The woman lay sprawled in the mud, her fair skin veiled only by a flimsy layer of white gauze.
Scores of gruesome wounds ran across her entire body.
Her jade-like legs lay crossed over one another.
Beneath the high bridge of her nose, the eyelashes over her fox-like eyes fluttered faintly. Her gaze was dazed, and her lips were pale.
Folding fan in hand, Li Guanqi ambled over as though he were merely "happening" to pass through the area.
"My goodness! What happened to you, miss? Do you need some help?"
At his words, the Cloudwing Demon Fox slowly opened her eyes, exuding a beauty akin to a lute partially concealing a maiden's face.
Her nose twitched slightly. Hearing Li Guanqi speak, she murmured in a breath as faint as gossamer:
"If you... wish to kill me... just do it..."
"Why bother with this..."
Li Guanqi shrugged, snapping his folding fan shut, and spoke plainly.
"Tsk, aren't all the popular storybooks down the mountain full of this sort of scene?"
"A fox in the mountains, a passing scholar..."
The white fox rolled her eyes. She sensed no killing intent coming from him.
If he truly came to kill her, there would be no need for all this pointless chatter; he would have just struck.
With his strength, even at the peak of her condition, she would have had a hard time holding her own.
Seeing that she remained silent, Li Guanqi simply sat down beside her and said in a mild voice, "How about we talk over a deal?"
Bracing herself, the white fox leaned against a fallen ancient tree, wincing as though jarring her wounds in the process.
Her tear-stained face was pitiable enough to melt anyone's heart.
Beneath the sheer gauze, glimpses of her snow-white, delicate skin seemed tender enough to break at a touch.
Every slight movement she made carried a subtle allure. Waves rippled in her teary eyes as she lifted her head, bit her lower lip, and looked up at Li Guanqi.
The gesture was calculated to arouse a man's pity to the utmost.
"In the state I am in..."
"Whatever you desire to do, young master... you may do as you please..."
Li Guanqi suddenly burst into laughter, pointing at his own white, unseeing eyes.
"Hey, I'm blind. Mind not wasting your effort?"
The white fox's expression froze. She cursed inwardly at him for being utterly devoid of romance.
Though she knew this was only his excuse, she could not help but marvel at how steadfast his mind was.
From beginning to end, despite the seductive aura she projected, his eyes had not flickered in the slightest, remaining completely clear.
Taking a sip of wine, Li Guanqi cast a sideways glance at the woman and said softly, "I harbor no covetous designs on your inner core or your cloudwings."
As he spoke, Li Guanqi flipped his hand, took out the Moon Essence Rhinoceros Herb, and spread his hands.
"It's just that the poison on this immortal herb... you'll have to neutralize it for me, miss."
The white fox glared at Li Guanqi with bitter resentment, gnashing her teeth.
"You stole my immortal herb, and now you want me to help you detoxify it?!"
"In your dreams!"
The woman's eyes burned with indignation and grievance. She had guarded and nurtured it in vain for a thousand years, only for someone to snatch it away and then demand that she detoxify it for him!
Li Guanqi shrugged and spoke frankly.
"Those Qingwei Immortal Sect fellows will likely come charging back before long."
"They won't turn up their noses at your inner core and cloudwings."
"Shall I give them a call for you?"
With that, Li Guanqi even drew an inscribed talisman and waved it before her eyes.
The white fox clenched her teeth tightly, her chest heaving violently, before coughing twice and vomiting a mouthful of fresh blood.
"Despicable villain!"
Hearing her indignant scolding, Li Guanqi rubbed his nose.
"Despicable?"
"You should consider yourself lucky to have met me... Look how kindhearted I am."
"I refused to take advantage of someone in peril, and I was even wondering whether to treat your wounds. Sigh... how can you be so ungrateful?"
Fuming with rage, the white fox sat upright and yelled, "Am I supposed to thank you instead?!"
Li Guanqi took another drink and chuckled. "Well, that won't be necessary..."
Silence fell.
After a long while, the woman gritted her teeth and spat out, "Shameless!"
Li Guanqi laughed inwardly. This white fox's humanoid form was rather silly and naive.
Back then, that Biying Xuan Serpent had acted much more like an old, calculating cultivator—sinister, vicious, and ruthless.
Just as Li Guanqi was drifting in thought, faint sobbing sounds reached his ears.
The woman was weeping in utter misery, the rims of her eyes flushed bright red. Her shoulders trembled slightly as she pouted, trying not to make a sound.
Reaching out a hand, she shouted loudly, "Give it here, then! I'll detoxify it for you!"
"Then... then will you promise not to tell those people?"
Li Guanqi smiled, tossing the immortal herb straight to the woman, and said softly, "I won't say a word."
With red eyes and a pouting mouth, the woman formed a hand seal and dripped a bead of blood essence onto the immortal herb.
A burst of bloody light flashed, and a dense spiritual mist began swirling over the immortal herb.
Right then, the woman opened her mouth and moved to shove it straight in.
In a flash, Li Guanqi darted forward, snatched the spiritual herb away, and shoved half a radish into the white fox's mouth.
"Hey, that's not playing fair. We agreed you'd detoxify it for me. Why were you trying to stuff it into your own mouth?"
Contentedly, Li Guanqi stowed the spiritual herb away and dusted his hands off.
Looking down at the white fox, who looked ready to cry from sheer frustration, the corners of his lips curved up slightly.
"Eat up. It's good stuff."
With that, Li Guanqi let out a hearty laugh and took to the sky.
"Go into hiding and cultivate for a while longer. Given your disposition, it's a miracle you've managed to cultivate to this point at all."
Dubiously, the white fox chewed a mouthful, only to discover in shock that this radish had miraculous healing effects on her injuries!
Holding the radish in one hand, the white fox stood up and pointed in the direction Li Guanqi had left, cursing loudly:
"Shameless bastard! Don't let me run into you again!"
"You rob someone of their immortal herb, make them detoxify it, and in the end... you trade a radish for the herb?!"
"I've memorized your scent!"
A hearty laugh drifted back from the distance.
"If you run into that radish in the future, remember to steer clear. It's... a bit of a pervert."
The white fox froze for a moment. Chewing on the radish, she frowned in confusion and muttered to herself:
"A pervert? How perverted could it be..."
She had not expected Li Guanqi to overhear her words. A faint voice echoed right by her ear:
"If you slap it in the face, I'd honestly be worried it might stick its tongue out to lick your fingers..."
At those words, the white fox could not help shivering. She stared in silence at the half-piece of dried radish in her hand.
In the end, she still put the half-piece of radish away. Once she had recovered a bit of immortal primal energy, she turned and left.
Several hours later, the people from the Qingwei Immortal Sect indeed returned!
Moreover, Liu Nansheng had brought along an elder of the Heavenly Immortal realm.
Liu Nansheng's right arm was wrapped in bandages, severely frostbitten.
Looking down at the battered, devastated earth and the spattered blood essence of the Cloudwing Demon Fox, he frowned and said in a chilling voice, "Damn it! The Cloudwing Demon Fox escaped!"
Beside him, the old man furrowed his brows. "Are you certain... the other party's cultivation realm was lower than yours, yet a single strike from his sword blasted you back over a hundred zhang?"
Liu Nansheng took a deep breath, his gaze turning grave as he spoke.
"My perception could never be mistaken. The cultivation aura he displayed was at most at the seventh level of the Mystic Immortal realm!"
The old man's brow furrowed tightly. He swept his divine sense outward across the surroundings, but found no clues whatsoever.
"He left long ago. It was likely some old monster who intervened."
"Nansheng, let this serve as a wake-up call to all of you!"
"Even though our Qingwei Immortal Sect holds substantial power in Qinzhou, we must still be wary of rogue cultivators and cultivators concealing their identities striking from the shadows."
"Next time, you must be far more cautious."
Hearing this, Liu Nansheng could only nod in agreement, though doubt lingered in his heart.
*Why did I feel like he wasn't old at all... but actually very young?*
Chapter 1638