Taking advantage of the fact that the nine-tailed demon beast was not yet fully awake and hadn't made a move, Chai Xiaomi gathered her courage and dashed toward the bulging pile of dead leaves near its front paws with the speed of a sprinter.
The closer she got, the more insignificant she felt.
The giant beast's shadow was like a cloud hanging from the heavens, dragging the entire land into a deep abyss.
Chai Xiaomi's legs gave way, and she threw herself down by the pile of dead leaves. However, her hand reached out before her mind even registered it, firmly grasping the small, wrinkled hand poking out from the gaps between the leaves.
That little hand was not soft and plump like a normal baby's, but rather cold and stiff...
And it was trembling uncontrollably.
Chai Xiaomi wrapped her hands around the little hand even tighter, trying to warm it with her own body heat.
In the ghost infant's numb, pale pupils, the heavy, fog-like resentment suddenly dispersed. Deep within the gloom, a tiny glimmer of light struggled to shine, bringing a spark of life to its eyes.
It felt the leaves on its body being frantically brushed away.
Then, a pale, nervous face covered in fine sweat crashed into its field of vision.
She looked utterly terrified.
But her eyes were as brilliant as the stars, bright and dazzling, revealing determination and courage:
"Don't be afraid, Little Eight! Mother is here to take you home."
Little Eight...
So its name was Little Eight...
It sounded so nice.
It wanted to go tell the titmouse spirit that stood on the treetops mocking it every day, tell the two noisy toads by the stream, and tell all the creatures that had ever glanced at it with pity or disgust.
It had a name! Its name was Little Eight!
Did they all see? Its mother had come to pick it up!
It was no longer an unwanted wild child!
The surrounding light was rapidly swallowed up. A powerful demonic aura swept up dead leaves and dirt, engulfing everything like a tornado with devastating destructive force.
Chai Xiaomi pulled Little Eight into her arms. The strong air currents made it impossible for her to open her eyes, and her face stung from being scratched by the swirling gravel and debris. Just squinting and opening her eyes a crack caused her to tear up from the stinging pain.
In her blurred vision, she could faintly see the behemoth in front of her suddenly raise its front paw and bring it crashing down upon her head!
Caught in the wind with nowhere to escape, she could only arch her back and curl up on the ground, shielding Little Eight tightly beneath her.
A buzzing sound exploded in her head, as sharp as countless fingernails scraping against bone.
Just at the moment when the sharp claws were about to touch the tips of her hair—
A clear, ringing voice pierced through the raging storm and the harsh ringing in her ears, sounding from afar:
"Pull back your claws and accept your death."
The tone was lazy, the ending note trailing upward. It was as clean and clear as a deep ravine in an empty valley. It felt as if a stream of mountain spring water had flowed into her ears, resonating with her heartbeat.
In an instant, nine arrows tore through the air, piercing the strong winds.
With the force of a thunderbolt, they ruthlessly pinned eight of the nine-tailed demon beast's tails into the ground!
The remaining arrow, however, was shot separately at its front paw.
The giant paw stiffened sharply in pain, stopping just barely above Chai Xiaomi.
A familiar, faint, clear scent suddenly enveloped her. Unlike the damp, bloody stench of the mountains, it was clean and completely pure.
Chai Xiaomi felt a strong, sturdy arm wrap around her waist, effortlessly scooping her up along with Little Eight in her arms, drawing them into a broad embrace.
She looked up blankly.
The youth's lowered eyes were right in front of her. Deep within his heterochromatic pupils, a faint, almost invisible flame seemed to be hidden.
"You're incredibly stupid! You didn't run when you saw the demon beast, but instead rushed right up to it, all to grab such an ugly doll. A resentful spirit won't get flattened by a demon beast, but you will be stomped into meat paste!"
His gaze lightly swept over her face, which had been scratched bloody by the gravel, and his voice was as cold as ice.
"I really want to crack open your head and see if it's filled with an ocean."
Wu Li scolded her while holding her and soaring into the air.
At the same time, he used his palm to tightly protect the side of the girl's face in his arms, preventing the dead branches and gravel whipping through the wind from scratching her face again.
He allowed the sharp stones to slice long, thin cuts into the back of his own hand, remaining completely oblivious to it.
Wu Li brought them to a bare, giant rock at the highest point of the steep slope, setting down the two "troubles"—one big and one small—from his arms.
Afraid that he would scold them with more harsh words, Chai Xiaomi instinctively covered Little Eight's ears.
Even though the human traffickers weren't around, the act had to continue, or else all her previous efforts would be wasted.
She could already clearly feel the change in Little Eight. The way it looked at Wu Li right now was sparkling with undisguised adoration.
It looked exactly like a daughter gazing up at her hero father.
"Where did you just go?" Chai Xiaomi quickly asked.
"Hiding in the dark. I waited for it to focus all its attention on you before making my move."
So he had discovered this demon beast long ago, yet he didn't warn her and instead hid himself perfectly well.
Chai Xiaomi felt a lump in her chest, and her face instantly filled with grief and indignation:
"Husband! You actually used me as bait! It's true what they say, a husband and wife are birds of the same forest, but when disaster strikes, they fly their separate ways."
Little Eight blinked, looking at its tearful mother and then at its cold-faced father, its small face full of worry.
It just felt that its father didn't seem like the kind of person who would abandon its mother.
But it couldn't speak, so it could only look anxiously at Wu Li.
Wu Li gave her a lukewarm sideways glance. When it came to acting skills, he truly admired her to the extreme—she was actually still acting at this critical moment. "Have you ever seen a hunter save the bait?"
"To defeat a nine-tailed demon beast, one must win with a single strike. Only by pinning all nine tails simultaneously can its demonic power be suppressed; otherwise, it will only be provoked into a greater frenzy."
He raised the corners of his eyes slightly, his voice indifferent. "Just now, to fish out you, the 'bait', I wasted an arrow for nothing, causing the plan to fall short of success. Tell me, how are we supposed to wrap this up now?"
"..." Chai Xiaomi's head drooped little by little. How was she supposed to know he had a backup plan? "It's all your fault! You didn't even tell me before you hid!"
The young girl lowered her head, hiding her expression, but her voice was muffled, full of annoyance, and carrying a hint of lingering fear.
Clearly, her act of rushing out just now had exhausted all the courage she had in her life, so much so that only now did she belatedly feel the relief of surviving a disaster. Even her shoulders couldn't stop trembling slightly.
Now she knows how to be afraid?
Usually, she always acted like a coward who clung to life and feared death.
"How was I supposed to know you wouldn't fear death today, rushing up without a word like you took the wrong medicine." The youth twitched the corner of his mouth, squatting down as his gaze fell on the top of her head.
For some reason, his hands suddenly felt itchy, wanting to pinch that small, bluffing face.
But the moment he lifted her chin, his movements abruptly paused.
Those eyes, which were always wide and round, now looked like a frightened fawn's. They were brimming with precarious tears. Her eye sockets were terribly red, and the tip of her nose was also slightly red, making her look incredibly pitiful.
She had already been frightened out of her wits, only to be harshly scolded by his cold words.
Chai Xiaomi felt as wronged as she possibly could.
"Didn't you just fly us up here?" The corners of her lips turned down slightly as she tried hard to hold back her tears. "Of the thirty-six stratagems, retreating is the best. Can't we just fly out of here?"
In front of Little Eight, she, as a "mother," couldn't easily shed tears.
As if sensing her emotions, Little Eight nervously clutched her collar with his tiny hands, and the corners of his mouth gradually turned down into a pout.
