Half-Tried Deity
chapter-42

Qi Huan swaggered into the sacrificial hall from the front entrance. Although she wanted to enter from a back door, unfortunately, it seemed that there was only one door for entry and exit of the sacrificial hall.

This also meant that if she couldn’t find the book before the elders return, she would be completely trapped, and then perhaps she would be boiled in braised and steamed water.

As soon as Qi Huan stepped into the slightly gloomy hall, the door that had been open suddenly slammed shut. Qi Huan was startled at first, then she turned to look back and discovered that the door had disappeared! Great, now I can’t even escape even if I want to!

Without any options left, she could only bite the bullet and continue walking. Fortunately, the elders in the sacrificial hall seemed to have a pretty good life. The place was magnificent and brilliant. Seven different coloured nine-tailed foxes that were carved out using seven coloured football-sized gems were inlaid on the wall in front of the main hall. Qi Huan also didn’t know why she would take note of the seven foxes, she just felt that they were not just carvings, it seemed that they were alive.

The sacrificial hall did not look that big on the outside, but it was enough to fascinate her and have her walking back and forth, and also in circles until somehow she was back to the front hall again.

Now she had no hope for herself to live anymore. She only hoped that the elders would come back with a broken arm or leg so then it would buy her some time as she tried to escape.

Books and everything else were secondary now, she only wanted to survive escaping first.

“Squeak~~~ Bang! Clang!” Just as Qi Huan was lying against a wall looking for the door, a strange cry and the sound of things being smashed sounded one after another. Qi Huan stood up suddenly, could it be that those elders have some kind of weird hobbies, and they are raising some strange animals here?

Well, as long as it is not as big as that snake earlier…, Qi Huan could accept it. She followed the sound and what she saw was beyond her expectation!

When the little black fox jumped in front of her, she thought it was a puppy because she thought that only a puppy would make that kind of reaction.

Is it… asking me for something to eat? Qi Huan had lived for twenty-seven years and this was her first time encountering such a situation.

“…I don’t have much food…” Qi Huan thought for a while, then she took out a bun from her storage bag. She accidentally dropped the bun and it actually jumped more than half a meter high before rolling several meters away and then stopped.

Looking at the little fox again, Qi Huan felt that it seemed to despise her. Well, she couldn’t be blamed for having just a bun. She thought she would be able to leave soon, who knew she would get lost, and she didn’t bring any food when she left the Nine Floors Tower. That steamed bun was the only food she had.

“I still have half a chicken thigh here…” She flipped around in her storage bag and found a chicken thigh that she totally forgot when she kept it. Although the food in the storage bag would not deteriorate, she really didn’t know how long that chicken thigh had been left in the bag. Since she didn’t dare to eat it, she might as well give it to the little fox.

The little fox stood on tiptoes, put two small paws on Qi Huan’s hands, poked his head out to smell the chicken thigh in her hands. First, it looked up at her in doubt, then it arched its nose and smelled the chicken thigh, which had been air-dried and was about to turn into bacon, and finally it licked the chicken thigh carefully.

Perhaps the chicken thigh tasted good because after that the little fox picked up the chicken legs with its two small paws, and sat down on the ground to eat.

“Hey, little fox, do you know the way out?” Qi Huan asked, even though she didn’t expect the fox to understand what she was saying. Although this fox looked a lot like Qing Se except for its coat color, it had only one tail.

Qi Huan had been staying in the Monster Sect for a while, and she had also heard from others that animals that were born with aura, just like this fox, could only have the chance to cultivate successfully if it could grow at least two tails. For example, Qing Se was born with seven tails, and the two days later, he managed to cultivate another two more tails. Foxes like him were almost extinct in the Monster Sect. Although this little fox looked very smart, if it only had one tail, it would take another hundred years for it to have two tails.

Unexpectedly, the little fox nodded. It raised its shiny little paw, and nodded towards the back of Qi Huan. Qi Huan turned her head and her eyes almost popped out from her head. The door… the door had somehow appeared again!

“Can you take me to the treasure room here?” Qi Huan swore that she really was just simply asking. She didn’t expect that the little fox would actually nod to her after finishing eating the chicken thigh. Then, the little fox led Qi Huan to the side of the main hall with his four paws taking elegant steps.

Qi Huan hesitated before deciding to follow it. If this fox was created by the elders here, then the elders could only blame themselves for being unfortunate. However, she still felt that this little fox seemed to have just been born because it seemed to be curious about everything around him. She finally knew where the shattering sounds from earlier came from. The seven jewel foxes that she was so fascinated earlier, were only left with four now.

The little fox led Qi Huan through the side hall again, turning around in the sacrificial hall like a labyrinth, and finally, they appeared in front of a wall made of blue crystal-like material.

Only

The little fox nodded in satisfaction, then lifted its legs and went through the crystal wall. Qi Huan also did the same but she accidentally knocked her head on something.

…

Seemingly to realize that Qi Huan could not get through, the little fox came out again after a while, and squatted in front of the wall like Qi Huan, with a small paw making circles on the ground.

“…Little Fox, is there a book called “The Earth Pathway” in this room?” Qi Huan had never seen this kind of wall before because there was no such thing in the cultivation world, but she did hear about it from Xu Kong Zi.

Except for the inner disciples of Monster Sect, only a few people knew what material this wall was made. This wall was actually useless, but it could block everyone other than the people of Monster Sect from entering. It is said that most of the magical tools refined by the Monster Sect were made using this material and these tools could only be used by people from the Monster Sect.

Hearing Qi Huan’s words, the little fox scratched its head in annoyance, then stood up and walked through the wall again. This time around half an hour later, the little fox came out, running and yelping while holding a black pamphlet in its mouth. Its initially shiny black coat on its body seemed to have been burned by the fire, it was completely charred, and its shiny eyes were a little dark.

Pushing the book in front of Qi Huan, the little fox tilted his head to look at the floor, and then looked up at Qi Huan again. Finally, it jumped into Qi Huan’s arms, rubbed its head around to find a comfortable spot, and fell asleep.