299: Chapter 240 299: Chapter 240 The night had passed like this, and as dawn was breaking, the Earl led his people down the mountain.
After yesterday’s danger, the Earl held his Magic Wand, and as they were exiting the cave, he chanted a Curse.
He transformed everything around them into Huangjing, so even if there were people outside, they couldn’t see them.
He then sealed the original cave entrance with an Illusion Realm.
After doing so, they cautiously made their way out of the place and walked through the deep mountains to descend.
At dawn, the Fox Demon suddenly felt a trace of its Qi lingering there, sensing the presence of humans.
By the time it rushed over, it could only smell a trace of burnt Qi, but saw no one.
It followed this wisp of Qi, and while tracking it, discovered that it had already reached around the perimeter of the deep mountains outside.
It stopped in its tracks.
Since being hunted by its enemies, it had not ventured outside for a long time.
Of course, it longed for the bustling cities beyond, but feared being discovered.
After halting, it bolstered its courage, determined to go out and probe for news.
The Fox Demon stood on the mountain and saw what appeared to be human smoke rising from a settlement below the mountain.
It hesitated, as the world beyond was the realm of humans, and thought to secretly check it out again at night.
The Fox Demon did not return to the deep mountains but stayed on the periphery of the mountain.
There, it saw a middle-aged hunter; except for the men it saw last night, such encounters had been rare over the past hundred years.
There was a time when there were a few men on the mountain, but their scent was too foul for its liking, their Qi unbearable, and despite their considerable Cultivation, they were extremely ugly—unappetizing prospects for the Fox Demon.
Seeing this man, even though he was middle-aged, the Fox Demon felt it was better than nothing.
Now that it had seen him, it wasn’t going to be picky.
Eyeing the middle-aged man, the Fox Demon stood there, casting flirtatious glances his way.
This uncle was a family man who had gone up the mountain to chop wood at midday and decided to check the hunting pit for any trapped animals.
He had gathered a bundle of firewood and, luckily, spotted a pheasant in the hunting pit, which seemed to have fallen in just the previous night, injured and unable to escape.
With a small bounty this morning, of course, he wanted to head home early, wondering if his son and the Veteran Hunters had caught any game on the mountain.
But even this solitary pheasant would make for a welcome addition to their meal.
Just as he was about to head home down the mountain, he suddenly saw a beautiful young woman smiling at him.
He shivered; at this early hour, amidst the desolate wilderness—even though their Stockade was just below—how could this strange young woman have appeared here?
Having lived here for decades, the middle-aged man knew there were no homes nearby.
So where did this beautiful young woman come from?
Could she be like the Immortals from legends who resided on the mountain?
But why would a mountain-born Immortal smile at him, a mere mortal?
Her smile made him feel a chill down to his bones, akin to a hunter’s gaze upon its prey.
As a hunter himself, he knew too well what such a look signified.
“Big brother, are you heading home?
Could you help a young woman out?
I’ve gotten lost.”
The middle-aged man kept his distance as the woman approached, stepping back for every step she took.
“Who are you?
Why would a woman end up here in this wilderness?
And how could you be lost here?”
“Big brother, how can this be considered the wilderness?
Isn’t there a village down below?
I’m just visiting relatives and got lost on the way.”
The middle-aged man didn’t believe the woman’s words, continuing to shake his head, saying, “Fairy, you can traverse the heavens and the earth, so how could you be lost?
I’m just a mortal man, please let me be!”
“Hehe!
Do I really look like a Fairy?
Big brother, you really have an eye for beauty.
I appreciate a man with such taste.
Why don’t you take me home?”
Seeing the woman’s seductive smile, the middle-aged man did not succumb to her eyes; instead, fear quivered in his heart.
“No, no, no, I have a wife at home; I can’t take you home with me.”
“Oh, big brother, at your age, you must have a son, right?
How about I become your daughter-in-law?
What do you say?”
“It’s impossible; our clan won’t accept you.”
“That’s not for you to decide.
Come with me!”
The Fox Demon unleashed her spell, an Enchantment Spell that made people lose their minds.
The middle-aged man’s resilient spirit couldn’t resist the Fox Demon’s Spell, and he became lost within her enchantment.
“Come on, Big Brother!”
The middle-aged man followed the summons of the Fox Demon, losing all self-control.
He had set down the firewood from his back and also dropped the pheasant in his hands to the ground, where the bound pheasant’s feet prevented it from moving, fluttering only a few times.
The Fox Demon was very confident in her enchantment over the middle-aged man.
She didn’t even glance at the items he dropped and led him further into the mountains.
The Earl and the Viscounts returned to the stockade, their mission complete, and they joyously shared their gains with the tribespeople.
In those Storage Bags filled with Spirit Herb Medicine, he carefully hid all the herbs.
He took out the Storage Bags filled with fruit and had people bring baskets so that each household could have its share of peaches to eat.
The stockade was bustling, with some woodcutters returning from the mountain, among them a man carrying a pheasant, hauling two bundles of firewood back home.
Seeing him with two bundles of firewood and the bonus of a pheasant, everyone praised his prowess.
“So strange, I found this pheasant on the ground, and one bundle of firewood on the mountain too.”
“Uncle, have you seen my father?
How come you have my father’s staff?
And the rope tied around this pheasant’s legs belongs to my father too.”
One of the young Viscounts saw the items in the uncle’s hands and asked curiously.
“I was just saying, I found these items on the way down the mountain, but I didn’t see your father.”
“Oh no!
What’s going on?
My father wouldn’t have encountered trouble on the mountain, would he?”
“This isn’t good, he might indeed be in trouble.” The Earl remembered seeing the Vine Tree Spirit and the Fox Demon last night; unable to capture them then, they might still be watching.
He was already on guard this morning, but never expected that, despite all caution, their return might bring harm to someone in the village.
“What?
What trouble has befallen my father?” The young Viscount was both anxious and worried, hurrying towards the mountain.
The Earl didn’t say another word and quickly ran after the retreating form of the young Viscount, heading towards the mountain they had come from.
The people still in the stockade didn’t know what had happened and wanted to ask, but those just returned from the mountain were hurriedly making their way back up, compelling the village’s other men, women, elderly, and children who didn’t know what was happening to also want to follow them up the mountain, especially the middle-aged man’s wife, who feared her husband might be in trouble.
The Veteran Hunter stopped these people, instructing them to wait in the stockade and not to follow them up the mountain, lest they add to the chaos.
The Earl, faster than the Viscount, raced up the familiar path on the mountain, soon catching a hint of an unusual scent.
It was the peculiar musk of an animal, reminiscent of the Fox Demon they had encountered the night before, that beautiful fox with an unmistakable scent that couldn’t be concealed no matter how hard one tried.
“Earl, right here is where I found the pheasant and the firewood.”
When the Earl stopped to survey the surroundings, the man who had found the pheasant and the other villagers from the stockade arrived.
“In that case, let’s follow the scent!”
The Earl believed the fairy needed to be dealt with; if they didn’t kill the creature, it might continue to harm the people of the village.
How could the villagers defend themselves against such a sly creature, one almost impossible to guard against?
If he hadn’t had the Magic Wand, he would have stood no chance in a fight against it.
Initially, he thought it best to avoid trouble by steering clear of the two demons, and that being cautious in future mountain ventures would suffice.
But now, the demons had followed them to the stockade, intent on harming their people.
The Earl made up his mind; he had to engage in battle with the Millennium Fairy.
With a keen sense of smell, the Earl followed the peculiar scent until they reached an area where something was off.
There were no visible caves, but the unusual smell was stronger here—this had to be the lair of the fox.
If no cave was in sight, then this place must definitely be cloaked by an Illusion Technique.
The Earl drew his Magic Wand, casting spells while chanting an incantation meant to dispel illusions.
The Magic Wand burst with rainbow radiance that lit up their midday mountain surroundings, where the dense forest canopy had restricted sunlight, making it feel as if the sun had suddenly broken through.
As the light from the Magic Wand spread around them, just a moment later, a cave materialized before their eyes.