Chapter 18: She Cannot Return

"How about we fight blindfolded?"

"We'll rely on instinct alone, no demon power."

"Each of us gets one stick."

"This is the only fair way to fight."

Li Changlu stubbed out his cigarette.

"Alright!"

Azi, the fox demon, sighed inwardly, thinking this guy must be a fool. After all, she was a fox demon—her sense of smell was unbeatable.

Truthfully, the only reason he agreed to Li Changlu’s proposal was to stall for time, to wait for her return. Every moment he could drag out was a victory.

"Once the words are spoken, even eight horses can't chase them down—and let's throw in nine incense burners for good measure..."

The television kept playing in the background...

Hei Wa and Xiao Qing were still engrossed in the drama...

Li Changlu turned up the TV volume to the maximum.

He rummaged through the room and found two sticks, tossing one to Azi.

Then he tore a strip of cloth in half.

He methodically tied the blindfold around his own eyes, pulling it tight.

Seeing this, Azi did the same.

Now, in the room, only the melodramatic lines from the television filled the air. Azi paid them no mind—he could already smell Li Changlu. All he had to do was walk over, and with a single strike, end it.

He gripped his stick with all his might and swung hard in the direction of Li Changlu’s scent.

Clang!

Did he hit him?

No.

Did he miss?

Azi tried once more to locate Li Changlu’s scent.

But just then, a heavy blow landed across his back, making him bare his fangs and yelp in pain.

Azi stilled himself, focusing on tracking Li Changlu’s scent.

But the next moment, another blow struck his head.

Then his backside, his hands...

In an instant, he was pummeled all over by the stick.

"Ziwe, when you hurt, I hurt too. When you hurt, I hurt even more..."

The TV was unbearably loud, but it shouldn’t have affected Azi’s sense of smell.

He could clearly catch the brat’s scent, so why did he keep getting hit?

Maybe the guy was right—his demon power was formidable.

In truth, Li Changlu...

Had long since removed his blindfold.

That was how he did things.

He kept swinging his stick, ruthlessly punishing the fool before him.

He was curious how this one ended up killed by a fox.

Was it because of his intelligence?

Not just low intelligence—remarkably low.

A blindfolded fox could never outwit the cunning Li Changlu.

Li Changlu was having the time of his life.

Azi, battered and bruised, was scrambling around in panic.

Li Changlu leapt around the room, raining blows on the hapless demon.

Let’s give you a double EQ combo, send you packing.

He raised his stick and delivered another whack.

Azi spun in place from the blow, completely disoriented.

Li Changlu was grinning so hard he could barely catch his breath.

Azi kept searching for Li Changlu’s scent, but—

He could smell it, but he just couldn’t land a hit.

Was this guy really some kind of big demon?

"Erkang, I don’t want you to hurt, because if you think I’m heartbroken, I’ll really be heartbroken..."

The TV blared on.

Li Changlu’s hands were growing tired from the beating.

Azi was thoroughly battered, on the verge of collapse. If this went on, he’d never last until she returned—he’d be beaten to death right here.

He tore off his blindfold, ready to surrender.

But as he did so, he saw that Li Changlu’s own blindfold had long since vanished.

The moment Li Changlu saw Azi unmask, he hurriedly shut his eyes and pretended nothing had happened.

Azi was furious—so furious he wanted to cry but had no tears.

What kind of performance was this? He’d seen Li Changlu’s eyes wide open!

So much for a fair and honorable duel!

Was this guy even human?

No, he wasn’t human at all.

Had he fed his integrity to the dogs?

But Azi’s body was at its limit. He couldn’t muster the demon power to fight this scoundrel, nor much strength to do anything at all.

All he could do was wait for her return...

"I am a fox demon, and I have always stayed by my wife’s side, but..."

Azi tried to tell Li Changlu his story.

"Enough. I don’t want to hear it."

Li Changlu cut him off at once.

"I couldn’t care less—tragic love stories? Who hasn’t got one..."

He wanted to wax poetic, but then he realized something dreadful.

He’d been single his whole previous life.

"I came here,"

"just to complete my mission."

"Your story has nothing to do with me."

"But every story needs a listener. I do love a good story, so go ahead and tell yours."

Li Changlu kindly helped the battered Azi, who had collapsed on the floor, to a chair.

His eyes sparkled as he counted a wad of cash.

Azi had handed it to him.

"I’m not like you. I was just a little fox demon, and after two hundred years of cultivation I finally took human form. But there’s an unresolved karmic tie with her—until it’s fulfilled, I can’t ascend."

"Humans and demons walk different roads, but I can’t let her go. Yet, fate gives no more or less than what is due—only the timing can be chosen."

"I planned to spend three more years with her, but she fell terminally ill and hasn’t much time left..."

"In desperation, I used my powers to trap her in a time loop, so she could stay in this world forever..."

Azi’s eyes glistened with tears.

"Good story, really good," Li Changlu said, counting his money. The crisp sound was music to his ears. Money meant nothing to monsters, but out here, he’d realized you couldn’t even hail a cab without it.

Even a ride in a kiddie car needed coins for the compass.

Damn, the evil of money.

"Go on, keep talking. The people in the apartment block—are they your relatives?"

"No."

"If not, why make their time loop too?"

"Twisting fate like this cost me too much power. I needed human spirit to sustain my magic—they’re in no mortal danger..."

Azi was so weak his words barely reached Li Changlu’s ears.

He didn’t want to speak anymore. He was exhausted.

Why hadn’t she come back yet?

"The last time, you were the one who went back for the bag, weren’t you? That thing over there?"

Li Changlu pointed at the purple-clad woman’s skin Azi had folded neatly on the floor, then prepared to count his cash again.

Azi nodded faintly.

"You’re waiting for your woman to come back—and for the bag, too?"

Azi looked at Li Changlu, surprised, as he counted his money.

"They might not be coming back. Right about now, they’re probably sitting in a pit somewhere."

"What?!"

Azi was shocked.

"I dug a pit, worked at it all night—look, my hand’s swollen."

Li Changlu showed his palm to Azi, revealing blisters.

"She... won’t come back?"

Azi bared his fangs, wishing he could tear this despicable man apart and swallow him whole.

But after a dull thud, the fox demon slumped in his chair and fainted.