Chapter 130 Slaying the Fox in the Wilderness

The night was as dark as ink as Chen Mu hurried through the streets with Qi Huan, whose breathing had yet to steady.

In the battle at the courtyard just now, although they had slain two foxes and heavily wounded one, the Red Fox had escaped using a strange escape art, and they had failed to find the official seal, leaving a sense of frustration pent up in his heart.

The fluctuation of Demonic Qi triggered when the Red Fox fled, though fleeting, had been keenly captured by him in a lingering trace.

It seemed not to have fled in a straight line but had twisted westward, finally disappearing into a desolate ridge about three miles outside the town, where its aura suddenly weakened, as if covered by something.

"The fox demon is severely injured, and its escape art was cast in haste; the residual Demonic Qi points to the west."

"She cannot escape."

Chen Mu spoke, his voice clearly audible.

Qi Huan followed closely behind, panting slightly.

"You want to pursue? That fox is cunning; it might be a trap to lure the enemy."

Chen Mu pondered for a moment before finally making up his mind.

"Whether it is a trap or not, we will only know after we see."

"Xu Changze set up this trap, and the fox demon is a key link. If we kill it, we can cut off one of his claws, and perhaps we can even extract other information. If we don't kill it, leaving it alive will eventually be a disaster."

More importantly, the Lifespan gained from slaying those two fox demons confirmed to him that these monsters that had successfully managed to Cultivate were an important source for him to rapidly accumulate and plunder Lifespan.

And that Red Fox was undoubtedly of a higher cultivation Realm, so he absolutely could not let it go.

Qi Huan struggled to catch his breath, his chest aching again, but he gritted his teeth and said.

"Let's go together. I want to see what other tricks these monsters and demons can pull."

Chen Mu glanced at him indifferently, not dissuading him, only instructing.

"Follow closely. If the situation goes wrong, flee immediately."

Having said that, he said no more, and the two figures once again merged into the night, rushing toward the desolate ridge to the west.

The desolate ridge was located between Qinglin Town and the official road. It was rugged with strange rocks, rarely visited even during the day, and even more desolate and eerie at night.

Chen Mu pushed his perception to the limit, quickly sweeping across the area ahead, and soon captured a trace of Demonic Qi fluctuation under a large, sheltered rock.

Clearly, the fox demon was trying its best to restrain its aura, but due to its severe injuries, it was leaking a little.

Chen Mu made a gesture, and he and Qi Huan flanked it from both sides.

Under the rock was a narrow crevice covered by weeds, only wide enough for one person to pass through sideways. The cave inside was pitch black and bottomless, and the Demonic Qi was coming from that crevice.

The two did not rashly enter; Qi Huan struggled to flick a condensed Protective Aura into it.

"Ah!"

A sharp fox cry suddenly exploded, and immediately after, a cloud of pink toxic mist gushed out from the crevice.

At the same time, a crimson shadow darted out like lightning. It did not attack Qi Huan or Chen Mu but fled desperately in another direction; it was the injured Red Fox.

Its size had shrunk significantly, now only about the size of an ordinary wild dog, but its speed was still astonishingly fast.

"Still want to escape?!"

Qi Huan roared, and although hindered by his injuries, he struck out with the Five Cloud Hands from a distance, blocking the area in front of the Red Fox.

The Red Fox let out a shrill cry, its body twisting in a strange way, and it actually forced a change in direction in mid-air, avoiding most of the palm force. It was only grazed by the edge of the Qi force, tumbled down, struggled to stand up again, and became even more lethargic.

A fierce light flashed in the Red Fox's eyes, as if it wanted to make a final struggle, but Chen Mu's soul-slaying blade had already touched the center of its brow, instantly dissolving the last bit of Demonic Qi it had gathered.

"Spare... spare my life!"

The Red Fox, in its panic, actually spoke in human language with a sharp voice, then clasped its front paws together in a gesture of bowing and begging for mercy.

"Hero Chen, please spare me! This little demon knows it was wrong and will never dare to do it again!"

Chen Mu slightly raised the blade, his expression unchanged.

"What was Xu Changze's intention in having you ambush us at the courtyard? He colludes with the City God to collect living souls as offerings; what role do you play in this?"

"Speak!"

The Red Fox's body stiffened, its eyes rolling around as if thinking, and then it cried out.

"Xu Changze colludes with the City God, using the souls of living people and those with special Physiques as offerings in exchange for evil methods to extend his Lifespan and for protection."

"Some of the murders in Qinglin Town these past few days were... committed by my sisters and me collecting blood food for Xu Changze, and some... were Xu Changze himself cultivating evil arts, needing large amounts of essence, blood, and souls to suppress the backlash..."

Chen Mu narrowed his eyes and continued to press for answers.

"Where do you come from? Besides taking orders from Xu Changze and the City God, who else is there? And your evil arts and seductive techniques do not look like those of ordinary wild foxes."

A struggle flashed in the Red Fox's eyes, but after seeing Chen Mu's cold gaze and the intimidating short blade in his hand, fear eventually overcame everything.

"We... my sisters and I come from the Beimang Sect, a Yao Race force deep within Beimang Mountain. We are isolated from the world, but our Legacy is ancient. Our branch is best at arts of illusion and seduction."

"Xu Changze somehow learned that my sisters and I were skilled in illusion arts, so he tempted us with great benefits, promising us blood food and essence souls, to make us follow his orders and cooperate with the local City God and government officials."

"As for what exactly he is plotting... our status is low, so we truly do not know!"

"The Beimang Sect?"

Chen Mu was shocked. The old cat demon in Sangye Village had also shrieked about the Beimang Sect before she died; now it seemed this was by no means a coincidence.

"Yes, yes, yes, it is Beimang."

Seeing that Chen Mu seemed interested, the Red Fox's desire to survive grew stronger, and it said hurriedly.

"Our Beimang has a Profound Yin Cave, and the Old Ancestor in the cave possesses great Divine Ability, with Disciples spread across several states. Hero, you are gifted, why bother with little demons like us? Our cultivation is not easy. If you can spare my life, this little demon is willing to offer our sect's 'Sky-Bewildering Illusion Form Art'!"

Having said that, it struggled to spit out a pink Jade Slip sealed with Demonic Qi, upon which light flowed, and tiny runes were vaguely visible.

Chen Mu just glanced at it indifferently, his expression unchanged.

Seeing this, the Red Fox wailed repeatedly, its eyes tearful, looking pitiful.

"I have said everything that should be said, I beg you..."

However, Chen Mu's gaze remained cold. From the information revealed in the fox demon's words, he had already outlined a dark network of collusion between officials and demons that treated human life like blades of grass.

Sangye Village, Qinglin Town, and Yunmeng City were perhaps just the tip of the iceberg. This Beimang Sect was mysterious and unfathomable, and its reach had actually penetrated into the local government.

He swept a cold glance at the Red Fox prostrate on the ground, his voice filled with disdain.

"Cultivation is not easy? What about the common people whose families were destroyed by your illusion arts? Is it easy for them?"

"I will take your Secret Manual, and I will also take your life."

The look of pleading in the Red Fox's eyes instantly turned to despair, and then into madness.

"You... must you kill us all? The Beimang Sect will not let you go!"

Before the words had faded, the blade light had arrived.

The soul-slaying blade silently swept across the Red Fox's neck, the threatening words came to an abrupt end, its head rolled off, and its eyes seemed to still retain extreme resentment. Its body rapidly shrank, eventually turning into a three-tailed Red Fox with dull fur.

[Slayed a three-tailed Red Fox, plundered Martial Dao Lifespan: 349 years.]

[Obtained special item: "Sky-Bewildering Illusion Form Art" (Can use one's own Demonic Qi to simulate others' aura and appearance; at Perfection Realm, can briefly transform the physical body).]

The System prompt sounded right on time. Chen Mu did not even look at the fox corpse on the ground; with a shake of his Protective Aura, he turned it into dust, completely erasing the traces.

The Beimang Sect—the outline of this mysterious force became a bit clearer in his mind, and at the same time, it added a bit more vigilance.