Free Web NovelChapter 28: Chapter 28—Massacre
Chapter 28—Massacre
Lin Mei could not understand it.
She had covered herself completely with her Illusion power. The vine cultivator’s eyes were sealed shut beneath his own vines. There was no way he should have been able to find her.
Smack!
Another vine cracked across her face. The force of it launched her upward—several meters into the air.
Smack!
As she flew upward, a second whip struck her chest from above.
Thud! Bang!
Before she could even regain her bearings, the vines were lashing her from every direction—left, right, above. Red welts erupted across her entire body. Wounds opened, blood seeping from each mark. She coughed—hard—and blood came with it.
Then—Swish! A golden energy blazed past her, and the swirling vines lit up in flames and scattered apart.
Lin Mei felt a strong grip close around the nape of her neck—and then she was elsewhere, the battle behind her, dropped down on solid ground far from where she had been.
She raised her head, dazed. Then she grinned. "Thank you, Miss Hua."
Xiao Ming had finally appeared—transformed into her full Bizarre Fox Form, two meters tall, muscular limbs, golden, and imposing with nine swaying tails. She stepped forward without looking back at Lin Mei. "He was able to see through your illusion and strike you while being blind because he has awakened his Divine Sense."
’Divine Sense!’ Lin Mei’s eyes widened. She lay where she had been placed, exhaling roughly. "I’ll take care of him." freewebnσvel.cѳm
"Stay," Xiao Ming hissed—and flashed forward herself, appearing directly in front of the vine cultivator in a burst of speed.
"How dare you injure my maid?" freewёbnoνel.com
She spread her palms. "Illusionary Manifestation."
One of her nine tails glowed.
A wave of golden energy rolled outward from her in every direction, washing over the entire surrounding area. The courtyard, the platform, the fallen bodies—all of it vanished. In an instant, Xiao Ming and the vine cultivator found themselves standing in an open forest, large ancient trees pressing in from all sides, dappled light filtering through the canopy above.
The vine cultivator froze, his vines stalling in midair. "What—what is this?"
Xiao Ming raised one brow, a faint smile playing at her lips. "Your Divine Sense could pierce through my servant’s illusion. But tell me—can it pierce through mine?"
She vanished.
The vine cultivator stilled every breath and focused entirely—every thread of his Divine Sense spread outward like a net cast into still water. His vines swept experimentally, lashing at a boulder half a meter wide to his side. It shattered into rubble. He clicked his tongue. ’Where is she hiding?’
Then the wind changed.
It began to build—faster and faster, circling, pressing in from all directions at once. Through the growing gale, Xiao Ming’s voice drifted—low and deliberate.
"Celestial Fox Claw."
Her claws ignited with golden light. The vine cultivator spotted her—and drove his thick vines at her in full force.
They passed straight through her, as though she were made of mist.
He scowled. "What—?"
Then the sky and ground filled with her. Thousands of Xiao Ming’s—image after image, stacked across the air, across the land, spreading from ground to canopy in every direction. Identical. Unreadable.
The vine cultivator reacted on instinct, unleashing every vine he had at maximum range—lashing, sweeping, smashing in all directions simultaneously.
Smack! Boom!
The entire illusory forest was torn apart—trees shredded, ground gouged, smoke billowing thick in every direction. He thrashed until his breathing turned ragged and his sweat dripped freely. Still, the images didn’t end. Still, they multiplied, filling every gap he created.
He forced himself to pause—just a single moment to gather breath.
And that was enough.
One image among the thousands glowed—a sharp golden pulse, brighter than the rest. Xiao Ming’s real body.
"Celestial Fox Enhancement."
She moved before he could process it—cutting through the maze of vines, slipping between each lashing whip with inhuman precision.
"Celestial Fox Twin Strike."
She was in front of him before he registered her arrival.
Slash!
The cross cut opened his chest wide. His robes split, his flesh split—his internal organs became visible to the open air. He looked down at himself, said nothing more than a single murmured word—"Bizarre cre..."—and fell, taking his last breath before his body met the ground.
Thud!
The surroundings returned to normal.
Lin Mei dragged herself to the corpse and spat on it. Then she lowered her head and tore a mouthful of flesh from the vine cultivator’s chest, tasting the blood. She savored it for one moment—then spat it all out.
"Such a disgusting taste."
She straightened and glanced to the side, where the Ninth Elder was crouched over the lion-claw Bizarre Cultivator’s body, eating with unhurried patience. Lin Mei walked to him.
"Ninth Elder—eating a Bizarre Cultivator. Doesn’t it taste disgusting?"
The Ninth Elder grinned without pausing. "Bizarre Cultivators—yes, the flavor is unpleasant. Unrefined. But it is unique in its own way. Ordinary humans taste far better, it’s true—but they do not improve our strength by much. These do." He tore off the lion-claw cultivator’s arm and tossed it casually to Xiao Ming.
She caught it and bit in—her expression immediately scrunching with distaste. She nearly spat it out but forced herself to swallow, tolerating the flavor purely for the power it carried.
Lin Mei did not touch her share. Her injuries stopped hurting, and she recovered a little strength within moments. She stepped over the debris and moved toward the area where the blast had hurled the audience’s seats, scanning the scattered and fallen humans around her.
Xiao Ming frowned and roared toward the field of fainted bodies. "How long are you going to keep pretending? Do you not want to eat?"
At her voice, several figures among the unconscious crowd stirred—then rose instantly, golden light glowing from their bodies as they shed their human disguises and shifted into their Bizarre Fox forms, varying numbers of tails spreading behind each one. They had been hiding among the guests, all along. There were thirty of them.
Xiao Ming barked a single command. "Kill them all. Except the groom."
Lin Mei moved toward Lei Feng—who still lay slumped unconscious on the ground—and raised her claws toward his neck.
"Stop."
The Ninth Elder raised his head.
Lin Mei paused. "Why, Elder?"
The Ninth Elder tilted his head toward Lei Feng. "This man—he’s the father of the one who fooled you, correct?"
Xiao Ming and Lin Mei both nodded.
The Ninth Elder’s grin spread slowly. "Then wait. Wait for the son to come. He won’t run—will he?"
"No," Lin Mei said without hesitation. "He is not the kind of person who would abandon his family."
"Good. Good." The Ninth Elder nodded, satisfied. "Then kill the father in front of his son’s eyes. Let him understand clearly what kind of mistake he has made."
Xiao Ming’s smile matched the Elder’s. "Yes. Humans should accept their fate gracefully. If they refuse, we show them the consequences."
Lin Mei stepped back from Lei Feng and turned her attention elsewhere. She moved to the three fallen Xiao brothers. A single sweep of her Celestial Fox Claw crushed their necks. She lowered her head and began eating, savoring each bite with her eyes half-closed in pleasure.
"Yes—this is a taste. So delicious."
The other fox cultivators who had revealed themselves began moving through the fallen crowd as well—like killing ants. The Ninth Elder hissed when he noticed a young male fox reaching toward a body. "Don’t. You will not eat them."
"Why?" several asked at once.
"How long did you enjoy the spectacle... acting unconscious? You won’t touch them." His expression turned stern, and he spat coldly. "If you had killed them all outright, I would have allowed you to eat at leisure. Now, you kill them and prepare the bodies. Nothing more." His aura flared without warning, the oppressive pressure of it dropping over every fox present, forcing them to their knees. "Or I will be the one to kill you."
They swallowed their protests and obeyed.
Within moments, the courtyard was silent. Every guest—servants, guards, attendants, fighters—was dead. Blood pooled between shattered stones and overturned tables.
Every one of them except for Lei Feng and Mo Yong. The entire Xiao clan has perished.
Lin Mei crouched nearby, gnawing on someone’s leg, one eye always drifting back to Lei Feng’s motionless form. She reached over absently and tapped his cheek with the flat of her bloodied claw.
"I wonder how you taste."
From across the courtyard, a middle-aged female fox cultivator called out. "I didn’t kill him—he’s still alive." She gestured toward Mo Ming’s chest, still rising and falling in shallow, labored breaths despite his heavy injuries.
"What use is keeping him?" Xiao Ming muttered. She walked forward and raised her claw over Mo Ming’s neck—
And stopped.
She turned her head.
Lei Cheng had just run through the gate into the courtyard.
Xiao Ming’s gaze swung to Lin Mei. "Go. Kill him."
Lin Mei grinned and raised her claw—pressing it to Lei Feng’s throat, holding it there, waiting.
Every fox in the courtyard turned toward the gate. The entire courtyard seemed to hold its breath. Their eyes blazed with bloodthirsty red light, their mouths still working at flesh. They licked faces or other parts, as it’s not eating. A predatory smile spread across their faces as they fixed on Lei Cheng standing in the entrance.
"Xiao Ming—!" Lei Cheng’s voice tore out of him—raw, instinctive—the moment his eyes found her standing in her fox form among the carnage.
Xiao Ming’s cold smile widened. "How dare you, human," she said softly, "fool me—and break the faith I bestowed upon you?"
Lin Mei’s claw pierced forward.
Lei Feng’s neck was crushed. His body went limp.
