Chapter 39 of 100

Chapter 39

17 min read4,230 words

Zhu Lingwu had already carefully examined the small white fox in his hands before, mainly to personally confirm whether it was female or male.

However, to Zhu Lingwu's surprise, he found that the small white fox actually had three tails: one large and two small. The large one was a normal fox tail, while the two smaller tails branched out from the large one, like branches on a tree.

This, of course, could not be a deformity. In a world where demons existed, this naturally made Zhu Lingwu think of the so-called nine-tailed fox demon.

"Graceful white fox, majestic nine tails." According to legend, a fox grows an extra tail after a hundred years of cultivation and grows nine tails after a thousand years. Only with nine tails can it transform into a human.

In the legends of Zhu Lingwu's original world, the nine-tailed fox was known for its ability to transform, bewitch, and enjoy eating humans. It often lured people with the sound of a baby crying, and it was said that the appearance of a nine-tailed fox foretold great turmoil in the world.

However, it was also said that the nine-tailed fox was a symbol of abundant offspring, especially in later legends where the nine-tailed fox became a symbol of licentiousness, with the most famous legend being that of Daji in the *Investiture of the Gods*.

If this were the case, this small white fox would have been cultivating for about three hundred years. But legends are legends, and reality is reality. Zhu Lingwu didn't feel anything special about this small white fox, except for its three tails.

This small white fox had no offensive or threatening power. It had no demonic energy, only innate spiritual energy, a superior water and wood dual-element spirit vein, which gave it water and wood spiritual energy. It could only be considered a spirit beast.

Zhu Lingwu naturally wouldn't take unnecessary risks, so he had Zhu Junyan use his magical power to investigate the small white fox. Indeed, there was no demonic energy in its body, which allowed Zhu Lingwu to play with it like a pet without worry.

Although this small white fox had three tails, a scholar like Zhu Junyan, who was a member of a noble family and a qi practitioner, seemed to have never heard of the nine-tailed fox demon.

In the historical legends of this world, there was no story of the *Investiture of the Gods*, and thus no nine-tailed fox demon that bewitched King Zhou of Shang.

So, Zhu Junyan only thought this small white fox was a rare type of spirit beast. Since Zhu Lingwu liked it, he decided to keep it as a pet.

The small white fox was quite intelligent and could understand human speech. Sometimes, Zhu Lingwu even felt it could speak human language.

However, for a demon to speak human language, it would need to refine the vocal cords in its throat, which was not an easy task. Generally, it required the strength of a demon in the early stage of transformation. This small white fox clearly didn't have such strength, so it was just Zhu Lingwu's guess.

This is why Zhu Lingwu playfully pretended to be childish, saying he would let it go if it spoke. But Zhu Lingwu also knew that the small white fox was unlikely to speak.

The small white fox wasn't deceived by Zhu Lingwu's words. After hearing them, it slowly stood up and unwillingly walked over to Zhu Lingwu.

It knew that if it didn't listen to Zhu Lingwu, it would be toyed with, which would make it even more uncomfortable.

The small white fox seemed to value its life, so to survive, it didn't dare to defy the little boy too much.

Seeing its obedience, Zhu Lingwu couldn't help but smile in satisfaction. He casually sat on the ground, grabbed the small white fox, pulled it close, and started to stroke its back.

The fox fur was soft and fluffy, with a very good feel. As a spirit beast, the small white fox had a natural self-cleaning effect, so it didn't have the fox odor like ordinary foxes, and its fur wouldn't get dirty.

The small white fox was clearly dissatisfied with Zhu Lingwu's actions because the slight static electricity on Zhu Lingwu's body would occasionally shock it.

But a fox under human control had to submit. It couldn't help but bare its teeth and snarl at Zhu Lingwu, as if complaining.

"Hehe, not satisfied! Then speak! If you don't speak, how will I know! Hmph, I knew you weren't simple, but it seems your family doesn't care much about you after half a year!"

Zhu Lingwu played with the small white fox like a pet dog, pulling it in front of him, grabbing its two front paws, and making it stand up.

The small white fox's eyes still shone with a bright white light, its nose twitching slightly, and its mouth full of sharp teeth opened as if it were about to bite Zhu Lingwu's hand.

But it was just a scare tactic. With Zhu Lingwu's current strength, he could electrocute it at any time, so the small white fox was already speechless about this demonic child.

"How dare you try to bite me! If you bite me, I'll bleed you and drink it! Scared, huh!"

Zhu Lingwu continued to scare the small white fox. In fact, he had already started to treat it like a pet. After all, the plan to cultivate a fox spirit was too distant, and even if it were a nine-tailed fox demon, it would take another seven hundred years.

To be honest, at first, Zhu Lingwu was worried that a powerful demon might come to save the small white fox, causing trouble in Tongshan County. But after half a year, everything remained calm.

It seemed that the small white fox didn't have any powerful demons backing it, or perhaps those powerful demons were wary of something and didn't dare to come to Tongshan County.

So, Zhu Lingwu naturally liked this clean, intelligent, and human-understanding pet.

There was no help for it; he was still young, and his "brothers" weren't up to the task, so he couldn't play with women. The few maids around him, though pretty, were just for looking and touching, which wasn't very interesting.

Zhu Lingwu had to find something to play with, and even though the small white fox was a bit aggressive and always tried to bite him, he had already disciplined it several times, especially by scaring it like this.

The small white fox, upon hearing Zhu Lingwu's words, indeed focused its gaze, clearly frightened by his threats.

It was like a little girl being caught by a big bad man who threatened to skin and eat her if she didn't obey. The little girl would naturally be scared.

In fact, if you think about it, this behavior was indeed cruel. Humans always say that demons eat humans, but humans never think about how they eat pork, beef, chicken, and fish, which is equally cruel to these animals.

Is it just because they can't speak and resist? Once they resist, they become terrifying and fearsome demons.

This only shows that in this world, strength is what matters. Whoever has the strength can eat their opponent, and whoever is strong is right. This is the law of the jungle.

At this moment, Liangcai's voice came from the door of the room, "Young Master, the spirit beast's blood is ready. Doctor Meng has already mixed the medicinal broth, and Captain Liu said it's quite effective!"

Upon hearing this, the small white fox's fur visibly bristled. It couldn't help but raise its head, look at the door of the room, and twitch its nose, as if it could already smell the bloody, medicinal scent...

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