Chapter 11: Fox Xin’s Conspiracy
Fox Xin sat across from Fox Zi. Mother and daughter faced each other, the atmosphere frighteningly tense.
"Do you know why I’ve turned a blind eye to Hu Bai’s plight all these years, why I’ve refused to help him even when his life was on the line?"
Fox Zi shook her head.
"It’s because I was creating the perfect opportunity for you to have him!"
Hu Bai is the most handsome male fox in the entire Fox Village. His temperament is cool and noble, and he never compromises on things unless he truly wants them.
If he were just an ordinary Fox Beastman, his good looks alone wouldn’t be worth all the effort I’ve put in.
But he isn’t.
In the Beast World, Beastmen who have not awakened their bloodline or begun cultivating are considered ordinary Beastmen. Their combat abilities are similar to those of wild beasts.
Only Beastmen who have awakened their bloodline can cultivate. Awakened beasts will have a Beast Pattern appear on their face. The Beast Pattern manifests when preparing for or engaging in combat. One to three patterns indicate a Beast Warrior, while four to six patterns indicate a Beast General.
Beastman bloodlines are generally divided into ordinary bloodlines, High-level Bloodlines, and Ancient Bloodlines.
And Hu Bai is the sole inheritor of an Ancient Bloodline in Stone Village.
In the Fox Clan, the higher the level of one’s bloodline, the more handsome their appearance.
And without a doubt, Hu Bai is the best-looking Beastman in Fox Village!
Fox Zi’s jaw dropped. "I understand now," she said in astonishment. "Because you, Mother, want Hu Bai’s Ancient Bloodline. You want me to have children with Hu Bai, for us to become mates. But Hu Bai would never agree, and he even mated with an outsider female and had a child. So you had to take action, abandoning Hu Bai to his fate and letting him hit rock bottom. That way, if I just offered him a little warmth, he would come with me?"
"You’re not completely hopeless yet." Fox Xin stroked the Beast Skin beside her. "But there’s more. Did you know that Hu Bai’s female never sold him at all?"
Not only did she not sell him, she even gifted many things to me, entrusting me to take care of Hu Bai and his son so they could live well.
The revelation struck Fox Zi like a bolt from the blue.
Fox Zi’s lips trembled. "Are you saying... Hu Bai’s female never betrayed him? That he was never supposed to be a Beast Slave?"
Fox Zi remembered clearly that while Hu Bai had always been constitutionally weak, he had never been this feeble before.
It wasn’t until he believed he’d been sold off by his female master that he completely lost his will to live. He then suffered from one serious illness after another, and in his desperation to buy back his freedom, he exhausted all his savings, becoming utterly destitute.
After that, Hu Bai almost never smiled again, except when he was with his young son, Fox Qi.
He grew colder and more distant from everyone.
A few times when Fox Zi passed by Hu Bai’s cave, she saw him touching his totem, his sharp nails scraping across it as if he wanted to self-harm.
’He wants to destroy his totem.’
’But he can’t bring himself to do it.’
Eventually, it became a bitter obsession for him.
Hu Bai truly loved her.
Although Fox Zi couldn’t understand how any male in this world could love a female so deeply.
Even... after she had abandoned and sold him.
But what if... what if it was all a lie? A fabrication her mother had created just to crush Hu Bai and make him give up on the outsider female...
’Oh, gods, this is horrifying!’
Fox Xin shot her foolish daughter a look. "Although Hu Bai hasn’t awakened, he carries the last trace of Stone Village’s Ancient Bloodline."
"He is the property of Stone Village! He can only be a male of Stone Village! *Your* male! Everything I’ve done has been for the village, and for our family!"
"Do you have any idea..." Fox Xin’s expression was grave and dangerous. "Just how heaven-defying the Ancient Bloodline of Stone Village is?"
...
"Never heard of it."
Hearing Hu Bai’s answer, Nan Zishi sighed.
’Could this be the same village as my fox Beast Husband?’ she wondered. This village looked familiar, and so many White Fox Beastmen lived here.
But her memories from before were too hazy, and she couldn’t recall enough to be certain.
So she decided to just ask. If her fox Beast Husband was in this village, she wanted to go see them and make sure they were doing well.
Back then, after bringing her charmingly handsome Priest Apprentice Beast Husband and their little cub back to Stone Village, she had personally watched the village chief arrange the best cave in the village for them. After the father and son had fallen asleep, she couldn’t bear to wake them. She left them some Beast Skins and most of the supplies she had before she was forced to hurry away on her mission.
She had indeed abandoned her husband and child, a "scum female" through and through. But she wouldn’t go so far as to mistreat her own Beast Husband and child.
’What a shame,’ she thought. ’Too bad my handsome White Fox Beast Husband isn’t in this village.’
Hu Bai took in her every expression, and a flicker of emotion crossed his eyes.
’What is she thinking?’
’Is she trying to confirm whether I was sold off?’
Hu Bai couldn’t help but laugh self-deprecatingly.
He loved her; he had been the one to pursue her. The time they spent together was only a few dozen days, but it was the most vibrant period of his entire life.
But since she didn’t love him and had already sold and abandoned him, why come back to find him now?
Hu Bai recalled the days they were together. Due to his bloodline, after coming of age, Hu Bai was required to spend three consecutive months wearing his family’s ancestral priest robe, putting on Priest makeup, and performing the Priest’s dance.
During that time, he couldn’t remove his makeup and didn’t have his own name, only the title he held as a Priest.
And as a Priest Apprentice, he had not yet earned a title. So he remained nameless.
’Yes, on the second day after returning to the village, I could have finally removed my makeup, become my true self, let Nan Zishi see my real face, and told her my name.’
’But when I woke up, she was already gone, and she had sold me.’
’For just three Beast Skins, no less. She sold me far too cheaply. She could have gotten a much better price.’
’Since that’s how it is, why should I tell her who I am?’
Hu Bai couldn’t help but let out another self-mocking laugh.
Watching her turn and walk away, his heart clenched slightly.
’Is she leaving again?’
’Abandoning me and our son once more...’
Hu Bai lowered his head, his expression returning to its previous lifeless state.
...