Chapter 212 What Do You Really Want in Qingyu Mountain?…

Chapter 212: What Do You Really Want Coming to Qingyu Mountain...

As A Chan’s accusatory words escaped her lips, a chill snaked up her spine—her body’s instinctive warning of danger.

The Fox King’s killing intent was undisguised. As A Chan met her gaze, the mutual hatred in their eyes was palpable.

The Fox King resented A Chan for the loss of her son, while A Chan harbored a deep-seated bitterness towards the Fox King’s past decisions that had cost her parents.

“You want to die!” The Fox King’s voice was sharp and cold. There had never been any warmth of kinship between them. She never showed mercy to a junior who dared challenge her.

“If Grandmother wishes to try, she is welcome to. Father gave me all of his life force. If you want me dead, you might have to kill me several times over.”

At the mention of Xi Jing bestowing all his life force upon her, the Fox King’s murderous intent abruptly receded, and she reverted to her usual haughty and detached demeanor.

“So this is why you dared come to Qingyu Mountain? Relying on the life Xi Jing gave you, to speak so brazenly before me?”

“Grandmother, aren’t you curious how I obtained Father’s life force?”

The Fox King didn’t need to ask. She had taught Xi Jing about inner cores long before he came of age.

Her countless admonitions back then—he had truly taken them to heart.

“You found his remains?”

“I saw his remains,” A Chan replied to the Fox King. “And I also learned the true cause of Father’s death.”

“He died at your mother’s hands, because of you.”

A Chan’s lips twitched slightly. “He was cursed by the Demon Emperor, forced onto that path because of us.”

She rose, pressing her hands against the rough stone table, looking down at the Fox King. “If you hadn’t deliberately lured Father away back then, the Witch Clan wouldn’t have nearly been annihilated, and Father wouldn’t have broken ties with the Demon Emperor. If Grandmother hadn’t been so adept at self-preservation, the Demon Emperor might never have succeeded in cursing Father.”

“What did you say?”

A Chan didn’t miss the slightest flicker of emotion on the Fox King’s face. The revelation of her son being cursed clearly came as a profound shock—she truly had been completely unaware.

She had only known that her father died for his daughters, but not the true origin of it all.

The stone table beneath A Chan’s hands groaned, and countless fine, deep cracks spiderwebbed across its surface.

“I said, before he died, he cursed Father’s bloodline to be severed, and his descendants to meet a terrible end.” A Chan straightened, enunciating each word. “Grandmother, you personally pushed Father to his doom.”

The Fox King closed her eyes. She and Xi Jing had argued countless times—first over that witch, then over those two short-lived offspring.

She had never understood: what was so wrong with abandoning two doomed cubs with no future? The demon world had always been about the survival of the fittest; the weak were meant to perish. Yet Xi Jing refused.

Even during their most heated disputes, he had never told her that the children’s short lives were the result of the Demon Emperor’s curse.

After a long silence, the Fox King finally spoke. “What do you truly want by coming to Qingyu Mountain?”

A Chan smoothed her skirt and settled back onto the stone stool. “What I want, Grandmother, is something easily granted by you.”

She spoke slowly. “I hear the Demon Emperor still has descendants. I believe they should die.”

The Fox King’s eyes snapped open. “What is your name among humans?”

A Chan paused the fingers that had been idly twisting a lock of her hair. “Ji Chan. Ji as in ‘seasons,’ Chan as in ‘beautiful moon.’”

“What is your relation to Ji Heng?”

A Chan inwardly marveled. As expected of the Fox King, who had stood firm in the demon realm—truly perceptive.

With a calm expression, she replied, “He is the birth father of this body.”

“You have a grudge against him.” This was not a question, but an assertion.

The Demon Emperor’s offspring were nothing. The only true threat was that half-demon named Ji Heng. She happened to know that half-demon originally came from the human realm.

“I bear him no grudge. I was merely entrusted by someone to ensure his demise.” A Chan made no attempt to conceal her intentions. Before a Fifth Realm master, lies were the most useless of disguises.

“Do you think a few mere words can sway me?”

“Can’t they?” A Chan feigned a troubled expression. “If even Father’s death fails to move Grandmother, then I’ll be more direct. If you refuse to help me today, when Qingyu Mountain faces calamity in the future, you’ll have no choice but to rely on that demon princess to save you from peril.”

“Qingyu Mountain in calamity?” The Fox King scoffed. “Are you threatening me with a Ming princeling who hasn’t even ascended to power?”

“Yes. Does Grandmother find that insufficient?”

The Fox King laughed. “A Chan, has no one taught you? Power gained through manipulation cannot be truly controlled. Strength only holds deterrence when it is in your own hands. Great Xia is not yours to command.”

A Chan also smiled. “Grandmother hasn’t even seen the blade in my hand. How can you know I can’t control it?”

Her eyes curved gently, her expression soft. “My blade listens only to me. Where I point, it strikes. Whom I wish to die, it slays for me. Grandmother, you should know, this is not difficult for me.”

The Fox King gazed at A Chan for a long moment. “That blade of yours lacks the weight to threaten me.”

“Oh?” A Chan was unperturbed. “Allow me to remind Grandmother: he is not yet thirty. Perhaps in another ten years, Grandmother will no longer be able to withstand this blade.”

The smile vanished from the Fox King’s face.

A Fifth Realm master under thirty—she was indeed threatened, but she would not be easily persuaded.

“Ten years from now, will he still heed your words?”

“He will.” A Chan’s tone was resolute. “He will only ever listen to me. Of course, if you don’t believe me, I wouldn’t mind bringing him to visit you personally then.”

The Fox King seemed uninterested in this suggestion, and promptly changed the subject. “Ji Heng is a Fifth Realm of the demon race. His death would harm our people, not benefit them.”

“Grandmother is merely the Fox King, yet you insist on worrying for the Demon Emperor. Did the demon race not survive without him before? With him here, Grandmother should be more concerned. After all, it’s not just us who bear a grudge against the Demon Emperor; from the perspective of the Demon Emperor’s descendants, there’s a blood feud between her and us too.”

The conversation, in the end, was steered back to the Demon Emperor by A Chan.

“Ji Heng’s existence, besides constantly threatening Grandmother, offers not a single benefit to Qingyu Mountain. That demon princess could cultivate one Ji Heng; who’s to say there won’t be a second, a third? Which son will Grandmother prepare to sacrifice to them then?”

A Chan’s deliberate provocation angered the Fox King, yet she did not erupt in fury as she had at first.

A Chan knew full well that her intentions could be easily seen through by the Fox King, but she was certain the Fox King would not refuse.

Finally, the Fox King said, “Ji Heng is now part of the demon race. I will not help you kill him.”

A Chan curved her lips. “I’ve already found the ideal person to kill Ji Heng. There’s no need to trouble Grandmother; you only need to stop those demon kings who might try to help Ji Heng.”

“You certainly think highly of me.”

A Chan blinked. “I would never underestimate Grandmother. I hear that in your youth, several demon kings lingered at Qingyu Mountain, unwilling to leave. Had Grandmother not disdained them for not being of the fox clan, I imagine one of them would have long since become my grandfather. The Demon Emperor’s followers surely cannot compare to Grandmother’s admirers.”

The Fox King had no patience for A Chan’s rambling and cut her off. “Just stopping them is enough?”

“Oh, there’s one more small matter to trouble Grandmother with.”

A Chan produced a golden book.

The Fox King recognized it at a glance: “The Earth Spirit Book?”

A Chan handed the Earth Spirit Book over. “Since Grandmother recognizes it, consider this book my gift. I hear the Rat Clan has studied it thoroughly; with just one person’s blood, it can locate all their blood relatives.”

“You want to use it to find all of the Demon Emperor’s bloodline? Your ambition is quite considerable.”

Despite her words, the Fox King ultimately accepted the Earth Spirit Book.

“To cut weeds, you must pull them out by the roots. If we’re doing this, we must do it thoroughly. A Mian and I have both died once; why should the Demon Emperor’s descendants be allowed to live? Their survival is a disrespect to Father. Grandmother surely wouldn’t want such a thing to happen, would you?”

The Fox King let out a soft snort. “When do you plan to act?”

“Grandmother’s birthday is approaching soon. Let’s not delay too long; it would be a shame to spoil such a joyous occasion with ill omens. How about seven days from now?”

“Very well.”

“Then…” A Chan extended her hand towards the Fox King. “I naturally trust Grandmother, but just in case Grandmother doesn’t trust me, perhaps we should seal this with a contract.”

The Fox King cast a cold glance, but A Chan’s smile remained unwavering. Finally, she placed her hand upon A Chan’s.