The Fox King

Chapter 47: Savage Beating

Whip in hand, Zhe Huo headed out to teach someone a lesson. Although she wasn’t certain of the odds, it remained that there was an enemy at the gates, looking to do harm to little Luo Qinghan. That being the case, she would be the one to strike first!

However, when she came storming out of the inn, the man in black was no longer at the stall opposite.

Confused, Zhe Huo looked in all directions, but her target was nowhere to be seen. Muttering under her breath, she turned back in disappointment.

On her way through the lobby, she just happened to run into Tao Feiyan leaving his alcove. She hurried to ask him, “Mr Tao, the man in black outside has vanished! Did you see which way he went?”

Feiyan shook his head, smiling about something as he leaned against the handrail of a nearby staircase. “Why, Zhe Huo darling? Do you plan on scaring off the bad man, in order to protect your precious Qinghan?”

Zhe Huo idly flicked her whip through the air, then caught it again. “What, then? Should I wait until he comes in here and causes trouble for Qinghan?” She harrumphed, and headed up the stairs.

With a pout, she muttered, “He sure left in a hurry. If I see him again, I’ll give him a good what-for.”

Feiyan smiled widely, raised a hand, and twirled his delicate white fingers through his glossy waist-length hair. Coiling the silken strands around one fingertip, he said thoughtfully, “You should watch Qinghan carefully, tonight.”

Zhe Huo’s eyes widened with horror. “Is the man in black planning to attack us during the night?”

Feiyan blinked at her, and let the hair slip through his fingers. “To attack you, perhaps.” And with that, he returned to his room.

“Ah—” She wanted to ask more, but was left frowning in solitude.

Because of Feiyan’s word of warning, Zhe Huo spent the whole night watching over Qinghan as he slept. She strained to keep her eyes wide open, in spite of how exhausted she herself was. She gnawed on her finger and marshaled every ounce of willpower she had to keep herself awake and aware, so that there would be no opening for an intruder to take advantage of.

Nevertheless, after an indeterminate length of time—and even Zhe Huo herself had no idea how it had happened—one moment she was glaring intently at the child lying asleep in the bed, next moment her eyelids slid down with inexorable weight, everything went dark, and she sagged helplessly onto the bed to fall into an unconscious sleep.

The door was blown open by a sharp gust of wind, and someone entered. Their footsteps were heavy and deliberate, their bearing unmistakably hostile. The intruder was clothed all in black, and when he reached the bed and saw the figure beneath the blanket, he immediately willed a magical force to pull aside the covers… only to find no one there.

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There was a moment of violence, and the man grunted in pain and surprise. Turning stiffly as he toppled to the floor, he saw who had been behind him.

Luo Qinghan stood there, poised and serene. His eyes shone with cold light, but his lips were twisted into a mocking smile vicious enough to draw blood.

Protruding from the intruder’s back was a simple blade of solid light, faintly glowing a ghostly blue. It wasn’t a fatal wound.

The intruder found that most peculiar, but he retained enough presence of mind to react. Gritting his teeth against the pain, he produced an obscuring shroud of black smoke, and then instantly vanished from the spot.

Qinghan yawned, and with an easy flick of his tail, he pushed the room door gently shut. Then he climbed back into bed.