The woman woke up to find herself bound and surrounded by people. She saw Zhao Chang'an, her face darkening. She never imagined that her efforts to hunt the goose would backfire so spectacularly.

The woman glared at Zhao Chang'an and said, "You'd better let me go, or you'll regret it!"

Seeing the woman's firm stance, Luo Xi smiled. She walked up to the woman and said, "It's okay if you don't cooperate now. I happen to need anatomical material."

As he spoke, he touched the woman's body, his eyes crinkling with a smile: "I can dissect you alive and see what's inside your body."

The woman felt uneasy after hearing what Luo Xi said, and it seemed like she was serious.

The woman transformed into a fox, escaped her ropes, and tried to run away. Fortunately, Xu Anran and the others had encountered this situation before and were worried that she might escape, so they were extra vigilant.

Xu Anran reacted swiftly, catching the fox. The fox tried to attack her, but was injured by her own golden energy, its fur singed. Afterwards, Xu Anran used her yin energy to create a black rope, binding the fox. It was immobilized by the yin energy, and the chill emanating from it made it shiver all over.

This is a new move that Xu Anran has been practicing recently.

The fox looked at Xu Anran in fear, trembling as it said, "I'll tell you whatever you want to know, just don't kill me." Its foundation had been damaged by Xu Anran's golden energy, and now the yin energy was spreading through its body; it knew it couldn't escape.

Xu Anran stepped forward and coldly asked, "What are you? Tell us what's going on here. Tell us everything you know."

The fox began to speak slowly and deliberately: "I am a little fox demon from Qingling Mountain. Our fox clan was originally the overlord of Qingling County. Later, the human race invaded, and many of our clansmen perished. Only a small number of us managed to escape."

"Humans?" Xu Anran frowned.

The fox nodded: "That's right, it's the human race. In this world today, the human race and various demon races are on equal footing."

Legend has it that a hundred years ago, many animals suddenly developed demon cores within their bodies, allowing them to transform into human form and possess magical powers. Afterward, they launched fierce attacks on humans, conquering human cities, declaring themselves kings, and enslaving humanity.

Some demons are relatively merciful, only requiring humans to serve them; while others are extremely cruel, not only abusing humans but also taking pleasure in toying with them, and some even eat humans.

At this very moment, some humans also awakened the Human Elixir within their bodies, and they called themselves the Human Race. They possessed the power to resist, and thus, they gathered their forces and rose up to fight back against the ferocious demon race.

"So how is the situation now?" Uncle Li asked.

The fox sneered: "Humans are few in number, far inferior to demons. In the course of countless battles, they have developed disagreements. Some humans firmly believe that humanity should be saved by awakening the Human Core, but that's easier said than done. After all, no one knows exactly how the Human Core awakens."

Another group of humans, however, considered themselves no different from other demon races and no longer regarded themselves as human. They were vastly different from the weak humans, considering only those possessing human cores as their own. They resolved to emulate other demon races, occupying cities and turning a blind eye to the enslaved humans.

Xu Liang couldn't help but ask, "Then who conquered your Qingling County?"

"It was breached by the Freemasons among humans. They belong to a human organization that wants to save humanity. They are nomadic and usually quite mysterious. However, when I was fleeing in Qingling County, I saw that among them were not only humans, but also humans who knew Taoist magic."

"What are the characteristics of the human race?" Xu Anran asked.

"Humans look similar to ordinary people, but they have human magic, such as the Green Smoke Technique, which can suddenly turn into smoke and disappear, and the Qi Technique, which can turn their own power into Qi swords to attack enemies. Taoist magicians are different; they are humans who wield peach wood swords and talismans, and they do not have human cores in their bodies."

Upon hearing about the Green Smoke Technique, Xu Anran, Qi Ziqi, and Yi Yi exchanged glances, thinking of the man they had captured earlier.

Then Luo Xi continued by asking them the question they were most curious about: "So what's going on with this town? Why are they always laughing?"

"This place is controlled by the tree spirit. It's in the center of the city, and all the trees in the city are its eyes and ears. It controls the entire city's movements. If you enter the city, it will definitely be discovered. It hasn't made a move yet; it's just observing you."

As for why it laughs? It must be related to its fruit. It produces a fruit that makes those who eat it obey its control.

This is called the Laughing Fruit. People who eat it will have a happy smile on their face every day, no matter what you feel inside, your face will always be smiling.

Moreover, those who eat the fruit must not betray it or reveal its secrets; if they do, they will be killed by the fruit within their bodies.

Xu Anran looked at the fox and asked, "How did you know about the Laughing Fruit?"

“Of course I saw it. I’ve been here for quite some time now, so I’ve seen what’s happening in the city. I saw it with my own eyes when they were distributing the fruit,” the fox replied.

Xu Anran nodded, asking no further questions, and simply stared at it, making the fox uncomfortable. It continued, "I've told you everything I know, please let me go. I'm not some powerful demon."

Seeing that Xu Anran still didn't speak, it continued to beg for mercy: "Please, let me go. If that's not possible, I can serve you, as long as you don't kill me."

Xu Anran didn't speak. She walked forward and squatted down in front of the fox. The fox thought Xu Anran was going to release it and was quite happy, a cunning glint in its eyes. But to its surprise, Xu Anran killed it with a single blow.

Xu Anran chopped off the fox's head, then dug open her corpse and took out her demon core. Turning around, she saw everyone staring at her in astonishment and said, "This fox has other members nearby, and among them is a powerful one, who is this fox's grandmother. If we don't kill her, things will get very troublesome later."

Hearing her say this, those who knew Xu Anran had precognitive abilities understood that she must have seen something, while those who didn't know, Xu Anran didn't explain, saying that they would naturally find out in time.

She had just been staring at the fox when she suddenly saw a scene. They had let the fox go, but it had backup on a nearby hill. After returning, it gathered a group of foxes and ambushed them. The most formidable of these was its grandmother, and that old fox had severely injured Uncle Li.

Uncle Li fell into a coma as a result. Not long after he woke up, he gave his last words, entrusted Xiao Feng to everyone, slowly closed his eyes, and left everyone.