Chapter 565 463: Why Did It Have to Be a Human?

The night was deep, and Tushan Mansion was utterly still.

But a cold glint of light flashed as a longsword tore through the darkness, aimed straight for Tushan Jing Ci's back.

"Miss, watch out!"

Yue Shi had no time to think as she spun around. With a flick of her wrist, the long whip at her waist shot out like a viper striking, its tip coiling precisely around the sword's blade.

With a twist and a pull, she used its momentum to divert the longsword by a crucial inch. It grazed past Yue Shi's shoulder and, with a THWACK, embedded itself in a corridor pillar, the blade humming from the impact.

Yue Shi shielded Tushan Jing Ci behind her, her gaze sweeping across the courtyard. "Who's there!"

A shadowy figure slowly stepped out.

He was cloaked in a black robe, his face concealed by black cloth. A short horn on his forehead glinted faintly in the moonlight, and the demonic aura surrounding him was so thick it was nearly solid.

"Do you have any idea what the penalty is for trespassing in Tushan Mansion?" Yue Shi asked, her voice dangerously low as she tightened her grip on the whip's handle.

The man in black didn't answer.

The next instant, he vanished.

Yue Shi's pupils shrank. She swept her whip out, its tip whistling through the air.

In that same instant, the man in black moved with blinding speed—yanking his sword free, turning, and thrusting. The three actions were a single, fluid motion, the blade once again aimed at Tushan Jing Ci.

Instead of retreating, Yue Shi advanced. Her whip traced an arc through the air, wrapping around the man's sword arm. She yanked back with sudden force, swinging him completely off his feet and slamming him hard onto the courtyard's stone path.

"SLAM!"

Stone fragments flew in all directions. The man's back hit the ground with enough force to carve a shallow trench in the path.

But he seemed to feel no pain. He pushed off the ground with one hand, springing back to his feet. The stone slab beneath him cracked as he launched himself forward once more.

The glint of the sword and the shadow of the whip intertwined in the courtyard.

Yue Shi's whip shifted between soft and hard. When soft, it slithered along the sword's blade; when hard, it struck with enough force to deflect the point.

They traded blows back and forth, the clash of their weapons as dense as a rainstorm and piercingly loud in the silent night.

'This can't go on.'

Yue Shi could feel her strength waning. She forced the man in black back with a crack of her whip, then reached into her sleeve with her left hand, pulled out a jade bead, and tossed it high into the air.

The jade bead rose about thirty feet into the air, but it didn't explode as she had anticipated.

It hung there, emitting a faint glow before hitting what seemed to be an invisible barrier that forcibly suppressed its light.

"An Array!"

Yue Shi's heart sank.

'He came prepared. The courtyard is sealed off, so the sounds of our fight can't escape, and I have no way to send a signal.'

The man in black seized on her moment of distraction, his sword point suddenly appearing right before her eyes.

Yue Shi dodged to the side. The longsword scraped past her cheek, severing a few strands of hair.

She spun with the motion, swinging her whip in a full circle and using the momentum to lash out viciously.

The whip struck the man in black squarely in the chest, tearing his robe and revealing the ashen, gray skin beneath.

The man in black staggered back two steps. He glanced down at the bleeding wound on his chest, then slowly raised his head, his eyes as placid and dead as stagnant water.

He raised his sword again.

Yue Shi tightened her grip on her whip, shielding Tushan Jing Ci behind her as she took half a step back.

"Miss, the Array he set up only blocks sound and suppresses signaling Magical Artifacts—it can't stop people. You need to run! I'll hold him off. The Madam will be back any moment!" Yue Shi urged Tushan Jing Ci.

Tushan Jing Ci hesitated, her expression full of conflict.

She couldn't bear to leave Sister Yue Shi, terrified that something would happen to her.

But she also knew that by staying, she would only be a hindrance.

"Sister Yue Shi, please be okay!"

Tushan Jing Ci gave Sister Yue Shi one last look, then grabbed Xiao Mo and hurried out of the courtyard.

Seeing them flee, the man in black decisively revealed his true form.

The man's true form resembled a rhinoceros, yet also a water buffalo. It had the head of a pig, the feet of an elephant, three hooves, and a massive belly.

[Dust-Repelling Rhino: A beast of the sea. It repels dust. If one places it under a seat, no dust will enter, much like a mattress made from the pelt of a dust-repelling beast.]

The demon stomped a foot toward Yue Shi.

Unable to dodge in time, Yue Shi could only cross her arms in front of her to brace for the impact.

Yue Shi felt as though she had been struck by a mountain, and her entire body was sent flying backward.

But she scrambled back to her feet and revealed her own true form—three cat tails swaying in the darkness.

Yue Shi was no ordinary Cat Demon. Her bloodline showed signs of atavism, reverting toward the mythical Huan.

[Huan: Its form is like that of a wildcat, with a single eye and three tails. Its cry is like a hundred voices at once. It can ward off evil, and consuming it cures jaundice.]

"YOWL!"

Yue Shi pounced on the rhino-demon. Her movements were incredibly agile, her claws raking across his body and leaving a trail of gashes.

"ROAR!"

The demon grew immensely frustrated and, finding an opening, gored Yue Shi, sending her flying.

At the same time, he raised his head and spat a pillar of water at Tushan Jing Ci, which came crashing down upon her.

Tushan Jing Ci stood frozen, her mind a complete blank.

But before the demon had even finished forming the pillar of water, Xiao Mo was already sprinting toward Tushan Jing Ci, tackling her with a desperate lunge.

"BOOM!"

"SPLASH!"

The explosion of water from the lake's surface mingled with the splash of Xiao Mo and Tushan Jing Ci hitting the water.

A towering geyser erupted from the surface of the lake.

Before the lake's surface had even settled, the demon had already formed another pillar of water, preparing to deliver the finishing blow.

But at that very moment, a snow-white fox tail descended from the sky.

One.

Two.

Three.

Before the demon could even react, his neck was ensnared by eight snow-white fox tails.

A Nine-tailed Celestial Fox: One Realm, One Tail.

Tushan Xinhua, having reached the Immortal Realm, strode down from the sky. She came to a stop before the demon, her eyes filled with cold killing intent. "Who sent you? To think you wouldn't even spare a five-year-old child!"

"Hehehe!" The demon sneered. "For my master! What's one insignificant cub of a Nine-tailed Celestial Fox in the grand scheme of things?!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the demon closed his eyes.

"Not good!"

Tushan Xinhua immediately released the demon and, at the same time, summoned a painted scroll that sucked him inside.

"BOOM!"

A tremendous explosion rang out. The demon had self-detonated his Demon Pill, turning to ash along with the scroll, leaving not even his Divine Soul behind.

Silence returned to the courtyard, leaving only a scene of utter devastation in its wake.

"Hmph!"

Tushan Xinhua snorted coldly, then immediately turned and lifted her daughter and the Human Race boy out of the lake.

Tushan Xinhua laid her daughter on the grass.

Even in unconsciousness, the little Human Race boy held her daughter in a death grip.

And because Tushan Jing Ci had been touched by a male, the vermilion mark between her brows began to fade, as if it had been washed clean by the lake water.

"Please, Madam, grant me death..."

Yue Shi reverted to her human form and knelt before Tushan Xinhua, her face etched with self-reproach.

She had never imagined something like this could happen.

'Just moments ago, she had nearly failed to protect her miss. And now, before her sixth birthday, she had been touched by a boy...'

"And what use would your death be?"

Tushan Xinhua sighed softly, her gaze fixed on the two small children clinging tightly to one another. Her eyes were filled with a complex storm of emotions.

'There was only one day left...'

Tushan Xinhua crouched down, gently caressing her daughter's damp cheek.

'Could this be fate...?'

'Is there no escaping it, no matter what?'

'But why...'

Tushan Xinhua bit her thin lip.

'Why... of all things... did it have to be a member of the Human Race...?'