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The Strongest Fox-Demon (17)
Deep in the night, the red and white foxes leaped from one rooftop to another, dashing straight towards the city of Chengxi.
At this point, most of the citizens in Chengxi were dead asleep, completely unaware of the two demons running over the top of their heads.
Not long after, Chu Xiang spotted the house with the aforementioned red roof and noticed that the entire building was constructed with some sort of redwood. Upon further inspection, it even seemed to be designed according to the Five Elemental Divinatory Diagram. Furthermore, the surrounding walls of the courtyard and the limestone surface were all detailed with meticulous engravings.
It would not be an exaggeration to compare Li Yufeng’s place to an impregnable fort as it could very well stand strong against any formidable opponent who dared to attack this place.
“It’s no wonder the divinatory diagram marked this place as the prime location. Does he perhaps have a lot of enemies? Tsk, tsk, tsk… even we didn’t make our cave this secure,” Bai Yi said in awe of Li Yufeng’s house.
Detecting small movements from the vicinity of his courtyard, Li Yufeng walked out of his room and stood in the open courtyard with a smile.
“Well, well… look who we have here? Why are the two of you standing on the roof? Come down,” Li Yufeng said as he looked at their expressions curiously. “You haven’t eaten the Ice Fish yet? Then why have you come to find me? Is something the matter?”
Wowed by Li Yufeng’s appearance, Bai Yi said, “Clothes can really change how one looks, huh? If not for your smell, I would have doubted you to be the same person as that beggar-like man.”
Li Yufeng shook out his sleeves and replied with a smile, “Hey, at least I can speak to the two of you without receiving any looks of judgment now. Speaking of which, isn’t it unprecedented for a demon hunter to be shunned by two spirit demons?”
Having cleaned up his appearance, Li Yufeng actually looked rather handsome. Chu Xiang failed to realize this before, but after he shaved his beard and cleaned up his face, he really became a good-looking man with a hint of elegance. Not only did each one of his movements give off a masculine feel, but he even possessed a toned, well-built figure beneath his clothes. If he were to work in the entertainment industry in Chu Xiang’s previous lifetime, countless fangirls would undoubtedly go crazy for him.
As someone who places great importance on one’s looks, Chu Xiang was extremely satisfied with his new appearance. Jumping down into the courtyard, Chu Xiang sauntered around before saying, “We came here to find you, of course. I have witnessed your skills firsthand and would appreciate it if you could help us out by turning the Ice Fish into a delicious meal for us.”
Landing next to her, Bai Yi followed up by giving Li Yufeng a nod with the same indication.
Staring at the two foxes while blinking his eyes in disbelief, he tugged at his ears to make sure he heard them right. Dumbfounded, he then said, “Aren’t the two of you being too naive? You actually want me to become your personal chef? Heck, what spirit demon would ever ask a demon hunter to cook for them? Aren’t you afraid that I might try to catch you two? Aren’t you being too bold for your own good?”
Chu Xiang replied calmly, “Well… couldn’t we say the same thing to you? You don’t know what we’re planning, yet you actually dare to move closer to us? Besides, I reckon you have some sort of treasure in your possession. Aren’t you scared that we might try to kill you and steal it from you?”
Li Yufeng shrugged his shoulders, “True. Since you trust me so, I’ll have to adhere to that trust. Where’s the fish?”
At that moment, Chu Xiang handed the two Ice Fish over to him. Receiving them carefully, Li Yufeng exclaimed in awe, “What beauties! They’d certainly make great supplements!”
Chu Xiang added, “If you cook them well, we’ll let you have the soup.”
Looking at her, Li Yufeng shook his head and could not help but burst into laughter.
“Very well! You take the meat while I’ll have the soup. Please wait a moment.”
With that, he walked into his kitchen with the two fish in his hand. At that moment, Bai Yi brandished her claws and laid out a soundproofing array.
“Xiang’er, you actually gave him the Ice Fish? What if he’s planning something against us or he doesn’t intend to share it with us? T-Then we’d be in big trouble!”
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll use this opportunity to test him. Only then can we find out if we can actually trust him or not. Besides, it’s much safer to put the Ice Fish rather than our internal cultivation on the line, right?”
At this point, Chu Xiang had already determined Li Yufeng to be harmless and did not see using the Ice Fish as a test to be an issue. Besides, what did she not already have in her Storage Space? Even if she was lacking something, she could just go out to search for them again. Thus, it was worth gambling the two Ice Fish in her eyes.
Speechless, Bai Yi stared at Chu Xiang.
“Xiang’er, you seem to have grown much wiser and more intelligent than before. Didn’t we leave the mountains together? How come you’ve grown so much compared to me?”
Chu Xiang replied mindlessly, “Perhaps I’ve always been like this. It’s just that there’s nothing to do in the mountains besides cultivating every single day. As such, I never got the opportunity to show what I can do.”
Bai Yi chuckled, “That’s right! Things have changed since we left the mountains. So far, you have been the one making all the calls. Had I been the one to do so, I’m afraid things would have been an absolute disaster.”
She then rubbed herself against Chu Xiang’s fur and added, “Xiang’er, I’m so lucky to have you around.”
Chu Xiang said in passing, “Then, you better listen to what I say from now on. Don’t keep fawning over your benefactor as you’ll eventually lose your mind over him if so. Having cultivated for such a long time, you must not end up like our ancestors and be constricted by your emotions.”
Curious, Bai Yi asked, “Our ancestors mentioned that shutting off our emotions is our greatest hurdle as fox spirits. Do you think that’s the case, Chu Xiang? Do we really need to experience all kinds of emotions for ourselves to do so?”
“Experiencing them is one thing, but the most important thing is being able to come back out as a wiser person. Why be so afraid of such experiences? Just don’t fall head first in too deep and end up not being able to come back out like certain other people.”
Chu Xiang looked at her and continued, “The path of cultivation can bring out countless hardships and suffering, but so what? You can always take some time to recover and go about cultivating as usual. The same can be said for dealing with your emotions. So what if you find it painful? So what if you find it sad? If you’re able to keep standing back up after going through such experiences, you’ll be able to keep walking forward as a stronger person.”
Bai Yi nodded her head earnestly.
“I remember. Xiang’er, we’ve grown up together and done everything together other our entire life. As such, you’re the most important person in my life. Knowing this fact, I’ll never be afraid of walking astray. For if the day does come, I will trust you to wake me up and get me back on the right track.”
“Don’t worry. I will hit you until you get a hold of yourself again if that ever does happen.”
The two smiled at each other as Bai Yi mentioned, “You really will hit me, huh?”
With that, they chased each other playfully around the courtyard. Leaving no traces behind, they analyzed each and every corner of the courtyard.