As Dongfang Cangwu was internally trying to figure out who was cursing him, a familiar power fluctuation suddenly came. He was now very familiar with this fluctuation. He widened his eyes, hating it to the point of grinding his teeth.
The moment before his figure vanished, Dongfang Cangwu's voice echoed endlessly in this spacious entrance, filled with intense anger that lingered—
"Yan Jiaojiao! If I don't kill you, I am no human!"
If Yan Jiaojiao were present, she would probably add a finishing blow: "You weren't human to begin with."
Unfortunately, there was no sign of human activity at the demon realm's entrance, so Dongfang Cangwu's appearance and disappearance did not attract anyone's attention.
Yan Jiaojiao smiled as she watched Xiao Hei, who appeared at the center of the summoning array and immediately ran towards her.
She felt that Xiao Hei must have missed her too much from not seeing her for so long, which was why he was running towards her.
Who wouldn't want a little dog whose heart and eyes were solely on you, running towards you with all its might?
"Xiao Hei!"
Yan Jiaojiao shouted and crouched down to meet him.
Dongfang Cangwu had originally intended to bite this woman to death, but upon reaching her and seeing the undisguised joy on her face, he suddenly hesitated.
Was this woman truly so happy just because he had returned?
Dongfang Cangwu pondered this, his expression appearing somewhat awkward.
He stopped his opened mouth mid-action, and his sharp fangs merely ground a few times on Yan Jiaojiao's slender, fair fingertips.
Sensing Xiao Hei's gentleness, Yan Jiaojiao couldn't help but smile. She reached out to stroke his head and said very tenderly, "It seems Xiao Hei missed me too."
"Did Xiao Hei have fun playing outside during this time?"
Although Dongfang Cangwu could act like a dog, he absolutely refused to bark like one. This was the last bit of stubborn pride of a Demon Emperor.
He ignored Yan Jiaojiao's question, sniffing around before finally focusing his gaze on Yan Jiaojiao's hand.
Whimper...
Dongfang Cangwu let out a warning whimper.
"Our Xiao Hei is amazing!"
Yan Jiaojiao, noticing that Xiao Hei had detected something amiss, smiled and petted him, then explained the matter of the human-faced puppets.
"Xiao Hei, we'll have to count on you this time. We don't have time to fight with the human-faced puppets."
Yan Jiaojiao actually had ways to deal with those human-faced puppets, but personally, she did not want to waste that time. Moreover, those disgusting human-faced puppets were difficult to kill. If they got entangled with them, they would probably be pursued throughout a large part of the Ghostly Realm.
That was truly unnecessary.
Thinking this, Yan Jiaojiao said to Xiao Hei, "If you can help us resolve this matter, I'll make you lots of delicious food later."
Dongfang Cangwu snorted coldly from his nose.
What was with this woman? As a dignified Demon Emperor, was he the kind of spirit beast that could be bribed with food?
Xiao Hei nodded, proving with his actions that Dongfang Cangwu was indeed someone who would bend for delicious food.
Yan Jiaojiao, unaware of Xiao Hei's inner turmoil, confirmed that someone would help resolve the issue and then proceeded to inquire about other matters.
Seeing that this woman had completely forgotten his presence, only idly stroking his head without even a glance, Dongfang Cangwu felt a little annoyed.
Did this woman really think of him as a pet?
However, he heard that Yan Jiaojiao was discussing important matters, so he suppressed his anger.
"Think carefully, was there anything strange about that spirit fox beast?"
As Yan Jiaojiao said this, everyone was stunned: "You mean... the spirit fox beast we saw might have been deliberately sent to deal with us?"
Yan Jiaojiao nodded, "It's highly likely. Otherwise, why aren't others chasing it? Not to mention that other academies also have experts. Currently, other than our academy, no one else dares to split up. So, think about it, why wouldn't others chase a spirit fox beast that the three of you dared to pursue? Don't they want it?"
Yan Jiaojiao hadn't had time to explain these things to them earlier. Now that the heavy burden on her heart had been lifted, Yan Jiaojiao naturally wanted to clarify the matter with them.
"But... how is that possible?"
Wen Jinshu was rather naive in these matters. She thought carefully and said to Yan Jiaojiao, "Who would target us like this? Moreover, spirit fox beasts are also spirit beasts with strong offensive power. How could others obtain them so easily?"
"And wasn't it said that we're not allowed to bring those things in ourselves?"
"If we caught that spirit fox beast, wouldn't the other party be judged for cheating? This would be a loss for them."
Yan Jiaojiao shook her head and said, "Your considerations are too one-sided. You're afraid of being eliminated for cheating. Are they not afraid? What if their mission is simply to kill us? Once we enter the territory of the human-faced puppets, isn't it a fight to the death? They don't know I have Xiao Hei. If you hadn't brought a Wood Sect disciple with you, could you really have survived?"
Although her words were blunt and harsh, no one could deny that Yan Jiaojiao was right.
"They..."
Wen Jinshu found it hard to believe: "Thinking about it now, it was indeed strange. I saw some people who seemed to want to chase after us, but they quickly turned back, as if they were afraid of something."
Yan Jiaojiao said, "That's right."
Wen Jinshu exchanged a look with Xiao Su, both of their expressions looking very grim.
"Actually..."
The Wood Sect disciple, who had been silent all along, his talkativeness rivaling that of Xu Changzong, suddenly spoke.
Yan Jiaojiao's gaze fell upon him. She sized him up with some curiosity and suddenly asked, "You're not by any chance Xu Changzong's younger brother, are you?"
Xu Changzong, suddenly named by Yan Jiaojiao, looked at her with some confusion: "What?"
Yan Jiaojiao said, "I'm just curious... why is his silent and taciturn demeanor so similar to yours, or is it that your Wood Sect is always like this?"
At such a tense moment, Yan Jiaojiao suddenly said something like this, making everyone feel as if crows were flying over their heads. For a moment, they didn't know whether to humor Yan Jiaojiao with a joke or to remain silent.
In the end, it was Xu Changzong who said, "He is not my brother."
Wen Jinshu and Xiao Su fell silent in unison.
So... you really went along with Yan Jiaojiao? Her earlier words were clearly a joke, weren't they?
After the atmosphere eased slightly, everyone looked at the Wood Sect disciple, asking him what he wanted to say.
"I actually saw some familiar people when I passed by a team. It wasn't really seeing, though. My sense of smell has always been very keen. I brushed past those people, and I smelled a familiar fragrance on them. Some male disciples seemed to be disguised as women, and several of them should be Yan Ruxue and the others."
"Yan Ruxue? When did they join other academies?"