Chương 21: The Blazing Fire Fox

The Great Ridge Mountains. At this moment, the entire hunting team was staring intently at Li Hui, who was covering his mouth with both hands. Seeing his reaction, a certain person popped into Zhong Kui's mind. Zhao Hu, lacking the patience to overthink it, saw him stammering and barked:"If you know, spit it out! What's with this hiding and hesitating? Where are your manners?" Startled by the scolding and seeing Zhao Hu's face darken, Li Hui didn't dare hide it anymore. He stammered:"Lord...

Lord Hu, doesn't our village still have my uncle and that brat Song Que?" Hearing this, Zhao Hu's eyes lit up. He had almost forgotten! Those two rats had sneaked around and stolen heaven knows what good stuff from his Zhao family's territory. At the very least, they had snatched sixty taels of shining white silver! This matter had been a thorn in Lord Hu's side for a long time.

He had wanted to find an opportunity to teach Song Que a harsh lesson, but those two acted like sewer rats scurrying underground; no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find them. To bump into them today—wasn't this the will of heaven? If he didn't force those rats to vomit up their gains with interest, his surname wasn't Zhao! He stood up abruptly, shouting with excitement:"Whether it's them or not, we'll know once we look! Everyone, pack up! We're heading over!"

Seeing his demeanor, Zhong Kui didn't even need to use his brain to know trouble was brewing. He opened his mouth to advise:"It's nothing important. There's no need to mobilize everyone for this."

"Old Zhong, you have to realize this is for the collective good of the village! Who doesn't know that Song Que made a fortune because of you? Buying a cart, buying goods, hauling back a massive pile of stuff!"

"If it happened once or twice and I didn't know, I would let it slide. But we can't just coddle him forever!"

"You must understand that the Great Ridge Mountains belong to the entire village. By doing this, he shows he holds no regard for the village's interests!"

"Just think—if the stuff he found that time was distributed by the village, wouldn't everyone have gotten a share of two or three taels? Who knows what he's stealing today?!" These words sounded like a joke to Zhong Kui. He sneered:"The Great Ridge Mountains sit right there, and the treasures inside are innumerable. Whoever has the skill can go in and take them. How is that stealing?

You expect someone to risk their life entering the mountains, endure bitter hardships to find something, and then hand it over to you for distribution? Do you have a sickness in your brain?" Hearing this, Zhao Hu's face turned purple with rage, but his own skills were slightly inferior to Old Zhong's. Unable to do anything about it, he yelled in frustration:"Justice lies in the hearts of the people! Everyone knows perfectly well who contributes to the village! I am the Captain; where we go is up to me. Move out!"

Wealth stirs the hearts of men. The crowd had no ties of kinship or friendship with Song Que. If they could pressure him a bit and reap some silver, why wouldn't they do it? Rubbing their hands eagerly with malicious grins, they followed Zhao Hu. After all, we are doing this for the village, for justice! The group cheered themselves on inwardly, feeling more empowered with every thought. Only Li Hui walked with a twisted, remorseful face.

Imagining the disaster his slip of the tongue had brought upon his uncle and Song Que, his heart was filled with ten thousand ounces of regret. Watching the aggressively charged crowd, Zhong Kui shook his head secretly. He hurriedly grabbed his bow and arrows and followed. Regardless, with him around, he didn't fear Zhao Hu stirring up too big of a wave.... The group marched aggressively, brimming with overwhelming arrogance, heading straight toward the uncle and nephew.

Guo Shan, known as Pockmark Guo, was widely hailed in the village as the Zhao family's number one lackey. Hearing this title, he didn't feel humiliated; rather, he wore it as a badge of honor. He had been kissing Zhao Hu's ass since childhood. He was incredibly obedient, highly skilled in flattery, and possessed a knack for training hunting dogs, earning him Zhao Hu's deep trust. Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Weren't Lord Hu's enemies his enemies?

He had long known that Zhao Hu wanted to teach Song Que a lesson. Today, heaven had granted him an opportunity to show his worth, filling his entire body with enthusiasm. He eagerly ordered the two dogs to lead the way, not forgetting to clear dry branches and loose rocks for his master, which eased Lord Hu's frustrated mood considerably. Zhao Hu thought to himself, If everyone in the village were as sensible as Pockmark Guo, how much trouble would I be saved?

Suddenly, the two leading dogs charged toward the left, raising their heads and growling. Guo Shan hurriedly followed. Tracing their gaze with curiosity, he saw a crimson blur flash through the branches above. At first, he suspected his eyes were playing tricks on him. After rubbing his eyes and looking closely, disbelief washed over him, followed instantly by frantic excitement as he bolted back. Without any explanation, he dragged Zhao Hu, pointed up into the canopy, and shouted excitedly:"Lord Hu, look!

It's a Blazing Fire Fox! We've struck it rich!" As if hit by a Body Binding Curse, the entire group froze, following Guo Shan's finger to stare blankly at the crimson shadow in the tree.

"It really is... a Blazing Fire Fox! It seems my lucky star is shining bright today!" Zhao Hu stared at the fire fox with fanatical eyes, unable to suppress his surging greed. Not just him—the entire hunting team was boiling with excitement. Even Zhong Kui showed a rare flash of thrill. A Blazing Fire Fox! This creature was virtually extinct in the Great Ridge Mountains. For no other reason than its pelt fetching an astronomically high price!

The royal family and the elite nobles of the Great Yan Dynasty harbored an absolute obsession for its purely crimson, flawless fur. A single intact fox pelt brought to town would easily fetch five hundred taels of silver, and buyers would actively fight over it. It was said that if transported to larger cities, the price would double endlessly. Five hundred taels! Just how much money was that? If the entire village worked tirelessly for a year, they wouldn't even know if they could save up five hundred taels!

Because of this, the creature had been hunted to the brink of extinction years ago. For over a decade, no one had even heard of someone encountering one in the Great Ridge Mountains. To run into one today was truly no different from hitting the jackpot. Sensing a crowd of greedy eyes locked onto it, the Blazing Fire Fox jolted with vigilance. Seeing the group hiding not far away, it panicked, tucked its legs, and fled. Lord Hu panicked. Five hundred taels of shining white silver! Where do you think you're going?!

At this moment, who gave a damn about Song Que or Song whatever? He roared:"Chase it! Chase it for me! Even if you have to use the strength you used to suckle milk, catch it!" The two dogs barked loudly, bounding forward. The group of men scrambled after them, legs practically flying. With a mountain of wealth sitting right in front of them, no one could remain calm. Seeing the crowd swiftly pursuing and flanking it from both sides, the fire fox changed direction multiple times but couldn't shake them off.

Emitting terrified squeaks, its four legs pushed off the ground desperately, sprinting straight ahead in a blind panic. Death wish or not, it ran straight toward where Grandee Song was resting. If this wasn't called "sitting at home while silver falls from the sky," what was? Returning to Song Que and his uncle.

Hearing the ghostly wails of a crowd rushing toward them from afar, Song Que used the Mountain Sparrow and clearly saw the Giant Willow Village hunting team chasing an incredibly eye-catching, crimson-furred beast right in his direction. Song Que's lips curled up, and he called out to Li Tie:"Uncle, we have guests." Saying that, he picked up his bow and stood up. Old Li also hurriedly grabbed his long spear, his face on high alert. Suddenly, a crimson blur shot toward them.

Seeing two humans and a dog standing in its path, it froze momentarily, then stopped in a panic and tried to dart to the side. At this moment, the uncle and nephew got a clear look at the creature before them. Incredibly beautiful. Dazzling. Song Que could only use these words to evaluate the little fellow. Its body was only half the size of Husky's, but its fur blazed like roaring flames, glittering blindingly bright. Li Tie looked as if he had been paused.

His eyes bulged, his jaw dropped, and his lips trembled, unable to form a word. Seeing the little guy chased to a dead end with nowhere to run, the great philanthropist Song Que's conscience couldn't bear it, and he shouted at Husky. The canine lackey's explosive power was terrifying. In two or three bounds, it blocked the fire fox's path and snapped its jaws lightly. Fortunately, the little fellow was quite agile, instantly halting and shrinking its neck back, narrowly escaping a fatal bite.

Terrified, it immediately turned tail and changed direction. Behind it was a pack of humans and dogs; in front was an absolute terror of a beast. Calculating its odds, the two two-legged monsters standing over there seemed like an easier path. Unlucky for the fire fox, it didn't know that the true Great Demon King was standing right there. It had only run a few steps when a sharp whistling sound pierced the air.

Its tiny body suddenly felt a sharp pain in its neck; its vision blurred, and it flopped onto the ground unconscious, kicking up a small cloud of dust. Philanthropist Song calmly placed his hands behind his back, pretending he had absolutely no idea who threw the stone. He looked with fatherly compassion at the animal that had fainted from exhaustion while being hunted. Yes, fainted from exhaustion. As the great Song Que, how could he see a dying creature and not save it?

Taking it home to nurse it back to health was the righteous path! Protecting wild animals is everyone's responsibility, right? Except, no one knew that this guy's mind was currently filled with fantasies of walking down the street with this super-cute little creature trailing behind him. The scene would absolutely guarantee a 100% head-turning rate! Wandering heroines, noble young ladies, and wealthy madams would chase after him like ducks to water. Petting the fox once requires hugging the owner once.

Wonder if charging that kind of fee is reasonable? Song Que absentmindedly calculated in his heart. He absolutely did not doubt the lethality of this little creature. Years of experience had deeply ingrained one truth in his mind: women's resistance to cute, tiny animals was virtually zero! Didn't the ancients teach that 'Beauty is Justice'? As for which sage actually said that, he automatically forgot. Just thinking about it made him drool. Indeed, Shameless + Cute = Invincible!

It takes a while to explain, but it all happened in a flash. Only now did Old Li seem to wake from a dream, screaming frantically:"A Blazing Fire Fox!" The sudden scream snapped the daydreaming fellow awake. Song Que asked curiously:"A Blazing Fire Fox? Uncle, is this thing very famous?" Before Old Li could answer, a series of rustling sounds broke out, and a panting crowd arrived. Seeing the little fellow lying on the ground, they shouted excitedly:"Found it! We caught it!"