No one understands the sorrow of the Daoist apprentice. Hu Yiling looked at Fang Zhou and sneered, "Trying to deceive me and rescue your junior brother? Dream on. Are you very annoyed and heartbroken now?"
As she spoke, she stabbed the Daoist apprentice with her sword again.
Fang Zhou made a strange face, thinking, "If I say I'm not heartbroken or annoyed at all, will you think I'm lying to you again?"
Although Fang Zhou felt that the Daoist apprentice's behavior was bad, he believed the apprentice didn't deserve to die. So he said, "Fox demon, release my junior brother at once, or else this won't end well with you."
Hu Yiling and Hu Yirui burst into laughter; the two fox demons were finally enjoying the pleasure of threatening Fang Zhou. This was precisely why they had kept the Daoist apprentice until now.
Hu Yiling stabbed the young Taoist boy again. "I won't let him go. What can you do about it?"
Fang Zhou warned, "If anything happens to my junior brother, I'll make sure you fox demons are buried with him."
Hu Yiling stabbed the young Taoist boy again. "Oh dear, I'm so scared. Come at me."
Fang Zhou continued to warn, "Do you think I wouldn't dare?"
Hu Yiling stabbed again. "Then come on."
Fang Zhou warned for the third time, "Don't push me!"
Hu Yiling stabbed again, "We're pushing you. What are you going to do?"
Fang Zhou strongly warned, "Just you wait!"
Hu Yiling stabbed again. "We will wait right here. Let's see when you will take action."
Fang Zhou issued his final warning, "I will take action right now."
Hu Yiling stabbed again, "Then do it!"
Throughout this exchange, Fang Zhou and Hu Yiling continued their verbal sparring, with Hu Yiling stabbing the young Taoist boy with each retort.
After repeated stabs, the Daoist apprentice had been turned into a bloody mess, covered in wounds.
"Enough!"
The Daoist apprentice, lying on the ground, weakly yelled, "Just kill me, stop torturing me."
Fang Zhou shouted to him, "Junior brother, don't be afraid. I will rescue you."
The Daoist apprentice looked at Fang Zhou with lifeless eyes, as if begging him not to save him, to just let him be freed from his misery.
Hu Yiling pressed her sword against the Daoist apprentice neck and threatened Fang Zhou, "Surrender, or your junior brother's head will be separated from his body."
"As you wish!"
Fang Zhou suddenly threw an illusion spell at both Hu Yiling and Hu Yirui.
As they were momentarily stunned, Fang Zhou activated a Qi Gathering Technique. Spiritual energy instantly enveloped his body, greatly enhancing his strength and speed.
He took a running start and leapt off a stone in the courtyard, soaring through the air. In an instant, he landed in front of the two fox demons.
He raised his hand, aiming at Hu Yirui, and a bright flame erupted in his palm. It transformed into a ball of fire, slightly larger than a fist, and shot toward Hu Yirui's face.
The fireball exploded as soon as it touched Hu Yirui's face, and a wave of scorching heat rolled out, creating visible ripples in the air.
[Fireball Spell: Releases a fireball, causing explosion and burn damage]
After realizing that regular attacks were ineffective against the two fox demons, Fang Zhou decided to use the Fireball spell.
He had tested the fireball spell in the Wang family, and its power was quite good. However, its range was a bit short, so he had to get close to use it.
Casting the fireball spell needed to consume significant spiritual energy, and it used up much more than an illusion spell. One fireball consumed a quarter of his spiritual energy.
The explosion of flames woke up two demon foxes from their illusion.
Hu Yirui immediately screamed in agony, not only from the explosion's damage but also because the flames ignited her entire body.
Her body emitted a green smoke, revealing her true form, but the flames continued to burn her.
Hu Yirui rolled frantically on the ground, but her fur only fueled the fire further, turning her into a rolling ball of fire.
"Sister!"
Hu Yiling was both startled and furious. She wanted to rush over to the rescue, but Fang Zhou quickly blocked her way.
With anger, Hu Yiling swung her sword at him. Despite the strong force behind her attack, it was completely unstructured. Clearly, this demon fox was no master of swordsmanship.
Fang Zhou dodged Hu Yiling's attack and threw an illusion at her, directing Random Left Hand to strike.
As Hu Yiling swung her sword, she also launched an illusion spell at Fang Zhou.
Both the human and the demon were trapped in illusions. Just as Hu Yiling's sword was about to strike Fang Zhou, she was suddenly sent flying with a loud 'bang', knocked away by Random Left Hand.
Random Left Hand has a reached further than the sword and struck Hu Yiling first.
Hu Yiling was sent flying, the pain snapped her out from the illusion. With this delay, Hu Yirui was burned to a crisp by the flames and no longer breathing.
Hu Yiling glanced at her sister, her eyes filled with hatred as she stared at Fang Zhou. She did not choose to continue attacking but showed her true form, using the wind-controlling spell to escape the yard.
Fang Zhou, relying on his mental resistance, he recovered from the illusion and witnessed Hu Yiling revealing her true form and escaping.
Fang Zhou wanted to chase after her, but Hu Yiling turned back and threw her sword at him.
Fang Zhou quickly controlled Random Left Hand, deflecting the incoming sword. The sword spun and, with a soft sound, pierced the buttocks of the Daoist apprentice who was lying on the ground.
The Daoist apprentice turned around and looked at him with a calm expression.
Fang Zhou walked over and apologized. He pulled out the sword and then pursued in the direction that Hu Yiling had fled.
The Daoist apprentice looked as blood spurted from his wound, his eyes devoid of sorrow or joy.
Hu Yiling flew very quickly, but Fang Zhou, by using Qi Gathering Technique to harness spiritual energy, was not slow either. Moreover, Ling Xiaoyue had endowed his nose with the ability to smell the fox scent from the demon fox, so he was not likely to lose track of it.
[Successfully defeated two demon foxes]
[Reward: Masculinity x4, Blue Card x1]
The notification for the successful completion of the mission finally sounded. With Hu Yiling and Hu Yirui defeated, one dead and one escaped, Fang Zhou had successfully completed the task.
With Hu Yiling being no match for him, Fang Zhou left the reward of 4 points of masculinity untouched, drawing a blue card from his mind as he chased.
The blue card spun quickly, exploding into light, and formed a small bottle.
[Antidote: After consumption, can remove some low-level poisons and provide resistance for thirty minutes]
It wasn't a skill card. Surely, he must have forgotten to chant the spell when drawing the card, a real oversight.
For once, Fang Zhou felt like an African tribal chief. However, the antidote could prove invaluable when poisoned, so he couldn't be too greedy.
A small bottle appeared before Fang Zhou, even smaller than the revelation potion he had drawn before. It was only enough for one dose.
Fang Zhou tucked the bottle away and continued to chase Hu Yiling.
During the chase, the human and the fox traversed more than half of the Hu Mansion and arrived in the rear garden.
Hu Yiling dived into the garden and disappeared from sight. Fang Zhou rushed in after her. Even though he lost sight of her, he still closely followed the trace of her fox scent.
Chasing her deep into the garden, an entrance to a cellar appeared in front of him, with the fox scent emanating from within.
Fang Zhou hesitated for a moment, but stepped in.
It was late at night outside, and the cellar was pitch black. Fortunately, torches were placed at intervals along the walls of the tunnel below.
Fang Zhou took a torch and followed the passage down, descending several staircases deeper underground until the space abruptly widened. It was nearly as large as the Hu family's main hall.
Numerous oil lamps were lit in the cellar. While not overly bright, they provided adequate illumination.
When Fang Zhou finally perceived the situation within the cellar, a profound chill seized him, his limbs growing cold as if his heart was about to stop.