Bachelor [EN]: Chapter 333

334. The Appearance of the Fox

For an hour, nothing happened.

Kyu Hwan grew restless just standing still on his magical artifact. He glanced at Senior Brother Wang, wanting to ask what was going on, but then he held his tongue.

Another half hour passed, and as the impatience of the Qi Refining disciples reached its peak, Han Li, who had been motionless on his magical artifact, subtly turned his gaze towards a nearby thicket.

Just as Kyu Hwan was about to speak, unable to hold back any longer, Han Li’s voice transmission echoed in his ears.

“The fox is hiding in the western thicket, so we must be quiet.”

Startled by those words, he immediately shut his mouth and turned his eyes to the west. The other three had clearly heard Han Li’s voice transmission as well.

At first, they were all surprised and looked in the same direction, but when they couldn’t find anything unusual, they became increasingly suspicious.

After a short while, a snow-white fox, about a foot in size, slowly walked out. With each step, the fox turned its head this way and that, looking around, and its appearance was quite lovely.

The white fox, seemingly unaware of the five cultivators in the sky, moved more boldly. Its blue-green eyes were fixed solely on the Yellow Essence [a type of spiritual herb], and it moved its four legs, approaching lightly.

“……?”

However, when the fox was about ten feet away from the Yellow Essence, it sniffed with its pink nose and suddenly stopped moving. It seemed to have noticed something strange.

At that moment, Senior Brother Wang’s shout was heard.

“Now!”

Without delay, Han Li and the others chanted incantations and threw the formation artifact. Then, five colors burst forth, instantly enveloping the ground. Yellow mist billowed out from within, forming the Five Elements Bewildering Formation [a type of magical formation].

As the mist billowed out, the fox realized it had fallen into a trap.

It frantically twisted its body, diving into the mist as if trying to find a way out. Nevertheless, Senior Brother Wang and the others in the sky were not at all anxious.

They knew that once inside the illusion formation, one would become dizzy and lose their sense of direction, circling in place. Their plan was simply to wait until the fox was exhausted and then capture it alive. Everyone’s faces brightened, thinking that their plan had already succeeded.

The small fox ran around in the mist for a while, then dropped its head to the ground and did not get up again. Kyu Hwan and the others were surprised and looked at each other, but Senior Brother Wang calmed them down with a cautious expression.

“Now is not the time to release the formation. The Five Elements Bewildering Formation only traps the enemy and has no ability to harm them, so Junior Brother Ma, go down and see what’s going on. The fox is probably pretending to be dead.”

Reassured by those words, the small, plump one among the three immediately went down. However, Han Li merely curled the corners of his lips, thinking about something else.

Junior Brother Ma was faster than his appearance suggested, quickly reaching the small fox.

He grabbed the white tail and shook it a few times, but it didn’t move, as if it were dead. Then, he put his ear to the fox’s body and, even more flustered, shouted upwards.

“Senior brothers, come down quickly! Its body is cold, and its heart isn’t beating. It really seems dead.”

“That can’t be!”

Senior Brother Wang’s expression changed, and Kyu Hwan said anxiously.

“Since we can’t maintain the formation for long with our spiritual power anyway, let’s dismantle the barrier and go down.”

The sallow-faced Xi cultivator didn’t say anything, but his expression was full of worry. After all, low-level demonic beasts were not worth much if they were dead.

After hesitating, Senior Brother Wang finally agreed.

“Then, since Junior Brother Ma has already caught the demonic beast, let’s dismantle the barrier.”

Even after hearing those words, Han Li only rubbed his chin and did not object.

After a while, everyone chanted incantations and extended their fingers, and the yellow mist dissipated, returning each of their formation artifacts to their hands. The short young man who had appeared was just putting his finger to the fox’s nose, checking if it was breathing.

Everyone went down towards the fox with worried faces, but Han Li remained floating in the air, watching the fox with a strange gaze.

Before Senior Brother Wang and the others could descend, the short young man took his finger away from the fox’s nose and shouted.

“Damn it, it’s not breathing. It really seems dead. What a waste of effort!”

He looked at the three who were coming down with a blank expression, about to say something, when Senior Brother Wang’s expression suddenly changed.

“Be careful!”

“The fox is alive!”

“It was pretending to be dead!”

“……!”

The short Junior Brother Ma quickly emitted light from one hand. Then, a white talisman appeared at his fingertip and flew quickly towards the fox.

However, before the talisman could reach it, a tearing pain was transmitted from the palm of his hand that was holding the fox.

“Agh!”

Due to the sudden pain, he released his grip, and the fox landed softly on the ground. The tail fur of the Snowcloud Fox, which had looked so cute, had transformed into long needles, piercing Junior Brother Ma’s hand.

“Tsk!”

The other three cultivators who were descending were enraged and immediately rushed towards the demonic beast. However, the Snowcloud Fox, having barely regained its freedom, leaped up in an instant, turning into a white shadow and escaping about ten feet away.

Leap! Leap!

The Snowcloud Fox leaped a few times and then jumped into a pile of bushes. As the situation became urgent, Senior Brother Wang and the others quickly surrounded the bushes like the wind and began searching, each taking out their magical artifacts.

Ultimately, all they found was a pile of rocks inside the bushes. Kyu Hwan was the first to regain his senses and looked up at the sky, asking in surprise.

“Huh? Where did Junior Brother Han go?”

Only then did the others realize that Han Li was flying away rapidly on his magical artifact. Everyone was dumbfounded when Han Li’s voice transmission was heard.

“I saw the demonic beast hiding underground and escaping, so I’m chasing it. As soon as it comes above ground, I will capture it immediately.”

His voice faded, and Han Li’s figure gradually disappeared towards the outskirts of the swamp. Senior Brother Wang’s face brightened at Han Li’s words, and he quickly called the other senior brothers to follow him.

While following Han Li, Senior Brother Wang did not forget to ask Junior Brother Ma.

“Junior Brother Ma, is your hand alright?”

“Fortunately, there’s no poison in the fur, so I’m just injured. I’m fine.”

Having lost the Snowcloud Fox that they had almost captured due to his mistake, he mumbled with a shameful expression.

“It’s a relief that you’re alright. Then, let’s hurry! I don’t know what kind of magical artifact Junior Brother Han is using to track the demonic beast that hid underground, but we must join him quickly.”

Senior Brother Wang said, forcing a smile, and Kyu Hwan also turned his head and said, as if to comfort him.

“The evolved Snowcloud Fox’s spirit is amazing! I was really surprised that Junior Brother Ma couldn’t tell it was pretending to be dead.”

Junior Brother Ma’s face flushed red at his junior brother’s words. It was fortunate that Senior Brother Wang had spoken up for him at the right time.

“It’s not entirely Junior Brother Ma’s fault. Even I would have been helpless in that situation. It’s just that the Snowcloud Fox is too cunning.”

While the three were talking, the sallow-faced Xi youth, who had been focused solely on following Han Li, shouted as if he had seen something strange.

“Everyone, look! H-Han Junior Brother went into the stone wall! Now… what do we do now?”

Everyone was surprised by those words and stared ahead.

They had already flown hundreds of feet and reached the outskirts of the swamp when suddenly a huge mountain, whose peak could not be seen, appeared towering before them. A sharp, black cliff blocked their path.

And Han Li, who had been visible just a moment ago, had disappeared without a trace. The four junior brothers who had been following him were at a loss, stopping in front of the cliff.

* * *

At that time, Han Li was indeed inside the cliff, as the Xi youth had said.

Holding the Wolf Head Jade Pendant in his hand, he emitted a faint yellow light from his entire body, and a yellow wolf, several feet in size, used earth escape techniques to open a path.

The rocks touched by the wolf’s spirit, which was transformed from the pendant’s energy, instantly turned intangible. Han Li, who was calmly following behind, had a very strange expression.

His consciousness was focused on the white light that was desperately fleeing dozens of feet below, which was the fox demonic beast that had just escaped.

The Snowcloud Fox’s act of pretending to be dead, or its method of using earth escape techniques along the thin veins of rock within the bushes, could not deceive Han Li’s eyes, which possessed a powerful consciousness.

However, what had caught his attention was the strange energy that had appeared after the Snowcloud Fox had revealed its true colors. He felt a familiar spiritual energy wave from the demonic beast’s body!

Surprised, Han Li delved into his memories and realized that he felt the same clear spiritual energy from the fox’s body as he had from the white rabbit, which was the incarnation of the Fire Valley Spirit Ginseng [a rare and powerful herb].

Using his consciousness to thoroughly penetrate the Snowcloud Fox’s body, his doubts grew even more.

The demonic beast’s clear energy was so faint that it was like the difference between heaven and earth compared to the incarnation of the Nine-Bend Spirit Ginseng. Moreover, no matter how he looked, it was a being with a physical body made of flesh and blood.

Otherwise, a mere Five Elements Bewildering Formation could not have trapped an illusion-like incarnation. Although the small demonic beast was not an incarnation transformed from the energy of a heaven and earth spirit, Han Li’s curiosity was piqued.

The fact that an ordinary beast had evolved into a demonic beast must have been related to this clear energy. To find out the whole story, he had waited quietly while the Snowcloud Fox deceived Kyu Hwan and the others, and then followed it.

Upon discovering this cliff, the Snowcloud Fox had not hesitated at all, turning into a white light and seeping inside. Han Li, who had been secretly following behind, had also taken out the Wolf Head Jade Pendant without hesitation and used the earth attribute of the ancient treasure to follow.

Using his flying sword to cut through the cliff would only have alerted the demonic beast.

The huge mountain was indeed quite large, as it took him hundreds of feet of secretly following before he felt the white light flicker and jump out into a closed stone chamber-like space.

Han Li curled the corners of his lips and urged the wolf of the jade pendant to increase its speed. He planned to first spread his consciousness and thoroughly examine the inside of the stone chamber. However, as soon as his consciousness approached the stone chamber, it was repelled by a strange rebound force.

‘What is this?’

Han Li slowed down, increasing his vigilance. In an instant, his body stiffened, and a pressure like a mountain and a calm voice were transmitted.

“Since you’ve come, don’t hesitate. Or are you waiting for me to personally greet you?”

As soon as the voice was heard, Han Li emitted a yellow light and was pushed into the stone chamber by a huge force.

Alarmed, Han Li fiercely swung the jade pendant, and a red and yellow light barrier enveloped his entire body. From his mouth, a dozen blue lights shot out, rapidly circling around him.

Only after taking these minimal precautions was he able to look around.

Without Han Li having to search hard, the owner of the voice was sitting on a stone platform about ten feet away. Surprisingly, it was a young woman dressed in simple black clothing, with her hair tied up with a plain wooden hairpin.

She had a beautiful appearance, but her complexion looked pale, and half of her face was covered with a silk cloth. However, what caught his attention was not her face but the fact that one of her sleeves was empty. The woman was missing an arm.

Before Han Li could open his mouth, the woman looked at his flying sword magic treasure and showed an interested gaze.

“You’re not a Qi Refining cultivator but a Core Formation cultivator [a higher level of cultivation]. Tsk tsk, your method of concealing your Qi is so strange that even this old woman was almost deceived.”

On her lap, where she was sitting cross-legged, the Snowcloud Fox, which had been chased until just now, was sitting comfortably, looking at him with a curious gaze.

# 335