Chapter 616: The Cunning Demon Race! Lady Hu’s Identity! Shattering the Golden Body!

Minghe’s words caused the already gloomy Fox Immortal Lady Temple to grow even colder, as if an invisible frost had spread through the air.

“What did you say?” Li Yanchu was taken aback.

He turned to look at Lady Hu.

Earlier, he had even begun to suspect that Minghe’s Heart-Questioning Method had failed, or that Lady Hu was protected by some kind of restriction. But now, Minghe had suddenly sensed something wrong.

Li Yanchu frowned, staring at Lady Hu as he asked in a low voice, “Fellow Daoist, what exactly is going on here?”

“What do you mean, what’s going on? Don’t make me laugh! Just because she says so, you think I’m lying? How do you know that she’s telling the truth?” Lady Hu retorted.

Li Yanchu fell silent, then looked straight at her. “Today, the little girl Tian Xiaoling came to the temple to pray for her mother’s illness. Was she killed by you, or not?”

“Of course not!” Lady Hu replied without hesitation. “I’m not always staying in this temple. Sometimes I wander about or cultivate elsewhere. Perhaps some demon or fiend impersonated me and deceived that little girl?”

𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

That possibility could not be ruled out. After all, there was a ready example right here: the white fox on the ground.

Of course, the identities of these two were still a huge question.

Who was the real Lady Hu?

Compared to the white fox lying injured on the floor, the Lady Hu wreathed in merit-light was naturally far more convincing. If nothing else, the harmonious aura of the temple matched perfectly with the merit radiance surrounding her.

And yet, how was Minghe’s Heart-Questioning Method to be explained?

“She’s lying,” Minghe said again.

As she looked at Lady Hu, a deep chill crept into her heart.

Li Yanchu’s expression darkened, and he stared coldly at Lady Hu.

“Don’t slander me!” Lady Hu snapped back at Minghe. “Everything I said just now was the truth!”

The white fox on the ground was gravely injured and utterly confused by the situation.

But that didn’t stop her from hurling insults.

“You impostor!” she snarled. “You took my appearance, seized my temple, and even fooled this Daoist, your crimes are unforgivable! Daoist Master, kill her already! Stop wasting words with her!”

The white fox let out a low growl, her voice filled with hatred.

Killing intent flared openly in Lady Hu’s eyes.

“I impersonated

you

? You demon, you’re too bold. I am clearly the temple’s true deity!”

The incense-powered divine sword in her hand burst into dazzling light as she prepared to stab downward.

Minghe’s brows knit tightly. “That statement wasn’t a lie.”

She was surprised.

She had always been extremely confident in her Heart-Questioning Method. It resembled the Buddhist art of mind-reading and could clearly distinguish truth from falsehood.

Yet now, even Minghe felt confused. The claim of being the temple deity was not a lie, and yet it was also she who had killed the little girl.

As Li Yanchu watched Lady Hu, now brimming with killing intent, something suddenly clicked in his mind. He had overlooked something earlier. Spiritual light flashed in his eyes as he activated Spirit Eyes and Qi Sight.

Lady Hu’s body was indeed wrapped in incense-based faith energy,

but within it lurked a powerful demonic aura, mixed with blood-soaked baleful qi. She was clearly no benevolent being.

It was only because she stood within the Fox Immortal Lady Temple’s domain and shielded by incense divinity that Li Yanchu and Minghe had failed to sense it immediately.

Li Yanchu’s gaze turned icy, as if lightning had split his thoughts.

“Daoist Hu, there’s no need to be angry. Yesterday, we spoke quite pleasantly. Don’t ruin our rapport over a mere demon. This creature impersonated you with malicious intent. Let me interrogate her properly, and then I’ll hand her over to you for judgment.”

Lady Hu withdrew the incense-formed flying sword with a resentful snort.

“Then let this wretch keep her life a little longer.”

She looked at Li Yanchu, her eyes softening.

“What you say makes sense, fellow Daoist. There’s no need to damage our goodwill.”

She smiled. All traces of killing intent vanished, replaced once more by a dignified, benevolent demeanor.

Li Yanchu, however, said nothing.

Lady Hu paused. “What’s wrong?”

Minghe quietly stepped back, positioning herself behind Li Yanchu.

“You’re not the Lady Hu I met,” Li Yanchu said coldly. “You’re the one who killed Tian Xiaoling.”

“Fellow Daoist, what do you mean?” Lady Hu asked in apparent confusion.

“Demon,” Minghe said icily. “We only met you during the day, how did that suddenly become ‘yesterday’?”

Lady Hu froze, then laughed. With that laugh, her killing intent burst forth. “They say the fox clan is cunning, but in my view, humans are the most devious of all!”

Li Yanchu’s expression was cold. So there wasn’t just one Lady Hu after all, and they had never communicated with each other.

Earlier, when he first saw this Lady Hu, he had felt something was off, yet he couldn’t pinpoint it.

Now he understood. From the moment she saw him, she had been acting. She had never met him before, yet she followed along with his words. That was also why she had reacted so strongly when Minghe accused her of lying. Because she had never been questioned by Minghe before, and this was her first time seeing her. She had no idea about Minghe’s Heart-Questioning Method.

“So you’re done pretending?” Li Yanchu said coldly. “You admit it was you who killed Tian Xiaoling and stole her true soul?”

“Yes,” Lady Hu replied calmly. “So that little girl was called Tian Xiaoling? A rather nice name. You have no idea how special she was. That trace of pure, lucid qi, I sensed it even from within the statue!”

A sickly excitement appeared on the Fox Immortal Lady’s face, like an addict’s craving.

“To steal her true soul, you killed a little girl who came praying for her dying mother?” Li Yanchu asked icily.

Lady Hu was unconcerned. “She was just a mortal. What does it matter? Are you really going to become my enemy over something like that?”

“Become enemies?” Li Yanchu sneered coldly.

He looked straight at her and said in a low voice, “If trading alone were enough to steal a true soul, you wouldn’t have gone to such lengths. You gave her hope only to crush it afterward, so that her mind would completely collapse. That was your goal, wasn’t it?”

Lady Hu looked at him in surprise.

“I didn’t expect you to be so smart. The method of stealing a true soul is far more complicated than you imagine. But you’re right, unless her spirit shattered to a certain degree, it would have been impossible to take her true soul.”

“You truly deserve to die,” Li Yanchu said coldly.

Lady Hu suddenly burst into wild, arrogant laughter, her expression utterly unrestrained.

“Where did two such insolent juniors come from, daring to enter my Daoist hall and act on behalf of Heaven? I had intended to trick you away, but since you’re so reckless, then you shall stay!” Lady Hu shouted coldly, her incense-powered divine energy condensing into a long sword, stabbing straight for Li Yanchu’s brow.

In front of him, a surge of virile protective energy erupted. At the same time, he took a step forward, his blood and aura bursting skyward like a raging inferno!

Dense crimson light filled the entire main hall.

Bang!

A single punch shattered Lady Hu’s incense sword and completely shattered the divine energy covering her body, and her divine body exploded. Her entire person was sent flying heavily backward.

She stared in shock at the young Daoist. “This young Daoist is so fierce!?”

She glanced at her shattered golden body in disbelief.