The Fox Spirit

As they approached the cave's entrance, Xia Ye couldn't say he was very relaxed. With Chu Yuechan taking the lead along with the others, he was smack dab in the middle along with Qing Ning and Qing Huanying. The fact Xiao Heng was walking directly behind them and the Burning Heaven Clan even more so kept him on edge.

'Well, I definitely don't trust this situation. I can only imagine what Xiao Heng will do to me the moment he gets a chance.' As they reached the entrance of the cave, Xia Ye looked down into it. It was extremely dark, although that made navigation only slightly more difficult. But as a strange breeze flowed from the cave, so did the sound.

"What is that?" Quan Ning leaned in, trying to hear what was traveling through the air. Shi Xinya frowned before saying something. "It's music…" Not halting, Chu Yuechan entered the cave with everyone following. The sound was indeed music; it was calm and slow but somehow managed to fill the entire cave at the same time.

Leading deep underground was a series of tunnels. The music seemed as if it was coming from each one. Xiao Heng briefly looked at all of the tunnels before stepping forward with Xiao Sect's disciples. "We shall take this path. The rest of you may do as you wish." He clearly didn't wish to stay around Xia Ye or Qing Huanye any longer than he had to.

Moving silently, Chu Yuechan, along with the three Frozen Cloud Immortal Palace disciples, chose a path as well. The Burning Heaven Clan disciples did the same shortly after leaving only Xia Ye and Qing Huanye's group. "Well all of them are just acting so cheerful." Xia Ye joked as Qing Ning laughed.

"Well, you somehow managed to make two of the four major sects despise you in a matter of days. I still can't believe you managed to do that thing with the lightning. Still gives me chills." Xia Ye sighed as he agreed with Qing Ning in his heart. He had no clue the Nimbus Cloud had such an ability; Sun Wukong never mentioned it before.

'Hey you know you've been pretty quiet since we entered this cave.' Sun Wukong answered him in a wondrous tone. [This music… I've heard it before, yet I can't remember where it came from.] Xia Ye frowned a bit hearing that. Outside of his thoughts, Qing Ning put his hand on his chin. "So which way should we go? The sound is coming from every tunnel, so we're playing a guessing game."

Hearing her brother, Qing Huanying looked to her right towards Xia Ye. "Which way should we go?" Xia Ye was taken back hearing Qing Huanying asking him. "Hmm…" Acting as if he was thinking while conversing with Sun Wukong, he pointed to the tunnel furthest to the left. "Let's try that way." Qing Huanying nodded as she directed the soldiers following behind her.

"Stay vigilant, let's move." They had already been within the mist for nearly two hours. In that time, a lot had happened, and they were on the verge of reaching their goal. At the same time, that meant they had to hurry. Sticking with Qing Ning's group Xia Ye focused on recovering his Qi.

For the next ten minutes, nothing else seemed to change. They all continued walking carefully at a moderate pace. However, noticeably, the music echoing off the cave's walls slowly grew louder. "Look, I think there's an exit up ahead." Mu Jin pointed a hint of light in the distance. Qing Ning was surprised as he turned to Xia Ye.

"Looks like your hunch was right. Man, you're really lucky." Xia Ye chuckled awkwardly as he prepared to answer. "Ya I-" Xia Ye's eyes darted towards the direction they had spotted the light. With a movement of his fingers, Ruyi Jingu Bang flew from him and resized itself. No one knew what was happening as Ruyi Jingu Bang swung itself through the air.

It seemed to hit something as sparks flashed in front of everyone. "What…" Qing Ning looked at the ground in front of them as his eyes widened. Three arrows as long as an adult's arms lay embedded in the nearby ground. Being cultivators, the dark hardly impaired their senses, yet none of them had seen these.

They practically blended into the darkness of the cave. "We need to get out of this area. We'll be sitting ducks if we stay like this." Xia Ye's words resonated with everyone there. Returning Ruyi Jingu Bang to his hand, they all rushed forward, heading towards the light they had seen earlier. The next moment they found themselves in a large underground chamber.

It was large, stretching nearly three hundred meters in every direction. No one could tell where the light was coming from that lit up the area. However, the one thing everyone immediately noticed was that the mist had changed. Outside it was dense and purple however, once they reached the clearing, it seemed to let up.

Yet another change had occurred as now the mist was an even deeper purple than before despite still being easier to see through. "So you've finally come to Sun Wukong. And here I thought I would have to cause even more trouble to get your attention." A smooth and extremely intoxicating voice echoed through the chamber.

Everyone's eyes landed on a woman sitting on a protruding rock on the ground. Her clothes seemed airy, barely sticking to her body yet somehow also showing off every one of her features. With the strange light shining from the roof of the cave chamber, she looked like a jewel on display.

One may almost not even notice her fox-like ears and the whitetail resting on her lap. [Now it makes sense. It was a Yaojing Fox Spirit behind that music. No wonder it sounded so familiar to me.] Xia Ye stared at the woman warily. 'A Yaojing?' In the Fox Spirit's hands was a Guzheng a strung instrument.

"So you're the one who shot at us earlier?" Xia Ye asked her the question with a grievous tone. She gave a seductive smile as she strung the instrument in her hand. "Oh? Please don't tell me the Monkey King is going to lecture me on manners. Not after what you did to me all those years ago."

Xia Ye could tell she was different from the ghosts he had fought before. Although that may not be her real body, not only did she look normal, but her mind was still there as well. "I even took the effort to increase the amount of mist flowing from the gourd. I hoped with every fiber of my being that you would come here Sun Wukong… So I can kill you for what you've done to me."

Her seductive smile was coupled with her true intentions. Playing a melody using the strings of her Guzheng, the sound reverberated through the air. Qing Huanying frowned as she listened to the sound and turned around. "Oh no." The soldiers behind her had their eyes turn dull. As if they were mindless, they seemed to sway to the sound of her instrument.

Looking at them, she quickly turned to look at Qing Ning. "Cover your ears the music is-" She was cut off from speaking as she saw Qing Ning had his entire body swaying as well. Turning her head, she saw her advisors, including Mu Jin, had also been affected. "What is this..." She had never seen a Hypnosis-like technique so effective.

Even Earth Profound Realm Cultivators can do nothing against it. "It's too late to try and free them. The moment their lust for me infected their minds they were trapped. They shall remain that way living in the bliss of my musical illusions." Both Qing Huanying and Xia Ye were the only ones who seemed not to be affected.

"What a shame this ability doesn't work on women. But that's fine, Ill kill her first and then deal with you Sun Wukong." Qing Huanying's face changed after hearing the name Sun Wukong again. "I'm afraid you're mistaken. I am not Sun Wukong." The Fox Spirit let out a laugh as she replied.

"Trying to trick me without even changing your form? My senses do not lie to me. Although I am not sure why you're so much weaker than you were then I wouldn't forget. I memorized your Qi the moment you sealed me in that accursed gourd. My hate for you has allowed me to stay sane for all these years. And it's what I'll use to kill you as well."

Xia Ye could see the hate buried within the Fox Spirit's eyes as he shook his head. "As I said, you're mistaken. I am not Sun Wukong but he is my Master. The person you wish to kill is already dead." Listening to the conversation between Xia Ye and the Fox Spirit Qing Huanying felt like she had a realization.

'I thought something was strange about him coming here by himself now it makes sense. He's here on a mission from his master. Maybe the artifact is related to him? Or possibly even belongs to this Sun Wukong person.' That still left a few questions lingering in her mind, however.

"Dead?" The Fox Spirit's face showed visible confusion, but slowly a smile began to spread. "I see… Now it makes sense why he never came to collect his precious gourd. To think the one who claimed to be The Great Sage Equal To Heaven would spend his last moments training such a weak disciple."

Her laugh's grew wild as they echoed through the cave. Swinging her arm, Xia Ye saw something appear within her hands. Hanging from a rope tied around it was a gourd that seemed to be a mix of dark purple and red. "You were after this weren't you? Hehe, I wonder if you'll even be able to take it from me."

She elegantly took a step back before jumping into the air. There she seemed to freeze as if she was standing in the air itself. "Perhaps this is better. With Sun Wukong not being here, there is no one to stop me. I can use the gourd for my leisure and let it engulf this world. As long as I have it I can rule however I wish. Everyone will know of the name Xun Rong."

Her eyes seemed to gleam as her smirk widened, and her eyes fell onto Xia Ye and Qing Huanying. "But first the Student must pay for the sins of his Master. Yes… I won't kill you, instead, I'll make you into one of my most loyal slaves. Sun Wukong will surely turn in his grave and with that, I'll take everything he's given to you."

Violently she strung her Guzheng. Materializing from her fingers as they touched the strings were arrows made purely of Qi. They flew fast and cut through the air. "Xae Ye have you recovered enough to fight?" Qing Huanying asked this question quickly as Xia Ye gave her an uncertain look.

"I can manage but not for long." Qing Huanying nodded. "Enough to use that strange cloud to escape?" Xia Ye shook his head. "If I have to take all of them with me then no. Besides, she'll most definitely follow us. That barrier of yours won't be able to hold her back if she really wants us dead." If she was someone from Sun Wukong's world, then even weakened, she was stronger than them.

Considering Xia Ye was the only one who knew what was truly happening, Qing Huanying took his word for it. "I see so that means we're going to have to fight her." Taking a heavy step forward, she flew towards the four incoming arrows. Her blade was fluid as it struck each one with enough force to vibrate the air. All of them flew in different directions hitting the walls and floors.

Anything they came into contact with immediately seemed to shatter as if it was brittle wood. "Then I'm going to have to rely on your help." Xia Ye sighed before nodded hearing Qing Huanying's words before moving. "Well, this is going to be difficult." Using Somersaulting Cloud Xia Ye's speed increased as he ran towards one of the nearby walls.

Jumping to nearly half of the height Xun Rong was when he used the wall as a platform. Springboarding off of it he flew straight towards Xun Rong in the air. "Let's see what that blasted monkey has taught you." Raising Ruyi Jingu Bang into the air Xia Ye swung it down at full force. Plucking her Guzheng wave of Qi acting as a barrier protruded itself from her body.

Both sides clashed creating a hurricane of powers that twisted through the air. 'Crap she's strong… Even though both using Qi her's is much stronger than mine.' He had already raised Ruyi Jingu Bang's weight to the max he could handle.

Yet even then the repelling force he was experiencing was overwhelming. Raising her hand, Xun Rong had prepared to attack once more. However, her actions stopped as Qing Huanying appeared at her side. With no hesitation, she slashed towards Xun Rong. "Hmph!" Plucking her Guzheng once more yet another barrier appeared beside her.

Releasing three restless slashes white Profound Energy struck them like water hitting glass. "Xia Ye move!" Qing Huanying sent out a warning as she took a step back. Xia Ye did not question what she had said and quickly launched himself off the barrier landing on the ground. Up above Qing Huanying swiftly reached for her other sword.

Wielding a sword in each hand they left a trail of white through the air as she attacked once more. "Heh, you really think you can get through my barrier after all your other attacks failed?" Qing Huanying looked at Xun Rong as she initiated her attack. "Yes, we do." Xun Rong's eyes quickly darted to Xia Ye who has utilized the 72 Earth Transformations.

"The White Tiger of the West?" Her eyes grew as Xia Ye released a blast of white energy from his mouth. It ruptured the air as Xun Rong's attention left Qing Huanying for just a moment. "Twilight Heaven!" Her sword left a trail of white through the air forming an X. In an instant that cross grew dozens of times over cutting into both the solid stone roof and ground.

The cross grinded against the Qi barrier in front of it as Xia Ye's attack hit as well. "You little!" Xun Rong glared at the two of them as the two attacks reached their max. Exploding almost simultaneously they combined into one. A blinding sphere-like explosion engulfed the area around Xun Rong in the air.

Landing on the ground next to Xia Ye Qing, Huanying looked at the explosion as the shockwave swept across the ground. "That probably wasn't enough." Xia Ye reverted back into his normal form panting. "I know… If she was someone who fought Su- I mean my master when she was alive then even now she's too much for us to handle." Qing Huanying looked at him interestingly.

"So I'm guessing that means you have an idea?" Xia Ye gave an uncertain nod while smiling. "Well yes though it's definitely going to be hard to pull off."