The nine men returned empty-handed and did not believe that the Miss of the Marquis’ Mansion would kill them all, but at her casual command, her maid brought over nine bowls of steaming medicine, dark greenish-black in color.
The nine men exchanged looks, having already thought of a strategy on the way back.
If the Miss of the Marquis’ Mansion really decided to be ruthless, then they wouldn’t be blamed for what came next. With the sky so high and the Marquis’ Mansion so far away, if they killed the Miss of the Marquis’ Mansion here, at worst, they could become outlaws or wander the Itinerant World.
Immediately, someone slapped open the bowl of medicine, spilling the scalding concoction all over the floor.
The look in the Miss of the Marquis’ Mansion’s eye, cold as ice chips, swept over them, her murderous intent almost tangible. She waved her sleeve, and her maids retreated, trembling.
The nine men were confused, but then they saw the young girl, a beautiful woman, gradually begin to change. Hairs sprouted on her once ivory-smooth cheeks, and her hair began to fade from black to gray. She extended her hand, and with a "swoosh," sharp claws appeared!
"Who are you? You’re not the Miss! You’re a monster!"
Fear in their eyes, the nine men slowly gathered together, attempting to use their combined strength to fend off this creature that was neither human nor monster.
"Did you think you could still leave this place alive after seeing my true form?" The Miss of the Marquis’ Mansion lifted her head, stuck out her tongue, and licked her claws, which became even sharper and took on a strange hue after being moistened with her saliva.
This saliva was clearly poisonous!
The nine men looked at her fingers, now long and sharp with dark greenish-black nails, then back at the floor where the dark greenish-black medicinal soup had spilled, understanding everything. This bowl of soup must have been tainted with her saliva, a nauseating thought.
A long, gray tail grew from the back of the Miss of the Marquis’ Mansion, followed by another. Her face had by now turned into that of a fox.
A fox’s head, a human body, and two tails—it was both eerie and terrifying!
One of the men took out a peace charm, a gift his wife had prayed for at the temple before he left.
He held the peace charm towards the Miss of the Marquis’ Mansion and yelled, "Demon, begone! Begone! Begone!"
With a scoff, the Miss of the Marquis’ Mansion narrowed her fox-like eyes, the corners lifted in contempt and mockery, and she flicked her claw.
In the flick of a finger, the peace charm spontaneously combusted!
Flames suddenly burst into life in his hand. The guard screamed in agony, let go, and the peace charm was swiftly reduced to ashes, while his hand was burned.
After the Miss of the Marquis’ Mansion displayed such unfathomable and terrifying abilities, the nine men lost the courage to attack in unison. Their minds were filled with thoughts of retreat. They exchanged glances and then suddenly ran in nine different directions—some towards the door, some towards the inner chamber, some towards the windows, and some directly towards the roof, as if to break through and escape into another world.
The Miss of the Marquis’ Mansion sneered in ridicule, "A bunch of trash."
Without even the courage to resist, they truly were trash!
She should have never entrusted such an important task to them!
The atmosphere shifted; wild winds whirled around the house, and clouds shrouded the area in a bloody hue while the stench of blood spread throughout the room. The nine men lay on the ground with eyes wide open, dead without closure.
The Miss of the Marquis’ Mansion’s claws were smeared with blood, and inconceivably, she had grown nine arms.
In each hand, she held a beating heart.
Just as she was about to relish this feast, the roof was smashed open, and a large boulder fell to the ground, barely missing her head. The Miss of the Marquis’ Mansion was terrified by this sudden change and retreated again and again, vigilantly watching the hole in the roof.
The night wind rushed in, blowing the Miss of the Marquis’ Mansion’s gray hair and the two gray tails into disarray.
An intricate figure appeared atop the roof, with a pair of eyes profound like the starry sea, holding everything within them, mysterious and deep.