The cave was riddled with countless narrow passages crisscrossing one another. Many beautiful serpent women, dressed in splendid gowns, glided gracefully through the corridors, their long tails sweeping behind them. Each carried a tray, bustling from place to place and serving others just like maids in the mortal world.
The passages led in different directions. Luminous pearls were set into the mountain walls to illuminate them, and the deeper one traveled, the brighter their light became, until the way was almost as bright as daylight.
Powerful auras lingered at the ends of many passages. Their owners were all sixth-rank demon beasts or higher, and the strongest among them was a seventh-rank demon beast!
Xu Ziqing did not know how the demon-beast gathering divided its territory, but he thought, With only a single seventh-rank beast, this place is already terrifying. What must an eighth-rank beast be like, to claim a mountain as king?
As he pondered this, his eye fell upon a particular stone passage.
It was precisely the passage Hu Xue’er was pointing toward.
Xu Ziqing took Yun Lie by the hand and walked into it with him.
The passage was narrow, but at first it could still accommodate several people. The farther they advanced, however, the narrower it became, until only one person could pass at a time. Worse, this single-file path was a stone bridge suspended in midair. Looking down from it revealed a bottomless abyss, where no one knew what might be kept. A ferocious aura surged upward amid repeated bestial roars.
Xu Ziqing hesitated.
If he were alone, the Wood-Escape Aura-Concealment Art would allow him to employ a spell and skim across. With so much Wood qi surrounding him, the concealment would remain seamless. But traveling with his senior brother was another matter. To mask Yun Lie’s sword qi, he was already expending substantial true essence. He could walk freely, but there was absolutely no way he could cast another spell without leaving traces.
What… what should he do?
After coming this far without mishap, it would be a shame to give up and turn back now.
Moreover, Xu Ziqing had a vague feeling that whatever lay ahead might prove extremely useful to him.
As he was still considering the matter, Yun Lie said, “Climb on.”
Xu Ziqing froze, then saw his senior brother bend forward slightly, presenting his back. He immediately remembered that in the Heavenly Demon Cavern, Yun Lie had made exactly the same gesture, intending to carry him.
How alike the two situations were.
Something stirred in his heart. No longer so helpless, Xu Ziqing calmly and openly let go of his senior brother’s hand, then sprang lightly upward and placed his hands on Yun Lie’s shoulders.
His movements were exceptionally light, so their concealed state remained undisturbed and attracted no notice from the cave’s demon beasts. Yun Lie immediately supported both his thighs, and the two coordinated perfectly.
Yun Lie then activated his footwork, stepped swiftly onto the bridge, and traveled along it like the wind. In a flash, he had crossed its considerable length.
Xu Ziqing returned to the ground, took his hand again, and resumed their earlier arrangement.
On the far side of the bridge, the stone passage widened. After only a few steps it had grown more than ten times broader.
Guided by Hu Xue’er, they passed through several inner caverns, carefully avoiding the maidservants and evading a few minor commanders who appeared to be on their way to report matters deep inside. They slipped sideways into an adjoining stone grotto.
The guards there were even stricter, with three layers of demon beasts stationed before and behind. The strongest was a sixth-rank giant bear. Holding a jar of honey wine, it leaned against the stone door, belching and looking thoroughly good-natured.
But Xu Ziqing was not deceived by its appearance. The bear’s blood qi was so dense that it seemed ready to erupt from its body. The number of humans it had eaten was probably beyond counting!
He held his breath and hid with Yun Lie behind a nearby stone pillar.
Then Xu Ziqing sent a spiritual transmission. “Senior Brother, what should we do now?”
Yun Lie answered, “Wait.”
Xu Ziqing’s mind settled. “Yes, Senior Brother.”
Having reached this place, Hu Xue’er grew excited upon his shoulder. Although she dared not make a sound, she could not stop kicking her four short legs, seemingly unable to wait another moment.
Xu Ziqing sensed that the place she had been longing to reach lay just beyond that stone door.
But they could not alert the enemy now. He brushed her with his spiritual sense and quieted her down.
Then they waited.
Waiting for an opportunity in this gathering of demon beasts was a genuine test of willpower. Xu Ziqing smiled bitterly to himself, gradually emptied his mind, and endured as patiently as he could.
Perhaps because his senior brother was beside him, the ordeal was not nearly as difficult as he had expected. He had thought he would have to grit his teeth through it, yet before he realized it, half a shichen had passed.
At that moment, an alluring beauty approached slowly along a nearby stone passage, her waist swaying with every step.
Her face was fair as jade, her cheeks delicate as peach blossoms, and her skin and bones seemed lustrous and flawless. Her eyes were as tender as flowing water, and she possessed an effortless natural allure.
The giant bear rolled to its feet and transformed into a towering, bear-headed man. His muscles bulged, and his massive frame resembled an iron pagoda.
He slapped his forehead, then sidled toward her with an ingratiating smile. “Madam Ji Xiao, you’re early today?”
The beauty covered her mouth and laughed, handing him the basket she carried. “I haven’t forgotten General Bear’s honey wine. Here, it’s yours.”
General Bear laughed heartily and snatched up the basket. His eyes had already taken on a lustful gleam as he looked at Madam Ji Xiao, but something restrained him, and he did not dare behave improperly.
Madam Ji Xiao tapped his forehead with a jade-white finger and scolded playfully, “Aren’t you going to let me in? If the king arrives before I’ve finished my work, I’ll be in terrible trouble!”
General Bear grumbled indignantly. “He’s nothing but a lowly paramour who betrayed the king, yet the king still keeps him! I, Old Bear, really can’t accept it!”
Madam Ji Xiao’s beautiful face turned pale with fright. “You mustn’t say that! If the king hears you…”
General Bear still looked resentful, but fear flashed through his eyes too, and he immediately shut his mouth.
He stepped aside, opened the stone door, and left a gap for her to pass through.
Xu Ziqing’s eyes brightened. “Senior Brother!”
Even as he spoke, he and Yun Lie moved together, gliding toward the door. While the bear-headed guard held it open for Madam Ji Xiao, they slipped silently in behind her.
No one discovered them.
But scarcely had they entered when the stone door slammed shut behind them.
Xu Ziqing released a small breath. That was close.
He glanced around. Shackles and restraints were everywhere. The place resembled a stone prison.
Could prisoners be kept here?
But if so, it was strange that such an enormous place had no guards inside.
Yun Lie also swept his gaze around and sent a transmission. “Follow her.”
Xu Ziqing nodded and gave the matter no further thought.
A dark corridor lay ahead. Madam Ji Xiao walked straight into it, the seductive smile fading from her face.
The two followed closely. Doors on either side of the dark passage were all tightly shut. From behind some came faint rattling chains. Judging by the sounds within, the occupants did not seem human, but more like wild beasts, growling weakly and without strength.
Madam Ji Xiao kept her eyes straight ahead and moved quickly. At the end of the passage, she pushed open a wooden door and slipped inside.
Xu Ziqing and Yun Lie did not fall behind.
Only upon entering that room did their eyes encounter a dazzling sight.
The chamber was originally just another stone room, two or three times the size of an ordinary one, but it had been furnished with exquisite luxury. All manner of beautiful objects were present, with a soft bed and quilts, feathered robes and rainbow-colored garments, and fine pelts carpeting the floor. It was more opulent than some of the richest mortal households, yet for all its splendor it did not seem vulgar, giving the place a distinctly unusual elegance.
But Xu Ziqing’s gaze did not linger on these beautiful objects.
However lovely this place might be, it was still, in the end, a prison.
At its far end stood a stone frame crossed with dark chains. The chains bound the four limbs of a person so tightly that he could not move at all.
He wore a loose black robe that hung emptily about his body. His skin was white as snow, and long hair black as raven feathers cascaded down, making his appearance all the more striking.
Xu Ziqing had lived for many years across two lives and seen countless beautiful people, but none could compare with the man before him. It was not that his features were surpassingly perfect, but that seductive charm was ingrained in his very bones. However cold his expression, he still exuded an allure that no one else possessed.
At the mere sight of him, a person’s blood might race, making them long to rush over and hold him tightly, as if to crush him into their very bones.
Xu Ziqing was momentarily dazed, then immediately composed himself and gripped his senior brother’s hand more firmly.
He could not help glancing at Yun Lie, wondering what his senior brother thought… of this man.
Yun Lie’s seven emotions remained unmoved. He looked at the man as if looking at a dead object.
Before Xu Ziqing could rejoice over his senior brother’s steadfastness, he paused in confusion. “Senior Brother, what is it?”
Yun Lie sent a reply. “Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox. A scourge upon the world.”
Xu Ziqing’s eyes widened slightly. “A Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox can be male?”
Yun Lie nodded faintly. “The males are even more dangerous than the females.”
A female Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox possessed human form from birth even when her cultivation was weak. Such foxes often seduced monarchs in mortal royal courts, overturned governments, and stole dragon qi.
But a male of the species… Not only was his bearing even more captivating, he was born with extraordinary intelligence and talent scarcely inferior to a Heavenly Fox. If he regularly practiced essence-harvesting cultivation, he might even become a terrifying, heaven-shaking great devil.
At that point, his influence would no longer be confined to mortal affairs. Even cultivators could become utterly infatuated with him.
Xu Ziqing was even more astonished. He could not help looking toward Madam Ji Xiao.
If the Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox was so formidable, why had he been imprisoned here? And what had Madam Ji Xiao come to do?
Hu Xue’er, perched upon his shoulder, had begun scraping restlessly with her paws, as though she could barely restrain herself. This made him increasingly certain that the Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox had some connection with her.
While Xu Ziqing entertained various speculations, the Ninefold Profound Alluring Fox spoke. “So it’s you, that chicken, again.”
His voice was extraordinarily pleasant. There seemed to be nothing unusual about it, yet when it entered the ear, it seemed to enter the heart at the same time, gently teasing it until one felt an itch from the inside out.
After that itch came a growing warmth throughout the body.
Xu Ziqing had seen many practitioners of seduction arts, and had even fallen victim to such techniques. He had also experienced the art employed by a Mahayana venerable of the Pure Maiden faction at Ruyi Immortal Manor. Yet no person or technique he had ever encountered could match the temptation contained in these few words.
The next moment Madam Ji Xiao replied, “Fox King, there’s no need to provoke me. Precisely because my beast form is what it is, I possess somewhat greater resistance than others.” A trace of mockery entered her voice. “Otherwise, would I end up like Madam Hu Mei… whose corpse was never even found?”