Chapter 327: Chapter 188: You Bullied Me, Didn’t You?
Lu Yuan and Su Liyan looked at the little fox who had gotten to her feet.
The little fox spoke with a sincere expression, "I swear on my life. If a single word of what I said was false, may I suffer the torment of utter destruction and never be reincarnated!"
In this world where Demon Beasts, Half-demons, and the Human Race coexisted, oaths were not to be made lightly.
This world was different from the era Lu Yuan had come from—an age without gods, where making an oath was no more serious than child’s play.
’Pfft...’
In the age of the Divine Ling Empire, every word of an oath was observed by god-like entities who served as both witnesses and enforcers. Anyone who broke such a vow would inevitably suffer its backlash.
Lu Yuan activated his system’s Multiplication Factor identification function. If the little fox was lying and posed a threat to him, her Multiplication Factor would most likely be 0.
Lu Yuan didn’t keep the Multiplication Factor function active all the time.
When it was active, a label reading [Multiplication Factor: *] would hover over everyone’s head.
If he left the function on constantly, Lu Yuan felt less like he was living his life and more like he was in a game. Everyone around him seemed like an NPC, which stripped away any sense of realism and made it easy for him to get distracted.
With a string of words floating over everyone’s head, it was hard for Lu Yuan to avoid looking at the top of people’s heads when he was talking to them.
If his eyes wandered, people would feel he was being disrespectful.
After activating the function, Lu Yuan saw [Multiplication Factor: 5] displayed above the little fox’s head.
’So, the little fox’s Multiplication Factor is actually pretty high.’
’The highest number, a Multiplication Factor of 9, seems to belong only to my wife, my two sisters-in-law, my brother-in-law, and my mother-in-law.’
’Only my wife, Su Liyan, had the highest Multiplication Factor right from the very beginning!’
’And I still don’t know who has *Military God: Volume 2*. If Volume 1 exists, then Volume 2 must be out there somewhere, but I still haven’t triggered the reward for it.’
’I haven’t even read *Military God: Volume 1*. I decided to prioritize a few other Secret Manuals first.’
’Then there’s the Grand Ancestor Emperor with a Multiplication Factor of 3, Su Changliang with a 6, and King Yan with an 8.’
Suddenly, a thought struck Lu Yuan. ’Did I forget to check Gu Ziye’s Multiplication Factor?’
’If Gu Ziye’s Multiplication Factor is high, I should just marry her! A high factor means she’d be beneficial to me. This function is basically a form of foresight, so who cares if her father is the Emperor?’
’Never mind, I’ll worry about that later.’
It seemed this little fox was trustworthy for now.
After hearing the little fox’s oath, Su Liyan also chose to believe her.
And so, Lu Yuan and Su Liyan had no more reason to doubt the little fox’s words. She had no reason to tell a lie that would cost her all her future lives.
Lu Yuan and Su Liyan exchanged a look. A single glance was all it took for them to understand what the other was thinking.
Su Liyan stood up, untied the sash binding the little fox’s hands, and tossed it to Lu Yuan.
Lu Yuan caught the sash and tied it around his waist.
Su Liyan reached out to touch the little fox’s cheek.
The frightened little fox immediately shrank back.
Su Liyan asked, "Those three slaps I gave you last night... do they still hurt?"
The little fox was taken aback by Su Liyan’s question. No one had ever shown her such genuine concern before.
The rims of the little fox’s eyes turned red as she whispered, "It doesn’t hurt... It doesn’t hurt anymore."
Lu Yuan watched the scene unfold. ’Two beauties getting all tender with each other,’ he thought. ’My wife is just too soft-hearted.’
’Last night, Su Liyan was so furious she slapped the girl before her anger had even cooled. How is she already regretting it?’
The little fox’s pitiful backstory aroused deep sympathy in Su Liyan, who was not only kind-hearted but also a Half-demon herself.
Lu Yuan remembered how he had stuffed his own sock into the little fox’s mouth the night before and scratched his head in embarrassment.
Su Liyan pulled the little fox down to sit beside her. "I still haven’t asked your name, have I?" she asked.
The little fox said playfully, "My name is Qianying Fox."
Lu Yuan nearly spat out his tea. Wiping away the droplets from his lips, he said, "Who picks a name like that? Why call yourself a fox?"
Su Liyan interjected, "But she *is* a fox, you know~"
’That might be true,’ Lu Yuan thought, ’but still, nobody puts their species right in their name.’
’Bai Suzhen wasn’t called Bai Su-Snake, was she?!’
The little fox explained, "I forgot the name my parents gave me. I came up with this one myself."
Hearing this, Lu Yuan understood. The little fox had been raised in captivity and was completely illiterate—she probably couldn’t even recognize the simplest of words.
’The little fox is fundamentally a kind soul,’ Lu Yuan mused. ’She was just being used.’
Lu Yuan said, "Your name is Qianying Fox, right? How about we call you Xiaoqian?"
Su Liyan agreed enthusiastically. "You’re the best at coming up with names," she said.
"Xiaoqian... Xiaoqian..." the little fox murmured to herself, then suddenly jumped up with delight. "I’ll be Xiaoqian from now on!" she exclaimed happily.
"Xiaoqian, come sit down. Stop jumping around," Su Liyan said, beckoning with her hand for Xiaoqian to take a seat.
After Xiaoqian sat down, a wide smile on her face, Lu Yuan resumed his questioning. "Xiaoqian, you still haven’t told us who put you up to this."
Ever since Lu Yuan had arrived in Dongchang City and learned of the previous Prefect’s death, he had suspected the Court’s Jinyi Guard was behind it.
On second thought, the Jinyi Guard wouldn’t need to go to such lengths. Why would they need a beautiful woman as bait? If the Emperor wanted someone dead, he would just have them killed outright.
Especially after seeing the Flying Corpse last night—it reeked of a sinister aura.
The Spirit Binders within the Jinyi Guard were all officially sanctioned by the Court. The Xingzi they detained would never have such a dense, sinister aura.
