Raising a Fox Spirit in My Home

On Fire

Doubt and fear coursed through Li Yundong as he stared at the spinning beads, which took the definition of freakish to a whole new level . Actually, no, it wasn’t the sight of the beads that creeped him out; it was the unmistakable scent of blood and gore that assaulted his nostrils the moment the beads appeared .

Oh shit...

This was bad . He was outnumbered . And then those beads . . .

Li Yundong studied the beads again . He had no doubt that those beads were some kind of powerful magical weapon, whose effects he hadn’t a single inkling of . Besides, if Wu Hao could wield it, then his CQ must be high enough to use spells and magic . Clearly, the odds were stacked against Li Yundong .

"This is your final warning..." Wu Hao said threateningly . "Hand over the Fan of Seven Treasures . Now!"

Li Yundong glared at the man before him .

Like hell he was going to hand the over fan without at least putting up a good fight . You know what? Scratch that . Just putting up a fight wasn’t good enough . Su Chan had entrusted the fan to him . Him of all people! So yeah . He was going to f*cking guard it with his life . Besides, it would be a damn shame if he allowed the Fox Zen School’s greatest treasure to fall into the hands of a bunch of dumb robbers . Whatever . Enough with this nonsense . Time for a plan . He needed a way to level the playing field, or better yet, gain some sort of leverage .

Without taking his eyes off Wu Hao, Li Yundong took a deep breath, and then slowly exhaled . Ever since he climbed out from the rock, he could feel some mysterious thing spinning and rotating inside his lower Dantian . His best guess was that it was his Vital Orb, but he honestly couldn’t be sure . Li Yundong did a quick and subtle scan of his surroundings .

Those beads were the immediate threat, so he had to deal with them first . His eyes darted briefly to the Land Rover parked nearby, then towards Lyu Fengping behind him . The upside was that Lyu Fengping appeared to be unarmed . Then again, he didn’t think that it was because the woman didn’t own a weapon; it was probably because they thought he wasn’t a threat, just some lowly Cultivator who had barely passed the Zhuji phase . Not that they were wrong .

"You heard the man," Lyu Fengping said . "Hand it over!"

Li Yundong angled his head slightly and saw Lyu Fengping pulling out a dark maroon whip . Yeah . So much for being unarmed .

The woman lashed the ground a few times with the whip .

"We’re not gonna ask again . . . " Wu Hao growled . "Hand it over!"

The beads spun faster around Wu Hao’s arms .

Li Yundong raised his arms in a gesture of surrender while secretly channeling his Qi to his legs in secret .

"I’ll hand it over on one condition," Li Yundong said, flicking a quick glance towards the Land Rover .

Wu Hao laughed snidely .

"I don’t think you’re in a position to make bargains, pal . "

These guys were overconfident, so Li Yundong would play it to his advantage .

"Those beads looks pretty cool . " Li Yundong paused to study Wu Hao’s face . "How do they work?"

A smug look spread across Wu Hao’s face and he laughed . "Behold! The Beads of Gore! One hit by one of these babies is enough to liquefy your flesh and bones!"

"Impressive . . . " Li Yundong said coldly, channeling more Qi to his rear leg .

Wu Hao threw his head back in laughter . "It is one of our sect’s most valuable—"

Li Yundong burst forward, closing the distance between Wu Hao and himself in a split second . At the same time, he extended his right arm in a snapping motion and delivered a finger jab straight into Wu Hao’s eyes . There was a hiss followed by a loud scream . Those beads clattered uselessly to the ground when Wu Hao’s hands rose to cover his eyes .

Li Yundong continued his attack by delivering an ap chagi (Taekwondo’s front snap kick) straight into Wu Hao’s groin . Wu Hao screamed and bent his body forward . Li Yundong then arched his back and rotated his hips forward while thrusting his right knee in an upward motion . There was a sickening crunch when Li Yundong’s knee smashed into Wu Hao’s nose . Wu Hao’s head snapped backwards, leaving his throat wide open . Li Yundong’s hand shot out and grabbed Wu Hao’s throat .

Wu Hao was yanked upwards with his feet dangling several inches above the ground .

When Li Yundong heard the whipping sound behind him, he turned around abruptly and used Wu Hao’s body as a shield . The whip pulled back at the last second . Lyu Fengping cursed .

"Make another move, and I’ll crush his windpipe," Li Yundong growled .

Lyu Fengping flinched, then froze in place . Wu Hao made a choking sound in his throat .

"Drop the whip and show me your hands!" Li Yundong yelled .

When Lyu Fengping didn’t move, Li Yundong raised Wu Hao’s body higher and squeezed his fingers harder . "Now!"

Wu Hao made another strangled sound and began kicking his legs in the air .

"Okay . . . Okay . . . " Lyu Fengping tossed the whip to the ground and raised her palms . "Let him go . "

Without releasing Wu Hao from the choke, Li Yundong slowly backed away towards the Land Rover parked nearby . He could just take the car and then leave these two dimwits here .

Wu Hao kept struggling and kicking his legs .

"Y- You . . . b- bas . . . tard . . . T- That was . . . a sneak attack . . . " Wu Hao choked .

"Sounds f*cking rich coming from you," Li Yundong said coldly and dragged Wu Hao backwards a few more steps . "You’re not the one who’s outnumbered here . " Li Yundong’s back hit the car seconds later . With his free hand, he reached behind him and tried the door handle .

The door wouldn’t open .

"Open the damn door!" Li Yundong growled .

Wu Hao choked again, like he was trying to say something .

Li Yundong eased the pressure around Wu Hao’s throat .

"It’s p-pointless . . . "

More choking and coughing .

"What do you mean pointless . Just open the damn door!"

"The car’s got a fingerprint ignition switch! You’ll have to take me with you if you want to drive the car . "

Li Yundong cursed . Fine . Plan B . Knock these two dimwits out and then get out of here .

Just then, he saw Lyu Fengping scrambling towards them .

Li Yundong tightened his fingers around Wu Hao’s neck . "Don’t come any closer!"

"Stop! Stop!" Lyu Fengping yelled . "P- Please . . . Just let him go, please . . . We made a mistake, Zhenren . . . Please just let him go . "

"A mistake? Are you shitting me right now? A minute ago, you were threatening to kill me!"

"I- It was a mistake, okay! A mistake!" Lyu Fengping screamed . "We thought you were a newbie Cultivator . A- And we were just trying to intimidate you into giving us the fan!"

Li Yundong kept glaring at the woman until she turned pale .

"L- Look . . . Please just let him go and we’ll leave . "

"Bullshit," Li Yundong said coldly . "Why should I believe you? You’ll just ambush me again if I let him go . "

"No!" Lyu Fengping shook her head frantically . "We won’t! Just let him go . . . Please!"

Li Yundong narrowed his eyes . He didn’t trust a single word she said, but he also didn’t want to kill . I’m gonna have to knock them both out and—

Li Yundong gasped when he felt something wrap around his wrist . Horror coursed through him when he saw the head of a cobra staring right at him from his wrist . Li Yundong released Wu Hao’s neck in fright and yanked his arm backwards .

The cobra recoiled and then slithered back into Lyu Fengping’s hand before it transformed back into a whip .

When the hell did she—

Li Yundong looked towards the spot on the ground where he’d seen Lyu Fengping drop the whip earlier . Obviously, the whip was no longer there .

Wu Hao climbed to his feet and spat out a mouthful of blood . Then, he gave Li Yundong a feral grin .

"My turn!" Wu Hao yelled and raised a palm . One of the beads flew towards Li Yundong .

Shit!

Li Yundong ducked, but the bead didn’t strike him like he had expected; instead, it morphed into a giant ball of flame when it was a few feet shy of hitting him . He tried to back away, but it was too late . The flames closed in on him before he could take more than two steps . The next thing he knew, the flames engulfed his entire body .

He was about to be burnt alive .