Flee North

"It finally died," Jasmine muttered.

The massive body of the wangliang no longer stirred or offered any resistance. It remained half-submerged in the ground, still protecting the other demon even in death.

"Did that other one escape?" She looked around and then tried to lift the dead body.

It was way too heavy. She could barely make it budge half a step.

"Hey, watch it!" Chen Wentian complained as he dug out the demon's head.

He summoned the power of the Anatta Soul Nirvana Art to collect the dying soul. He briefly considered taking the risk to meld the soul with his own. The benefit was that he would be able to learn all of its secrets, including its relationship to Qin Shui'er.

But success wasn't guaranteed so he gave up on the idea. It was an unnecessary risk, one that he wasn't dumb enough to take. His blue dragon soul could suppress beast souls but not demon souls or human souls. It would be up to his primary soul to battle the demon soul until a winner emerged.

Melding the soul also wouldn't improve his cultivation by much. He needed to get stronger as quickly as possible. Jasmine's performance during the battle gave him a great sense of pressure. She did at least two-thirds of the damage to that wangliang. She was already at the peak of the Spirit Initiate Realm. She would soon become a Spirit King and he had to keep up.

"Are you done?" Jasmine asked impatiently even though his Dao only took a few seconds.

"I'm done." Chen Wentian replied.

"That water demon probably escaped." She pointed her snout at the river, "Should we try to find it?"

"No point. This turtle withstood our attacks for way too long. She's long gone."

"Well, if you had actually tried harder!"

She slashed at the demon's rocky hide and peppered a few more holes into it to vent her frustration. She had wanted to kill both demons. Now there was still one loose end that could come back to bite them.

"Can we sell the corpse? It's probably worth something to someone?" She asked.

"I don't have a spatial bag big enough. If you are determined to take it with you, I'm not going to help."

"Stingy!"

"Whatever, we should leave now, before unwanted guests show up."

Jasmine nodded and together, they flew away toward the north.

They didn't expect any immortals to arrive for several days but they still had to make a run for it. Jasmine had used too much of her moonlight powers. There would be enough residual spiritual energy for a casual immortal to deduce that this was the result of a rare beast.

Perhaps they would be able to tell that it was a nine-tailed moonlight fox. Perhaps they wouldn't. But people would definitely come to look for her as a rare beast was irresistible to human immortals for many reasons. It might even attract Spirit Kings.

This was why they were retreating north, into the Northern Wasteland. The wasteland was a vast, dangerous region. It was almost as big as the subcontinent and it would take an average Spirit Lord a month to fly to the Martial Brilliance Continent on the other side.

They weren't planning on going that far, only far enough to cover their trail. It was relatively safe for immortals in areas that bordered the subcontinent but anything could happen if they strayed too deep. There could be hidden immortal beasts, slumbering demons, Spirit Kings, perhaps even a Spirit Emperor, or better yet, a divine beast…

Chen Wentian and Jasmine flew directly north through the morning. Around noon, they turned around and traced the same path backward. They stopped above a dense, primordial forest and descended to the ground to travel by foot. This way, they wouldn't leave behind a trail of spiritual energy in the air.

He carried her in his arms so as to not leave behind any paw prints and ran eastward as best as his fat figure could manage. She mostly slept but woke up occasionally to provide unhelpful commentary.

"Are we there yet?"

"I'm hungry. Can we stop for food?"

"I have to go pee!"

If she wasn't so cute and lovable, he would have tied her mouth shut…

At some point, she gave up on her fox form and returned to human form. He didn't have the heart to make her walk and continued to carry her.

"Hey, is there anything interesting around here?" Jasmine asked randomly.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know. Don't you have pretty good luck? Maybe there is a hidden oasis with a long-lost treasure. What about a tomb? Oh! Maybe a dragon! How cool would that be?"

He shook his head, "Interesting things are rare and this place is called a wasteland for a reason. I'm not that lucky. I don't run into random shenanigans every time I go through a brand-new region."

She snorted, "Boring. By the way, when you were first fighting the water demon, why were you calling her wifey this and wifey that. Are you developing strange tastes in women? Am I not enough for you anymore? Are demons on the menu now?"

She stared up at him with an accusing expression.

"What? No! I was just playing the character of the disguise!"

"Uh-huh…" She replied, not believing him.

"Really!" He protested, "Immortal Sword Bandit Lin Huzhong is a lawless bandit that never cares about rules or propriety. He does whatever he wants, whenever he wants. This includes harassing beautiful women and when the opportunity arises, sexy demons."

"So that means you did it with those five sluts in your room?"

"You know I didn't. You knew exactly what was happening at every moment."

"Uh-huh… maybe you had Momo lie to me."

"I won't. I'm not a scoundrel."

"Yes, you are!"

Chen Wentian stared down at her smug little face and a devious idea popped to the forefront. Since she insisted that he was a scoundrel, he might as well act the part.

She was still in his arms, her small body pressed against him. He was holding her torso up with one arm while the other was carrying her legs. She was only wearing a thin gown with no underwear and this gave him an opportunity.

He subtly drew out a bit of spiritual energy to support her legs. With his right hand now free, he burrowed past the hem of her dress and rubbed her thigh. His mischievous hand slid across her smooth skin and landed on her perky butt. He gave her a squeeze, then another. She felt amazing in his palm, bouncy and soft.

Her mouth turned into a frown but she didn't say anything. Her eyes were closed and it seemed like she was trying to sleep.

Seeing no resistance, he went for the prize.

His hand moved in between her thighs and his fingers grazed the tender folds of her hairless pussy. But before he could tease her clit or explore her moist depths, her eyes snapped open.

"Asshole!" Jasmine yelped and slapped his chest. "What are you doing?"

"Nothing I haven't done before."

"Yeah, but not when you look like that!" She waved her hand in front of his face for emphasis.

"Little lass," Chen Wentian replied with a smirk, "You're the one who willingly jumped in my arms. Now you are complaining? Or maybe you are a little nervous? Don't worry, I won't mistreat you. I, Immortal Sword Bandit Lin Huzhong, never mistreat any of my women."

"…" She gaped at him.

"Surprised? Don't be, although my reputation may not be the most rosy, they are all lies spread by my enemies. I am the utmost gentleman. Beauty, I promise, you are the queen of my heart, the fire of my loins. My love for you will stay keen forever like the edge of my sword!"

"Stop! Stop! I can't take it anymore!" She cried out and tried to escape his clutches, "Let go of me! You're not allowed to touch me in this disgusting disguise ever again!"

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