Fan Yue frowned and looked down at her, his gaze disapproving. “Living isn’t easy; don’t speak of death so lightly.”
The girl’s eyes softened into a smile as she suddenly clasped his hand.
Fan Yue paused but didn’t pull away.
“What do they call you now?” she asked.
“Fan Yue.”
“Then, Fan Yue, help me live. Until you remember me, call me A-Yue. I’ll wait for you to become a god and remember who I am.”
On a path outside the hall, Mu Jiu jogged alongside Hua Hong, holding a wine jar.
“A-Huo, A-Huo, I brought you something special! This is the Ten Thousand-Year Drunk from Jing You Mountain…”
“Ten Thousand-Year Drunk? That’s a bold name. I’ve never heard of a wine that could make me drunk.” Hua Hong scoffed, thoroughly regretting her moment of pity that had let this fox into the hall. He followed her everywhere like a sticky plaster.
“That name, ‘Ten Thousand-Year Drunk,’ is something I came up with. It’s actually unnamed. They say it’s from our ancient fox clan ancestors, brought down from the divine realm ages ago. There are only three bottles left in the whole clan, but, well, this wine doesn’t—”
Wine from the divine realm? Hua Hong froze, snatched the jar from Mu Jiu’s hands, and took a long drink.
“Great.” Mu Jiu managed to finish his sentence, staring in shock as Hua Hong downed the jar in one go.
A surge of powerful spiritual energy erupted from Hua Hong, sending Mu Jiu reeling. If he hadn’t raised his Small Extinction Wheel in time, he would have lost half his life to the blast.
It took a full incense stick’s worth of time for Hua Hong to fully absorb the sudden rush of energy. When she opened her eyes, she saw Mu Jiu, covered in dust and holding the shattered wheel, staring back at her.
“Good stuff.” Hua Hong felt completely revitalized. That single jar of wine had instantly boosted her spiritual energy by a thousand years. For the first time, she looked at Mu Jiu with something other than disdain, appearing before him in a flash, her eyes gleaming. “Do you have more?”
Mu Jiu shook his head, glancing at the empty jar in her hands. “That wine… wasn’t meant to be drunk right now.”
“What? Drinking it has a specific time?” Hua Hong frowned. “That’s ridiculous…”
Before she could finish, her expression turned serious as she looked toward the edge of Hao Yue Hall, where several powerful waves of demonic energy streaked across the sky, heading straight toward them.
“Oh no!” Mu Jiu yelped, leaping up and hiding behind Hua Hong, his face pale as a sheet.
Outside the side hall, Bai Shuo leaned against a pillar on the veranda, chewing on a blade of wild grass. She listened carefully to every word spoken in the courtyard. Spitting out the grass, she glanced at the two figures standing in the snow, ready to turn away, when she suddenly noticed something in the sky beyond Hao Yue Hall.
In the snowy courtyard, Fan Yue also sensed the arrival of the demonic auras cutting through the air and raised his gaze.
“Chang Sheng and Chang Wu from Jing You Mountain seek an audience with the Hall Master of Hao Yue,” two voices, deep and ancient, echoed across the northern lands.
Hua Hong turned around, but the little fox was already nowhere to be seen.
In the main hall of Hao Yue, Fan Yue reclined on his throne, lazily looking at the two elderly men with graying beards standing before him.
“Come to take someone?”
Chang Sheng and Chang Wu nodded in unison.
“You’re looking for the young clan leader of Jing You Mountain here in Hao Yue Hall? What’s your reasoning?”
Chang Sheng chuckled, “After the Wu Yan Festival at Phoenix Island, our young clan leader has often visited the Far North to meet friends. Recently, with important matters pressing at the clan, we tracked him here, and many little demons saw him enter Hao Yue Hall yesterday.”
“Is that so?” Fan Yue tapped the icy stone floor with his black boot, looking up. “You would dare come to Hao Yue, demanding someone on the basis of rumors? It seems Chang Mei has become rather bold in her methods.”
Bai Shuo peeked out from behind a screen, contemplating the situation. Knowing Fan Yue’s temperament, it was generous of him not to have tossed Mu Jiu out of the northern lands already. He certainly wouldn’t hold Mu Jiu here against his will.
A furry head leaned close, and Mu Jiu whispered with a smirk, “Knew this was the right place to hide. No wonder he’s my little flower’s Hall Master—so mighty and imposing!”
Bai Shuo shuddered, giving Mu Jiu a jab as he looked on smugly.
“They sent two elders here to take you back. What trouble did you stir up this time?”
Mu Jiu stiffened, suddenly sheepish. “Don’t make me out to be a villain. I’m a respectable and innocent young fox from the clan.”
Rolling her eyes, Bai Shuo leaned closer to peek into the hall.
Inside, Chang Wu’s face had darkened, while Chang Sheng maintained a polite demeanor.
“The Hall Master is busy with affairs and deep in his cultivation, so he likely isn’t aware of every visitor,” Chang Sheng said with a respectful bow. Suddenly, he flicked his hand, producing a red fox hair that flew straight toward the back of the hall.
“Damn it!” Mu Jiu’s expression changed as he spun around to run, but before he could take a step, he was lifted into the air, bound by the fox hair that thickened into a rope and pulled him toward the main hall. In a panic, he managed to grab Bai Shuo’s sleeve.
In a flash, the two of them crashed onto the floor of the hall with a thud.
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