Where are they?

“Urk…”

Hu Mei’s neck was clamped in Shen Xianyue’s grip, suffocation creeping in.

She tried to speak; no sound came.

She tried to struggle; oxygen dwindled, strength fading.

Her claws raked at Shen Xianyue, but an invisible barrier repelled every strike.

She tried to summon spiritual energy; it refused to obey.

Worse, it was draining away at terrifying speed, as if being siphoned.

All because of Shen Xianyue’s natal treasure, the Marriage and Mourning Cord.

She wasn’t absorbing it; just deflating the fox like a punctured balloon.

Hu Mei’s energy was filthy; she wouldn’t touch it.

Cheap for the demon, really.

If her beautiful sister wasn’t waiting, Shen Xianyue would’ve made her suffer.

For what she did; for what she planned to do to Su Wanqing.

She had countless ways to make death feel like mercy.

At full strength, Hu Mei would’ve been a challenge.

But now? Injured, weak; she couldn’t even scratch her.

“You… who… are… you?”

Hu Mei rasped, survival instinct forcing words through a crushed throat.

“Fine. Remember my name.”

“So you know who sent you to hell.”

“Shen Xianyue. Etch it in your soul. It’s the last name you’ll ever hear.”

Her aura was terrifying; more oppressive than even a Nascent Soul like Li Ziyue.

Not spiritual pressure.

Natural dominance.

“You little pest. You really made me change my plans three times.”

“At first, I was just going to kill you quietly.”

“But you dared touch what’s mine.”

“So painless death was off the table. I was going to make you beg.”

“But now? Guess I’ll just end you quick.”

“Sigh. Such a hassle.”

“Spare… me…”

Hu Mei’s voice was a whisper, face turning purple, bloodless.

“Spare you? On what grounds?”

“Someone paid a fortune for your head. Both righteous and demonic paths want you dead. You’re worth a lot.”

“!”

The implication hit Hu Mei like a blade.

All hope vanished.

She stopped struggling.

Accepted death.

In her final moments, a murmur of regret:

“Clan… leader…”

Her last breath left her.

Her human form dissolved in smoke.

What Shen Xianyue held now was a one-meter-long brown fox; lifeless.

Still gripped by the neck.

In human form, the smell was bad.

In true form? Overwhelming.

Fox stench, mixed with blood, decay, and something rotten.

A body didn’t rot that fast after death.

For a cultivator to smell like this; it meant she was rotten to the core.

Shen Xianyue had smelled it before.

Demonic cultivators who gave in to temptation; devoured innocents; lost themselves.

This was why the righteous path despised them.

Demonic qi was fast, powerful.

But the side effects: heart demons, second personalities, berserk madness; endless.

As the current demonic saintess, she was numb to it.

Her parents had died the same way.

The stench triggered memories she didn’t want.

Her grip tightened.

“If not for people like you… ‘she’ and I wouldn’t…”

She stopped.

Others were nearby.

She swallowed the past, face calm again.

From her storage pouch, she took a round artifact.

Extracted the demon core.

Stored the corpse.

She held the core; planning to give it to Su Wanqing as proof.

She’d gotten word the Red Embroidery elder was here to kill Hu Mei.

Seeing Su Wanqing earlier had confused her.

But watching them hunt together; it clicked.

Heavenly Sword Pavilion territory.

Li Ziyue wouldn’t come without coordination.

They’d made a deal.

Without the core, Su Wanqing couldn’t prove the kill.

The body was already hers.

“Beautiful sis—”

She turned, ready to play hero and earn favor.

But the words died.

If this were anime, she’d be petrified.

A crow with “…” overhead would fly by.

The path was empty.

No Su Wanqing.

No little girl.

Just her.

Alone.

Her heart shattered.

She’d heroically saved the day.

By all plot logic, their bond should’ve skyrocketed.

At least a little closer, right?

But…

Where…

Where did they go?!