60: past

Jiang Xun sat there, his whole body stiff with tension.

He could feel that Yan Qingning was not joking.

The cold air she emitted had already caused a thin layer of frost to condense on the floor of the entire hall.

White Fox Jiu's eyes appeared as a pair of golden vertical pupils, flickering with an eerie light in the dimness.

Neither woman spoke.

But that silent confrontation made it somewhat difficult for Jiang Xun to breathe.

Jiang Xun took a deep breath, trying to break the deadlock:

"Since she doesn't want to say it, then forget it. We..."

"What if I insist on hearing it?"

Yan Qingning interrupted him, her voice as cold as quenched ice.

Those few words left Jiang Xun speechless.

He didn't speak again; Jiang Xun knew that Yan Qingning was already convinced that he had a history with White Fox Jiu in his past life, and anything he said now would just seem like a cover-up.

After all, in Yan Qingning's perception, Jiang Xun had only stayed by her side for about a hundred years; she didn't know what he was doing for most of the rest of the time.

Jiang Xun could only leave it to fate now.

He also prayed that White Fox Jiu wouldn't add fuel to the fire or just make things up.

The frost in the hall grew a layer thicker.

Yan Qingning's patience was limited.

White Fox Jiu stared at Yan Qingning, her golden vertical pupils constricting slightly.

She really couldn't understand what was wrong with this old woman today.

Did she think she could do whatever she wanted just because her Realm was high?

Or did she think she was easy to push around and could be used for entertainment?

White Fox Jiu spoke: "Senior, is it really necessary to make things unpleasant for the sake of three stray dogs?"

Yan Qingning said: "You could say that."

"You..."

White Fox Jiu gritted her teeth, her elegant posture becoming somewhat distorted.

She had always been the one to slap others' faces; when was it ever someone else's turn to pluck her fox whiskers?

If it really came to a fight, White Fox Jiu was confident that Yan Qingning wouldn't get away unscathed either.

When the time came to drain the blood qi of the over one million people in Black Sand City, she didn't believe this woman Yan Qingning would be completely unaffected.

Just as the atmosphere reached its breaking point, Jiang Xun suddenly spoke:

"Fellow Daoist, do you know of the Cangwu Secret Realm?"

White Fox Jiu was stunned, her expression becoming somewhat unnatural.

"Why do you ask about that?"

"At my Dao Companion's request, I will tell you where the entrance to the Secret Realm is." After saying this, Jiang Xun closed his eyes again and remained silent.

A rare look of anxiety appeared on White Fox Jiu's face:

"You really know?"

She began to restrain her posture.

But no matter how she asked, Jiang Xun acted like a piece of wood, completely ignoring her.

Jiang Xun was perfectly composed.

With Yan Qingning there anyway, Jiang Xun wasn't afraid of her suddenly resorting to force.

Seeing how much White Fox Jiu cared about the Cangwu Secret Realm, Jiang Xun knew he had guessed correctly.

In such a marginal place, except for some rare mineral deposits, the Spiritual Qi had already decayed to a very low concentration.

There was almost nothing useful, and no large forces had established their Sects here.

So why did White Fox Jiu choose this place as her fiefdom?

It was simple: because the Cangwu Secret Realm was right here.

Although the existence of the Cangwu Secret Realm had never been discovered, legends about it had existed for a long time, and some rumored that its location was fixed somewhere around here.

White Fox Jiu rarely softened, no longer showing hostility.

Just now, she really had the thought of making Yan Qingning suffer even if it meant self-destructing.

But as soon as she heard news of the Cangwu Secret Realm, she immediately became rational.

Her gaze swept over Yan Qingning, then over Jiang Xun, and finally fell back onto her lap:

"Doesn't Senior want to hear a story?"

"Then I... shall tell it."

Yan Qingning didn't respond, but the cold air around her silently withdrew a little.

White Fox Jiu walked to the chair opposite Yan Qingning and sat down.

Her wide black robe spread out, and her bare feet peeked out from under the hem, the gold ring on her ankle glowing softly under the light of the night pearl.

She lowered her head, seemingly reminiscing.

Her tone was no longer the wary respect from before, nor the elegance of their first meeting.

It was a kind of... deep loneliness.

Like someone who had trekked for a long time and finally stopped, only to find the path they came from already blurred when looking back.

"About a thousand years ago," she began, her voice very soft, "this mountain didn't have a name."

"At that time... I was just a wild fox in the mountains that hadn't taken human form yet."

As she spoke, she tilted her head slightly, as if recalling something from long ago:

"I didn't understand civilization, didn't know language, and certainly didn't know what love was. I acted... entirely on instinct."

"Then I discovered."

Her voice paused, but she continued:

"Consuming the blood qi of Mortals could make me stronger."

Yan Qingning didn't show any reaction to White Fox Jiu's consumption of Mortals.

She just continued listening.

Her ear was still pressed against Jiang Xun's heart, feeling his emotions and his heartbeat.

Jiang Xun remained in a state where he didn't even dare to breathe throughout the whole process.

"I kept consuming," White Fox Jiu continued, "until one day... I began to take human form."

She raised her hand, looking at her palm.

That hand was fair and slender, with nails trimmed round and clean; anyone who saw it would think it was a pair of hands accustomed to a life of luxury.

"The day I took human form, I was seen by a passing woodcutter."

White Fox Jiu suddenly smiled.

That smile was very faint, with a hint of delight:

"He was probably scared witless and thought I was a goddess who had fallen from the Nine Heavens. After going back, he told everyone he met that there was a fairy on the mountain."

"From then on, this mountain... had a name."

"Luoshen Mountain."

Yan Qingning was a good listener; she listened quietly.

So did Jiang Xun.

There was only the slight sound of the wind passing through the gauze curtains and the occasional soft chime of the bell on White Fox Jiu's ankle.

Yan Qingning said:

"Eating people until you took human form... the Demonic Path was flourishing back then, so it was your good luck."

"Yes."

White Fox Jiu nodded, her tone flat: "There were so many great Demonic Path Cultivators back then that even Mortals were scared into fleeing into the mountains. Even though they knew a monster lived there, they were unwilling to go down."

She added:

"Later, those Mortals got scared. They built a temple on the mountaintop."

Saying this, she smiled again.

This time, there was a bit of mockery in the smile:

"They said it was to suppress me."

"Then..." White Fox Jiu raised her hand and pointed in the direction of the ruined temple outside the hall, "I took a liking to eating people in the temple."

She said it nonchalantly, but in Jiang Xun's mind, the intro scene from the game appeared.

A dilapidated temple, mottled statues, bones scattered on the ground, and a beautiful fox demon crouching on the altar, slowly and methodically licking her paws.

Bloody and eerie.

"It's lucky the Righteous Path was weak then," Yan Qingning commented, "otherwise, with your way of eating, you should have been suppressed long ago."

"Perhaps." White Fox Jiu was noncommittal. "After some more time... a Mortal kingdom appeared in the Central Region."

When she said this, her tone suddenly changed.

It became somewhat fearful.

It was no longer a flat narrative, but had a bit of... something very subtle.

"They began to hold something called 'Imperial Examinations.' I didn't know what that was, but from then on... many clean and fair-skinned scholars began to pass through my territory."

White Fox Jiu's eyes narrowed slightly, as if savoring something delicious:

"They liked to hold scrolls and sit by the mountain path reading.

Reciting sentences I didn't understand, speaking of great principles.

Some were impassioned, others were sighing..."

"I began to dislike eating those ordinary Mortals who worked all day and were full of resentment."

She licked her lips, a very subtle movement that made Jiang Xun's heart tighten for some reason.

"I just liked eating these... special people."

Yan Qingning suddenly spoke:

"That Mortal kingdom you mentioned, it should be the current Xian Tang Li Family, right?"

White Fox Jiu nodded:

"Yes. The entire Central Region... became the territory of the Xian Tang Empire. It's also the only Mortal kingdom in the Five Domains."

Jiang Xun listened from the side, secretly sighing.

This world, or rather, the game world he had transmigrated into, originally had no concept of a "country."

Mortals were ruled by Immortal Sects and the Hundred Immortal Clans, each occupying their own territory and attacking each other.

They were less like Sects and more like feudal lords.

Cities like Black Sand City were handed over to disciples of the Immortal Clans as fiefdoms to manage.

Mortals in this world belonged to the lowest class.

Even if some Mortals were lucky enough to step onto the immortal path and become Cultivators, they would turn around and start to despise their former kind.

Jiang Xun reminisced.

Speaking of which, she should still be alive.

In the early stages of the game, when his Rank wasn't high yet, he met a very interesting NPC.

Her name was Li Shutang.

She was a beggar, living from hand to mouth every day.

One day, this NPC actually stole money from him, which made him furious; after catching her, he taught her a harsh lesson.

Then he stabbed her to death with one sword strike.

At the time, Jiang Xun thought the sword would pass through her model, but he didn't expect to actually kill her.

The next day, her grandmother went onto the streets to look for her granddaughter, catching passersby one by one and asking if they knew where her granddaughter had gone.

Seeing this made his conscience suffer greatly.

Then Jiang Xun felt he was too much of a beast, so after reloading, he treated this NPC named Li Shutang to a meal and gave her some money.

After that, Jiang Xun gained an electronic pet.

No matter where he went, Li Shutang would follow.

When Jiang Xun went out to do dungeons, Li Shutang would squat by the door and wait for him to return.

She could talk to you, chat with you, and even change outfits.

To be honest, at the time, Jiang Xun practically knelt to the planners; what a Genius idea!

This move would definitely attract a large number of mother fans.

It's just that later, as the game's progress accelerated, he stopped looking after the electronic pet Li Shutang.

By the time he met Li Shutang again later, she had already established a small force and attracted a large number of Cultivators to join.

As for why Cultivators were willing to protect Mortals, Jiang Xun didn't fully understand it in the game back then.

The reason was that Li Shutang didn't have any value worth Jiang Xun's effort to conquer at the time.

Jiang Xun was suddenly glad that he hadn't conquered her.

Otherwise, there would be another ill-fated relationship... "Those scholars," White Fox Jiu continued, her voice even softer, "some were very foolish, knowing there was a man-eating monster in the mountains but still insisting on taking a shortcut. Some were very smart, bringing some talismans and incense ash, thinking they could ward off evil..."

As she spoke, she suddenly stopped.

The face in her memory was clearly imprinted before her eyes again.

Her tone also became deep.

Then she spoke softly, saying a sentence that made the hair on Jiang Xun's body stand on end:

"But there was one scholar... who was different."

"When he saw me, he didn't run, and he didn't kneel."

"He just stood at the temple entrance and looked at me for a long time."

"Then he said..."

White Fox Jiu paused, repeating that sentence from a thousand years ago word for word:

"You fox, you're actually quite good-looking."

Under Jiang Xun's closed eyelids, his eyeballs trembled slightly.

After White Fox Jiu said this, she sat there quietly, looking at a certain point in the void.

The loneliness on her face deepened, so deep it seemed it would swallow her whole.

Yan Qingning suddenly removed the veil from her face and looked at Jiang Xun, saying, "Now do you think I'm good-looking, or is she?"

"The truth!"

This question was asked out of the blue.

But Jiang Xun still said honestly, "You are."

Yan Qingning, listening to Jiang Xun's heartbeat, was very satisfied with this answer.

In fact, the two women were equal in beauty, and there was no standard to judge whether a person was beautiful or not.

It mainly depended on whether the person being asked liked them.

Or whether they were being honest.

Jiang Xun wasn't lying.

Compared to White Fox Jiu, he still preferred Yan Qingning.

Yan Qingning could be reasoned with, while White Fox Jiu was a completely unreasonable person, and very dangerous too.

Jiang Xun's evaluation of White Fox Jiu was just two words: "troublesome."

She was the type who would bully the kind and trample the weak.

Whoever offended her, she would definitely pay them back.

And regardless of the cost.

White Fox Jiu didn't understand why Yan Qingning would ask such a question, but as for her appearance, she was confident she wasn't inferior to Yan Qingning.

Otherwise, she wouldn't have the title of "flower-faced fox."

This masked man really had no eyes.

She remembered this.

In the future, once she advanced to the Dongxu Realm, she would sooner or later find a chance to pay him back, gouging out this man's eyes and putting them on a dog.

Then she'd let him see clearly who was good-looking.

Yan Qingning said to White Fox Jiu: "Continue!"

White Fox Jiu felt like an actress, allowing herself to be judged.

The pain and anger in her heart were intertwined.

She suppressed her complex emotions.

For the sake of the Cangwu Secret Realm, she endured.

Having searched for hundreds of years, she had already wasted too much time; otherwise, with her talent, her current Realm couldn't possibly be lower than Yan Qingning's.

To the point where this bitch was so arrogant.

White Fox Jiu continued: "I really wanted to eat that person at first, but he was very powerful, and I couldn't beat him; he was also the first Cultivator I encountered."

"He defeated me, but didn't kill me, nor did he allow me to kill others."

Yan Qingning suddenly laughed: "Then it seems you didn't learn much from that teaching."

White Fox Jiu retorted: "I never kill the innocent now, only those who deserve to die."

"Otherwise, this Black Sand City would have long ago become my storehouse."

Jiang Xun thought carefully; the economy of Black Sand City was indeed prosperous, the various commercial streets were bright, and the people in the city also looked upwardly mobile.

They didn't have the numbness and ignorance of the people in Yunshan Town.

Yan Qingning said: "And those few demon-men have nothing to do with you either?"

"I walk on the streets normally, they pursue me, and I make them give up their thoughts; what's the problem with that?" White Fox Jiu acted as if it were only natural.

"Besides, I only told them that heartless men aren't allowed in my city, and I didn't bother with them after that."

Outside, Bai Ci suddenly shuddered.

She was the one in charge of those three; there was no one else in this City Lord's Mansion besides her and her master.

But they always needed to find a few people who could work.

So she kept the three of them as servants.

As for heartless men, Bai Ci didn't know what that was, nor could she distinguish who was a heartless man; she only knew that the handsome ones were heartless men, and she would castrate every one she saw.

Although White Fox Jiu's personality was violent, she only killed those she resented.

She couldn't even be bothered to look at irrelevant people now.

Yan Qingning didn't want to care about such matters and signaled for White Fox Jiu to continue.

"I want to hear what that scholar did to you to make you so unforgettable and heartbroken."

"Isn't that right! Husband!"

Jiang Xun became even stiffer; he was now one hundred percent certain that Yan Qingning had already guessed that he was that scholar.