Chapter 1157: A Traitor Within the Fox Clan

Beautiful.

That was Niu Youdao's first thought when he saw the silver fox transform into human form. He could not help sighing inwardly. No wonder even someone like Luo Qiu had fallen for her.

Yin Ji's clear, autumn-water eyes settled on Hei Yun. She smiled faintly. "Little Hei."

Hei Yun looked up. Tears instantly welled in his eyes, and this grown man actually choked up.

Yin Ji drifted down from the couch and raised both hands toward everyone in a supporting gesture. Her voice was gentle and beautiful. "Rise."

Hei Yun and the Elders stood, every one of them so emotional that they were almost unable to speak.

Yin Ji's gaze suddenly sharpened. She looked at her outstretched hand, then raised it and lightly touched her cheek. "Fox Immortal Fruit?"

She looked toward the others as though asking whether they had actually obtained one.

She was plainly surprised. She herself had exhausted every means years ago without managing to obtain such a thing. She had never expected the clansmen beneath her to succeed.

The story was too long to explain in a few words. Hei Yun pointed toward Niu Youdao. "We had his help."

Only then did Yin Ji notice Niu Youdao standing in the corner. She stared at him, clearly remembering him, and blurted, "You?"

Niu Youdao stepped forward and bowed. "Niu Youdao greets the Old Clan Chief."

"Niu Youdao?" Yin Ji looked puzzled, then asked the others, "Who is he?"

Hei Yun said, "Clan Chief, he is Shang Song's disciple."

"Shang Song's disciple?" Surprise filled Yin Ji's face. She studied Niu Youdao for a while before slowly nodding. "Yes. I remember now. When you neutralized my strike, you used Shang Song's Qiankun Art. I exchanged blows with Shang Song when I first met him. I would not mistake it. Where is your master now?"

That question was awkward. Niu Youdao rubbed his nose.

Hei Yun immediately explained in his place. "Clan Chief, he has never met Shang Song either. He is a successor Shang Song arranged across the generations in the Butterfly Dream Illusory Realm..." He proceeded to repeat to Yin Ji the entire story Niu Youdao had once used to fool them.

"So that's how it was. Yin Die'er did not leave with the husband and wife after all. She was imprisoned inside the Butterfly Dream Illusory Realm." Yin Ji looked as though waking from a long dream. She then asked Niu Youdao, "How is Yin Die'er now?"

Niu Youdao fell silent for a moment, then shook his head. "Not very well. The moment she reveals her true form, she immediately recognizes no kin or friend. Under pressure from the Nine Saints, I didn't dare keep her with me, so I had no choice but to send her back to the Butterfly Dream Illusory Realm. I don't know what condition she's in now."

"But I suspect trouble will come sooner or later. After the entrance to the Butterfly Dream Illusory Realm became impossible to close, the Nine Saints ordered Myriad Beasts Sect to expand the planting of Light-Repelling Grass inside, intending to nibble away at the realm and occupy it. As the controlled territory expands, the cultivation world will eventually run into her. The consequences are easy to imagine."

"Ah." Yin Ji sighed and nodded. "Yin Die'er did have that problem. Shang Song constantly had to use his arts to dissolve the alien demonic qi inside her before she could remain normal. Yes... Shang Song disappeared first. Li Ge searched everywhere and could not find him. With Shang Song gone, Li Ge could not suppress the alien demonic qi inside Yin Die'er for long either. That must have been why Li Ge imprisoned her within the great formation. Later, Li Ge disappeared as well, and Yin Die'er remained confined for several hundred years..."

Her expression was filled with sorrow and nostalgia.

Niu Youdao nodded slightly. After speaking with the Fox Clan before, he had already guessed as much.

Once Yin Ji recovered from her thoughts, curiosity returned. "How did you get the Fox Immortal Fruits out of the Nine Saints' hands?"

That truly was a long story.

Niu Youdao let the Fox Clan, eager to speak with their newly recovered Old Clan Chief, explain it gradually. He stood to the side and listened, occasionally adding a sentence or two.

Once the cause and course of events had been explained, everyone escorted Yin Ji into the secret chamber and opened the jade case for her to see the remaining eleven Fox Immortal Fruits.

Yin Ji reached into the case and touched them for a while, her expression deeply complicated. "In the past there were more fruit trees than one could count and more Fox Immortal Fruits than we could ever finish eating. Later, only twelve remained, and the Nine Saints guarded them so tightly that outsiders could barely see one, much less touch one. I never imagined all twelve would actually be stolen by you."

She gave a rueful smile. "I wonder what the Nine Saints will think when they find out."

Then she turned to Niu Youdao. "What do you plan to do with these fruits?"

Niu Youdao asked, "You're letting me decide what to do with all of them?"

Yin Ji said, "Wuliang Fruits are neither indispensable nor particularly important to the Fox Clan. In the old days, we truly treated them as nothing more than a special kind of fruit. Who would have imagined they would nearly bring extermination upon our clan?"

"For the Fox Clan, what difference does it really make whether we possess human form or fox form? From what Little Hei and the others have told me, these things will be more useful in your hands than ours. Take them."

Niu Youdao cupped his hands in thanks. "I truly do have great use for them. To oppose the Nine Saints, I genuinely need these fruits. Thank you for granting them to me, Old Clan Chief."

"There is no need to be polite. The Fox Clan helped you because we hope to receive something in return." Yin Ji spoke frankly. "I went to the human world back then precisely because I wanted to find help. Unfortunately, everyone feared the Eight Saints and no one dared rebel. Wu Chang dared, but he harbored ulterior motives."

"You dare rebel as well. I only hope you do not become a second Wu Chang."

Her gaze on Niu Youdao became clear and profound, as though she meant to see straight through his heart.

Niu Youdao was silent for a moment before giving a promise. "Humans and demons walk different paths. If the possibility ever comes, I will make the cultivators of the human world withdraw completely from the Fox Immortal Realm, destroy the passage between the two realms, and return the Fox Immortal Realm to the Fox Clan!"

"Good!" Yin Ji nodded. "I hope you can do it."

Niu Youdao asked, "The Old Clan Chief trusts me that much?"

Yin Ji replied, "It isn't trust. Does the Fox Clan still have another choice? If an opportunity appears, we have to try. At the very least, you still need the Fox Clan right now, so for the time being you won't do anything harmful to us. Isn't that right?"

Niu Youdao reached into the jade case and took out another Wuliang Fruit. He held it toward Yin Ji. "Old Clan Chief, keep this one in reserve."

Yin Ji shook her head and raised a palm in refusal. "Creating one more Nascent Soul Realm expert to resist the Nine Saints would be more useful than giving it to us."

Niu Youdao said, "If we rely on brute force alone, the Nine Saints have cultivated for several hundred years. One fruit more or one fruit less will not change much. If ten Fox Immortal Fruits are not enough to accomplish anything, then this additional one will not change the outcome either."

"Old Clan Chief, don't refuse. Keep it in reserve for the Fox Clan. There is no other meaning behind it. Consider it a small token of goodwill from me."

Yin Ji smiled. "It would be discourteous to refuse such sincerity. Very well. I'll accept it."

She nodded toward Hei Yun.

Hei Yun immediately stepped forward, received the fruit with both hands, and withdrew.

Afterward, Yin Ji and Niu Youdao spoke about many things, and the conversation lasted a long while.

Noticing that Yin Ji was deeply concerned about the situation outside, Niu Youdao suddenly said, "For the time being, it would be best if the Old Clan Chief did not go outside and reveal yourself."

Yin Ji asked, "You expect me to sit by and watch the Nine Saints slaughter the Fox Clan without resisting?"

Niu Youdao said, "Not revealing yourself is precisely what is best for the Fox Clan. You still have a daughter in Luo Qiu's hands. Can you let her go? Can you guarantee Luo Qiu won't use that daughter against you?"

"If that happens, no number of Fox Immortal Fruits may be able to save you. You might even cause more members of the Fox Clan to die for nothing. I believe the Old Clan Chief knows which weighs heavier."

At the mention of her daughter, Yin Ji's expression immediately dimmed.

Hei Yun and the others nearby also became grave, their moods heavy.

Niu Youdao continued, "The fact that your vertical eye has been restored could make Luo Qiu suspect that something happened to the Fox Immortal Fruits. That's only one of my concerns."

"From every sign we've seen, Luo Fangfei doesn't know that you, her mother, even exist. If you suddenly appear, how is she supposed to accept that her mother is a member of the Fox Clan? Can she accept it? Never mind Luo Qiu. How would the other Eight Saints treat her afterward?"

"For now, it would be better not to meet her. Some things can be allowed to develop slowly. There is no need to rush. When the work is done, success comes naturally; when the water arrives, the channel forms. Don't you agree?"

He truly feared that this woman, overwhelmed by longing for her daughter, might be unable to resist sneaking out to see her.

Yin Ji silently nodded. "I understand what you mean."

Niu Youdao cupped his hands. He did not disturb her further and took his leave.

As he departed, Niu Youdao quietly crooked a finger at Hei Yun. Once the two had moved away from the others, he told him, "Help me keep an eye on the Old Clan Chief."

What kind of joke was that? Did he think this was his own house? Hei Yun's eyes bulged as anger rose.

Niu Youdao raised a hand and stopped him before he could erupt. "I don't mean anything else by it. I'm afraid the Old Clan Chief may be unable to resist secretly going to see her daughter. Do you want her to fall into danger again?"

"If Luo Qiu moves against her a second time, it won't be as simple as digging out one vertical eye. Once he learns that removing the eye cannot kill her, he will certainly strike to kill!"

"If you discover that the Old Clan Chief wants to go outside, do everything you can to persuade her. If you truly cannot stop her, you must notify me in time so I can still find some way to remedy the situation."

"Watching the Old Clan Chief is for her own good, not to harm her. Don't tell me you want to see her die?"

Niu Youdao did not want unexpected complications. At the very least, he needed to know before something happened so he could take precautions. He did not want some unforeseen accident to catch him completely unprepared.

Put that way, Hei Yun fell silent. Then he suddenly asked, "You could even get the fruits, and with your relationship with Sha Rulai... can you think of a way to bring Luo Fangfei here?"

Niu Youdao said, "Bringing her here would be easy. And then what? Keep Luo Fangfei tied up here? Would the Old Clan Chief refuse her daughter freedom? What nonsense are you thinking?"

That was true.

Hei Yun nodded. "I understand."

Yet inside, he felt thoroughly strange.

The Fox Clan had always been utterly loyal to the Old Clan Chief. How had he somehow become, in the blink of an eye, a traitor planted inside the Fox Clan by an outsider?

No matter how he thought about it, the whole thing felt bizarre.

...

The sky was black and the night cold.

Shao Pingbo, his temples streaked with gray, stood on a hillside with deep concern in his eyes, gazing toward the faint lights on a distant mountain.

Those lights marked Xiping Pass.

A cold night wind swept over him. He raised a fist to his mouth and coughed twice.

Shao Sansheng came over, shook out a cloak, and draped it over his shoulders. "Eldest Young Master, it's late. The night is cold. You should rest early."

Shao Pingbo said slowly, "Yin Chu's army will arrive by tomorrow night at the latest. The great battle that will decide the fate of three states is about to begin."

Shao Sansheng replied, "Yes."

Shao Pingbo lifted one hand in a small gesture.

Understanding at once, Shao Sansheng quickly left. Before long, he returned with one of the Blackwater Terrace men in charge of the operation.

"My lord." The man saluted.

Shao Pingbo asked, "How are the people we sent into Xiping Pass?"

The man replied, "Our scouts there report three times every day. So far everything is normal. It is all within my lord's expectations, with no unexpected developments."

Shao Pingbo asked, "Do you know why I placed the people there but have deliberately held back from acting?"

At that, the Blackwater Terrace man's gaze toward Shao Pingbo carried a trace of awe.

Blackwater Terrace had botched something as important as Xiping Pass, provoking the Jin emperor's fury. Yet this man had arrived and immediately displayed extraordinary ability. With one move, he had struck directly at Xiping Pass commander Chen Changgong's fatal weakness.

Chen Changgong, fickle and wavering as he was, probably could not even dream of what was waiting for him.

The man answered respectfully, "I understand. My lord doesn't want to give Chen Changgong another chance to change his mind. Once we show our hand, he will no longer have time to consider anything else."

Shao Pingbo said, "Good that you understand. The time is about right. Notify the people there. Tomorrow morning, they can show Chen Changgong our hand."

[End of Chapter 1157]