Chapter 87: Folklore Horror (17)
“This campaign to wipe out the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan—our top priority must be to eliminate their heir first: Fuzhu.”
“Once Fuzhu dies, the Celestial Fox clan will have no successor.”
“Is that understood?!”
“Understood!!!”
The demon hunters wore uniform Taoist robes. A layer of flowing black-and-gold gauze draped over them, and strange emblems were set into their belts—likely the insignia of their respective sects. There were also people dressed in different styles of Taoist robes, with different sect symbols at their waists.
Though they came from sects scattered across the land, they appeared extraordinarily united, every face solemn.
This was the largest extermination campaign in a hundred years. Every demon hunting sect had mobilized. They were determined to annihilate the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan!
Everyone stood on high alert.
Before long, wounded soldiers withdrew from the front lines, their faces alight with excitement. “The Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox clan was unprepared during their migration. First squad succeeded in a surprise attack—requesting support from second squad!”
“Second squad is ready—moving to reinforce now!” Delight could be seen everywhere in the crowd. They grabbed their weapons and, in a grand procession of over a thousand people, advanced along the rocky peaks of the mountain valley.
Jian Yuntai was wedged in the middle of the crowd and pushed forward a few steps. Inwardly, he could not help but curse Sun Bin.
What point in time had he been sent to?
And why was he so short?!
It had been a long time since he had experienced being completely blocked from view by a crowd. Even standing on tiptoe, he could not see ahead. He was probably not even 1.4 meters tall right now.
“Master, little junior brother is still too young. He hasn’t learned anything yet.” The young man beside him glanced helplessly at Jian Yuntai, then turned to the white-bearded elder nearby. “I still think he shouldn’t be sent to the front lines.”
The white-bearded elder snorted. “Eight years old is still young? When I was eight, I had already slain countless demons!”
The young man muttered under his breath, “What era was that? Look at what era this is now.”
The white-bearded elder turned to look at Jian Yuntai and all the children behind him. “I don’t expect you to kill the great demon Fuzhu. Going to the front lines this time will count as experience. Once we return to the sect, each of you must subdue a demon beast and submit it to the sect. If you don’t, don’t blame me for being harsh.”
“Yes, Master!”
The children’s faces were a mix of excitement and fear, each eager to show off their might in the coming battle.
“I’m going to tame a big tiger!”
“What’s so great about a tiger? Taming a Celestial Fox would be impressive.”
“You talk big now—just wait till you’re actually on the battlefield. I bet you’ll all end up crying, hahaha…”
The air around him was filled with chattering voices. Jian Yuntai glanced back and sharply noticed several familiar-looking children—like miniaturized versions of players from this instance. He even saw a chubby boy, though he did not know if that was Fatty.
The players participating in the folklore horror instance varied widely in age. Rolling back ten years, some had been adults, some teenagers, and some—like him—children.
Surveying the whole scene, he was the youngest.
While thinking this, Jian Yuntai kept a straight little face, his eyes brimming with calculation and strategy. Unbeknownst to him, the livestream viewers had already gone wild over the sight:
“How was Wife this cute as a kid?! He grew up in perfect proportion—he looks so soft and pinchable. Oh no, I’m too embarrassed to call him Wife now.”
“Hehehe, our son is so adorable~”
“If you call him son, Jian Dadan will definitely go berserk.”
“Let’s call him that secretly. He won’t know, hehe~ Everyone be careful not to spam it into a title~”
By the time the second squad arrived to reinforce, the forest had become utter chaos. Blood and withered trees were tangled everywhere. The ground was slippery underfoot, and the heavy stench of blood made breathing difficult.
The Celestial Fox clan had set up camp in the forest. Under a sparse moon and blazing bonfires, demon hunters raised torches and searched through the sprawling camp that stretched for miles.
“The Celestial Fox Queen took a heavy blow in place of the young heir. We don’t know where they’re hiding, but they must still be in the camp!” A demon hunter stood atop a collapsed tent and shouted loudly. “The Celestial Fox King is rushing this way. Before dawn, we must find the demon heir and kill him before the King arrives!”
Later generations passed down the story that after the demon heir disappeared, the Celestial Fox Queen died of illness due to excessive grief. That was only part of the truth. A more important reason was that she had taken a fatal blow meant for Fuzhu.
Now she was hiding somewhere among these tents.
There were tens of thousands of tents in sight, each covering more than a dozen square meters. The demon hunters scattered into teams, searching through the vast number of tents. The torches in their hands resembled ferocious beasts rampaging in the night, roaring in the wind.
It was like the looting and slaughter before the fall of a dynasty. Most demon hunters rushed to the front lines to seize spoils of war. Only a small number remained in the rear camp to watch the children.
“Hey—don’t run around! There are still plenty of Celestial Foxes hiding in the camp. They love eating children the most!”
“If you want to catch demons, go to the forest later. Go beg your senior sisters to take you out to play.”
The senior brother was at his wits’ end. From time to time, he asked Jian Yuntai to help count heads, starting from “one.”
When the count reached fifty, he finally let out a breath of relief.
After repeating this several times, one count suddenly came to forty-nine. The senior brother froze in shock and hurriedly counted again and again, panic rising. “Why is one missing?!”
He immediately wanted Jian Yuntai to count again—this little junior brother might be young, but he was meticulous. Yet after searching several rounds and failing to find him, about five minutes later, looking at the confused young faces in front of him, the senior brother suddenly realized—
Damn it. The missing one was Jian Yuntai!
Meanwhile—
Jian Yuntai had already slipped away from the group, face calm as he bypassed the firelight and walked toward an unknown direction.
He felt a pulling force.
The Celestial Fox Jade Pendant Fuzhu had given him was pressed against his chest, faintly warm. As if responding to some kind of summons, he almost could not control himself as he walked in one direction.
Under his feet was the blood of the Nine-Tailed Celestial Foxes. The air reeked of blood and scorched flesh. Everything before his eyes resembled hell itself. Jian Yuntai’s heart felt incomparably heavy.
He had thought Fuzhu had simply gone missing during the clan’s migration. But judging by the current situation, it was likely far more than just a migration.
He walked until he reached a tent near the edge of the camp and finally stopped.
The tent was silent. About fifty meters away, demon hunters were holding torches and searching nearby tents. At this pace, they would soon reach this one.
Jian Yuntai did not hesitate.
He lifted the tent flap and stepped inside.
Before his eyes could adjust to the darkness, his entire body was suddenly bound at the calf by a tail. With a loud thud, he was hoisted upside down into the air. A beautiful yet striking face pressed close, eyes flashing with ferocity as sharp teeth were bared.
“De-mon-hun-ter!” she spat through clenched teeth, as though she wanted to grind the words to dust in her mouth.
A chill ran down Jian Yuntai’s spine. He had never felt such intense killing intent. If he activated his Red-Green Colorblind skill at this moment, his vision would probably be nothing but a sea of blood-red.
“Die!!!”
Amid the terrified screams of the livestream viewers, the Celestial Fox Queen raised her hand. Her five fingers transformed into sharp claws, and with a fierce gust of cold wind, she slashed toward Jian Yuntai—
But just one second before the gleaming claws touched him, they abruptly froze in midair.
“Y-you… how could you…?” The Celestial Fox Queen’s face turned blank, her eyes filled with confusion and disbelief.
Following her gaze—
With a crisp ding, the Celestial Fox jade pendant slipped from Jian Yuntai’s collar, swayed in the air a few times, and finally pressed against the bridge of his nose.
Jian Yuntai’s gaze was calm. “Put me down.” Hanging upside down was too uncomfortable. A few more minutes and he would have thrown up.
The Celestial Fox Queen was already at the end of her strength. Of her nine tails, only two remained unbroken. At his words, she gently lowered him to the ground, though hesitation still lingered in her expression.
“This jade pendant… where did you get it?”
“This one? Your son gave it to me.” Sitting on the ground, Jian Yuntai lifted the pendant with one hand. He could still feel a faint warmth in his palm. Though he was speaking to the Celestial Fox Queen, his eyes continued scanning the tent, searching for the little fox’s figure.
Behind two fluffy fox tails, he could see a small white bundle curled up, its snow-white fur stained with blood.
Relief flooded Jian Yuntai’s heart.
If he could rescue Fuzhu and get him out, perhaps he could spare him the pain of having his demon core dug out!
As he thought this, the Celestial Fox Queen’s expression shifted repeatedly, deep confusion in her eyes. The Celestial Fox jade pendant was still in her possession. It was not yet time for it to be passed down to Fuzhu.
So how had Jian Yuntai obtained it from Fuzhu?
That was secondary. More importantly—
Her voice tightened as she asked blankly, “You are human?”
Jian Yuntai nodded. “Yes.”
The Celestial Fox Queen looked even more incredulous. “And a demon hunter?”
Jian Yuntai replied, “Yes. Why?”
“…………” The Celestial Fox Queen coughed lightly and fell silent.
She could tell at a glance whether the jade pendant was genuine. Such an item could not be forcibly taken, because before it could be stolen, Fuzhu would certainly have destroyed it.
Which meant—
No matter how contradictory everything before her seemed, one fact was undeniable: Fuzhu had truly given the Celestial Fox jade pendant to a human. And not just any human—a demon hunter!
This… this was simply…
After a long silence, the Celestial Fox Queen sighed and shook her head, murmuring, “A doomed bond. Between you two, it was a doomed bond…”
Jian Yuntai frowned slightly. Only now did he begin to sense something amiss.
When Fuzhu had put the jade pendant on him, he had said it was something he picked up, common among the demon clan. It had no special meaning and was not precious.
That was clearly not the case.
Had Fuzhu hidden something from him?
“What?” Jian Yuntai’s brows knit even tighter. He was just about to ask when a sudden shout rang out from outside the tent: “This tent hasn’t been searched yet!”
The voice had been ten meters away, but in the blink of an eye it leapt closer—so close it seemed the tent flap would be ripped open at any second.
“!!!”
In an instant, the Celestial Fox Queen reverted to her true form, using her fox body to brace the entrance. At the same time, excited cries erupted outside: “Over here! There’s still a remnant of the Celestial Fox clan here!”
Thud, thud, thud! Thud, thud, thud! Multiple sets of footsteps pounded like war drums—urgent and dense—quickly gathering outside the tent. Various weapons smashed against the Celestial Fox Queen as she blocked the entrance.
With a sharp crack, another tail snapped off.
Her body convulsed twice. Suddenly she bent forward and spat out a mouthful of blood with a hoarse cry. “Go! Take him and go!”
On the opposite side of the tent there was another opening that had been torn open. Jian Yuntai moved faster than thought itself, almost instantly reaching Fuzhu’s side. He gathered the unconscious Fuzhu into his arms.
The little fox’s hind leg was injured. Even though Jian Yuntai deliberately avoided the wound, his hands still came away warm with blood.
One foot had already stepped through the opening. Jian Yuntai clenched his teeth and looked back. “Why aren’t you leaving?”
That opening had been there for quite some time. The Celestial Fox Queen should have been able to escape with Fuzhu long ago. Why, after several hours, had she still refused to flee?
“I cannot leave. The clan has suffered calamity. As the Celestial Fox Queen of the Celestial Fox clan, I must live and die with my people.” She lowered her eyes, a trace of moisture sliding through them. Soon she closed them tightly. When she looked at Jian Yuntai again, her gaze had completely changed—it was the look of someone entrusting her child at the brink of death.
Smiling through tears, she said, “Since my son gave you the jade pendant, then you… you must not bully him in the future.”
Demon hunters and demons had always been natural enemies.
It was not as though there had never been tragic unions between them before. More often than not, either the demon had forced the demon hunter, seizing them by power, or the demon had stubbornly followed after, only to be slain by the hunter to prove their Dao. Even when feelings were mutual, both the demon hunters’ sects and the demon clans would join forces to oppose them, eliminating the outliers.
No matter how one calculated it, not a single pair had ever met a good end.
The Celestial Fox Queen was heavy with worry, fearing that Fuzhu would one day walk the same hopeless road. But she could no longer concern herself with so much. With her last remaining great tail, she wrapped around Jian Yuntai and hurled him violently toward the opening.
Boom!
The instant he hit the ground, the tent collapsed behind him. It felt as though ten years of time had been pierced through at once, and the vast white snow of Mother Goddess Mountain had been delivered here as well.
“It’s the Celestial Fox Queen!”
“Quick! Find the Young Heir of the Celestial Fox clan. He must be nearby. Killing him would be a tremendous achievement!”
Excited shouts rang out continuously behind him.
Jian Yuntai stepped into the snow without looking back even once, running swiftly toward the dense forest ahead.
He had saved him. He had saved him!
As long as he evaded pursuit and delivered Fuzhu somewhere safe, his demon core would not be dug out!
※※※
To be ambushed by demon hunters and see one’s entire clan gravely wounded—only to then be rescued by a demon hunter. What kind of feeling was that?
Fuzhu stared coldly at the figure before the campfire.
The man’s pale face was smeared with great swaths of dirt and blood, obscuring his features. When he slightly raised his eyes, there was a maturity in them that did not match his age. “You’re awake?”
Jian Yuntai asked casually, then stood and walked closer.
Whoosh—
Whoosh—
The frigid wind almost pushed him forward. His black-and-gold Taoist robe provided no warmth at all. His hands and feet were already icy cold, his entire body stiff and his movements sluggish.
As the sound of approaching footsteps tapped closer, every hair on Fuzhu’s body stood on end. A low, rumbling growl of warning came from his throat.
—The demon hunter wanted to kill him!
Fuzhu tried to stand and flee, but the injury to his hind leg left him unable to move. He could only watch as the human demon hunter approached step by step, bent down, and extended his hand.
Slash—
With a sharp sound, a claw mark suddenly appeared across Jian Yuntai’s palm, flesh torn open to the bone.
He recoiled in pain and frowned at Fuzhu.
When Jian Yuntai frowned at someone, the sharpness in his brows and eyes was terrifying. After locking gazes with him for a few seconds, Fuzhu shrank back half a step. His fox ears stood erect in vigilance, his voice thick with hatred. “Get away!”
Jian Yuntai sighed softly. “I won’t hurt you. If anything, I was the one who saved you.”
Snowflakes drifted down in flurries like willow catkins scattered by the wind, landing between Jian Yuntai’s brows. The pure white snow formed a stark contrast with the grime and blood on his face. Before the campfire, the shadow he cast enveloped Fuzhu.
Dead silence.
A long stretch of dead silence.
Neither of them spoke. In the end, it was Jian Yuntai who softened first, muttering, “Why were you so disobedient when you were little?” After saying that, he turned back to the fire, tore a strip from the hem of his Taoist robe, and casually wrapped it around his palm.
Of course it hurt.
The little fox had struck viciously—he had aimed to kill. If Jian Yuntai had not dodged in time, he might have lost the entire hand.
Amid the crackling of the fire, when Fuzhu saw that Jian Yuntai ignored him for a long time, he quietly let out a breath of relief. Slowly, he straightened and tentatively took a step.
A tearing pain shot through his injured hind leg.
He hissed and immediately stopped moving. Lowering his eyes slightly, a flash of astonishment crossed his fox-like gaze.
The wound had already been bandaged.
His entire body felt weak and chilled in the ice and snow—except for his hind leg. That place, wrapped in black-and-gold fabric, was warm.
“You’d better not get hurt again,” Jian Yuntai’s voice drifted over with the wind, carrying a faint teasing smile. “If you do, I’ll have to tear more clothes off myself to bandage you. When I’m left with nothing to wear, I’ll pluck out your fox fur to make clothes.”
Fuzhu’s mood did not improve in the slightest at those words. He remained silent and lay back down on the ground.
“What do you want from me?”
“…” Jian Yuntai sighed. He thought to himself that this beginning was truly disastrous—Fuzhu’s prejudice against him was far too strong. After a moment’s consideration, he chose a safe answer. “What I want isn’t something you can give me. So put your mind at ease.”
Fuzhu’s tone turned mocking. “Then why did you save me?”
Jian Yuntai immediately mocked him back with a scoff. “Because I’m kind-hearted. I often save stray cats and dogs. Is that not allowed?”
Fuzhu lifted his chin, pride written all over his face. “I am a Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox. My noble bloodline cannot be compared to cats and dogs.”
Jian Yuntai let out a short laugh. “My, how impressive you are.”
Fuzhu: “…………”
The livestream viewers had already collapsed with laughter.
“Hahaha, whether it was ten years ago or ten years later, Jian Dadan really specializes in dealing with Fuzhu. Fuzhu just has no way to handle him.”
“Sigh, if only the little fox could always stay like this—like a proud little sun, noble and radiant, looking at people as if they were nothing more than ants. What a pity he was locked up for ten years later. It was like snapping all the bones of his pride. Those ten years must have been utterly miserable.”
“That’s why Jian Dadan traveled back ten years to save him, ahhh! I wonder which bastard dug out the little fox’s demon core and even made our Dadan’er take the blame for it.”
“It had to be the demon hunter sects. When Fuzhu was unconscious just now, several groups were searching nearby. If Jian Dadan hadn’t been clever, they might’ve already been captured.”
“Wuwuwuwu I’m so scared they’ll repeat the same tragedy. I hope this time Jian Dadan can protect Fuzhu’s demon core and not let him go through those painful, dark ten years again.”
From that point on, no matter what Jian Yuntai did, a refined yet infuriatingly smug young master’s voice lingered at his ear.
When he built the fire, Fuzhu mocked softly, “Making the flames so fierce—were you trying to lure your colleagues here?”
When he caught a rabbit, Fuzhu sneered, “Killing a rabbit to warn the fox? Give up that idea early. I won’t be frightened by you.”
When he roasted the rabbit, Fuzhu even let out a direct scoff. “You dared to threaten me?”
It was only when the aroma of roasted meat filled the small snowy forest that Fuzhu finally fell silent.
“…………” The fox’s nose twitched quietly.
Jian Yuntai was highly skilled at surviving in the wild. Using his uninjured hand to turn the skewer, he finally spoke. “You should be grateful for your blood. Otherwise, the one skewered over this fire right now would’ve been you.” Back when Jian Yuntai had nearly starved to death, Fuzhu had fed him with his own body.
“What do you mean?”
Fuzhu limped closer and sat by the campfire, forepaws tucked in, his vertical pupils unblinking as they fixed on the rabbit. Nine pristine white fox tails spread out behind him like nine streams of sacred moonlight cascading down, their glow shifting as if in some celestial realm.
Jian Yuntai pressed his lips together in a faint smile. When he glanced sideways, he blinked lightly. “Guess.”
Even though his face was smeared with ash and blood, a sharp and dazzling elegance still showed through his brows and eyes. The livestream comments refreshed so quickly the screen was filled with howls:
“I’ve figured it out!! Jian Dadan especially loves teasing younger guys. He deliberately flirts and scares them. He teased Sun Bin in the ‘King of Hell’s Wedding’ instance before, and I heard he always scares his little assistant too. Wuwuwuwu our little fox finally gets this treatment!”
“What does that mean? It means Jian Dadan likes this type of boy! Fuzhu, I’m rooting for you!”
To call it “liking” might have been an exaggeration.
But Jian Yuntai did indeed enjoy teasing boys of this type. He had always been like that since childhood. Every time he met one, he could not resist provoking them a little. Watching their vivid expressions always amused him.
With a crisp clack, Jian Yuntai lifted the skewer from the campfire rack. Holding up the roasted rabbit, he deliberately made a wide arc and waved it in front of Fuzhu’s eyes. The latter’s gaze followed the rabbit the entire time.
Taking a deep breath, Jian Yuntai exclaimed, “Smells so good!”
“……” Fuzhu shot him a cold look.
“Sigh, if only there were cumin. Or at least some salt. But in this frozen wilderness, I can’t ask for much. It’s better than starving with an empty stomach.” Under Fuzhu’s increasingly dangerous stare, Jian Yuntai knew when to stop. The smile tugging at his lips rose uncontrollably before he forced it down.
Suppressing his laughter, he looked at Fuzhu. “Want some?”
The little fox lay motionless on the ground, too lazy even to lift his eyelids, his mouth unopened.
Yet that voice—clear and refined enough to cleanse the mind—still sounded. “Yes. Go on. What do you want in exchange?”
A map of the demon territories?
Or several of the great sacred artifacts the human race had long coveted?
Humans.
In the end, they were weak and greedy.
With that thought, the mockery in Fuzhu’s heart deepened.
But when he raised his eyes and met Jian Yuntai’s gaze, he paused slightly. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
His nine fox tails drew in slightly. He said warily, “You can ask for anything you want, except my tails. I cannot lose a single one.”
“What would I want your tails for? If you want to eat…” Jian Yuntai lightly rubbed his chin with his fingertips, thinking that this proud and arrogant little fox had once been his contracted demon beast.
Since that was the case, the teasing in Jian Yuntai’s eyes deepened abruptly. “How about you call me ‘Master’ and let me hear it?”
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