Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Nine-Tailed Spirit Fox (Part Two)

Draped in a trailing white gauze gown embroidered with pink lotus flowers, wrapped in a white long robe, the woman before them was none other than Lingxuan, the eldest daughter of the Nine-tailed Fox Immortal. Her jet-black, lustrous hair was styled into a graceful and intricate “Cloud Near Fragrance” bun, adorned with a jade and gold phoenix hairpin nestled in her softly coiled clouds of hair. On her hand, fair as mutton-fat jade, she wore a dark jade thumb ring—the symbol of power in Qingqiu. At her waist hung a lotus jade pendant and a lotus-embroidered sachet, while her feet were shod in white double-lotus boots. Altogether, she radiated an ethereal, enchanting beauty befitting a celestial maiden.

Reclining on the floor was another woman, her appearance slightly deranged, dressed too in white but without any adornment. Her hair was left loose and flowing, her feet bare, yet these dishevelments could not obscure her extraordinary beauty. Her bewitching fox-like eyes could ensnare souls, and her flawless skin was streaked with two never-drying lines of tears. She was Lingxuan’s younger sister, Lingyue.

“Elder sister, he would never deceive me,” the woman in white protested, half-lying on the ground. “He said he’d return to annul that engagement, then come back here to Qingqiu to marry me. He will come! Maybe… maybe he ran into trouble, or something happened to him.” She insisted, as if convincing herself. “No, something must have happened to him. I must go find him…” With these words, she rose and transformed into a pure white fox, darting toward the door.

With a casual gesture, Lingxuan conjured a sealing charm, trapping the little fox. Instantly, the fox reverted to the form of a white-clad woman, tears streaming down her jade-like cheeks—each drop crimson as blood as it hit the floor. The sound of her ceaseless weeping filled the chamber where she had dwelt for two hundred years.

“Lingyue, awaken!” Lingxuan shook her head, voice heavy with sorrow. “Do you know how much your sister’s heart aches for you? For two hundred years… Two hundred years ago, you already knew he only approached you for the blood of the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox. Back then, he abandoned you in the frozen wilds of the Ice-Lotus Realm, took your bloodstone, and left the spirit world. You nearly froze to death. So why… why can’t you let him go? This is your tribulation of love—can you not forget him?”

Lingyue merely shook her head, brows knitted, tears falling without pause.

“Sister, how can love and hate be clearly distinguished?” Lingyue’s voice suddenly seemed lucid, as if she had returned to her senses. “Yes, I must kill him, dig out his heart, and see if it’s black or red! Hahaha…” Her words devolved into peals of manic laughter.

Lingxuan could only close her eyes and shake her head, tears slipping down her cheeks. “Sister, it seems… even the Water of Oblivion is useless for your illness.” With that, she walked out of the room.

As she left, she could hear Lingyue reciting inside, “Heaven above, how many times have the peach blossoms bloomed and faded? And how many times more must Yue’er wander beneath the moon?” Lingxuan could only shake her head at these words.

“Keep an eye on Second Miss,” Lingxuan instructed the maid by her side, sighing as she left.

For two hundred years, ever since Lingyue met that man named Song Shao, everything had changed. The mischievous little sister of old was gone, replaced by a half-crazed, half-dull shadow. The whole affair had been concealed by the Fox Immortal Valley of Qingqiu, and outsiders knew nothing of it.

Lingyue could only leave her chambers in the company of her elder sister Lingxuan and her elder brother Yuanyi. She was forbidden to wear any jewelry, lest she harm herself or others in a moment of distress.

At the inn…

Wu Ming was eating with great relish, his face glistening with duck fat, thoroughly enjoying himself. Baolong squatted on his stool, devouring the other half of the crispy duck, while Yinyue, Xiaomei, and Lingmei were no less vigorous. While the sect leader and Baolong were distracted by the duck, the three women polished off the fruit platters, the beauty-nourishing mutton soup, and the pastries. All that remained were the heavier meat dishes, which the young ladies, mindful of their figures, left untouched.

“Hey… why aren’t you eating anymore?” Baolong asked, gnawing on his duck, drawing Wu Ming’s attention.

“What’s wrong? Is it poisoned?” Wu Ming asked nervously, clearly traumatized by previous incidents.

The three women exchanged glances and laughed. “Sect Leader, we’re full. The rest is all yours; we’re off to rest in the Divine Chamber and take a bath,” Yinyue announced as she stood up and walked out.

“Bathing every day—what’s there to wash?” Baolong muttered, before returning to devour the meat with his sect leader. “Here, Sect Leader, have a drink?” Baolong uncorked the lotus wine.

“Hold it! We have rules—no drinking!” Wu Ming adopted his sect leader manner.

But Baolong just smiled. “Brother Wu, there’s no Daoist sect here, just the two of us. I’m the boss, you’re the employee. Remember? Let’s live as ordinary folk for once. Besides, if we don’t find that thing, wouldn’t it be a waste? Come on, bottoms up!” He poured Wu Ming a cup of lotus wine.

Wu Ming considered it—Baolong had a point. It would be a waste not to drink it. So he raised his cup and joined in. One drink led to another; they called for three more bottles, and the two of them downed four bottles of lotus wine in all. Soon, swaying and staggering, they leaned on each other as they made their way upstairs.

“Sect Leader, where’s my room?” Baolong slurred.

Face flushed, eyes blurry, Wu Ming replied, “Brother, I have no idea. Just pick any room and stay there…”

That made sense to Baolong, so he randomly chose a room, wobbled inside, and collapsed. Wu Ming, meanwhile, turned and promptly vomited while clutching a pillar, then fell asleep at its base.

“Ah… inns in the spirit realm really are something—the environment, the amenities, almost like a five-star hotel,” Baolong mused as he staggered, legs crossing, teetering left and right but somehow never falling. In his daze, he suddenly heard a woman’s voice.

“So quick? Come, let’s bathe together…” As the woman spoke, she slipped off her clothes, revealing tender, flawless skin—a naked beauty standing before Baolong.

“Huh? Bathing? Is this part of the service?” Drunk and befuddled, Baolong didn’t recognize Xiaomei at all. He lurched toward her—

“Ah! Scoundrel!” Xiaomei shrieked. A series of crashes and thuds followed, and Baolong found himself sprawled outside the door.

Lingmei and Yinyue came running at the sound; they had no mercy for Baolong, beating him so thoroughly he had no chance to protest, while Xiaomei sobbed inside.

Whether from the beating or the drink, Baolong felt nothing, falling asleep outside the door.

“Don’t cry, Sister Xiaomei. It’s my fault—I went to fetch a mirror from Lingmei. We’ve taught him a lesson for you,” Yinyue comforted her, gently wiping away her tears.

“He was drinking! And the Sect Leader did nothing!” Lingmei frowned. “Where is the Sect Leader?”

Yinyue suddenly realized, “Right! Where’s the Sect Leader? Baolong does nothing but cause trouble all day, always flattering the Sect Leader.”

“Yinyue, stay with Xiaomei. I’ll find the Sect Leader. This time, Baolong must be expelled from the sect!” Lingmei, furious, stormed out.

Lingmei searched upstairs and downstairs but couldn’t find Wu Ming. Perplexed, she spotted someone lying behind a distant pillar. Curious, she approached, not expecting it to be Wu Ming.

“Oh my! What happened here?” Lingmei nearly retched at the sight—Wu Ming’s face was covered in vomit, and he was snoring away, oblivious to the stench of alcohol.

“You! Get up!” Lingmei shouted, kicking him.

“Hmm? Senior sister, it’s you? Heh… why are you in my room? Let me sleep a bit more…” Wu Ming, reeking of alcohol, waved his hand, flinging half-digested food directly onto Lingmei’s face.

Another scream rang out! Yinyue and a now-dressed Xiaomei rushed out, only to see Lingmei, whip in hand, shaking her head as she dragged Wu Ming over.

Yinyue and Xiaomei stared in stunned disbelief.

“Senior sister, what’s this?” Yinyue asked, dumbfounded.

Lingmei was so angry she could only say, “We need a new sect leader! Expel both of them!” She threw Wu Ming and Baolong together, but the two drunkards merely embraced each other and continued to sleep, oblivious to the women’s fury.

“Senior sister, what happened? How can we expel the Sect Leader?” Yinyue could scarcely believe her eyes. The once-dignified Sect Leader was now a drunken mess.

Xiaomei, her anger cooled, said, “We’d better get them back to their rooms. If anything happens, it’ll be on us.”

“So embarrassing. If he weren’t ill, I’d… sigh…” Lingmei forcibly suppressed her urge to explode. “Tomorrow, when they wake, we’ll convene and discuss—expel them both!”