Chapter 172 ：Consecutive Clearances

"Menglong, what are you doing?" Zhao Linger looked at the struggling and howling little fox in Li Nianlong's hand, feeling sorry for it, immediately reached out her hand, wanting to take the little fox away.

Li Nianlong held the little fox high in his hand, out of Zhao Linger's reach. "Don't take it. This little fox is a monster."

"A monster!?" Zhao Linger stopped, while Lin Yueru looked at the little fox alertly. The little fox continued to struggle fiercely.

"Didn't Yueru say there's another fox demon here?" Li Nianlong looked at the little fox in his hand. "This is also a fox."

"Could it be..." Zhao Linger and Lin Yueru's hearts stirred. Looking at this spirited little fox, Zhao Linger, with her keen perception, changed her expression. "It... it does indeed have a demonic aura."

Since Zhao Linger said so, Lin Yueru was even more convinced. She raised her sword. "Let me kill it, Brother Liu!"

Seeing Lin Yueru wanting to kill her, the little fox's eyes suddenly flashed with a look of resentment, but Li Nianlong just smiled faintly. "No need to rush to kill it." After saying that, Li Nianlong tapped a few points on the little fox's body. The little fox's body stiffened, its eyes lost their luster, and it died.

"...?"

Lin Yueru looked at Li Nianlong with an interesting expression. "Brother Liu, didn't you say not to rush to kill it?"

"I did." Li Nianlong threw the little fox into the item space, as the space could only contain inanimate objects. "I just stimulated its acupoints, causing a false death. Now, I won't kill it yet, just feel that it might be useful in the future."

"Where did the little fox go?" Lin Yueru and Zhao Linger were startled.

Li Nianlong chuckled. "Let's not worry about such trivial matters. Now, only the fox demon is left. Let's go!"

Looking at Li Nianlong, not only Lin Yueru, but even Zhao Linger felt he was becoming more and more mysterious.

Shortly after, the three found a mature and charming fox demon in a magnificent palace.

At the first sight of the fox demon, Li Nianlong was struck by her seductiveness. This was indeed a true fox demon! Not needing to make any moves or give any glances, she could make a man lose his mind.

When the two girls noticed Li Nianlong's reaction, their hearts were filled with jealousy. They exchanged glances, without saying a word, and rushed towards the fox demon.

The fox demon's combat power wasn't strong; her strength lay in illusion arts. If it were just Lin Yueru alone, she would have been easily defeated by the fox demon. But unfortunately for her, Lin Yueru had Zhao Linger by her side.

Zhao Linger excelled in various spells, especially those for dealing with various negative effects. The Ice Heart Sutra could dispel negative effects, and the Pure Clothing Spell could detoxify. These two spells directly dispelled the fox demon's illusions, and in the end, she was pierced through the heart by Lin Yueru's sword, dying with regret.

"Quest completed. Reward: 21,000 experience points."

Back at the training ground, Li Nianlong shook his head helplessly. "Women's jealousy is truly terrifying. I actually wanted to tame that fox demon."

Qingteng giggled. "It's a pity. But isn't the host most eager to tame Su Mei?"

"You saw through it." Li Nianlong smiled faintly, sighing lightly. "Unfortunately, her parents were both killed by me. This grudge is probably irreconcilable."

"There's no other way." Qingteng sat on Li Nianlong's shoulder. "The host doesn't need to feel regretful. After all, it's just a virtual world that can't be brought into reality. Just think of it as making a mistake while playing a game and losing a pet."

"That's the only way." Li Nianlong nodded, suddenly remembering something. He immediately opened his item space and found that the little fox Su Mei was missing.

"This..."

Qingteng chuckled. "Didn't we say it before! Nothing in the Immortal Sword world can be brought out. Now, it seems that Su Mei must have escaped. She will continue along her path to becoming the female protagonist of Immortal Sword II."

"It's such a pity. I really liked Su Mei's character." Li Nianlong regretted and blamed himself.

"Let it go! It's already impossible."

As Qingteng said, after a day passed, Li Nianlong entered the 29th level's fifth scene and found that Ling'er was missing.

A long memory rushed into his mind, and Li Nianlong's face immediately turned ugly.

After solving the Red Ghost King, the three returned to Baihe Village to report the good news, only to hear the news that Han Mengci had been taken away by Elder Shi. Unable to do anything, the three immediately rushed to Guinyin Mountain to rescue her. Originally, Elder Shi couldn't beat Li Nianlong, but he threatened him with Han Mengci's life.

Although Li Nianlong was very angry, he didn't want to exchange Zhao Linger's life for hers. At a critical moment, Zhao Linger herself stepped forward, bidding farewell to Li Nianlong with tears in her eyes, and followed Elder Shi away. At this time, he and Lin Yueru were chasing after Elder Shi and entering Yangzhou City.

"Solve the problem of Yangzhou bandits and leave Hama Mountain."

The difficulty of this level didn't seem too high. To solve the problem of Yangzhou bandits, they needed to capture Ji Sanniang, and it was easy to leave Hama Mountain, just defeating the Golden Toad Ghost Mother. However, speaking of the Golden Toad Ghost Mother, she was also a pitiful person.

The Golden Toad Ghost Mother, originally named Liu Meiniang, was once a noble lady. She fell in love with a poor scholar, and the two fell deeply in love. At that time, the scholar's family suffered a calamity, leaving only him alive. The scholar asked Liu Meiniang to help him seek revenge. Liu Meiniang's family possessed an ancestral book called the Golden Toad Scripture, which, when cultivated, granted immense power. However, its side effect was to destroy one's appearance. Unable to withstand the scholar's earnest pleading and because of her deep love for him, Liu Meiniang practiced the Golden Toad Scripture. After several months of cultivation, she succeeded and avenged the scholar. But at this time, the scholar, upon seeing her disfigured appearance, found another lover and left her. Unable to bear this blow, Liu Meiniang's temperament changed drastically. Several days later, one night, she found the scholar and his wife and killed them. Since then, she secluded herself in a cave deep in the Toad Valley, accompanied only by the Golden Toad.

To defeat such a woman, Li Nianlong admitted that he couldn't do it. But the task was given to him, so he could only apologize to the Golden Toad Ghost Mother.

When Li Nianlong and Lin Yueru arrived at the inn, it was the same as in the game, with only one room left. Lin Yueru's shy demeanor made Li Nianlong's heart race, but the thought of Zhao Linger being taken away dampened his mood.

"Let's go to sleep early! You take the bed, and I'll make do sleeping on the table," Li Nianlong said in the room.

Lin Yueru felt disappointed. "Stubborn."

"I'm not stubborn," Li Nianlong said with a sigh. "It's just that Linger has just left, and I feel upset. I don't have the mood for these things, and besides... Yueru, we're not married yet. I don't want to tarnish your reputation. When we are truly together in the future, I will definitely not let you go."

These words made Lin Yueru, who grew up in a feudal society, blush deeply, feeling extremely shy. "Brother Liu, you... you really aren't a good person."