An Encounter In The Jungle

• Chapter 2: An Encounter in the Jungle

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When Su Mu woke up, the first ray of dawn just illuminated the stone arch.

Squinting his pink eyes and looking at the misty distance, Su Mu suddenly felt rejuvenated. Stretching out his curled fox paws, he yawned lightly, and the "peach blossom" in his palm bloomed with his joyous mood.

His two fluffy tails were tinged with a bit of gold in the early sunlight.

The gentle breeze lifted the fur on his tail tips, tickling and making him feel very comfortable. Su Mu let out a silent sigh and then lifted his fox paw, licking it contentedly.

Suddenly, his two tails stiffened and stood upright, stopping their movement. He tried to make a spitting noise, but due to his mouth's structure, it sounded strange.

"What a weird action!" Su Mu remembered that Xiao Bai also did this when she was idle.

At this moment, a muffled laughing sound came from the bell hanging on his chest.

Su Mu's little paws stiffened, "Xiao Bai! Stop laughing!"

"Yes, master." However, to his disbelief, the fox continued to make the "chchch" sound.

Su Mu hugged the bell with his little paws and shook it furiously, "STOP! LAUGHING!"

The sun rose quickly. After a long argument with Xiao Bai, Su Mu lightly jumped off the cliff stone, leisurely walking into the forest with his still unfamiliar four little paws.

After the secret realm dissipated, Su Mu appeared here. Now, he wanted to figure out where he was to find his way back to the Yao Guang Mountains.

From awkwardly stumbling on four limbs to lightly jumping and running, Su Mu only took half an hour.

"Master, there is a peak Foundation Establishment demonic beast's nest ten miles ahead," Xiao Bai's soft voice echoed in his mind, so Su Mu changed direction and continued jumping through the forest. With Xiao Bai's help, he could avoid most dangers.

"By the way, Xiao Bai, your divine sense range is incredible," Su Mu marveled.

"It's not that, master. I absorbed the remnants of the Demon Ancestor's gift before his demise and have mastered some secret techniques of the  Jingzhe(name of the bell .I.e the spiritual tool's name). Also, the stronger your cultivation, the stronger I will become." Inside the bell, the fox-eared girl lay on a cushion formed by spiritual energy, propping up her chin as she watched Su Mu. So cute! I want to pet him like master used to pet me!

Through the spiritual imprint, Su Mu vaguely sensed some of Xiao Bai's emotions and felt a chill down his spine. It seemed like Xiao Bai was up to something mischievous. But he quickly shook his fox ears and focused on his journey.

Xiao Bai twirled her hair, her bright pink eyes narrowed into slits. When master reaches Foundation Establishment, I can leave the bell and meet him.

Suddenly, a human aura appeared within the bell's sensing range. Xiao Bai quickly shook the bell.

Su Mu asked, "What's wrong, Xiao Bai?"

"Master, there are humans ahead!"

"Really? Great, finally some people!" But then he retracted his paw step. Not good, as a little demon in the Qi Refining stage, he'd probably end up as a fine fox fur coat if he met them.

After some thought, Su Mu decided to observe first. He leapt onto the treetop and moved agilely among the branches.

"Whoosh!" An arrow wrapped in a faint blue spiritual glow flew by, piercing into a wolf-shaped demonic beast. The wind-attribute spiritual power carried with it a tearing force that peeled the wolf demon's fur, revealing flesh and blood.

"Awroo!" With a howl, the wolf demon crashed into a rock and seemed to lose its ability to move.

Then, the sound of hoofbeats approached, and a girl with a quiver on her back rode a horned horse into view.

The girl, in a splendid dress, stared fiercely at the fallen demon beast with her bright eyes.

"How dare you cause trouble on Dayong's land," she muttered, seemingly relieved. Fortunately, she had brought her Moon Arrow Bow; otherwise, it would have been difficult to find it once it entered the forest.

The girl dismounted, preparing to collect the wolf's corpse.

At that moment, the wolf demon on the ground opened its blood-red eyes and swiftly pounced at the girl.

Instinctively wanting to help, Su Mu raised his little paw only to remember that his Nascent Soul was a thing of the past.

Fortunately, a formation engraved in the void intercepted the wolf demon's giant paw, sparing the girl.

Just then, a group of horned horse-riding guards finally arrived. The leader extended his hand, channeling spiritual power into the formation disk in his palm.

Another guard dismounted, his crimson spear igniting in flames as he stepped in front of the girl.

"Uncle Yan Chi! That scared me."

"Your Highness was too reckless! If anything happened to you, how would we answer to His Majesty?"

Pouting, Pei Xuanyin said, "Blame that cunning wolf demon. Zhang Sui, quickly finish it off for me!"

The guard with the spear nodded, "Yes, Your Highness."

In the next moment, flames erupted around him as he charged forward, engaging the wolf demon.

The wolf demon, having failed in its attack, became desperate. A blood-red spiritual light gathered in its mouth, and with a roar, it charged at Zhang Sui.

"Good timing," Zhang Sui roared, seemingly even stronger. He swung his spear, sweeping it across the wolf demon's chest. The force of the impact sent the demon crashing back, but not before the spiritual light in its mouth exploded against Yan Chi's formation.

The two guards worked in perfect harmony, one attacking and the other defending.

Su Mu realized something was wrong too late—the wolf demon had crashed into the tree he was hiding in.

With a "boom," Su Mu had to dodge the exploding debris, landing on the ground.

Suddenly, the fluffy Su Mu became the focus of attention. Whether it was the wolf demon or the three humans, their eyes were fixed on the elegantly landing fox.

Awkwardly smiling, Su Mu pointed his fox paw at the wolf demon and then at Zhang Sui, miming a fist-bump. Go on, keep fighting, I'll just leave now!

At this moment, Pei Xuanyin's bright eyes widened, "What a cute fox!"

She then lunged at Su Mu.

With a "thud," the princess of Dayong missed her mark.

Su Mu agilely jumped onto a nearby rock, baring his teeth at this inexplicable woman.

"Uncle Yan Chi! Catch it for me!"

"A two-tailed fox demon? Could it be a rare spirit beast?" Without hesitation, Yan Chi activated the formation disk. A trapping formation descended on Su Mu.

However, with a ring of the alarm bell, a ripple spread, shattering the formation instantly.

Just as Su Mu was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he was plunged into darkness, enveloped in a strange softness.

Panic-stricken, Su Mu struggled. Damn it! What has blinded my eyes! It seemed he was once again in a terrifying situation akin to his third senior sister's embrace.

Yan Chi was still puzzled by the formation's sudden collapse. But seeing the princess directly contact the spirit beast, he quickly stepped forward, "Your Highness, be careful!"

Pei Xuanyin, however, had a look of peculiar happiness on her face. So fluffy! So soft! So satisfying!

Inside the bell, Xiao Bai's pink eyes flashed with a dangerous glint. Damn it, I haven't even touched him, and you got to him first?

A feeling of jealousy quickly brewed within Xiao Bai.

Su Mu finally managed to poke his little head out of Pei Xuanyin's chest, only to see a huge bloody maw coming down on him.

Fortunately, at the same moment, a voice shouted, "Incinerate!"

With a "shhhh," the spear pierced through the wolf demon, pinning it to the ground. After a wailing howl, it fell lifelessly to the side.

To be continued...

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