Chapter 598: Old Fox

She looked at the unfamiliar ceiling above her, feeling the weak yet undeniably present power inside her, and her mind was blank.

She turned her head and saw the tiny figure curled at the bedside.

Purple hair, a pallid face, tightly shut eyes.

"Ilya?!"

Robin sat up abruptly and scooped the small body in her arms.

The body was warm, the breathing steady, merely asleep, but the purple hair and the weary face stirred an indescribable panic in her heart.

Ruby's voice came from the Magic Staff beside her:

"Miss Robin! You're finally awake!"

Robin looked at Ruby, her brows knit tightly.

"What happened? What's wrong with Ilya?"

Ruby rapidly recounted what had just occurred.

Robin fell silent after listening.

She stared at Ilya's sleeping face, and a complex emotion flashed in her lake‑green eyes.

She placed Ilya back onto the bed and examined her carefully.

Magic was normal, heartbeat normal, breathing normal—everything was as Ruby had said, normal.

Yet the purple hair, that pallid face…

"How can it be normal…"

she murmured.

At that moment, a violent roar rang from outside the window.

Robin lifted her head and looked that way.

Golden light and violet‑black light were wildly intertwining, two silhouettes fiercely tangled above the ruins, each clash erupting a terrifying shockwave.

"Outside is…"

"That purple‑haired woman, and the gray‑haired one," Ruby said, "they've started fighting."

Robin rose, gently laid Ilya back on the bed, and covered her with a blanket.

"What are you going to do?" Ruby asked.

Robin clenched her fist, feeling the surging magic within.

That magic was many times stronger than usual, as if an inexhaustible force surged through her veins.

"I'm going out," she said, her voice calm yet resolute, "I will make that woman pay."

Ruby hesitated, "But Miss Robin, you're not skilled in combat…"

Robin turned her head and gave her a glance.

In those lake‑green eyes burned a light she had never known before.

"I think I can. Moreover—"

She paused, her gaze falling on Ilya's pallid face.

"She has done so much for me; I can't just do nothing."

"Ruby, take good care of her."

Robin resolutely turned and walked toward the doorway.

Perspective shift.

Huo Huo hunched, curling behind a half‑collapsed low wall, her claw‑shaped green eyes fixed through a crack at the distant white figure.

Her breathing was held to an almost halted whisper, fearing any slight movement would reveal her position.

Her heart hammered wildly in her chest, the thudding so fierce she doubted the opponent could hear it even from dozens of meters away.

In the distance, Jing Yuan stood leisurely on a slightly level clearing, his white long hair drifting in the night breeze, his face still bearing that inscrutable gentle smile.

Huo Huo cursed him ten thousand times in her mind.

This old fox.

What she hated most was his expression—the self‑assured, as‑if‑everything‑is‑under‑control look—that made Huo Huo want to rush out and jab him repeatedly with the little flag she held.

Of course, she didn't dare.

She only thought about it in her mind.

Huo Huo carefully shifted her position, moving from behind the low wall to behind a small mound of steel‑reinforced concrete rubble.

The edges of the debris were uneven, several spots sharp enough to cut, but Huo Huo could no longer worry about that.

She clung to the cold, rough surfaces, inching forward, trying not to make any sound.

The black Giant Fox had already dissipated.

It had taken her a great effort to sustain, and now her power was nearly spent, every cell in her body clamoring with fatigue.

After all, she was only a Master, not a Heroic Spirit, let alone a monster that could take on hundreds alone.

That recent battle had almost drained all her strength; now she just wanted to find a place to lie down and get a good sleep.

But she couldn't.

That old fox was still outside.

"Miss Huo Huo—"

Jing Yuan's voice came from afar, his tone warm as if reminiscing with an old friend, bearing an sincerity one could never tire of.

"I think there may be some misunderstanding between us. Come out, and let's have a proper talk, okay?"

Huo Huo let out a cold snort in her mind.

She kept moving, slipping around the pile of debris and slipping into a half‑collapsed building.

What kind of shop was this building originally supposed to be? The sign on the wall is already illegible, leaving only a few crooked steel frames.

Huo Huo pressed against the base of the wall, observing the outside through the shattered window.

Jing Yuan was still there, but had already changed direction.

Jing Yuan took a few steps toward this side, then stopped, as if pondering something.

"Miss Huo Huo, I know what you're worried about."

Jing Yuan's voice sounded again, with that certainty that makes people want to hit him, "But please believe me, I mean no harm. After all, you are a Judge of the Ten Kings Office, a person of Luofu; we shouldn't interact in this manner."

Huo Huo clenched teeth.

Ten Kings Office.

The three characters felt like a thorn, lodged deep in Huo Huo's heart.

Huo Huo, of course, knows she is a Judge of the Ten Kings Office.

Huo Huo knows what that title means, and also knows how "kind" those people are to her.

Xue Yi, that cold‑hearted fellow, wears a stone‑cold expression all day, and his gaze at Huo Huo is like looking at a trouble that could erupt at any moment. Han Ya, the chatterbox, babbles nonstop in her ear, ranging from Precautions at work to life philosophy, making one want to die.

And those so‑called colleagues, a bunch of half‑dead, lifeless things.

Huo Huo harshly vented in her mind.

Yes, that's exactly what Huo Huo thought.

Xue Yi is cold and fierce, Han Ya's endless chatter gives headaches, other Judges are either sarcastic or dead‑pan, and that work environment is literally the embodiment of Huo Huo's nightmare.

They always say they care for and look after Huo Huo, but who ever asked if she wants such concern?

Who ever asked whether she's willing to deal with those monsters all day?

What Huo Huo wants is simply a Calm life.

To stay peacefully in one place, without constant anxiety, without fearing being devoured by some inexplicable thing, without listening all day to those so‑called colleagues' ramblings.

That's all.

But no one understands.

The old fox outside is even less likely to understand.

Jing Yuan's voice came again, this time changing the subject:

"Miss Huo Huo, Judge Han Ya is very worried about you. She asked someone to convey that if you've had enough fun outside, you should return early; the Ten Kings Office still has many tasks waiting for you."

Huo Huo's mouth twitched.

Judge Han Ya worried about her?

Worried that she'll run off and no one will hear her nag?

Huo Huo imagined Judge Han Ya's face in her mind, picturing her in that incessant tone saying, "Huo Huo, why are you running around again?", "Huo Huo, do you know this is dangerous?", "Huo Huo, you make me very worried…"

Just thinking about it gives Huo Huo a headache.