Chapter 33: Fox Qi Was Kidnapped
Hu Bai crouched down, his fingers brushing over the tracks Fox Qi had left behind.
’Fox Qi is in trouble! He’s been kidnapped!’
"Aqi!!"
Hu Bai charged into the forest.
However, the rain poured down in sheets. The kidnappers seemed intent on deliberately washing away Fox Qi’s tracks, making the search for him even more difficult than it had been for Nan Zishi.
...
「In a secluded cave in the Eastern Great Forest, far from Stone Village.」
The cave was extremely well-hidden and difficult to find.
Several Male Beastmen were nearby, busy covering their tracks.
"Let me go! Let me go!!" Fox Qi was bound atop an ancient Array, struggling with all his might.
"Village Chief, Auntie Fox Zi, why did you tie me up? My father will be worried! Let me go!"
"Mother, do we really have to do this?" Fox Zi asked, her expression full of reluctance. "Fox Qi is still so little. He’s only five years old."
Fox Xin was not only the village chief but also the village’s female Priest. She had her Beast Husband perfect the Array, her expression cold and cruel.
"Then what do you suggest? You’re useless! It’s been five years, and what have you accomplished?! Our only precious Breakup Fruit was eaten by Hu Li!
Do we have any other options? We can no longer make Hu Bai voluntarily sever his bond! We have no other choice!"
"Breakup Fruit? You want my father and mother to sever their bond?" Fox Qi struggled desperately, shouting in anger, "Why are you trying to destroy my father and mother’s relationship? You’re horrible! I won’t let you!!"
Ever since he learned that Nan Zishi was his mother, Fox Qi’s attitude toward her had changed completely.
He liked Nan Zishi a lot. She was a good person!
He really liked his mother!
"Shut up," Fox Xin said in a low, grim voice.
For many years, Fox Xin had been suppressing Hu Bai’s family.
In modern terms, she was psychologically manipulating them.
Fox Village turned a blind eye to the plight of Hu Bai’s family, abandoning them to their fate. And yet, they regarded Hu Bai as the private property of Stone Village and never considered letting him go.
Moreover, Fox Xin had even encouraged her own daughter, Fox Zi, to pursue Hu Bai. There was only one reason for all this.
Hu Bai’s lineage possessed a trace of the Fox Clan’s most noble Ancient Bloodline.
In the Beast World, Beastman bloodlines were typically divided into three types: common, High-level, and Ancient Bloodline.
Most Beastmen of the Fox Clan awakened a common bloodline.
The former genius, the Beastman Hu An, had three Beast Patterns by the age of sixteen. He had awakened a Sub-high-level Bloodline.
Beastmen with common or High-level Bloodlines rarely awakened a superpower.
But with the Fox Clan’s Ancient Bloodline... one could reach the rank of Beast General immediately upon awakening. With dedicated training, they could even become a Beast King!
A Beast King was a village’s hope for a meteoric rise!
Furthermore, the Fox Clan’s Ancient Bloodline came with an outrageously powerful superpower—World-Ending Allure.
The superpower, World-Ending Allure, could effortlessly control another’s love. Anyone—regardless of race, gender, or age—would fall completely and utterly in love with the user after a single glance. They would even be willing to die for him.
Fox Xin had seen the terrifying potential of this ability clearly described in Stone Village’s ancient records.
In the Fox Clan, the higher the grade of one’s bloodline, the more beautiful one’s appearance.
In his youth, Hu Bai’s father had been the most handsome male in Stone Village. Fox Xin had tried to pursue him to secure the bloodline for her family, but she had failed.
Hu Bai himself was also the most handsome male in the Fox Clan.
Fox Xin had her daughter pursue Hu Bai, but she failed as well!
The higher the bloodline, the more difficult it is to awaken. Hu Bai’s line hadn’t produced an awakened one in three or four generations. Who knew if it would ever happen?
Besides, Hu Bai was no longer young; he was past the ideal age for an awakening.
But even so, he was still an inheritor of the Ancient Bloodline. Stone Village would never let him leave.
Fox Xin said, "Although our Stone Village is an ancient tribe, we’ve been falling further and further behind for the last two hundred years."
"In the entire tribe, the highest rank we have is a Third-tier Beast Warrior. Forget a Beast King, we don’t even have a single Beast General!"
This was the first time Fox Zi had heard of a Beast King. She asked in astonishment, "Mother, Beast Kings exist? What kind of rank is that?"
Fox Xin patiently explained, "Little Zi, you must understand. One to three Beast Patterns makes a Beast Warrior. Four to Six Patterns make a Beast General. And Seven or Eight Patterns make a Beast King."
Fox Zi was shocked. "There are Beastmen with Seven or Eight Patterns?!"
Fox Xin nodded. "Yes. But look at our Stone Village now. Do you see any Beast Generals or Beast Kings? We rejoice if even a single Beast Warrior emerges.
The only way to change Stone Village’s current situation is the bloodline of Hu Bai’s family!"
The more Fox Xin spoke, the angrier she became. "More than twenty years ago, I lost to Hu Bai’s mother and failed to obtain their bloodline. Now, you’ve gone and lost to that outsider female, Nan Zishi!"
Being scolded, Fox Zi mumbled to herself for a moment before saying, "So what do we do now? Nan Zishi is back, and all of Hu Bai’s attention is on her! He’ll never agree to sever their bond. Besides, we don’t have the Breakup Fruit anymore."
The mere mention of this made Fox Xin fume. She shot a look at her disappointing daughter.
Fox Zi sighed. "Mother, let’s just give up. We can’t force things that aren’t meant to be ours. I don’t even want that Ancient Bloodline anymore. It’s not guaranteed to ever awaken, anyway."
Fox Xin said, dissatisfied, "The only hope for all of Stone Village rests on Hu Bai’s lineage. We must seize this bloodline. And Hu Bai’s bloodline must not only remain in Stone Village, it must remain in *our family*!"
"As long as we preserve the Ancient Bloodline, there’s always a chance it will awaken one day. We can’t afford to take any other chances. The Ancient Bloodline *must* remain in Stone Village!"
Fox Xin’s terrifying gaze swept over Fox Qi before shifting to her most prized grandson, Fox Lie.
Fox Lie was the male cub born to Fox Zi. Now ten years old, he had awakened a High-level Bloodline and was already a Three-striped Beast Warrior—a young genius even more outstanding than Hu An.
He was also one of the cornerstones that secured Fox Xin’s family line its position as village chief.
Fox Lie knelt obediently before Fox Zi and Fox Xin. "Grandmother, Mother."
In the Beast World, where females were few and males many, females were held in high esteem and formed the core of the family.
A mother’s parents were called Grandmother and Grandfather.
A father’s parents were called Outer-Grandmother and Outer-Grandfather.
Fox Xin looked down, stroking her grandson. "Lie, you were born exceptional. You must remain that way."
"Everything Grandmother is about to do is for you, and for the future of our family."
’Their family wanted the Ancient Bloodline, and they would stop at nothing to get it!’
’As for Fox Qi... before, she had felt some pity, thinking of him as just a little fox from Stone Village.’
’She had been too kind in the past.’
’But now, for the future of Stone Village and for the future of her family, there was no room for pity.’
Bound to the cross-shaped rack, Fox Qi looked at the woman he once knew as Village Chief Fox Xin, and a sudden, inexplicable terror bloomed in his heart.
The little cub put on a brave front, shouting, "What are you going to do to me? My father and mother won’t let you get away with this!"
...
’To be raining this hard during the short rainy season...’
Nan Zishi looked up at the sky. Flashes of lightning and rumbles of thunder filled the air, a terrifying sight.
Normally, with so much lightning, Nan Zishi wouldn’t dare to run through the forest.
But now, a sudden panic gripped Nan Zishi’s heart.
’It felt like something was happening.’
’Something very dangerous!’
’Someone very important to her was in danger!’