Chapter 21 Little Fox Demon

Su Xiaoxiao had run away from Qiantang Mountain to escape an arranged marriage.

Su Xiaoxiao was a small fire fox, a member of the fox clan on Qiantang Mountain.

She had heard from the elders in her clan that they were one of the three great fox demon families from ancient times with the Su family being a branch in Wangque Continent, possessing a noble and ancient lineage. Their ancestors had even assisted a human emperor of a certain dynasty in achieving Enlightenment.

However, Su Xiaoxiao felt little pride in her clan's boastful tones.

Since she was just a little nobody in the Su's fox clan of Qiantang Mountain, there were many ordinary little fox demons like her, especially since she was just a fire fox and not a prestigious white fox.

Su Xiaoxiao was very young, only two hundred years old which, compared to the demon race's lifespan of thousands of years, made her equivalent to a girl in her prime years according to human age. She had awakened her intelligence about a dozen years ago, formed her demon core two years ago, and had not long ago transformed into human form.

The stages of cultivation for demons were quite different from those of humans, with enlightenment and core formation being the initial two realms.

Enlightenment involved the awakening of spiritual intelligence, the emergence of a hint of spiritual light, from which point they were no longer confused beasts, but demons capable of cultivating and thinking.

There were many ways for a demon to awaken its intelligence: some were guided by highly cultivated elders within their clan; others stumbled upon it by chance, like accidentally consuming spiritual objects; and some were born with an inherent touch of spiritual light due to their extraordinary bloodline, having awakened at birth.

Su Xiaoxiao belonged to the second category; she had bewilderingly awakened her intelligence in an old, rundown Daoist temple, and later was quite puzzled about how exactly she had achieved enlightenment...

The core formation realm for the demon race differed greatly from that of the human race. Humans needed to reach the Golden Core Realm to cultivate a golden core, whereas demons could form a demon core in their core formation realm, akin to the human golden core, and it also varied in quality. Demons began to gather demon energy in the core formation realm and could then transform their form.

Su Xiaoxiao had transformed into human form shortly after entering the core formation realm. Thanks to the innate talent for transformation that fox demons possess, Su Xiaoxiao's transformation was complete unlike those of lower-tier demons.

Actually, some demons with extraordinary lineage and superior talents do not transform early; instead, they utilize the advantages of their bloodline to continue their cultivation, transforming only when their lineage and talents are ordinary.

However, Su Xiaoxiao did not care about that, or in fact about anything concerning cultivation; her little mind was constantly filled with only three things: rouge and powder, novels about talented and beautiful scholars rendezvousing with fox spirits, and... handsome scholars.

Really, all of these could essentially be attributed to the second item.

Ever since the day she had recklessly roamed the mountains after awakening her intelligence, Su Xiaoxiao discovered a romantic, heart-wrenching novel in an abandoned carriage by the roadside. It was as if she had opened the door to a new world, and she was unstoppable from then on.

To recognize more characters, she secretly attended private school sessions in the human villages at the foot of the mountain.

To buy rouge and powder, she painstakingly gathered spiritual medicine and exchanged it for money with medicine gatherers who came to the mountain.

Inspired by the romantic love in the novels, soon after transforming into human form, on a dark and windy night, she wore her favorite dress, applied her most expensive rouge and powder, and in an old Daoist temple, staged a scene where a beauty meets a scholar. However, before she could even speak, she frightened the handsome scholar, who was on his way to the capital to take the imperial examinations and was staying overnight in the ruined temple. He ran off so fast that he didn't even grab his book box...

This first "scheme" ended in failure, marking the first major crisis in her short fox life.

However, before little fox demon Su Xiaoxiao had time to be disappointed for long, the second major crisis in her fox life promptly knocked on her door.

The elders of the Su fox clan wanted to send her to a nearby great demon to become a minor wife because, although her cultivation talent was ranked last among the younger generation of fox demons in her clan, her naturally transformed appearance was so handsome that even experienced members of the fox clan's beauty association were ashamed by comparison.

It's known that the fox clan famously produces beauties; there was even an old fox of very high status within the clan who told Su Xiaoxiao that she greatly resembled a certain trouble-making ancestor from the family's history in the Xuanhuang Realm; it was just unfortunate that her cultivation talent was too poor to bring greater benefits to the Su family.

Regrettably, Su Xiaoxiao had no intention of being the "flower of the clan." On the day of her wedding, she fooled a clan friend who had always envied her for being able to marry a great demon and lead a luxurious life into taking her place on the wedding palanquin. Su Xiaoxiao quickly grabbed her treasured belongings and fled.

Su Xiaoxiao wanted to find her grandmother who had loved her since she was a child and taught her how to read and write.

After descending the mountain in a daze, she ended up at an Immortal's ferry crossing, where she exchanged the fox fur she had shed earlier for a pile of Spirit Stones, bought a ticket to Du You City, and purchased several novels about gifted scholars and beautiful ladies. Suddenly inspired, she also bought a few sets of fitting men's clothes, then boarded the ship heading north with high spirits.

...

High above the boundless sea of clouds, a massive ferry hovered in midair, the characters "Qingfeng Ding" displayed on its side, indicating the vessel's origin.

At this moment, on the deck of the ship, Su Xiaoxiao was facing the third major crisis of her fox life.

A group from Punishment Mansion and many others on the deck were looking at the bizarre young girl with strange expressions.

"Wuwuwu, Xiaoxiao doesn't want to die, Xiaoxiao hasn't found her lover yet, wuwuwu, Xiaoxiao doesn't want to die, wuwuwu, even if I must die, Xiaoxiao wants to turn into a butterfly with her lover wuwuwu..."

In the crowd, Zhao Rong's mouth twitched. What was all this nonsense? But recalling the books she had been reading the last few times he met her, Zhao Rong somewhat understood why she was acting so foolishly.

The man in hemp clothes observed for a while and realized she was just a fox who had recently undergone Transformation, almost feeling too lazy to make a move. Yet, he thought of the massacre that had recently occurred in Anling Country.

He smiled lightly.

"Qiantang Mountain's Fox Clan? This sovereign remembers your clan is incarcerated on Qiantang Mountain for crimes, and must seek approval from Punishment Mansion to leave."

"Do you have a travel permit?"

Upon hearing this, Su Xiaoxiao looked up, her eyes teary and blurry, at the terrifying figure above her that made her Demon Core tremble incessantly, and shook her head blankly.

She genuinely did not know that her tribe was imprisoned on Qiantang Mountain because of crimes. When she had fled the mountain, nobody had stopped her...

"Heh, this sovereign shall need to see what the local Inspector disciples are actually doing and will also drop by your Qiantang Mountain for a visit."

The constantly confused Su Xiaoxiao finally understood the hemp-clothed man's words for once, her face turned deathly pale, and in panic, she quickly shifted from sitting to kneeling.

"Sir, it's not the Fox Clan's fault, it was Xiaoxiao alone who sneaked down the mountain. The Fox Clan didn't know Xiaoxiao had run away, wuwuwu, it's all Xiaoxiao's fault, please don't be angry with the Fox Clan, it's all Xiaoxiao's fault, please just kill Xiaoxiao, wuwuwu, don't punish the Fox Clan..."

The little fox demon, who had not wanted to die just a second ago, was now begging for death.

Was she afraid of dying? Yes, she was.

But the thought of causing all those tribe members, who had lived with her, to be buried because of her mistake made her heart feel as if it were being carved by knives.

"Fine."

The man in hemp clothes uttered a word with no expression on his face, ready to turn around and leave.

But the next second.

"Stop!"

A cold voice rang out from the crowd.