Chapter 44: Charm
Chapter 44: Charm
September 1st, the fourth day of being transformed into a Nine-tailed Fox.
At noon that day, he was foraging at the foot of the mountain. Unconsciously following the river’s course, he ran to the edge of the Dahan Mountain Reserve.
Wooden villages, domesticated Asian elephants, colorfully dressed Malay people.
Upon seeing the human village, Lan Mu quickly stopped, only watching from a distance.
After lingering for a moment, Lan Mu flicked his nine tails and left.
He was free and unbothered in the mountains; it was best not to provoke humans.
Although he could still speak while transformed into a fox, this was a foreign land after all. The language was different. There was little point in trying to communicate with the Malay people, especially those in an indigenous village.
The Nine-tailed Fox moved through the jungle, its body appearing exceptionally long.
When running, he didn’t want his tails held high up. That looked very ungraceful. He had to let them float parallel to the ground behind him.
This way, the magnificent nine tails flowed like ribbons from his rear, streaming behind him like a white rainbow as he ran.
He chased a pheasant. He didn’t need to use his claws or teeth at all. As he swept past it, his nine tails lightly brushed against it, drawing away its essence.
Lan Mu kept running, having already completed the hunt. The pheasant fell to the ground, weak and dead.
This elegant hunting method was something he had gradually figured out over the past few days.
He didn’t need to use claws and teeth like ordinary animals. Any part of his body could absorb a living creature’s essence upon contact.
On his way back to Dahan Mountain, he casually absorbed two more pheasants.
Suddenly, he stopped and climbed a large tree.
Not far away, a little boy appeared. He was wearing ethnic clothing, shouting words that made no sense, and fleeing in panic.
Three wild dholes were chasing the boy. They were baring their teeth and drooling, appearing cruel and evil. Even Lan Mu felt his fur stand on end seeing them.
“Not just three…”
Lan Mu noticed four more dholes flanking from the side. A total of seven wild dholes were surrounding the little boy.
The boy was clearly from that village earlier. He had probably played too deeply into the jungle and got ambushed by a dhole pack.
Dholes look somewhat like dogs and somewhat like foxes, fierce and cruel. They like to use pack tactics, wearing down their prey’s stamina before swarming it to bite it to death.
Seeing himself surrounded, the boy hurriedly climbed a tree. But he was too small, and the tree was too thick. He kept slipping down.
He was sweating all over. Each time he slipped, he cried out.
The dhole pack drooled under the tree, watching him, ready to pounce and bite at any moment. The boy’s hands were scraped bloody by the bark, but he didn’t dare let go.
Seeing the dholes crouch low, about to launch themselves with their hind legs, Lan Mu finally let out a fierce cry.
“Ying ying ying!”
It wasn’t his fault for sounding cute. The Nine-tailed Fox’s voice simply wouldn’t change no matter the transformation; it was always a baby-like cry.
The dhole pack and the boy looked toward the sound. On a high branch of a nearby large tree, a beautiful white fox was perched.
The boy stared blankly at the fox. Suddenly noticing the nine tails, he was dumbstruck. He let out a couple of cries and actually fell from the tree.
He landed sitting on the ground, stunned. He had fallen right in the middle of the dhole pack. In the next second, he would be torn to pieces.
However, the swarm didn’t happen. The boy stared blankly as the seven wild dholes ignored his existence. They drooled while looking at the fox and slowly moved closer.
The dhole pack was Charmed by Lan Mu, lured to the base of his tree.
“This idiot, why isn’t he running…”
Seeing the boy still sitting foolishly on the ground, Lan Mu shook his head to himself.
“If you won’t leave, I will!”
He leaped from the tree. As he fell, his tails flowed like drifting willow catkins, descending like a white cloud.
After running a few hundred meters, the dhole pack chased a few hundred meters, still Charmed by Lan Mu.
Lan Mu’s tails lightly brushed past them. The seven wild dholes died, their essence absorbed in a state of bliss.
Easy, simple, elegant, and leaving no trace.
A few minutes later, back at Dahan Mountain, he stood spiritedly on a peak, his tails spread like a canopy, absorbing the Sun’s essence.
Aside from cultivation, there really wasn’t anything else for him to do.
As time passed and the sun shifted west, he retracted his tails.
Then, he noticed the little boy was silently watching him from the foot of the mountain.
“Huh? He followed me?” Seeing the boy sneakily peeking at him, Lan Mu was speechless.
He hadn’t really taken saving someone’s life to heart. But he had overlooked the exceptional allure his Nine-tailed Fox form held for humans.
He clearly hadn’t Charmed the boy, yet the boy still followed. It looked like he had been standing there all day.
After thinking it over, Lan Mu decided to slip away. He couldn’t just silence the boy, could he? Anyway, he would hide deep in the old forest. In another three days, he would change back into a human.
He dashed down the mountain and vanished into the jungle in a flash. This time he used his full speed. Where could the boy possibly outrun him? He was quickly left behind.
The sun set in the west, and the jungle soon grew dark.
After staying in a tree for two hours, Lan Mu couldn’t hold back any longer.
“The jungle is full of bugs everywhere… It’s pitch black. Who knows what might sneak attack me at night…”
Lan Mu wasn’t a fierce beast like a White-maned Lion, naturally intimidating to animals. On the contrary, he seemed to attract animals, stirring some kind of desire in them. He didn’t know what kind of weird passive ability that was.
Also, he couldn’t absorb moonlight within the jungle. Left with no choice, he could only turn back.
When he returned to the foot of Dahan Mountain, he was surprised to find the little boy was still there!
He was leaning against a rock, squatting on the ground. He looked frightened and also lost.
“No way? You’re this persistent?”
“Could it be he can’t find his way back? Right… he’s probably only eight or nine years old. The jungle at night is still too dangerous for him.”
After some consideration, this mountain was his best sleeping place. Having the boy camp out here indefinitely wasn’t going to work.
If he ignored him, it would be terrible if some beast carried him off at night. He might as well take him back.
Lan Mu stepped forward on his snow-white limbs, lightly running up to the boy.
The boy looked at him with delight and babbled a whole stream of words.
“I don’t understand what you’re saying…”
Lan Mu ignored him. He ying-yinged twice, turned his head, and walked away.
Sure enough, the boy followed him step by step. This time, Lan Mu walked slowly on purpose, specifically to protect him on his way home.
Lan Mu still remembered the way to the village. He guided him through the jungle. Even if they encountered wild beasts, a single Charm would take care of it.
The little boy looked curiously at his magnificent tails and slowly reached out a hand to touch them.
The moment he touched them, Lan Mu bristled all over.
“Don’t touch me! How dare a little brat touch me?”
Lan Mu suppressed the urge to absorb his essence. He turned back and glared at him, baring his teeth in a fierce expression.
The boy was startled. He put his hands behind his back, lowered his head, and didn’t dare act out anymore.
“Hmph!”
Lan Mu walked forward. They encountered many wild beasts approaching along the way, which confirmed his guess.
“Does the Nine-tailed Fox really have an attraction for animals? What exactly draws them over?”
Lan Mu noticed many animals seemed to be following a scent…
“Could it be I have a special fragrance? Why can’t I smell it?”
Not long after, Lan Mu heard the shouts of humans in the distance, seemingly calling a name.
“Bolanggu? Could that be your name?”
Lan Mu looked back at the boy. Sure enough, his face lit up with joy, and he quickly ran toward the source of the voices.
“Hmm, his family is indeed looking for him…”
Lan Mu’s job was done. Seeing a large group of people holding torches in the distance, he immediately fled far away.
…
“Bolanggu… You say a Nine-tailed Fox saved you? Lying isn’t good, child…” the boy’s father said while holding him.
The boy was called Bolanggu. He insisted, “It’s true! It’s true! A very, very beautiful fox… with nine tails, pure white! Very fragrant!”
“Haha, your son is really funny. Our family has lived here for generations. If there were a Nine-tailed Fox on Dahan Mountain, we would have seen it long ago!” his father’s friend laughed.
About twenty-some strong men from the village had come. They all burst into laughter, clearly not believing the little boy. They just thought he was frightened out of his wits and talking nonsense.
But Bolanggu remained adamant, constantly looking back, hoping to see the stunningly beautiful Fox Demon that had saved him.
Seeing Bolanggu so certain, and the attachment in his eyes seemed genuine, a man with dark skin had a thought. He said, “I remember smelling a fragrance drifting from far away earlier. It was like flower scent, yet also like body scent. What if it really was a Nine-tailed Fox?”
“Hahaha! Saisebin, you actually believe in the existence of Nine-tailed Foxes? Are you just missing women?”
The villagers laughed at the dark-skinned man, Saisebin. He didn’t mind, just pondered quietly.
The next day, Saisebin went out early in the morning with a bow and arrows on his back. He ventured deep into the jungle alone.
Passing by the place where Bolanggu was found yesterday, the strange fragrance had already dissipated. He headed toward the mountain Bolanggu had described.
Along the way, he found several animal corpses. Their flesh was dry and cracked, their eyeballs shriveled.
“Not a single wound, nor killed by blunt force… This…”
Discovering these strange animal deaths filled Saisebin with curiosity. He headed straight for Dahan Mountain.
When he arrived at Dahan Mountain, he did not see the legendary Nine-tailed Fox.
He was somewhat disappointed but still searched persistently.
When he circled to the back of the mountain, having walked quite far, he suddenly froze. Then his whole body trembled.
“A fox… a Nine-tailed Fox!”
A Nine-tailed Fox was basking in the sun at the only spot on the shaded side of the mountain that received sunlight.
Its distinctly layered nine tails were spread out like a peacock’s fan, magnificent under the sunlight.
“Evil spirit! Demon!”
Saisebin held no reverence for the Nine-tailed Fox. His first reaction was to nock an arrow, but then he lowered the bow.
“No, no, I can’t hit it from this distance…”
Suddenly, his face lit up with glee, and he chuckled darkly.
“Hehe… my fortune has arrived!”
Saisebin turned and ran, his figure disappearing into the jungle.
The Nine-tailed Fox on the mountain remained completely unaware.