Xiaoxiao couldn’t bear to see her master, Tang Youshu, kneeling to others, so she quickly helped him up and comforted him with gentle words: “It’s fine. With your master here, he’ll find a way out!”

Wei Jie was already used to Xiaoxiao’s two different faces toward him and Young Master Tang. Seeing Xiaoxiao dump the task on him, he turned his handsome face and looked coldly around without saying more.

He had left Qilao Mountain at age twelve to wander everywhere, gaining extensive experience. He had encountered situations like ghost walls before, so he wasn’t panicking.

Wei Jie’s broken sword was shattered, and his long whip had been left at the Wei family to tie up the Corpse-eating Beast.

Without a suitable weapon now, he simply broke off a branch from a peach tree, stripped away the side branches and green leaves, and fashioned it into a peach wood walking stick. Then he said to Xiaoxiao and Tang Youshu: “You two put your hands on my shoulders and follow me.”

After speaking, Wei Jie asked Xiaoxiao for a face-wiping handkerchief. After slightly identifying the direction, he used it to blindfold himself, using the peach branch to feel his way forward like a blind person.

Xiaoxiao and Tang Youshu followed his instructions, placing their hands on his shoulders and walking together with him.

They kept their eyes open the whole time. Where there was a mountain wall, Wei Jie led them inward, and surprisingly, Wei Jie could pass through the mountain while they were blocked.

Xiaoxiao had special eyes that could usually see through illusions, but she was certain there was a mountain wall ahead. Why could Wei Jie pass through?

Wei Jie explained: “This Tuyun Mountain was where Nüwa selected earth to create humans. She didn’t want to be disturbed by other deities, so she set up earth barrier boundaries. Any spirit with open wisdom eyes cannot pass through. But she didn’t want the mountain animals to get lost, so birds, insects, and beasts without open wisdom eyes are unaffected. Eyes are the source of illusion. If you believe you can’t pass, then you truly can’t. Close your eyes and follow me.”

After hearing Wei Jie’s explanation, Xiaoxiao and Tang Youshu closed their eyes. This time, they successfully passed through that “mountain wall” following Wei Jie.

After walking for who knows how long, there was a crackling sound – the peach branch in Wei Jie’s hand broke!

When Wei Jie removed the handkerchief and slowly opened his eyes, he found the surroundings were dark and gloomy, with countless shadows seeming to flicker. Under the moonlight, ghostly figures appeared everywhere.

Xiaoxiao also opened her eyes. She could see more clearly and even spotted firefly-like points of light flashing in the forest.

Looking more carefully, she discovered those points of light weren’t fireflies at all – they were… ghostly green eyes!

Just then, Wei Jie cupped his fists and said solemnly: “We didn’t mean to offend you all. We’re just passing through, asking for a drink of water before leaving.”

Hearing his words, a fox slowly emerged from the darkness.

The fox’s fur gleamed white under the moon, even shimmering with a satin-like luster. Its fox tail was split into two, floating high and elegantly.

This fox was Yu Ling’er’s true form. When strange guests visited the mountain, she brought her clan members to investigate.

Earlier, when looking from afar, Yu Ling’er had recognized from their clothing silhouettes that these three intruders were the very man and woman who had been fooling around by the lake during the day.

It seemed these people found the lakeside insufficient for their pleasure and had barged into Tushan, planning to disturb the fox clan’s sacred ground.

They had encountered the fox clan’s maze barriers and gotten lost in the mountains. Yu Ling’er had originally planned to trap them and let them suffer before going back down the mountain.

But unexpectedly, that man in dark clothes had thought of an ingenious trick – using the evil-warding peach branch as a staff and blindfolding himself, he had walked out of the maze step by step, stumbling into the entrance of the mountain fox clan by accident.

How could outsiders casually enter the fox clan’s forbidden grounds? So Yu Ling’er came in the clan chief’s name to intercept the three intruders.

She hadn’t seen Wei Jie’s appearance before. Only when Wei Jie removed his blindfold did she see his bewitching features.

Both male and female fox clan members were extremely handsome and full of charm – Yu Ling’er was used to seeing such beauty.

But this man, who had suddenly intruded, besides his handsome face, had light purple eyes that revealed a soul-piercing magic. That tall, evil, and charming temperament was completely different from the delicate fox clan men, and even more different from her benefactor Qin Lingxiao’s gentle and refined aura.

So the saying “love at first sight spans a thousand years” was real.

Yu Ling’er didn’t know why, but instinctively felt her heart flutter slightly. However, when she remembered the scene of this man shamelessly engaging in sexual pleasure during the day, she immediately sobered up.

No matter how charming this man was, he was still a vulgar person. The fox clan didn’t easily fall in love, but when they did, they loved deeply. They most despised promiscuous men.

Thinking this, Yu Ling’er maintained her fox form and said coldly to Wei Jie: “This is not a place you can enter. If you’re smart, leave immediately, or we’ll make sure you die without a burial place.”

If an ordinary person suddenly heard a fox speak, they would surely be scared witless and flee in panic.

But Wei Jie remained composed, cupping his fists and saying: “We came uninvited and have disturbed you. It’s just that my master has been poisoned with a strange toxin and needs the spiritual spring from the fox clan’s sacred ground to suppress the poison. Saving one life is better than building a seven-story pagoda. Since you are all from the immortal cultivation sect, you naturally should build good karma. If you could save my master’s life, I would be eternally grateful.”

His explanation only made things worse. Yu Ling’er’s eyes as she looked back and forth between him and Cui Xiaoxiao became even more surprised and… disgusted!

These promiscuous people were master and disciple? Were they cultivating the art of carnal pleasure? And these master-disciple pairs had their hands shackled together… Did they plan to intimately entangle night and day, never to separate?

Thinking this way, their relationship seemed increasingly filthy and disgusting. How could they deserve to step on the Fox clan’s sacred ground?

With this thought, Yu Ling’er was too lazy to waste words with the visitors. She simply flicked her twin tails, and the clan members hidden in the forest immediately bared their fangs and pounced toward the intruders with swishing tails.

Cui Xiaoxiao had originally thought that, based on the friendship between Wei Jie and the fox girl from two hundred years ago, even if they were strangers now, with good negotiation, asking for a drink of water shouldn’t be a problem.

But she never expected that after the speaking fox saw Wei Jie’s appearance clearly, she looked at him like he was a toad and immediately started fighting without saying a word.

Terrible! The fox that Wei Jie was supposed to save must have met with disaster and didn’t survive! Now the remaining foxes found them displeasing and naturally wanted to bite them!

But they had intruded into others’ forbidden grounds, so they were in the wrong to begin with. Being driven away was normal.

So she quickly called out: “Fox immortals, if you’re unwilling, we’ll naturally leave. Why be so fierce and pounce to bite us?”

But the foxes gradually emerging from the shadows didn’t seem willing to easily let the intruders go, still baring their fangs as they approached.

Xiaoxiao knew if they fought, these foxes would likely be killed or injured. She didn’t want to commit unnecessary killing, so she quickly waved her hand to summon water, preparing to disperse these foxes and then quickly flee down the mountain.

Those foxes had no intention of harming people either. They were just too lazy for words and wanted to quickly scare away the intruders, so though their mouths opened wide, it was mostly posturing.

But unexpectedly, just as the foxes pounced and Xiaoxiao wielded water snakes to defend against their attack, a qi sword suddenly cut through Xiaoxiao’s water wall and struck straight toward Wei Jie’s face.

The qi sword came with fierce momentum, impossible to avoid.

Wei Jie knew he couldn’t dodge while holding Xiaoxiao, and if his evasive movements were too large, Xiaoxiao beside him might also be hit.

In desperation, he had a flash of inspiration and swung the shackles binding him to block the attack.

The impenetrable shackles played their role at this critical moment. With a clang, they barely blocked the qi sword’s fierce assault.

The qi sword’s force was too great. Under the shock, both Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie flew backward and fell to the ground.

Wei Jie landed first, using his body as a cushion to absorb the impact for Xiaoxiao, while Xiaoxiao’s bottom landed right on her disciple.

Unfortunately, the master sat exactly three inches below the dantian, causing Wei Jie to grunt in pain, bite his lips hard, and hold the little girl in his arms tightly.

Hearing his sharp intake of breath, Xiaoxiao knew she might have injured him and quickly got up, supporting his shoulders and asking: “How are you? Are you okay?”

Wei Jie’s handsome face was ashen. He took a deep breath and finally calmed down, but said: “You look quite thin, but your bottom is quite meaty…”

“…”

If they weren’t surrounded by foxes, at a different time, Cui Xiaoxiao would have to wash this guy’s mouth properly!

Unfortunately, this was a confrontation moment, and they still needed to maintain the false friendship between master and disciple. Xiaoxiao smiled without warmth: “Master has been eating ‘too well’ these past days and gained some weight. Sorry about that, disciple…”

What a bastard! He knew she had been fasting these past days and had lost a lot of weight. Where was there any meat?

As for Yu Ling’er, she never expected this master-disciple pair to embrace each other during battle and then speak tenderly with loving gazes, completely ignoring others around them.

The little fox was inexperienced and couldn’t figure out what kind of sect these shameless master and disciple came from. Could they be from the Hehuan Sect?

Just then, a cold male voice said: “Cui Xiaoxiao, I didn’t expect you to fall so low…”

It turned out that Qin Lingxiao, who had been hiding in the shadows, couldn’t stand watching Cui Xiaoxiao and Wei Jie’s embrace and emerged from the dense forest.

The sneak attack qi sword had just been launched by Qin Lingxiao.

Cui Xiaoxiao had originally thought the fox clan’s great hostility toward them was only because they were intruders.

But when Qin Lingxiao appeared, she suddenly had an epiphany.

According to the previous trajectory, Wei Jie should have saved the fox girl and come to Tuyun Mountain to drink from the spiritual spring. But Qin Lingxiao, who shouldn’t be here, had appeared instead.

Looking at how the fox clan showed no wariness toward Young Pavilion Master Qin and treated him as an honored guest!

If Wei Jie’s current life trajectory had changed, was the fox girl he was supposed to save still alive?

Thinking this, Cui Xiaoxiao suddenly raised her voice and called out to the fox pack: “Yu Ling’er, are you well?”

The leading twin-tailed spirit fox suddenly stepped forward two paces, walked to Qin Lingxiao’s side, and asked Cui Xiaoxiao in confusion: “How do you know my name?”

So this twin-tailed fox was Yu Ling’er, who should have been saved by Wei Jie…

Seeing how intimately the fox stood beside Qin Lingxiao, Xiaoxiao suddenly understood everything: This Qin Lingxiao had no shame! Taking advantage of his soul transmigration opportunity, he had stolen Wei Jie’s fortune, replacing Wei Jie in saving the fox girl, and had come to Tuyun Mountain to drink from the spiritual spring!