My Evil Wife Is a Nine-Tailed Fox

Chapter 14 - Night Hunt (3)

The hospital felt eerie and uncomfortable at night.  One could almost hear a pin drop in the stillness of the night. Shen Minyao stepped out of her hospital room and could barely see a human under twenty feet radius. Most humans were already fast asleep at this time, and only those nurses and doctors on duty could be heard speaking in low voices. 

The hallways were well-lit, but they were empty, not that Shen Minyao expected that she would see them as soon as she stepped out. 

"Can you sense past my private zone?" Shen Minyao asked the white cat that chose to cling over her left shoulder. 

"There are low-level demons on the other end of the building, but they pose no harm to us." Xiao Bai narrowed his eyes and rubbed his right paw on his snout. 

"Don't lower your guard." Shen Minyao reminded him as they continued their walk. They were able to meet humans ahead and exchange greetings with them, with the fox woman plastering an awkward smile on her face. When asked why she was outside her room that late, Shen Minyao could only make up excuses like fetching water or taking a stroll.

Her new host's personality was quite hard to keep up with. Unlike her past host which had a domineering personality, Shen Minyao's meek personality irritated the fox woman to no end. It would surely be hard for her to change Shen Minyao's ways without causing suspicion to the surrounding humans. 

"Why's the ICU too far from here anyway?" She grumbled to herself. The fox woman could have just used her heightened senses and abilities to get to their destination faster, but she didn't want people to suspect Shen Minyao. It also didn't help that there were CCTVs installed at every corner of the hallways. 

Before they could reach the ICU, the two needed to pass the NICU where premature newborn infants were being taken care of. The scent of the newborns was enticing to demons like the fox woman. Aside from monks and priestesses, newborn babies were known to have pure life sources that demons covet to eat. It was also believed that eating an infant's liver provided strength equivalent to one hundred spirits. 

"Hmm… can you see what I'm seeing right now?" Shen Minyao asked her companion. They stopped in front of the huge glass wall from where they could clearly see the babies in their incubators, fighting for their lives. 

"They surely know where to find good food," Xiao Bai commented, his feline eyes narrowing as they looked at the seemingly delicate nurse tending to one of the babies inside the NICU. 

She was looking at one of the weak infants inside its incubator. Her body was emitting such a nauseous scent that reached the fox woman's nose. 

Something about her was suspicious. When she snapped her head to look at Shen Minyao and Xiao Bai, they could see the emptiness in her eyes, and half of her face had weird violet veins covering it starting from her left ear. She couldn't be just a harmless human. 

At the sight of them, the nurse fled in a hurry, but she didn't give any indication that she was afraid of Shen Minyao or Xiao Bai. 

"Should we go after her?" The fox woman crossed her arms and followed the retreating figure of the nurse with her eyes. It was obvious to her that the human was possessed by a demon. She wasn't sure what kind of demon it was since many types of demons could possess humans to control them. 

"Surely, she will come back," Xiao Bai replied, "but aren't you worried that she would come after your human contractor?"

The fox woman might be able to confuse some demons that she was but a human, but if her identity as a nine-tailed fox was revealed, surely, some higher-ranking demons would seek after her. If it wasn't for her fox orb, they might come after her to kill her. After all, killing a high-level demon like her would make any demon advance in ranking and power. 

'Heh,' she scoffed inwardly. As if she would allow something like that to happen. They must be dreaming. No demon was able to beat her in the past; what made them think they would be able to subdue her in her second life? If anything, they would need to collude with the shamans to suppress her. If it wasn't for her trusting a mortal human, she would never lose her life by his own hands. 

Shen Minyao considered her options. While Xiao Bai was right, she didn't think any low- or mid-level demon would be able to get her fox orb from Zhao Yichen. Still, if that demon was under the influence of a more powerful one, that would certainly pose danger not only to her human contractor but also to herself. 

Sighing to herself, she ran her fingers through her long locks. It would be better if she could get rid of the other demons that'd seen her and Xiao Bai. She should have pretended not to see the possessed nurse earlier and went on her way to see her human contractor. 

"How troublesome," She muttered to herself. "Xiao Bai, use your enchantment to cover our tracks." She told the white fat cat before stretching her arms up to her head, her legs taking position for a sprint. 

"Alright." Xiao Bao's obsidian eyes glowed, disturbing the CCTVs around the area. 

In the surveillance room of the hospital, there was a slight static at the monitors showing the NICU and the hallways nearby. The person in charge of the CCTVs hadn't noticed the sudden change as he was preoccupied with his food. Once he turned back his attention to the monitors, it only showed an empty hallway near the NICU where Shen Minyao was previously standing. 

Shen Minyao's eyes changed into amber ones, her sense of scent heightened as she tried to follow the track of the possessed nurse they'd seen earlier.