Chapter 71: The Little Fox’s Goodbye Message
“The little fox left without saying goodbye?”
Outsie the mirror, all the cultivators looked stunned by this.
“If my guess is right, the little fox’s sudden departure is the reason why she died,” one of the cultivators analyzed the situation.
Actually, he didn’t need to analyze any of this. Everyone could figure it out too.
There was absolutely no trace of this little fox around the Heavenly Emperor after he had ascended the throne. That alone told them that the little fox must have died.
When the two were in the Forbidden Zone, everyone had been so puzzled about how the little fox had managed to regain consciousness after her bloodline curse was lifted.
But now.
The little fox must have died shortly after she left with the Heavenly Emperor. Otherwise, it would be impossible for this universe to have no news of this little fox at all.
“This little fox’s fate is simply too tragic…”
The hearts of several cultivators were heavy. Even though they were displeased with the Heavenly Emperor or even hated him to the core, they had to admit that this little fox was a genuinely kind character.
Yet such a genuinely kind girl was shackled by a severe bloodline curse. Even though she had finally managed to break free from it, she still died shortly after.
In that moment, everyone felt extremely grieved by the state of things.
“I can’t imagine how much pain the Heavenly Emperor would feel the moment he knows the little fox is dead.”
“Perhaps he became so extreme later on precisely because of the little fox’s death,” said a cultivator with a sigh.
The cultivators had watched their journey from beginning to end. They could sense that this little fox held an extremely important position in the Heavenly Emperor’s heart.
And now, after taking such great pains to finally break the little fox’s bloodline curse, if the little fox were to die now, this would definitely be a terribly blow to the Heavenly Emperor.
All the cultivators were silent, their faces filled with sorrow.
But the corners of Ye Chen’s lips lifted slightly.
“So, is your personality finally going to change for the worse, and you’re finally about to unleash your bloody slaughter of all creatures?”
Ye Chen was even somewhat looking forward to this.
After watching the Heavenly Emperor’s past for so long, Gu Changqing had not shown any violence in his personality. Instead, his show of loyalty and sympathy had caused everyone here to change their impression of the Heavenly Emperor drastically.
But Ye Chen believed that he was the chosen one by the heavens. How could he endure watching more of this?
And that was why he naturally became excited when he felt that Gu Changqing was going to turn evil.
…
“Why did you leave without saying goodbye?”
Gu Changqing sat listlessly on the large tree as he stared down at the necklace in his hand, the one the little fox left him.
His heart, like this great waterfall, was in turmoil.
He paused to think about his time spent with the little fox in great detail, hoping to find some clues.
But he still didn’t find any in the end.
“I should have thought of it. I had noticed she was behaving strangely that day.”
Gu Changqing furrowed his brows as he recalled what the little fox had said to him that night.
The little fox’s suddenly departure had made him feel rather uneasy. He could sense that the little fox must have done that because there was some reason that she couldn’t tell him, or that maybe she didn’t even want him to know where she had gone.
If that was so, then it was probably because she was going to somewhere very dangerous and didn’t want him to endanger himself for her sake.
“Or maybe it’s nothing. Maybe she’s just adventurous and ran off to check out some other place.”
“Or maybe she’s gone to attend to her own matters and will be back soon, so she didn’t think it was necessary to tell me.”
Gu Changqing tried to console himself, that perhaps things weren’t that bad.
But knowing the little fox’s character, he knew that the way he was comforting himself was futile.
In the end, Gu Changqing couldn’t take it anymore and began searching the realm again.
He left a Dao mark behind at the waterfall so that he would be able to sense her if the little fox returned.
He began to search for her like a madman.
He even went back to the Forbidden Zone and looked for those nine Supremes.
But it came to nothing.
That girl who had used her life in exchange for his, the only girl who could make him feel any warmth in his heart, had seemed to suddenly vanish from the face of this world.
It was as if she had never existed before, as if Gu Changqing had just gone through a very, very, long dream.
…
Gu Changqing went round several places.
He even went to the Sword Sect, went up to Tianji Sect’s door and asked them to help look for her.
But incredibly enough, even Tianji Sect had no idea.
Was there anything that could be kept a secret from Tianji Sect?
This whole matter was very strange and it made Gu Changqing feel extremely uneasy.
That was, until the night after she had gone missing for seven days.
…
In the middle of the night.
Gu Changqing sat next to the bonfire and thought through where the little fox was mostly likely to have gone.
Ping!
A bright sound resounded.
The pendant on the necklace that the little fox had given him had suddenly shattered.
Gu Changqing immediately had a bad premonition.
A brilliant light shone through the cracks in the sapphire blue pendant, illuminating the night sky.
Tiny dots of light came together to slowly form the likeness of the little fox.
“Hey, silly fellow.”
The little fox made of tiny lights smiled beautifully as she greeted Gu Changqing, but just the next moment, those blue eyes were filled with tears.
This was clearly a message recorded b y the little fox before she gave him the necklace.
Gu Changqing stared dumbfounded at the image of the girl crying in front of him. The bad feeling in his heart only intensified.
“By the time you see this, I’m probably already dead.”
“I’m sorry, I know we promised not to leave or give up on each other. I shouldn’t have abandoned you.”
The little fox wiped her tears and forced a smile out, revealing her cute little canines. But the more she spoke, the more tears flowed down her cheeks.
“But I didn’t want to, I really didn’t want to. I really wanted to stay by your side, I wanted you to accompany me to all the places I’d always wanted to visit. There are still so many more places I wanted us to go to…”
She could barely see through her tears and kept wiping them away.
Her smile remained as beautiful as ever, as though she wanted to look strong for the one watching this.
“Actually, I’m a Qingqiu Nine-tailed Spirit Fox, and my name is Bai Su.”
“I didn’t lie to you, though. I’m the fifth child at home, so my parents and other family members all call me Xiaowu.”
“The Qingqiu Spirit Foxes are the imperial family of the Demon Race. My father was the Demon King.”
“Unfortunately, there was trouble within my Demon Race. The Golden Crows assassinated my father and from then on, the race has been controlled by the Golden Crows.”
“My family quickly escaped during the chaos, including myself, but sadly, that old Golden Crow inflicted my family with that bloodline curse.”
“My clansmen, my older brothers and sisters, all died tragically one by one in front of me. But because I’m a nine-tailed fox, I managed to survive longer.”
“After that, you know what happened. I met you and entered the Forbidden Zone in order to lift this curse.”
“At first, I thought everything would be alright once the curse was lifted. But then, that old Golden Crow managed to locate me through my mother’s blood.”
“He threatened me with my mother and told me to go to Tangshan. I knew it was a trap, but I had to go. That’s my mother he’s talking about.”
“I knew I’d definitely die, but I wasn’t afraid. I just can’t bear to leave you…”
“We were people with such tragic fates and it hadn’t been easy for us to survive so far.”
She wiped her tears and broke into a gorgeous, pleasant smile. “Changqing, I know that you’d definitely try to look for me after you realize I’ve gone missing. I’m telling you all this because I don’t want you to look for me anymore. And don’t try to avenge me either. That unkempt old Golden Crow is too powerful and you’re no match for him. The fact that the pendant has shattered means I’ve passed away. And since I’m already dead, you really have no reason to avenge me.”
“I just hope that…you’ll remember me, Changqing.”
“You must be like that big tree, don’t give up on yourself. The fact that the heavens has allowed even just one of us to live despite having such tragic fates, is already a wonderful thing.”