Chapter 700: God Lord Statue

As the farming couple carried out the tables and chairs, the foxes were waiting outside to help set them up properly. Finally, the couple together carried out a round table, chatting inside about the amusing behavior of their guests outside as they did so.

“Oh, these strangers are really strange, aren’t they? So polite. They don't want to trouble us, so they won't even come inside.”

“Heh heh, true. Before dawn, their leader said there were foxes stealing chickens and offered to help catch them. At first, I didn't believe him, but there was money to be made, and since it was in our own village, I wasn't afraid of him defaulting. Now that I think about it, he was probably telling the truth.”

The farmer's wife smiled. She joined her husband in carrying the round table from the inner room and glanced at the guests outside through the curtain.

“By the way, I heard they're from Dazhen. What kind of country is Dazhen, and where is it?”

“Uh, I'm not too sure. Given their behavior, it must be a land of etiquette.”

“Alright, alright, let's stop talking. They look starving.”

As the two carried the tabletop of the round table outside, Huli and those around him quickly stood up to help. Then, others helped the couple bring out dishes plate by plate.

During this process, the attention of the foxes sitting outside had long shifted from the deity statue. They were completely drawn to the plates of dishes, especially the abundant chicken—plain boiled, braised, and stewed in soup. The tantalizing aroma filled the air.

“Come, everyone, please sit down, sit down! It's just a humble village; we don't have much good food to offer. Please don't be picky!”

With this polite invitation from the farmer's wife to take their seats, the impatient foxes eagerly scrambled to their places.

“Not at all, not at all!”

“Exactly, we're not picky! These are great dishes, a wonderful meal!”

Grumble...

“Uh, sirs, can we start eating?”

Huli's question made the farmer and his wife, who were standing by watching, pause for a moment. They quickly replied:

“Please, help yourselves, help yourselves! Don't be shy, just eat!”

The money had already been paid, so they were, of course, free to eat. Upon hearing this, Huli gave a command to the foxes:

“Dig in!”

Swish, swish, swish...

As restrained as the foxes had been before, their eating now was equally uninhibited. They stuffed large pieces of chicken and other dishes into their mouths, shoveling down sweet rice, their cheeks bulging as they chewed frantically. Every one of them was eating heartily, mouths glistening with oil, utterly thrilled. It had been a long time since they had eaten so satisfyingly. Having endured months of outdoor living and rough conditions, life had been quite tough.

Just as the group of foxes were eating their fill, a faint laughter suddenly sounded in the ears of Huli and some of the other foxes.

“Heh heh heh heh heh...” Ha ha ha ha ha ha...

Huli instantly stopped gnawing on the chicken leg, his cheeks still puffed out. He looked up, glancing left and right, noticing that most of the foxes were still eating frantically, but two or three of his companions had also stopped at that moment.

“Great-Grandpa, did you hear something?”

The young fox beside him, who had transformed into a simply dressed girl, leaned close to Huli's ear and whispered the question.

Gulp...

“Yes, it sounds like laughter...”

Huli swallowed his mouthful, wiped his mouth, and nodded as he spoke. He also quietly glanced towards the kitchen; the couple was carrying a rice bucket towards them so the foxes could serve themselves. Clearly, the couple wasn't laughing, at least not so strangely.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha...”

The laughter came again. Huli suddenly shivered. He carefully turned his head to look behind him, and through the gap of the slightly ajar main door, he could see the deity statue placed in the family's living room.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...”

Huli shivered with fright. His knee jerked up, hitting the tabletop with a clatter and making the dishes in front of him rattle. Now Huli understood clearly: the deity statue in this family's home seemed to truly contain a spirit. Fortunately, the entity seemed to have no intention of harming them, but this still made Huli very nervous.

“Eat quickly, eat quickly! Finish up and let's go.”

“Mmm-hmm!” “Alright!”

Although many of the foxes didn't know what was happening, they instinctively chose to obey Huli. In Huli's view, if the statue belonged to a local deity, then it was possible they had already been noticed by a divine being. Being spirits themselves, they were naturally very afraid of such things.

As the foxes were busy eating their fill, an old man, dressed in white, with white hair and a long white beard, appeared in the courtyard at some unknown moment. He walked to the edge of the round table, stroking his beard and smiling as he watched the guests. The old man had a kind face. In his eyes, surrounding the table were actual foxes, large and small, with various fur colors. They were perched on chairs and stools, awkwardly holding chopsticks with their paws, continuously taking food from the table. Yet despite their exaggerated eating, all the foxes maintained a state of extreme caution. Their demonic energy was also very gentle, almost devoid of any malicious or violent aura.

‘Interesting, interesting. Such interesting demons. Mr. Ji should really see this.’

The fox girl next to Huli was chewing chicken meat, her cheeks puffed out. Then she scooped up a bowl of chicken soup and noisily drank it. Suddenly feeling something, she turned her head to look beside her and faintly saw an old man with a white beard and white hair standing nearby. She couldn't help but lightly nudge Huli with her elbow.

“Great-Grandpa, Great-Grandpa, did you see that?”

“See what?”

Huli's first reaction was to look back at the farmer's deity statue. His second was to glance around, but he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

“I saw...”

The fox girl's eyes widened, and her breathing became slightly hurried. She started to speak but couldn't continue, because the white-bearded old man seemed to have noticed her too and was now standing in front of her.

“Little fox, can you see me?”

“Yes, yes, I can...”

The old man smiled. He stopped concealing himself, and with a faint glow, revealed his true form. It was Qin Zizhou, though this was merely a wisp of his spiritual consciousness. Qin Zizhou's appearance naturally startled the other foxes. All of them stopped eating. A few, startled, even choked and desperately thumped their chests.

“I find you spirit foxes quite interesting. Judging by your eating, you haven't had a good meal in a long time. Are you truly from Dazhen?”

Huli subconsciously glanced at the couple who were still busy cooking in the kitchen. Seeing this, Qin Zizhou smiled.

“The Liu couple won't notice me here, nor will they come over at this moment. You don't need to be afraid either. My surname is Qin. I'm a physician who dislikes killing. Your demonic aura is pure and clear; you are not evil spirits. I won't do anything to you.”

“To answer, venerable sir, we actually escaped from Zuyue. We've only been out for a while, and we found it's more convenient to claim we're from Dazhen...”

“Hmm.”

Qin Zizhou took a few more glances at the fox girl next to Huli. Then he focused his attention on Huli, sizing him up before suddenly speaking.

“You're looking for Dingfengdu, aren't you?”

These words were like music to their ears. They invigorated Huli and the other foxes, who knew Dingfengdu was in Yuelu Mountain but had struggled to find it. They looked at Qin Zizhou with hopeful eyes.

“Venerable sir, do you know how to get to Dingfengdu? We wish to go far away, to other continents, to find the place we long for in our hearts...”

Qin Zizhou stroked his long beard, looking at Huli. These young foxes, with their shallow cultivation, were surprisingly knowledgeable. They knew about other continents and how to get to Dingfengdu?

“You have shallow cultivation, but you know quite a lot. Hmm, where is this place you long for in your hearts?”

Huli tried his best to relax and replied:

“Previously, I dreamt of a fox clan holy land far across the sea. It seemed there was a world beyond this one, with spiritual mountains, beautiful waters, and fox immortals cultivating there... After waking, this scene lingered in my mind. Eventually, due to some misfortunes, we decided to come looking for it. We endured many hardships along the way before finally learning that there's an immortal ferry crossing here that doesn't harm demons, and can take us to other continents, so we came to try our luck...”

“Oh...”

Qin Zizhou nodded slightly. He had heard Ji Yuan mention the so-called fox clan holy land. He wasn't interested in discerning the truth or falsehood of the words in between; at least their desire to go to the fox clan holy land seemed genuine.

“The holy land you speak of should be the Jade Fox Grotto-Heaven, located in Qiancang Mountain in Lan Continent of the Western Regions.”

At this moment, Huli felt a jolt. Mr. Ji had previously said that if they couldn't find Dingfengdu, they should just walk around the base of the mountain more. Had he already foreseen this moment?

“So that's it, so that's it! It's called Lan Continent in the Western Regions, and it's a mountain called Qiancang there! It is entirely thanks to your guidance, venerable sir, that our doubts are resolved!”

Huli's two "so that's it" phrases actually carried different meanings, but neither the other foxes nor even Qin Zizhou discerned the difference. He quickly wiped the oil from his hands on the tabletop, stood up from his seat, and bowed respectfully to Qin Zizhou.

“This little fox thanks you for your guidance, venerable sir!” “Thank you for your guidance, venerable sir!”

The other foxes also followed, leaving their seats and bowing to Qin Zizhou. Qin Zizhou nodded and smiled, feeling a slight oddness in his heart, but no discomfort.

The farming couple seemed oblivious to their guests' strange behavior. They were quite hospitable; besides preparing the agreed-upon dishes, they added a few more, ensuring their guests ate and drank well. After seeing off all the guests, the couple was exhausted, but the money they received was enough to make them happy for a while. The farmer's wife even lit another stick of incense and offered it before the deity statue in the living room. She continuously murmured prayers: “Divine Lord, Divine Lord, bless us with wealth...”

This made Qin Zizhou, standing nearby, somewhat speechless. He was not a god of wealth. He simply gazed for a long time in the direction the foxes had departed, instinctively feeling that this group of foxes was not simple.

“There are many more spirit foxes in the world now...”