"So it really is the Nine-Tailed Celestial Fox?" A loud shout completely stopped the Nine-Tailed Fox's crying. The Nine-Tailed Fox looked at the newcomer and asked blankly, "Who are you?"
Leng Yue and Qian Chen pulled Jiuwei behind them, their faces ashen. "Grandma of the Qingqiu Fox Clan? Is something the matter?"
"Something wrong?" Grandma raised an eyebrow. "Of course, I'm here to take our people back."
"Your clansmen? Nine-Tailed Fox?" Leng Yue shook her head. "Nine-Tailed Fox is my husband's child. She won't go back to your clan with you."
"Grandma, it was you who refused to take in the Nine-Tailed Fox back then. Now you've come looking for it again. What is your purpose?" Qianchen looked at Grandma Qingqiu with a very bad expression.
“It is only natural for our people to return to their ancestral home. I advise you to mind your own business, or don’t blame us for being impolite.” Grandma’s voice suddenly turned sharp. Soon, Leng Yue realized that she was calling out to her fellow clansmen in this way. Sure enough, in less than a minute, they were surrounded.
"They've come with ill intentions; they clearly don't want to take the Nine-Tailed Fox back to the clan." Leng Yue looked at her grandmother. "What do you mean by saying the Nine-Tailed Fox is a celestial fox?"
"A Celestial Fox, the ultimate fox," Grandma replied softly. "As long as we can obtain the Celestial Fox's inner core, we too can become Celestial Foxes!"
After Grandma finished speaking, she burst into laughter. Her laughter was incredibly wild, as if she could already see herself becoming a celestial fox.
"I never imagined that the Qingqiu Fox Clan, known for its kindness, could be so ruthless!" Leng Yue looked around. "Don't you know that the Nine-Tailed Fox is your kin? She is Biluo's biological daughter. Do you really want to hurt her?"
"Don't mention that bitch Biluo to me!" Grandma suddenly bulged her veins. "If Biluo hadn't run away on her own, we would already have the Heavenly Fox Inner Core to eat!"
"Already have it?" Leng Yue seemed to understand something. "You originally wanted to consume Biluo's inner core? You were nurturing her like an elixir of immortality?"
"Heh, you actually saw through me." Grandma chuckled sinisterly. "That's right, our Qingqiu Fox Clan has rarely seen a Celestial Fox born in the last thousand years. Think of our glorious era a thousand years ago, how magnificent it was! How could we be willing to decline? Since Celestial Foxes cannot be born naturally, we will cultivate them. We have always struggled to succeed. Until Biluo was born, she was the child we discovered with the best conditions and the best aptitude. So, we spared no expense, sending the clan's sacred artifact, the Immortal Spirit Pearl, into her dantian, hoping for her growth."
"Just when Biluo's inner core was about to be formed, and she was one step closer to becoming a Celestial Fox, she actually ran away to the mortal world and fell in love with a demon hunter. She destroyed the hope of our entire clan, she deserves to die the most!" Grandma's expression suddenly softened.
"However, man proposes, God disposes. We thought he was just a bastard, but he has reached the level our entire clan has always dreamed of. What Biluo owes us, this little bastard will repay." Grandma pointed, "All of you, attack! Capture this little bastard alive, and kill the rest without mercy!"
Leng Yue's eyes flashed with disgust. They were practically invincible here now, weren't they? Seriously, they wouldn't listen unless they were beaten!
So, the two nodded and casually tossed out some talismans. These talismans seemed to be equipped with GPS devices, drifting and landing where they were meant to go. They took root and then connected from the points to form lines, lines to form surfaces, intertwining and winding, thus forming a small demon-trapping array.
Leng Yue chanted incantations and formed hand seals, completing the formation that trapped the entire Qingqiu Fox Clan. "Grandma, want to play some more?"
"You...you're exorcists too?" Grandma exclaimed in surprise. Back then, she hated Biluo so much but didn't dare to go to her because Wei He was an exorcist. Her clansmen all seemed to have some skill, but in reality, they only dared to deal with the lowest-level exorcists.
They began plotting when the Nine-Tailed Fox grew its second tail. They also tested the waters, such as burning down their thatched huts and spreading rumors. They did all this to see how good their relationship was with the demon hunters.
After confirming they had no connection to the demon hunters, they went to find the Nine-Tailed Fox. Unexpectedly, these two were the most powerful demon hunters. Were they planning to exterminate their entire clan?
Grandma could only fight desperately, but she couldn't even escape the demon-trapping formation. "You're actually demon exorcists? Why? Why weren't you angry when I burned down your hut?"
Leng Yue's face darkened. Was this grandma an idiot? "We didn't know it was you, so why are you angry?"
"You didn't know?" Yes, they burned it and ran away, leaving no evidence whatsoever. Grandma was filled with regret. She should have stayed here and kept watch instead of going to Qili Street to watch the exorcists!
"Then... then why did you take in a monster?" After a long pause, Grandma finally found a new reason.
"We will exorcise demons, but that doesn't mean we have to indiscriminately kill innocent people." Leng Yue was speechless. Why did she feel more and more that the Qingqiu Fox Clan was not very capable?
"If we were the kind of people who indiscriminately kill innocent people, do you think your fox clan would still exist now?" Leng Yue sighed, wondering if the fox clan was practicing inbreeding, because they didn't fit her impression of foxes at all.
In traditional perception, foxes are symbols of treachery and cunning. But in Grandma's eyes, they became stupid, vicious, and lacking in intelligence.
"No matter what, we must take this Celestial Fox with us. Whether our entire clan can become Celestial Foxes depends on this!" Grandma stubbornly refused to admit it, even though she was already at their mercy, she was still thinking about the Celestial Fox!
"Instead of trying to become a Celestial Fox by consuming the inner core of a Celestial Fox, you should have your own kind, who are already Celestial Foxes, protect you. I believe you can figure out the pros and cons." Leng Yue sighed in the end. She didn't know whether to call the fox clan foolish or to say they had a heart-to-heart talk.
"Grandma, she's right!" After hearing Leng Yue's words, some of the little foxes suddenly realized and kept nodding, saying that Leng Yue was right.
"This...this..." Grandma hesitated, "But what if we all become Heavenly Foxes after eating the Heavenly Fox's inner core? Wouldn't that allow us to return to the glorious era a thousand years ago?"
"But Grandma, if none of us succeed, then our clan won't even have a single Celestial Fox left!" a little fox said in a childish voice. "Besides, I don't like eating inner cores, I just want chicken legs."
"Grandma, Benben is right." At some point, more and more foxes agreed with this statement, believing that it was better to have only one celestial fox than to take risks.
Grandma blushed, and then remained silent.
And so began a farcical battle for the Celestial Fox, and ended just as far as it began. Leng Yue and Qian Chen didn't make things difficult for them; seeing they had changed their minds, they dispelled the demon-trapping formation. A group of little foxes eagerly ran to the Nine-Tailed Fox, clamoring to see its tail and witness its Celestial Fox skills. In an instant, the Nine-Tailed Fox became the most sought-after figure in the Qingqiu Fox Clan.
“I’m sorry, I… I may really be getting old,” Grandma said, looking at the harmonious relationship between the Nine-Tails and the clan. “I have always followed the things left by our ancestors. In fact, now it seems that this is more beneficial to us.”
Leng Yue nodded, and then Grandma summoned the entire clan and, in front of everyone, handed the clan leader's token to Nine-Tailed Fox, saying, "From now on, Nine-Tailed Fox will be the clan leader of our Qingqiu Fox Clan."
The crowd cheered, while Leng Yue was speechless. How simple were they?
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