The Tale Never Ends Chapter 151 Faring With Foxes

Sitting at the entrance of the Center was a row of short, shadowy figures obscured by the darkness of the night. They sat motionless on the ground like a line of hunched gargoyles, but we could see the steam jetting from their nostrils as they breathed in the cold weather. I took two careful steps nearer, hoping to catch enough light to see them. But much to my dismay, they remained steadfastly immobile.

Clinging to hopes of any reaction, I ventured another two steps ahead. Still, the figures did not move. Only this time, I got annoyed. I marched brusquely towards the door, only to realize that they were not hounds or dogs, but a row of foxes!

I almost laughed out loud. What is this? First, weasels, now foxes?! In my exasperation, my head shook as I chuckled weakly. Chongxi knelt them before one of the foxes and giggled, "So why are you here so late in the night, eh?" If the foxes could understand him, they definitely made no indication of it. But even if they do, something told me that they would only heed my instructions. Hence I chuckled as I unlocked the door and barked at the foxes, "All right now. All onboard. We'll talk inside."

Lo and behold, the foxes stood up as one. Edelweiss was jovially cheerful as she held my arm. She was getting used to all this strangeness. Chongxi smirked and swung open the door. But the foxes gave no reaction of moving. Their eyes were still trained intently upon me. I giggled again, marveling at their human-like decorum and walked indoors. Only then, the foxes filed into the Center after me.

I went straight to the couch at the sitting area and sat down before I lighted a cigarette. The foxes sat in an orderly line in front of me like an honor guard. I took a quick swig and said quietly, "All right now. What is it?"

One of the foxes, the middle-most one, and raised its paws in a gesture resembling a human's salute and spoke in the tongue of humans, "We need your help, young Lordling!" All of them lowered themselves to the ground like they were kneeling to me. Chongxi, who was sitting at another couch, chuckled. "d.a.m.ned, a fox which is as good as we are in the human tongue!" I tapped my cigarette, watching the ash falling into a tray as I asked, "What help do you need of me? Speak up then."

But I was hardly perturbed nor surprised by the fox's addressing me of "Lordling"; since my mother was not a human but a very ancient fox demon with magic, she might as well be one of their oldest living matriarchs. It was only acceptable that I was addressed as such, although the same could not be said for the matter they later told me about.

It was an incident which I should have made the connection and realize, the fight between the fox and the weasel which was recorded and shared on the Internet, the same one that the barbeque restaurant proprietor had shown us. As it happened, these foxes were, in fact, fox demons who were learning magic in the vicinity of the Yellow Soil Ridge. But they were still very young. Hence they know little magic to transform themselves into humans. According to the foxes' tale, there has been an influx of numerous weasels to the Yellow Soil Ridge since yesterday.

The demons that inhabited the proximity of the Yellow Soil Ridge have territories that they have staunchly defended through generations. But the weasel demons have emerged from nowhere and seized the foxes' lands by force, sparking a war between the two species. Not unlike humans though, I mused, for wars and conflicts have been waged for less.

The foxes of the Yellow Soil Ridge had tried diplomacy with these marauding weasels, but the peace talks have fallen through due to the importunate att.i.tude of the latter. There has been peace in the Ridge for centuries, argued the foxes, as everyone studied their magic there as allowed by the deities of the mountains nearby. But the weasels then claimed the territory nevertheless, taking it by force, citing that the deities could just easily look for another spot for the foxes.

Animals can be extremely territorial when it comes to their own domain. More so, for beasts that possessed magic. The weasels were no stronger than the foxes in magic, but they were superior in number. The video clip we saw at the barbeque restaurant showed only two animals fighting against each other. But in truth, there were hundreds of foxes and demons tearing at each other that time. With the gentrification of nearby cities and towns, the area that the foxes could inhabit was dwindling rapidly. This resulted in only a small colony of foxes still living in the vicinities of the Yellow Soil Ridge. But they did not expect so large a force of weasels would be invading their lands. Moreover, weasels have always been known to be more adaptable than foxes to different living conditions. They could survive even in the most barren of fields and steal whatever they need from human dwelling, something which foxes are not capable of.

But the scourge of the weasels was not only confined to the mountains and the wilderness. There was quite a number of people living in the areas of the Yellow Soil Ridge, one of them being Fearless Hao. There has been news of houses being broken in by the vermins and no was yet able to come up with any solution to deal with them. The pack of weasels that emigrated here was just too large; numbering more than a hundred of them. With a group so large, the only way to make sure their stomachs were full, was only through plundering and marauding.

The chieftain of the foxes knelt at my feet again, ending its tale, "With powers as minuscule as ours, we do not dare show ourselves before your mother, the Lady Matriarch. We could only come to you, dear Lordling. Please do us justice, we beg you!" I fell silent for seconds, pondering for options. Before long, I said, "Very well. So..." I muttered, extracting my Spirit Gourd. I summoned my spirit cat, Smoky, who greeted me with a lazy yawn before stretching itself. Then with a graceful leap, it curled itself on my thigh, hoping for some affection from me.

I scratched at Smoky's head and said to the Chieftain, "I will allow my spirit cat to go with you. I trust that it will be able to help you against the weasels." They might not understand my intent, but I was under the impression that the foxes would never doubt me.

And Smoky left that night with the foxes. Lin Feng has been quiet all the time. But as soon as the foxes left, he asked curiously, "Do you expect your spirit cat alone is able to go against a horde of weasels?" I chuckled and it was Chongxi who answered, "Heh heh heh... You don't know about cats, do you? Even if it's only a normal cat, it alone is enough to scare the living daylights out of those vermins!" "What do you mean?" Lin Feng was still oblivious. I trotted off to the fridge and came back with a can of c.o.ke. After a refres.h.i.+ng gulp, I said, "Most cats you see are house cats, Brother. House cats are too docile against vermin. But Smoky is different. It's a wild cat. It's not easy for a cat to survive in the wild. Hence they grow up with more ferocity. Rats are nothing to them, not even to satiate their hunger. So feral cats sometimes hunt weasels for food. It is quite normal back in the days, especially. Moreover, Smoky is a black cat; black cats are said to have the ability to communicate with the paranormal and cats have nine lives. Most of all, it is now a spirit cat. Hence it is in all aspects more superior than any weasels could have hoped to match."

I went home that night and mentioned to Father about our recent adventures with the weasels. But to my surprise, Father was hardly the cool and disinterested self he normally was. He sighed wearily, his brows creasing into a heavy frown. He unstoppered his liquor flask and poured a drink down his throat. "I'm afraid I am the root of all these problems."

That made me confused. "But how can all this brouhaha begin from you, Father? No chiefs or sires of these beasts could ever hope to match you in magic or influence. I fail to see your part in all this," I muttered suspiciously as Father set alight a cigarette for himself. "If only you know..." He said, drawing a breath off his cigarette, "Do you still remember the things Master Six and I talked about the last time you were bedridden?"

"I think I still remember a snippet of it. What of it?" "Human's magic and animal's are different!" Father pointed out before he drank from his flask again.

"Wait a second, Father. I still don't see where you're getting at," I said again. What Father said has done little to dispel the gloom of perplexity over me? "Ohhh, for the love of Heaven," Father groaned. He stared at me for seconds before he finally grumbled, "How far will you go, I wonder, with that brain of yours... Heavens... Please tell me how I cannot feel distressed by this..." "How distressing should you be?" I retorted, slightly annoyed, "Surely you can't expect me to catch your meaning like how Mother does?! What do you mean!?"

He heaved a long breath. "To put it simply," he explained finally, "The demons and beasts are looking for places to expedite their study of magic to prepare for the coming crucible."