “Trying to steal something from a child?”
Su Ning immediately snapped back: “What do you mean steal? This was caught by us in the first place!”
Yan Chuan jumped down as well: “Exactly! Anyone whose eyes aren’t on their backside can see that this trap was set specifically for demon beasts!”
Murong Zhuo blinked his peach-blossom eyes and gave the female cultivator a charming smile:
“Fair fairy, this is indeed a trap made by us. Look~”
He pointed to the edge of the pit.
Gu Chenguang immediately pulled out a handful of spiritual beast food and scattered it on the ground: “Evidence! This is the lure food we scattered!”
Dazzled and a bit dizzy from Murong Zhuo’s smile, the female cultivator’s tone softened: “This… this…”
The others also exchanged hesitant looks, their confidence clearly faltering.
After all, our evidence was conclusive.
However, the little girl spoke up.
Her voice was sweet, carrying a slight spoiled tone: “Senior brothers, but Haitang really likes this little beast. Can you let Haitang have it?”
She blinked her eyes with an expression that said, “I’m a little cutie, everyone has to dote on me.”
I poked my head out from behind my senior brothers.
“But I really like this little fox too, so I don’t want to give it up.”
My voice was soft and sweet.
Everyone froze.
Clearly, no one expected there to be a little pauper among this group of paupers.
And even less expected that this little pauper would dare refuse their junior sister so directly.
I blinked and continued: “You guys wouldn’t steal something from a child, right?”
The air went dead silent for three seconds.
The little girl named Haitang flushed beet red.
Her senior brothers and sisters were too embarrassed to speak as well.
After all, just moments ago they were making a fuss about “stealing from a child.”
Now the tables had turned.
Shangguan Haitang took out a piece of candy from her pocket.
“I’ll trade a candy with you, okay?”
I looked at the candy in her hand.
Then I pulled out a candy from my own pocket.
Then I pulled out another one.
And another one.
Three in total.
“I’ll use three candies,” I said, “to trade for the magic robes on your body, okay?”
Haitang was stunned.
Her senior brothers and sisters were stunned.
I continued: “Look, you trade one candy for my fox, and I trade three candies for your magic robes. Very fair, right?”
Shangguan Haitang’s face turned completely red: “T-This magic robe represents my senior brothers’ goodwill, I can’t give it to you!”
I nodded: “Well, this little beast was caught for me by my senior brothers, so I can’t give it to you either.”
A perfect logical loop!