Steel-Bristled Boar Demon (Extra Update for Deep Water)

Yan Jue stared fixedly at Qi Xianqing.

For some reason, she felt like Qi Xianqing was a little off today.

Yan Jue wasn’t slow-witted, so of course she still remembered how suspicious that night at the imperial palace had been. Qi Xianqing had sent her back to her room—had she really discovered something…?

Could Qi Xianqing be secretly thinking about how to kill her?

As Yan Jue let her imagination run wild, she suddenly heard a cry from outside the door.

Her hearing was especially sharp tonight. At the sound, she immediately turned to look.

In the grass outside the door, no one knew when it had appeared—a black fox.

It had a pair of tall, upright ears; its fur was glossy, and it sat in the grass staring at her with dark eyes.

No idea how it had gotten in.

Yan Jue immediately swatted Qi Xianqing’s hand away with her five big tails and leaped out the window.

The black fox tilted its head at her and gave a friendly snort.

Yan Jue answered with a friendly little yowl.

The black fox’s eyes curved, and it began running happily through the trees of Frozen Peach Haven.

Yan Jue followed closely behind, and the two of them actually chased each other around Frozen Peach Haven for quite a while.

Yan Jue didn’t know why, but the more she played, the more lost in it she became.

For some reason, that black fox seemed to carry a scent she really liked.

Yan Jue scampered around on all four paws in delight, and then the black fox in front of her suddenly stopped, came forward gently, and nudged her with its nose.

That was a sweet form of body language among foxes. A light nudge with the nose meant goodwill.

Yan Jue was looking at the black fox, hesitating over whether she should nudge back, when she suddenly heard someone call from behind her.

Qi Xianqing: “Little fox baby, come here.”

Yan Jue jolted back to herself and saw Qi Xianqing standing in the doorway, frowning as she looked at her.

“Little fox baby.”

To the little fox’s ears, Qi Xianqing’s voice was the gentlest sound in the world. Even if it had been playing happily with other foxes, it would be hard to ignore a voice like that.

So the little fox ran over and sat down in front of Qi Xianqing, lowering its head and looking around restlessly, not quite daring to meet her gaze.

Qi Xianqing: “Don’t go play with other foxes recently.”

Hm? Why?

Qi Xianqing looked at the black fox a few more times.

Then she picked the little fox up.

Back in the room, Qi Xianqing casually shut the door with a bang.

Qi Xianqing handed it a little rabbit to chew on, and Yan Jue held the rabbit and slowly gnawed at it.

After spending so long with the little fox baby, Qi Xianqing could be said to have thoroughly figured out all its habits. She had tried many methods before when the little fox was tearing up the house, but none worked better than simply giving it something to chew.

The little fox lay on the floor, absentmindedly chewing the rabbit, feeling hollow inside.

Qi Xianqing looked at her and lightly clapped her hands. “Come here.”

Yan Jue ran over to Qi Xianqing. Qi Xianqing sat cross-legged on the floor, gently rubbing the little fox’s fluffy head and then pulling it into her arms; her palm idly patted the base of its tail.

The room was quiet, and Qi Xianqing seemed to have no idea where her patience came from as she kept patting for a long time.

Yan Jue felt like her whole body was going soft. In that instant, she no longer thought about the black fox outside the window; instead, the entire fox leaned forward, rubbing coquettishly against Qi Xianqing’s leg, even flipping her belly over.

Qi Xianqing froze slightly.

The little fox’s fur was bright red, while the fur on its belly was snow-white; but this small patch beneath the abdomen was actually bare.

Perhaps it was because the little fox wasn’t fully grown yet, so the fur on its belly hadn’t completely filled in. She had never noticed before.

No wonder this was the weakest spot of a canine beast. The soft pink belly was exposed to the air, and faint purple veins could just be seen beneath it. When Qi Xianqing touched it with the back of her hand, she suddenly felt a few tiny bumps.

“…”

Qi Xianqing abruptly pulled her hand back, but the little fox seemed dissatisfied and kept nudging her hand with its nose, urging her to keep petting.

Qi Xianqing said in a low voice, “Shameless.”

Yan Jue: “…”

Only after she reacted did Yan Jue’s face instantly go scarlet. She flipped over and obediently lay down on the floor.

Qi Xianqing soothed the little fox for a while, then stood up, dragged the chair over, and sat back down at the table to open a book.

The room was quiet, with only the soft rustle of pages turning.

Yan Jue was far from calm. She whined softly, and after chewing the rabbit for a while, spat it aside.

Qi Xianqing lounged back in the chair, one leg tucked under the other thigh, the other hanging down and swinging lightly. Then she suddenly felt her leg go heavy.

Something was hugging her leg.

Yan Jue watched Qi Xianqing’s leg sway back and forth, closed her eyes, and truly couldn’t hold back any longer. She lifted her two dark paws, wrapped them around Qi Xianqing’s leg, and rubbed against it. It felt rather comfortable, and her long, narrow phoenix eyes narrowed slightly as she clung to Qi Xianqing and nuzzled her over and over.

Qi Xianqing had read related books before and knew that fox spirits first had their physiological period, then their heat period. Right now the little fox was in a special phase, and humping behavior might occur.

So this gesture meant…

Qi Xianqing’s face instantly went crimson. She rolled up the book and smacked the little fox on the head.

The little fox lifted its clear amber eyes and looked at her aggrievedly.

You won’t even let me go out and play.

Qi Xianqing met its gaze for two seconds, then thought of the little fox’s special condition right now and sighed. In a soft voice, she said, “I forgive you.”

It could do whatever it wanted.

Qi Xianqing kept reading, but the little fox would not stay still. In one leap, it jumped onto Qi Xianqing’s lap.

Its four soft little paws stepped all over her.

Qi Xianqing narrowed her eyes at it. “What are you doing?”

The little fox obviously didn’t understand. It found the most comfortable position, then lay down again, snug and clingy in Qi Xianqing’s arms, while its five long tails wrapped around her arm again and again.

It opened its mouth and lightly nibbled Qi Xianqing’s fingers.

Yan Jue didn’t care at all; if the little fox baby wanted to do this, what did it have to do with her, Yan Jue?

Qi Xianqing’s slender, fair fingers were quickly coated with warm saliva from the chewing.

Qi Xianqing: “…”

Qi Xianqing tried to raise her hand, but her arm was tightly wrapped by the little fox’s tail and wouldn’t move at all.

After a long silence, Qi Xianqing tossed the book aside and, with a casual motion, gathered the soft fox body into her arms. In a low voice, she said, “I forgive you.”

-

It was only dawn; the mist had not yet fully dispersed.

Qi Xianqing stepped through the white haze and slowly entered Qiuli Pavilion in the Thunderflame Sect.

Yun Zhen was wearing a Xiang-colored soft gauze robe with gold-threaded begonia patterns, her hair arranged in a Feixian bun. Her flowing sleeves made her look almost like a fairy as she stood lazily in the courtyard, helping the nine-colored deer comb its fur.

The snow-white nine-colored deer blinked, its pupils a faint shade of red, indicating that it was in an excellent mood today. Even its tail kept swishing behind it.

As Yun Zhen teased the nine-colored deer, she said thoughtfully, “I already told Yan Yue about the strange things I noticed, but the Sect Master’s cultivation has already reached the eighth realm. By rights, a living soul shouldn’t have dispersed so easily. Could it be that he used some special method?”

Qi Xianqing listened, and a faint warmth welled in her heart. She hadn’t expected her master to believe her just because of such an inexplicable suspicion.

Yun Zhen: “How did you know about it? Do you have any other evidence? It’s not that I don’t trust you, but saying it like this alone is too incredible.”

Qi Xianqing knelt on the ground and said softly, “This disciple encountered a demon assassin on the way out. By rights, my whereabouts should have been absolutely confidential; no one ought to have known.”

Yun Zhen’s expression darkened slightly.

That meant there was a traitor within the Five Dragons Sect who had leaked Qi Xianqing’s movements.

Yun Zhen had always doted on her disciples as if her life depended on it. Whoever dared make things difficult for her disciple, she would make sure they suffered for it.

Yun Zhen: “Very well. I’ll listen to you and make a trip to Wanwu Fortress to borrow my old friend’s Soul-Summoning Banner and give it a try. Consider it a precautionary measure, and an opportunity to root out the traitor within my Five Dragons Sect.”

After saying that, Yun Zhen suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right. I have a sword manual here; it’s an old lost text. Little Yan’s Drifting Ice should be able to make use of it. You can give it to her.”

With that, Yun Zhen lifted her right hand, and a book placed there beforehand flew over at once, landing steadily in Qi Xianqing’s hands.

Drifting Ice, the immortal sword, possessed many miraculous qualities, so in the world there had once been many powerful figures who wrote related books for the legendary sword.

And Yun Zhen’s Heavenly Apex Core Heart Sword Manual was an especially refined work written by Chihong Sanren, who ascended a thousand years ago.

After that, the two of them fell silent.

Qi Xianqing suddenly asked, “Master, this disciple has something I want to ask.”

Yun Zhen let go of the nine-colored deer’s fur and walked leisurely toward the pavilion. “Ask.”

Qi Xianqing: “What should one do when a spirit pet reaches its heat period?”

Yun Zhen: “Put a protective pad on it; ideally, have it sterilized.”

“Beasts follow their masters out and about year-round. Keeping their breeding instincts around is never a good thing. What if one day you’re careless and it comes back pregnant with a whole litter?”

“I know a friend in the Beast Taming Pavilion who’s excellent at sterilization. Ajiu had hers done there. If you want, I can give you her contact information.”

Qi Xianqing: “…”

-

After Yan Jue returned to human form, her whole body still felt exhausted.

On a bright afternoon, Yan Jue sat at the table, planning to distract herself a little.

She took out the snake scales she had obtained that day from the giant serpent Feiyi in Yuxu Sea from her Qiankun bag.

The dark blue-green scales shimmered faintly under the sunlight. When she touched them lightly, she could feel how hard and cold they were.

Anyone could tell at a glance that these scales were valuable.

Yan Jue carried the scales out of the room and took out a bamboo bird whistle from her bag, putting it to her lips and blowing.

Before long, she saw a familiar figure appear in the grass ahead.

After a few days apart, Zhu He had grown a little more. The little girl who had only looked four or five years old had now become a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old young woman.

She wore the blue narrow-sleeved dao robe Qi Xianqing had given her, along with the cape woven from dried gauze, and her skin was unexpectedly fair.

Yan Jue stared at her for a long time before recognizing that this was the little wild boar, and couldn’t help but laugh. “Why do you look like you’ve been pumped full of hormones?”

Zhu He didn’t understand and walked over, gesturing, “Was the trip smooth?”

Her human speech was already very fluent now; it seemed she had not let up on language study during the time Yan Jue had been away.

Yan Jue felt gratified. “Smooth. I brought back a piece of clothing for you this time.”

Zhu He’s eyes lit up at once. She never stopped thinking about her own skin. Yan Jue beckoned. “Come on, follow me somewhere.”

Yan Jue crossed the mountain path and quickly reached Duan Luxi’s quarters in the Muyin Sect.

Duan Luxi was wearing a light green dao robe and holding a folding fan as she sat in the courtyard enjoying the cool air.

In the sunlight, her three thousand strands of black hair hung down, with only one lock pinned up by a hairpin; she looked rather like a refined scoundrel.

Yan Jue walked over with a smile. “Senior Sister Duan.”

Duan Luxi froze, then smiled. “Yan Jue, weren’t you and Senior Sister out on an A-rank mission? Why are you back so soon?”

Yan Jue: “I came back to the mountain temporarily to rest.”

Duan Luxi gave her a thumbs-up. “As expected of the third-place winner in this Five-Dragon Summit competition; even on an A-rank mission, you can stay so composed.”

Yan Jue gave a wry smile and took out the snake scales, placing them on the table. “Senior Sister Duan, actually I came today to ask you about something.”

The moment Duan Luxi saw the snake scales Yan Jue had taken out, her eyes lit up. “This is… Feiyi snake scales?”

Yan Jue nodded. “Yes. On the way to Yuxu Sea, I happened to hunt down a Feiyi snake demon and got its scales.”

“I heard these scales can be made into clothing, and they’re extremely tough; it’s just that I don’t know… how they’re turned into garments?”

Duan Luxi fondled the blue scales lovingly and asked, “Are you planning to make clothes for yourself to wear, or…”

Yan Jue answered directly, “I want to make them for my spirit pet.”

Then she pushed Zhu He beside her forward. Zhu He was munching on spirit candle fruit while looking up cheerfully at Duan Luxi.

Seeing this, Duan Luxi couldn’t help feeling a little speechless.

This girl was strikingly good-looking, so why did there seem to be a lump of dazed foolishness in her eyes?

Duan Luxi: “Alright, leave it to me.”

During the time Yan Jue had been away, Duan Luxi had read many more books on artifact refining, and modifying clothing was a piece of cake for her.

Since modifying the clothing with snake scales wouldn’t take too much time, Yan Jue simply sat in Duan Luxi’s place and waited.

After searching through the storage chest for a long while, Duan Luxi found a dust-covered spinning wheel.

She blew on the wheel, placed it above the snake scales, and formed a hand seal with one hand.

The spinning wheel began to turn on its own.

The dark blue-green snake scales gradually took on the shape of clothing beneath the spinning wheel, and before long, the garment was complete.

Duan Luxi: “Here, try it.”

Then she handed the clothes made from the snake scales to Zhu He.

Zhu He looked at the scales in a daze.

This cold, hard thing was different from her fur before.

Yan Jue: “Put it on and try it.”

Zhu He obediently put on the scales.

In an instant, a layer of black mist spread over the top of her head.

Before Yan Jue could react, she saw Duan Luxi’s expression change. She immediately grabbed Zhu He and ran outside. “Bad—come into the courtyard quickly.”

Just as the three of them stepped into the courtyard, they saw the black mist lingering above Zhu He’s head growing thicker and thicker, and Zhu He’s body gradually enlarging within the black mist…

Yan Jue twitched the corner of her mouth. “What did you do to those snake scales just now?”

Duan Luxi hesitated. “I didn’t do anything. This might be some effect inherent to the scales…”

The two of them circled Zhu He uncertainly. About half a stick of incense later, the black mist completely dissipated.

What appeared before their eyes was a…

gigantic wild boar.

Yan Jue was stunned. This was…

Duan Luxi froze for a moment, then hurried back into the room.

“…"

Yan Jue looked up at the huge wild boar before her.

The other side was also looking at her with a pair of tiny eyes.

Its fur was black and glossy, and it had snow-white, thick tusks; its mane shot up into the sky like steel needles.

Zhu He also seemed stunned. She took two steps forward, and the sound of her hooves striking the ground was heavy; for a moment, the earth seemed to shake and the mountains sway.

“This is… this is…”

Duan Luxi ran out holding a battered old book and shouted, “This is a steel-bristled boar demon!”

Yan Jue stood frozen in place. “A steel-bristled boar demon is…?”

“A steel-bristled boar demon is recorded in many books.” Duan Luxi closed the book and slapped Yan Jue’s shoulder hard. “Where on earth did you find this spirit pet? You’ve struck gold.”

“Legend says this kind of wild boar has boundless strength; if it strikes with full force, it can have the power to uproot mountains and overturn seas.”

Zhu He looked down at Yan Jue and gave a soft “hmm-hmm,” seeming a little unaccustomed to it.

Yan Jue asked, “Can you change back?”

Zhu He was stunned for a few seconds, then began violently shaking her body.

That layer of pig skin was shaken right off and dropped to the ground with a crisp patter.

As the snake-scale garment fell away, Zhu He had already returned to her former girl form.

She blinked at them, looking a little dazed.

-

After Yan Jue left Duan Luxi’s place and returned to her room, she found that at some point, a short letter had appeared on her desk by the window.

Qi Xianqing’s writing was still as concise and to the point as ever.

Tomorrow at mao hour, Cold Pool.

Yan Jue slept without dreams and woke very early the next morning.

The first thing she did after waking was go to Cold Pool.

It was mao hour; mist curled over the lake’s surface.

Qi Xianqing stood by the lake in a white robe and turned back to look at her.

Yan Jue slowly walked over to her side.

Today Yan Jue was wearing a soft emerald pleated skirt, a gold hairpin on her head; her raven-black hair spilled over her shoulders, and the white sword sheath was securely bound on her back. Her sharply defined features looked almost sculpted in the sunlight.

Qi Xianqing looked at her, her expression turning a little odd. No wonder she had hidden it so well before; just look at this person now—was the fox that had been clinging to her leg and acting spoiled in Frozen Peach Haven the same creature?

Yan Jue: “…”

Why did it feel like Qi Xianqing’s expression when looking at her was so strange…

Qi Xianqing composed her face, then handed Yan Jue a yellowed sword manual. “This is from Master.”

Yan Jue froze.

The book Qi Xianqing handed over had an old cover, and its pages were faintly yellow. Yan Jue saw the words Heavenly Apex Core Heart Sword Manual written on it.

Yan Jue: “Thank you.”

Qi Xianqing pressed her lips together. “If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask me.”

Yan Jue’s heart skipped. “Thank you.”

Qi Xianqing’s gaze fell behind Yan Jue.

There was actually a big wild boar standing behind her, looking rather honest and simple-minded. Its bean-like eyes stared fixedly at her. As if afraid Qi Xianqing might be scared of it, the boar sat properly behind Yan Jue and did not dare move at all.

Yan Jue: “This is Zhu He. I put the snake scales on her, and she likes them a lot.”

The little wild boar suddenly shook her body, and the snake scales fell off her.

She turned back into the appearance of a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old girl and looked at Yan Jue. “Hungry.”

Yan Jue fished two bright red spirit candle fruits out of her Qiankun bag and handed them to her.

Zhu He curved her eyes and ate them right there on the spot.

Listening to the crisp crunching of fruit beside her, Yan Jue suddenly remembered something and pulled a large bucket out of her Qiankun bag.

Qi Xianqing was in the middle of thinking when her gaze fell to Yan Jue’s waist and abdomen, then slowly slid away.

She couldn’t help but think again of that night by Cold Pool; the little fox’s soft, furless pink belly.

Qi Xianqing swallowed. Her hand hanging at her side tightened unconsciously, and she was just about to ask Yan Jue whether she had been feeling unwell lately when she suddenly heard a clear clatter beside her.

Yan Jue squatted on the ground, carefully counting the spirit stones in the bucket. “These are the spirit stones I’ve earned recently; there are about two thousand.”

“I’ll pay back part of the money for Drifting Ice first, and I’ll slowly repay the rest later.”

Qi Xianqing: “…”