Chapter 28: Daughter of an Old Friend

Chapter 28: Daughter of an Old Friend

What was a fox demon doing sneaking into Yuhua Sect?

Lin Jiufeng sat alone in the tea room, his Divine Soul hovering high above the nine heavens, gazing down over Yuhua Sect. He watched the snow-white fox demon carefully searching for something, until it finally located the Canon Pavilion and slipped inside.

Lin Jiufeng furrowed his brow. "Are you here for the Yuhua Ascension Scripture as well?"

The fox demon had no idea Lin Jiufeng was watching. Still, it moved with great caution as it crept inside. Its cultivation was respectable — Fifth Seal — so the three young disciples within the Canon Pavilion noticed nothing at all.

Only Lin Jiufeng was watching.

The white fox entered the Canon Pavilion without disturbing anyone, carefully searching shelf after shelf.

"Is it looking for the Yuhua Ascension Scripture?" Lin Jiufeng raised an eyebrow. The Yuhua Ascension Scripture had never been written into a book and placed in the Canon Pavilion.

But after watching for a while, Lin Jiufeng realized the white fox's target was not the cultivation techniques at all — it was searching for the biographies of Yuhua Sect's past predecessors.

That left Lin Jiufeng thoroughly puzzled.

A demon, sneaking into Yuhua Sect's Canon Pavilion — not for cultivation techniques, but for the biographical records of Yuhua Sect's past ancestors?

Very strange.

Lin Jiufeng did not disturb the white fox and let it search in peace.

The white fox was meticulous in its search. It would pick up a book, and the moment it determined it wasn't what it needed, it would place it back exactly where it had been. Unless one watched closely, one would never know the books had been touched.

Lin Jiufeng still had no idea what it was looking for.

Then the white fox picked up a book — a biographical record of Zhou Sheng's life. The fox's expression suddenly turned sorrowful. It carefully carried the book to the patch of moonlight streaming through the window and began to read.

In the moonlight, the white fox read in quiet grief.

The sight stirred something in Lin Jiufeng's heart. He rose from the tea room and made his way to a corner of the Canon Pavilion.

"What is your relationship with Zhou Sheng?" Lin Jiufeng asked softly.

Whoosh!

The white fox was startled by Lin Jiufeng. Its fur bristled, its spine went rigid, and its eyes filled with panic. It let out a low growl, clutched Zhou Sheng's biography in its claws, transformed into a streak of white light, and bolted.

Lin Jiufeng shook his head. Did it really think it could escape from him?

He reached out with one great hand, gathering energy into his palm, and simply pulled the fleeing white fox back toward him.

A Fifth Seal fox demon was utterly powerless before Lin Jiufeng. He pinched it by the scruff of its neck as it thrashed wildly, its claws swiping at him — but Lin Jiufeng kept the distance perfectly controlled so that it couldn't reach him no matter what.

"Stop struggling. Tell me why you came to the Canon Pavilion to find Zhou Sheng's biography," Lin Jiufeng asked again.

But the white fox paid no heed. Realizing it couldn't scratch him, its eyes turned red. A burst of white immortal radiance suddenly erupted from within its body — brilliant and dazzling. With a boom, it actually broke free of Lin Jiufeng's grip, tumbled to the ground, and leapt away.

Lin Jiufeng stared in astonishment. "The Yuhua Ascension Scripture!"

He recognized that white immortal radiance immediately — it was the energy of the Yuhua Ascension Scripture he himself had comprehended.

How did the white fox know the Yuhua Ascension Scripture?

Since Yuhua Sect had lost the Yuhua Ascension Scripture, in all these years only Zhou Sheng, Lin Jiufeng, Bai Yunfei, and the three young disciples had learned it.

An unknown white fox of mysterious origin — and it knew the Yuhua Ascension Scripture?

Lin Jiufeng watched the white fox racing through the mountain forest and murmured, "It seems you have quite a deep connection with my Yuhua Sect."

In the next instant, Lin Jiufeng's figure dissolved into a wisp of white smoke and silently vanished from the Canon Pavilion.

On the mountain grounds of Yuhua Sect, the white fox ran with all its might, truly like a streak of white smoke streaking through the forest.

It was terrified of Lin Jiufeng and refused to stop.

Yet even so, it still held Zhou Sheng's biography clenched in its jaws, unwilling to let go.

After running for a while, the white fox felt it had put enough distance between itself and the Canon Pavilion and finally slowed to a stop, setting down Zhou Sheng's biography and panting heavily.

"What is your relationship with Zhou Sheng?" Lin Jiufeng's gentle voice sounded from behind the white fox. The fox gave a startled jolt, quickly snatched up the biography in its jaws, and bolted again.

Lin Jiufeng kept pace with the white fox, following behind and asking, "You can't escape me. I mean you no harm. Why not stop and explain yourself?"

The white fox glanced back. Lin Jiufeng was unhurried, watching it with a calm smile. The sight only frightened the fox further, and it pushed every last bit of its ability to go faster.

But no matter how it accelerated, Lin Jiufeng remained right behind it.

After running for a while longer, the white fox was drenched in sweat, its fur soaked through, yet it still could not shake Lin Jiufeng. It simply gave up running, stopped in place, and glared at Lin Jiufeng with fierce eyes, baring its teeth, demonic energy rolling off it in waves.

Lin Jiufeng was not intimidated. He pointed at Zhou Sheng's biography and said, "This man was my Senior Brother — an outstanding genius of Yuhua Sect in his time. You broke into the Canon Pavilion and ignored all the cultivation techniques and secret manuals, seeking only his biography. What is your relationship with Zhou Sheng?"

The white fox's snarling expression softened slightly upon hearing Lin Jiufeng's words. Its bright eyes fixed on him, as if weighing something.

Lin Jiufeng's manner remained gentle. He crouched down and smiled. "The biography doesn't record much about Zhou Sheng's life. If you want to know more, I can tell you — but first you have to tell me your relationship with him."

After a moment's hesitation, the white fox spoke. "I am his daughter."

Her voice was enchanting, like a warm spring breeze in the third month, washing over him and filling his heart with warmth.

But what truly astonished Lin Jiufeng was what she had said.

Zhou Sheng's daughter?

Lin Jiufeng stared at the white fox in shock. He suddenly recalled that Zhou Sheng had married a woman of the Demon Race — and it was precisely that union which had enraged the Taishang Sect.

The Taishang Sect fancied itself the leader of the righteous path, the upholder of justice in the cultivation world. A union between human and demon was something they deemed an affront to the natural order. They had pressured Yuhua Sect to hand over Zhou Sheng, and that was what had set off the entire chain of events that followed.

But all of that had happened over a hundred years ago — before Lin Jiufeng had even joined Yuhua Sect.

Zhou Sheng had married back then, only to be hounded to his death not long after. Could his daughter really be this young?

Lin Jiufeng looked at the white fox, recalling the burst of Yuhua Ascension Scripture energy that had erupted from within her body back in the Canon Pavilion. He was more than half convinced.

"Senior Brother Zhou Sheng still has a daughter alive in this world — yet why has no one ever spoken of this?" Lin Jiufeng asked, puzzled.

The white fox calmed somewhat, pacing back and forth as she said quietly, "After Father died, Mother discovered she was carrying me. So no one in the world knew. To evade the Taishang Sect's pursuit, Mother never revealed my existence either. She carried me for ten years before I was born."

Lin Jiufeng stared at the white fox in amazement. Ten years of pregnancy?

That was even more remarkable than Nezha.

Perhaps encouraged by Lin Jiufeng's gentle manner, the white fox continued, "When Mother was pregnant with me, she was wounded by people from the Taishang Sect. The injury left me with an innate deficiency — insufficient foundational essence. Father had drawn the Taishang Sect's experts away alone to protect Mother. Mother then found a place to recover from her wounds, and it was only then that she discovered she was carrying me."

"Mother's wounds could have been healed, but to protect me — to preserve Father's bloodline — she disregarded her own injuries and channeled all of her vital essence into nurturing me, day after day for ten years, until she had exhausted herself completely. After I was born, Mother stayed with me for only a few months. She told me everything, then used the very last of her strength to seal me away, using the spirit veins of heaven and earth to mend my innate deficiency."

"That healing took over a hundred years."

"Not long ago, I finally broke free and entered the cultivation world. I encountered many people along the way — they saw my fine fur and wanted to skin me for clothing. I nearly died several times. I had intended to return to the Million Mountains, but by chance I heard news of Yuhua Sect. I remembered clearly — Mother had told me it was Father's sect. So I came to see."

"I entered the Canon Pavilion only to find Father's biography and learn something of his life. I had no other ill intentions."

The white fox gazed at Lin Jiufeng and said softly.