My Evil Wife Is a Nine-Tailed Fox

Li Xiaoyao, Li Fei'er's father, could sense that something had changed in his daughter. Ever since she returned here to Jiang City, her powers had grown tremendously at such an alarming rate. It had only been three months since she came home, and yet her powers had risen in this short period, faster than any of them in the family had done before. 

He and his father had considered Li Fei'er as a once-in-a-century prodigy in their family when she was born with such a powerful innate aura. However, no matter whether she was a prodigy or not, she was still his precious daughter, a treasure he kept close to his heart after his wife died in childbirth. 

"Xiao Fei, aren't you going out with your friends today?" He asked one afternoon when he found Li Fei'er sweeping the dried leaves around their shrine. His daughter remained at home, which was rare to see.

"No, Dad." Li Fei'er smiled at him. "My friends and I don't have any plans for this weekend, so I'd rather stay at home for today." 

"That's good." Li Xiaoyao nodded. "Xiao Fei, please bring your friends here some time. I would like to meet them if it's possible." 

This was also one of the surprising facts he'd learn about his daughter. His daughter, who had been reclusive to everyone, was now claiming to have friends. Li Xiaoyao was aware that because of her powers, she naturally attracted certain demons and ghosts since her childhood. This had forbidden her from establishing bonds such as friendship with other kids her age. 

"I-I'll ask them later, but I can't promise you, Dad. They might find it weird that I'm living in a shrine with old men." Li Fei'er laughed awkwardly. She figured that she wouldn't be able to bring any of her friends to their home, except for Lu Anqi and Mr. Jiang.

Shen Minyao and Qin Zhi were both demons, and Mu Qing was a grim reaper. Li Fei'er was certain that if her father knew that she was being friendly with them, he might not approve of their company. It was already hard for her to purify herself to remove the stench or trace of demons that clung to her body whenever she left their home. 

Li Fei'er didn't mean to fool her father and the rest of their family, but she knew how they view demons like Shen Minyao and Mr. Qin. There was no way she would allow them to hurt her friends, regardless of whether they were demons or not. 

"Alright,"—she heard her father agree—"but you have to be careful when you go outside, okay? We still couldn't find that nine-tailed fox demoness's whereabouts, and I fear that she's slowly recovering her strength and powers that she has lost after centuries of confinement." 

"Dad, is she really that strong? I mean, you have never told me anything about that demon yet." Li Fei'er stopped whatever she was doing to ask her father. 

"A demon that could annihilate hundreds of thousands in just one strike. I personally hadn't witnessed her prowess with my own eyes, but our records show that she's one of the most formidable and dangerous demons that ever existed in the world. 

"She might bear some resentment towards our family for confining her at Qingqiu Mountain, but our ancestor, Li Yun, had no choice but to do it. It was impossible even for him to exorcise her, so he had chosen to seal her instead." 

"I see…" Li Fei'er fell silent at that. If that nine-tailed fox was really after their family, that fox would have already made a move on them by now. She didn't think that the nine-tailed fox demoness saw their family through their eyes at all. 

"Alright. Finish your cleaning here, and then go and see your grandfather. He said he wanted to see the progress on your shikigami training so far," Li Xiaoyao said before leaving his daughter. 

"Okay!" Li Fei'er replied, but she wasn't truly looking forward to this meeting with her grandfather. 

She wasn't sure why, but since her apprenticeship as a shaman, her family never allowed her to take high-level missions. They would deal with the other demons while forcing her to stick with the sutras and study matters based on books alone. 

Of course, this wasn't enough for a person like Li Fei'er, who wanted to apply her learning in real life by facing demons. 

For the past two weeks she spent hunting the blood-sucking demons around Jiang City with Qin Zhi, Li Fei'er noticed that she had learned more from him compared to what she had from her previous lessons at home. He even went as far as teaching her how to control her powers efficiently without making her tired and sick after their fight with the demons. That was something no one had taught her during her training as a shaman. 

Perhaps, because Qin Zhi had lived for centuries and experienced a lot from battling with other demons, he was able to impart some of his knowledge to her. It didn't matter if she was a shaman, an arch-nemesis of demons like him. 

Li Fei'er didn't find it weird that he was helping her, but she now understood Shen Minyao's opinion about their right to live as demons. 

For shamans like Li Fei'er, it was ingrained in them from their younger years that demons were bad and needed to be annihilated. However, after meeting Shen Minyao and Qin Zhi, Li Fei'er realized that demons like them were also just trying to survive and live just like what humans had done. 

Once she was done cleaning the yard, Li Fei'er went to see her grandfather at the training ground of their shrine. She found him checking the records about the nine-tailed fox and trying to see if they could find a hint they could use to track the fox demon. 

"Grandpa, Dad said you want to see me." Li Fei'er stood, waiting for her grandfather to say something. 

The old man brushed his long white beard, brows furrowing as he gave Li Fei'er a good look. Indeed, what his son said earlier about his granddaughter was right. Something had changed in Li Fei'er, and her spiritual powers were steadier and calmer these days. 

"Xiao Fei, can you please show this old man all of your shikigami at once? I want to see the current level you are in, in terms of controlling your shikigamis." 

Li Fei'er bit her lower lip and nodded. She knew she could not hide her progress from her family for too long, but they might question her as to where she learned her newly acquired skills. She did what she was told and summoned all the shikigamis working under her. 

Two large, ferocious wolves and an eagle appeared from nowhere. If it was in the past, Li Fei'er would have broken into a cold sweat after summoning the three at the same time. However, she was now able to conserve her energy way better than she could before. 

The old man looked at the three shikigamis of his granddaughter, examining them slowly but surely. These three were high-level spiritual shikigamis that consumed a lot of spiritual power from their owners. For Li Fei'er to be able to summon them at this rate, without gasping for breath or passing out from exhaustion, was already admirable. 

"Do you know how long you can keep them in this state?" He questioned his granddaughter. He wanted to see for himself the kind of change his son was talking about earlier. 

Li Fei'er hummed and rubbed her chin as she gave it a good thought. 

"More or less an hour, Grandpa, but that still depends on their use of spiritual attacks," she answered. 

The old man nodded, but he didn't say more. One hour was already hard enough for young shamans like her to keep these shikigamis materialized next to her and sustain their attacks. Did Li Fei'er realize how strong she was now compared to other shamans her age? 

If she was able to master controlling her shikigamis in such a short while, then they shouldn't be surprised if Li Fei'er surpassed her elders' strength soon enough. 

"You've been hunting demons by yourself, haven't you?" He asked Li Fei'er. 

Li Fei'er was taken aback, feeling caught red-handed for doing something wrong by her grandfather. However, if he was able to see past her expression, then she had no other choice but to come clean. 

"E-en. I'm sorry, Grandpa. I know you and Dad told me to be careful whenever I am out, but these demons came to me.. You know I can't just run away with my tail between my legs, right? My pride as a shaman of the Li family wouldn't allow me to ignore the innocent humans who need help," she spoke in a low voice, feeling guilty that she had to lie and hide the fact that she was also acquainted with powerful demons now.