Cultivation Retirement Plan (BL)

44. A Pack of Liars

Ancestral Hall, Su Manor

Ten rounds later and Nan Wuyue was starting to tire. Ting'er sensed it as well, because she only let him run loose a little longer before thrashing him to the ground and pinning him still with her vines. A well-embroidered shoe came to rest on his head before she bent down with a whisper.

"You're not human, are you?"

Nan Wuyue only glared in her direction in the dark. "Stop spewing nonsense."

"Stop lying, then," Ting'er shot back. "Your blood tastes different. And the strange qi tendril you left behind on that sword—it has a hint of demonic energy hiding in its strands. Am I wrong?"

Nan Wuyue only grit his teeth even as his heart gave a jolt. She could even sense something so subtle? It was true, the shadowy component of his qi was an element of his previous self, flickering core and all, but he hadn't sensed any demonic energy in it!

"Like attracts like," Ting'er went on. "Your qi, it sings to me and others who cultivate in a demonic way. You should be strong, but...you're ridiculously weak for what you are."

"What do you think I am?" Nan Wuyue challenged. The flower Yao might have him pinned, but he was still gripping his weapon. If he could distract her long enough to get the blade free, he could manage a counterattack.

"It's too faint for me to tell," Ting'er admitted. "I wonder, should I keep you as a captive until your true self manifests? Or should I cut you to pieces now as nutrients for my roots? Ah, I suppose you'd even make a fine gift for my master..."

"You're pretty bloodthirsty for a weed," Nan Wuyue shot back.

"Pretty, yes. Bloodthirsty?" Ting'er clicked her tongue. "Food is food."

She reached down to comb through his hair, playing with the end of his ponytail until Nan Wuyue spat out, "Why are you working with the foxes?"

The statues were a dead giveaway: the Fox Clan had to be active again.

"Don't you know how badly the Yao suffered after the Three Realms War?" Ting'er chided. "We're so outnumbered now, even a group of humans can bully us if they wish. Heaven knows the Middle and Demon Realms are all too happy to help. Of course it's for survival!"

"Then what does the Fox King want you to accomplish?" Nan Wuyue asked next. "Are you going to make us all disappear before he re-establishes the Fox Clan?"

"You know about the Fox King?" Ting'er grew amused. "Not bad. I thought we'd hid our tracks for years."

A little further and his sword would be free. Nan Wuyue struggled some more to mask his movements, making sure his neck was craned back enough to meet the sound of Ting'er's voice. "Is that why the Su Clan called Su Shimeng back? He's part of the clan too, and Su Shiyu needed his brother to revive it together?"

"Su Shiyu?" Ting'er echoed.

"Your master," Nan Wuyue insisted. "The Fox King."

"The Fox King...my master..." Ting'er grew amused. "Why didn't you ask if it was Su Shimeng?"

A jolt went through Nan Wuyue's head. Of course, that's possible too. "So? Is it him?"

But Ting'er only laughed. "How could it be Su Shimeng? Su Shimeng is—haha, nothing!"

That was all Nan Wuyue needed to hear. While she lost herself in mirth, he finally freed his blade and struck out in an arc, aiming straight for her side! The sharp metal instantly met soft flesh and connected with a fleshy squick—at once, Nan Wuyue recognized that he'd slashed a vine again, not Ting'er's human shell.