“You’re about to die?”

Gu Changqing was stunned and confused.

A perfectly healthy demon—how could it die?

He could clearly sense that this was a very robust demon, with an extraordinary bloodline origin.

Drip, drip.

Blood suddenly gushed from the little fox’s mouth and nose.

Her gem-like eyes dimmed with frightening speed.

Her body visibly withered before his eyes.

“Do you see now?”

Gu Changqing stood dumbfounded. “Is there no way to break the curse?”

The little fox shook her head helplessly. “It’s unlikely—the one who cast this curse is far too powerful.”

She shakily stood, walked to the cave mouth, gazed at the far end of the wilderness, and murmured, “Do you know what that place is?”

“The Ancient Forbidden Zone!”

“Perhaps, within the Ancient Forbidden Zone, there is a divine medicine that can lift bloodline curses.”

“But it is far too perilous. Although opportunities abound, the reason no cultivator of the Beixuan Continent dares enter is because it is a place where ten may enter, but none come out alive.”

“I have no choice. I originally planned to venture into the Forbidden Zone to see if I could find the divine medicine, but unexpectedly, I met you.”

“I likely will die on this trip, so I thought, if I can save someone, that would be good.”

Gu Changqing was speechless.

So that’s how it was…

So he had been looking at her with prejudice all along.

The little fox turned her head and looked at Gu Changqing.

“So you must live well. I know you’re very likely facing something that would make you unable to live on.”

“But as long as you’re alive, there is hope…”

“At the very least, don’t give up on yourself. You still have more choices than I do, don’t you?”

Hearing this, Gu Changqing’s eyes flickered with emotion. He was somewhat moved.

Being alive meant there was hope…

Gu Changqing touched the Heavenly Book inside his clothes.

“Yes—my family hasn’t been avenged. How do I have the right to die?”

Gu Changqing suddenly felt like he had been self-indulgent.

Even if he lost his cultivation, even if his sword heart was broken, was he then allowed to cultivate a desire to die and bow to this damned fate?

Though his sword heart is broken, his invincible heart remained!

Gu Changqing suddenly seemed like he had awakened from his stupor. A strange radiance bloomed in his eyes.

It was a cold night.

The little fox held Gu Changqing in her arms, using her thick fur as his blanket.

“My lineage has only me left, that’s why I came all this way.”

“If I survive, there is hope. I know I must not die.”

“If I die, my entire lineage will be extinguished.”

Listening to the little fox’s murmurs, Gu Changqing inexplicably felt some pity. Her expression of strength and kindness made his heart ache.

Clearly she was likely to die and her fate was tragic, yet she still wanted to save someone unrelated to her.

Gu Changqing felt there was probably no demon in the world as good as she was.

Even that fellow Jiang Minghuang once expected him to repay a debt to him.

He gradually opened his heart to the little fox.

Perhaps because their fates were similarly tragic, he could truly feel the little fox’s inner strength.

“What’s your name?”

“Xiao Wu.”

“Oh.”

“My name is Gu Changqing.”

“Awooo.”

Two people bound by a shared sorrow thus came to know each other.

Gu Changqing reached out to hug this kindred soul, but his hand touched something in that warm embrace he shouldn’t have.

The little fox’s body visibly trembled.

“You probably can’t shapeshift, right?” Gu Changqing asked awkwardly.

“Actually, I can.”

The little fox said, “It’s just that I don’t look good. I’m afraid I’ll scare you.”

“I want to see,” Gu Changqing said. “Even if I never see you again, I should remember your face.”

The little fox hesitated for a moment, but still stood up anyway.

Her tail swayed and purple mist spread from her body. Moments later, a graceful figure appeared before Gu Changqing.

She had a very good figure.

But her appearance was indeed unpleasant.

No.

It should be said that only half of her face was unpleasant.

One half of her face was delicately beautiful, with a sesame-sized mole beneath one eye that made her exceedingly alluring.

But the other half of her face, perhaps due to the bloodline curse, was withered, her skin wrinkled like dry bark.

“I didn’t scare you, did I?” she said a little apologetically.

Gu Changqing, feeling some pity, shook his head. “No—you’re beautiful.”

Outside the mirror.

The cultivators, seeing the fox’s transformed appearance, were suddenly stunned.

They inexplicably looked toward Qingqiu’s Empress Bai Su.

“Why… does this little fox’s appearance somewhat resemble Empress Bai Su?” a cultivator asked in surprise as he gazed at the extraordinarily beautiful Qingqiu Empress.