Chapter 111 She Will Definitely Grow Up

Chapter 111: She Will Surely Grow Up

"Did he mention a specific place?" A Chan asked again.

Shen Qingwu shook her head. "He never did."

That was true—there was no need for him to, as his elder brother had already been dead for years by the time Liu Feng spoke of him to her.

A Chan seemed a little disappointed, but learning this much from Shen Qingwu was already enough.

She didn't press further, allowing Shen Qingwu to secretly breathe a sigh of relief.

Then, A Chan informed Shen Qingwu of what she had just told Hui Xue: that they needed to leave Great Xia as soon as possible.

Shen Qingwu showed little reaction. Her earlier suggestion to stay in Xiling with Hui Xue had only been because she believed she couldn't escape death. Now, being able to leave with her daughter, she was willing to go anywhere.

"Has Hui Xue already discussed a destination with you?" she asked A Chan.

A Chan nodded. "As it happens, I just told her that the Wilderness would be a good choice. It's a place where various races intermingle. If Hui Xue successfully transforms into a demon, her cultivation will be at least at the Third Realm. As long as you're careful, you'll be able to live there safely."

Although many Fourth Realm cultivators had suddenly appeared in Xiling, the Fourth Realm was still uncommon, and the Fifth Realm was even rarer. A Third Realm cultivation outside, coupled with sufficient caution and avoiding self-inflicted trouble, would ensure a good life.

"Very well, then. Let's go to the Wilderness. From the name, it sounds like a good place."

Many years ago, when she first heard of it from Liu Feng, she had thought the same.

At that time, Liu Feng had even said he would take her to see it someday. Who could have imagined that over a decade later, they would be going there to live?

Just then, Chen Hui spoke up. "Since we're going outside Great Xia, should we prepare a map in advance? But are such maps even available on the market?"

That question hit the mark. A Chan thought for a moment before replying, "Let's look for one tomorrow."

If all else failed, she would have to rely on her own knowledge to draw one by hand.

The three sat in the room for about an hour, discussing essential supplies for their departure and the taboos of various races to avoid accidentally stirring up trouble.

Most of the time, A Chan spoke while Shen Qingwu listened attentively.

Just then, a scratching sound came from outside the door.

The three stopped talking. Chen Hui stepped forward and opened the door, and a ball of snow-white fur with six tails rolled in, the tips of its tails tinged with yellow.

A Chan was the first to react, scooping the creature into her arms and secretly noting how plump it felt.

A fox face emerged from the fur.

"Hui Xue?" Shen Qingwu also leaned in, her eyes wide with surprise.

Shen Hui Xue opened her mouth but couldn't make a human sound.

"A Chan, what's wrong with Hui Xue?"

"It's nothing," A Chan said calmly. "She's just gained demonic power and doesn't know how to control it yet. After some time to adjust, she'll be able to control her demon form freely and speak again."

She counted Hui Xue's tails—six tails. Indeed, she had reached the Third Realm.

Shen Hui Xue, nestled in her arms, nodded in agreement. A Chan raised a hand to stroke her head, and Shen Hui Xue's ears twitched before she tilted her head to rub against A Chan's hand.

Since Shen Hui Xue couldn't speak or transform back yet, A Chan decided not to press her about absorbing the inner core. She would wait until Hui Xue recovered.

From the look of the sky, it was getting late. A Chan and Chen Hui returned to their own rooms, leaving Hui Xue in Shen Qingwu's care.

"Hui Xue, shall we sleep?" Shen Qingwu held her soft, fluffy daughter, her heart melting.

The little fox nodded and yawned.

After settling her daughter on the bed, Shen Qingwu blew out the candle and returned to her own bed.

As night deepened, the faint chirping of insects drifted from outside. Beside her, Hui Xue kicked off the thin blanket, curled into a ball, her six tails fanned out like a flower.

Yet Shen Qingwu remained wide awake, completely sleepless.

It wasn't the day's events that kept her awake, but A Chan's sudden mention of Liu Feng's elder brother.

Many past memories, triggered by A Chan's words, flooded her mind.

Some things she thought she had forgotten were still deeply ingrained. Liu Feng's words to her felt as if they had been spoken just yesterday.

Liu Feng greatly admired his elder brother. In his heart, his brother was the most powerful, even more so than his mother, who was known as the Fox King.

Once, she saw Liu Feng drinking heavily and learned that it was the anniversary of his brother's death.

He usually only spoke of his brother's greatness, rarely mentioning details. That day, however, he seemed to need someone to confide in and began to tell her everything.

He spoke of his brother's astonishing talent and brilliance, how he dominated the demon race, rivaled only by the Demon Emperor.

Although Shen Qingwu knew little about the demon race, the Shen family was, after all, a family of demon hunters, and they still possessed ancient texts that recorded the Demon Emperor's power.

Perhaps every younger brother thinks his elder brother is incredibly powerful, she thought at the time. Not wanting to argue over such a small matter, she asked, "Since your brother was so formidable, how did he die? Was it an act of revenge?"

Liu Feng shook his head. "Of course not. My brother was a Fifth Realm demon—even Mother was no match for him. He also held grudges fiercely; if someone offended him during the day, he would retaliate by night.

"Those in this world who could be called his enemies were already schemed against by him a century ago, hunted down and killed so brutally that not even their souls remained."

At this, Shen Qingwu became serious. She knew Liu Feng wouldn't fabricate a false story about his brother to deceive her; there was no need for it.

A Fifth Realm fox demon—her Shen family ancestors had never encountered a demon so powerful.

"If he was so powerful, how can you be sure he's truly dead?" Shen Qingwu questioned at the time.

Liu Feng's eyes became somewhat hazy as he told her, "The last time I went to see him, he told me never to look for him again. He also asked me to return to Qingyu Mountain and tell Mother to put out his soul lamp."

Seeing her confusion, he explained, "Every one of Mother's sons leaves a soul lamp in the mountain when they leave. Both my brother and I lit those lamps. You humans say 'when a person dies, their lamp goes out'—that's what it means. When I returned to the mountain that time, my brother's soul lamp had already gone out."

"Then who killed him?"

Liu Feng remained silent for a long time, so long that she thought she wouldn't get an answer. Then, she heard him say, "It must have been... my sister-in-law."

"Who?" Shen Qingwu thought she had misheard.

Liu Feng continued, "If my brother hadn't been willing, he wouldn't have died so easily. My mother cared deeply for my brother, yet when she saw his soul lamp extinguished, she merely stayed by the lamp and never went down the mountain to avenge him. It must be that my brother had already told Mother. Besides my sister-in-law, I can't think of anyone else who could have killed him."

"Then what about your sister-in-law?"

"Perhaps she's dead too. I can't be certain."

"Why?"

"There was a deep-seated blood feud between them. My brother forced that relationship to begin with, so it's normal for it to end this way."

At that time, Shen Qingwu thought of the niece Liu Feng often mentioned—weren't his elder brother and sister-in-law the parents of those two little foxes?

She couldn't help but ask, "Do your two nieces know about this?"

Liu Feng shook his head. "They don't. My brother could have asked me to relay a message to them, but he said nothing. That means he didn't intend for them to know."

"Would that be better for them?" The young Shen Qingwu found it hard to tell whether Liu Feng and his mother withholding this truth was truly a good thing for the two little foxes.

But if the truth was as Liu Feng said—that their parents had turned on each other—it was indeed too cruel.

Liu Feng told her with conviction, "This choice is the best one."

He said, "A Mian probably wouldn't care about this. Whether her parents are alive or dead isn't important to her, nor would she be curious. That girl may seem gentle and easy to bully, but her heart is cold; she only cares about A Chan.

"Yet A Chan, I don't know who she inherited that stubborn nature from. She never received any attention from her parents, yet she cares about them so much."

When Liu Feng spoke of A Chan that time, his tone was filled with heartache.

He said, "A Chan was abandoned by her elder brother and sister-in-law at birth. There's no need for her to be abandoned a second time. Knowing the truth would only make her painfully aware that her parents never chose her.

"My brother's glory—his daughters never knew of it. His kindness—his daughters never experienced it. Even in death, he never thought to inform his daughters. Since that's the case, there's no need for them to know."

He added, "It's better to let A Chan grow up with a little hope. One day, when she becomes a fully grown fox, she will eventually stop clinging to them and move on completely.

"Many demons grow up this way, leaving their parents and siblings behind. A Chan might grow a little slower, but she will surely grow up."

Liu Feng's words were filled with hope for A Chan's future.

But Liu Feng, your A Chan seems to have met with an accident before she could even grow up.

Shen Qingwu lay with her eyes open, sighing inwardly. Another decade had passed, and A Chan had become human, yet she was still inquiring about her father.

She didn't know how many years Liu Feng meant by "growing up," but she could only hope that, as he said, A Chan would one day forget them.

The next day, as A Chan was still asleep, she suddenly felt her cheek getting wet.

She opened one eye and saw a ball of fox fur licking her.

"Hui Xue, you need to control yourself," A Chan said sternly, then rolled over and pulled the fox into her arms.

Hui Xue whimpered twice. She still couldn't control her instincts and was still adapting. Just a little more licking.

It was already mid-morning. A Chan lingered in bed for a while longer with the fox, then finally carried Hui Xue out of the room.

Chen Hui wasn't there. Shen Qingwu brought out the food she had kept warm in the pot and, seeing A Chan looking around, told her, "Hui Niang went to buy things for me. She said she wanted to buy everything on yesterday's list in advance."

A Chan nodded and sat down to eat her morning meal.

As she ate, she also fed the curious Hui Xue. Seeing them enjoying themselves, Shen Qingwu didn't disturb them.

It wasn't until the afternoon that Chen Hui returned with a cart full of goods.

Then, she handed A Chan a somewhat old and worn book of supernatural tales and said, "I asked the bookstore owner earlier, and after hearing my request, he gave me this storybook. He said it contains a map of the lands beyond Great Xia."

A Chan was surprised. Flipping it open, she indeed found many illustrations within the book.

The last page of the storybook was a complete map, showing only broad regional divisions and the waterways passing through those areas. Although it lacked much detail, it was largely consistent with A Chan's knowledge.

"How is it?" Chen Hui asked.

A Chan handed the storybook to Shen Qingwu. "It's a usable map. The author of this book must not have been an ordinary person. Once I mark the location of the Wilderness, it will be ready for use."

With the most troublesome map issue resolved, there was no need to worry excessively about the remaining matters.

Then, she heard Chen Hui say, "Today, the Bright Mirror Bureau posted a public notice, announcing the crimes of the Shen family. Tomorrow at noon, the Shen family head and all his kinsmen will be beheaded in the marketplace as a public display."

She looked at Shen Qingwu and asked, "Will you go?"

Shen Qingwu nodded and said, "He is still my elder brother. I will go to see him off."

Then she added, "I will be careful and make sure they don't discover me."

A Chan nodded. She wasn't particularly concerned about the Shen family.

By the time the Shen family was destroyed, she had already lost interest in them and didn't care much about their deaths. She simply said, "Then you two go. I'll stay home and play with Hui Xue."

Then, remembering something, she said to Chen Hui, "Hui Niang, when you're there, could you check if Xue Ying is among them?"

Chen Hui nodded. "Understood."

The next day, Chen Hui left with Shen Qingwu, who wore a wide-brimmed hat, a face veil, and heavy makeup.

Before leaving, they left a pot of chicken simmering in the kitchen for them.

A Chan and Hui Xue were playing a paw-patting game when, after a short while, they smelled the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen.

So, one person and one fox both ran to the kitchen and squatted in front of the stove, gazing expectantly.

Hui Niang had said it needed another fifteen minutes to stew, and they were both getting impatient.

Compared to A Chan, Hui Xue was clearly less well-behaved. Curious, she extended a paw towards the stove's embers. As a result, the fur on her paw was singed black by the residual heat. She let out a yelp and suddenly transformed back into her human form.

A Chan looked up at Shen Hui Xue. Her appearance hadn't changed, but the features that once marked her as a half-demon had all disappeared.

Shen Hui Xue recalled what she had just done and silently covered her face in embarrassment.

However, her embarrassment didn't last long, because the fifteen minutes passed quickly.

She and A Chan served themselves generous portions of the deliciously stewed chicken and two bowls of rice, then sat down at the table to eat.

The two chatted as they ate.

A Chan asked her, "Did anything unexpected happen when you absorbed the inner core?"

"No, nothing unexpected, but it was very painful when the demonic energy reshaped my body later." Recalling the scene, her eyes reddened slightly, but then she thought of something else. "A Chan, I saw my father."

A Chan was startled.

Shen Hui Xue said, "I barely had to exert any effort; the demonic energy from the inner core flowed into me on its own. Just as the inner core was about to be completely absorbed, I saw him. He was looking at me too, but the phantom image was too faint and vanished in an instant."

Shen Hui Xue's words carried a hint of regret.

"I see..."

"But my father and I really do look alike." The first thing she did after turning into a fox was climb onto the dressing table to look in the mirror—and indeed, the resemblance was striking.

A Chan couldn't help but laugh. It seemed that after becoming a demon, Hui Xue had relaxed a lot.

"A Chan, thank you. I don't even know how to repay you." Shen Hui Xue's voice was filled with gratitude.

"How about you do me a favor? Consider it your repayment."

"What favor? Just tell me, and I will do it for you."

A Chan said, "In the Wilderness, I might know two people. I don't know their exact whereabouts, nor if they are still there. I'd like you to help me search for their traces. If you don't find them, that's fine. If you do, there's no need to disturb them—just send me word." "Alright," Shen Hui Xue nodded solemnly, committing it to memory.