Chapter 132: As if Some Kind of Fate and Karma, the Soul Returns.

Chapter 132: As if Some Kind of Fate and Karma, the Soul Returns.

"Boom——!"

Dust billowed, blotting out the sun and sky. No matter how badass the Giant Fox was, dead on the ground, it was just a limp, saggy sack.

The monkey let out a "hey" and yanked out its staff, holding it up with one hand and slamming it into the ground.

"Thud!"

The earth shook.

It wanted to drop a badass line, but the dizziness from blood loss hit it hard. It shook its head hard, still woozy, so it just bared its fangs—"Hssss!"

Its waterlogged ears caught some kid yelling "Great Sage" at it.

Pfft!

The monkey straightened up, squinting, hallucinating it was decked out in the Great Sage's Phoenix-Winged Purple Gold Crown, Chainmail Golden Armor, Lotus-Silk Cloud-Walking Boots, and the As-You-Will Golden-Banded Staff.

It was freaking glorious.

It jabbed the Giant Fox's corpse with its staff: "What are you sleeping for? Get up, you got the guts to go three hundred more rounds with your monkey grandpa?"

The Foxtail Grass Spirit, picking up its broken vines, was done: "Shut your trap."

It wobbled, shook its head, and looked around for the others.

It stopped breathing.

Li Xueke's face was so weird, totally off.

The Foxtail Grass Spirit didn't even have time to think about it before tears started pouring from its eyes, freezing cold.

It took a shaky step, then another.

When it got close, its body shrank back to normal size, a fluffy foxtail drooping behind it.

It slowly crouched, glanced at Wu He on Li Xueke's lap, then turned stiffly to Li Xueke and asked, "Is Wu He dead?"

This guy had dark circles under his eyes, a face like paper, pale lips, no pulse—not a shred of life left in him.

Li Xueke blinked up at the sky.

Dust filled the city, blocking the sun, and sand stung his eyes, making them tear up.

The Foxtail Grass Spirit twisted its face: "I told you way back, him and the fox, they'd take each other out. I knew it, I said it. But what else could we do? Had to kill it, or we'd all be dead, right, right?"

"And every day he lived was so damn hard, just watching him was exhausting. Now he can finally get some rest, hahaha."

"Hey, kid, you've been wanting to crash like this forever, haven't you!"

Despite its choked, cracked voice, it almost sounded genuinely happy for him.

Tears dripped down its grassy fur, carving two wet streaks on its face, making it look even goofier.

The Paper Effigy Boy wasn't giving up.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!

Its thin, flimsy body bent down, straightened up, bent down, straightened up, huffing and puffing as it pumped Wu He's chest.

"I'm saving him! I'm saving him!"

The Little Golden Crow also craned its neck, chirping: "Cheep cheep cheep!"

The monkey staggered back, squatting to the side, its fur matted with blood, looking like a pathetic crooked cashew.

It felt the dead guy's pulse and decided to be the buzzkill: "No saving him. Bury him."

The fiend, for once, didn't jump up to fight it, just hung its head weakly, chin on its chest, and nodded.

Nearby, cultivators and townsfolk crowded around the fox corpse, stunned.

"A Divine Court saint was a demon fox all along!"

"Holy crap! How much more are they hiding?"

"Don't start with the demon talk—isn't the Great Sage a monkey too?"

"The Great Sage doesn't count!"

"Hey, wait, am I tripping... How many tails did this fox have just now?"

"Three... Huh? Why's it down to two?"

The careless words caught the attention of the freaks gathered around Wu He's body. They exchanged glances, pupils trembling.

Li Xueke slowly cursed: "...Damn."

He turned, his gaze shaking.

The giant fox corpse on the ground deflated inch by inch, and with a poof, became a single red fox tail.

"..."

Everyone stared at each other, a chill creeping down their spines.

Nine-tailed fox, one tail equals one life.

How many tails did it have left, anyway?

The group of banged-up, weakened freaks felt a cold dread creep over them.

The monkey, still oozing blood, stood up and staggered toward its staff.

"No big deal." It dug at its ringing ear, waving a hand. "Perfect timing—your monkey grandpa hasn't had his fill of killing yet."

The Foxtail Grass Spirit bit its lip, its grass fur quivering.

"Don't panic," Li Xueke said. "If I remember right, old records say a nine-tailed fox goes through a weak phase after swapping lives."

He looked up toward his own side.

Either dead or crippled.

Two main fighters were badly damaged, legs shaking so much they couldn't stand straight.

With this situation, how could they track it, how could they hunt it?

"Are we really powerless now..."

Watching it escape and recover, unable to do anything—it makes your teeth itch with hate.

The monkey shifted into its true form.

As its massive body bent down to scoop up people, Li Xueke was half afraid it'd roll its eyes back and crash down with a boom, squashing him into a pulp.

Luckily, the monkey caught itself.

The Foxtail Grass Spirit turned into a suit of vine armor, holding up the wounded giant beast.

Li Xueke made sure to bring Wu He's body.

And off they went again.

"Boom. Boom. Boom."

The monkey's steps were heavy, tired, its breath came in heavy, muffled pants, wheezing with every step.

It tried to focus its unfocused vertical pupils, glaring as it scanned all directions.

Regrettably, it wasn't the true Sun Wukong; it didn't have the fiery golden eyes.

Its strength drained away, its mind went fuzzy, and just a raw instinct pushed it on—keep moving, keep moving, don't stop...

"Wait! Stop! You, stop!"

The regular cultivator Yang Jinxian spotted a weird figure.

When he yelled, the figure didn't stop—it just covered its eyes and stumbled off running.

"Don't run! Hey, stop!"

The townsfolk bravely crowded around to block it.

The red-clad kid lowered his hand from his eyes, showing a handsome, creepy face with one bloodshot eye that glared at them coldly, sending chills down everyone's spine.

"Scram!"

He rasped, baring his fangs.

"A nine-tailed fox! It's the nine-tailed fox! Right here!"

In the distance, the monkey heard the shout, turned, and dragged its heavy staff, staggering over crookedly.

Boom, boom, boom!

Halfway there, the monkey lost its balance, tilted, and with a crash, took out half a street-side building.

The kid bared his fangs, his eyes blazing bloody red with hate.

"Looking for death when you won't die!"

He still had two lives left and didn't want to blow them.

Fine, he'd just burn another life and kill every living thing in this city!

"Roar—"

A towering giant fox staggered to its feet.

Sure, it was weak, but it was still way better off than those two wrecks.

Before it killed them...

The giant fox rolled its bloody eyes, locking onto Yang Jinxian, who'd messed up its escape.

"I'll start with you as an appetizer!"

Its sharp claws gleamed as they came swinging down!

Yang Jinxian, just a regular cultivator, had no chance against a beast like that.

As death closed in, he sighed to himself: This is it!

Sorry, Mom and kid back home.

Little bros and sis, big bro's coming to join you...

Right as death came down, Yang Jinxian actually heard his junior siblings' voices.

"Senior brother!" "Brother!"

Yang Jinxian smiled, resigned.

So we really can meet again in the afterlife. Fine, fine!

"Clang—!"

A thunderous clang shook the sky and ground.

In a daze, something yanked Yang Jinxian out of the way.

He looked down blankly and saw a long vine around his waist—the Foxtail Grass Spirit had swung a vine to save him.

"What?"

He wasn't dead? He wasn't dead!

Then how'd he hear his junior siblings' voices? Weren't they supposed to have died in the Tiannan City secret realm?

Yang Jinxian looked up, stunned, and saw two black-gold monsters, giving off a cold metallic gleam, dropping from the sky to battle the giant fox.

"Clang—zzzz!"

The giant fox's claws screeched against the black-gold dragon bones, spitting out a long burst of blinding sparks.

The screech of metal on metal set your teeth on edge and made your scalp crawl.

The little junior sister's anxious voice came from inside the black-gold monster: "Brother, be careful, don't go head-on! Dragon bones are precious! If you break them, the Guardian won't replace them for you!"

"I know, I know!" The junior brother's voice was full of impatience. "Stop nagging!"

Yang Jinxian stood dumbfounded: "Junior brother, junior sister... you're not dead?!"

Jun Bu Du had preserved the souls of those two ghosts.

These resilient souls were a perfect match for the black-gold dragon bones. Long Yuanyuan, who'd picked up fine craftsmanship from the Great Shaman, forged them two bodies out of the dragon bones—pretty tough stuff.

Today, the two ghosts came looking for their senior brother, just in time for this great battle.

Zhuo recognized them.

In the secret realm, it was these two ghosts who had found his name—Zhuo.

Like some kind of fate or karma, he felt a chill seeping from the deepest cracks of his bones.

"This fox is Zhuo?!"

The ghost sister instantly erupted in fury. "You're the one who killed Xiao You! I'm gonna avenge her!"

The Giant Fox crossed its claws to block a massive blow, its pupils shaking with a thunderous shudder.

Xiao You? What the hell was that?

In his life, he'd killed countless ants, always doing whatever he wanted—who'd dare come looking for revenge?

Now, trapped by these two ghosts and watching the monkey close in with its staff, his heart sank.

The fox struggled, swiping fiercely with its claws, leaving deep, gouged marks on the female ghost, but it couldn't push her back.

The male ghost fumed, "Fine, fine! So the big shots can do whatever they want, but we can't, huh? Think you're the only tough guy around?!"

The female ghost stuck out her tongue, acting like she didn't hear: "Senior brother, let's get him!"

The two ghosts pounced, lunging from left and right like hyenas, latching onto the Giant Fox's claws, refusing to let go no matter how much it shook.

"Get off... get the hell off!"

The Giant Fox couldn't break free, its body locked in place.

Wind howled, its pupils shrank!

"Whoosh—"

The giant monkey soared into the air, battered and bruised but heavy as a mountain, pausing midair to raise its staff above its head.

Then, with a thousand-pound drop, it crashed down like a mountain collapsing!

The booming staff trembled behind it, bending into an arc from the sheer force!

But its power was undiminished—the air screeched with friction, and the staff burst into flames.

"Whoosh—boom!"

In the Giant Fox's terrified eyes, the flaming staff came crashing down.

The monkey roared with a trembling shout, finally delivering the line it almost missed: "Monster! Take that!"

"Bam!"

The staff, with the force of ten thousand pounds, struck the Giant Fox's head.

Brains splattered, the last image in its eyes froze frame by frame until it was completely gone.

Boom!

This time, countless eyes were fixed on the two tails behind it.

Soon, the fox corpse collapsed, leaving a severed tail behind.

One last life left.

Killed during its weak phase, the nine-tailed fox's final life left it so weak it could barely stand.

Run... run...

The world swayed and blurred. In the marketplace, a red-clad youth stumbled and ran, each step like walking on cotton, flailing his weak arms to push through the looming shadows in front of him.

"There! Over there!"

"Don't let him get away!"

A trembling hand grabbed hold of him.

Zhuo's pupils shook, and he screamed hoarsely, "Get off! Get off me!"

He slashed wildly, smelling the blood.

But more hands grabbed onto him.

Ants were always like this—no matter how powerful the prey, they'd just swarm, swarm, and swarm...

Zhuo's struggling figure was slowly swallowed up by the crowd.

"Last life... last tail!"

The Foxtail Grass Spirit didn't go in for the kill. Its body shuddered hard, and it turned back to lunge at Wu He's corpse.

It grabbed his collar and shook him hard.

"Fight! Fight for it! The last life! Take it! You take it! Take it for me!"

"Wah! Wah!"

"Wu He! Wu He! Come back, soul!"

In the endless darkness.

Warm, comfortable, cozy, floating lazily.

He had never slept such a deep, sweet sleep in his whole life.

Wow... peace... ease!

Suddenly, a sharp pain hit him, like his soul was splitting in two.

Half felt so good it was bubbling, sinking endlessly.

The other half hurt so much he wanted to die—what the hell, punches, kicks, bites, stabs... it felt like he was being mobbed by ten thousand people!

Instinct told him that if he kept sinking, he'd find eternal peace and release.

'Am I out of my mind to go back?'

Yet...

A vine, a paper hand, a furry paw, a human hand...

So many invisible hands were tugging at him, refusing to let go.

He was pissed.

He felt like fighting.

"Come back, soul!"

"So annoying."