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Chapter 274: Falling for a Scheme

“Aaaah!”

Ling Jing screamed as she flew into the air.

This sudden attack left everyone shocked. Luo Yin cried out, “Yiyi, what are you doing?”

She wanted to rush over and stop Yiyi, but a flower vine appeared under her feet, and she and the other three were all held fast to their positions. Qin Zhou tried to rush over as well, but the Grade 3 combat puppet placed a hand on his shoulder.

Ling Jing fell to the ground while clutching her belly, and frost began to cover her body, almost freezing her. She looked at Yiyi in anger and shock. “What is the meaning of this?”

“Still pretending? Let’s see how long you can keep up the act,” Yiyi sneered. She flashed the Blazeraven Ring, and a large number of Blazeravens lunged at Ling Jing.

“Nooo!” Qin Zhou and the others yelled.

The power of the Crystal Ice Sword had rendered Ling Jing immobile. Just when it seemed like there was no avoiding the raven assault, the ice shackling her suddenly solidified into an ice barrier.

Hundreds of Blazeravens smashed into the ice barrier, but while they created a dazzling light show, they were unable to harm the target behind the shield.

At this moment, Tang Jie suddenly reappeared, his body appearing like a violet lightning bolt as he charged out, the Heartbreak Saber shining with a chilling light as it swung at Ling Jing’s head. At the same time, three golden needles shot out, the Grade 3 combat puppet used the Lightning Fall Spell, the little tiger shot out a lightning blade, and Yiyi used her Petal Rain.

In that moment, Tang Jie, Yiyi, the little tiger, and the puppet attacked in unison, forming a lethal encirclement!

Let alone Ling Jing, even a Mortal Shedding Spirit Master like Nan Baicheng would find it hard to escape.

Ling Jing suddenly threw her head back and screeched.

With this sharp howl, the saber energy, golden needles, lightning, and petals struck Ling Jing, but it was like they had struck nothing, only stirring up watery ripples.

There was a pop as if something had shattered. Ling Jing was motionless at first, and then she exploded into countless motes of light. They drifted in the air before gathering back into a snow-white fox.

“The Illusion Fox!” Qin Zhou and the others blurted out.

At this point, they finally understood what was going on. It turned out that the fiend fox had arrived long ago.

But if Ling Jing was the fiend fox, where was the real Ling Jing?

This thought made their hearts shiver.

Luo Yin shouted, “Fiend fox, where did you take my senior sister!?”

She still clung to a thin sliver of hope that Ling Jing was fine, that the fiend fox was hiding her somewhere.

The fiend fox laughed. “You still need to ask? I ate her, of course. What’s the point in keeping that little whelp?”

Luo Yin shivered, her eyeballs almost falling out.

Even though she had known that Ling Jing probably wasn’t alive, until it was confirmed, she had still held onto a little hope. But once it was confirmed, this thought was dispelled, and Ling Jing began to sob, “Senior Sister…”

The fiend fox said in disdain, “What’s the point in putting on airs? You humans have taken the lives of countless fiends, so I’m just returning the favor. Or is it that only human lives count as lives while fiends are nothing but dirt? Since you’ve stepped onto the path of cultivation, you already have some measure of life and death. Dead is dead! What’s there to cry about!?”

The white fox glared at Tang Jie and shrieked, “Talk! How did you see through my illusion spell?”

The Illusion Fox’s greatest concern was how Tang Jie had seen its true self. It had to be understood that the Illusion Fox’s illusion spells weren’t regular appearance-changing spells. They were extremely mysterious and unbreakable for normal spell arts. Even the Eye of Heaven would find it hard to see through.

While Tang Jie had comprehended the Dao of Insight, he had focused on seeing enemy weak points, so he wasn’t particularly impressive at seeing through illusions. Thus, he shouldn’t have been able to see through the fiend fox’s illusion.

Tang Jie pursed his lips at the fox’s questions. “I can’t see through it, but does that mean I can’t guess? You’re the Great King of Fragrant Store Cave, so it doesn’t make sense for you not to be here with such a huge battle taking place on your doorstep. Besides that, the fiends didn’t flee when they should have. It was easy to guess that you were nearby.”

The fiend fox immediately shot back, “That only tells you I’m nearby, but how did you know that I had taken human form? I could have not changed into anybody and been hiding somewhere instead.”

Tang Jie chuckled. “Because we’re accustomed to doing what we’re good at. The Illusion Fox’s natural ability is Thousandform, and do you think it would make sense for an Illusion Fox to hide in a corner like a rat instead of using Thousandform?”

The fiend fox was rendered speechless. Finally, it slapped its belly and laughed. “That’s good! It’s so simple, so how come I didn’t think about it? Then how did you know I turned into Ling Jing?”

Tang Jie replied, “Thousandform is a profound spell art, but it can only produce a surface-level illusion. The Green Hill Sect disciples all know each other, so a small slip while talking might expose you. That being the case, you would naturally pick the more taciturn target so as to not be discovered. Miss Ling had a quiet personality and didn’t like to speak, making her the ideal candidate.”

The Illusion Fox sneered. “That’s it? It’s all right, but it’s all speculation, without the slightest snatch of evidence. You would be willing to make a killing blow based purely on speculation? Aren’t you afraid of making a mistake?”

“What’s to be afraid of? There’s no being picky when facing a strong foe. All you can do to survive is to fight with all your strength. If I were constantly looking around and afraid of my own shadow, seeking evidence for every step, only striking the killing blow with solid evidence in hand, you would probably be ready. How could I sneak attack you then?”

He could be like Detective Conan and use questioning and deception to ultimately prove whether or not Ling Jing was a fiend fox, but while he was doing all this, he would inevitably raise the guard of his foe, which would render a sneak attack ineffective.

In a battle where his life was on the line, victory came first, and everything else would have to stand to the side for the sake of the greater goal. Thus, Tang Jie was willing to strike before he had solid evidence. Even if he made a mistake, he would have only wounded the rather weak Ling Jing. If he was right, he would deal the fiend fox a heavy blow.

Alas, while his mind was in the right place, the fiend fox was far stronger than he had anticipated. The fiend fox had succeeded in taking Tang Jie’s ultimate strike, and he had failed in his goal of heavily injuring it. He had only given it some minor injuries.

The Illusion Fox was rather surprised by what it heard. Finally, it laughed and said, “Good, good, you’re quite decisive, using everything you can for the sake of victory. If not for my Shadowflight spell, I would have died at your hands. Such savagery! It’s no wonder Golden Lion and the others died at your hand!”

Qin Zhou couldn’t help but shout, “Since you were already here, why did you let your subordinates die?”

The Illusion Fox ignored him. It only looked at Tang Jie and said, “Why don’t you take a guess?”

Tang Jie laughed. “You want to use this chance to heal your wounds, and we want this chance to catch our breath. That being the case, let’s keep chatting. You want me to guess, so I’ll guess. You can tell me if there’s anything wrong. In my view, you didn’t save the golden lion and the others because you wanted them to die… That golden lion was about to reach upper grade, right?”

The fiend fox erupted in laughter. “I knew that you would guess that. In your view, you must think that I wanted to eliminate them because Golden Lion was after my throne, yes? But if that’s the case, why would I have all my subordinates die?”

Tang Jie replied, “That truly is the case. This is something that I don’t get. Alas, I currently don’t have a better answer.”

“That’s because you’re not me,” the Illusion Fox sighed. “Tang Xuan, if my guess is right, you came here for me, no?”

Tang Jie froze, and then he nodded.

Qin Zhou and the others were startled when they heard that Tang Jie’s goal was the Illusion Fox.

Only the Illusion Fox was unsurprised. “It’s been thirty years. I’ve lived on Old Crow Ridge for thirty years. In these thirty years, do you know how many cultivators have come after me, how many battles I’ve been through?”

“It’s probably a lot,” Tang Jie replied.

“138. 45 were people who happened to be passing, 59 were people who came to steal resources, and 34 came to kill me.”

“You sound rather busy,” Tang Jie chuckled.

The fiend fox asked, “Then do you know which kind was the most dangerous?”

“It should be the last one. Since they’re after you, they probably had some confidence.”

“Precisely,” the fox chortled. “Of the 138 battles, my Fragrant Store Cave has won 108 times and lost 30 times. Of those 30 times, 28 were cultivators who came after me. That is also why I have fled for my life a whole 28 times. Fortunately, as an Illusion Fox, I have the Thousandform, which excels at escaping, allowing me to survive until now. Otherwise, after that first pursuit, this king would already be a slave for some cultivator.”

The Illusion Fox’s tone suddenly turned hard.

Tang Jie seemed to understand. He nodded and said, “The burden of fame… As word of the Illusion Fox spreads, it naturally brings many hunters.”

The Illusion Fox had the Thousandform and was extremely skilled at illusive disguises. Thus, many cultivators wanted to catch the fox. But this fiend fox was cautious and would run whenever it saw a strong foe, and that was how it had survived.

But it gradually began to suffer from its pain. It knew that if it kept holding onto Old Crow Ridge, while it could gain the help of countless fiend beasts to add to its strength, it would also turn itself into a fixed target and would forever be eyed by powerful cultivators.

“An Illusion Fox, with its powers, should never be stuck in one place. Rather, it should be mixing into the human crowd. Hiding among the masses is the true path of kings. This is how my Illusion Fox Race has survived all this time. But hiding in the masses requires diligence and constantly being on one’s guard, to act no different from a human in everyday life, which is simply too difficult. We fiends are born with a carefree nature and a love of freedom. I am not willing to accept these restraints, so I went against the fox’s law of survival and came to this stretch of the wilderness to freely cultivate, call upon friends, and establish a cave. Is a free life like this not enjoyable?”

“But it would also bring about battle after battle,” Tang Jie chuckled. “I’m sure you’re tired after running 28 times, yes?”

The fiend fox turned melancholy. “Yes, I’m tired. How could I not be? But the day you realize you want to change your lifestyle, you realize that there’s a lot of things that aren’t up to you.”

Tang Jie nodded. “Yes. After all, you aren’t alone. You’re a fiend with a cave, and you have many subordinates. They take your orders and shelter you from storms, but they’ve also become your shackles.”

The fiend fox repeatedly nodded. “Spirit Sensing is fine, but the most troublesome are those Mind Opening bastards. If they knew that I wanted to leave, they would never agree. In the last few years, while they have been willing to work for me, just how many problems has my name managed to resolve for them? Besides that, you’re actually right when you say that I was worried about the golden lion reaching upper grade. If it managed to reach upper grade, it would be even stronger than me, and then I would experience another kind of disaster. With enemies both within and without, I’ve actually wanted to leave for a while. I’ve just been looking for the right chance.”

“And my arrival was your chance?”

“I originally took you for a small thief and really didn’t pay much attention at the start. But when Lynx died, I realized that something was wrong. And when Red Eagle died, I knew that you had come prepared. Thus, when I captured the Green Hill Sect disciples, I switched places with this girl to see how far you could go. I didn’t think that you would use a formation to kill them, but that was a big help to me!” The Illusion Fox began to loudly laugh. “Without those idiots holding me down, I can finally leave and live a free life. I didn’t plan on killing you, but since you exposed me and ambushed me, this king can’t be blamed for showing no mercy!”

The fiend fox whistled, and a powerful energy filled the area, engulfing Tang Jie and the four Green Hill Sect disciples.

“It seems that your injury is healed.” Tang Jie smiled. “That’s great. I’m also done resting.”