Facing the Nine-Tailed White Fox’s sudden lunge, Ziqing instinctively dodged. She knew foxes well — their deadliest weapon wasn’t their grip, but their bite!
Once bitten, it would tear and rip mercilessly — no hide, however thick, could withstand it!
Whatever happened, she couldn’t let this cunning fox get close!
Ziqing retreated, and immediately found herself right at the big foolish bear’s feet, with the Nine-Tailed White Fox pursuing relentlessly, its movements astonishingly agile.
The most sensible thing for Ziqing to do right now would have been to leap up onto the bear itself, but she knew she couldn’t drag the poor foolish creature into this. That thick coat of fur wasn’t just for keeping warm — it was meant to protect it from serious injury too!
She had to find somewhere else to take cover — ideally somewhere that would give the big foolish bear a chance to flee.
With that thought, she immediately darted off to the right. The moment she landed, though her belly showed no reaction, Ziqing instinctively moved to shield it — she was worried.
She hadn’t worried before, when she didn’t know. But now that she knew, how could she not?
That protective gesture, however, didn’t escape the Nine-Tailed White Fox’s notice — a flicker of cunning crossed its eyes, and it lunged toward Ziqing again, forcing her to keep dodging.
She dodged while also unleashing wind-blades at it, but the Nine-Tailed Fox’s movements were remarkably nimble, easily evading every strike.
Ziqing had to dodge, protect her belly, and attack all at once — before long, she was breathless with exhaustion.
It seemed the nourishment she’d absorbed over these past days hadn’t translated into strength for her at all, but had instead been drawn away to nourish the child. She had to admit, she’d grown noticeably clumsier — chasing and dodging with the Nine-Tailed White Fox had left her winded in no time.
Ziqing knew this couldn’t continue.
She had to find the Nine-Tailed Fox’s weakness — otherwise, if this dragged on, she would be the one to suffer for it in the end.
But what weakness could this fox possibly have?
It was far too clever, giving her no time at all to think, lunging at her again and again, attacking relentlessly, its movements growing faster and fiercer by the moment — clearly intent on wearing her down completely.
The woman and the fox remained locked in this fierce chase, and at this point, the big foolish bear could easily have fled. But it didn’t. Instead, it curled itself into a tight, terrified ball, its gaze never once leaving Ziqing.
Its dark, glossy eyes stared at her fixedly, trembling with fear — and yet, within that pitiful, frightened gaze, a growing resolve gradually began to emerge!
It wasn’t leaving. What was it planning to do?
Suddenly, the Nine-Tailed White Fox stopped in its tracks. Ziqing immediately put distance between them, faintly startled — what was this creature planning now?
The Nine-Tailed White Fox’s long muzzle curled back, and it suddenly let out a wolf-like howl toward the sky. “Ahwoo…”
This—
Was it summoning reinforcements?
Ziqing’s alarm flared. What a cunning fox — clearly intending to drag her down through sheer numbers.
But then, as the Nine-Tailed White Fox’s call continued echoing, the big foolish bear suddenly leapt up, positioning itself in front of Ziqing. Its expression turned deadly serious, and with a fierce, solemn intensity, it threw its head back and let out a thunderous roar, baring its gleaming white fangs!
“How dare you!”
The Nine-Tailed White Fox looked genuinely startled, its eyes flickering, and it slowly retreated to one side. At the same moment, from the forest behind them, an enormous horde of poisonous beasts, large and small, of every rank imaginable, began emerging like a swarm of ants, converging from every direction, advancing toward them.
The sight was overwhelming, a truly staggering spectacle — even Ziqing’s heart couldn’t help but race, gripped by genuine fear.
“Whimper, whimper…”
At that moment, the big foolish bear turned back to Ziqing, letting out a soft, comforting whine, as if trying to tell her not to be afraid.
Ziqing shook her head unconsciously. No…
It wasn’t weakness, and it wasn’t lack of courage — it was simply that the scene before her was truly terrifying. She and the big foolish bear stood absolutely no chance against this.
If a full-scale battle broke out, she and the big foolish bear would surely be torn to shreds!
This was no time to put on a brave face out of pride!
“Fox, what exactly do you intend to do? Ganging up on us with such numbers — have you no shame at all!” Ziqing said coldly.
“You don’t belong to this world. Either I kill you myself, or I let them do it!” The Nine-Tailed White Fox had never intended to let Ziqing live in the first place.
“I pose no threat to any of you. What would it take for you to believe that?” Ziqing asked again, watching the encroaching horde of beasts draw ever closer, unconsciously shielding her belly, unable to bear thinking of the consequences.
What could she do?
Though the big foolish bear stood in front of her, she could clearly feel the terror radiating from its entire body, the fear pouring off it in waves.
At this moment, they weren’t merely at odds with the Nine-Tailed White Fox — they were pitted against every single poisonous beast in this entire domain.
What could she possibly do?
Ziqing’s heart burned with anxiety, cursing herself for not having a bomb on hand to blow these unreasonable beasts to pieces.
“Ahwoo…”
Suddenly, the Nine-Tailed White Fox let out a commanding cry. Ziqing’s heart lurched, and in the very next instant she leapt into the air — she had thrown caution to the wind entirely. There was only one option left: strike down the leader first.
There was no way she could possibly fight off an entire horde of beasts. Her only chance was to bring down the Nine-Tailed White Fox itself!
But, to her surprise, the fox seemed to have anticipated exactly this, retreating far into the distance, putting an entire wall of beasts between itself and Ziqing!
Ziqing gritted her teeth in fury, snarling, “Coward!”
The Nine-Tailed White Fox didn’t seem to mind in the least, coldly tossing back four words: “The victor makes the rules.”
“You—!” Ziqing, furious beyond restraint, no longer had time to think it through carefully. Gripping the dagger Liuguang tightly, she unleashed a savage sweep, channeling seven full layers of internal power, sending a razor-sharp wind-blade hurtling toward the Nine-Tailed White Fox with such ferocity that it couldn’t escape entirely — its tail was nearly severed clean off in the leap.
The Nine-Tailed White Fox stumbled backward in fright several steps, its body abruptly swelling to the same size as the big foolish bear, and, shielded behind the wall of beasts, swiped a massive claw straight at Ziqing.
Ziqing could easily have kept up the attack — this level of force behind her wind-blades was clearly effective.
But that last strike had finally made her belly ache with discomfort!
She couldn’t quite describe the sensation, but she knew instinctively — she’d disturbed the pregnancy. If this continued, something was bound to go wrong.
She had no choice but to pull back to avoid the incoming attack — but just as she dodged, something entirely unexpected happened!
The massive Nine-Tailed Fox suddenly shrank down to the size of a mere palm, shooting toward Ziqing like an arrow loosed from a bow!
Ziqing hadn’t anticipated this in the slightest — so this was the fox’s true killing technique, unbelievably cunning and utterly unpredictable!
She instinctively tried to dodge, but there was no time left at all.
In that split-second of crisis, a massive bear paw suddenly swept in from the right with tremendous force — “Smack!”
The Nine-Tailed White Fox was sent flying like a struck ball. But when Ziqing looked down, she had no time at all to feel relief — instead, she was struck with pure horror.
“Foolish bear!”
She cried out in alarm, throwing every other consideration aside as she dove straight down — in that moment, perhaps she’d even forgotten, for an instant, about the child in her belly.
More than half of the big foolish bear’s body was already being torn apart by the surrounding beasts, its form a mangled mess of blood and flesh — and still, even now, it had been thinking only of protecting her.
Foolish bear — how could it be so foolish?
Hadn’t they agreed — no more being this foolish?
Ziqing went half-mad, her eyes turning bloodshot as she dove downward, her mind blank of everything except one silent message to her unborn child: “Baby, I’m sorry, your mother can’t be so selfish right now… Baby, don’t be afraid. Even if it means death, your mother will be right there with you… Let’s — let’s go save your godfather together, all right? You have to remember this!”
Ziqing hit the ground, driving Liuguang savagely into the skull of the nearest beast, no longer bothering to shield herself with her other hand — with only a single conviction burning in her mind: “Kill!”
Kill!
Heedless of all consequences, she killed. Any beast that so much as approached the big foolish bear, Ziqing threw herself at like a woman possessed, tearing into them with everything she had — even with her own teeth.
And then, gradually… gradually… something strange began to happen!