Chapter 22: The Fall of the Phosphorous Fox

The Phosphorous Fox stumbled, tumbling headfirst into the pit in an undignified sprawl.

It scrambled up, furious and startled.

Song Zhiyou flung a few more pebbles, and Li Xiaoye followed up instantly with his attack.

After falling into the pit twice, the fox was finally on guard.

Yet, as it dodged the pitfalls, massive trees came crashing down all around it!

“Brother Li, can you hold it for ten breaths?”

“Yes!”

Li Xiaoye gritted his teeth. Vines surged forth like pythons, wrapping around the Phosphorous Fox entirely, only to be burnt away by flames in an instant.

But immediately, more vines coiled around it, binding it once more.

The cycle repeated.

Tree after tree, each thick enough for five people to encircle, rained down as if guided by sight, all aimed at the fox.

Just as it burned through the vines, a giant tree slammed it to the ground.

The moment the wood touched the fox, its blazing flames dimmed abruptly.

Strangely, the logs showed no sign of burning; instead, they seemed to suppress the fire entirely.

Earlier, Song Zhiyou had noticed that despite the fox setting fires everywhere, the surrounding grass and trees remained untouched.

The fox struggled to crawl out from under the tree, but in that split second of distraction, a figure appeared before it.

A cold gleam flashed before its eyes as a dagger stabbed into its pupil.

With Li Xiaoye’s fire covering her advance, Song Zhiyou had already closed to within ten feet of the Phosphorous Fox.

“Roar!” The fox bellowed in rage, jerking its head aside to dodge the dagger.

But that was just a feint.

As it turned its head, a palm slammed against its forehead with lightning speed.

The fox sneered, intensifying its flames to scorch the reckless hand!

Yet, the next second, it stiffened all over, stars spinning before its eyes.

Its pupils dilated, it could barely maintain its flames: “Gah!”

It was Song Zhiyou’s great stun spell, Op Art, hidden in her palm.

She withdrew her hand as fast as she could, a searing pain still shooting through it.

But within moments, her hand healed completely.

Ignoring the pain, Song Zhiyou seized the moment of disorientation to strike viciously at the fox.

“Catch!”

Li Xiaoye tossed a shimmering short sword to Song Zhiyou.

He too had been startled by her bold melee approach, especially when the enraged fox turned on her.

He had thought she was surely dead.

But the tide turned.

Seeing her unharmed, he resumed healing, tossed her the sword, and joined the attack.

The moment Song Zhiyou caught the short sword, she knew it was of exceptional quality—far better than her gale-leopard fang dagger that burned after one use.

Without hesitation, she channeled all her spiritual power into it and hacked at the fox’s tail.

The tail was where the fox released its detached flames, and also its vital weak point.

“ROAR!!!”

A direct hit to its lifeblood jolted the fox out of its daze, eliciting a blood-curdling screech.

It swiped its claws; Song Zhiyou darted back, but three deep claw marks raked across her shoulder, exposing bone.

If she hadn’t dodged quickly, those claws would have torn her throat.

Wiping blood from her lips, she lunged forward again while speaking to Li Xiaoye.

“Brother Li, send vines into its body through the wounds!”

“Huh?” Li Xiaoye froze.

In all his time using the vine technique, he had never tried that.

“Can’t you?”

“Ah… I can, I can!”

Li Xiaoye took a deep breath, healed Song Zhiyou again, and attempted to drive vines into the fox’s meridians and flesh.

No holding back now—he would go all out!

Once the vines entered its flesh, he realized it worked far better than wrapping around the fox externally.

Beast hides were thick and fortified with spiritual power, but inside, the meridians and flesh were far more vulnerable.

The only problem was that the vines left outside got scorched by the fox’s flames.

Severed from the source, the internal vines lost their power.

Frowning, Li Xiaoye concentrated all his spiritual energy into one point.

The overwhelming mass of vines vanished, replaced by a single, slender, dark-green vine that was a hundred times tougher.

This time, the Phosphorous Fox couldn’t burn it to ashes.

Li Xiaoye’s eyes lit up as he manipulated the dark-green vine to wreak havoc inside the fox’s body.

Meanwhile, Song Zhiyou continued attacking from the side, leaping and darting like a slippery loach.

She aimed either for its tail, its wounded belly, or its eyes and other vulnerable organs.

In short, strike while the iron was hot!

The fox writhed in agony, its life force draining away. The azure flames of its advancement could no longer be maintained, repeatedly fading back to red.

Growing more frantic, the fox fixed its gaze on Song Zhiyou, who kept stabbing it like a persistent fly. Suddenly, it opened its gaping maw and lunged at her.

Quick as a flash, Song Zhiyou jammed the short sword into the fox’s mouth.

Then, with a sudden idea, she pulled out a medicine bottle and tossed the whole thing into the fox’s gullet.

In an instant, violent spiritual energy rampaged uncontrollably inside the fox!

Its flames dimmed drastically as blood gushed out.

That was the pill Song Zhiyou had once tried herself—the one that nearly killed her.

She called it the Deterioration Pill.

Song Zhiyou and Li Xiaoye didn’t let up, pressing the attack.

Wound upon wound, the massive Phosphorous Fox crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

At last, the battle was over.

Li Xiaoye collapsed from exhaustion, lying flat on the ground and gasping for air.

His face was pale, and he felt like vomiting.

Turning his head, he saw Song Zhiyou stabbing the fox repeatedly with her short sword.

A chill ran down his spine: “Fellow Daoist Song… what are you doing?”

“Hm? Me? Making sure it’s dead.”

As she spoke, she kept stabbing, adding a concluding remark.

This kind of beast on the verge of breakthrough was most likely to feign death and counterattack.

For example, how the Dragon Emperor survived near-death situations time and again and broke through on the brink of death—because the villains never finished him off.

She had learned from that lesson.

“But… do you really need to go this far…”

“Of course I do. One can never be too cautious against beasts.”

Li Xiaoye stared at the beast, now hacked to pieces, and was left speechless.

Finally, he couldn’t hold back anymore. He ran to a distance and “yue”—threw up.

Fellow Daoist Song… is she a complete psycho?!

Grumbling inwardly, he came back and suggested what he had in mind: “If you’re really that worried, Fellow Daoist Song, how about we mince it into ground meat?”

But he saw Song Zhiyou crouching by the fox, cheerfully waving him over.

“No need, Brother Li. I’ve thought of a simpler, better idea. Use your vines to dissolve it.”

Li Xiaoye was shocked: “Vines can be used to dispose of a corpse?”

“Let’s try.”

Li Xiaoye wanted to ask why she didn’t try it herself, but looking at the fox, he felt tempted and released his vines.

Seconds later, the Phosphorous Fox vanished, leaving only a dark red stain on the ground.

And Li Xiaoye’s vines had taken on a vivid crimson tint.

It looked somewhat sinister.

But when he tested it, his vines had grown stronger.

Now it looked even more sinister.

Li Xiaoye and Song Zhiyou exchanged glances, then silently agreed to drop the subject.

“Fellow Daoist Song, I owe you a debt I can never repay!”

Li Xiaoye looked at Song Zhiyou’s still-pale face, full of gratitude.

“I never expected that despite your cunning and sinister appearance, you have a kind and sincere heart, risking yourself without a second thought…”

“I, Li Xiaoye, swear from today onward never to judge a book by its cover again.”

Song Zhiyou’s face darkened.

This young master—could he not speak properly?

The next second, Li Xiaoye solemnly placed two storage pouches into Song Zhiyou’s hands.

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