Chapter 35: Nan Zishi Finds Fox Qi
Fox Qi felt as if his entire skeleton and muscles were being wrung dry. Tiny trickles of whatever was extracted flowed down his body.
He was losing something incredibly important.
Health, life... and his bloodline!
The intense pain, like being flayed alive and having his tendons pulled, left him almost unable to breathe.
And all of it was flowing toward Hu Lie, who was beside him.
"No! No..."
As his bloodline drained away, the Beast Patterns on Fox Qi’s face began to fade.
Six Patterns... one gradually vanished, leaving five... then the fifth pattern began to disappear...
Four Patterns...
Three Patterns...
He trembled all over from the pain.
"Almost there, Hu Lie, Fox Zi! Our family is about to possess the Ancient Bloodline!"
"Haha, hahahahahahaha!!"
Fox Xin laughed out loud.
She had plotted for so, so long. She had wanted to obtain Hu Bai’s father, but that had failed. She had wanted her daughter to obtain Hu Bai, and that had failed too.
Now, her only option was to make a move on this young child.
’It’s a bit despicable. But so what?’
She was doing this for the village, for her own family!
She absolutely could not let the Ancient Bloodline of Stone Village leave Stone Village!
This was Stone Village’s hope, the hope for the village to rise!
The rain fell harder and harder, as if trying to wash away all these sins.
RUMBLE, RUMBLE!
Lightning struck, and thunder rolled.
Fox Xin saw Fox Qi’s blood flowing to Hu Lie. Hu Lie’s own bloodline was stimulated, and the three Beast Patterns on his face were advancing, about to become Four Patterns!
"The Ancient Bloodline... the Ancient Bloodline truly defies the heavens!" Fox Xin exclaimed.
Fox Zi was a little frightened. She asked in a small voice, "Mother, are we really going to be okay, stealing Fox Qi’s Ancient Bloodline like this? Won’t the Beast God punish us?"
"What the hell do you know!" Fox Xin shrieked, as if she had gone mad.
"As long as it allows Hu Lie to obtain the Ancient Bloodline, what does a little punishment matter to me?!"
BOOM! FWOOSH, BANG!
The cave shook. The red blood flowing from Fox Qi’s body seemed to hesitate for a moment, retracting just a little.
"What was that sound?!" Fox Zi’s Beast Husband suddenly asked.
"Was it thunder? Or was that lightning just now?"
"We’re stealing a bloodline... did the Beast God send down lightning to punish us?!"
Fox Xin shouted, "What are you panicking for!"
"We’re about to succeed. Pull yourselves together!"
The Male Beastmen lowered their heads uneasily, but before they could do anything, RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE, another earth-shaking tremor hit.
"Something’s not right, female master! This is definitely not a normal disturbance!"
"The Beast God has come to punish us! The Beast God has come to punish us!"
"You can’t just take an Ancient Bloodline!" the males cried out, growing frantic.
"Useless!"
Fox Xin turned to face her and Fox Zi’s Beast Husbands. "Are you content with being ordinary for the rest of your lives? Are you willing to let Stone Village be bullied and looked down upon by other villages forever?"
"For the sake of our descendants, for our family, what’s the harm in risking it all just once?!"
"If the Beast God truly wants to punish me, wants me dead, then let it be after I’ve succeeded! After Hu Lie has become the possessor of the Ancient Bloodline, then I will bear the punishment and die for my family!"
AWOOO!!!
AWOO, AWOO!!!!
"There are wolves outside! A pack of wolves!!!" the males shouted.
Fox Xin frowned. "Fox Zi, take a few males and drive the wolf pack away!"
"The rest of you, protect the Array for me at all costs!"
Fox Qi twitched in pain, but as if sensing something, he looked up toward the cave entrance.
’Is someone here?’
’Is it Father, or Mother?’
...
Nan Zishi’s eyes went red with fury the moment she sensed the situation in the cave.
She had asked the wolves to help her find them, but her original goal was simply to find the truth—to find out if Hu Bai was her Beast Husband and if Fox Qi was her cub.
What exactly had happened all these years to make everyone think she had sold her Beast Husband as a Beast Slave, forcing him and her cub to live such a difficult life?
But when she saw what was happening inside the cave, when she saw Fox Xin, her heart felt like it was being ripped to shreds.
Fox Xin. She knew Fox Xin. Of course she knew her!
She was the one who had entrusted Hu Bai and his son to Fox Xin. She was the one who had given Fox Xin supplies and asked the village chief to take care of them!
But...
It all added up. Nan Zishi barely needed to ask another question; she was absolutely certain.
Hu Bai was indeed her Beast Husband, and Fox Qi was indeed her cub!
And the Beastman who had caused her Beast Husband and cub so much suffering was the female right in front of her—the chief of Stone Village, Fox Xin!
Nan Zishi pulled a signal flare from her storage space, bit open the cap, and fired it.
The crimson flare exploded in the sky.
’Hu Bai, our cub is being tortured! Hurry, hurry and get over here!’
Nan Zishi threw a few Spring Thunders. The gunpowder startled the Beastmen in the cave. Then, without waiting for Hu Bai, she took a huge risk and charged into the cave alone.
It must have been the bond of their bloodline. The very moment Nan Zishi stepped inside, the disheveled little White Fox Beastman looked up.
Blood blurred his vision, but through the red glow of the Array, he still saw Nan Zishi.
"Mo... Mommy..."
This was the first time Nan Zishi had ever felt such a gut-wrenching heartache!
This was her cub! This was her cub!
The first time she ever heard her own cub call her "Mommy" was under circumstances like these!
Nan Zishi’s eyes were bloodshot, her expression frighteningly calm. She stared intently at him for several seconds, then lit the fuse and threw the bundle of Spring Thunders in her hand toward Fox Xin.
BANG!!!
Back when she was stockpiling supplies on Earth, she had hoarded a ton of food, drinks, and daily necessities.
She had also stockpiled some kitchen knives and fruit knives.
But in the peaceful Hua Country, actual firearms were impossible to buy.
So she had bought a large quantity of Spring Thunders and Gatling Fireworks. They were all piled up in her storage space!
Fox Xin was blasted to the ground. Her Beast Husbands immediately helped her up.
"AHHHH, MY FOOT, MY FOOT!" The Beastmen had never seen anything like Spring Thunders, so they hadn’t been on guard. Fox Xin’s foot was severely injured in the blast, flesh and blood flying everywhere!
Within the blood-red Array, the bloodline exchange was still in progress.
Without the Priest’s chant to guide it, the blood that had been wrung from Fox Qi seemed to reject the High-level Bloodline next to him, scrambling to return to his body.
"No, no! My bloodline! My family’s bloodline!"
Fox Xin glared at Nan Zishi. "Nan Zishi! It’s you again! You’re ruining my plans again!!"
Five years ago, Nan Zishi’s sudden appearance had disrupted her arrangements, and Hu Bai had actually mated and had a child with an outsider female!
And now, five years later, Nan Zishi had appeared again and disrupted her arrangements once more!
The family bloodline that was clearly within her grasp was actually returning to Fox Qi’s body!
’But it doesn’t matter. As long as I start chanting again, I can...’
A group of males surrounded her, but at that moment, Nan Zishi only had eyes for the blood-soaked Fox Qi and the look of dependence and affection in his eyes as he gazed at her.
"Fox Qi!"
"Mo... Mommy..." Tears of devotion streamed down the little fox cub’s face.
"Aqi hurts... Aqi hurts so much..."
Seeing Fox Qi cry, Nan Zishi could no longer suppress her emotions. She glanced at the Array, which had been damaged by the Spring Thunder, and without a second thought for anything else, stepped right into it.