Chapter 161: Beating Up the Demon General
***
The Qiuqing frontlines were ablaze with the fires of war, painting the sky crimson red.
The demonic clan led various demonic beasts while the fox clan commanded their demon beasts, locked in a fierce and chaotic battle.
Xiao Bai, in her human form, sat at a desk in the temporary command tent, rapidly processing the mountain of battle reports piled before her, her brows furrowed into a knot.
Her silver-white soft armor was dusted with dirt, and her usually fluffy fox ears now drooped, clearly overwhelmed by the dire situation at the front.
“How much longer can we hold out?”
Xiao Bai set down her brush, her voice tinged with exhaustion as she asked the small fox attendant standing beside her.
The snow-white fox demon immediately stepped forward, eyes downcast and not daring to look up:
“My lord, at our current rate of casualties, we can hold out for 3 months.”
“But if the demonic clan doesn’t retreat within 3 months, even if the Fox Empress can fight the Demon General to a standstill, our clansmen remaining at the front will be slowly depleted, leaving us with no fighting strength.”
Xiao Bai irritably rubbed her throbbing temples and asked helplessly:
“What about the other demon races? Haven’t they said anything about sending troops to support us?”
“Well…”
The small fox demon’s ears twitched, clearly hesitant, as if unsure whether to speak the truth.
“What is it? Speak. Is there something you can’t tell me?”
Xiao Bai looked up, her narrow fox eyes slightly narrowed, her tone growing colder.
The small fox demon shrank under her gaze, speaking weakly:
“They said… they said if we send a few beautiful fox clan maidens to them, they might be willing to send troops to support us… Some demon races even suggested that you and the Fox Empress personally go…”
By the last few words, the small fox’s voice was nearly inaudible, her head hanging even lower.
“Bang!”
A crisp sound of a hand hitting the desk exploded in the tent. Xiao Bai shot to her feet, the plates of her silver-white soft armor clinking together.
“Don’t they understand the principle that when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold?! The demonic clan is practically at our doorstep, and instead of thinking about joining forces against the enemy, they’re scheming against us fox clan first, demanding we send beautiful foxes to curry favor with them, I spit on that!”
Her chest heaved violently, clearly seething with anger.
These demon races were absolute idiots, their brains must be in their muscles, or perhaps somewhere lower. They simply couldn’t be reasoned with!
They clearly just wanted to use the demonic clan’s hand to weaken the fox clan’s power and reap the benefits!
But hadn’t they considered that once the fox clan fell, what right did those worthless fools have to resist the vicious demonic clan?
When that time came, the entire demon race would be devoured by the demonic clan, bones and all!
Just as Xiao Bai was fuming with frustration, light footsteps came from the tent entrance.
“What’s wrong, Sister Kong? Worrying about the front lines again?”
A humanoid fox demon dressed in a crimson dress walked in.
She moved with seductive steps and naturally wrapped one hand around Xiao Bai’s arm after approaching her, her tone carrying a hint of playfulness.
“Sister Xiaomei, stop that. I’m handling important matters!”
Xiao Bai smiled helplessly, grabbing Xiaomeihu’s wandering hand, her tone becoming more serious.
“The situation at the front is critical right now. This is no time for jokes.”
Seeing that Xiao Bai was truly troubled, Xiaomeihu dropped her playful demeanor and gently smoothed Xiao Bai’s somewhat disheveled hair, speaking softly to comfort her:
“Still worried about the front lines? It’s fine. We still have the Fox Empress, don’t we? She’s so powerful, she’ll definitely stabilize the situation.”
“But the Fox Empress is being tied down completely by that damned Demon General and can’t break away to support the front lines. Meanwhile, our clansmen on the main battlefield simply can’t withstand this day-after-day attrition…”
As Xiao Bai spoke, her fox ears drooped completely, her tone becoming dejected, her eyes full of helplessness.
“What about… our requests for aid from the other demon races? Any progress there?”
Xiaomeihu asked tentatively.
“Don’t even mention requesting aid!”
Xiao Bai suddenly raised her voice, angrily and anxiously slapping the desk again, making the battle reports jump.
“Those demon races are all worthless! Not only won’t they agree to support us, they’re making all sorts of ridiculous demands. We can’t count on them at all!”
“Alright, alright, calm down.”
Xiaomeihu quickly pressed down on her hand, gently patting the back of it to soothe her, then as if suddenly remembering something, suggested softly:
“What if… we try asking the humans for help? Maybe they’d be willing to lend a hand.”
“Ask the humans for help?”
Xiao Bai’s head snapped up, a flash of light appearing in her eyes, but it quickly dimmed. She frowned and shook her head.
“Humans are even more cunning than those demon races. They only care about profit, why would they help us for nothing?”
Though she said this, an image of a certain person involuntarily surfaced in Xiao Bai’s mind.
That person’s power was unfathomable, not inferior to the Fox Empress in the slightest, perhaps even slightly stronger.
But thinking of that person made Xiao Bai instinctively recoil. She couldn’t avoid that person fast enough, how could she possibly go asking for help?
“Sigh…”
Xiao Bai let out a heavy sigh, feeling her chest tighten with frustration, unable to think of any solution.
Just as she was at her wit’s end, urgent footsteps suddenly came from outside the tent, accompanied by an excited shout from a small fox.
“Report! High Priest! Urgent military intelligence!”
A small fox covered in sweat burst into the tent, not even bothering to bow, gasping as she announced loudly:
“Report, High Priest! Just now, the Fox Empress was engaged in fierce battle with the Demon General when a blue-haired woman suddenly appeared on the battlefield! She was carrying a wine gourd and went straight for the Demon General, smashing him, after just a few hits, she had the Demon General fleeing in defeat! Once the Demon General fled, the Fox Empress completely took control of the battle, directly leading our clansmen to drive back the demonic clan’s army! We won!”
“Really? Wonderful! Heaven truly blesses the fox clan!”
Hearing this, Xiaomeihu immediately hugged Xiao Bai in excitement, her voice full of joy.
But Xiao Bai’s body instantly stiffened, her expression freezing.
“Blue-haired woman… wine gourd?”
She muttered these two key words, a strong sense of unease suddenly rising in her heart.
Oh no, could it be that woman who intervened? Could she be here to call me back?
“Hey there, little fox, did you run here to slack off? Remember to come home now~”
Sure enough, the next second, a familiar voice that made her scalp tingle, yet carried a hint of laziness, rang out beside her ear like a ghost.
Xiao Bai stood there rigidly, her vision going dark, feeling like crying but having no tears left.
……
Several hours earlier, high above the Qiuqing battlefield.
The eight-tailed fox was engaged in fierce combat with the Demon General. The Demon General’s black demonic energy and the Empress’s white fox fire collided in the air, each impact causing violent tremors in the surrounding atmosphere.
Just then, the Demon General, who was entangled with the Empress, suddenly froze mid-motion, his face full of shock.
Because a woman dressed in azure robes with waist-length blue hair had suddenly appeared beside the Empress.
She was even rolling up her sleeves, holding a wine gourd and charging straight at him, clearly intending to team up with the Empress to fight him.
“Think carefully, you only have 1 year of lifespan left. Making a move now will cost you at least half a year, and if you’re not careful, you might exhaust all your remaining lifespan!”
The Demon General said in horror.
“Who are you?”
The Empress was also stunned, looking at her sudden ally with surprise in her eyes. She had never seen this person before, let alone knew why she would help her.
But the blue-haired woman completely ignored both the Demon General and the Empress. She grabbed a wine gourd with one hand and smashed it toward the Demon General’s head with swift, ruthless movements.
“Are you insane? What are you risking your life for?”
The Demon General desperately blocked the wine gourd’s attacks while retreating.
The Empress stood to the side, looking at Xinlian who had suddenly appeared, completely dumbfounded.
This person not only dared to provoke the Demon General but could even overpower him in combat, her power was simply unfathomable.
After recovering from her shock, she immediately prepared to help, but before she could make a move, the Demon General realized he was outmatched and directly activated his life-saving trump card, transforming into a cloud of black energy and fleeing without looking back.
Though the eight-tailed fox still hadn’t figured out who this woman who suddenly appeared was or why she would help her.
She knew clearly that this long-deadlocked battle had been won by their fox clan.
“Thank you for your assistance, my lord.”
The Empress cupped her hands toward Xinlian and bowed solemnly, then turned and hurried off to handle the cleanup of the battlefield below.
Without the Demon General, the demonic clan’s army had already fallen into chaos, the perfect opportunity to completely crush them.
Meanwhile, Xinlian looked in the direction the Demon General had fled, casually taking a sip from her wine gourd, a satisfied smile playing at her lips.
Since being afflicted with the flame poison, she hadn’t dared to go all out. This time she’d finally gotten to fight to her heart’s content.
However… after this satisfying bout, she’d have to figure out how to face her two disciples.