Chapter 111 She will definitely grow up

"Did he say, in what specific place?" Achan asked again.

Shen Qingwu shook her head: "He didn't say that."

There was really no need to say this, because when Liu Feng told her about his elder brother, his elder brother had actually been dead for some years.

Achan seemed somewhat disappointed, but hearing this news from Shen Qingwu was enough for her.

She didn't ask any further questions, which secretly relieved Shen Qingwu.

Then, Achan told Shen Qingwu about what she had just told Huixue: that they needed to leave Daxia as soon as possible.

Shen Qingwu didn't react much. She had previously told Huixue she wanted to stay in Xiling only because she knew she couldn't escape death. Now, being able to leave with her daughter, she was willing to go anywhere.

"Has Huixue already discussed a place with you?" she asked Achan.

Achan nodded: "Coincidentally, I was just telling her that the wilderness is a good place to go. Various races live together there. If Huixue successfully transforms into a demon, her cultivation will be at least at the third realm. As long as you are careful, you can live there safely."

Although many people at the fourth realm suddenly appeared in Xiling, the fourth realm is actually not that common, and the fifth realm is even rarer. As long as those at the third realm are cautious enough and don't cause trouble for themselves, they can live a good life outside.

"Alright, let's go to the wilderness then. Judging from the name, it should be a nice place."

Many years ago, when she first heard about this place from Liu Feng, she had this feeling.

Back then, Liu Feng said he would take her to see it if he had the chance. Who could have imagined that more than ten years later, they would be living there?

At this moment, Chen Hui spoke up: "Since we are going outside of Great Xia, should we prepare a map in advance? But are there such maps available on the market?"

This question hit the nail on the head. After thinking for a moment, Achan said, "Let's go look for it tomorrow."

If all else fails, she can only rely on what she knows to draw by hand.

The three of them sat in the room for about an hour, discussing the necessary daily necessities they should take when they left, as well as some taboos of their respective tribes, so as not to accidentally cause trouble.

Most of the time, it was Achan who talked, and Shen Qingwu listened attentively.

Just then, a scratching sound came from outside the door.

The three stopped talking, and Chen Hui stepped forward and opened the door. A ball of white fur with six tails rolled in, the tips of which had some yellow hairs.

Seeing this, Achan stepped forward first, picked up Tuanzi, and secretly felt its texture; it was chubby.

The fox's face, which had been buried in its fur, was finally revealed.

"Hui Xue?" Shen Qingwu also came over, her eyes full of surprise.

Shen Huixue opened her mouth, but could not utter a sound.

"Achan, what's wrong with Huixue?"

"It's alright," Achan said easily. "She just gained demonic power and doesn't know how to control it yet. After a while, she'll be able to control her demonic body freely and speak."

She counted Huixue's tails; six tails. Sure enough, she had reached the third realm.

Shen Huixue, who was being held in her arms, nodded. Achan raised her hand and touched her head. Shen Huixue's ears twitched, and she tilted her head and rubbed against her hand.

Since Shen Huixue is unable to speak or transform into a human, Achan decided not to ask her about the process of absorbing the inner core and planned to wait until she recovered.

Seeing that it was getting late, Achan and Chen Hui returned to their room and handed Huixue to Shen Qingwu.

"Hui Xue, shall we go to sleep?" Shen Qingwu held her soft, cuddly daughter, her heart melting as well.

The little fox nodded and yawned.

After carrying her daughter back to bed and settling her in, Shen Qingwu blew out the candles and returned to bed herself.

As night deepened, the faint chirping of insects could be heard outside. Huixue, who was beside her, kicked off the thin blanket covering her and curled up into a ball, her six tails spreading out like flowers.

Shen Qingwu, however, kept her eyes open, showing no signs of sleepiness.

It wasn't because of the events of today that I was excited, but because of what Achan had suddenly mentioned about Liufeng's older brother.

Many past memories flooded into her mind as Achan suddenly mentioned them.

There were some things she thought she had forgotten, but in fact she remembered them all. The words Liu Feng said to her seemed like they were just yesterday.

Liu Feng greatly admired his elder brother. In his heart, his elder brother was the most powerful, even more so than his mother, who was known as the Fox King.

Once, she saw Liu Feng drinking a lot of alcohol, and when she asked him, she learned that it was the anniversary of his elder brother's death.

He had only ever talked about how good his older brother was, without mentioning many other things. But that day, he seemed to want to confide in someone, so he started talking to her.

He said that his elder brother was incredibly talented and eccentric, dominating the demon race, and only the Demon Emperor could rival him.

Although Shen Qingwu didn't know much about the demon race, the Shen family was, after all, a family of demon hunters, and still had some ancient books that recorded the power of the Demon Emperor.

Perhaps every younger brother thinks his older brother is incredibly powerful, she thought at the time, but she didn't want to argue with him about such a trivial matter, so she asked, "Since your older brother was so powerful, why did he die? Was it because of a revenge killing?"

Liu Feng shook his head: "Of course not. My elder brother is at the fifth realm, and even my mother is no match for him. He is also extremely vengeful. If someone offends him during the day, he will take revenge at night."

Those who could be considered his enemies were all schemed against by him a hundred years ago, surrounded and killed in a gruesome manner, leaving not even a trace of their souls behind.

Only then did Shen Qingwu become serious. She knew that Liu Feng wouldn't fabricate a false story about his brother to deceive her, since there was no need for that.

A fox demon of the fifth realm, a powerful demon race that even her ancestors had never seen.

"He's so powerful, how can you be sure he's really dead?" Shen Qingwu asked at the time.

Liu Feng's eyes were somewhat dazed as he said to her, "The last time I saw him, he told me never to look for him again. He also told me to go back to Qingyu Mountain and tell my mother to remove his soul lamp."

Seeing that she didn't understand, he explained, "Every son of Mother leaves a soul lamp in the mountains when he leaves. My elder brother and I both lit that lamp. When you humans say that death is like a lamp going out, that's what it means. When I returned to the mountains that time, my elder brother's soul lamp had already gone out."

"Then who killed him?"

Liu Feng remained silent for a long time, so long that she thought she would never know the answer, before she heard him say, "It should be... my sister-in-law."

"Who?" Shen Qingwu thought she had misheard.

Then Liu Feng said, "If my elder brother hadn't wanted to, he wouldn't have died so easily. My mother cared a lot about my elder brother. When she saw his soul lamp go out, she just stayed by that lamp and didn't go down the mountain to avenge him. I suppose my elder brother had told my mother long ago. Besides my sister-in-law, I can't think of anyone else who could have killed him."

"And what about your sister-in-law?"

"Perhaps he's dead too, I can't be sure."

Why?

"They were already separated by a blood feud. It's normal that the relationship my elder brother forced has come to this."

At that time, Shen Qingwu thought of the niece that Liu Feng always mentioned, his elder brother and sister-in-law, weren't they the parents of those two little foxes?

She couldn't help but ask, "Do your two nieces know about this?"

Liu Feng shook his head and said, "They don't know that my elder brother could have asked me to pass on a message to him, but he didn't say anything; he just doesn't intend to tell them."

"Would this be better for them?" Young Shen Qingwu couldn't tell for a moment whether keeping this a secret from Liu Feng and his mother was really a good thing for the two little foxes.

However, the truth is indeed as Liu Feng said: parents killing each other is truly too cruel.

Liu Feng told her confidently, "This is the best choice."

He said, "A-Mian probably wouldn't care about this. Whether her parents are alive or not is not important to her, and she won't be curious. That girl looks weak and easy to bully, but her heart is cold. She only cares about A-Chan."

But Ah Chan, it's unclear where she got that stubbornness from, even though she's never received any attention from her parents, she still cares about them so much.

When Liu Feng mentioned A Chan that time, his tone was filled with heartache.

He said, "Achan was already abandoned by her older brother and sister-in-law when she was born, so there's no need for her to be abandoned a second time. Knowing the truth is just a sober realization that her parents never chose her."

My elder brother's glory was unknown to his daughters. He never enjoyed any of the benefits he brought them. He died without ever intending to tell them. Since that's the case, there's no need for them to know.

He added, "It would be better to let Achan grow up slowly with a little expectation in her heart. When she grows into a big fox, one day she will no longer be attached to them and will leave completely."

Many demons grow up this way, leaving their parents and brothers. A-Chan may grow up a little slower, but she will definitely grow up.

Liu Feng's words were full of hope for A Chan's future.

But Liufeng, your Achan seems to have encountered an accident before she even grew up.

Shen Qingwu opened her eyes and sighed softly. More than ten years had passed. A Chan had become a human, but she was still inquiring about her father.

She didn't know how many years it would take for Liu Feng to grow up, but she hoped that, as he said, A Chan would one day forget them.

The next day, before Achan woke up, she suddenly felt her face was wet.

She opened one eye and saw a bunch of foxes licking her.

"Hui Xue, you need to restrain yourself." A Chan said seriously, then turned over and reached out a hand to pull the fox into her arms.

Hui Xue let out two soft whimpers. She couldn't control her instincts yet and was still getting used to it. She licked for a while longer.

It was already past 9 AM. Ah Chan lingered in bed a little longer with the fox bundle in her arms before finally carrying Hui Xue out of the room.

Chen Hui wasn't there, so Shen Qingwu brought out the food that was keeping warm in the pot. Seeing Achan looking for someone everywhere, she said to her, "Hui Niang went to buy things for me. She said she wanted to buy everything on the list she made yesterday in advance."

After listening, Achan nodded and sat down to eat her breakfast.

While eating, she also fed the curious Huixue. Seeing that the two of them were having fun, Shen Qingwu did not disturb them.

It wasn't until after 1 p.m. that Chen Hui returned with a cart full of things.

Then, she handed Achan a somewhat old book of strange tales and said to her, "I asked the owner of the bookstore before, and after hearing my request, he found me this book, saying that it contains maps of the world outside of Daxia."

Achan was somewhat surprised; upon opening the book, she was astonished to find that it indeed contained many illustrations.

The last page of the storybook is a map, with only rough regional divisions and the rest showing the waterways that pass through these areas. Although there aren't many details, it's not much different from what Achan knows.

"How is it?" Chen Hui asked.

Achan handed the storybook to Shen Qingwu: "It's a usable map. I suppose the author of this storybook is no ordinary person. I'll mark the location of the wilderness area in a bit and then we can use it."

With the most troublesome issue of the map resolved, there's no need to worry too much about the rest.

Then, Chen Hui said, "Today, the Mingjing Division posted a notice announcing the crimes of the Shen family. Tomorrow at noon, the head of the Shen family and all his relatives will be beheaded and their heads displayed at Caishikou."

She looked at Shen Qingwu and asked, "Are you going?"

Shen Qingwu nodded and said, "After all, he's my older brother, I'll go see him off."

She then added, "I'll be careful not to let them find out."

Achan nodded; she wasn't that concerned about the Shen family's affairs.

When the Shen family was destroyed, she had already lost interest in them and didn't care much about their deaths. She simply said, "Then you can go. I'll stay home and play with Hui Xue."

After saying that, he remembered something and said to Chen Hui, "Hui Niang, could you help me check if Xue Ying is among them?"

Chen Hui nodded: "I know."

The next day, Chen Hui went out with Shen Qingwu, who was wearing a veil, a veil over her face, and heavy makeup.

Before leaving, I cooked a pot of chicken for them in the kitchen.

Achan and Huixue were playing a clapping game when they smelled a delicious aroma coming from the kitchen.

So the man and the fox went to the kitchen, squatted in front of the stove, and watched longingly.

Hui Niang said it would need to simmer for another fifteen minutes, and they were all getting impatient.

Compared to Achan, Huixue was clearly less well-behaved. Curious, she stretched out her paw to probe into the stove pit, only to have the fur on her paw burned black by the residual heat. She screamed and suddenly transformed back into human form.

Achan looked up at Shen Huixue. Her appearance had not changed at all, but the features that once indicated she was a half-demon had all disappeared.

Shen Huixue recalled what she had done before and silently covered her face.

However, she was not embarrassed for long, because the fifteen minutes passed quickly.

She and Achan served themselves a plate of incredibly delicious stewed chicken and two bowls of rice before sitting down at the table to eat.

The two ate and talked.

Achan asked her, "Did anything unexpected happen when you absorbed the inner core?"

"There was no surprise, it was just that it hurt a lot when the demonic power was transforming my body later." Recalling that scene, her eyes reddened slightly, but she quickly thought of something else, "Achan, I saw my father."

Achan was taken aback.

Shen Huixue said, "I hardly exerted any effort, and the demonic power in the inner core flowed to me on its own. When the inner core was about to be completely absorbed, I saw him, and he was looking at me too. However, the phantom was too faint and disappeared in an instant."

Shen Huixue's words carried a hint of regret.

"I see..."

"But I really do look a lot like my father." The first thing she did when she turned into a fox was climb onto the dressing table to look in the mirror, because they really did look alike.

Achan couldn't help but laugh, feeling that Huixue had relaxed a lot after transforming into a demon.

"Achan, thank you so much. I don't know how to repay you." Shen Huixue's voice was full of gratitude.

"Why don't you do me a favor, as a way of repaying me?"

"What kind of help do you need? Just tell me, and I'll definitely do it for you."

Achan said, "I am in the wilderness, and there may be two people I know. I don't know exactly where they are, nor do I know if they are still there. I would like to ask you to help me find their whereabouts. If you don't find them, that's fine. If you do find them, don't disturb them. Just send me a message."

“Okay.” Shen Huixue nodded solemnly and kept the matter in mind.