Chapter 222
Translator: uly
Chapter: 222
Chapter Title: The Jet-Black Fox
Goosebumps prickled across his entire body, and his blood turned ice-cold. Zhuge Ihyeon lifted his ashen face and gazed up at the night sky.
The moon, floating all alone in the empty sky, shattered into pieces and tumbled down. A different light filled the pitch-black void it left behind.
With a heavy thud, something rolled into view. It was a violet eye. In the heart of the vacant sky, a single eye floated in the moon's stead, peering down below. The sight was utterly surreal, profoundly unsettling because it lay beyond comprehension.
Zhuge Ihyeon swallowed hard. The blood-soaked Shangguan Hu was already prostrated on the ground nearby, trembling uncontrollably. Zhuge Ihyeon felt an urge to drop to his knees right then and there, but precisely because of that impulse, he forced strength into his legs and held his ground.
“Aren’t you afraid?”
Only the eye was visible. The voice... came from all directions. This bizarre phenomenon was surely some trick by the eye’s owner—and the voice’s—but Zhuge Ihyeon couldn’t even begin to guess who or what it was. What kind of formation in the world could produce something like this?
“......I am.”
Zhuge Ihyeon swallowed again before answering. Truth be told, a name had already surfaced in his mind.
From the moment the moon shattered and that ominous eye glared down at him, he’d felt the same sinister unease he’d sensed during his confrontation with Shangguan Hu, but amplified a hundredfold. That foreboding confirmed the name that had come to him.
“If you truly are who I think you are, then it’s not just fear—it’s utter despair.”
“And yet you refuse to bow your head. Is it pride, not wanting to be looked down upon? Or a plea for mercy toward your fragile bravado?”
A chuckling laugh shook the space around them. Zhuge Ihyeon forced a bitter smile and took a few steps back.
Crunch! He stepped on the back of Shangguan Hu, who lay prostrate and shivering.
“Guhhh...!”
Shangguan Hu ground his teeth and groaned. He glared at Zhuge Ihyeon with eyes full of rage but didn’t dare rise.
“At the very least, I wanted to show more spirit than Brother Shangguan, who’s flattened himself like a toad here.”
Zhuge Ihyeon struggled to calm his wildly pounding heart. But what happened next left him even more stunned.
The eye floating in the moon’s place began to recede. At the same time, the ground beneath Zhuge Ihyeon’s feet trembled and started rising upward.
The illusion had vanished entirely, leaving a pure white void—but now only the ground held any color. Zhuge Ihyeon looked down at it in disbelief.
Before he knew it, he and Shangguan Hu stood atop a colossal palm. He whipped his head around, scanning the surroundings. In the empty white expanse, something began to take shape.
Like ink strokes on white paper, lines of vibrant colors slashed and intertwined. They connected seamlessly to the palm.
Zhuge Ihyeon gripped his weakening legs to steady himself. The lines sketched out a body, then a face. A crescent-moon smile curved wickedly across the blank visage—eyes first—followed by a sharp nose and thin lips.
“I’d have known that much even without your little show.”
The moment the lips parted, the drawing became reality. Zhuge Ihyeon stared up at the enormous woman’s face, his eyes trembling. Was this how Sun Wukong felt atop the Buddha’s palm? Surely this was just another illusion conjured by a formation, but...
‘This... an illusion?’
It was impossibly intricate and lifelike. The woman peered down at Zhuge Ihyeon’s pallid face and chuckled softly.
“Now then, tell me. Who do you think I am?”
“......”
His heart refused to settle. Zhuge Ihyeon gave up trying to compose himself.
“......The Jet-Black Fox.”
The woman burst into pealing laughter at his quiet reply.
“Do you grasp your current predicament?”
“......I stand upon the palm of the last true immortal left in the world.”
“And?”
“You could crush me like an insect without effort. But since you haven’t... it gives me much to ponder.”
“What sort of thoughts?”
“......Your connection to Brother Shangguan, and why you’ve come to the Black Forest. What you desire... and whether you’re testing me.”
“Ahaha!”
The Jet-Black Fox roared with laughter at Zhuge Ihyeon’s words.
“A test, you say. Such an overly generous and kind interpretation. Do you truly believe yourself worthy of being tested by me?”
“......At the very least, I think myself more valuable than Brother Shangguan, cowering there.”
“Hmm. I’ll grant you have more spirit than that pitiful worm, but that doesn’t make you valuable.”
“......What do you mean by that?”
“To me, the worth you hold and that thing’s is scarcely different. You may have superior talent, wits, and courage compared to it—but is that gap truly so impressive?”
Zhuge Ihyeon had no retort to that. He could accept that, from the Jet-Black Fox’s perspective, the difference between them might seem trivial.
“......Which means you’re not seeking a useful pawn.”
Zhuge Ihyeon murmured like a sigh. The Jet-Black Fox nodded with a giggle.
“Anyone would have done, but that wretch just happened to catch my eye.”
“I see.”
Zhuge Ihyeon nodded.
“......Is Immortal Yunyeon dead?”
“Who knows? I’ve no reason to answer your every question.”
“You don’t deny that you came to the Black Forest wearing Immortal Yunyeon’s skin?”
“Trying to pry secrets from me with such tricks. Craving my acknowledgment of your guts?”
Zhuge Ihyeon gave an awkward smile at the question.
“Anyone would have sufficed.”
The Jet-Black Fox’s form vanished. The palm beneath Zhuge Ihyeon disappeared as well, leaving him standing on solid ground.
Then the Jet-Black Fox reappeared a short distance away. Only now could Zhuge Ihyeon fully take in her appearance.
She exuded a bewitching beauty, her jet-black hair piled high in a noblewoman’s bun. She wore ornate robes fit for a courtesan, though the nine tails symbolic of a Nine-Tailed Fox were nowhere to be seen.
“I chose the old man from the Azure Sect because he caught my eye, and that wretch for the same reason.”
Just for that?
Zhuge Ihyeon couldn’t accept it, but he didn’t press the issue. One thing was clear: to the Jet-Black Fox, he held no great value—and neither did Shangguan Hu. She spared not even a glance for the man trembling on the ground.
“Three days.”
The Jet-Black Fox spoke slowly.
“On the night three days from now, come to the Black Star. You could come right away if you wish, but it’s been ages since I’ve gone out. I’d rather not receive shabby hospitality.”
“......You mean prepare a proper welcome.”
“I mean prepare your heart. Surely you don’t think I came to this forest in the guise of the Azure Sect’s old man with friendly intentions?”
Of course not. Zhuge Ihyeon bowed his head. With a low chuckle, the Jet-Black Fox turned away. Shangguan Hu scrambled to his feet and lunged after her.
“You.”
She didn’t even turn. She merely spoke the word. Yet Shangguan Hu’s chest suddenly swelled grotesquely.
“Gah!”
Shangguan Hu screamed, clutching his chest.
“You stirred nothing in me.”
His face twisted in agony. He frantically tore open the front of his robes. His chest was covered in black blotches, bubbling like boiling water and bloating the flesh.
“I hoped for hatred, rage, resentment, despair. But even that flickered out in an instant. You quickly succumbed to power, grew arrogant, and couldn’t conquer your fear.”
There was no trace of amusement in the Jet-Black Fox’s voice as she spoke. Zhuge Ihyeon stood frozen, staring at her back.
When facing her, he’d sensed the leisure and arrogance unique to the supremely powerful. Indeed, she’d addressed him like a child throughout, her face perpetually wreathed in easy smiles.
But now? Her tone held no scorn or mockery toward Shangguan Hu. It was utterly devoid of emotion.
“Wait, I haven’t proven anything yet...”
“I gave you a chance. Zhuge Ihyeon of Thunder Citadel was a fitting opponent. But you proved nothing. Why give you another opportunity?”
Boom!
His swollen chest burst, spraying black blood. Shangguan Hu’s mouth gaped wide as he collapsed.
Zhuge Ihyeon whirled toward the Jet-Black Fox, but she had already vanished. The illusion was gone too, leaving him back in the empty street.
“Mm...!”
With a groan, Zhuge Ihyeon approached Shangguan Hu. Astonishingly, the man still clung to life. Zhuge Ihyeon quickly examined his wounds and began stemming the bleeding.
‘......Even if he survives... it won’t be living.’
Shangguan Hu’s condition was horrific—better to die. Every meridian in his body had ruptured, but the dantian was worst: shattered, with all connecting channels severed. He could never live as a martial artist again.
“......If it were me, I’d take my own life. Unfortunately, Brother Shangguan, you can’t do that.”
Just in case, Zhuge Ihyeon tore strips from Shangguan Hu’s clothes and stuffed them in his mouth to prevent him from biting his tongue.
“Not until you confess everything: how you met the Jet-Black Fox, how she granted you power, and what she told you.”
Her final appearance lingered in his mind. Zhuge Ihyeon couldn’t fathom her intentions or reasons.
But he had to admit her arrogance was staggering. Over half the Ten Heroes were in the Black Forest now. Even for an immortal like the Jet-Black Fox...
‘......’
Standing on her palm, enduring that downward gaze—the helplessness he’d felt. He hadn’t sensed her ‘power’ at all. It was merely some bizarre formation defying reason, ensnared by sorcery-like phenomena.
And an immense foreboding.
“......Three days.”
Who to tell first? If the Black Demon King were here, he’d go straight to him without hesitation—but the Black Demon King wasn’t in the Black Forest.
That felt oddly suspicious.
He didn’t know when the Jet-Black Fox had arrived. Perhaps she’d come disguised as Immortal Yunyeon from the start, or killed and replaced him midway.
Either way, the timing was too convenient. It was as if she’d waited for the Black Demon King’s absence.
‘Does the Jet-Black Fox have reason to avoid the Black Demon King? Could she... fear him?’
No.
Impossible. Though this was their first encounter, Zhuge Ihyeon couldn’t imagine the Jet-Black Fox fearing the Black Demon King.
‘I don’t get it... I just don’t.’
Zhuge Ihyeon let out a long sigh and set his course.
The nearest of the Ten Heroes was at the Blood Palace of the White Flame Witch.