Chapter 551: I Can’t.

Sword Ghost bore a bloodthirsty grin. A sun-shaped pattern appeared on her forehead as though the killing had consumed her mind.

“Stop!” Ye Wenxin could see things were getting out of hand. She hastily called for Sword Ghost to halt her rampage, but Sword Ghost only saw red and refused to listen.

With a slight frown, Ye Wenxin took a few steps forward, grasping Sword Ghost’s shoulder. Sword Ghost tried to resist, but before she could retaliate, her body suddenly trembled before dissolving into a wisp of smoke, flowing back into the umbrella sword.

“As I thought, having only one of the ghosts is much more dangerous,” Ye Wenxin murmured as she watched Sword Ghost vanish. The Soul Evokers were gathering around her. Although she couldn’t see their expression, it was clear that de-summoning Sword Ghost had put Ye Wenxin in a precarious position.

Ye Wenxin’s only option, since she couldn’t use Flower Burial here, was another magic item from Southern Dipper Temple—the golden pen. As the Soul Evokers approached, Ye Wenxin raised the golden pen, inscribing a spell in the air.

The floating golden script spun half a turn before striking a Soul Evoker, obliterating half of its form. Alarmed, the remaining Soul Evokers tried to flee but were not given the chance. Relying on the Buddhist scriptures she had learned from Celestial Master Zhong and the Southern Dipper Temple, Ye Wenxin could suppress these Soul Evokers even without Flower Burial.

Be that as it may, the Soul Evokers continued to charge heedlessly. Ye Wenxin prepared to cut down the next wave until a sudden shout reverberated. Following that shout, a crimson palanquin came out of the rift. Its grand entrance brought both intrigue and trepidation to Ye Wenxin.

She immediately sensed this crimson palanquin was something different from the Soul Evokers. A slender, pale hand reaching out from within was all she saw before the person inside ordered, “Let it go for today.”

The voice was neither loud nor soft, yet it resonated enough to reach everyone present. Ye Wenxin tried to match the woman in the palanquin with anyone she knew, but no name came to mind.

This woman might have come from the rift dimension, perhaps even from a different continent beyond it. Questions filled Ye Wenxin’s mind. After throwing the order, the mysterious woman disappeared as abruptly as she had arrived. The remaining Soul Evokers followed her back into the rift. The woman’s distant voice drifted through the slowly closing rift in the sky.

“We’ll meet again soon.”

Although they weren’t specified, Ye Wenxin felt those words were for her. Whatever the case, the situation had come to an end. She had done everything she could here. It was time to make her exit.

Ye Wenxin walked toward Fairy Fengya. She planned to inform the other woman of her departure when a giant fox accidentally crashed into a nearby house.

The fox looked embarrassed as the others called out to him.

“Fox King, your old eyes are failing you again!”

“Fox King, what brings you here?”

Yet, despite his imposing title and size, Fox King had a comical air about him. Seeing the demons fussing over him, he struggled to shift back into his human form.

A white-haired old man finally emerged. Laughing heartily, he looked at the crowd.

“Hahaha, my age got to me for a second there…” Fox King explained himself with a chuckle and then turned to Ye Wenxin. “Ah, Luo Mo! Thank you for helping us drive away the Soul Evokers.”

It seemed he had mistaken Ye Wenxin for the kitsune, Luo Mo. He was even shaking her hand in gratitude. Nearby, the kitsune looked on with an exasperated smile, embarrassed by the mix-up. Beside her, the red kitsune wore an equally awkward expression. She silently pleaded with Ye Wenxin to humor Fox King’s ramblings for now.

“No problem. I only did what I should,” Ye Wenxin reluctantly replied. Fox King continued to ramble, seeming to have some degree of senility. First, he mistook her for the kitsune, and now the red kitsune. A closer observation revealed Fox King’s eyes had lost their shine. He had likely lost his sight long ago.

And so, Fox King dragged Ye Wenxin back to his residence—the city lord’s mansion. There, she met the matron’s former husband, the city lord himself. The old city lord immediately checked on Fox King. He appeared like a genuinely worried lover than someone under a kitsune’s spell.

“My king, why did you run off again? Your memory is getting worse by the day.”

“I sensed something amiss outside… What was it, Luo Mo?” Fox King patted Ye Wenxin’s hand, inquiring about what had happened.

While Ye Wenxin suffered through the unbearable awkwardness, the real Luo Mo quickly stepped up to answer, “There was nothing out of the ordinary, my king.”

Fox King took her for her word. A few other demons standing by exchanged knowing glances and expertly led him away. At last, a collective sigh of relief passed through the group. Everyone had a long-suffering expression on their face.

“Apologies, dear cultivators. I didn’t expect you to witness such an embarrassing scene,” the kitsune said apologetically. Unlike the red kitsune, there was significantly less hostility in her eyes.

“It’s nothing. We were just passing through. We’re in a hurry and will not impose on you.” It tugged on Ye Wenxin’s conscience, but now that she had been exposed as a cultivator, she couldn’t linger.

Neither the kitsune nor the red kitsune seemed eager to detain them. When Ye Wenxin thought she could get away, a voice called behind her, “Luo Mo, stay and have a meal with us!”

To the kitsune’s dismay, Fox King still assumed Ye Wenxin was her. Resigned, she leaned in to whisper, “Would you two mind staying for a meal? Our king believes you’re me. It will sadden him if you leave now.”

Ye Wenxin had no desire to stay. She glanced at Fairy Fengya, thinking the other woman would decline with cold decisiveness. But when she turned around, she found a group of little kitsune had surrounded Fairy Fengya. They were chattering away, asking her what kind of fox she was and why her human form was so beautiful.

Although Fairy Fengya maintained her usual aloofness amid the children, it seemed she couldn’t free herself anytime soon. Ye Wenxin wanted to refuse, but the kitsune added, “There’s still some unfinished business between us.”

Ye Wenxin’s expression grew complicated. She had thought her Bone-Shrinking Technique was flawless. However, once her identity was exposed, there was nowhere to hide among these sharp-nosed demons. After some consideration, she reluctantly agreed to have lunch with a bunch of demons.

The demons living in the city lord’s mansion were all respectable figures, but they overly doted on Fox King. Sitting beside Ye Wenxin, the kitsune quietly explained some things about Fox King to her.