Fox Mask

Following the repetitive silent night walks with candlelight, the initial vigilance gradually melts away, and people lose their focus without knowing when.

The vague and ethereal thoughts suddenly reminded me of something, my eyes suddenly opened, and my mind became clear in an instant.

Their hearts were pounding rapidly and panicked, and they broke out in a cold sweat. Everyone swallowed hard and turned their heads away in panic.

Seeing the familiar faces of the people in front, behind, and around him, the panic on their faces gradually turned into smiles of relief and relief, and they casually scolded:

"This forest has looked the same for so long, I've lost my mind without realizing it."

"Luckily, nothing happened. Otherwise, we would have suffered for our ignorance just now!"

"Oh, yes, that was a close call..."

Everyone wiped the cold sweat from their foreheads, but their faces showed a relaxed smile as if they had survived a disaster.

Suddenly, someone exclaimed, "Eh!" and asked in a surprised tone, "Do you think... they just disappeared like this?"

Everyone who was laughing lightly paused.

The smiles on their faces faded, and a solemn look gradually emerged, with nervousness in their trembling eyes.

Everyone pursed their cracked lips and said nothing, "Then we have to cheer up." "No matter what, we have to be careful and not do what happened just now." "It was too dangerous. If something was about to attack us just now, I'm afraid few of us would have been able to react in time..."

Jiang Jingyuan listened and looked around.

The surrounding areas not illuminated by the firelight were pitch black and empty, like blood holes in the eye sockets, like an endless abyss, attracting people and seeming to be rushing and expanding.

It was very quiet, just as everyone had said before, there was no trace of any birds or animals.

Standing here, or just as I saw it when I left the campfire and went deep into the woods, the tall trees were so continuous that it was almost impossible to tell them apart.

Jiang Jingyuan lowered his head again in silence.

The gentle smiles on the faces of the maids around them had long since disappeared, and their eyes were now even more vigilant.

They moved closer to her quietly, forming a gentle embrace, holding her tightly in their arms.

Yu Linhuan also had a serious face. He turned his head to be alert to his surroundings and ran over nimbly.

"There's no direction at all, and nothing special seems to be happening..." someone asked hesitantly, "Should we keep going?"

Everyone was silent for a while, then turned around and looked at Jiang Yi in front of them.

Jiang Yi took the lead this time, with his back to them, standing there in silence for a long time, thinking carefully about something.

Everyone waited for a while, and one person couldn't help but whispered, "Boss Jiang? Boss Jiang, what do you think?"

Another person followed suit and said, "It's not right for us to keep walking like this. We don't know if we can even reach the end. It's not right."

"Shall we go back to the campfire?" Jiang Yi asked in a deep voice, "See if they've returned?"

"But this..." Everyone frowned and fell silent again.

After such a long and arduous journey, they've finally arrived here. Even though they might not gain anything by continuing, if they were to turn back now...

They were somewhat unwilling and reluctant.

The night wind comes and goes in the woods.

Rustling...

Rustle...rustle...

Jiang Yi sighed helplessly, "It's neither possible to advance nor to retreat. We're stuck halfway."

Everyone looked confused. After a pause, they turned to look at the figure in white behind them. "Employer, what do you think?"

Jiang Jingyuan hummed softly and said nothing.

She had no other ideas.

Everyone paused, and although they didn't understand what was going on, they turned around and looked at Jiang Yi in front of them again.

Everyone sighed deeply, feeling helpless, and said, "Boss Jiang, we'll do as you say."

"Walk a little longer and see."

Without even turning his head, Jiang Yi said in a deep voice, "If they saw the message on the message board and by the campfire, they would definitely send messages and signals to come looking for us. If not, it means they haven't returned to the campfire, and we can't contact each other - in that case, there's no point in turning back."

Everyone responded, holding lights and continuing to follow him.

After walking for a while with full vigilance, even though Jiang Jingyuan's mind was tense, he couldn't help but feel tired in the repetitive silence.

The string in my mind was stretched to its limit, trembling imperceptibly.

Jiang Jingyuan's heart skipped a beat. He clearly felt that he had to either control himself and persevere until he became irritated and crazy, or relax as soon as possible...

Almost the moment he noticed it, Jiang Jingyuan subconsciously tried to control the string, trying to control it to relax slightly but still be alert.

However, in the next moment, the string loosened completely and uncontrollably.

Jiang Jingyuan frowned, a faint sense of anxiety rising in her heart, as if she had hit rock bottom and rebounded. She let out a silent breath, her mind lightened, and then she regained control of her tense mind.

"Boss Jiang!"

Someone in front suddenly shouted.

In an instant, it broke the tense heartstrings of many people, and frightened many people who had lost consciousness, causing them to tremble violently and open their eyes wide.

The soft, infinitesimal sound of deep breathing rose and fell in the lonely night.

Everyone was not immediately able to concentrate, feeling quite helpless. They closed their eyes with a headache and cleared their cloudy minds.

In front, the man who had just spoken also had a grim expression on his face, with a mixture of fatigue and anxiety between his brows.

He panted, half walking, half running, and hurried forward. Like a starving ghost, he stretched out his long hand, grabbed Jiang Yi's arm in front of him, and pulled him back.

"Boss Jiang, wait a minute! It's day and night, how long have we been walking? If we keep going, we'll be exhausted to death. How can we have the energy to deal with anything..."

His words stopped abruptly.

The people who took the opportunity to rest in the back subconsciously looked up.

"ah!!"

The man instantly let out a huge and shrill scream.

Following the force pulling on his arm, Jiang Yi turned his head sideways. A fox face emerged from the darkness and bumped into everyone's sight.

On the pale fox's face, the tear troughs were bright red, and there were several bright red lines under the two narrow white fox eyes, which looked like blood and tears.

This fox face is on Jiang Yi’s neck!!!

Everyone's pupils trembled instantly and they subconsciously wanted to retreat.

Ruan Chuan ran forward, his grip loosened suddenly, and he slapped the arm in panic.

He stumbled back.

The screams overlapped in my ears, stirring up the deepest fear beneath my flesh and blood.

Lanterns and candles fell to the ground with a bang, stirring up scattered orange-red flames on the grass, which were then extinguished by Luanbu.

Those who were not calm and those who were calm were all in panic. Almost everyone could no longer remain calm and retreated and fled frantically.

Jiang Jingyuan's heart tightened instantly and he was startled. He wanted to step back but he stood still.

Immediately, she calmed down suddenly, regained control of her limbs, and stood firmly in place.

If we flee in panic, we will be defeated one by one. It is better to stand here firmly. It will be safer to deal with so many people.

However, when she tried to stand still, she was squeezed back and forth again and again.

She was protected by the maids she brought with her.

But people can't help but panic.

They retreated in panic, and the protective force suddenly relaxed and a loophole appeared, allowing people who were fleeing in panic to squeeze in and break the protective force again.

Jiang Jingyuan was squeezed so hard that he felt dizzy, as if he was in the ocean waves, rising and falling with the surging waves.

Choking on water in the sea and choking on the foul air in the crowd.

My head hurts so much, I feel dizzy... Jiang Jingyuan felt dizzy, his brows were furrowed, and his mouth was slightly open for breathing.

Her whole body was stiff, and she staggered a few steps repeatedly with the huge waves of people coming at her, unable to do anything else.

Everyone retreated, fled, or fell, turning their heads to look behind them from time to time.

In the dim light, the figure that was identical to Jiang Yi in shape and clothing turned around and faced him.

The fox's white eyes stared at the panicked crowd. Suddenly, it tilted its head back, opened its mouth and let out a long, ethereal and tender howl.

Everyone panicked even more. They had never thought that Jiang Yi, who had always been the leader, would be in trouble! They danced and jumped together, "Go, go, get out of the way!"

"Take the sword!"

Amidst the chaotic and noisy sound of footsteps and the sound of heavy objects falling to the ground, Yu Linhuan shouted loudly:

"Don't retreat! Everyone, stop and take up your swords and magical weapons!!"

Immediately afterwards, Yu Linhuan was knocked to the side by a large black shadow.

She staggered a few steps and finally stood firm, her expression twisted, "Don't push..."

Fortunately, her call was heard, and everyone stopped in a panic, "Yes, yes, yes, everyone take out your magic weapons." Several more people were pushed and fell.

"Let alone the fact that there was only one of them, even if there were a few more, you wouldn't be in such a mess, right?!"

Yu Linhuan complained rather dissatisfiedly.

Everyone in Longyin Pavilion felt embarrassed, but their faces looked grim, and they had no intention or ability to respond to her.

How could it be Jiang Yi? !

Everyone in Longyin Pavilion was terrified.

They had never thought that Jiang Yi would get into trouble. How could Jiang Yi get into trouble? If even Jiang Yi got into trouble, then they...

Everyone suddenly interrupted their thoughts and dared not think about it anymore.

They took deep breaths to calm down, put their hands on the swords at their waists, and the countless eyes staring at the strange figure in front of them suddenly became fierce.

“Zheng——”

The sword was unsheathed, and the silver-white light streaked across the night sky, interweaving into a net and biting towards the strange figure not far away.

They pursed their lips, their faces darkened, and they stared intently at the fox face.

——No matter what, let’s first test how powerful this fox is and solve the current problem first!

"clang--"

The sound of gold and jade clashing faded away in the night.

The chaotic flashes and blurred blocks of color in front of Jiang Jingyuan's eyes gradually became integrated and harmonious. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The sticky, hot crowds of people around us retreated a little, and the wind in the forest came and went freely.

Jiang Jingyuan opened her eyes. The scene before her was much more stable and clear. Her ears and nose were quiet. She blinked her eyelashes twice, but her head was still... a little dizzy.

A slight feeling of dizziness urged her to vomit.

The turbid air was so heavy and chaotic just now, it’s already considered good now... Jiang Jingyuan coughed lightly twice.

In her peripheral vision, a person suddenly came closer, raised his hand, covered his palm with his sleeve, and gently placed it beside her.

Jiang Jingyuan raised his hand to support it, and was so tired that almost all the strength of his body was put on this wrist, and he slowly stood up.

"How's the fighting going over there?" Jiang Jingyuan's eyes flickered with thought, thinking, "Why does it feel like... the sound is receding too quickly?"

He ran away while fighting. Were you fighting so fiercely and forgetting yourself?

Thinking of this, she opened her mouth and was about to speak and lead people over to take a look.

Jiang Jingyuan suddenly caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye. He blinked in a daze and looked down at his raised hand... and the hand underneath it.