Chapter 571: Kill Them All (2)

"What exactly is going on?" Li Xiaofei pressed urgently. "Tell me, quickly."

Overhead, the hawk-shaped power armor units issued another stern warning, ordering everyone to immediately lay down their weapons and surrender.

Li Xiaofei's brows furrowed deeper.

"Take them down," he commanded. "Leave them alive."

Bajie nodded before he shot into the sky. A streak of light zipped through the air.

Boom! Boom!

Explosions erupted in the sky. Brilliant flames illuminated the wilderness as every power armor unit was destroyed in a matter of moments. The pilots plummeted to the ground, incapacitated but alive.

Meanwhile, Li Xiaofei finally pieced together the situation from the students' rushed and fragmented explanations. He now understood the dire events unfolding within the mountain's interior.

"Let’s go! We’re heading back!" He called out loudly.

He led the group toward the danger, the urgency in his tone leaving no room for doubt.

***

Boom! Boom!

Energy cannons bombarded the mountain, blasting holes into its structure. Waves of star beasts surged through these newly created openings like a relentless tide.

Ye Yu, clad in his battle armor, strode into the mountain's interior. Surrounded by star beasts and his elite warriors, he had finally breached the stronghold.

"Hu Yuer?!" His eyes lit up the moment he spotted the black-clad woman holding her ground defiantly at the entrance of a corridor. She was fighting desperately to hold back the flood of star beasts.

A wave of delight swept over him. Hu Yuer was the principal of the Cloudy Sky Youth Academy and one of Liuhe Base City's famed Twin Beauties. She was a stunning figure and had an unmatched beauty.

What made her even more remarkable was her exceptional strength. Though she had only emerged recently, her reputation on the light network had, at one point, rivaled that of Ye Liuying. Rumors had once circulated that Hu Yuer was one of Li Xiaofei’s many lovers. She was also a priority target for the Xie family as one of the toys they were determined to capture.

Unlike the unyielding Ye Liuying, who had tried to fight to the death, Hu Yuer was known for her cunning. The moment a situation turned unfavorable, she would decisively lead her people to retreat. This cleverness had kept her out of the rebels' grasp—until now.

Who could have expected that she would choose to play rear guard today?

Ye Yu grinned.

She won’t escape.

"Go!" Ye Yu gestured sharply. "Capture that woman alive."

As a high-ranking officer, Ye Yu no longer charged into battles recklessly. Instead, he directed his forces from behind and avoided the front lines. Opposite him, Hu Yuer fought while steadily retreating. Her every move was calculated to buy as much time as possible. But the pressure she faced was mounting.

The relentless assault of eight Grade Six star beasts, known as Gnawing White Bears, was pushing her to her limits. Bears were a fox’s natural predators, a fact that weighed heavily on her as she struggled to hold her ground.

Hu Yuer possessed the bloodline of the Nine-Tailed Fox, which allowed her to resist the natural suppression that foxes usually faced against bears. Yet the sheer number of these beasts, combined with their overwhelming strength at the same realm, made the battle increasingly difficult for her.

She realized with grim clarity that the times had changed. The Yiggs had discovered how to control star beasts, and they had cooperated with Great Xia’s rebel forces to sweep across the Great Xia continent like an unstoppable tide.

By organizing the individual star beast packs who boasted combat capabilities far superior to humans into fearless armies that numbered in the hundreds of billions, the Yiggs had turned these creatures into a nightmare for mankind.

Hu Yuer felt deeply pessimistic about the future. Her greatest despair came from the absence of hope. Humanity's martial pinnacle lay with the Great Saints, but their numbers were far too few. In contrast, the star beast clans boasted many rulers who possessed strength on par with Great Saints, and their ordinary troops vastly outnumbered humanity.

What made matters worse was her keen intuition that something had gone terribly wrong within the Star Council, the institution that represented humanity’s highest order. Humanity stood on the brink of annihilation.

Even as she fought to protect the group escaping the mountain base, Hu Yuer wasn’t sure where they could run. Her beast instincts screamed at her to abandon the humans and flee without looking back.

Staying would only bring disaster. Yet, something within her refused to yield to instinct, compelling her to fight, to stay and shield this fragile group. But deep inside, she feared that this decision might lead to her doom.

But whenever Hu Yuer thought of that young man, she couldn’t help but push herself to fight for humanity one more time.

Her mother had once told her, “The greatest shackles in this world are neither sharp weapons nor peerless divine arts. It is love. You can travel across countless mountains and rivers, but a single thread of affection is inescapable.”

The Nine-Tailed Fox clan had produced many extraordinary talents. But fox women were known to be deeply emotional. Once they became entangled in the mortal world, they could never escape the shackles of affection. Most of them met tragic ends, leaving behind only legends among humans.

Hu Yuer had once dismissed such notions as superstition. Now, she could feel the chains of affection binding her heart.

What nonsense is love?

She scoffed at herself.

That man doesn’t even belong to me!

Her thoughts dripped with self-mockery. Suddenly, a peculiar and eerie energy swept over her, enveloping her very soul. Her head shot up in alarm.

In the distance, a tall, white-suited man of European descent had appeared without warning beside Ye Yu. The man held a silver-white stone in his hand.

Intricate, layered patterns covered the stone, resembling a half-open eye. The stone emitted a dazzling radiance, and she could feel waves of strange, oppressive energy radiating outward, targeting her mind and spirit.

The source of the unsettling energy that gripped her soul was undoubtedly this mysterious Eye of the Divine Stone. Hu Yuer could clearly feel her body beginning to weaken uncontrollably. The star beast energy within her was also gradually calming, as if frozen in place. She was shocked as her strength drained rapidly

What’s happening?

"Hahaha!" In the distance, the white-suited man laughed wickedly, his face twisting with lecherous excitement.

"The Eye of Artemis only works on star beasts. So, this woman really is a star beast who has taken human form. Fascinating! She must be so much fun to play with. Hahaha!"

He fully activated the Eye of Artemis. The special energy that controlled star beasts now completely locked onto Hu Yuer. She felt as though invisible chains had bound her hands and feet. She couldn’t move.

Ye Yu was overjoyed at this turn of events. He immediately ordered his forces to bypass Hu Yuer and charge down the corridor to pursue the fleeing students of Red Flag High School.

Meanwhile, the tall white man slowly approached Hu Yuer while holding the Eye of Artemis.

"So beautiful," he murmured, awestruck by the fox woman’s unparalleled beauty.

Her flawless and curvaceous figure aside, it was her aura that captivated him—the unique blend of purity and allure, innocence and seduction. It was like a crystal-clear divine spring that no man could resist.

As he drew closer, his gaze filled with hunger and desire.

"Stand upright."

"Perfect. Let me admire your S-shaped curves... Oh, God, a masterpiece of perfection."

"Take off your clothes."

The white-suited man, controlling the Eye of Artemis, issued commands one after another, his tone filled with depraved delight.

Hu Yuer was horrified to discover that while her mind remained clear, her body was acting as if hypnotized, completely beyond her control and obeying his commands. She fought against the compulsion with all her strength, managing only to slow the motion of her hands reaching for her clothing. But she couldn’t stop. Her fingers had already gripped the button of her shirt.

Nearby, Ye Yu held his breath, his face flushed with a twisted excitement. He had once been a privileged scion of a noble family who reveled in mankind’s pleasures, but never had he encountered a woman as breathtaking as Hu Yuer.

A fox spirit was beyond human. Even more tantalizing, she was rumored to be Li Xiaofei’s lover. Watching her face fill with humiliation, fury, and fear under the bright eyes of the gathered crowd gave Ye Yu a thrill far greater than any battle.

"Take it off."

"Quickly now."

The white-suited man’s voice grew impatient as he noticed Hu Yuer’s fingers hesitating on the button. He increased the intensity of the Eye of Artemis’s energy, demanding her compliance.

Hu Yuer’s gaze became increasingly vacant, as her mind began to drown under the oppressive energy of the Eye of Artemis. It felt as though someone had pre-programmed her body long ago to obey. Her hope dimmed as the will to fight slipped further away with each passing moment.

Once the program started, her body moved as if it was on autopilot. Her slender, snow-white fingers gently unfastened the first button of her shirt. Radiant, pale skin flashed beneath her fingertips.

Both the white-suited man and Ye Yu widened their eyes in anticipation, captivated by the sight. At that moment, they heard star beasts howling in agony and humans screaming in terror from the distant corridor.

A thick, metallic scent of blood suddenly filled the air. Before either man could react, a towering, imposing figure suddenly appeared behind Hu Yuer, as though descending from the heavens.

The figure placed a hand gently on her shoulder. Then, without a word, he pulled her into his arms. Hu Yuer’s eyes cleared in an instant as the haze lifted from her mind.

"Li Xiaofei?!" exclaimed Ye Yu, his pupils contracting sharply.

He recognized the newcomer immediately. This was the person who haunted his dreams, his greatest nemesis, and the man he hated most in the world.

Meanwhile, Hu Yuer, now fully aware, instinctively wrapped herself around Li Xiaofei like a water snake. She didn’t need to say a word. She knew exactly who held her. That familiar scent was engraved deep in her soul.

"Kill them all," Hu Yuer whispered softly, her breath warm against Li Xiaofei’s ear.