The First Venerable of the Prosperous Age

The heavy wooden door opened, and a musty smell wafted out.

Sunlight streamed into the room, revealing only a worn-out wooden table in the center. The only valuable thing there was a faded kettle in the corner.

Looking further inside, there were two kang beds placed vertically, with some messy bedding and clothes on them.

Seeing that no one was in the room, Lu Xiaosan swaggered over and picked up the wine gourd on the table, opened the lid and smelled it.

"Hmm, it's wine, not bad." After taking a sip, "Tsk tsk, good wine, it's a waste to leave it here... Hmm..." He then slipped the wine gourd into his pocket.

Then he lifted the covers, and a strong, sour smell hit him.

Lu Xiaosan quickly covered his nose and couldn't help but exclaim, "That sore foot is really something!"

"So, is there anyone hiding here?" Wen Ying asked from behind.

Lu Xiaosan snapped out of her daze from the stench of feet, but the lingering sourness prevented her from speaking too loudly. She could only reply faintly, "No..."

Wen Ying turned around and asked the fox spirit, "Are you sure your husband is here? There's no one here."

The fox spirit didn't answer, only staring blankly behind the door, her eyes vacant and lifeless...

Wen Ying noticed something was wrong, stepped forward, immediately covered her mouth, and stared at the blue-eyed man with a look of astonishment.

I saw a bright yellow fox lying quietly behind the door... lifeless...

At this moment, Lu Xiaosan stepped forward and casually asked, "What's wrong? Have you found your husband yet?"

When he saw the fox carcass on the ground, he was stunned. "This...this is your husband..."

The fox spirit, pale-faced and with a blank stare, nodded...

Lu Xiaosan was shocked and furious, thinking to herself, "So... her husband is also a fox spirit. Yes, he should be a fox spirit. It's my fault for always mistakenly thinking that her husband is some bewitched fool..."

"Although the person who made the move killed a fox, he took what was most important to others. No matter what, he must die!"

Wen Ying wanted to reach out to comfort Qinghu Nu, but halfway there, she bit her lip and withdrew her hand.

After all, she had lost her beloved husband, and she couldn't truly empathize with her pain, so she wasn't confident she could heal her heartbreak.

The fox spirit slowly slumped to the ground, gently stroking the fox corpse, tears welling in her eyes as she said, "I've come... finally..."

Her voice trembled, as if she were about to burst into tears at any moment.

Wen Ying stood to the side, a shadow falling over her face, and murmured, "What exactly did that person want? Why did they have to kill it..."

The fox spirit, stroking her lover's body, finally burst into tears, sobbing, "It's all my fault! It's all my fault for being too late. I should have... promised him... to exchange my life for yours..."

Hearing this, Lu Xiaosan immediately flew into a rage, "You still agree to him? You agree to kill his whole family, even turn their ancestral graves to ashes!"

Wen Ying turned around and made a "shh" gesture to Lu Xiaosan.

Then she squatted down beside the fox spirit and softly advised, "If you had exchanged your life for his earlier, would the outcome have been better?"

The fox spirit was startled by the sound, and murmured with tears in her eyes, "A good outcome..."

Wen Ying said solemnly, "Even if you trade your life for his, he might not keep his promise. And perhaps, both you and your husband will be harmed by him. So please stop blaming yourself..."

Wen Ying was unwilling to interfere because she felt that she couldn't empathize with the other person and therefore had no right to comfort them.

But what she couldn't stand most was tragedy, especially tragedy happening right before her eyes; she was determined to intervene.

The fox spirit smiled slightly upon hearing her words.

Although it may look ugly, it is beautiful, because everyone's smile is the most beautiful scenery in the world.

"You're right, things will most likely turn out that way." The fox girl gently leaned down, nuzzled her head against the fox's leg, and slowly snuggled into the fox's arms, closing her eyes and looking completely content.

After nuzzling against it for a while, it peeked out again, gently took the fox's ear into its mouth, and whispered in its ear, "Thank you... thank you for protecting me day and night all these years... thank you..."

Although the scene was abrupt and comical, it was the fox's way of expressing its deepest love.

Although Wen Ying and Lu Xiaosan didn't understand, they took her words of thanks as a way of saying goodbye.

The longer Lu Xiaosan watched, the angrier he became. He clenched his fists, determined to kill the person who had caused all of this.

"Do you know where he is right now?! I'm going to kill him!" Lu Xiaosan shouted fiercely.

The fox spirit slowly raised her head, her eyes filled with tears as she excitedly asked, "Master, are you... planning to help me take revenge?"

Lu Xiaosan nodded heavily. "He's also involved in the disappearance of those two hunters. I'm definitely going to chop off his dog's head!"

Wen Ying also grasped Qinghu Nu's hands and said softly, "Yes, where did he go?"

The fox spirit smiled bitterly. "To my shame, I followed that mysterious man before, in order to save my husband, and discovered that he always went to a high platform in the west to release his falcons... He should be in that area now..."

Lu Xiaosan said, "Take me there, and I'll help you kill him and avenge him. If you can't find him there, come back here and wait for him!"

Wen Ying nodded. "Why don't you come with us..."

The fox spirit slumped to the ground, staring intently at Lu Xiaosan's words. After a while, she finally smiled and nodded gently, saying, "Alright, I'll go with you... but you have to let me bury my husband first..." As she finished speaking, her affectionate gaze returned to her husband's corpse.

Wen Ying said, "Then...then we'll help you."

"Thank you for your kindness, but it's not necessary!" After saying that, the Green Fox Woman suddenly grabbed her husband's neck, then slowly turned her head, revealing a sinister smile: "Wouldn't it be a waste if I didn't absorb my husband's cultivation?"

Lu Xiaosan and Wen Ying were both startled. Before they could say anything, the green fox woman smiled again and said, "Originally, I didn't want to tell you, but this absorption of cultivation cannot be done if there are other people nearby, so... please leave for a moment..."

Lu Xiaosan was annoyed. "Just as I thought, all these vixens are the same! One second they're full of affection, the next they won't even leave their husbands a whole corpse. It seems that their pitiful and shy appearance at the beginning was probably just an act!"

Thinking of this, Lu Xiaosan snorted and strode out of the house.

Wen Ying wasn't angry. She squeezed her hand and gently comforted her, "You don't need to pay attention to him. Just focus on doing your own thing. We have no right to interfere..."

"Then...we'll wait for you outside..."

The goddess Qinghu's expression changed, and she asked doubtfully, "You...you don't think I'm heartless?"

Wen Ying smiled and shook her head. "You did nothing wrong. Perhaps this is just a habit passed down among you foxes. What right do we have to question or blame you?"

The fierce look on the fox-woman's face gradually faded, and she slowly said, "You are so kind, and so is the mage... You are all so kind... unlike me who is so bad..."

Wen Ying gently patted her hand again and smiled, "Don't talk about yourself like that. We'll wait for you outside..."

The fox-woman smiled and nodded. "Okay."

Wen Ying got up to leave, but couldn't help turning back when she reached the door, and the two of them made eye contact.

Wen Ying smiled, and the Green Fox Girl paused for a moment before returning the smile.

Wen Ying came out of the room and saw Lu Xiaosan standing in the distance, hands on his hips with his back to her.

She silently walked to his side and saw him leaning back against the sky, looking depressed.

Wen Ying asked, "So? How do you plan to beat that person?"

Lu Xiaosan did not answer, but silently raised his arm, and with a "whoosh", the smelly Buddhist beads returned to his hand.

He said lazily, "If I want to, there's nothing I can't do... Besides, I have an old fox demon who just absorbed my husband's cultivation to help me, how could I possibly lose?"

Wen Ying sighed and said, "I understand how you feel. I didn't expect her to do this so suddenly either, but... for those foxes, this might be the best choice. Let's not speculate..."

"But...sigh..." For some reason, Lu Xiaosan felt a pang of bitterness in his heart. He thought he had finally met a good fox demon today, but the greater his expectations, the greater his disappointment...

The atmosphere fell silent for a moment…

"Tsk tsk tsk." Wen Ying sniffed the air. "Strange? Why don't your prayer beads smell as bad as before?"

"Maybe..." Lu Xiaosan's eyes widened suddenly as he began to speak, only to find that the light from the prayer beads had gone out...

His eyes widened in shock, and he exclaimed, "Oh no!"

After saying that, he ran quickly into the hunting house.