Chapter 39: Nan Zishi Clarifies the Truth
"AHHH!!!"
The pack of wolves chased the two females. Fox Xin screamed as she ran.
Although she was a Priest, her combat skills were poor, and the Wolf King quickly bit her neck.
Fox Xin was dead. Just like that.
Fox Zi was terrified when she saw the blood spurt from Fox Xin’s neck, her eyes widening in horror.
And when Hu Lie saw Fox Xin die, he froze in terror. "Grandma!!!"
The Wolf King dragged Fox Zi before Nan Zishi. Nan Zishi was quite busy; with one foot pinning Hu Lie down, she slammed Fox Zi to the ground in front of Hu Bai!
Fox Zi said in terror, "Nan Zishi, I was wrong! Please, let me and my son go! It wasn’t our fault! It was my mother! She made us do it! We were forced!"
"Forced?" Nan Zishi sneered.
"Speaking of which, when it comes to bullying my Beast Husband and cub all these years, you deserve the top prize!"
Nan Zishi shoved Fox Zi’s face into the dirt!
Terrified, Fox Zi raised her hands. "I... I... I was wrong! I really know I was wrong! Please, forgive me, forgive me..."
Nan Zishi said, "How about this? I’ll give you a chance to die with your body intact."
"AHHH! Don’t kill me! Please, don’t kill me..."
Pinning Fox Zi down, Nan Zishi demanded, "Speak! What exactly happened five years ago!"
The threat scared Fox Zi so badly she pissed herself. She really did. Sobbing, she said, "I’ll talk, I’ll talk..."
"After you brought Hu Bai and Fox Qi back to Stone Village, you had to leave on urgent business. You couldn’t bear to say goodbye to the father and son, so you gave my mother supplies and asked her to take good care of them."
"But my mother, because she wanted to obtain their Ancient Bloodline, told a little lie. She said you had abandoned them, that you’d even sold them... My mother did it to make them completely lose hope in you and return to Stone Village. But Hu Bai refused... he refused no matter what..."
As she spoke, Fox Zi broke down into loud sobs.
"I’ve told you everything! I told you! Please let me go! I’m begging you, let me go!"
Hu Bai leaned weakly in Fox Qi’s arms and looked up at Nan Zishi.
’So that’s what happened... She only left temporarily?’
’She never abandoned us? She never sold us?’
’So that’s how it was...’
Little Fox Qi’s eyes lit up!
’I was right! Mother is so good, she would never sell Father!’
Nan Zishi was completely stunned.
’Fox Xin and Fox Zi’s family... they were so utterly devoid of conscience?!’
"Let you go? Your mother and your Beast Husband are both dead. Aren’t you going to join them?" Nan Zishi applied more pressure.
Fox Zi cried hysterically. "No, no, no! They are them, and I am me! They can die, but I’m a female! I’m a precious female, I can’t die! Nan Zishi, I didn’t want any of this! My mother did everything, it wasn’t me! It wasn’t me!"
Nan Zishi found it all rather pathetic. She said, "I can almost find some respect for a female like your mother, Fox Xin. But a female like you... I just find you pitiful."
"Your mother at least dared to take all the blame and consequences upon herself. But you... you were involved in everything, yet you don’t have the guts to admit it. You’re incompetent and useless!"
"Even speaking a few more words to you feels like a waste of time."
"And you!" Nan Zishi looked down at the ten-year-old cub, Hu Lie, pinned under her foot. "Don’t tell me you also think you were ’forced’ to receive the Ancient Bloodline, and therefore you’re innocent too?"
Hu Lie gritted his teeth.
Nan Zishi laughed. "Fox Xin really was unlucky. To think she went through all that trouble to help two creatures like you."
"But you two aren’t just accomplices; you’re executioners. And what’s more... you know too many secrets you shouldn’t. So, there’s no other way. You both have to die."
Nan Zishi applied force with her hand. Fox Zi’s neck snapped. Nan Zishi tossed her body aside.
Hu Lie struggled violently, trying to counterattack. Nan Zishi reacted instantly, stomping down with all her might. Hu Lie died on the spot!
Double kill!
Hu Bai pressed a hand to his wound, rising slowly despite his extreme weakness.
Nearby, Nan Zishi washed her hands with alcohol. After she was done, she held up her hands and walked over to Hu Bai.
"Hu Bai, don’t move. I need to stop the bleeding and suture your wound."
Hu Bai coughed twice and said weakly, "It’s no use..."
"It’s not useless! This is just a physical wound! And I can treat it!"
Hu Bai gave Nan Zishi a fragile smile.
"Female Master..."
"Hu Bai, save your strength! Don’t talk right now!"
"In the future... don’t leave me again... okay?"
"Hu Bai, I’ll never leave you! I’ll take you with me wherever I go!"
The male Fox Beastman’s hand fell, and he closed his eyes.
The corners of his lips were turned up in a faint smile.
"Father!!!"
*
Nan Zishi began suturing Hu Bai’s wound.
"It’s okay. Hu Bai, hang in there. I can save you."
"I’ve saved so many beasts. There’s no way I can’t save my own Beast Husband!"
"Hu Bai, hold on! You have to hold on for me!"
Nan Zishi’s tears dripped down one by one.
She had no free hands to wipe them away, so Fox Qi wiped her tears with his trembling hands.
Her own hands were trembling slightly, but she controlled them as she sutured his wound.
As soon as the difficult suturing was finished, Nan Zishi immediately checked for Hu Bai’s breath.
In truth, she knew the fatal injury wasn’t the one from Hu Lie’s claw, but the price Hu Bai had paid for using the power of his bloodline twice in a row!
’The price Hu Bai has to pay for using his power really is enormous!’
Little Fox Qi knew about his father’s superpower and knew the price for using it was immense.
That was why Fox Qi had been crying the whole time.
"Father! Dad!!" Fox Qi fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face. "Mother, Dad isn’t going to make it! He’s not going to make it!"
He possessed the Fox Clan’s heaven-defying Ancient Bloodline. At the age of ten, he awakened as a Six-striped Beast General and simultaneously awakened the superpower, Worldfall.
However, his body couldn’t handle his power, so he had never dared to reveal it.
But even without using it, the activated Ancient Bloodline cultivated on its own. That was how he was promoted to a Seven-striped Beast King at the age of eighteen.
His physical body simply couldn’t bear his Ancient Bloodline. He never dared to use his ability, terrified that his body would collapse.
But today, he had used it twice in a row. His body was already breaking down, and his life was fading away...
"Father!!! Dad!!!"
"Hu Bai!"
Nan Zishi quickly felt for his carotid artery and held his wrist to check his pulse.
The situation was dire.
Nan Zishi immediately began chest compressions, attempting CPR.
"Father, Father!" Fox Qi cried.
’Is this it? Is this really how it ends?’
’Is there really no hope?’
’No!!’
She wouldn’t accept it! She refused!
’I feel like I’m forgetting something. I must have forgotten something...’
’What is it?’
’Right, it’s Fox Xin. Fox Xin was a meticulous schemer. After planning such a grand drama, she must have had some backup plan, some follow-up preparation.’
A flash of inspiration struck Nan Zishi. She shouted to Fox Qi, "Aqi, go search Fox Xin’s body! See if there’s anything..."
The moment she said it, Nan Zishi realized how inappropriate it was to ask a five-year-old cub to search a corpse. Just as she was about to go herself, she saw Fox Qi run over to Fox Xin. "Mother, what do you want me to look for?"
Nan Zishi was truly taken aback.
’A five-year-old cub, already shouldering so much responsibility. For the sake of his father and mother, he could actually overcome his fear to search a dead body.’
’This is my first time raising my own cub, and I really have no experience.’
’I overlooked something as important as a child’s psychological well-being.’
Nan Zishi berated herself internally.
When she looked up at Fox Qi, full of apology, she saw Little Fox Qi looking back at her with the firm gaze of a little man.
Nan Zishi was stunned by his expression.
’How did Hu Bai raise him? How did he raise a five-year-old cub to be so strong!’
’Since the cub can stand on his own, I can’t interfere with his choices and his growth at a time like this.’
While marveling that her cub was indeed extraordinary, Nan Zishi continued:
"Look for something! See if she has anything on her, like a book or anything like that!"