Chapter 30

#I Will Personally Kill You

A chill ran down my spine. I refused to keep lying here like a fish on the chopping block. Forming a hand seal, I rose to my feet as the spiritual energy around me transformed into blades, slicing through the golden net entirely.

With a loud bang, the net snapped apart, scattering threads all over the tent.

Wu Cheng blinked in shock. “That’s a Binding Immortal Net… How… Jiuxia, when did your cultivation improve so much?”

I’ve cultivated as an upper immortal for five hundred years longer than Xiaxia. Even if passing through time and space consumed much of my strength, in terms of mobilizing inner qi on short notice, Xiaxia can’t compare.

I shot Wu Cheng a glance. “I don’t practice the demonic path. This is the last time I’ll say it. Believe it or not—it’s up to you.”

Wu Cheng stood there dumbfounded, seemingly intimidated by my aura, at a loss for how to respond.

I looked toward Jing Nanshou. The broken strands of the net had also scattered across him.

He didn’t get angry. Instead, he calmly removed the strands, dusted his robe, and said in a mild, impartial tone, “The matter of demonic energy is of grave importance. General Fu, please don’t take offense. I’m only acting in accordance with duty. If you truly have no trace of demonic qi, I naturally won’t make things difficult.”

His polite formalities made me sneer coldly, and I retorted mockingly, “Indeed, it is a serious matter. I noticed that Vine-Immortal looked unwell just now—symptoms consistent with conflicting spiritual energy. Many who’ve just entered the demonic path show the same signs. Since you’re so eager to get to the bottom of this, why don’t we both go and present our case before the Queen Mother of the West?”

I threw the demonic suspicion back at him. Wu Cheng was caught completely off guard. Even Jing Nanshou was momentarily stunned.

Arms crossed, I stared him down, thinking: Bet you didn’t see that coming. I even come with prophecy, after all.

If I were truly Xiaxia, maybe I would’ve been intimidated by your lofty immortal title. But guess what? I’m also an upper immortal. And of the three of us here, you’re the one with the real secrets.

This Jing Nanshou, in the future, would devour forty-eight immortals of Kunlun. Judging by his actions just now, it’s clear he already has thoughts about me. Why would I let him probe my inner qi so he can decide whether to flavor me with salt or sugar when he eats me later?

Better to take him to the Queen Mother now, settle it early, and maybe save a few innocent lives while we’re at it.

“What? Immortal, unwilling to go?”

Jing Nanshou fell silent for a beat, then suddenly lowered his head and smiled. “General Fu…”

I was waiting for him to speak, but he unexpectedly vanished into a shadowy blur and reappeared behind me. Alarmed, I raised a hand to block his strike. The moment we clashed, I knew—

Crap. I was done for.

Though he’d only just ascended, and his physique seemed weak, he was still much stronger than I, someone who had just traveled through time.

I can’t win. I have to escape—

I shifted to dodge, but Jing Nanshou’s other hand shot out fast, grabbing my arm.

With a rip, the sleeve of my robe tore, and a searing pain burned across my arm.

I stumbled back, stopping by the tent’s entrance. My back to the flap, I clutched my arm.

He had torn open my flesh, leaving three deep gashes. Even with my hand over the wounds, blood spilled through my fingers and hit the ground with a steady drip drip.

“Im—Immortal!” Wu Cheng hadn’t expected him to strike so suddenly. Seeing me bleed, he panicked. “It hasn’t been confirmed yet! Immortal, you mustn’t—!”

Jing Nanshou didn’t even glance at him. With a flick of his fingers, a wave of energy struck Wu Cheng, and his eyes rolled back as he collapsed, unconscious.

I frowned, but Jing Nanshou showed no concern for Wu Cheng. He casually tossed aside my torn sleeve, then raised his bloodied fingertip and licked it clean.

Disgusted, a chill crawled down my spine.

“General Fu…” He seemed to savor the taste of my blood, then stepped toward me like a predator closing in on prey. “Your inner qi really is… utterly pure.”

I instinctively leaned back in revulsion—only to feel a warm palm press gently to my back, easing the chill.

Without thinking, a name and a face surfaced in my mind—

Xie Zhuo…

I turned my head, only to freeze in surprise.

The man who appeared was all smiles, his lazy charm unmistakable, with a hair tie slipping loosely by his temple. It was the same sly fox worth three premium spirit stones…

“Old Qin?” I stared at him, dumbfounded.

He…

Old Qin had one hand against my back and the other holding his ever-present folding fan. He flipped his hair with the fan, looking a little rushed.

“General Jiuxia,” he greeted me with a smile, then glanced at the man in front of me, then to the unconscious Wu Cheng. “So, internal fights are allowed in the Kunlun Garrison? That would never fly over at Cuihu Terrace.”

I understood immediately—he was here to help me.

After speaking, Old Qin flicked his fan behind him. The tent flap fell to the ground, revealing the inside to the soldiers outside. Some caught sight of Wu Cheng unconscious and began to crowd around, curious.

“Why’s Big Wu passed out?”

“What happened to Jiuxia’s arm? You guys fought? Don’t tell me you really…”

In the face of all those eyes, Jing Nanshou remained calm. “It was I who rendered General Wu unconscious.”

His gentle tone would’ve fooled me too, if I didn’t already know he was a literal man-eater.

“I wanted to inspect General Fu’s qi for traces of demonic energy. She refused, and I… acted rashly. When General Wu tried to stop me, I put him to sleep first. I didn’t expect…”

Jing Nanshou turned his gaze lightly to Old Qin. “Qin Steward of Cuihu Terrace, you’re a businessman and a demon. You’ve always stayed out of Kunlun’s internal affairs. What brings you to the Garrison today, and why meddle in our investigations?”

It sounded polite—but was full of danger.

Old Qin, after all, was from Cuihu Terrace, a place rife with demonic influences and regularly subject to our surprise inspections. Normally he’d avoid the Garrison like plague. That he now came directly into our camp—and interfered in a demonic inspection—was extremely suspicious.

As expected, after Jing Nanshou spoke, the soldiers outside all turned to look at Old Qin.

But the thousand-year-old fox didn’t flinch. He smiled gently. “Just checking for demonic qi, right? And yet Vine-Immortal has already injured General Jiuxia’s arm like this—still haven’t figured it out?”

He pried away the hand I’d been using to cover the wound, revealing the three bloody gashes for all to see.

Grumbling spread among the soldiers.

At Kunlun, we are ruthless against demonic threats—but fiercely protective of our own.

“Vine-Immortal’s first day on duty, and he’s already knocked one person out and injured another…” Old Qin sighed dramatically, fanning the flames with exaggerated dismay. “And this was just to check for a little demonic energy…”

Seeing the rising discontent, I leaned weakly against Old Qin’s arm, playing along. “I think… I’ve lost too much blood… feeling faint…”

Old Qin held me steady, and I supported my forehead with one hand, peeking through my fingers at the head of Jingnan(Vine-Immortal).

He was composed despite being taken down by Old Qin and me in perfect coordination. Not a trace of panic—on the contrary, he even looked somewhat regretful, sighing, “Apologies. I’ve only just ascended and have never handled matters like these. I acted out of impatience.”

What a fine man-eating immortal, huh. No wonder he managed to stay hidden for so long even after devouring so many people in Kunlun. With acting skills like that, who would suspect him?

I nudged Old Qin with my elbow.

Old Qin caught on instantly. “Don’t blame the Immortal. Since there’s no sign of evil aura in General Jiuxia, I’ll take her to rest. As for General Wu, I’ll leave him in your care.”

“Steward Qin…”

Just as Old Qin was about to take me away, the head of Jingnan spoke again in a strange, sarcastic tone. “You haven’t answered my question yet. What are you doing in the Kunlun Defense Army?”

“Oh?” Old Qin turned back, looking at him with the most innocent, sincere expression. “Hasn’t Vine-Immortal figured it out? I came to court General Jiuxia.”

He said it with a straight face, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

“What?” Old Qin feigned surprise. “Are the women in the Kunlun Defense Army not allowed to be courted by outsiders?”

The others in the Defense Army all quietly sucked in a breath and raised their eyebrows—but no one said a word. They only watched silently as Old Qin and I walked away.

I knew he was just putting on a show, so I whispered my praise.

“Not bad. You almost had me believing it myself.”

Old Qin immediately responded, “Then you mustn’t accept my pursuit. I wouldn’t be able to handle it.”

That line was odd. I shot him a glance but didn’t question it.

Once we reached a secluded spot, I pulled away from Old Qin’s arm.

“Thanks for the rescue, thousand-year-old fox.”

Old Qin waved his fan and smiled. “I was entrusted with the task, and I stayed true to it.”

I raised an eyebrow and stared at him, suddenly sensing danger.

“Entrusted by whom? Staying true to whose task? How did you know I was in trouble? Why did you suddenly come save me?” The more I asked, the more wrong it felt. “We’re not that close yet, are we?”

Old Qin kept smiling. But then, as he smiled, he flicked his finger at me—and a spell wrapped around me, binding me in place.

“Someone predicted you’d come looking for me today,” Old Qin said, and a bold suspicion formed in my heart. His next words confirmed it, word for word—

“I had set a trap at Green Lake Platform, waiting for you to walk into it. But then something unexpected happened halfway through, and I was called to come save you.”

Old Qin pointed at his ear.

On his ear was a small white square—it looked nearly identical to the yin-yang fish on my and Xiaxia’s ears!

Damn it…

“Fu Jiuxia,” Old Qin said with a bright smile. But at that moment, it was as if I could see Xie Zhuo’s face behind his, and even his voice morphed into Xie Zhuo’s.

“He wants to see you.”

I immediately turned and jumped, bound as I was, trying to hop away. But I couldn’t get far.

Old Qin grabbed the collar of my coat and lifted me into the air.

With a rush of wind, I was thrown into the cave in the Snow Bamboo Forest.

Inside the dark cave, seated against the wall, who else could it be but my ex-husband, Xie Zhuo!

I gritted my teeth, furious. “Goddammit, Xie Zhuo! You turned my people against me?!”

Xie Zhuo didn’t respond.

Instead, Old Qin answered, “General Jiuxia, you’re mistaken. When was I ever yours?”

I glared at Old Qin. “You helped me last time!”

Old Qin looked confused. “What last time?”

For a moment, I had no way to explain.

All I could do was glare at Xie Zhuo with clenched teeth.

Finally, Xie Zhuo glanced at me—but his gaze went straight to my arm.

He stared for a long time, then turned away. “It was you who inspired me to use him.”

Well then, shouldn’t you thank me?

I kept watching him, afraid he might suddenly pull out the Pangu Axe and drag me five hundred years into the future. So I decided to bluff and scare him a little.

“Xie Zhuo, even if you caught me today, don’t think you can just take me back five hundred years…”

Old Qin interrupted, “He can still take you back five hundred years?”

I stared at Old Qin in shock. What? This old fox knows about the five-hundred-year thing? Did Xie Zhuo really tell this thousand-year-old fox everything?

Xie Zhuo… Since when does he trust people? When did he start asking for help?

As I was once again questioning this sham of a marriage, Old Qin looked at Xie Zhuo and said:

“He’s so injured right now, he can’t even use Windwalking. You think he can wield the Pangu Axe?”

Hearing that, my chaotic and anxious mind finally settled down.

Can’t even use Windwalking…

I looked over at Xie Zhuo. He was still sitting in the same spot as yesterday—not even an inch moved. But blood had seeped from his side, pooling on the ground. It looked like…

The wound had reopened.

“If he could move, he would’ve shown up at the Defense Army camp himself. But he couldn’t. So I went instead.”

Listening to Old Qin, I fell silent.

I could vaguely piece together what Xie Zhuo had done.

It must’ve been to prevent Xiaxia from encountering Xie Xuanqing. So besides secretly informing Wu Cheng, he also sought out Old Qin and, by some means, convinced him to cooperate. He even gave Old Qin a yin-yang fish so they could stay in contact.

Xie Zhuo likely anticipated he’d be badly injured and unable to act for a while—so he asked Old Qin to take care of things, including capturing me.

Previously, when Xie Zhuo had me talk to Xiaxia, it was to learn how I operate. He must’ve deduced I’d go looking for Old Qin again.

So he had Old Qin lay a trap at Green Lake Platform, ready to catch me. But he hadn’t expected me to get into trouble at the Defense Army camp instead.

Sensing my distress through the blood oath, he probably tried to come rescue me—but ended up tearing his wounds open, couldn’t use Windwalking, and had to contact Old Qin through the yin-yang fish to save me…

This ex-husband of mine…

Apparently annoyed at Old Qin’s chattiness, Xie Zhuo glanced at him. “You should leave.”

Old Qin smiled and fanned himself. “I won’t intrude.”

The old fox turned and left.

Leaving me tied up and Xie Zhuo equally immobile.

He sat on one side of the cave. I sat opposite him.

“Didn’t you want to kill me? Why not use that guy’s hand to do it?”

“That’s exactly why I need to break the blood oath. You think I wanted to save you?” He stared at me, bleeding from struggling to rescue me, and growled:

“Fu Jiuxia, when we get back to five hundred years later, I’ll kill you myself.”

I curled my lip. “Oh, shut up already.”