C167 — Kill That Nine-Tailed Fox (3)

 

Thinking back to the earlier moment, Xie Chen raised his head and glanced up at the tree overhead.

The fruit that had fallen—an acorn—was bitter and unpalatable. Neither humans nor most beasts liked it. Yet that “girl” had casually popped it into her mouth without a second thought.

Suspicion deepened in his eyes.

—

On Shen Jue’s side, after finally shaking off Xie Chen, he unfortunately ran straight into another cultivator.

This one looked to be in his twenties, with a long, narrow face and tattered clothes. Clearly from some run-down, declining sect—he didn’t even have a decent robe.

When he saw Shen Jue flitting through the trees, the man smirked and flew up to block his path.

“Well, well, what a plump little mouse. Just in time—I’m starving.”

Though most cultivators practiced fasting techniques and survived on energy pills, some still clung to mortal indulgences—especially gluttony.

Shen Jue backed up two steps, wary. The man saw this and grinned wider, pulling out a small pill from his robes.

“Come here, little mouse. I’ve got a treat for you.”

The pill was clearly a low-grade one.

Shen Jue immediately turned and ran in the opposite direction. But the cultivator—clearly starving—wasn’t about to give up so easily. He pursued relentlessly, forcing Shen Jue to cast spells behind him as he fled.

The man’s eyes lit up.

Though Fu Jiuyin had never been a responsible teacher, the spells he taught were all high-level techniques. And Shen Jue, despite his humble form, wielded them well.

The cultivator had already been inside the forbidden zone for some time, yet had never encountered a beast capable of casting high-level spells. At first, he just wanted to eat Shen Jue. But now, seeing such talent, he was dead set on capturing him.

The man brought out all his tools—including a Binding Immortal Rope.

Eventually, Shen Jue was tightly bound and left dangling from a tree like a dumpling.

“Well, you sure can run. If I didn’t have so many treasures, I wouldn’t have caught you,” the cultivator cackled, walking up and jabbing at Shen Jue’s belly. “Don’t bother struggling. Without my command, that rope won’t let you go.”

“Now be good and tell me—where’d you learn those spells?”

Shen Jue hadn’t expected to be caught by such a scruffy nobody. His robes were ragged, but he had an impressive array of magical tools. What was his background? Shen Jue wondered briefly—but the more pressing matter was: how to escape.

“If I tell you,” Shen Jue said cautiously, “will you let me go?”

The man blinked. “Whoa—you can talk?”

Most beasts in this forbidden zone couldn’t even speak, much less cast spells. If they attacked, it was purely with brute force. This squirrel, however…

“Hah! Looks like I hit the jackpot. Go on, tell me. I promise—once I know, I’ll let you go.”

His tone wasn’t exactly convincing.

But Shen Jue decided to tell the truth. “I learned them from a Nine-Tailed Fox.”

The moment the words “Nine-Tailed Fox” left his mouth, the cultivator’s eyes lit up completely.

The Nine-Tailed Fox—a legendary ancient beast. You could wander for ten thousand years and never meet one. But if someone managed to tame one…

Immortality wouldn’t be far off.

“Where is this Nine-Tailed Fox?!” the man demanded eagerly.

“Let me go first, and I’ll tell you. Otherwise, if you kill me, I’ll take the secret with me,” Shen Jue replied, turning his face away with a huff.

“Oh, oh—okay, okay, little ancestor,” the cultivator coaxed. “I’ll let you go. Don’t be angry.”

And just like that, Shen Jue had gone from “little mouse” to “little ancestor.”

The man withdrew the Binding Immortal Rope, and Shen Jue dropped lightly to the ground. He looked up at the cultivator and asked seriously, “You really want to meet the Nine-Tailed Fox? He’s very… fierce.”

“Fortune lies in danger. Where do you think it is?”

Shen Jue raised his paw and pointed in a direction. “Over there, there’s a cave. In front of it is a pine tree. That cave is where the nine-tailed fox lives.”

The cultivator, hearing this, showed a half-doubtful expression.

Beasts who’d gained intelligence usually built their own residences—not necessarily lavish, but at least well-hidden. And now, an ancient mythical beast lived in a rundown cave?

The cultivator’s eyes shifted. “Alright, I understand.”

As he finished speaking, he bound Shen Jue again with an Immortal-Binding Rope—though this time, he didn’t hang him upside down from a tree.

He stuffed Shen Jue into his clothes. “Little mouse, I’ll let you go after I meet the nine-tailed fox. Right now, I’m starving. Gotta find something to eat first.”

Shen Jue was forced to curl up in the cultivator’s arms, but he wasn’t afraid. This cultivator wasn’t sure whether he was telling the truth, so he wouldn’t kill him rashly. Plus, Fu Jiuyin would wake up by noon the next day at the latest, and he’d surely notice Shen Jue’s absence by then.

Fu Jiuyin had placed a restriction on Shen Jue. No matter where Shen Jue went, Fu Jiuyin could sense it. So Shen Jue wasn’t worried about being found.

The only concern was if Fu Jiuyin chose not to look for him. In that case, Shen Jue would have to lead this cultivator straight to Fu Jiuyin.

The cultivator caught a chicken, carefully plucked its feathers, roasted it over a fire, and even took out a flask of wine from his storage ring. Once the chicken was done, he pulled Shen Jue out of his clothes and set him aside.

He drank wine, ate chicken, and occasionally glanced at the sky. After finishing the meal, he put out the fire and grabbed Shen Jue again, setting off once more.

Surprisingly, he ended up right where Shen Jue had previously escaped from—the same place where Xie Chen was now meditating.

Xie Chen had already opened his eyes, staring in the direction the cultivator was approaching from.

The cultivator seemed to sense Xie Chen’s presence as well. Before even seeing him, he called out, “Hey there, brother. Don’t be nervous. I just thought the air was nice here, so I came to sit for a bit. I’m not here to cause trouble.”

He stopped several meters away from Xie Chen. He didn’t look at the sleeping girl nearby—only glanced at Xie Chen and then sat down.

Xie Chen looked at him briefly, then suddenly locked his gaze on the man’s chest.
A familiar aura.

“What’s in your coat?”

“Oh, that?” The cultivator pulled out Shen Jue. “Just caught him. Tender meat. Want some?”

As he took Shen Jue out, he placed a silence seal on him.

Xie Chen’s eyes changed the moment he saw Shen Jue. This squirrel seemed to be the same one he’d seen earlier, the one that transformed into a fellow sect member.

The cultivator dangled Shen Jue in front of Xie Chen a few times, then stuffed him back into his coat. He started chatting, but Xie Chen was a quiet type—ten questions might earn just one answer.

The noise woke the sleeping girl. She rubbed her eyes, still groggy, and sat up. “Xie Chen, who are you talking to?”

“Whoa, another junior sister here. Hello, junior sister,” the cultivator greeted cheerfully. “I’m Ma You from the Yinshan Sect. I’m thirty this year. May I ask how old you are?”

The girl hadn’t expected a strange man to suddenly appear and was so startled she jumped off the bed and hid behind Xie Chen.

Ma You, seeing her retreat, only laughed happily. He walked over to her bed, reached out to touch it, and looked delighted. “This bed is a fine item. Junior sister, may I lie down for a bit?”

Without waiting for a reply, he lay down on his own.

The girl’s face turned livid with anger and she was about to draw her sword, but Xie Chen stopped her and sent her a voice transmission:

“Don’t act rashly—this man is very powerful.”

The young girl froze for a moment. Judging by his shabby appearance, that man didn’t look like anything special. And as for the so-called Yinshan Sect—she had never even heard of it. Could he really be some powerful cultivator?

Still, she knew that nowadays, many people deliberately hid their sect affiliations to lower others’ guard. At the Contracting Beast Assembly, it wasn’t just beasts killing cultivators—there were also plenty of cultivators killing each other for the magic treasures on their bodies.

Some people didn’t even contract with beasts at all—they came every year just to rob others of their treasures.

Because of Xie Chen’s warning, the girl had to swallow her anger. Huffing, she sat down next to Xie Chen, but couldn’t help glaring at Ma You, who had taken over her bed. Xie Chen, calm as ever, quietly scooted a bit to the side.

After a while of glaring, the girl saw Ma You pull a squirrel from his robes and place it on her pillow.

“Come, little mouse. Let’s sleep together. Don’t say I mistreat you. Rest early—we’ve got to head out tomorrow to catch that nine-tailed fox.”

Nine-tailed fox?

The girl’s eyes widened in surprise, and she quickly glanced at Xie Chen beside her—but his eyes were closed, expression unchanged.

…

Ma You had loosened Shen Jue’s bindings, leaving only one of his hind legs tied, then promptly fell asleep. Shen Jue waited patiently. When he was sure Ma You’s breathing was steady, he quietly slipped off the bed.

Though the Immortal-Binding Rope was still tied to his leg, it was long enough for him to sneak over to the girl’s side. He sat and tilted his head slightly.

The girl blinked at him. Shen Jue’s fur was sleek and soft—he looked incredibly cute. She couldn’t resist and reached out to gently pet him. When he didn’t resist, she stroked him a few more times, then whispered to Xie Chen, “Look, he’s so cute.”

Xie Chen opened his eyes, glanced coldly at the snow-furred squirrel next to her, and said flatly, “Who knows how long it’s been since he last bathed.”

With that, the girl instantly yanked her hand back like she’d been burned.

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