"They're quite ravenous, aren't they?" Long Hai commented.

We sat at my table watching the Huli Jing eat breakfast. I didn't want any trouble, so I bought out the whole inn. The owner was more than happy to let us. We placed two Huli Jing per room. The Children looked so thin and the basic breakfast they were eating seemed to fascinate them. Almost as If they'd never eaten a civilized meal before.

"Most probably haven't eaten in days." Li Mei told him.

I sipped my tea, not wanting to even think about that. Li Mei was watching the others were a small smile on her lips."It's good they can enjoy a morning meal like this." She looked at me with adoration before returning her attention to her kin.

I'd given all the Huli Jing names. It was a strange sensation to be connected to so many beings at once. I could feel their emotions. It was a chaotic mixture of wonder, relief, joy, and apprehension. Many of them were worried that I wouldn't toss them aside when I no longer had a use for them.

It pained me to know they thought so little of me. But objectively, I knew that I would have to prove myself to them. After all, I wouldn't expect a stranger to have my best interests at heart. Li Mei trusted me because I had given her a good reason to do so. I would have to do the same with the others.

I sat straighter when Liu Feng joined me. "Well? Is everything set?" I asked her.

She smiled and nodded. "Yes, darling. Most of them know how to use a Jian, at least fundamentally."

"We prefer to use our Qi and claws." Li Mei told me. "But most of us can find wandering mercenaries who will teach us how to sword fight for sexual favors or silver."

I sighed and pulled her against me. Yet another reason to take these women under my protection. I was going to have to find out why people persecuted them. I could understand them being persecuted by the Fox-kin or Fox spirits, but why did humans and the other races persecute them?

Whatever the reason. It was going to change. I was going to change it. A goddess brought me to this world to change it. To bring commerce, innovation, and agriculture. I was already making progress. Now for myself, I'd teach these people to let go of their prejudice. It will not be easy. But anything worth doing will be difficult.

"We are ready, Master."

Focusing, I turned to see six of the Huli Jing standing there. All were armed. "Excellent." I pulled a map from my storage ring and spread it out on the table. "Ainsley, you will pair up with Missy and patrol the south side. Heidi and Sue will patrol the west. Miki and Tammy will patrol the north." I pointed to every area with my finger tracing out the route they'd take. "You'll all have a flair. If you're attacked, set off the flair. Under no circumstances are you to fight them on your own. We don't know how strong these dark cultivators are. I don't want any of you risking your lives unnecessarily."

I gave these Huli Jing western names. I gave Li Mei an eastern name because I knew what the words meant, but unlike my parents, I'm not very familiar with eastern culture. But they like the names, anyway. I gave them all the surname Renarde, which means "fox" in French. I know. Not very original but, hey, it fits. Plus, it's theirs now. It's an utterly unique surname that will belong to their future generation. A loophole in the curse.

'Eat your heart out Fox king.' I mentally flipped him off.

Li Mei hugged my arm. She could feel my resentment and comforted me. I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and held her close. I needed to get my head in the game. I would do everything I could for the Huli Jing after the dark cultivators were dealt with.

Two days flew by with no trouble. Tanks to the Huli Jings' cooperation, we could patrol the town with no trouble. A dozen strong and now well-fed fighters taking turns with us to patrol was a much better arrangement. I later learned that the weakest Huli Jing was at Golden Core. It made sense why Chan assumed I had lied. If I had tried to kill Li Mei as he wanted, she'd have ripped me apart.

I sat with Liu Feng as we watched the moon. She sounded against my chest, humming. We were taking a break from our cultivating. We were relaxed and going to head to bed when a red bolt shot into the sky and exploded. It was one of the signal flairs. We both hopped to our feet. We threw our clothes on, grabbed our swords, and leaped out the window.

We ran along the rooftops in the flare's direction. We were soon joined by the others on patrol as we converged on a scene of Chaos. Tosha and Miki were fighting off a dozen men in dark robes with demon masks on their faces. I drew my Jian and attacked. I was quickly enveloped in a mad dance of blades and fists. I parried, dodged, stabbed, and slashed at my opponents. My only coherent thought as my body moved in practiced maneuvers was to put myself between these cultivators and my women. Tosha and Miki didn't know me well, and I didn't know them well. But I would not let these bastards take them from me and rob me of time with them.

The fight lasted minutes, but it felt like hours. A dozen dead cultivators lay at our feet. A quick examination of their bodies showed they had nothing to identify them. No sect seal or any kind of identification. Not that I expected them to have a laminated card with their home address. But something to give us a name of who our enemy was.

"I know who these men are." I turned to see Ainsley holding one of their masks. "The Howling Demon Sect. They're a radical Demon worshiping sect that wants to open the Gate to the Demon Realm. I've run into them from time to time. They tried recruiting me in the past."

"Do you know where their sect is?" I asked her.

She nodded her head. "I got curious one time and followed them back to their sect."

"Can you lead us there?"

She bowed to me. "Anything for you, Master."

I wanted to correct her, but I had more important things to do now. I whistled for Lian. She was at my side in a heartbeat. I mounted her and turned to Liu Feng. "You're in charge. I'm going to let the sect know about the Demon Sect and we can destroy them. Keep the town safe."

She nodded. "I will. Be safe darling." She squeezed my hand once before making room for Lian to turn and leap into the air. She soared high above before landing gracefully on the far side of the town. Despite the dark, she took off like a bolt of lightning for the Yin Yang sect's main compound. If we were lucky, we could mobilize the sect quickly and put this whole matter behind us.