My second encounter with the villain came sooner than I expected. The moment the flying ship arrived, I saw Giang Úc, utterly spent and barely clinging to life.
Giang Miên clung tightly to him, gripping two blue talismans as she stared at the two cultivators in front of her with red-rimmed eyes and shrieked, “My master is Ngân Linh, a celestial maiden! She’s no ordinary person! If you dare lay a hand on us today, my master will grind your bones to dust!”
I nearly fell out of the ship. What a… direct threat. The two cultivators hesitated, a hint of fear in their eyes, and sure enough, stopped in their tracks. It seemed foxes really were experts at borrowing a tiger’s might.
“My master will be here soon. If you know what’s good for you, get lost!” Giang Miên raised the blue talisman high and continued to threaten them. But she was still young, and couldn’t hide her panic.
One of the cultivators put aside his hesitation and sneered. “It’s been an hour already, and your master still hasn’t come. Looks like you’re not exactly favored.”
The yellow-robed cultivator came to his senses, too. “Ngân Linh, a celestial maiden? What kind of person is that? Why would she come all the way here for two white-furred beasts?”
“D-don’t come any closer! If you take one more step, my master will kill you!”
“What master? Quit lying. Even if you’re telling the truth and she really does come, she’s only in the late Golden Core stage. We’re both in the middle stage—what makes you think she can take us on by herself?”
“That’s right! Even if your Ngân Linh, a celestial maiden, really does come, what can she do?!”
What could she do? I put away my Cloudwalking Ship, and my concealed aura burst forth at once. The next second, the blue talisman blazed with light. As I descended from the sky, Giang Miên burst into tears. “Master! They bullied me, and—and they beat my brother up so badly!”
Ngân Linh, a celestial maiden, had used brutal force against two little foxes, grievously injuring two disciples of the Xiaoyao Sect and the Qingyan Sect. The victims came knocking, and the sect master of the Phi Tinh Sect had no choice but to compensate them with two thousand-year-old lingzhi mushrooms.
“I heard… that part… got severed… I’m afraid he’ll only be able to cultivate the Path of Unfeeling from now on.”
“Senior Sister was vicious.”
“Vicious is putting it mildly. She stripped them down to their underwear, tied them up, and dumped them in the middle of the road.”
I carried Giang Miên, now transformed into a little white fox, and walked down the corridor with an indifferent expression. The whispers grew louder with every step I took.
“Aren’t fox spirits all used as cultivation vessels? Why is Senior Sister raising one?”
“We’re a respected orthodox sect, the Phi Tinh Sect. Senior Sister’s doing something so depraved—isn’t that bringing disgrace on our sect?”
“The sect master just lets Senior Sister get away with everything!”
“What can he do? The sect master swore years ago to the former sect master that he’d take good care of his only daughter. How could he really punish Senior Sister?”
“So he’s just going to let Senior Sister bring this lowly demon beast in? I heard it was a plaything at Trích Nguyệt Pavilion, too. It’ll pollute the spiritual energy here.”
Giang Miên bristled in my arms, baring her teeth and growling. I held the little fox back as she tried to leap out and claw someone. Then I stopped, my gaze sweeping coldly over the crowd. “Got too much free time? Want to go keep Vân Hoa company?”
The corridor fell silent at once. I raised an eyebrow. “What are you standing around for?”
The crowd scattered like bees from a broken hive. Being the villainess could be… kind of fun.