Captain Liang snapped out of her memories. Unable to suppress her tears, they fell from her eyes, dripping down her cheeks like water from a summer sun-shower.
"Master…" Captain Liang pleaded with Zhu Zhang, an attempt at confrontation, but he paid her no heed. She went to him as he stood from his seat, grasping his wrist desperately. If he would stand by her side, she would easily resolve this incident.
"We must apprehend Li Meirong! She is definitely a demonic cultivator, who knows how many innocents have died by her hands?! For her to cultivate this fast, she must have sacrificed countless humans to advance! We—"
She didn't get the chance to finish her sentence before her master flung her hand away in obvious disgust.
"Do not touch me again," Zhu Zhang murmured dangerously. Even when scolding Liang Rou Yan, he did not once look her way.
Feeling wronged, Liang Rou Yan vented her anger at the closest available target: Li Meirong.
She bit at her lips in frustration, and pointed accusingly at the girl.
"You've plotted this entire time to kill your seniors so you could use their blood for forbidden cultivation! Why else would you hide your powers until now? Am I wrong?!"
Li Meirong was too exhausted to speak to the lunatic, and just shook her head tiredly. For all she cared, No-Eyebrows could continue her accusations.
Since no one believed Li Meirong anyway. What was the point of arguing?
Li Meirong was safe inside her shield, and that was what mattered. She had to wait, and find the opportune moment to escape. She tried to ignore her fear and instead focused her qi on the shield, forcing herself to remain calm under the heavy opposition.
The surrounding disciples backed away as Grandmaster Zhu Zhang's suffocating aura rose. They became doubtful upon seeing their leading Grandmaster stop the assault, and that Li Meirong was unwilling to change her stance.
Li Meirong glanced sideways, and went slightly bug-eyed as she caught sight of Snowball, trampling over the heads of several unconscious disciples as he made his way to her.
What was he doing here?! Was he the one who made the ceiling collapse? The little fool had jumped straight into danger, and now she had to escape with him, too!
Seeing Snowball running towards her, Li Meirong made a small opening in her shield for him to squeeze through. But against all expectations, the fox changed course, and dashed straight towards Captain Liang.
"Argh!" The shrill, tormented scream from Captain Liang echoed throughout the suddenly-silent hall.
Snowball toppled Captain Liang to the ground, viciously swiping his claws at her face.
Unable to make sense of it, Li Meirong just stood there, completely stupefied.
The little fox cub had tackled Captain Liang directly, jumping on top of her, and had scratched her forehead to chin. It was so unexpected that the rest of the audience stood there and stared, speechless, too dumbstruck to move.
Captain Liang gripped the fox around the belly, trying to shove him off, but the cub was completely immovable. He seemed determined to rip her face off!
"Get this thing off me!" Liang Rou Yan cried out. Several disciples in good relations with the captain snapped out of their daze, and rushed to assist their struggling comrade.
Zhu Zhang instantly erected a barrier around Captain Liang and his son, preventing others from approaching.
"Everybody, stand back. Only I shall approach." Nobody dared challenge Grandmaster Zhu Zhang, and so the attending cultivators headed back to their seats. They would be spectators only as the new drama unfolded.
By the time Zhu Zhang reached the screeching captain, her face became a raw, bloody mess.
"Let go, let go! Let go of me!" she cried, but the fox was unrelenting. For some reason, she was entirely unable to summon her internal power to fight against him.
Liang Rou Yan's body felt heavy, subdued, as if she was being controlled by someone…
She could not understand what exactly happened. The only one capable of incapacitating a cultivator on this continent was her master, and he would never do such a thing to her! Without her cultivation, she was made useless, helpless.
As the fox's claws connected with her maimed flesh once again, Liang Rou Yan fainted.
Zhu Zhang reached them, and prepared to grab Bai Qingyue to stop him from clawing Liang Rou Yan's eyes out, but before he could, an artfully-crafted flame arrow was shot at him.
He skillfully stepped away from the danger, and the arrow merely grazed his arm instead of causing harm. He did not gain even a scratch due to his immortal physique, but the attack was entirely unexpected.
Turning towards the source, Zhu Zhang saw Li Meirong aiming a dozen brilliantly-flaming arrows at him. Her brows were furrowed into a frown, and her eyes were venomous as she locked gazes with him.
"Don't you dare take even one step further," Li Meirong warned him.
He would have laughed aloud if he did not have an image to maintain. This little girl was certainly plucky!
'The little human girl suddenly turned to feisty,' thought Zhu Zhang, raising an appreciative eyebrow. Observing this new, brave side of Li Meirong made him think better of her.
Unbeknownst to the Bestiary Grandmaster, there was another in the hall even more engrossed with the girl. Ignoring the old coot at his side, Bai Qingyue ceased his assault on the comatose woman beneath his claws, and prepared his crocodile tears for Li Meirong.
He avoided the Grandmaster, and let loose his fake weeping as he sprinted to Li Meirong's side.
"Snowball is scared!" he wailed, sniffling. "That big baddie almost killed me…"
Li Meirong nervously picked up her pitiful Snowball and hugged him tightly, dropping her shields with her lack of concentration. The flame arrows dissipated into thin air.
"Silly Snowball," she scolded gently. "I told you to stay outside, didn't I? Are you alright?"
Li Meirong began inspecting him, from the tips of his ears to the pads of his paws and everything in between.
Finally, she asked again, "Did you get hurt?"
Bai Qingyue relished the attention, and miserably lifted a trembling paw for her to inspect as he sniffled.
"I-I broke my claw…"
"Oh, my poor baby…" Li Meirong squeezed the delighted Bai Qingyue against her warm, soft chest as she patted his back gently.
"It's so painful, ah." He continued his weeping, rubbing his muzzle against the pleasant softness of her bosom.
The disciples in the hall were all speechless.
Who was this king of acting? Wasn't he the one who disfigured poor Captain Liang just moments ago?!
The person more shocked than anyone else was none other than Zhu Zhang. He was uncertain as to how many more surprises he would get that day. He could not even manage to close his slackened jaw as he watched his offspring's inconceivably shameless actions.
Naturally, he would know whether or not his son was actually harmed, of course. Zhu Zhang had made certain to render useless everyone who dared approach the boy, and had crippled Liang Rou Yan's meridians when his child had attacked her.
However, was this shameless fox truly his son?!