Looking at Si Hai's serious face, Huang Qiaoli realized something.

"You already know me?"

The fox spirit nodded yes. "The senior wants me to accompany you so he passed me some information about you."

Huang Qiaoli narrowed her eyes while waving her hand for him to continue.

"What country you're from, your family, nobility-"

"Okay, that's enough." She confirmed that the person named Qin Yu didn't tell Si Hai about her being someone who was once a robot. If he did, that would be the first on Si Hai's list.

She stood up and walked out of the cave. Si Hai was used to this woman not saying what was on her mind so he got up to follow her.

Huang Qiaoli was greeted by the soft sunlight peeking from the tall trees. Her unruly red hair hindered her vision. She raised a hand to touch a lock of hair.

Gone were the dark tresses of Hong Chun. Grabbing a fistful, she felt how textured it was.

"I'm always living under a mask." She didn't say 'wearing a mask'. Because she only realized now that the mask existed.

And it seemed there were endless masks.

Her being a robot. Her being an author. Her being a daughter of different sets of parents. Her being a human.

Which was she?

"Me too ah."

She heard a voice from behind. Si Hai was leaning on the rock formations by the entrance of the cave.

"I was once worshipped in a dark sect. I became a loyal servant to an ambitious master. When I was abandoned, I was named a dead-in-the-brain slave. Escaped and turned into a beggar who 'fell in love' with an average girl at first sight. I served her but she caught me. I left but guarded the hated woman still because an old man bribed and persuaded me. I turned into a guard and there were many masks before that."

Huang Qiaoli was speechless. She forgot that the fox spirit was the true master of disguise.

Her lip twitching, she asked. "What mask are you wearing now?"

She didn't expect Si Hai to answer truthfully.

"The one that will seek peace in the promised land of Huo Ai."

"Promised land?"

The fox who appeared to be a bright young man had hope in his eyes.

"All the spirits of this land desire entering Huo Ai but cannot do so. The ancient barrier separating this land and Huo Ai still stands. So spirits can only dream of the abundant energy housed in it."

Huang Qiaoli cocked a brow. "Huo Ai is that special? How can you enter then?"

Si Hai deadpanned, "The senior said it's all up to you."

She had no idea about that.

"From what I know, entering Huo Ai depends on the invitation of its founding clans." The fox hinted.

The answer dawned on Huang Qiaoli. "Ah, it's like that. But you see, I don't even know how to go back."

Si Hai struggled to keep his temper in check. Talking with this woman was draining the life out of him.

"I'm sure the senior will send someone-"

He wasn't able to finish his sentence as he felt arrows flying in their direction. His instinct was to use his tails to stop the arrows but Huang Qiaoli pulled him behind the huge rock formations.

"Hide your tails, your fangs, and yes, those beast-like pupils too."

The vile woman smirked at him in a challenging way and he had no choice but to follow what she said in his mind.

Huang Qiaoli, on the other hand, admired these assassins. She already changed this much but they'd still charge at her without doubt. Remembering the assassins that entered Hong fu, what was their name again?

Crimson Trail?

These kinds of people wouldn't stop until they saw a corpse. She knew this because she was the same if she was given that kind of assignment.

And it was about time they searched for her outside the capital if they assumed she somehow escaped.

"They really came." Huang Qiaoli muttered quickly under her breath. "As expected, my estimations are still 80% correct. Well, it was far from 99% of before. But judging from my current circumstances, this is already good."

Her database might be complete but her functions weren't. The absence of satellite and internet affected her system a lot. However since she woke up, she was just waiting for these people to come.

Si Hai wanted to ask what she was whispering about but he didn't want to let his guard down. He was wondering why in the world this woman had no sense of danger. Spouting nonsense while they were in the middle of being attacked.

"Si Hai, help me with this little experiment."

For a second, Si Hai thought she was joking.

"Eksperi-what?"

But he just found himself slackjawed at the vile woman when she asked, "Do you know how many they are?"

"Ten." He answered.

"Oh, my sensors only detected nine. You're good."

It was because these assassins were trained to lower their body temperature so even if she had a thermal image scanner, she wouldn't be able to see all of them.

"Anyway, you should test your upgraded stats, go kill them!" She pushed Si Hai out of their hiding place and numerous poisoned arrows immediately flew toward him.

He couldn't ask what upgraded stats meant because he had to dodge.

"Try not using you-know-what!" Huang Qiaoli yelled after him hoping that he understood that she wanted him to hide his magical identity first.

After that, she turned on most of her sensors: thermal, poison detector, radio wave radar, x-ray scanner, heartbeat monitor, and whatever she could use in this situation.

She could feel the strain it dealt on her body but compared to scanning Qin Yu, the damage wasn't much. She just needed some time to get used to this. Before, she could open all her functions because she had a metal body. But now if she wasn't careful, her brain might melt. So she also pulled up a screen to monitor what was going on with her body.

"Si Hai, you have good hearing. Can you hear me at this distance? Try to say yes if you can." If one looked at the woman from the entrance of the cave, she seemed to be talking to herself.

But when the fox who had extraordinary auditory senses heard this, he just sighed. He knew that if he responded, she would somehow hear him. Ever since this Huang Qiaoli woke up, he found that she was starting to morph into a real-life monster.

"Yes," he muttered under his breath.

"Good boy! Now you can kill them however you want. But they'll probably target me. Without using your tails, do you think you can win?" She spoke like they were just playing a game.

"I don't know. I'm not used to direct fights."

"Tsk, that's because you're a backstabber."

It was difficult tuning out the other noises she was picking up. Even if she was using a soundwave filter, Si Hai was after all several meters away already. So she had to keep him talking.

"Okay, three are coming in on you. The others are approaching me... Haha, they're looking down on you. They're fast, 4 meters-no, a zhang1 away from me."

She sighed. Si Hai was still adjusting, he couldn't deal with them without using his beast.

"Go on, use your tails. I might die if you don't." She finally gave in.

After she said this, she felt a shift in the air. From where Si Hai was a while ago, a large black fox stood. His size was the same as an average man. Snarling menacingly, long nine tails dove down to nine of the assassins.

They were sneaking toward Qiaoli's direction and when they felt the danger, it was already too late. Screams pierced the forest and birds scattered to the sky.

The hunters became the hunted and one by one, they died bloody deaths.

Huang Qiaoli watched Si Hai's bloodlust- no, watch would be a mild word. She studied how he tore the bodies apart with his sharp canines, blood dripping down his snout to the fur on his torso.

The data she was seeing through examining him from afar filled her vision.

When he transformed into a beast, he unleashed a different level of violence. But looking at his eyes, there was no insanity. Only the calmness of a predator feasting on his prey. Qiaoli wouldn't comment whether he was gulping it or not.

This was the real Si Hai.

"Halt." She stopped his solo banquet when only one of the ten remained.

His tail clutched onto the last assassin as another order came. "Get the poison on the back of his hand."

"Right wrist, behind the left knee, ankles, behind the ear. F-ck, why do they carry this much poison?!"

Huang Qiaoli was annoyed until the red dots in her vision were gone. The assassin was repeatedly tossed up and down, petrified by the fox and the gore in front of him.

However, he was still trained by the reputable Crimson Trail. He soon recovered and still wanted to fulfill the mission. But before he could make a move, the maiden gave out an order.

"Hold his limbs."

The fox purred while tilting his head, trying to ask what she wanted to do. He could have been cute if not for his humongous size for a fox and his blood-drenched fur. With his tails, he gripped the assassin's wrists and ankles.