Chapter 138: The White Fox’s Gratitude

It was a snowy night. Huang Deshui, in his forties, had gone hunting up the mountain but returned empty-handed. Upon arriving back at the village, he saw the rooftops blanketed in snow, with heavy flakes still falling. Shaking the snow off his clothes outside the door, he was about to enter when he suddenly noticed a small white fox lying just outside.

Hastily, he carried the little fox inside.

“Is this all you managed to catch—a tiny fox like this?” Liu Shuqin, his wife, was cooking inside, though only plain porridge. She frowned and said, “It’s so small; let’s raise it before we consider eating it.”

The bewildered white fox gradually regained consciousness. After feeding it warm porridge, the couple wrapped it in blankets and let it sleep.

Warmth.

Slowly, the fox recovered its senses. Though it had not yet grasped human ways, it began to live alongside the couple.

This was a remote mountain village at the northernmost edge of the Vermilion Bird Federation.

Isolated, backward, with scarce grain, and even meat was a luxury hunted by villagers themselves. Yet, despite such harsh conditions, the couple chose to keep the fox.

When meat was available, they shared it with the little white fox.

Over time, the villagers began to mock them. They struggled to fill their own bellies, yet they were feeding a fox.

Initially, the couple had intended to raise the fox until it was big enough to eat or to sell its fur. But gradually, they grew attached.

The fox was also remarkably sensible.

By day, it stayed with the lady of the house, quietly listening to Liu Shuqin’s endless chatter about village affairs.

At night, it slept alongside its two caretakers.

Two years passed, and the fox matured. Huang Deshui and Liu Shuqin had no children, so they poured all their parental love into the fox.

Huang Deshui’s hunting skills had always been average, but after the fox grew up, it began bringing back rabbits it had killed from the forest.

The couple was overjoyed; they felt the fox possessed a kind of intelligence.

Stories like this were often heard among hunters like Huang Deshui, but he never expected such a thing to happen to him.

From then on, their household enjoyed meat at every meal.

---

The strange tale quickly spread through the village and beyond.

Many came forward, perhaps out of curiosity, offering money to buy the white fox.

But the couple refused every offer.

No matter how much was offered, they had no intention of selling the fox.

As they aged, Liu Shuqin one day sat at the doorstep holding the fox and sighed, saying that if they had children, they would now be at the age of marriage.

Of course, they wished for children.

Then one day, the white fox vanished completely. Huang Deshui searched the mountains for three days and nights but found no trace.

Liu Shuqin wept for many nights, and as a result, her eyesight deteriorated severely.

A month after the fox’s disappearance, Huang Deshui rescued a young woman lost in the snowy mountains while out hunting.

Grateful for her rescue, the woman wished to become their goddaughter.

Zhang Xuner stayed in the village, accompanying Huang Deshui on his hunts during the day, and spending evenings chatting with Liu Shuqin and washing her feet.

She was eager to hear stories about the white fox from Liu Shuqin.

As the years passed, both Huang Deshui and Liu Shuqin’s health declined, and Huang Deshui developed a severe lung disease, necessitating a move to the city.

Zhang Xuner brought them to the Madeline district.

Needing money, she joined Shen Yan’s monster organization.

Yet, she was always aware of Shen Yan’s cruelty and kept the existence of the elderly couple secret from him.

Her reason for joining Shen Yan’s group was solely to earn money to pay for their medical treatments.

Shen Yan had likely already discovered the two elders in secret. Now that Zhang Xuner had accumulated some wealth under his command, it was time to leave.

“Father, mother,” Zhang Xuner smiled. “This time I’m here because of a job transfer. We’ll have to move elsewhere, but life will be better. I won’t need to work anymore and can stay with you every day.”

Huang Deshui nodded repeatedly, happily agreeing. “Good, good, good.”

“Xuner, where are you? Come here,” the elderly Liu Shuqin reached out.

Zhang Xuner hurried to sit beside her. Liu Shuqin held her hand, sighed, and said slowly, “Xuner, I’m old now, almost senile, and I don’t know how many years I have left. Back then, I casually wished for a daughter, and heaven gave me such a good one.”

“Have we been a burden to you?”

---

Zhang Xuner quickly shook her head, smiling. “Mother, what are you saying? If not for Father, I’d have died lost in the mountains.”

“Come, Xuner, lie on my lap.” Liu Shuqin patted her legs, and Zhang Xuner nestled her head in them.

Liu Shuqin stroked her soft hair and said slowly, “Even though I’m blind, I know well—you always loved lying here, listening to my ramblings. I just casually said I wanted a daughter, and then you came.”

Zhang Xuner trembled slightly. She had long feared frightening the elders and never revealed her true nature as a monster.

Liu Shuqin continued, “I know, nothing in this world is that coincidental.”

“Even if we had children, they wouldn’t be half as devoted as you.”

“I often tell old Huang that we were lucky, that fate smiled on us, to have found you.”

Zhang Xuner looked up. “Mother, it was I who was lucky to meet you both. Otherwise, I would have frozen to death that night.”

---

“Zhang Xuner has entered a small building, but we don’t know which floor yet,” Hu Xiong said, sitting in the conference room sipping hot water. “What’s your next move?”

Li Changqing sat at the desk, twirling a pen. “Did the seventh unit catch any monsters?”

“They said soon. Just two little monsters, easy to catch,” Hu Xiong nodded.

Li Changqing stood calmly. “Have those two little monsters pretend to be Shen Yan’s subordinates and capture Zhang Xuner. Remember, make her believe Shen Yan has already decided to kill her.”

“Has Shen Qingdai arrived?”

Hu Xiong replied, “Soon. She’s on her way.”

Hu Xiong realized that Li Changqing was indeed not an ordinary guy. His casual suggestions had turned a deadlock into an opportunity.

He even found a chance to beat up Zheng Pingchi.

Li Changqing pondered whether there might be any loopholes or problems remaining.

The only concern now was whether Shen Yan would make a move.

If Shen Yan transferred all monsters before they discovered the whereabouts of the half-finished monsters, all their efforts would be in vain.

At that moment, Shizun from the seventh unit knocked and entered the conference room. “The monsters have been caught. They’re little monsters under Shen Yan. After some threats, they agreed to help us.”