Chapter Ninety: The Young Lady Emerges

The divine sense slipped into the Medicine Immortal Palace, and the cultivator at the fourth level of Foundation Establishment still had not awakened. Although his physical injuries had already healed completely, it was clear that the final blow he had taken had also dealt serious damage to his soul.

Ten Foundation Establishment first-level cultivators and nine at the second level remained inside. There was no plan to let them go, so Zhou Qi decided to have them work for him for a few years first. He tested the nineteen cultivators for aptitude in pill refining, and in the end nine of them passed. Zhou Qi’s test was very simple: he went easy on them through the early stages, and as long as they managed to refine a pill, they were considered to have passed. After handing those nine over to the three little ones, Zhou Qi left them alone.

The other ten were not suited to pill refining, so they could only serve as muscle. Zhou Qi left them a large pile of spirit stones for cultivation, and the ten men were nearly moved to tears. They had never seen so many spirit stones in their lives. Zhou Qi told them this counted as an advance on their wages, and that if they performed poorly later, it would be deducted from their pay. The ten hurriedly nodded in agreement; even without those spirit stones, they would not dare defy Boss Zhou’s orders.

Three days passed before the duration of Zhou Qi’s illusion art and the little fox’s finally matched up. Only then did Zhou Qi decide to set out. This delay had cost far too much time. If he did not make it back in time, all he could do was collect Huangfu Xiu’s corpse.

In order to catch up, Zhou Qi decided to fly a little higher on his sword. Before, he had been skimming just above the ground; this time he rose to about ten meters, which gave the little fox plenty to laugh about.

"Hey, man, are you even capable? I’m not afraid, so what are you afraid of?" Little Flower mocked when she saw that Zhou Qi was not nearly as fierce as he looked.

Zhou Qi’s face darkened. "Call me daddy."

"You look like that, and you think you can have a daughter as cute as me? If I call you daddy, are you trying to make Sister Nine call you uncle?"

This... only then did Zhou Qi realize where the problem lay. Three adults looking so ugly while bringing along a cute and beautiful little girl—it simply did not make sense. Anyone seeing them would think it was child trafficking. He had originally not cared much about how small the fox girl looked after her transformation, or whether she was pretty, but placed between the three of them, it became a little too awkward.

But they had only just set out. If they stopped now and waited for the next transformation window, who knew how much longer it would take? By then, Huangfu Xiu would truly be cold.

Zhou Qi explained his concerns to the others, and all of them agreed it made sense. One should never underestimate the righteous zeal of overly enthusiastic cultivators. In the end, Little White suggested that the three adults simply pose as Little Flower’s attendants, and then it would make sense.

After thinking it over, Zhou Qi had no choice but to agree. Seeing the three of them decide to pose as her servants, the little fox was overjoyed. "Hey, man, come here and rub my shoulders. I’m a little tired."

Zhou Qi stepped forward with a black face and used just a bit of force. He massaged the little fox until she yelped repeatedly. Seeing that Zhou Qi was not to be trifled with, the little fox quickly changed targets. "Hey, old man, your turn."

Little White walked up with a smiling face and used even more strength than Zhou Qi. Only then did the little fox quiet down and understand one thing: fake was fake. In this four-person team, she was still the weakest one.

The four of them flew onward on their swords without further incident.

At one human town along the way, called Fuan Town, the little fox fussed and demanded to go down for food. She was a first-tier demon beast and had not yet reached the stage where fasting was possible. Zhou Qi only felt that it was a terrible nuisance, but seeing that Sister Nine also seemed tempted, he had no choice but to stop. It would be good to gather some information here as well.

They found a dining house, and the three of them still played the part of Little Flower’s servants.

Little Flower sat down with the bearing of a young lady of a great household, full of swagger and majesty. The moment she took her seat, she declared grandly, "Bring out all your best local specialties. This young lady is hungry, and money is no object."

The waiter was delighted to see such a wealthy customer and cheerfully left at once. He loved guests like this, the kind who ordered nothing specific. Just bring the most expensive dishes, and that would be perfect.

Zhou Qi glanced through the prices with his divine sense and felt his blood rush to his head. His vision even darkened a little. Boneless fish, two hundred low-grade spirit stones apiece; deep-sea spirit shrimp, three hundred per plate; seven-colored brocade chicken, five hundred per bird; Daoist spirit rice, three hundred per bowl...

Was this some kind of shady establishment?

Was Fuan Town really this wealthy?

How could they dare to post prices like that?

Sister Nine and Little White did not feel much, after all, the boss was there, and it would not be them paying. Zhou Qi felt a little regretful. Of all things, why had they chosen to pose as servants? It was awkward for servants to be the ones ordering.

"Young lady, the four of us can’t possibly finish all that!" Zhou Qi warned in a low voice, his tone dark and threatening.

"Oh, right, I forgot about you. Then I’ll just tell the waiter to bring four servings of the same dishes." Little Flower suddenly understood. Seeing the dark look on Zhou Qi’s face, she patted his shoulder with a very old-fashioned air. "Little Zhou, the most important thing in life is happiness. I don’t care about a few spirit stones. Life is like drifting smoke and clouds. Maybe one day it’s all gone anyway. Live in the present, drink today’s wine today. That way, this trip through the human world won’t have been wasted."

"If you keep courting death, I’ll make sure you can’t be a person anymore. I’ll turn you into one of the dishes on the table." Zhou Qi threatened her in a low voice.

The little fox was startled. Her face went pale. In her moment of carelessness, she had forgotten who the true big shot was.

"Ha ha! What this young lady says is exactly to my taste. Drink today’s wine today—well said, well said! We should all toast to that!" a cultivator laughed out loud.

Following the sound, they saw a young Daoist cultivator, dressed as a Taoist priest, handsome beyond measure and radiating a refined grace. His cultivation could not be seen through. There was only a single jar of wine on his table, and at that moment he was lifting a cup from afar toward Little Flower.

Little Flower had just been thoroughly threatened by Zhou Qi and was still frightened. This was also her first time being a human, so when someone raised a cup to her, she had no idea how to respond. She hurriedly looked to Zhou Qi for help.

Zhou Qi had no choice but to reply, "Fellow Daoist, you flatter her. The young lady is only repeating what she heard from her father. She is still young; what life insight could she possibly have? Please do not laugh at her."

"So that is how it is. Then I am sure that gentleman must be an extraordinary man of great talent as well, or else he could not have spoken such golden words." The Daoist offered a flattering smile.

Hearing someone mention her father, Little Flower could not help but interject again. "What my brother says is exactly right. My father is unbeatable when it comes to catching rabbits. As long as he sets his sights on a rabbit, none of them can escape. Everyone says he is amazing."

"Catching rabbits?" The cultivator looked doubtful.

"The young lady means catching demonic beasts. Where we come from, we privately call demonic beasts rabbits. The young lady’s father is righteous and hates evil as though it were his enemy; not a single member of the demon race can escape his hands." Zhou Qi had no choice but to smooth things over for her. He shot her a hard glare. Why was she speaking out of turn for no reason? Who wanted to hear about your fox father catching rabbits?

"Calling the demon race rabbits is rather interesting. May I ask where you all come from?" the cultivator asked.

"Fellow Daoist, forgive us. That is our secret." Zhou Qi did not dare say where they had come from. If the other party had been there before, they would be exposed immediately.

"It was rude of me to ask. Still, calling the demon race rabbits is quite inappropriate. They also have flesh and blood, and they too have feelings. Aside from looking different from humans, they are likewise living beings of heaven and earth, with their own independent dignity. They truly should not be branded with such an insulting name." The Daoist sighed.

Zhou Qi was startled. It was the first time he had ever seen someone speak up for the demon race. He could not help asking, "Fellow Daoist, could it be that you are not a Daoist cultivator after all, and yet you side with the demon race?"