A few hours later, Bai Yunsheng woke up lazily and looked out the window, realizing that it was already getting dark.
He yawned and thought for a moment:
"If I'm going to gather some assistants, who should I take first?"
After hearing these words, something clicked in Bai Yunsheng's mind. He remembered a character from the original novel.
"If I remember correctly, she's here... in Wujiang..." he said, sighing, and went outside.
***
Walking around the city, Bai Yunsheng recalled the contents of the novel in his mind.
"...She obediently followed him. No matter what, she always stayed by his side and was always willing to give up her life for her loved ones. There are no words in the world that can describe the extent of her devotion to her loved ones, but one thing is clear. No matter who you are, she will always be by your side..."
"That's what the novel said about Xiao Ran. She is a young girl from the demon race. And she belongs to the nine-tailed fox clan..." Bai Yunsheng said thoughtfully as he passed by the brothel.
"According to the novel, Xiao Ran was captured by members of the righteous sect and sold into slavery. Around the second volume of the novel, the protagonist will buy her at an auction and recruit her to his side.
"If I can subjugate her, then there is no need to be afraid when the protagonist arrives!" He said solemnly, looking at the building in front of him.
There were many different kinds of establishments in Wujiang, among which was an auction house.
"Well, God bless you… I hope she's here…" Bai Yunsheng said with hope in his voice and entered the auction house.
The auction hall was crowded with people. Bai Yunsheng immediately attracted attention as soon as he entered. Some cultivators glanced at each other, but no one dared to approach.
Everyone knew that this was the city chief's husband who was constantly cheating on her. Some whispered to each other, looking at him with a sneer and arrogance, some cast embarrassed and interested glances at him, and some simply ignored him.
"Do I still look like an arrogant idiot? Oh well. Let it be so!"
Lin Fan sat in the VIP room (fortunately, Bai Yunsheng was rich and without Lei Jiangxue's influence) and began to wait for the auction to begin. The lot he was interested in appeared a few hours later, after the other lots.
A young fox girl with black hair, big ears, dark eyes, and multiple tails walked onto the stage. She was tied up with chains and was looking at the floor.
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"Here you are~" Lin Fan said and chuckled.
In the novel, she was bought by one of the main character's subordinates, and then ended up in his possession. But Bai Yunsheng wouldn't let that happen.
"Starting price: ten thousand gold!"
The bids immediately went up. Bai Yunsheng watched the scene with a lazy eyebrow raised.
"Don't they have other things to worry about?" he thought to himself and chuckled at the fact that he was essentially about to do the same.
When the amount reached fifty thousand, many participants began to retreat. Only three rich people remained.
"Fifty-five thousand gold!" a young man in expensive clothes said in a loud voice. It seemed as if he was the son of a rich family who looked down on everyone and spent money wherever he pleased.
"Sixty thousand!" said a grown man with no hair on his head.
"And here I thought monks were impotent!" Bai Yunsheng chuckled to himself.
"Sixty-five!" said an elderly man with gray hair.
"Old man, where are you going? Go raise your grandchildren with your grandmother, you old pervert!"
When the auctioneer began to count the final price, Bai Yunsheng looked at him and lazily raised his hand:
"One hundred thousand gold…"
The hall froze. Everyone looked at him in shock.
"This is… Bai Yunsheng?… Has he gone crazy?
"Where did he get that kind of money?"
Everyone there was whispering among themselves.
Bai Yunsheng just smiled as he watched the other participants retreat. Of course, in the eyes of others, he was still the same arrogant rich kid who was also famous for his love affairs. But if that was the case… why not take advantage of this image?
The fox raised her head and looked at him for the first time. There was fear in her eyes.
"Calm down, girl. I am not your enemy~ Bye…"
The auctioneer announced the winner of the auction.
After that, several people brought Xiao Ran to Bai Yunsheng. His dark eyes like an abyss met her lavender eyes.
"Follow me!" He said in a cold voice and turned around, heading towards the exit of the auction.
The girl nodded silently, not trying to argue. She followed him without saying anything and trembling slightly. The whole way passed in silence and soon they reached the residence.
"I wonder what she thinks of me? She must be afraid..." Bai Yunsheng thought as he entered the house.
They walked inside and saw Lei Jiangxue standing at the entrance.
Her crimson eye glared at the new guest.
"You... brought a girl home? Why?" she asked him with an indifferent face, but there was a note of interest in her voice.
"None of your business!" he responded with a cold voice and walked past her.
Lei Jiangxue frowned, but said nothing.
Bai Yunsheng brought the fox girl into the one of the spare rooms for servants. The girl looked around cautiously, trembling slightly.
"From now on, you will live here and serve me personally!" he said and looked at her. His lifeless eyes looked at the fox with a piercing gaze that made her a little uncomfortable.
Xiao Ran was silent, not knowing what to say.
"If you want to run away, go ahead, but if something happens to you, it's not my fault!" Bai Yunsheng said.
Xiao Ran looked up. Her lavender eyes looked at the boy in front of her with caution.
"Y-You won't… torture me?" she asked in a quiet voice.
Bai Yunsheng sighed, lightly massaging his temples.
"I have no interest in ruining other people's lives… (Unless it's Ye Chen!)," he hastily added in his thoughts.
She looked at him with distrust, expecting any trick.
"Well, yes, after being sold into slavery, it will be very difficult to trust anyone."
"Like I said, from now on you will live here as my personal servant!"
"Why?" she asked quietly.
He smiled.
"A secret~"
"You will become my first piece."
She was silent, but something like hope flashed in her eyes.
***
Later in the evening, Bai Yunsheng sat by the window, looking at the night sky.
"So, all the pawns are in place. Now we can begin our little game~" he thought to himself with a smile on his face.
The next morning, Bai Yunsheng called Xiao Ran into his room.
The young fox did not understand anything and looked at her new master with apprehension.
"Today, I will teach you cultivation..." Bai Yunsheng said in a cold voice.
— Cultivation!? — The fox girl's eyes widened and looked at Bai Yunsheng in surprise.
— This world is very dangerous. So if you want to survive in it, you must be very strong... — He explained to her.
The girl did not understand anything, but nodded nervously.
— W-what do I need to do? — She asked in a quiet voice, waiting for his instructions.
— Sit in the lotus position and concentrate, and then try to feel your qi core... — Bai Yunsheng began to explain to her. — Unlike humans, who must have talents to awaken the qi core, demons have it from birth.
— Demons and humans have one qi core or root. The difference is that the amount of energy that a demon can contain is greater than that of a human, and the density is higher. "That means that demons are stronger than humans, even if they are at the same stage..." Bai Yunsheng said in a monotonous voice, recalling all the cultivation titles he had read in the previous world.
The girl sat down obediently and took a deep breath, concentrating.
"Clear your mind and don't think about anything. Extra thoughts will only distract you!" Bai Yunsheng said and sat down on the bed, looking at her.
"Fortunately, the original Bai Yunsheng was already at the initial stage of the golden core, so I don't need to cultivate. Instead, I will simply observe the development of my future "meat shields"..." Lin Fan (now Bai Yunsheng) thought to himself and looked at how the energy surrounded the young fox.
"Among humans, there are 7 stages of cultivation. Qi purification - also known as the first stage has 9 levels of development. After that, Foundation Construction (second stage), Golden Core, then Soul Nascent, Soul Formation, Soul Transformation, and finally Immortal.
"I don't know what these stages are called for demons, but I know for sure that it's not much different from humans!" he recounted the information from the novel.
Despite his explanation, Xiao Ran didn't hear him. She was completely immersed in her thoughts and focused on forming the Qi Core.
Time passed and Bai Yunsheng was getting bored.
"Yeah… I'll die of boredom here if I keep waiting for her…"
With a sigh, the guy stood up and left Xiao Ran alone, not wanting to disturb her.
"Usually, it takes a few days at best to form a qi core, but since Xiao Ran is a demon, a day is enough for her. Also, the novel seemed to say that demons from the nine-tailed fox clan accumulate more qi than normal. So most likely, Xiao Ran will have time to form a core in a few hours..." Bai Yunsheng thought to himself, when suddenly someone bumped into him.
Looking up, he saw one of the manor's maids. Her chestnut hair was tied in a bun, her brown eyes looked at him with fear, the maid's dress noticeably clung to her figure, which involuntarily attracted his gaze.
"S-sorry, Mr. Bai!!!" she said in a nervous voice, looking at the floor.
Bai Yunsheng sighed and raised his hand, to which the girl closed her eyes. Although Bai Yunsheng was known as a perverted womanizer, he had never raised his hand to a woman. But this still did not calm the girl down.
Suddenly, her expectations were dashed and she felt a light touch on her shoulder.
She looked up and saw the boy's hand on her shoulder. She looked into his eyes for an answer, but saw deep sadness and loneliness lingering in the depths of his lifeless eyes...
"Be careful..." Bai Yunsheng said in a cold voice and walked on.
The maid expected him to be furious and try to harass her, but she never expected her master to suddenly change...
To be continued...