“Alright, we haven’t finished dealing with what’s in front of us yet!!!”
Sensing the Silent Feather Guard’s hesitating expression, the Yao Fox Demon Venerable, who was already about to turn red-hot with anger, directly interrupted Jiu Baiyun.
Compared to the power of words, the transmigrated Jiu Baiyun was far stronger than the Yao Fox Demon Venerable.
The Yao Fox Demon Venerable simply couldn’t out-argue him.
But that final remark from the Yao Fox Demon Venerable did manage to quiet Jiu Baiyun down.
Compared to bickering with the Yao Fox Demon Venerable, the matter at hand was indeed more important.
Jiu Baiyun suppressed the heated argument in the Sea of Consciousness with the Yao Fox Demon Venerable, his expression shifting uncertainly as he looked at the Silent Feather Guard who remained in a bowing posture.
The other’s three pairs of light gray, lifeless eyes were lowered, his posture respectful yet exuding an inhuman stiffness.
Just as Jiu Baiyun was rapidly calculating in his mind how to escape, or at least extract more information, the Silent Feather Guard’s body paused almost imperceptibly, as if receiving some invisible command.
Then, he slowly straightened his upper body, which was covered in the Gray Feather Cloak.
His three pairs of crystal-like light gray eyes refocused on Jiu Baiyun’s face, and that dry voice, like branches rubbing together, sounded again.
“The Palace Master… invites you…”
He slightly turned aside, raising an arm also covered in fine gray feathers, pointing toward the distant Pure Black Palace that emitted an ominous aura, as if it would devour everything.
“Please… move.”
The air instantly froze.
Jiu Baiyun’s heart felt as if gripped by an icy hand, his expression immediately turning grave.
‘Move to the palace?’
‘What scheme is this again?’
Jiu Baiyun hesitated for a moment, unable to make a decision for a long time.
‘Who knows what the other party’s sudden invitation means, and this Palace Master…’
Feeling Jiu Baiyun poke him with his consciousness again, the Yao Fox Demon Venerable said in a displeased tone.
“I don’t know him. I already killed the previous Palace Master.”
Hearing the Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s words, Jiu Baiyun was somewhat speechless.
‘Good grief, killed… said so casually, one would think you killed a paramecium.’
‘Could it be that this Heavenly Palace’s Palace Master wants to avenge the previous Palace Master? But looking at the Silent Feather Guard before him, it didn’t seem like it…’
However, before Jiu Baiyun could react, the Silent Feather Guard before him tilted his gray-feather-covered head almost imperceptibly, as if listening to another instruction.
In his three pairs of light gray eyes, there seemed to flash an extremely faint hint of confusion belonging to a non-human entity.
Then, he spoke again, and that hoarse voice carried a rare uncertain pause.
“…The Palace Master says… never mind…”
The Silent Feather Guard’s words made Jiu Baiyun’s tense nerves jump violently.
‘Never mind? What does that mean?’
The next second, the Silent Feather Guard’s utterly calm voice sounded again, but the content was like a thunderclap in Jiu Baiyun’s ears.
“She… is here.”
‘Here!?’
Those two words were like ice daggers piercing his spine.
Every hair on Jiu Baiyun’s body stood on end.
An indescribable, immense pressure, far greater than when facing the Silent Feather Guard, seemed to descend out of nowhere, enveloping the entire area.
He almost reflexively snapped his head up, his gaze quickly sweeping in all directions—the sky, the woods, the shadows of the ruins…
However, as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but the silent ashes, charred remains, and the flock of mountain sparrows hovering in the air like a solid black cloud.
The Silent Feather Guard still stood silently ahead, his three pairs of gray eyes also seemed to be scanning the empty air.
‘What’s going on? Where is the person?’
‘That suffocating pressure was so clear, it absolutely couldn’t be just an illusion!’
‘Yao Fox! Did you feel that?’
Jiu Baiyun asked urgently in his heart, trying to grasp a clue.
‘I felt it! Very strong… but… the location…’
The Yao Fox Demon Venerable hesitated for a moment, then continued.
‘Right next to you…’
‘Huh!?’
‘Right next to me!?’
The Yao Fox Demon Venerable’s words stunned Jiu Baiyun, but the next second, an extremely light, almost imperceptible weight landed on his left leg without warning.
All of Jiu Baiyun’s muscles tensed instantly, and then he quickly looked down.
An extremely petite and exquisite figure, somehow and in some way, had silently latched onto his thigh.
That figure wore an exquisite dress woven from countless fine, dull gray metal feathers, with layered hem that shimmered with a cold and strange luster.
She looked no bigger than a human child, with smooth silver-gray hair cascading down, setting off a face that was delicately carved and as exquisite as a doll’s.
However, the eyes looking up at him had pupils of the same light gray as the Silent Feather Guard’s, yet deep within swirled an indescribable… curiosity?
At this moment, this “Palace Master” seemed completely oblivious to Jiu Baiyun’s somewhat frightened gaze, ignoring the tense atmosphere.
Her small body clung to Jiu Baiyun’s leg, one little hand, so fair it was almost translucent, reaching upward.
Its target was clearly the snow-white fox tail behind Jiu Baiyun that was trembling slightly from exhaustion, pain, and tension.
Her fingertips were less than an inch away from the fluffy, soft tip of the tail.
That delicate little face even showed a pure excitement and longing, almost like a child seeing a new toy.
Jiu Baiyun, shocked by this sudden “attachment,” felt his scalp tingle.
Almost instinctively, he jerked his leg up, trying to shake off the unknown object clinging to it.
“Hmm?”
That petite figure in the gray feather dress was jolted by the sudden movement, and the pure excitement and longing on her exquisite face instantly froze, replaced by full confusion and bewilderment.
She struggled to steady her small body without falling, but that little hand reaching for the fox tail stopped mid-air.
She seemed completely unable to understand why she was rejected.
Her light gray eyes blinked, long silver-gray lashes fluttering, clearly reflecting Jiu Baiyun’s startled face and that alert, erect snow-white fox tail.
Then, under Jiu Baiyun’s watchful and slightly embarrassed gaze, she slowly, with a hint of reluctance, withdrew the hanging little hand.
That slender index finger did not drop; instead, it lightly pressed against her own pink lips, as if in thought.
Her small head then tilted gently to one side, silver-gray hair slipping off her shoulder.
In those pure light gray pupils, without a trace of impurity, confusion was almost overflowing, staring straight at Jiu Baiyun.
An ethereal and childish voice, with a strange penetrating quality, rang out clearly.
“Can’t I touch it?”
This voice, this expression, this action… perfectly natural innocence and curiosity, matched with that exquisitely carved, harmless-looking face.
It’s so cute it’s against the rules!!!
Jiu Baiyun felt as if his heart had been fiercely squeezed by an invisible little hand, both aching and soft.
But that’s not the issue!
His tail still stung and ached, and considering the sensitivity of the tail, there was no way he could let the other party touch it!
This is a matter of principle!