Chapter 564 - 461: The Affairs of Celestial Wolf City, the Young Squirrel Girl’s Fantasy

One-tailed was unconcerned by such speculation. She simply shook her head. "The Celestial Wolf Race doesn’t seem all that strong. If they’re just like the ones who were guarding this place last time, then there’s nothing to be afraid of."

However, the Squirrel Demon said, "There’s more to it. The members of the Celestial Wolf Race are all very powerful. Last time, they were killed by you and that powerful lord before they even got to show their full hand. Now that the Celestial Wolf Race knows this place has been seized, they’ll surely go all out to reclaim it. They might even use some arrays!"

Indeed, the Celestial Wolf Race had certainly mastered arrays. After all, they were a super-clan that had occupied Celestial Wolf City for thousands, even tens of thousands of years. They had quite a few Ancestor Level figures among them, and their raw power was enough to sweep through all the other major Demon Races in Celestial Wolf City. When they could no longer advance their Realm, they would study external aids like arrays, and over time, they developed a highly advanced system of them.

Yes, the Celestial Wolf Race’s proficiency with arrays was among the highest in the world. Even other Middle Rank demon cities couldn’t necessarily compare. For example, the last time Jiang Qiu brought One-tailed and Nine-tailed Fox into the mining area, they were quickly discovered by that Celestial Wolf Race expert who was above the Spirit Control Realm. That was a testament to the level of their arrays.

Being able to deploy an array to detect enemies was already an incredible feat. One had to understand that Independent Cultivators still relied on hand-to-hand combat. Low-level demons without the backing of a powerful bloodline didn’t even have the opportunity to master Secret Techniques. They had to rely entirely on their own Talent to create them, but how many demons were there who could actually create their own Secret Techniques?

Therefore, for the Celestial Wolf Race to develop the Path of Array through the use of external aids meant their skill was naturally at a very high level. One might even call it godlike!

They could seize the initiative before most other Demon Races even knew what was happening!

Back then, if they hadn’t run into Jiang Qiu, and if that Celestial Wolf Race expert above the Spirit Control Realm hadn’t been so arrogant, their sudden defensive measures would have been perfectly adequate. They might have been able to stall for time and report the situation here directly to Celestial Wolf City.

But unfortunately, time could not be turned back. The mining area was now occupied by Jiang Qiu, the members of the Celestial Wolf Race had all been slaughtered, and only tens of thousands of numb miners remained.

Few of these miners stood out; they were all numb, knowing only how to dig. They didn’t dare resist One-tailed in the slightest. This was partly because they had witnessed her slaughtering members of the Celestial Wolf Race as easily as slicing vegetables, and partly because they still feared the Celestial Wolf Race and didn’t dare to cause trouble.

Why did they fear the Celestial Wolf Race?

Because they knew that one day, the powerful Celestial Wolf Race would descend upon this place again, drive out Jiang Qiu and the other rogue demons, and they would be forced back to a lifetime of mining.

Indeed, they didn’t want to die. Even a life of mining was better than death, because there was a chance, however small, of getting out alive. If they died, well, they were dead for good.

If they resisted One-tailed and her group now, they would be killed instantly. But if they sided with them, they would be purged by the Celestial Wolf Race later. It was better to just follow orders and numbly await the Celestial Wolf Race’s return.

For them, what was the difference between mining for the Celestial Wolf Race before and mining for One-tailed now?

In reality, there was no difference. That was why their attitude was so subdued. The Squirrel Demon, however, was clearly not the same. She believed that following Jiang Qiu’s group would lead to a better future. She was even betting her life on One-tailed’s promise to protect her!

Yes, she was gambling with her life. If One-tailed failed to protect her when the Celestial Wolf Race attacked, they would settle all scores. As the first to turn her coat, she wouldn’t be allowed to live, even if she was just an insignificant miner. The Celestial Wolf Race was never short on miners!

In fact, she had been sentenced to death even before entering the mining area; her sentence was merely changed to labor. But she never gave up hope of living. After ten years of mining, a person would almost certainly become numb. In the end, even if they tenaciously survived, they would have lost the very capacity for life itself.

So, she wanted to take this chance, having only been here a few months and not yet completely numb, to find a way out. She hoped she could leave with Jiang Qiu!

When One-tailed learned of her thoughts, her interest was piqued. "Then why don’t you leave right now?"

Indeed, One-tailed was curious. Why didn’t this Squirrel Demon leave? Why didn’t any of the other miners leave? She wasn’t one to kill the innocent wantonly. She was just following the orders of her master, Jiang Qiu, killing only those who stood in her way—her enemies.

As for the miners and the Squirrel Demon, she had no intention of killing them. In fact, the promise she’d made earlier still stood. She could guarantee that no one would bully the Squirrel Demon before her master, Jiang Qiu, left the mining area. The only condition was that the Squirrel Demon had to stay by her and Ah Xiong’s side and tell them stories about Celestial Wolf City.

However, if the Squirrel Demon wanted to leave, she wouldn’t stop her.

But the Squirrel Demon explained, "I do want to escape. From the very beginning, I’ve hoped to get away one day. But if I actually escaped, I would trigger an array and be branded with a magical mark. Then, the members of the Celestial Wolf Race would hunt me down, and I probably couldn’t defeat them."

That was right. If a miner tried to escape, they would trigger an array set up by the Celestial Wolf Race and be branded with a magical mark. After that, escape would be impossible.

No matter how they tried to flee, could they possibly outmatch the methods of the Celestial Wolf Race?

No, she had no such methods. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have ended up in this mining area, digging for the Celestial Wolf Race in the first place!

’Thinking of all this, the Squirrel Demon had already started to see Jiang Qiu and his group as incredibly powerful Great Demons, strong enough to overthrow Celestial Wolf City!’

Although most would consider overthrowing Celestial Wolf City to be an impossible, wishful fantasy, the Squirrel Demon couldn’t help but harbor that hope.

’Even if Jiang Qiu hadn’t come to destroy Celestial Wolf City, as long as he could take me away with him, it would all be worth it. After all, the mine’s previous rulers have already been wiped out!’

Destruction didn’t necessarily mean killing every single powerful demon. To destroy the places they controlled, like this mining area, was also a form of destruction in itself. The Squirrel Demon looked forward to that possibility.

But One-tailed offered no explanation. She had never said anything about destroying Celestial Wolf City. She just wanted to take Ah Xiong to the city to buy some clothes.

’Frankly, this is the most unbearable part. Every day, I have to listen to the Squirrel Demon describe all the things inside Celestial Wolf City—musical instruments, dresses, Elixirs... a whole world of goods exists there.’

’But Master is currently in Cultivation with that Nine-tailed Fox, and Ah Xiong and I can’t leave this area. We can only watch the miners dig, which is really no fun at all.’

’At least Ah Xiong can pass the boring days by cultivating. I don’t need to cultivate, so I can only have the Squirrel Demon tell me stories to relieve my boredom.’

"Sigh... I really want to go to Celestial Wolf City," One-tailed sighed. She took a bite of a crystal-clear fruit, the pulp bursting with juice between her delicate lips. She gazed into the distance, her snow-white hair fluttering in the wind. "When will Master finish his Cultivation?"

The Squirrel Demon waited nearby, a basket of fruit resting on her forearm. She had picked them all herself—they were some of the tastier fruits and one of the main resources in the area.

She had the build of a young girl. Although much shorter than Nine-tailed Fox, she was still half a head taller than the even younger One-tailed, who was only a little older than Ah Xiong. Now, she stood with her head slightly bowed, serving the soft-spoken girl.

’To be honest, she was terrified. She lived in fear every single day. She had seen One-tailed kill a demon—inexplicably, the body was just... dismembered, its flesh and blood crumbling like sand. Right now, she was only forcing herself to appear calm, but her heart was trembling uncontrollably...’