(Ruthless Daoist attacker x thousand-year-old fox demon recipient)
Ning Xu, the Qingyun Sword Sect's chief disciple, was exceptional in appearance and renowned far and wide.
A red cinnabar mark between his brows was the seal of the ruthless path, placed there through the Qingyun Sword Sect's secret art.
As long as the red mark remained, his Daoist heart would never waver.
From then on, he cultivated the ruthless path, severing all worldly attachments. Cold and hard-hearted, he showed no mercy beneath his sword.
But the day he was ordered to descend the mountain, a playboy started pestering him.
Shen Heng: Would the beauty care to have a drink with me?
Ning Xu sneered: Move.
Shen Heng: Then how about a stroll together?
Ning Xu scoffed: Get lost.
Shen Heng was shameless. He tried to pay for Ning Xu, only to have his money pouch swatted away. When they spent the night in a ruined temple, he huddled trembling beside him.
"Just keeping your side warm, beauty."
The night Ning Xu was ambushed, the playboy rushed over with a dead branch in hand. His face was bruised and swollen, yet he still stood in front of Ning Xu.
"Don't be afraid, beauty. I'll protect you."
How absurd. A playboy with barely any spiritual power thought he could protect him?
And yet, from that moment on, Ning Xu never sent him away again.
On their thousand-mile journey back to the sect, Shen Heng picked fruit by day and tended the fire at night. While Ning Xu practiced his swordsmanship, Shen Heng watched intently, chin in hand.
The cold-hearted Sword Venerable permitted the talkative fox to come back to the sect with him. He let him shell lotus seeds and sort medicinal herbs, and even the stern elders turned a blind eye to his presence.
But when Ning Xu shut himself away to break through to a new realm, at the very moment he was least on guard, Shen Heng plunged a dagger into his dantian.
"Why?"
Ning Xu asked through a cough of blood.
Shen Heng: Because I'm a nine-tailed fox demon. I only approached you to take the blood from your heart and save my people.
Bonus scene:
Months later, the Fox Clan of Youhuang Mountain was in the middle of a lively feast.
A long sword came cleaving through the moonlight and landed in the center of the dance floor.
The red-robed young man froze, and the wine cup slipped from his hand.
Under the moonlight, a figure in white slowly approached.
Theme: Love and hate between enemies
