Chapter 85: Metal Parts in the Mountains

“Hey! Blackie, where are we going?”

Under the guidance of the King Cobra, An Sheng had walked from Shangpo Mountain to Shou Gou Gully, crossed the Changxi River, and entered the neighboring county’s territory.

Another six kilometers ahead would bring them to the neighboring county seat; ten more kilometers would let them see the sea.

“Frr—”

The King Cobra turned its head, hissed at the little fox, and shook its head, signaling him to keep moving forward.

An Sheng, helpless, continued walking, passing through the neighboring county town and entering a forest.

The fox and the snake’s speed was no illusion—they moved swiftly through the forest like two shadows.

After entering the forest, occasional hisses of snakes echoed among the trees.

An Sheng froze, then saw several King Cobras entwined together, each trying to pin the other beneath its body, endlessly fighting, with several female snakes watching nearby.

But when they spotted Blackie approaching, they visibly panicked, abandoning their mating struggles, and all the King Cobras scrambled to hide.

King Cobras are ophiophagous.

Even during mating season, they must first test each other to ensure the other isn’t coming to steal their meal before they dare to breed.

A six-meter-long Blackie

had already come twice before to feast here, and every King Cobra gathered for mating remembered it.

Upon seeing Blackie approach, none offered mating advances—instead, they all fled, terrified the gluttonous snake would eat them.

Blackie scanned the surroundings indifferently and continued walking deeper into the forest.

Arriving at a remote, ancient woodland, Blackie, who had been leading An Sheng ahead, coiled into a ball and used its spoon-shaped head to dig into the soil.

“You’re saying something’s here?”

An Sheng arrived before a large tree, raised his paw with a strange expression, and brushed away the dead leaves on the ground, utterly confused as to why the King Cobra had brought him here.

But since he’d come this far, An Sheng followed Blackie’s lead and began digging.

The area An Sheng was currently in belonged to the She Shan Natural Ecological Reserve, near the provincial capital.

This was Changle She Shan—a mountain no one from Xiadong would ever approach in summer.

Every summer, Changle She Shan swarms with snakes holding parties; the area An Sheng stood in was this year’s gathering ground for the King Cobras.

If An Sheng had come during the day, he would have instantly recognized his location.

But it was pitch-black at night, and he’d followed Blackie over ridges and peaks—he had no idea where he was, only faintly seeing the city’s neon lights glowing from the mountain.

“Thump—”

As An Sheng dug into the soil, his fox paw struck a leather suitcase after only a short while.

“Huh!? A leather case?”

An Sheng looked up in shock at Blackie, who stood nearby, scanning the surroundings as if ready to devour a few snakes:

“Blackie, you didn’t drag me here to dig up someone’s illegal stash, did you?”

An Sheng’s face lit up with excitement as he yanked the buried leather case out—it was heavier than expected, and whatever was inside wasn’t cash.

“Hey, what a coincidence—the case has my name on it.”

An Sheng sat back on his haunches, upright, fiddling with the combination lock on the case.

But before his paw even touched the lock, Blackie, who had been watching, slithered close and used its tail to fiddle with the combination.

“Click—”

Three crisp, melodious clicks echoed through the forest, and a green-lit device appeared before An Sheng, faintly glowing.

Besides the device beside the lock, the thick leather case concealed several velvet trays.

In the grooves of the three velvet trays lay objects resembling bicycle tire pumps.

But unlike portable pumps, these were smaller, coated in grease, and gleamed with metallic luster.

Altogether, there were nine metal pumps.

“Eh?”

An Sheng stared, frozen in place at the sight of the pumps.

“What the hell are these things?”

The metal parts inside the case clearly fell outside An Sheng’s knowledge—leaving his fox brain utterly baffled.

“Frr”

Seeing the fox’s confused expression, the King Cobra shook its head as if it were obvious.

It didn’t know what the items were—only that two days ago, while eating, it had seen two furtive men sneak into its feeding ground under cover of night, dig a deep hole, and bury this case.

They’d even opened the case to inspect its contents before burying it.

That was when the King Cobra memorized the combination, leading to today’s trip with An Sheng.

Instinct told the King Cobra that anyone sneaking into its midnight dining hall couldn’t be good.

So it brought An Sheng to check—before some bulldozer came and they had no idea what happened.

“Troublesome…”

An Sheng sighed helplessly; for things beyond his knowledge, he used to use his phone to search online.

But now he couldn’t carry a phone out—he could only play with it on the sofa, or hold it between his two paws on a stand.

“Alright, let’s go back.”

An Sheng shook his head; though he didn’t know what was in the case,

who in their right mind would hide something in a deep forest crawling with King Cobras?

Anyone who did that was definitely not a good person.

The little fox instinctively opened his mouth to grab the metal parts, but then thought better of it—he called Blackie over and placed the items on its tail.

Sensing something land on its body, the King Cobra instinctively coiled its body to constrict the object.

“Yes! Perfect! Hold that pose!” An Sheng nodded in satisfaction, then stood upright, hoisted the coiled King Cobra over his head, spread his legs, and sprinted back down the mountain path as fast as he could.

Less than an hour later, An Sheng, riding on Blackie’s back, descended Shangpo Mountain and dashed through Changxizhen at midnight, racing home to fetch his phone.

“Holy shit? Got beaten and chased?”

Old Chen, still sitting in the courtyard cooling off and jotting down notes, caught a shadow flickering at the corner of his eye—he instinctively looked up.

There, a small white fox stood upright, holding a coiled King Cobra above its head, bounding along the Changxizhen road with an odd gait, moving at incredible speed.

Even though Old Chen knew the Lucky Fox Master operated beyond normal logic,

the sight still struck him hard.

And moreover,

judging by the Lucky Fox Master’s frantic expression, he was probably running from a mountain brawl with other protected animals, lost, and now rushing to the vet with his injured partner.

Old Chen never doubted the Lucky Fox Master’s intelligence.

Yet,

Old Chen’s involuntary “Holy shit!” cry couldn’t escape the fox’s ears.

So,

when Old Chen snapped back to reality, he saw two heads—one large, one small, one black, one white—slowly peeking out from beside the courtyard gatepost.

The fox and the snake both stared at Old Chen.

Stare—

Old Chen’s shocked expression froze; he stammered, “Lucky Fox Master, are you heading to the city? Good—I didn’t drink tonight, we’re going the same way.”

(End of Chapter)