The sorrow of the little novice monk was understood by no one. Hu Yiling looked towards Fang Zhou, scoffed, and said: "Trying to trick me into rescuing your junior? Wishful thinking! Are you feeling frustrated and heartbroken now?"
As she spoke, she thrust her sword at the little novice monk again.
Fang Zhou wore a puzzled expression, "If I say I'm not heartbroken or frustrated at all, would you think I'm deceiving you again?"
Fang Zhou thought that although the little novice monk's conduct was poor, the crime did not warrant death, so he said, "Demon fox, let go of my junior now, or this won't end with you!"
Hu Yiling and Hu Yirui burst into laughter. The two demon foxes finally enjoyed the pleasure of threatening Fang Zhou. That was precisely why they had captured the little novice monk and kept him until now.
Hu Yiling thrust her sword at the little novice monk again: "I won't let go, what can you do about it?"
Fang Zhou warned: "If anything happens to my junior, I'll make sure you demon foxes are buried along with him."
Hu Yiling thrust her sword once more at the little novice monk: "Oh my, I'm so scared, come at me."
Fang Zhou continued to warn: "You think I wouldn't dare?"
Hu Yiling thrust her sword again: "Then show me."
Fang Zhou warned for the third time: "Don't push me!"
Hu Yiling thrust her sword again: "We are pushing you, what about it?"
Fang Zhou strongly warned: "Just you wait!"
Hu Yiling thrust her sword once more: "We are right here waiting, let's see when you make a move."
Fang Zhou finally warned: "I will make a move right now."
Hu Yiling thrust her sword once more: "Then do it!"
Fang Zhou and Hu Yiling kept verbally sparring, with Hu Yiling stabbing the little novice monk with her sword with each remark.
Stab after stab, the little novice monk had become a bloodied figure, his body riddled with holes.
"Enough!"
Lying on the ground, the little novice monk uttered weakly: "Just kill me, stop tormenting me."
Fang Zhou yelled to him: "Junior, don't be afraid, I'll rescue you right now."
The little novice monk looked at Fang Zhou with uninterested eyes, pleading silently not to be rescued, to just let him be released from suffering.
Hu Yiling pressed the sword against the little novice monk's neck and threatened Fang Zhou: "Surrender, or I'll make your junior lose his head."
"As you wish!"
Fang Zhou suddenly threw an Illusion Technique at both Hu Yiling and Hu Yirui.
As they were caught in a moment of stupor, Fang Zhou circulated the Qi Gathering Technique. Spiritual Energy instantly enveloped his entire body, greatly enhancing his strength and speed.
He sprinted forward, using the courtyard stone to leverage a jump, traversing thirty feet in the air, landing right in front of the two demon foxes.
He raised his hand towards Hu Yirui, a bright light blooming in his palm, forming into a fireball slightly bigger than a fist, shooting straight at Hu Yirui's face.
The fireball exploded upon touching Hu Yirui's face, a wave of scorching air rolling out, creating ripples visible to the naked eye in the air.
[Fireball Technique: Releases a fireball, causing explosion and scorch damage]
After realizing that regular attacks were not effective against the two demon foxes, Fang Zhou decided to use the Fireball Technique.
However, he had tested the Fireball Technique at the Wang Family, and while powerful, it had a fairly short range which required him to close in.
Moreover, unleashing the Fireball Technique also consumed spiritual power, much more than the Illusion Technique, using up a quarter of his spiritual power with each fireball.
The explosion awakened the two demon foxes from the illusion.
Hu Yirui instantly screamed, not only from the explosion's damage, but the flames also engulfed her entirely.
She emitted a wisp of blue smoke from her body, revealing her true form, but the flames continued to scorch her body.
Hu Yirui kept rolling on the ground, but her fox fur only fueled the flames, turning her into a rolling fireball.
"Sister!"
Hu Yiling, both shocked and angered, wanted to rush over to rescue her, but Fang Zhou quickly blocked her way.
Hu Yiling, furious, swung her sword vigorously, though without any technique, clearly showing that this demon fox had no knowledge of swordsmanship.
Fang Zhou stepped back to dodge Hu Yiling's attack while tossing an Illusion Technique at her, controlling Hu Lai's left hand to swing forward.
As Hu Yiling swung her sword, she also cast an Illusion Technique at Fang Zhou.
Both person and demon were trapped in the illusion; just as Hu Yiling's sword was about to strike Fang Zhou, she was suddenly thrown back by an unseen left hand with a loud bang.
Hu Lai's left hand, longer than the sword, struck Hu Yiling first.
When Hu Yiling was knocked back, the pain snapped her out of the illusion. By this delay, Hu Yirui had been charred by the flames, lifeless.
Hu Yiling glanced at her sister, then stared daggers at Fang Zhou with eyes filled with hatred, but ultimately chose not to continue attacking and instead revealed her true form, using the Wind Control Technique to escape the yard.
With his spiritual resistance, Fang Zhou recovered from the illusion and saw Hu Yiling reveal her true form and flee.
Fang Zhou wanted to chase after her, but Hu Yiling turned and threw her longsword.
Fang Zhou quickly controlled Hu Lai's left hand to swat away the incoming sword, which spun and pierced into the buttocks of a young Taoist boy lying on the ground.
The young Taoist boy looked back calmly.
Fang Zhou apologised as he walked over, pulled out the sword, and then chased in the direction Hu Yiling had fled.
The young Taoist boy watched as blood spurted from his wound, his eyes showing neither sadness nor joy.
Hu Yiling flew quickly, but Fang Zhou was not slow either, using the Qi Gathering Technique to enhance his speed with Spiritual Energy, and thanks to Ling Xiaoyue making his nose sensitive, he could smell the foul scent of the demon fox, ensuring she wouldn't lose him.
[Successfully defeated two demon foxes]
[Reward: Manliness*4, Blue Card*1]
The prompt for a successful mission finally sounded, with Hu Yiling dead and Hu Yirui fleeing, considered a defeat, Fang Zhou successfully completed the mission.
The remaining Hu Yiling was no match for him, so Fang Zhou left the reward of 4 Manliness points untouched, continuing the chase while drawing the blue card from his mind.
The blue card spun rapidly before bursting into light, converging into a small bottle.
[Detoxification Potion: After ingestion, can remove some low-level toxins and provide resistance against toxins for thirty minutes]
It wasn't a Skill Card, certainly because he forgot to chant the Spell during the draw, a real oversight.
Fang Zhou finally had a chance to be an African Chief, but the Detoxification Potion had a significant role during poisoning, couldn't be too greedy.
A small bottle appeared before Fang Zhou, smaller than the last Visibility Potion he drew, probably just a single dose.
Fang Zhou secured the bottle and continued chasing Hu Yiling.
During the chase, the two, one human and one fox, ran through most of the Hu Family residence and into the backyard garden.
Hu Yiling dived into the garden and disappeared; Fang Zhou followed closely, though he lost sight of her, he relied on her lingering foul scent to keep up the pursuit.
Chasing deep into the garden, an entrance to a cellar appeared, the stench of fox emanating from within.
Fang Zhou hesitated, then stepped inside.
Outside it was deep night, and inside the cellar was pitch black, thankfully the corridor walls had torches inserted at intervals.
Fang Zhou took a torch and followed the corridor down, descending several steps into a surprisingly large underground space, nearly as big as the Hu Family's main hall.
The cellar was lit with several oil lamps, not very bright but enough for illumination.
As Fang Zhou observed the scene inside the cellar, a deep chill overcame him, making his limbs ice-cold, almost stopping his heartbeat.