"Something happened to Miss!"
--- "Something happened!"
--- "What's wrong?!"
...
The beasts buzzed out incessantly, their cries lingering in the air.
However, it didn't take long for the entire hall to fall into dead silence again.
The beasts in the hall, who had already transformed into human form, held their breath and lowered their heads, falling silent.
On the golden dragon chair, Hu Mu's eyes flickered slightly as he looked at the fox maid who rolled in from the door, lying on her paws with her chin pressed tightly to the ground, not daring to say a word.
Xu Chi and the dozens of Ghost Spirit Sect disciples he brought with him felt their eyelids twitching wildly, and a bad premonition arose in their hearts.
Although Xu Chi didn't know who the 'Young Miss' was, he could feel the anger emanating from the Demon King.
Boom---
A bolt of lightning struck in front of the hall, and everyone in the square turned pale.
Hu Mu closed his eyes, sat upright with his hands on the armrests of the chair, and asked with trembling lips, "Little Qiao... what happened to her?"
The fox maid lying on the ground looked up and was so distraught that she could not speak clearly. As if using all her strength to speak, the fox voice and the human words mixed together. "My lord, just now, I was playing hide-and-seek with my young miss in the city, but suddenly, a poisonous insect cultivator appeared and caught my young miss, and... and..."
A poisonous insect cultivator...
All the demonic beasts present instantly caught this keyword and glared angrily at Xu Chi, who was emitting a strong poisonous aura.
"Hiss--"
Xu Chi subconsciously wanted to argue his innocence. He definitely didn't catch any 'Little Qiao', nor did he ask his subordinates to do it. However, as soon as he opened his mouth, he immediately closed it back.
This matter, the more he explained, the more confusing it would become. No matter what, the Demon King was a fox demon in the middle Void Returning stage, so he shouldn't be rash...
Hu Mu took a deep breath, glanced at Xu Chi, and demanded. "Continue."
The fox maid gasped several times before weakly replying, "That person claimed that his master was Elder Xu of the Ghost Spirit Sect's Summoning Hall , and said that..."
"What?!"
Although Xu Chi knew that he should keep silent now, when he heard this, he was too frightened and couldn't help but interrupt, "What?!... Your Excellency, I never..."
"Roar--!!"
A vicious roar came from the black fur tail behind Hu Mu and instantly, Xu Chi's face was blown out of shape by the sound waves.
Hu Mu gritted his teeth slightly, took a deep breath, and looked back at the fox maid. "Continue..."
"That person said that he was taking Young Miss as a hostage and wants you to cede the three cities of Eastern Great Wall to the Ghost Spirit Sect and hand over the Nine Dragons Heavenly Seal . Otherwise..."
"...Otherwise?"
"Otherwise... he will skin the Young Miss and make her a scarf for you..."
Roaaar--!!!
An ethereal fox head appeared from behind Hu Mu, but it did not have the attractive and charming expression of a fox. Instead, it showed a wrinkled snout and glaring eyes like a hungry wolf.
In an instant, Hu Mu moved up from his golden dragon throne and appeared in front of the fox maid who was prostrated in the hall.
Seeing the gold-patterned black boots in front of her, the fox maid was drenched in cold sweat. She closed her eyes and slowly lifted her furry tail to take out a broken jar and several insect remains from the inside.
"My lord, this is what that person used..."
Hu Mu lifted his finger slightly and brought the broken jar in his hand. At a glance, he recognized that it should be a vessel produced in the Eastern Region by the carving and forging process, and its grade was quite high, enough for a Nascent Soul or even a Deification cultivator to refine high-grade toxic parasites.
With all the witnesses and evidence, what else was there to say...
Hu Mu gritted his teeth and looked up at Xu Chi in front of the hall.
Last time, the young man who had that old woman's protection had told him that his former cultivation partner, Hu Yulan, had died at the hands of the Heavenly Demon Sect leader.
The best friend of his cultivation partner, a human immortal cultivator named "Bai Yurou", also died of serious injuries not long after escaping from the Eastern Region .
And now, Xue Tianqiao, who looked extremely similar to his cultivation partner in appearance and personality, and whom he even believed to be the reincarnation of Hu Yulan, had also been captured by demonic cultivators right under his nose.
It wasn't the first time Hu Mu felt helpless, but it was the most helpless he had felt in a thousand years.
He was a Void Returning stage demonic beast and had the highest cultivation level in the Demon Clan in the past two thousand years. He had all kinds of magical powers, but he couldn't even protect a little disciple.
"Hiss-- ah... hiss-- ah..."
Veins bulged on Hu Mu's neck and spread to his forehead, and his chest and abdomen also expanded and contracted greatly with his heavy breathing.
The majestic spiritual energy gushed out from its furry tail, and in an instant, a giant fox head with a ferocious look condensed in the sky above Heavenly Gate City .
The demonic beasts in the city, whether they were drinking, chatting, or strolling around, stopped what they were doing. They all came outside and returned to their original forms, kowtowing and prostrating on the ground.
All kinds of beast cries came from all over Heavenly Gate City . Even the low-level demonic beasts in the forest that had not yet developed intelligence, all turned and bowed toward the city.
Outside the hall, Xu Chi realized at this time that he might not be able to go back.
Even if he really didn't know anything about Miss Qiao's kidnapping, how could he prove his innocence now?
And even if he could prove it, would the Demon King listen to him?
Xu Chi swallowed his saliva and had no choice but to fight to the death. He mustered his courage and stood up.
"Demon King, although this matter was not my sect leader's intention, I'm taking responsibility. If you still care about your Young Miss' safety..."
Whoosh---
Before he finished speaking, Xu Chi felt his stomach suddenly empty, and the ground in his eyes quickly rose several feet.
He didn't even see clearly what happened. When he came to his senses, he saw that the lower half of his body had disappeared, but Hu Mu was still standing there without moving, just staring at him with eyes full of rage.
The smell of blood wafted out along with his intestines before slowly reaching the toes of the Ghost Spirit Sect disciples who were still carrying jade boxes.
The calmness and composure of the dozens of Ghost Spirit Sect Core Formation stage disciples instantly collapsed. Their legs trembled, and the golden jade boxes on their shoulders suddenly fell to the ground, making countless precious treasures, pills, and herbal elixirs scatter everywhere.
Xu Chi's face gradually turned pale, but he could only go on. "Demon King, if I don't return safely... Your Young Miss..."
In the blink of an eye, Hu Mu's face was in front of Xu Chi as he roared. "Where is she?!"
"Demon King, I..."
Xu Chi gnashed his teeth. He felt that the Demon King would most likely make him beg for death. The punishment in the Demon Clan was comparable to and even worse than that of demonic cultivators. He immediately activated the toxic parasites in his body and let them eat his Nascent Soul and golden core respectively.
Hiss---
Disgusting insect chittering came from his body, and in just two breaths, Xu Chi's remaining upper body turned into a pile of rotten meat. Not long after, his compound eyes exploded.
Blood splattered toward Hu Mu, but it was blocked by an invisible spiritual energy shield.
Seeing that he passed on, Hu Mu raised his head and roared to the sky. "Aaaarrgghh---!!!"
The next moment, the tiger-headed demons outside the main plaza swarmed in and rushed toward the Core Formation disciples of the Ghost Spirit Sect who were standing there dumbfounded. With their tiger claws and sharp teeth, they began to feast.
The Ghost Spirit Sect disciples' wails and howls resounded throughout the entire hall.
Hu Mu only glanced at them before turning and walking back to the hall. Several roc demons immediately knelt down in front of him.
"Chiji! Chijiji--!"
It meant that they requested to attack in the east and lead the demonic beasts to take down the Ghost Spirit Sect of the Eastern Region .
But the fox demons dressed in robes from the side, all looked embarrassed. His Majesty was angry now, but they all knew that the beasts had no real power to provoke a war with human cultivators.
Although there were a lot of demonic beasts, most of them were middle-to-low-level, with low intelligence. There were only a few like Hu Mu and themselves. This was also the reason why the territory occupied by the Demon Clan became smaller and smaller after dragons were destroyed by humans thousands of years ago.
Perhaps seeing the troubled faces of the fox demons, Hu Mu suppressed his anger a little.
Just for Xue Tianqiao, the entire Demon Clan was put into a situation with no return. This was not the way of a wise ruler. When the Immortal Holy Emperor shared his wisdom, he taught him the so-called immortal rulers' ways.
But the Demon Clan was called demonic because of its beastly nature, and those human demonic cultivators touched his fox fur again and again...
Hu Mu ignored the roc demons who came forward to petition him as he walked back and sat on the golden dragon throne, looking at the shivering fox lying on the carpet. "Go find her."
"...Yes, my lord."
She replied softly, then turned around and stepped on the bloodstains in front of the hall with her four paws, leaving behind a series of blood-red pawprints that headed out of the palace...
...
Rumble---
Dark clouds gathered in the night sky. After a muffled thunder, raindrops fell on the mountains within a hundred miles of Heavenly Gate City .
A hare, hiding from the rain, accidentally found a small cave to shelter. However, as soon as it entered, it seemed to be frightened by something. It turned around and rushed back, disappearing into the forest.
Ye Anping walked out from the shadows of the cave, pulled off the hood on his head, and then lifted Xue Tianqiao in front of his eyes.
In the game, she was a small fox, but her current size was as if she had not been weaned yet; her body was as long as his arm.
Xue Tianqiao did not resist or make a fuss. Instead, after entering the secret passage, her eyes sparkled, looking left and right as if she had found something fun.
The man and the fox looked at each other, and Xue Tianqiao blinked. "Yip-yip..."
As he brought her out of the secret passage, Ye Anping did not let her speak. After thinking for a moment, he decided to listen and untied the binding rope around her snout. "What do you want to say?"
Xue Tianqiao blinked and innocently said, "Brother Liang is so cool! Even I was fascinated just now."
Ye Anping was speechless, "..."
"In a matter of seconds, you dealt with the guards that Master had arranged for me and brought me out unscathed. Master must be very angry~"
Ye Anping already regretted untying the binding on her mouth. He raised his sword finger and quickly tied it back.
"Yip yip~~~"
"Shut up."
"Yip yip..."
Ye Anping ignored her. He just needed to take good care of her. When the matter was over, he would return her to the Demon King. He looked up at the Spirit Fox's head in the sky above Heavenly Gate City and let out a faint sigh.
Then, he threw Xue Tianqiao into his collar and let her hold on to him, put on a bamboo hat from his storage bag, and walked out of the cave, disappearing into the rain.