Chapter 302: 999 and the Archaeology Student

「.」

In the second-floor living room of the villa, after a long silence, Wang Lei spoke up:

「Fox Immortal.」

「You are right—all of this is because of our pet smuggling. We were blind and insolent toward the Spirit Fox Messenger. I, Wang Lei, am willing to accept the Fox Immortal’s punishment, but please have mercy on my daughter.」

「Besides smuggling.」

As Wang Lei began speaking, Qiao Yu instinctively tugged at her husband’s sleeve.

But Wang Lei shot Qiao Yu a furious glare:

「What time is this, and you’re still talking about money, money, money! Will hoarding our money help Xiao Ya? Will the research center we spent hundreds of millions building help? My poor daughter doesn’t even have a human shape anymore!」

Wang Lei roared in fury. Three years, countless funds, countless unorthodox remedies—all yielded only the ear fox’s cold mockery, and that phrase, repeated again and again.

「Those… are what you deserve. All of this is the Fox Immortal’s curse. You can only watch helplessly as Wang Ya walks ahead of you. Tragic, lamentable—you got a son in old age but can’t hold your own child.」

The ear fox was like a nightmare. Wang Lei had more than once suspected it was the ear fox causing this, and considered killing it.

But every method failed—Wang Ya would always stand before the ear fox, using her mutated body to block every bullet and blade, unleashing a terror as if a demon god had descended.

The ear fox claimed to be the 「Spirit Fox Messenger,」 directly enlightened by the Fox Immortal.

When all these inexplicable events, beyond the reach of science, lay before him, no matter how much Wang Lei resisted believing, he could no longer deny the truth of the ear fox’s claim: the Fox Immortal’s curse.

Now.

The Fox Immortal stood right before him. Wang Lei no longer cared whether this Fox Immortal had cursed his daughter—or some other Fox Immortal had.

He only wanted his daughter to return to normal—even if it meant giving up every last penny and digging up every secret he’d buried.

He was already over sixty, with few years left to live. His only obsession was Wang Ya.

「Besides smuggling pets.」

「We also raised foxes for fur. To cut costs, we dumped sick foxes into the mountains—some died, some survived by luck. All our farmed fur foxes were plump and healthy.」

「They invaded the ecological niche of native red foxes. Local leaders investigated this, but I secretly framed those legitimate release-and-blessing charities for it.」

Wang Lei recounted each of his crimes. Some he committed knowingly, purely to save money.

A fur fox costs only two or three hundred. Treating its illness could cost far more than the fox’s entire value. For small fur foxes, once sick, he simply threw them away.

Because small fur foxes weren’t even worth the labor of skinning—it was pure waste.

「And I shouldn’t have believed in superstition—like soaking nine hundred and ninety-nine fox penises in alcohol.」

「？？？」

An Sheng had listened calmly, showing little reaction to Wang Lei’s confessions. Breeding farms and leather processing plants—what did they expect? To worship foxes instead of killing them?

But.

The nine hundred and ninety-nine fox penises truly stunned An Sheng.

「You’re fucking insane. I’ve never met anyone this deranged. Twelve-eight penises is already insane, but you soaked nine hundred and ninety-nine? No wonder you’re low on sperm.」

An Sheng cursed inwardly, then raised his hand and cut Wang Lei off: 「Enough! The Master has no interest in your filthy fox-penis wine stories. Talk about your daughter.」

「Sssss」 Seeing the Fox Master turn toward her, Wang Ya—the half-human, half-scorpion creature—let out a hiss.

She tilted her head, staring at the Fox Master, as if puzzled why he was looking at her but not speaking.

She tilted her head, gazing at Master Fuli, as if puzzled why he was staring at her without speaking.

Wang Lei instinctively looked at his daughter, then turned back to the Fox Master: 「She… she did use some of that dirty money, but I swear she had no idea about any of it. We forced her to spend it—with knives to her throat.」

When it came to Wang Ya, Wang Lei fell silent for a long moment before stammering out those words.

When the matter involved Wang Ya, Wang Lei fell silent for a long while before stammering out a single sentence.

「Forced with knives,」 huh? But that’s not what I care about.

Fine, so they forced me with knives—but those things had nothing to do with what I cared about.

An Sheng turned to Qiao Yu.

「Before the incident, Xiao Ya was always an outstanding student, studying archaeology at Northwest University. We hoped she’d get a government post, serve the country—unlike us, who live in sin.」

Qiao Yu seemed to sense something. The fox spirit who could speak—perhaps it wasn’t the one who cursed her daughter.

So when she spoke of Wang Ya, she focused not just on her life, but lavished praise on her virtue and future aspirations.

Every time Qiao Yu praised her daughter, she stole glances at the Fox Master’s face, gauging whether her words sounded exaggerated.

「Your daughter’s fine. Next time I’ll tell the Leshan Giant Buddha to go begging—your daughter can ride right on its back.」

An Sheng rolled his eyes, but from Qiao Yu’s words, he keenly noticed one thing.

Wang Ya was a second-year archaeology student at Northwest University.

In his past life, archaeology was a niche field, like history, with low admission scores.

But in this life, archaeology was far more significant.

The cutting-edge applications of Spirit Granule science all stemmed from archaeologists’ efforts.

One dig with a Luoyang shovel could unearth documents that advanced Spirit Granule science.

Wang Ya was a second-year archaeology student.

And she studied in Changancheng—the city where the dead outnumber the living.

And he studied in Changancheng, where they say there are more people underground than aboveground.

The truth wasn’t clear, but he could now guess what had happened to Wang Ya.

Though the truth was not clear, one could vaguely guess what had happened to Wang Ya.

An Sheng leapt off the sofa, grabbed the staff leaning beside it, and walked toward the Ear Fox King.

An Sheng leapt off the sofa, grabbed a branch leaning against it, and walked toward the Eargot Fox King.

Seeing the Fox Master approach with a club, the Ear Fox’s face twisted into a grotesque smile: 「Fox Brother~ You… you’re here!」

The once-powerful Fox King was now completely shaken. His greatest weapon was temporarily out of control, his bank passwords already extracted.

And seeing how desperate this fox was to fix Wang Ya’s condition, the Ear Fox could never surrender his greatest leverage.

The Ear Fox activated its Fox Charm ability.

「What? You call me brother?」

Standing before the Ear Fox, An Sheng appeared utterly immune to its seduction, his face a grotesque mask of shock and deep disappointment: 「Kid! I’m so disappointed in you! You won’t even call me Dad? Take the stick!」

The Eargot Fox activated its Charm Fox ability.

「Aowu! Wangwangwang—You bastard!」 the Ear Fox roared: 「I’m this cute, and you still hit me? Do you even have humanity?」

「Shut your mouth! If you don’t answer my questions, the Fox Master will serve you Fox Joy Sashimi!」

「Fox Joy Sashimi?」 The Ear Fox froze.

The Fox Master picked up the butterfly knife on the table, staring at the Ear Fox with deadly seriousness: 「Yes. Fox Joy.」

“Aowu! Wangwangwang—your mother’s!” the Eargot Fox erupted in fury: “You can lay hands on such a cute fox? Do you even have humanity?”

Shut your mouth! If you won’t answer me, Master Fuli will serve you as fox happiness sashimi!

Fox happiness sashimi? The fennec fox blinked.

Master Fuli picked up the butterfly knife on the table and looked at the fennec fox with a serious expression: “Yes! Fox happiness!”

(End of Chapter)