The male fox who spoke sounded like an elderly man, but the two foxes beside him—one tall and one short—spoke with crisp, feminine voices.
“This is too much! Even if that girl Lanhua said it, I wouldn't believe it! Saying that tigress can fly and kill an old catfish with one paw... she's making it sound so impressive.”
“Third Grandpa, this thick mist is a bit like the mist the old toad back home spits at the moon—people wander into it and get all turned around, unable to find their way out. You're experienced, how powerful do you reckon this big tiger is? Tell us in advance so we sisters have some idea of what to expect.”
One voice was hearty, the other gentle; they sounded like a pair of sisters.
“It's a good thing I came. Otherwise, if you two followed that old girl Lanhua, you might not have gotten things done.”
The fat fox was easy to recognize; his right ear was missing a piece, looking like a semicircle. He twitched his long, pointed snout and clicked his tongue: “There's spiritual energy in this mist, but it doesn't seem to come from underground. It smells right, similar to the scent in the Old Summer Palace back when the Empress Dowager was still around.”
Back then, the Empress Dowager had tried everything to prolong the Great Qing's mandate.
Whether it was hiring Yin Yang masters to arrange the imperial tombs and seek out dragon pulses or inviting shamans from the Northeast's Shamanism into the palace, she tried to change fate.
He had followed a Chu Ma disciple to take a look, just in time for the looting and burning by the Eight-Nation Alliance. Half an ear was shot off by a bullet, leaving that notch.
The two little foxes poked their heads around, noses twitching, eyes closed as they felt the surroundings.
“This scent is so comfortable, just like huddling on the heated brick bed back home and gnawing on raw sweet potatoes.”
“So the stuff floating in this mist is spiritual energy? My mom used to scold me for being dim-witted, saying I couldn't absorb any spiritual energy at all.”
With that, the two little ones couldn't help but frolic in the mist, rolling around comfortably in the grass.
These children were pitiful when they were young, living through hard times where even the spiritual energy for cultivation was squeezed out by the elders from their own meager portions.
He heard that before the Old Master ascended to immortality, the spiritual pulses were robust, and the deep forests were rich with spiritual energy. Back then, the Hu family produced litter after litter of cubs.
Not like now.
Places that produced spiritual energy were all occupied by humans. Usually, they could only rely on their Chu Ma disciples to settle matters for people to cultivate merit and consume some incense.
People nowadays had heavy hearts and deep desires; their minds were full of greed, anger, and ignorance, and their bellies were full of vice. The incense they offered was toxic—like a piece of dung wrapped in sugar.
If their kind ate too much of that incense, they would easily go mad and get entangled in karma, never knowing when a bolt of lightning might strike them dead.
But they had to eat to survive.
Thinking of those kinsmen who refused to eat incense, gradually lost their spirituality, and turned back into ordinary foxes...
The old fat fox couldn't help but shudder.
Becoming stupider by the day, losing reason and the ability for independent thought, eventually turning into beasts with nothing in their heads but eating meat and breeding.
It would be better to die quickly than to suffer such torment.
But their ancestors had made a pact with humans. Even with the spiritual resurgence, they couldn't cross the Shanhai Pass.
“The one living in here... it's hard to say how capable she is. But think about it—if she can take human form, how low can her cultivation be?”
“Once we go in, you two stay quiet. Don't speak out of turn, lest you provoke her and lose your little lives. Remember that, okay?”
The old fat fox shook his head, looking at the two little ones with affection, and added one more warning:
“We're here for two reasons: first, to pass a message for the authorities and ask if she's staying long-term or just passing through, and what her origins are. Second, to build a relationship with the tiger in these mountains to see if we can find out anything useful.”
“There's only so much spiritual energy outside, but it might be even thicker inside. When the time comes, you two absorb as much as you can. I expect she won't hold it against juniors like you, seeing as we're all part of the demon race.”
His words were sincere, full of earnest teaching and fatherly love.
—Then Nan Zhi watched as these three foxes got lost in the mist, circling a strangler fig more than a dozen times.
Nan Zhi placed a bead of ghost incense under her tongue, went outside, and grabbed a leopard, telling it to bring the three foxes over.
She chose a female clouded leopard. When caught, it was with its wobbly, toddling cub. Suddenly seized by Nan Zhi, it trembled, its fur standing on end, yet it didn't move an inch.
【Please eat me...】
【Leave... the cub...】
Nan Zhi glanced at the little clouded leopard that could barely stand, trying to maintain her cold, aloof image as the white tiger woman.
“This little thing isn't even enough for a single bite. Go outside Huyue Gorge, find three yellow foxes, and bring them to me.”
Hearing that Nan Zhi didn't intend to eat her, the mother leopard let out a few whimpers, then flipped over and jumped down, fleeing the slope as if she had just escaped death.
—She wouldn't doubt Nan Zhi's words, because a top predator doesn't need to, and wouldn't deign to, lie.
That left Nan Zhi and the little leopard abandoned by its mother staring at each other. “...”
Nan Zhi picked up the little clouded leopard and placed it in her palm, pressing its head with her paw pads. The cub's fur was fluffy and soft, feeling excellent to the touch.
However, it seemed to be a newborn calf that didn't fear the tiger. Seeing its mother gone, it struggled to escape, even gnawing on Nan Zhi's finger with its baby teeth, occasionally letting out hissing sounds:
【Me! Powerful!】
【Are you scared!】
【Bite you to deaf!】
Scared, scared to death.
Nan Zhi's face remained expressionless, but the tiger ears on her head twitched up and down involuntarily.
The young of other animals nearby followed suit, being drawn in and rubbing their heads against Nan Zhi's legs.
Chubby little bears, little wolves with bright blue eyes that had just been weaned, clean little monkeys with smooth fur, little eagles with their downy feathers still on them looking like living feather dusters...
They all had their eyes wide open, chirping and squeaking together. Under the effect of the ghost incense, Nan Zhi heard only their tender cries:
【Great King!】
【Great King, Great King...】
【Fluffy, play, play, come play!】
【Great King, eat, eat Great King.】
【Bite you to deaf! Bite you to deaf!】
Surrounded by the young ones, Nan Zhi couldn't help but let out a sweet sigh.
Ah, perhaps this is the joy of being a Mountain Lord.
...
...
So, after the three foxes had circled several times like they were hitting ghost walls, they followed the mother leopard through the mist to the front of the bear cave and saw a humanoid white tiger.
She was lying lazily on the grass, with a string of chirping and squeaking animal cubs hanging around her like a scarf.
She looked expressionless, but not angry.
Seeing the three foxes approach, the white tiger woman's golden eyes swept over them. The foxes instinctively held their breath.
—Animals and humans see things differently.
The authorities only saw a white tiger transformed into human form, but in their eyes, the white tiger before them was an absolute peerless beast.
She was overflowing with resentment and baleful energy. Behind her, writhing black mist crawled and screamed, letting out sharp wails.
These wails and screams intertwined, almost threatening to swallow the animal cubs around her.
Just how many has she eaten—
Didn't they say she was a “suspected intelligent humanoid white tiger with goodwill toward humans”?
Who the hell gave that false report?
If they weren't careful, they would likely meet their end here today!
In an instant, all the opening remarks the fat fox had prepared were swallowed back down.
...
Nan Zhi noticed something seemed off with the leading fat fox.
But she didn't mind. She gently pulled her finger out of the little leopard's mouth and let the mother leopard carry the cub back.
“‘We're here for two reasons: first, to pass a message for the authorities and ask if she's staying long-term or just passing through, and what her origins are. Second, to build a relationship with the tiger in these mountains...’”
Nan Zhi rested her paws together. Her mouth opened and closed as she repeated exactly what the old fox had said earlier, getting straight to the point:
“I already know your purpose. There's no need to say more.”
The three foxes were stunned, unable to understand how Nan Zhi knew the private conversation between their grandfather and granddaughters.
—Could it be that from the moment they entered this forest, she knew they were coming?
That wasn't close at all.
Was her ability already so great that she could hear sounds from miles away?
“Hahaha, so it is the Mountain Lord herself. I am Hu Ban'er of the Northeast Hu family. These are my two granddaughters, both of the ‘Cui’ generation—Hu Cuixian and Hu Cuiling.”
“Since the Mountain Lord is so straightforward, I won't hide anything. Indeed, the authorities asked me to bring a message. They wanted to ask if the Mountain Lord is comfortable living here and if there's anything else she needs.”
Fortunately, the fat fox was crafty. A smile squeezed onto his furry face as he explained in standard Mandarin:
“The authorities have no intention of disrespecting the Mountain Lord. These mountains and forests have belonged to both humans and the demon race since ancient times. It's just that mortals are ignorant and can't recognize a true immortal. When the Mountain Lord slew the monster catfish, mortals caught a glimpse of your heroic posture, and it's only natural they were alarmed.”
“The authorities want the Mountain Lord to know they have no ill intent. They simply want to express their gratitude for your help. They have promised that the area of Huyue Gorge, including Qingmeng Mountain, will be granted to the Mountain Lord as a place for secluded cultivation.”
“As for us little demons, we hope to benefit from your presence, relying on the Mountain Lord's protection and the spiritual energy here to cultivate.”
—These words were full of sincerity and phrased so perfectly that no fault could be found.
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