Chapter 259: Unlike You, Fragrant
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Yu Zhao had noticed it too.
In truth, both the Nine-Tailed Fox and Bai Ling were secretly worried about the Heavenly Ladder’s collapse.
One dealt with it openly, while the other remained covert, making it nearly impossible for outsiders to connect the two.
No, not just outsiders. Even Bai Ling probably didn’t realize that the Nine-Tailed Fox was monitoring the situation. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have avoided contact for so many years.
That the Nine-Tailed Fox refused to reveal the truth to Yu Zhao wasn’t unexpected. The divide between humans and the demonic race wasn’t something her mere words could bridge.
“Nine-Tailed Sister, if you don’t trust me, I won’t insist. But Bai Ling, your clan leader, has been devoted to you for ages. I hope you’ll give him a chance.”
Bai Ling’s face turned crimson, and he instinctively wanted to deny it. But remembering the embarrassing display of his uncontrollable feathers fanning earlier, he gave up resisting, turning his head away in feigned indifference.
The Nine-Tailed Fox gave Yu Zhao a teasing glare. “Little girl, you don’t need to meddle in your elder sister’s affairs.”
Yu Zhao chuckled knowingly and found an excuse to make her exit.
“Yu Zhao…”
Seeing her leave, Bai Ling leapt to his feet in panic.
The Nine-Tailed Fox’s voice lingered, soft and lilting. “What? Don’t you want to talk to me?”
“N-no, I mean… yes, I do.”
Bai Ling’s stammered reply drifted to Yu Zhao’s ears as she hastened her steps.
For the sake of the cultivation world’s future, Clan Leader Bai Ling, your dignity may have to take a little hit.
Once she was out of range of the two demon spirits’ prying eyes, Yu Zhao slowed down, her expression growing thoughtful.
In her previous life, the White Peacock Clan and the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan had clashed bitterly over Quan Ye. The White Peacock Clan backed him in the struggle for the Beast King title, while the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan staunchly opposed him. By the time Yu Zhao died, Quan Ye was only the most popular contender and hadn’t yet ascended to the throne.
If Yu Zhao hadn’t accompanied Bai Ling to Green Hill Mountain, she never would have discovered the surprising connection between two notorious former enemies.
This time, she had found a demonic beast egg from the Azure Dragon lineage to replace Quan Ye’s role. Hopefully, the two clans wouldn’t repeat their past mistakes.
Thinking of Quan Ye, Yu Zhao’s eye twitched. She recalled the pathetic sight of him tied to a tree, half-dead.
Would he remember any of it when he woke up? Would he finally tone down his arrogance?
Yu Zhao found herself oddly looking forward to the answer.
…
“Are you human?”
A small gray fox peeked its head out of the grass, its large, watery eyes blinking curiously. Behind it, two fluffy tails swayed back and forth.
The Nine-Tailed Fox Clan ranked themselves by fur color and tail number. The One-Tailed Green Fox was the weakest, while the Nine-Tailed White Fox reigned supreme. However, the cultivation world hadn’t seen a Nine-Tailed White Fox in many years. The most powerful were the Five-Tailed Mystical Foxes at the Divine Transformation Stage.
Both the Nine-Tailed Fox and the ascended Red Tail were Five-Tailed Mystical Foxes.
This little fox, however, had gray fur and two tails, making it a Two-Tailed Ghost Fox, roughly equivalent to a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
“Yes,” Yu Zhao replied with a gentle smile.
The little fox seemed to sense her goodwill. It hopped out of the grass and sniffed at her feet. Its round eyes grew even wider.
“You smell nice. Not like them!”
The fox wrinkled its nose and repeated, “They stink. I don’t like them.”
They? Yu Zhao thought, intrigued.
She crouched down and pulled a handful of dried fish snacks from her storage space, offering them to the little fox.
Without hesitation, the fox grabbed the snacks with its tiny paws and took a big bite.
It froze in disbelief, then devoured the rest like a gust of wind.
“If you give me more fish, I’ll answer any question you ask.”
Before Yu Zhao could even speak, the fox had guessed her intentions. It licked its paws and proposed the trade.
Yu Zhao waved her hand. Two entire baskets of dried fish landed with a thud in front of the fox.
These were a specialty she had bought in Southern Abyss City. She had purchased them in bulk because they were both high quality and affordable.
The little fox darted its eyes around cautiously before quickly storing both baskets in its storage space. Then it pulled out a single fish snack, munching as it spoke.
“Whoever made these snacks… so tasty… mmm… what a genius…”
Yu Zhao couldn’t help but laugh, tempted to spoil the fox with even more treats. But first, she needed answers.
“Who were you talking about earlier when you said ‘they’?”
“Oh, the big guy, the icy one, and his servant.”
The “big guy” was Quan Ye, and the “icy one” and “servant” were undoubtedly Master Qing Yan and Su Ming.
Yu Zhao couldn’t help marveling at the tangled fates between these individuals.
In the cultivation world, there were seven or eight widely known demonic creatures. Of all of them, Master Qing Yan had to choose to cross paths with the Nine-Tailed Fox.
“And where are the other two now?” Yu Zhao asked.
“That, I don’t know. They’re probably far away. The clan leader is deliberately making things difficult for them. No way she’d let them have an easy time.”
“Why would the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan Leader trouble them?”
At this question, the little fox huffed angrily, waving its plump paws. “It’s because that icy one looks down on us demons! From the moment he arrived at Green Hill Mountain, he wore that stinky face, saying stinky things and complaining about the fox smell everywhere. Of course, the clan leader had to teach him a lesson.”
Yu Zhao chuckled. That certainly sounded like Master Qing Yan.
No wonder Quan Ye ended up tied to a tree. It seemed he suffered for Qing Yan’s actions.
“All my sisters like the big guy, but I don’t. He’s ugly, always glaring at me. Not like you—you’re nice and smell good. Plus, you have fish snacks. I should marry you. My fox den is warm and spacious. That way, I can eat fish snacks every day.”
The little fox gazed at Yu Zhao with a hopeful glint in its eyes.
Yu Zhao’s brows arched as she reached out to ruffle its fluffy head.
“Thank you for liking me, but you can’t decide to marry someone just for some snacks. The ones giving them might not always be good people. Fish snacks could even be poisoned bait meant to trick innocent little foxes like you.”
The fox gasped, clutching its round belly in horror. “Are the snacks poisoned? Am I dying?”
“The ones I gave you aren’t poisoned, but others you encounter might be.”
Yu Zhao could tell the little fox had likely never left Green Hill Mountain and lacked any sense of danger towards humans.
This could be dangerous.
The fox sighed in relief and patted its full stomach. “Then I’m fine. I can tell good people from bad people. You’re good. The icy one and the big guy are bad. Even if their fish snacks smelled… sniff… amazing, I wouldn’t eat them.”
Yu Zhao eyed the fox skeptically as it sniffled, clearly tempted.
“Really, really! I’m the smartest fox in the Nine-Tailed Fox Clan. If you don’t believe me, I’ll take you to my sisters. They can vouch for me.”
The little fox leapt onto Yu Zhao’s shoulder, directing her to meet its clan members.
Yu Zhao winced at the weight on her shoulder.
How could something so small be so unexpectedly heavy?