Ch 25 - This must be fate!

-Damn, could the ghost rumors Yunjin mentioned about the back mountain be about this elusive vixen Jinyue?-

-If it's really her, that's indeed more terrifying than Gu Wanglan with ten health bars and dual forms!-

Yino leaned against a patch of bushes, holding his breath and concentrating, unable to stop complaining inwardly.

Even with the memories of the game from his previous life, he really couldn't understand why Jinyue would appear in the back mountain secret realm in the middle of the night, and even coming along the same path he had taken!

Yino always felt that no matter where he went, Jinyue would appear like a lingering ghost!

-Damn it...-

-Wouldn't it be better for you to go torment Chen Jianxin?-

-He's the prophesied chosen one!-

Yino complained in his heart, holding his breath and concentrating, but the girl's footsteps were still approaching his direction.

In the night, the Pleasure Demon's peach-colored enchanting eyes looked even more bewitching. She looked around curiously, still dressed as the sect's junior sister like during the day, but the seductive aura inherent to fox spirits was hard to conceal.

Just smelling the alluring fragrance emanating from her body made Yino's body tremble. He was scared inside, but instinctively attracted by her charm.

"It should be just ahead, where on earth did Gu Wanglan hide that thing..."

The girl narrowed her enchanting eyes, looking left and right in the night, seeming to mutter something.

Her footsteps were light and leisurely. As she walked along the quiet forest path, suddenly there was a crisp sound of a twig breaking under her feet.

*Crack*

*Boom boom boom boom boom——!*

Yino's eyes widened as he saw a huge iron ball tied to a thick hemp rope swinging towards her face.

He quickly ducked his head. The iron ball flew over his head and smashed directly onto the forest path, making a dull thud as it hit the girl's body.

The atmosphere was silent for a moment.

Yino peeked out and saw that the fox girl, who had been humming a tune earlier, was now lying in a mess on the bushes on the other side of the path, sleeping like a baby.

After another moment of silence, she sprawled on the ground finally showed some movement…

"Damn it, how many traps did Wanglan set?"

"This young lady is in so much pain..."

She cursed under her breath, wiping the black blood from the corner of her mouth, and sat up in a mess.

But just as she got up and took a couple of steps, her left foot stepped on a string of rope loops.

"Hah…?!"

Before Jinyue could catch her breath, the rope suddenly tightened, firmly binding her ankle, then with a whoosh sound, the fox girl was hung upside down.

This time, Jinyue was tied up and suspended in mid-air, already so angry and embarrassed that she didn't even have the mood to curse anymore.

She lightly bit her red lips, several fiery demon tails ignited behind her, and her beautiful eyes grew very cold, bursting with a fierce light.

But just then, there was a rustling sound from the bushes on the opposite side of the path.

"Who's there?"

Jinyue quickly suppressed her cultivation, frowning and staring at the shadowy bushes.

Until a young man carrying a night lamp parted the bushes and entered Jinyue's inverted vision, her fierce and guarded peach blossom eyes instantly became much clearer.

Jinyue remembered something and quickly retracted her demon tails, pretending nothing had happened, but still looked at the approaching young man in white with full suspicion.

"Sister Jinyue?"

Yino also put on a surprised expression.

He deliberately considered his words, then said meaningfully: "You scared me. I thought it was some wild boar making noise in the middle of the night."

"Wild- wild boar...?"

Jinyue's mouth twitched slightly, too weak to retort, but being stared at by Yino, she quickly realized her predicament, her heart racing, her little face flushing, both nervous and ashamed.

After all, Jinyue hadn't expected Yino to coincidentally emerge from the bushes when she was at her most embarrassing moment.

If it wasn't Yino, Jinyue would have long revealed her cultivation and burned away the rope to free herself.

But now with Yino standing here, it wasn't convenient for her to directly expose her true form, so she could only pretend to be a helpless ordinary person suspended in mid-air.

And what made Jinyue even more suspicious was——

Why would Yino appear in the back mountain secret realm in the middle of the night?

"So, what are you doing, Sister Jinyue? Bondage play?"

Yino raised an eyebrow, turning the tables and questioning her, with a somewhat disdainful look between his brows.

Jinyue's fists clenched as she heard this.

She could only be thankful she wasn't wearing a skirt tonight, otherwise it would have been a huge embarrassment.

"Dah, I stepped into a trap!"

"Oh, I see. Who's so unethical to set traps in the mountains? Could it be for catching wild boars?"

Yino analyzed seriously while suppressing the corners of his mouth, but inside he was already laughing hysterically at her misfortune.

He deliberately dragged out the time, also to admire more of this demon woman's bondage art that he had never seen in the game.

"Can you get past the wild boar thing..."

Jinyue strongly suspected he was doing it on purpose.

Yino walked around the girl, finally standing in front of Jinyue, with a mysterious smile: "So, does Senior Sister need my help?"

"If possible, please cut that rope for me."

Jinyue suppressed her impatient nature and spoke in a gentle tone.

She still understood the attitude of asking for help.

But even so, she still detected a hint of malicious intent in Yino's cold eyes--

"I can save you, but what benefit can Senior Sister give me?"

His tone was intriguing, with unmistakable hints of treachery and greed.

Upon hearing this, Jinyue's little face immediately turned pale.

She felt an unprecedented sense of pressure from Yino. Vaguely, she always felt that tonight's Yino seemed like a different person from the daytime!

"Just kidding, I'll save you now."

Yino sighed, casually took out a dark iron sword, aimed simply and threw it out with one stroke, cutting across the rope suspending Jinyue.

He scared Jinyue for no other reason than pure mischief, wanting to admire the panicked and uneasy expression of the Pleasure Demon.

Unfortunately, Yino's strength wasn't enough now, otherwise he wouldn't just be joking with Jinyue.

"Wait, wait!"

As the rope was cut, Jinyue discovered another serious problem.

She was still tied up with thick hemp ropes!

If she had known Yino would act so quickly, she would have hypnotized him with illusions beforehand.

Now, as Jinyue fell from a height, there wasn't time to use illusions.

If she wanted to break free from the hemp ropes, she would have to reveal her true fox form.

And if she revealed her true form, her identity would be exposed in front of Yino. At that time, it would be very troublesome for Jinyue to silence him by killing—because he had the jade pendant given by Yuyan!

But if she didn't break free from the hemp ropes, Jinyue would fall head-first onto the ground.

At the critical moment, Jinyue could only grit her teeth and close her eyes.

She would rather fall to the ground than reveal her identity in front of Yino. Otherwise, if it triggered the protection mechanism of the jade pendant and brought Yuyan, then all the efforts Jinyue had accumulated in Wuji Sect over the years would be wasted!

Thud!

With a muffled sound, Jinyue fell into a soft embrace.

She opened her eyes and met Yino's lifeless fish eyes.

Although Yino's princess carry surprised Jinyue a bit, his face didn't redden and his heart didn't race. That look in his eyes, no matter how you looked at it, didn't have a hint of happiness.

-Please... I, Jinyue, am also a heartthrob little junior sister in Wuji Sect. Is just holding me once so disgusting to you?-

Jinyue wanted to retort like this, but she couldn't say it out loud. She could only obediently lie in his arms, waiting for Yino to put her on the ground, then draw his sword to cut off the hemp ropes on her body.

"Sister Jinyue, why is your face red?"

Yino cut the last hemp rope and looked at the blushing girl with an intriguing gaze.

"Is it...?"

The sudden incident left Jinyue a bit dazed.

But in the next second, Yino playfully said: "You haven't fallen for me, have you?"

"—_—!"

Upon hearing this, Jinyue's thoughts instantly vanished into smoke.

Her peach blossom eyes cleared up a lot, staring at Yino with some resentment on her puffed-up little face.

But Jinyue didn't deny it either. She patted the dust off her body and sat up, pointing to a small stream not far away to change the subject.

"But still, thank you, Brother Yino, for helping me."

"I got dirty just now, can you accompany me to wash up by the stream?"

(☉_ ☉)

Upon hearing this, the playful smile on Yino's face instantly stiffened.

As the feeling of schadenfreude passed, Yino had to face a new problem: he was now alone with the Pleasure Demon in a small forest!

"You go wash up. It's not appropriate for a man to follow. I'll wait for you here."

Yino stood with his hands behind his back, closing his eyes, speaking like a proper gentleman.

But actually, he planned to find an excuse to run away when Jinyue went to wash her face by the stream.

After all, now that Jinyue was free from her bonds, if Yino stayed any longer, he would be at a disadvantage.

-Who knows if this vixen would use illusions again?-

"What are you thinking! I'm not taking off my clothes to bathe, just washing the mud off my face!"

Jinyue covered her mouth with her jade-like hand, her peach blossom eyes narrowing into crescent moons with a face full of innocence and shyness.

However, while appearing innocent and cute on the surface, she was also quick to act, her mud-stained jade-like hand swiftly grabbing Yino's arm.

Yino tried to break free, but Jinyue proactively moved closer to link arms with him.

In the moonlight, the girl looked pitiful, like his little girlfriend.

But in Yino's eyes, Jinyue definitely had some scheme. Tonight, she was determined to cling to Yino no matter what!

"You're right. It's the dead of night, and I'm also worried that Senior Sister might encounter danger alone."

Yino's lips twitched slightly, but he still pretended to be very considerate.

From the moment he encountered Jinyue, he knew he was in trouble tonight. Escaping would make noise and arouse Jinyue's suspicion, but helping her would also result in Jinyue clinging to him. It was all like the fatalism Jinyue had mentioned that night - no matter what Yino did tonight, he couldn't escape this predicament with Jinyue!

"Thank you for your trouble. Just think of it as keeping me company for a chat~"

The girl took Yino's arm, seeming to have become more gentle and intimate since being rescued by Yino.

If it were anyone else, they might have already suspected that Jinyue had fallen for them.

But Yino was well aware of this vixen's true nature!

Arriving at the small stream, Jinyue squatted down to wash her face, wiping off the mud on her body and the trace of blood at the corner of her mouth from being hit by the iron ball earlier.

Yino also squatted nearby, pretending to be curious and asking:

"So, Senior Sister still hasn't answered me, why were you hanging in such a place so late at night?"

"I- I was..."

Jinyue turned her head, thinking of the reason she came here, her beautiful eyes blinking rapidly.

She couldn't possibly say that she came to this back mountain secret realm following a prophecy, looking for the nine-colored deer imprisoned by Gu Wanglan, could she?

After a moment's thought, Jinyue directly countered with a question:

"But why is Junior Brother here? If I remember correctly, Wuji Sect has a rule that disciples below the Foundation Establishment stage are not allowed to enter the back mountain secret realm."

"To be honest, I got lost..."

Yino scratched his head, the answer coming out naturally.

After all, he had been observing from the bushes for a long time, and Yino had prepared ample lies to deal with any questions Jinyue might have.

"Last night, after observing the sect entry exam, I decided to take a walk around Wuji Sect to familiarize myself with my future living place..."

"As a result, after visiting the Alchemy Shop and the Blacksmith, I somehow lost my way in this bamboo forest while walking in the back mountain."

"I heard a strange crashing sound not far away and thought it might be some wild boar making noise in the mountains. I didn't expect to come over and see Miss Jinyue suspended in mid-air! ╮(╯_╰)╭ "

By the end of his explanation, even Yino found it hard to keep a straight face.

"It seems Junior Brother really can't get past the wild boar tonight, can he?"

Jinyue squatted by the stream, silently listening, but when she heard the words "wild boar" again, veins popped on her previously serious and obedient little face.

She clenched her small fists in anger but couldn't find any fault with Yino's story.

In the end, it was Jinyue's own carelessness, not expecting Gu Wanglan to set up traps nearby...

Finally, Jinyue sighed helplessly:

"Actually, I came to the back mountain because I heard a rumor about Wuji Sect..."

She spoke softly, directly sitting down by the stream.

As they chatted, Jinyue took off her sandals and embroidered socks, then rubbed her ankles that had been reddened by the ropes, and dipped her feet into the stream.

Yino's gaze was initially drawn to the small jade-like feet rippling in the stream.

But hearing Jinyue say this, Yino suddenly remembered the ghost story Yunjin had mentioned last night about the back mountain, and looked up: "A rumor?"

"Yes."

In the moonlight, the bewitchingly beautiful girl with cherry blossom hairpins turned to look at Yino.

Her beautiful eyes narrowed into peach blossoms as she tilted her head and smiled gently: "Brother Yino has just arrived at Wuji Sect, so you probably don't know…"

"About the rumor of Wuji Sect's back mountain, would Brother Yino like to hear it?"

"..."

Yino's face was expressionless as he fell into silence.

With the atmosphere built up to this point, he suddenly felt like he had fallen into a trap.

It was like in his previous life, accidentally clicking into a long and tedious side quest in the Fallen Immortal game, where once you start a character dialogue, you're forced to listen for a long time and can't skip the plot!

And obviously, it was too late for Yino to refuse now.

"Fine, go ahead and tell me."

"Recently, I heard from the disciples guarding Wuji Sect's mountain..."

Jinyue held up one finger, recalling and describing.

"Since a week ago, in the forest of this back mountain, every deep night there would be sorrowful deer cries echoing!"

"It's said... These sorrowful deer cries come from an old, dilapidated mountain temple!"

"And the ancient creature enshrined in that mountain lord temple was the one who ruled this land a thousand years ago. It's said this ancient lord had a fondness for young children. The so-called deer cries are not actually from real deer, but the cries of spirit infants transformed to sound like deer..."

"So, after hearing this rumor, I decided to come to the back mountain to investigate and see if the mountain lord temple and deer cries in the rumor were real."

"But then..."

"I don't know which jerk is so unethical as to set traps in this bamboo forest!"

As she finished speaking, Jinyue swept away the ghost story atmosphere from earlier, her cute face breaking into a sweet smile, giving Yino a grateful wink: "Fortunately, Brother Yino came to help in time, otherwise I might have been hanging from that rope until dawn!"

"It was just a coincidence..."

"No way, this shows that we have a lot of fate between us!" The girl blinked her eyes, somewhat superstitiously.

"Sorry, I don't believe in fate."

Yino wasn't moved at all and casually brushed it off.

He was actually still thinking about the rumor Jinyue had just described.

Because the mountain lord temple and deer cries in that story were exactly one of the dungeons Yino had come to the back mountain to find tonight.