Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 65856 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65856 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 329(@200wpm)___ 263(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
After nearly half an hour of running, she stopped, perched on the top of a fallen log with one end pointed at the sky. Huli was crouched below her, hackles raised, and a low growl rumbling from his throat as he bared his teeth.
“I take it you wanted my attention, Little Fox,” Min mocked from her spot on the high ground. “Is there something you wanted to discuss?”
“We are past the point of discussion. You want Xiao Dan’s soul and to harm his clan. I won’t let you touch him or his family.” Huli flicked his tails behind him, snapping them wildly. Min’s eyes traveled to those tails and her mouth twitched. He could imagine that she’d be smiling at him if she had a human face.
“Now you wish to go back on our agreement? You promised Xiao Dan’s soul in exchange for helping you attain those tails you’re so fond of. You wouldn’t have those tails or a tenth of the power you now possess if it weren’t for my help.”
A scoff broke from Huli’s throat. “You’re upset because I used you for your knowledge and refuse to pay you for it? It wasn’t just cultivation tricks I learned from you all those years. You were the one who taught me all the evil ruses and deceits for stealing and manipulating humans and other creatures. You’re the one who turned it all into a game, explaining it didn’t matter who got hurt so long as you won in the end. Maybe I’m a better study than you expected.”
Min’s ears flatted out and pinned on her narrow head. “The key to playing those games is being smarter and faster than your opponent. And you are neither.” She hunkered low, her paws pressed to the rough bark on the side of the log while her tails flared out behind her. “I still plan to take my payment. If I can’t have that vampire’s soul, I plan to take the tails that I helped you win.”
“Never,” Huli snarled.
He launched himself at Min at the exact moment she leaped from her perch. The two foxes slammed together in a horrific cacophony of snarls, growls, and barks. Teeth snapped and claws lashed out, aiming for tender areas. Magic crackled in the evening air, charging it to the point of lightning streaking out from their whipping tails to lash at nearby trees and dig furrows in the earth.
Huli crashed to the ground with Min on top of him but kicked her off with his rear feet, sending her flying away. Unfortunately, she landed on her feet and dove at him just as he was getting up. Huli’s heart hammered in his chest and the taste of blood filled his mouth. There might have been a tiny voice in his head whispering that he deserved this for betraying Min, but it was easy to ignore. He had been willing to do anything to get closer to Xiao Dan, to attain the human form he needed to win his mate.
“You can’t have him,” Huli roared as he broke free of the white huli jing.
Min’s sharp laugh cut through the forest. Blood stained the fur on her chest and one of her tails hung limp as if it were broken. “You think I actually want that vampire?” She chortled. “I only said I wanted his soul because I knew you were so infatuated with him. As a tiny huli jing, you were so painfully easy to read with your big doting eyes and pathetic whimpers.”
“Then why did you agree to help me in the first place? You had to know that I planned to betray you.”
“Because I needed you to become a jiuweihu along with me. I wanted to see if I could steal your powers when you achieved your peak in cultivation. And as long as you knew you were fighting for your precious Xiao Dan, you would keep growing stronger, just as I needed you to.”
Ice froze his lungs and shot down his veins. This was about him? The thought had never crossed his mind. He’d always thought she’d wanted to grow strong enough to pit herself against a vampire more than a thousand years old.
No. It didn’t matter. She could never defeat him. His plan had always been to kill her to protect Xiao Dan. Now he had to kill her to protect himself. Nothing had changed.
He shook off the icy terror that had locked him in place and charged Min. The huli jing’s multiple tails snapped, sending a bolt of white magic shooting at him. It slammed into his chest, throwing him several meters through the air and into a tree. Bone ached and air exploded from his lungs. He crashed into the ground and was slower in regaining his feet. His thoughts were fuzzy and scattered like leaves on the wind.